"It was scary." Charlotte says as her and Ashton sit on the bleachers. "At first the woman was alright, then the next thing you know she was on the ground."
This was Charlotte's 8th time going over the story and the more she told it, the more my stomach became unsettled. It had been just 2 days since Linda, the tarot card reading, fainted.
2 days
And somehow the topic became the main discussion in our school and in our small town. I sat off to Charlotte and Ashton's far right distancing myself from the group that was starting to form around them, as I studied. It was after school and the boys were prepping for another away game. As I looked up from my notebook I glanced at the field to see Harry and Daniel talking as if they were discussing a game play. Sometimes I honestly forgot that Harry was even on the team, and when I remembered I reminded myself that I don't be around Harry 24/7 so I didn't know what he did in his spare time, and it wasn't like I asked Daniel, "Oh did Harry come to practice today?"
Watching them run a game play for a few minutes, I turned back to taking notes about Greek Myths and Legends.
"Anna: I hear some say as I look up to see Luke, Lily, Angel, and Calum walking up.
"Hey." I smiled as they come and sit next to me.
"She still milking her attention?" asked Lily as she nods in Charlotte's direction.
"People are curious to what happened, and she's willing to tell, whereas I just personally want to forget the whole thing." I say.
"Then tell her that." says Angel.
I shook my head, "Her telling people isn't bothering me."
"Well it's bothering me." says Lily.
I shake my head and smile as I look up to Calum, "How's your second day of school going?"
"Good," he says, "I have a few classes with your friend Ashton. He tells me he's a musician."
I nod as Angel says, "He is, don't let the shaggy hair, and his California surfer looks fool you."
"Cool." Says Calum.
Looking up I catch Angel looking over at Ashton with adoration in her eyes as I say, "How does that work?"
"How does what works?" asked Luke.
"The whole schooling thing? I mean if you are only human for a full moon and special occasions with the moon, I mean how do you get your studies done without falling behind?"
"We home studies, since it's never specifically said how long we stay human, and how long we stay as a wolf. Yes, during training we shift back to being normal, but throughout that time we can turn back and forth sporadically." Says Calum.
"And how long does that happen for?" I asked.
"Depends on when the gene is first activated." Says Angel.
"And how is it activated?" I asked.
They all shrug, "There could be a million different way, the moon, a spell, a death, something life altering, a serious injury, and so on and so forth." Says Lily.
"But the most common ways are if there is a shift in power at play within the packs or murder." Says Luke.
I looked at him as Calum says, "How's the whole element thing going?"
"It's fine, there was never anything wrong with it. Not until Nick offset." Looking back at Luke I say, "What do you mean murder?"
"I still can't believe we missed it." Says Angel, obviously trying to change the subject.
"I know right!" says Lily as she looks at me, "Can you like show us something? Give us a taste?"
"No!" exclaimed Luke and Calum, as they received a few onlookers.
Lowering his voice Luke says, "That shit was crazy like flames everywhere, heavy winds indoor, an earthquake," throwing his hands up he says, "She fucking froze the rain in midair."
I looked down in my book, cheeks burning red with embarrassment.
"It was sick, but crazy at the same damn time." Says Calum.
"Say what you want, still sucks that we missed it." Says Angel.
"Well, you'll get a sneak peek soon." says Luke as I look at him.
"No they won't." I say.
He nods, "They will, because Nick wants to start training you on ways to control it."
"Excuse me?"
"Shit, right Harry wanted to be the one to tell you." biting his lip he says, "Sorry."
I look towards the field spotting Harry admittedly as Calum says, "Well we'll see you later?"
"You're leaving?"
He nods, "We have training."
"This early?" I looked at my watch as it reads 4:15pm, "Don't you do that like at night?"
Lily shakes her head, "No, we do it whenever Nick feels necessary."
"Oh." Say as they all stand, "Guess I'll see you later?"
"Of course." Says Calum with a wink as they all say their byes, before walking off.
Looking down to my book I looked back up to see Angel standing there for a second taking one last glance at Ashton before she turns to leave. Looking between the two I made a mental note to ask what was going on with them. As they leave and after Ashton looks up to see if I was okay, I returned back to reading, Placing my highlighter in my mouth, I flipped my page as I continued reading.
--------------------------
45 minutes passed as I placed my highlighter in the crease of my book as I yawn and rubbed my eyes keeping them closed for a second. Ashton left 20 minutes ago to head off to his swimming class, and Charlotte left with a few cheerleaders to go start planning poster designs for the Halloween event coming up. As I sat there rubbing the back of my neck, warmth crept over me as I hear a loud thud and footsteps walking to where I sat.
"Sleeping while sitting up?"
Opening my eyes I smiled as I looked up to see Harry. He wore a long sleeve under armour fitted shirt, that showed off his muscles, perfectly, and a regular pair of basketball shorts, with long socks and cleats. Wearing a headband around his head it held down his sweat drenched curls that was previously in a neat small bun, but was now messily coming undone.
"I was giving my eyes a rest." I say.
"So does that mean you're taking a study break? For me?" he smiles.
I smiled as I looked up to him, "A study break for you? Yes."
Propping his arms on both sides of me, he smirks as he licks his lips before leaning down to kiss me, I kissed back instantly, as I could feel energy passing through to us in which I noticed something was a bit off. Pulling back I looked up at him as I say, "You're weak."
He nods, "Not weak more like tired, with my need to contunie running around annoying the hell out of me." he says as he walks behind me, placing a leg on either side of me as he sits behind me, tapping my shoulder to move back so I was sitting in between his opened legs.
"Aw, how cute is that, little wolf is exhausted from football." I giggle.
"Ha, ha." He says as he leans forward leaning his head down next to mine as places his hands on my shoulder.
I could feel the energy seeping from me to him as I lean my hand against his as he takes in a deep breath before moving his hands.
"Did that help?" I asked.
Nodding, already knowing what I was talking about he says, "Little jolts, bounce me back, oddly enough."
I nod as I lean back against him, as he looks over my head, "I thought I told you to read 2 chapters. You read damn there 6."
"Well you were practicing, I got bored, Charlotte and Ashton left, and I figured why not jump ahead." I smile, "You won't have to explain it as much."
Harry shakes his head as he move next to me taking my book as he closes it and sits it behind me, "Why do I have a feeling I'm going to have to ban you from books?"
I gasped, "You will never do such a thing."
He smiles as he kisses the top of my head, "Pebbles, what am I going to do with you?"
I shrugged, "I don't know, but I heard Nick wants to start training me."
Harry looks at me surprised, "Who told you?"
"Luke."
Harry groans, "I told them I wanted to be the one to bring it up to you."
"It kind of slipped out." I say, "Don't be upset with him."
Harry nods as he looks off to his right and spots a few people starring at us, he sat there looking there way for a moment before he says, "Why are they still talking about the mall incident?"
I shrugged, "Apparently it's fascinating and gives this little town an ounce of excitement."
Turning back to me his eyes searches mine, "What about you? How are you doing? You know about what happened?"
I shook my head as I closed my eyes, "It was weird, Linda said that Angelica was in the room, but I didn't see her and then everything happened so fast. One second she was up, and the next," I shook my head, "Dad said it was because of her high blood pressure, but I don't believe him."
Placing his hand on the side of my face he runs his thumb in a circular motion on my cheek as he says, "Everything is okay. She's okay and you're going to be okay, and that is all that matters to me right now."
I nod as I cover his hand with my own, leaning into his palm. We sat like that for a moment, before he moved turning sideways, with his back to me, as he lays his head down on my lap.
"Give me a few minutes then I'll drop you off." He says as he closes his eyes.
"Only if I get to mess with your curls."
Raising up his hand he pulls his curls out of the messy bun letting them fall over my thigh as he says, "Have at it."
I smiled as I run my hand through his curls. He smiles shaking his head as he says, "You should feel special."
"Why is that?"
"Because, I don't let people touch my hair."
"I guess I'm just lucky or something huh?"
Opening one of his eyes at me he says, "Or something."
We sat there for a few minutes, as I twirled a curl over and over around my finger, letting my thoughts run wildly. As the minutes went by, I noticed that Harry was now heavier with his weight on me, as I noticed his breathing evening out. I smiled as I looked up towards the filed. Daniel, Marcus, and Carter were already off the field but there were a few players still there. Spotting Liam near the side lines, he laughs, talking with Niall as Gary and a few other players walk up to them.
"Harry?" I say.
"Hmm?" he hums sending a warm shutter through me.
"Gary and a few players are going up to Liam."
Harry opens his eyes looking at me as he turns he head towards the field, following my gaze as he sits up listening to what was being said between the two. He waits a moment before standing up.
"Stay here."
"But,"
"No."
Walking down the bleachers he walks to the railing as he places a hand on it before swiftly jumping over it, landing perfectly on the ground below. I watched him as he crosses the field in a slight jog, hating the fact that I couldn't hear what was going on.
I sat there watching them for a moment when out of nowhere I started seeing Aura's. Mixed colors surrounded the whole area as my hands began tingling.
"Anna."
Looking around I could see that nobody around me was looking my way.
"Anna."
A voice calls again in a magically singing tone, this time sending chill's through me. Looking over at Harry, he stood there arms crossed listening to whatever Gary was saying, with the expression that showed he couldn't give a rat ass about anything he was saying.
"Anna."
A voice says again, now sounding closer as I catch the smell of the woods. Looking up towards where the parking lot was, I stood looking towards the woods when I catch a figure in white standing there.
"Annabelle, come to me."
The voice sings softly. Placing my things into my bag, my eyes never left the woods as I stood and made my way down and off the bleachers.
"Come to me."
The voice echoed and repeated over and over in my head, making every sound around me fade away. It was like I was in a trance. Common sense would have told me to stay away or to call Harry but, my judgment was clouded by the voice. The closer and closer I got to the woods, the more and more I could feel the warmth from Harry fading from me.
"Come to me."
Walking into the woods I could feel the branches breaking underneath my steps as the smell of dirt field my nose. After walking for a moment the voice stops as I stop and look around. I didn't recognize the area, but I knew I was very far out.
"Hello?" I called out.
Leaves rustled as a heavy gust of wind blew out of nowhere. Shutting my eyes I dropped my bag as I raised my arm, blocking the dirt from flying into my eyes.
Harmonic singing mixed with laughter began to fill the area as the wind slowed and I moved my arms. Four girls in white danced around a small fire as one stopped and turned towards me.
"Annabelle!" she yells in excitement as she runs to me, with another following, kissing both of my cheeks before they wraps their arms around me, "You've made it!"
I looked at the girls confused, "Made it? Made it where?"
"To here silly." The one with Blond hair smiles as she pulls away from me, grabbing both of my hands into hers. Standing not even a foot from her I took her in, she was about my height, give or take an inch or two, blond hair that ran passed her shoulder, and she wore a diamond studded stud in her nose, as her eyes were bright blue. She wore a long white dress with no shoes. The one who stood on my other side hair was long and black, curly, eyes were dark brown, she was the same height as the blond hair girl.
"Where is here?" I asked as I looked around.
"Nan! Nan!" yells another girl who was dancing with the one who was hugging me, "Nan! She's here!"
Looking up over the blond girls shoulder I noticed that her friends wore a dress like hers but there hair was different. There lengths were about the same length, were as one had light brown and her eyes were a light brown offsetting her eyes, the other had deep red, loose curls falling down her back as I noticed her eyes were a hazel green. Movements were made behind them as they look up at me and smiles. Looking up to the person who was walking up, I shook my head unable to get my thoughts together.
"Hello sweetheart." She smiles, "Cat got your tongue."
"You're," I shake my head, "You're dead, I watched you pass in your bed."
She smiles as she runs her hand over the brown hair girl cheek, "Jade, Jesy" she says addressing the girl, "Why don't you two, Perrie and Leigh-Anne, give me and Anna a moment."
Jade, nods as she holds her hand out towards Perrie, who was still holding onto my hands.
"Hope to see you soon." smiles Perrie as she gives my hands one last squeeze before bouncing off with Leigh-Anne, joining Jade and Jesy, as they bounce off singing again.
"What's going on?" I asked once the girls disappeared behind the trees, "Where am I?"
"We, my dear, are in a place inside your own mind." Says Nan.
"We're inside my head?" I asked.
She nods, "Does this place not look familiar?"
I began to shake my head, but stopped as I looked over to my left to see an old shed sitting there. My eyes begin to wield as I say, "Are we at Uncle Robert's old place?"
She nods.
"Why?"
"Because this was a play you found peace at while you were younger."
Looking around I took in the scene. Large oversize trees, the shed we use to do our art projects in, and off in a far but reasonable distance I could spot the white from the back of his house.
"What are we doing here?" I asked, as I tried to stop my voice from cracking with emotions.
"I came here to give you a little guidance. About what you are becoming."
"No offense, but your dead, how exactly are you giving me anything?"
She smiles, "I take it as you're a girl who doesn't believe much."
"I believe what I see, and what I saw was you dying in your bed in some cabin centuries ago."
She nods, "Yes, not a pleasant day, but the events were necessary."
"Necessary? What are you talking about?" I asked.
She shakes her head, "I'm told that you accessed all four elements, is that true?"
I shrug as I nod, "Yeah I guess."
"Great, then your right on schedule. You need to learn how to control it."
"And how do I do that?" I asked.
"Find something that keeps you leveled, and hold onto it. Focus on it, and it should act as an anchor while you're controlling it."
"Focus on the element, but find something that keeps me leveled so it can act as my anchor? Well that shouldn't be hard." I say sarcastically.
"This isn't a game, my child, you have a job to do."
"I don't remember filling out an application for this position. I don't want to be a witch." I say.
"The world works in mysterious ways, maybe we will be able to rewrite history this time around."
"I don't want to do this."
"You have no choice!" she snaps, "Either you learn to protect yourself or you will get killed. Annabelle, most people would kill to have this responsibilities, these gifts."
"Great," I say, "Then they can have it." I say as I turn around to leave.
"You are going to have to learn. I rather it be now then after you are attacked." She says, "Evil is looming closer and closer. You will have until the witches moon to learn your gifts before you ascend."
"Witches moon?" I asked confused, "What is that?"
"2 months following All Hallows Eve, there is a moon that will rise, in which you will ascend your to your full powers."
"My full powers? I'll be able to do more than mess with the elements?"
She nods, "You'll be able to channel the magic for spells better, and your abilities will expand in which your control over the elements will grow as well. That will be very dangerous."
"More dangerous than me freezing rain mid air?"
She nods, "Much dangerous. Annabelle if you don't have control of the elements before you ascend, with one wrong flick of the wrist or one emotional argument, you can very well flood a town."
I stared at her wide eyed, "I'm sorry did you just say flood a town?"
Warmth crept over me as the light around us dimmed a bit, "I must go, my child."
"No wait!" I say, "How do I control the elements? Is there like a how to book or something?"
"Control your emotions. You're emotions tie to how your magic works. Once you control that, ascending will be no problem."
"Pebbles!"
Turning around I searched for Harry as his voice surrounds me.
"Annabelle." Says Nan. Turning to her she says, "Becareful around his kind."
"Who Harry?" I shake my head, "He isn't a threat."
"Just be careful."
I nod, "I will."
Smiling at me she brings her hands together like she was going to pray as she says, "Blessed be my child."
I looked at her in confusion as I say, "Blessed be?"
The scene around me shakes as I cover my eyes from dirt flying into my eyes.
-------
"Pebbles!"
Hands clasp my face as I could feel Harry hovering over me.
"Pebbles, speak to me. Are you alright?"
I nod as I blink wildly before my eyes focused on his green ones, "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" he asked, "You disappeared and wasn't answering your phone, and I couldn't catch your scent."
Looking around I noticed that I was laying on the ground.
"How did I get down here?" I asked.
He shrugs, "No clue, this is how I found you, did you have another vision?"
I shook my head then stopped as I said, "Maybe, but this one was different."
"How so?"
"They spoke to me."
"Who spoke to you?"
"Angelica's grandmother, and these four girls in white."
"Where?"
Sitting up I groan as I say, "In the backyard of my Uncle Robs place."
"That doesn't make any sense." He says as he takes my hand to help me stand.
"Who you telling." I say as I dust my pants off.
"What did she want?" he asked as he grabbed my bag.
"To tell me that I have to control my abilities with the elements before the witches' moon."
"The witches' moon? Isn't that in like a couple months?"
"Apparently."
"We'll work it out." He says, "How do you feel though?"
"A little dizzy."
"Let's get you out of here. Your brother is looking for you."
I nod as he places a hand on the lower part of my back as we head out of the woods. Looking back at the spot I just was as I could still faintly hear the giggles of Jade, Perrie, Leigh, and Jesy.
Are they witches too? Are the supposed to help me, and but what question bothered me the most was how in the did they pull me into that vision, dream, or whatever that was?