The Awakening (20 page)

Celia shakes me. "Kendall, stay with me!"

"He's trying to get in. I can feeeel it." In my head, I scream bloody murder to get him away from me. He backs off a step. Oh, good. It's working. I screech again until all the breath is out of my lungs.

"Hey, it's Taylor. Something horrible is happening and we need help!" I hear.

Crappity-crap-crap-crap. Please tell me she isn't calling my mother.

"I'm dizzy, Celia."

She holds me close. "It's okay, Kendall."

"No, it's not okay." Nausea rushes in like a tsunami, encircling me in blackness until I have no idea what's happening.

One last mental push to Mr. Aggressive and then I feel myself passing out.

Warm hands settle firmly on my shoulders and I hear a familiar voice in my ear, soothing me. "Hang on, Kendall. I'm here. I've got you."

I
PEEL MY EYELIDS BACK
, somehow expecting to find myself in Jason Tillson's arms again. Instead, I see soft strawberry blond curls and a novelty T-shirt that reads "A Happy Medium."

"Loreen?" I barely manage to get out.

Taylor falls to her knees next to me. "Oh my God, Kendall. I was screaming so loudly. You didn't even hear me. You're not possessed or anything, are you? Do I need to go get a priest or something? Although I don't exactly know one, since I'm Baptist."

I sit upright as Loreen calms my friend. "Everything's going to be okay. I'm here to help."

"You're Loreen Woods, right?" Celia asks, her eyes alight. "How did you know to come?"

Shifting her eyes to me, Loreen says, "Kendall and I are connected. I was driving around looking for you when you called out to me." Then her tone changes. "It's a good thing you did. What were you girls thinking? Coming out here into the cemetery without protecting yourself. Haven't you listened to anything I've taught you?"

I rub my head—now free of feelings of gunshot wounds, tumors, and everything else—and let out a sigh of relief. "I know, Loreen. I'm sorry."

She grits her teeth, and I don't have to be a mind reader to know what she's thinking. She's royally pissed at me, and I guess I can't blame her. We did come out here tonight sort of half-cocked, not planning or taking care of ourselves.

"If you're going to be heading up this ghost-hunting group," she begins, "you've got to take responsibility not only for yourself but for your teammates.
Everyone
needs protection, Kendall. You, the equipment, everything.You don't know what you're dealing with in the spirit realm. Not everything is nice."

I nod my agreement. "Don't be mad, Loreen. Your shirt says you're a
happy
medium," I say with a small, weak chuckle.

"Yes, well. I didn't know I'd be talking with you about such foolishness. It's a good thing we're connected, Kendall. Something horrible could have happened to you."

"But it didn't."

She scowls.

"I said I'm sorry."

"Sorry indeed." She reaches into her pocket and withdraws a small spray bottle.

"What's that?" Celia asks.

"Holy water." And with that, Loreen proceeds to spray me with it up one side and down the other while reciting a prayer: "Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray. O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world for ruin of souls. Amen."

"Aye-men!"Taylor echoes.

I mutter the same and wipe the water off my face. It smells like the stuffing my mom makes to go with our Thanksgiving turkey. "What else is in there?"

"Sage," Loreen says.

"What for?" Taylor asks.

"It cleans the energy fields and gives you protection." She passes the vial over to Celia. "Here, you girls spray yourselves as well."

Loreen helps me up, and together we brush dirt and grass off my jeans. "Thanks for coming," I say. She tweaks my nose and smiles at me. "Seriously, I'm grateful you're here."

Someone else is here too, though.

And as per usual, he's fit to be tied.

Jason barrels his Jeep through the side gate and slams it into Park. He jumps out and immediately starts lecturing. "Tell me something, are y'all purposely looking for trouble or are y'all just incredibly stupid dumb-asses?"

"Hey now—" I start to say in our defense. I move toward him, but my energies are as drained as a dead Duracell and I can barely stand without Loreen's help. "Look, buddy, I don't care how cute you are, you've got one hell of a bad attitude toward me and I'm sick of it."

Celia looks at me in shock and awe.

Yowlza-may! Did I just tell him he was cute?

He tries to glare at me, but I notice the corners of his mouth want to curl up into a smile. His eyes drop, and he toes his boot in the dirt.

I gulp noticeably and see Celia rolling her eyes.

Coming back to his senses, Jason shakes off whatever humor had overcome him and stomps up to me. Less adversarial, he says, "I should have known when Taylor called me for help this had something to do with you."

I look over at her and she bites her lip. "
Pardonnez-moi.
What can I say? You weren't exactly playing debutante hostess just now. I was a bit freaked out."

"And you called
him?
" I nearly spit out. Of course she called Jason. He's the only family she really trusts these days. Turning back to him, I say, "Look, things just got out of hand. We're all new to this and learning as we go along. Cut us some slack."

His face shades a dark red—even in the moonlight—and I think his head's going to explode like a cartoon character's. There's no mistaking the intent of the energies coming off him. "Get in the Jeep, Taylor. I'm taking you home."

"But Jason—"

"Do what I say!"

"Are you okay, Kendall?" she asks with her hand on my arm.

"Yeah, I think so."

Celia puts her arm around my waist to support me and watches the ground.

"Now, Taylor!" Jason growls.

She pouts and then tromps off to the Jeep with apologetic eyes. "Bye, y'all."

Jason lasers his eyes on Celia and me. "You better get home too before I call your parents and tell them what you were up to."

Pushing away from Celia, I spin on Jason. "Who do you think you are?"

"Kendall, it's okay ... Don't," Celia says softly.

"It's not okay!"

Blue eyes cut through the night and connect with mine. "Cemeteries are no place for young girls. Especially late at night."

"Who died and left you in charge?" I say with my hands on my hips, feeling a surge of strength return.

"I'm responsible for my sister since my father walked out the door and my mother's too caught up with her new life. I'm too old to be putting up with teenage crap like this!"

Now I'm in
his
face, like the spirit was in mine earlier. "What are you? Ninety? No! You're a teenager yourself on paper. But you know what you really are? You're a bitter old man, Jason Tillson. You need to get over yourself ASAP!"

I seem to have hit a nerve with him because the anger in his eyes immediately morphs into embarrassment. I bite my tongue at what a bitch I've become. It's not like me at all to scream at someone like this. Especially a cute guy who's basically a stranger to me.

"I'm sorry for all of my inadequacies," he says and then backs away.

Great. Now I'm racked with guilt for yelling at him when all he was doing was looking out for his sister.

"Jason, wait—"

Celia stops me. "Let them go, Kendall. We're in enough trouble as it is."

At the Jeep, Jason shouts back with a concern that warms me. "Will y'all be okay getting home?"

"I'll take care of them," Loreen assures him.

"Thanks." And with that, he cranks up the Jeep and backs away into the darkness.

Celia and I sigh at the same time. She can easily sneak back into her house unnoticed, but I have a feeling that Loreen wants me to go home and that she won't let me enter Casa Moorehead without her speaking to my parents.

Loreen lifts a knowing smile my way.

I blow a raspberry. "Let's get this over with."

Sarah Moorehead is sooooooooooo not happy.

She is, at least, cordial to our guest.

I stand there fidgeting with a hole in the pocket of my jeans, waiting for the shitteth to hitteth the fan ... eth. (And no, Shakespeare didn't come up with that particular quote;
10 Things I Hate About You
did.) Loreen has just finished regaling Mom with the short version of what happened tonight and why she's bringing me home. Dad went out for a drink with one of the contractors, so at least I'm not getting the double-barreled-shotgun treatment ... yet.

"I'm glad I was available to help out your daughter," Loreen says.

"Well, thank you for bringing her home," Mom says to Loreen in the foyer of our house. While I'd love to talk to Loreen about what happened, I don't exactly want her and Mom to bond over coffee and cookies in the living room.

"Anytime. Kendall has a very special gift, Mrs. Moorehead." Not waiting to see if Mom asks her to, Loreen moves deeper into the hallway and takes a seat on the piano bench that's just inside and to the right. "Because Kendall is still learning to hone her abilities, she needs to be especially careful when dealing with the spirit realm. She must protect herself at all times, and in fact, she shouldn't try to connect further with those on the other side until she's more fully trained."

Mom's lips flatten and her cheeks go ashen. "I appreciate your concern, Ms. Woods, but let me assure you, she won't require further training at all because she is forbidden to do this kind of thing anymore."

"Why's that?" Loreen asks, her hands folded in her lap. "Kendall has a gift."

"I don't believe so."

"I'm sorry to hear that. You must realize she needs to—"

Mom cuts her off. "I believe I know what's best for my daughter."

Loreen frowns. "And that is?"

"She's been told she's not allowed to dabble in these dark arts any further. And I've told her she's not to see you or to be
taught
by you."

"Oh."

"Mom, Loreen was only trying to—"

Mom's livid gaze slices over to me, and I immediately clamp my mouth shut. Kaitlin might not know when to stop talking, but I do. "I think you've had enough excitement for one day," Mom says. "Kendall. Go to bed. Now. We'll talk about this in the morning with your father."

"Yes, ma'am."

Holding the front door open, Mom says, "Thank you again for your trouble, Ms. Woods."

Talk about not letting the door hit you on the ass on your way out. Poor Loreen.

I grab her arm and then hug her tightly, whispering my thanks. She pulls back and takes my hand. Then she reaches over to my mother, joins our hands together, and lays hers on top. "Be good to each other," she says.

I see Mom suppress a faint smile. However, I also sense a change in the energies around the three of us. My first thought is that Emily is here and might try to harm either Mom or Loreen. But then I hear Loreen take a deep, deep breath. She's almost trancelike as she stands there gripping our hands.

Mom appears taken aback. "What's she doing? Some sort of voodoo? I will
not
have that in my house."

"It's okay," I say softly.

Loreen breaks the contact and faces me. She knows something. Information of some sort was transmitted when we were all connected like that. I know she won't tell me though.

Loreen faces my mother and whispers a quick prayer. "I wish you nothing but the best, Sarah Moorehead. I know you've taken a huge responsibility on your shoulders with Kendall's life, and she will need all the support that any mother could give a daughter. Your secret is safe with me."

"That's just about enough! Leave!"

And with that, my mother, the polite Christian woman, shoves Loreen out of the house and slams the door.

"Why did you do that?"

Mom is shaking. "That woman is trouble. And she needs professional help."

"No, she's not, and no, she doesn't. She's a little odd because she's not like you and your friends back home. But Loreen understands me."

"Not anymore, she doesn't. I said it once and I mean it this time, Kendall. You are
forbidden
to ever speak to that woman again. She'll just confuse you and tell you lies. I've had enough of your back talk and disobedience for one night. I didn't raise you to act like this."

I thrust my hands into my hair. "How am I acting?" This is all so confusing to me. All of it that I've been experiencing and trying to deal with.

"Telling me you're psychic and then—what were you doing?—ghost hunting."

"Ghost hunting is a natural way to use my abilities to help people, Mom."

"You don't have any abilities, Kendall. You're making it all up just to get attention. Well, you've got my attention. Are you happy?"

Tears well up in my eyes. Why won't my own mother believe me? Celia and Taylor believe me. Loreen does too. Jason probably thinks there's some truth to my claims. Mom won't accept it, though.

"I'm not trying to cause trouble, I swear. I'm just trying to understand everything that's happening to me. And on top of that, I'm trying to make new friends and fit in."

Mom's voice is shaky too. "You're certainly going about it in an odd way."

I'm so physically and mentally exhausted, it's not even funny. I slump down onto the piano bench and let a wayward tear trickle down my face.

"When your father gets home, I'll discuss things with him. Until then, consider yourself grounded, Kendall. Until you're at least in your thirties." Mom leaves me sitting there as she heads off into the kitchen. I hear her banging pots, pans, and plates—her only real way of dealing with anger is to clean.

Fine.

I'm too tired to fight anymore.

I slink up the stairs and collapse on my bed, fully dressed. It's only ten o'clock, but I don't care. The bed shakes and I hear the
rrrrrarrrr
of a cat. Two, actually. Eleanor and Natalie pad their way up the mattress to me and then both nestle down in the small of my back. They begin purring and bathing each other, which sends the emotional ball right over the fence for me. The tears of overtiredness brim over the edge, and I bury my head in my pillow for a good cry. It's times like this that I want nothing more than for my mom to hug me and tell me everything's going to be all right. Only, I'm the last person she wants to hug right now, and I don't blame her. Who'd want a screwed-up kid with psychic abilities who almost gets taken over by crazed spirits in a cemetery? Yeah, that's what she signed up for in her Parenting 101 classes.