The Society of Imaginary Friends (Book 1 of The Conjurors Series)

Chapter 8

“Valerie, wake up!” Thai’s voice cried frantically.

“Come back to me!” Cyrus shouted.

Valerie was yanked out of her vision and found herself slumped against Thai’s chest. Part of her half-awake mind registered that he smelled like vanilla and cookies.

“I’m back; it’s okay,” she said, but her voice was weak. She had never been pulled into a vision like that before, without being weak from a fight.

Her breathing was shallow, and she knew that if Thai let her go, she wouldn’t be able to stand on her own. Luckily, most of the visitors were gone for the day. The sun was setting, and gray clouds made the light dim.

Her heart slowed to a crawl, and instinctively she knew that it would never speed up again. This was the end. This was a dream that she couldn’t recover from. And to think that she had been so close to experiencing magic! Valerie’s eyes fluttered and she was too weak to keep them open. “I’m so sorry, guys.”

“No, please! Stay with me!” Cyrus begged.

Thai’s dark, chocolate eyes looked a little misty. “You’re a fighter, I knew it from the first minute I saw you. No way are you going anywhere!”

Valerie didn’t want to let them down, but she knew that unless a miracle happened, she was going to die. A large drop of rain splashed against her forehead, and in a matter of seconds, water poured from the sky.

Thai started to lift her. “We’ve got to get her out of this.”

“No, wait! Look!” Cyrus pointed at the stones, which were being pounded by the rain. As they were drenched, the stones began to glow from within. “Take her inside the circle. I’ve heard that the stones have healing powers. It’s worth trying—there’s nothing any doctor can do to help her now.”

Thai carried her to the ring of stones, and she knew exactly when he stepped inside the circle. Suddenly, warmth ran through her body, and with the warmth came energy. Her heart beat almost normally again, and strength flowed through her body. “Let me go,” she said to Thai, but he still gripped her tightly. “Let me go, seriously!”

He set her gently on the ground, and she laughed. She was still weak, but she knew that she had enough strength to go on. She walked over to one of the stones, which wasn’t glowing anymore, and touched it. “Thank you,” she said, not caring how it looked that she was talking to a stone.

She turned to Cyrus and Thai. “I’m going to be okay—at least for a while longer. Maybe I’ll even make it off this planet after all.” Hope spread through her. Maybe she would pass the test of her magic tomorrow after all.

Thai slumped against one of the boulders in relief. “Thank God.”

“I heard that water on the stones can heal, but no one has seen it happen in hundreds and hundreds of years,” Cyrus said.

“Hey, you kids! Get out of there!” A guard yelled, jogging toward them in the rain.

“Sorry, sir, only looking,” Thai said.

“Well, you have to be on a private tour to walk wherever you want. Anyway, we’re closing.”

Reluctantly, Valerie followed Thai out of Stonehenge. But as she walked toward the bus, she couldn’t help looking back over her shoulder at the stones that had saved her life.

An hour later, Thai and Valerie arrived at the Stonehenge Touring Park in Orcheston, which was as close to the monument as they could camp. The next day before dawn, they would have to walk the four miles to Stonehenge in the dark, before the buses started bringing visitors to the ruins.