A Girl Between (20 page)

“What is that?” I asked in a shaky voice.

Nadya glanced over at Dika before answering me, “There is a
time when your father will come.  He knows about you and he is coming here to
help.”

I had to sit there for a minute to digest that information. 
My father?  I haven’t thought about my father for years.  The last time I saw
him, I was 3 years old.  I don’t know him.  Why would he be coming now?  Dika
could see that I was distressed.  She sat next to me and squeezed my hand.  I
felt a pleasant zing up my arm and through my shoulders. That felt amazing!  I
studied Dika closely and noticed a shimmery silver haze twirling around her
head and her hands.  It’s apparent that she is a very old soul.

“Do you know what’s going on with my dad?”  I whispered to
her.

“It is good, Tess.  I believe he is coming here to help
you.  That is all I know,” she said softly.

Mrs. Petrov stood up and hustled over to Mercy and Tess. 
“Girls, I hope that reading was alright for you.  Mercy, I’m so sorry for the
sad news about your grandmother.  Perhaps you can go and visit her.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Petrov.  I plan on visiting her.  It was so
kind of you to have us over. Thank you for the tea and cake.” Mercy gave her a
hug. 

As we started walking toward the door, a whirl of activity
suddenly appeared at my feet.  Empress Stephania and Her Royal Highness had
come running over to me, howling loudly, circling frantically.  Princess Hannah
jumped from the back of the couch to my shoulders, as if trying to grab onto
me.  Her claw caught on my jacket for a second then she landed on the floor. 
It was as if she was trying to keep me from leaving!  She then joined in with
the other two cats, loudly meowing and howling.  It was freaky.  While Siamese
cats can get ‘talky’, if you know what I mean, I’ve never heard such
commotion.  They almost sounded like crying babies.  Were they trying to tell
me something?  Yeah, sure they are!  I better get a grip.

“What are they doing?”  I turned and asked Dika.

“They are worried about you, Tessie.  They don’t want you to
leave here,” Dika answered gravely.

“They’re WORRIED about me?  Come on, they’re cats, yes,
Siamese cats, but they’re still cats!”  I shook my head.  

I glanced down and saw Her Royal Highness trying to crawl up
my jeans.  “Why is she doing that?”

Mrs. Petrov remarked, “They sense that you are in danger. 
Felines are very perceptive.  Perhaps they want to warn you.”

“Warn me?  That’s insane.  What do they know?” I declared. 
At that moment, Empress Stephania swiped at my jeans.  Her claw went right
through to my skin. “Ouch! That hurt!”  I yelled at her.  She yowled back at
me!  That cat must be crazy!

“Tess, don’t you know about felines?” Nadya looked at me
inquiringly.

“No, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I retorted.

Mrs. Petrov placed a hand on my shoulder.  “Tess, why don’t
you sit for a minute and give the cats your attention.  We can explain who they
are.”

I sat down in a chair by the front door.  Her Royal Highness
and Princess Hannah squeezed themselves onto my lap and Empress Stephania sat
next to me, licking my arm with her sandpaper tongue.  They were meowing and
staring at me with their intense blue eyes.

Dika bent over and scratched Princess Hannah on her head who
responded by purring loudly. “These beautiful felines are reincarnated witches,
Tess.  I’m sure that your cat, Beauty Queen is also a witch.  Many Siamese are
reincarnated witches.”

“Witches?  These cats are witches?” I was dumbfounded.  I
never imagined such a thing.

Dika continued scratching the Princess while talking. “They
are all good witches, luminars.  The bad witches would never come back as a
cat.  Good witches are known for incarnating as felines when they’re afraid to
come back as a person.  It frequently occurs after a horrendous life of witch
persecution.  After all, being a cat is usually a more restful existence.”

“So, you’re saying that luminars can choose to be born as a
cat after a terrible life of witch persecution.  Is that the only reason?”  I
asked.

Dika sighed before answering, “Sometimes it is the only way
to get a witch to come back to life on earth.  You might say that it is a way
to ease back in.”

“Nadya added, “Witches do come back as cats for another
reason.  Sometimes, a diabole will set a course to follow a luminar from one
life to the next, especially if the luminar managed to escape persecution. 
Diaboles are not capable of detecting when a witch incarnates as a cat.  So,
you can see that it is a way for a luminar to avoid being followed into the
next life by a diabole.”

“Why don’t bad ones come back as cats?”  I inquired.

Dika sniffed, “Why would they?  It’s not like they need a
rest from discrimination and mistreatment.  They usually live their lives in
the lap of luxury.  Besides, they’ve always hated cats.  If anything, they
might come back as some other nasty creature.”

Mrs.
Petrov commented, “I believe they usually come back as rats.  It is a way to
pass on disease, and they like to scurry around in the dark, scaring people.”

“Hey, I just realized something,” Mercy said, looking
thoughtful.  “Cats were pretty much exterminated during the Middle Ages because
they were thought to be in league with witches.  Was that done on purpose by
the evil ones?  Did they know that cats could be incarnates of good witches?”

Mrs. Petrov nodded her head in agreement.  “Yes, the evil
ones were completely aware of what they were doing at the time. They knew they
were punishing good witches. Of course, they eventually paid for their reckless
murder of the felines.  The plague germs spread like wild fire, since the cats
were not there to kill the rats.  Many of the bad witches ended up dying of
plague, along with the nasty rats, and all others who also died of that awful
disease!”

I stroked each cat in turn.  “What do you think these cats
want from me?”

Mrs. Petrov answered darkly, “They want you to understand
their concern.  They know what is coming.  They will help in any way they can.”

“I truly appreciate their offer, but honestly, what can they
do?”  I asked, as a feeling of despair swept over me.  Suddenly, the three
felines jumped up, stalking around my ankles and howling.  What’s up with
them?  You’d think I slammed their tails in a door!

Mercy laughed, shaking her head.  “Tess, they’re upset
because you’re dismissing them.  Have you ever seen a cat in a fight?  My cat,
Prince William, almost killed a dog that was twice his size.  The poor dog made
the mistake of cutting across the corner of our property.”

Mrs. Petrov nodded emphatically. “Tessie, my dear, cats are
the only domesticated creatures that could survive in the wilds if they had to. 
It is because they are such fierce hunters and fighters.  And these aren’t
ordinary cats after all.  They have the hearts and souls of witches.”

“There’s something else.  I wouldn’t have believed it if I
hadn’t seen it for myself,” Nadya said in quiet amazement.  She went over to
scratch Empress Stephania on the head before continuing, “It happened at our
farm in New York about four weeks after Princess Hannah and Her Royal Highness
were born.  They were in one of the horse stalls in the barn.  I was leading a
horse back in when I heard a commotion near the cats.  A wild boar was in
there, circling them, about to attack.  The momma cat was hissing and standing
in front of her kitties, but she didn’t stand a chance.  I was running around
looking for a pitchfork when I head this insane shriek.

“I turned to see a flying ball of fur and claws attacking
the boar.  I presumed it was the momma cat until I turned to the cats and
realized that the momma cat was still there.  Then, I watched Princess Hannah’s
metamorphosis.  She arched her back in an attack mode, stretched out her claws
and hissed.  Her claws actually GREW.  They didn’t just stretch out, they grew
about an inch.  And her teeth grew!  I remember thinking that she looked like
vampire cat.  Her scream was terrifying before she flew onto the pig.  I
realized that the other flying fur ball was Her Royal Highness.  The two
kittens eviscerated that nasty boar with their long claws and teeth.  After a
while, the boar stopped squealing.  They tore it to pieces.”

Mercy was incredulous.  “So you’re saying that when they
were attacked their claws and teeth actually grew?”

“That’s right.  They turned into little killing machines. 
It was incredible!  After it was over, they changed back to cute, little
adorable kitties.  Afterward, I wondered if it really happened.  But then, all
I had to do was look at the scraps of flesh and blood that was left of the
pig,” Nadya answered with a shudder.

“Little killing machines”, I thought as I stroked their
silky fur and looked into their beautiful seeing eyes.

The weather was terrible when I woke up the next day.  Even
before I opened my eyes, I could hear howling wind and pounding rain.  After a
loud crash of thunder, Beauty Queen jumped off my bed and ran into the closet. 
I noticed she’s become more sensitive to thunder since we’ve moved here. 
Yesterday wasn’t too bad, only a heavy overcast of gray/black clouds.  Today,
we’re back to the depressing rain.

The school day passed without any major problems.  That’s a
victory of sorts.  There were more new students that showed up in a number of
my classes, some of them with foreign accents. How far did they travel to get
here?  I didn’t want to think about it.  I always made a point to sit as far
away from any of them as I could.  Each one of them would make a point to turn
around to stare at me at some point during class.  Some were just curious, but
most of the new ones viewed me with open hostility.  I was not in the mood to
acknowledge any of them.

At the end of the day, I found myself waiting in the lobby
of the school for Will.  He said that I could ride with him to the Robotics
meet at Rockledge High School.  It was a little early so I stared out the
window at the crappy weather.  There was something unnatural about it – the
constant swirling of ever darkening clouds, and the perpetual wind that sounded
like shrieks of despair.  I’m not familiar with New England weather, but
Grandma Edwina has been complaining about how unusual it is, and she’s lived
here forever.  Deep down, I think it’s related to what’s going on around here. 
It is just too coincidental.  After all, nasty, tempest-raising, witches are
flocking here from all over the globe.  It only makes sense that they would
affect the weather.  It’s their way of putting us on notice.

“Hey, what’s up Tess?” Will plopped down next to me.  “How’s
your neck?”

Will was grinning at me.  It was so nice to see him.  I feel
like I’ve known him forever, even though it’s been only a few weeks.  I had a
sudden urge to give him a big hug.  The goofy expression on my face was
probably making Will a little uneasy so he tipped his head slightly and asked,
“Are you OK?”

“Oh, sorry, I got a little distracted.  Yeah, my neck is
fine.  It only felt stiff for a few days.  It’s just so nice to see you.”  I
smiled warmly at him.  I really meant it.  Will’s been such a rock for me.

“Really?”  His smile went up a notch and the dimples
appeared.  “I’m glad.” 

He looked at his watch. “Hey, let’s get going.  Sam and Doug
are also riding over with us.  I told them we’d see them in here or by my car.”

As we were leaving the building, a large group of kids
passed us on their way in.  I only recognized one from my class on Monday.  It
was the scary girl with metal pieces stuck all over her face.  All of them were
wearing the baggy hoodies that hung over their faces.  They were slinking in like
a pack of jackals.  A few of them deliberately swerved near us so we had to
take an extra step just to get by them.  I refused to move over so I bashed
into the nearest one. 

He turned his face to me.  Was that a nail in his nose?  It
looked hideous.  He said to me in a low sneer, “Watch out, little girl!”

What a jerk!  He’s really pissing me off.  I’m so tired of
constantly feel anxious while I’m in school.  I’m not putting up with this
crap.  Something made me grab his wrist tight and hang on.

“Hey, let go of me,” he whined.  Staring into his eyes, I
knew he was getting nervous. He was just a bully.  He enjoyed pushing a girl
around when he was with his gang of losers.

I smiled at him and mocked, “What?  You’re not afraid of a
girl, are you?”

I stood there and concentrated on how my hand felt.  It was
getting hotter and hotter.  It was feeling tingly now, close to pain.  It
didn’t matter though.

“Hey, you gotta let go of me!  It’s really hurting,” he
moaned.

I was barely conscious of the crowd around me.  Everyone was
just standing there watching.  Suddenly, he screamed at the top of his lungs. 
Guess I should drop his hand.  I leaned right up to within an inch of his face
and hissed, “STAY AWAY FROM ME.”  Then, I dropped my voice a little and added,
“Man, you are ugly.”  As I moved away, I glanced at his arm.  It was pretty
bad.  There was a bright red burn ring around his wrist where my grip was. 
Streaks of red ran up his arm from his wrist.  It looked like a nasty
electrical burn.

People from the crowd were staring at his arm and backing
away from me.  I swung around and looked toward the hoodie gang, deliberately
staring at them as they moved away.  Their macho posturing had ceased, at least
for now.  There was a swirling haze of dark colors interspersed with sharp
streaks of dark red all around them.  You’d think they were walking in a black
fog.  They were evil, spiteful souls.  The streaks of red told me they were
furious but they knew to back off.  As I went off to join Will, I glanced down
at my hands.  They were unmarked.