"Stop it, before you both get suspended!" I yell at them.
"Sebastian's just upset I get to take you to the Ball, and he can't." Samuel laughs.
"You knew," Sebastian glares at him.
"Of course, I knew. What amuses me is the fact that you didn't."
"That's enough. Samuel, let's go," I gram him by his shirt and pull him toward the cafeteria. "Walk me to class."
Samuel gives Sebastian a smug smile, and Sebastian puts his fist through a wall.
I've never seen him this angry before.
"Thank you for walking me to class."
"No problem," Samuel replies. "You should let me call you sometime."
"I'll think about it," I frown.
Giving him a quick hug, I hurry off to class. A class Sebastian and I are partnered in. Only, I'm not ready to talk to him yet.
Unfortunately, he strolls in just before the bell rings, and Ms. McKenna gives him a warning look. Keeping my eyes on the chalkboard, I ignore him. But I can feel Sebastian's eyes burrowing into the side of my head. And after five minutes of pretending not to notice him staring, I give in. Looking over at him.
"Don't shut me out, talk to me," he tells me.
"Now you want to talk," I scoff. Shaking my head.
"Look, I know I've been mean to you b-."
"Mean is an understatement. You hurt me, Sebastian."
"I know, and I'm sorry," he apologizes.
"So am I," I snap at him. "I needed you and you turned your back on me. Just like everyone else. At a time when I needed you most. And you left me to fend for myself."
"Angelique... you should've told me about the things you could do."
"Why would I tell you anything? You're rude and you don't care about anyone but yourself. Besides, I don't trust you. And I don't want people thinking I'm some freak."
"Okay, but I almost killed your cousin thinking she was you," he tells me.
"Yeah, well, that's a little something called karma for you both." I scoff.
"I need you to listen to me and take what I'm about to say seriously. You need to keep your distance from Samuel."
"Ah, so that's what this is about. First, you didn't want to be my friend, and now you don't want Samuel and I to be friends either."
"It's more than that, but I can't explain it right now. Whatever path you choose will have to be your own," Sebastian sighs.
"Good, because I'm going with Samuel to the Ball," I tell him.
"Angelique, I-"
"No talking Mr. Christiani!" Ms. McKenna shouts at him.
Sebastian glares at her like she's the one interrupting. Then with a clockwise twirl of his index finger, everythingfreezes. Ms. McKenna stands frozen mid-rant, and everyone else is frozen too. Everyone else but Sebastian and me.
No wonder he didn't seem surprised when he saw what I could do.
"What happened to Anna? Why did she almost die when she kissed you?" I ask curiously.
"I'm not meant to have contact with others, or they'll die," he answers.
"So, if you kissed me, would I die?"
"No."
"Does that mean I'm like you?"
"I don't know," he shrugs. "All I know is I was sent here to find you."
"That's why you suddenly dropped me like a bad habit," I realize. "You were going after Anna because you thought she was me."
"Yes," he nods. "I didn't have a choice. All I knew was I was here to find someone, and once I found them, I'd have to leave. It didn't make sense to get involved with someone I might end up killing by getting too close to her, or someone I'll have to leave in the end anyway."
Nodding, I tell him, "I understand. But I'm still mad at you."
"Well, I hope you can forgive me. I didn't know it was you."
"That day, behind the building during sixth period, you were going to kiss me, weren't you? You could've gotten your answer then."
"I was afraid of being wrong, and I didn't want to chance it." Sebastian explains. Melting my heart. "Now that I know I have the right girl, wipe that goofy look off your face so we can learn something."
He twirls his index finger counterclockwise in the air, and everyone starts moving again. I'm impressed, but it's more than that. All the things that scared me about myself are what brought him here. What brought him to me.
And he can do things too. Which is the best part of all because I'm no longer alone. All I need to do now is find out what that means for me. If he's been searching for me, he must have answers.
Elated, I can't concentrate on anything. Sebastian and I were speaking to each other again, and whatever my future holds, I know going forward, he'll be a part of it.
The bell rings for sixth period, Sebastian walks me to P.E. The hail has stopped coming down now, and the skies are clear. And though I feel as if a weight has been lifted off me, there's still a lot of questions I need answered. Like what role Sebastian and his friends play in whatever is coming.
"I have a question," I tell him.
"I'm listening," he nods.
"What does Samuel have to do with this?"
"It's complicated. That's all that I can tell you. Once you know more, you'll understand why."
"Should I be afraid?" I asked.
"If he succeeds in what I suspect he'll try to persuade you to do, the results would be life changing for everyone." He tells me.
Every time he answers my questions, it leaves me with more questions.
"I have a grandmother somewhere. If I can find her, I think she might have answers about my father. Will you help me?"
"Just let me know what you need to me do."
Now that we're on speaking terms, there's another question that bothers me about him.
"How did you know I was here?" I asked. "How did you know to look in Covington?"
"The birds," he points to the sky. "They told us where to look."
"So, all those birds that fell from the sky... all that was for me?"
"Yes. The amount of energy you put out attracts them. But it's too much for them to withstand."
"Hm. There's something else that's been bothering me," I tell him.
"I'm listening."
"Do you remember when Anna called me a murderer?"
"Yes."
"When I was six my foster father attacked me, and this... this thing that looked like a puddle of blood pulled him into the ceiling. Only, when he was spit back out, it looked like a bear had mauled him. Was that me? Did I hurt him?"
"What you're talking about are reflections. And no, you had nothing to do with that. In fact, your heart is too pure and so is your spirit. Which means you couldn't kill anyone even if you wanted to. Besides, it's their ill intentions that bring about reflections," Sebastian explains. "Reflections are created for our protection. And they come when they sense your life is in danger."
"How can that be? The same thing happened to my best friend Emily. Only, she accused me of trying to kill her."
"A reflection acts as a defense mechanism, Angelique. Anyone who attempts to harm you is harmed themselves."
"Why would Emily want to harm me?" I ask. "We were friends."
"That's a good question," he shrugs. "But maybe your friend Emily, was never really your friend. And that's why she lied to the police and told them you attacked her."
"That same reflection was hovering over my bed when I woke up to Samuel in my room.
He had a snake, and when he kissed me on the forehead, I think I passed out."
Horror spreads across Sebastian's face. Closing his eyes, he inhales deeply and exhales slowly.
We have less than a minute before class ends, and I don't want our conversation to end. But Sebastian promises to pick up where we left off as soon as I'm dressed.
Now that the floodgates to all this knowledge have been opened, I want to know everything. So, when Sebastian offers me a ride home, I take it. Only, I can tell what I told him about Samuel still bothers him.
"What's wrong?" I ask.
"Tell me everything that happened that night," he demands.
"I told you already."
"I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. That reflection should have killed him, but it didn't. Which means he's gotten stronger."
Huh...?
"I don't get it. Why? And stronger how? What does that even mean?" I scoff.
"You didn't offer yourself to him, did you?" He asks.
"No. I was too weirded out that he was even in my room. But he did kiss me on the forehead. That's all I remember."
"Listen to me very carefully. There are many who want you in more ways than I can explain to you right now. There's goodness inside you, and they want to destroy it. But we can't let them."
"Why? Will I die?"
"No, but it's not a good thing." He shakes his head. "And I've already said too much, Angel. Please be careful with him."
"Okay." I nod.
An awkward silence settles between us. Before he looks over at me with those all-seeing eyes of his and sighs.
"I should have known it was you, but I wasn't thinking clearly."
"How am I connected to you and Samuel?"
"I made a terrible mistake," Sebastian explains. "And I can't leave until I put right the wrong, I've done."
"And that includes me?" I ask.
"Yes."
I get the feeling there's something Sebastian isn't telling me. But I'm not about to call him on it. Not when he's staring off at something. Preoccupied with his thoughts.
We pull up to my house, but before I get out, I reach up to gently turn his face, so his eyes meet mine. Then I say, "Kiss me."
Sebastian smiles and gently removes my hands from his face. Only, my skin reacts to him when he touches me. It's like there's this transference of energy, but a different type of energy. And a type I've never felt before.
"You should get inside," he tells me. "I'll meet you in your room."
"Okay." I nod.
What was with him and climbing through windows?
Aunt Sarah, Uncle Cliff, Alex, and Anna are all sitting on the sofa, waiting for me when I walk in the house. And I know before Aunt Sarah speaks that she knows.
"Come... sit. Please," she pats the space next to her.
"Is Anna Okay?"
"Yes, and Alex told us what happened at school. But I need to hear your side of it, because it sounds... well... it sounds crazy," she smiles nervously.
"I can show you better than I can tell you," I tell her.
After exchanging a confused glance with Uncle Cliff, she nods and says, "Then show me."
"Stand up and hold hands," I tell them. I'll only have the energy to do this once.
They do as I ask, skeptically I might add, and I hold my hands out. Encouraging them to take one. And its Uncle Cliff who makes the first move.
"I want you to know me most of all because you're my family. But I must warn you some thing's may be a little hard to stomach."
"Got it," Aunt Sarah nods.
Closing my eyes, I focus on my very first memory. A birthday party Deborah gave me when I was two. From there, it moves to Michael attacking me and being killed. To my rejection from Deborah, growing up in a group home during my awkward years, preteen years, and through Emily's near death with the blood. Then it goes through how Emily accused me of trying to kill her, and my days in the mental institution.
I show them everything all the way up until after I brought Anna back to life, and then I broke contact.
"Angel... I didn't know. I... I didn't know," Aunt Sarah sobs.
"It's okay, there's a lot about me that even I don't understand yet. And I don't know why I'm like this, I just know that I can do things like heal people." I look over at Anna.
"What about Sebastian?" Anna asks. "Is he...?"
"I don't know."
"He thought I was you, didn't he?" She realizes.
"Yes. And I know you all have a lot of questions, but I must go," I tell them.
"Angel, I'm so sorry," Aunt Sarah apologizes to me again.
I hug her hoping to give her some comfort, then head up to my room. When I walk in, Sebastian is standing in the middle of my room going through the box of stuff I collected on my family.
"That's everything I've been able to find so far."
"What about your grandmother?" He asks.
"She hung up on me when I tried to talk to her," I sulk.
"Do you have an address for her?"
"Yes. Over there on that sticky note stuck to my wall above the phone."
"That's a two-hour drive. Let's go."
Sebastian is down the hall before I can say anything, and by the time I get to the hall he's already downstairs. Hurrying to catch up to him, I almost run into him. He's stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and motions for me to be quiet.
Quietly, he makes his way into the living room where he places his index finger to his lips and tells everyone not to speak. Once the room is quiet, I hear a slight hissing sound. And pulling a bow and wooden arrow from underneath his jacket, Sebastian stands in front of me to shield me with his body.
He raises his bow and arrow into the air, and I watch as what looks like the same snake Samuel was holding springs through the air toward Aunt Sarah. She screams and Sebastian catches it mid-flight with an arrow, impaling it to the wall where it erupts into a bright light then disappears.
"That was..."
"Yes, it was," Sebastian nods. "I'm taking Angelique to find her grandmother. Fill a cup full of water, bless it, and poor it in every entryway from the outside. It will protect you."
He walks up to each of them and draws circles with his finger on their foreheads. Circles that illuminate a bright blue light. Then he grabs me by the wrist and takes me out to his car. And after putting my grandma's address in his phone, we leave to find her.