Enchant Me (13 page)

“Christian I can’t hang out today. I am on
the prom planning committee and our meeting is this afternoon at
Michelle’s house.”

He looked kind of bemused and surprised at
the same time. “I know, generally only seniors would be on the
committee but Michelle, my friend from yearbook, is on the
committee and liked some of the ideas we had tossed around in class
so she brought me on board. It was actually my idea to do a
Masquerade ball with everyone wearing masks and being introduced
like royalty as they walk in.”

He stepped closer and took my hand, his eyes
gentle as he looked into mine. “You know you never did give me an
answer.”

Blinking up at him, I let my confusion show
on my face. “Will you go to prom with me?”

I laughed and threw my arms around him. “Of
course,” I answered and then gave him a quick kiss goodbye.
Predictably running late, I jammed the key into the ignition, my
helmet on my head, and rode off.

The next couple days were some of the
happiest of my life. I could feel Christian and I getting closer,
the bond between us getting tighter. It probably should have scared
the heck out of me, but it didn’t. Tina was thrilled about meeting
Jim on Saturday, and Michelle had started dating one of her
brother’s friends from college. Even my mom was happily planning a
possible vacation to Hawaii. And everyone seemed excited about the
race on Saturday. I had a hard time getting to sleep Friday night
from being too anxious about the next day. 

Sometimes even having two alarm clocks isn’t
enough. Luckily I had a kitten that liked to be fed on a regular
basis and wasn’t above playing dirty if I ignored him. Glancing
over at my two clocks still going off like they were about to
burst, I confirmed my worst fear. If I wanted to make it in time
for registration, safety checks, and practice I would have to leave
within minutes with not a speck of makeup or hair done.

Lifting Cody and his sharp little claws off
me, I stumbled over to his food bowl, and poured his food --not all
of it making it in the bowl. Thankfully he still had water. I threw
on the required leather jump suit, grabbed an eyeliner, mascara and
lip balm as I headed out the door. Hopefully I would get a chance
at some point to put them on. As much as I enjoyed my
motorcycle buddies, time seemed to drag until the track would open
for spectators and Christian and all my friends would be here.

Finally, I could see his dark head amidst my
friends. As they picked out their seats I glanced at Michelle who
gave me the thumbs up. Things must be going well for Jim and Tina.
I kept looking until I found them. Their heads were bent towards
each other and as I watched, Jim bent down to apparently whisper in
her ear, and they both had the same idiotic grin I always had
around Christian. It looked like mission accomplished. I ran over
to everyone to say hi and get my good luck kiss from Christian
before the race. As he caught sight of me he ran up to greet
me, lifting me up in his arms and plastering one hell of a kiss on
me. When he set me back down he looked me over like I had dressed
this way specifically for him. But there was worry in his gaze
too. 

“What?” I finally asked unable to take the
suspense. 

“I’m worried about you. How many times have
you done this before?” he grumbled, his hands pushing my hair back
over my shoulders.

“Lots. Don’t worry-- all of us take every
precaution possible.”

He smelled so good and looked so insanely
gorgeous that I did my best to ignore the heat in his eyes as my
friends ran up to join us. 

Tina ran up first and gave me a hug, her eyes
lit up like it was Christmas day. “This is so great, Michelle’s
even going to do a story for the school paper.” 

My eyes widened at this, I didn’t think I
needed any more notoriety, but once Michelle got an idea in her
head she was hard to stop. As I looked over at Jim he gave a slight
nod in greeting but he was completely absorbed with Tina,
practically stepping on her in his efforts to be as close as
possible and block any attempts from any other guys making eyes at
her. Maybe I should give up photography and go into match-making
full time. Time was running out so I waved at everyone else,
gave a last quick kiss to Christian and reluctantly posed for a
picture for the school paper, making a mental note to have a few
words with Michelle about what the definition of keeping a low
profile means. 

Once at the start point, I pushed all
thoughts out of my mind except the race. I wasn’t generally
competitive but it would be nice to win one race, especially when I
actually had supporters in the stands. At the starting light I
got a good jump off the line that for a short-lived moment had me
on the heels of the leader Chris Wynn, but I was soon pinched off
by riders on both sides, forcing me to fall to the back of the
group. As I pushed into the first lap I started strategizing,
passing the rider just in front of me when the rear of my cycle
started to come around. Through sheer force of will I got control
of the slide and recovered, but I had missed my chance to pass. I
forced myself not to dwell on the mistake and stepped up my speed;
I was going to have to get really aggressive. I started searching
for holes to navigate through, but there didn’t seem to be any. It
was pretty congested even in the turns. 

Trying to pick up speed before the next turn
came up, I felt my head start to throb and dizziness threaten. Oh
god no, not now! I didn’t even have the time or the chance to fight
it. Before I knew it an image forced itself into my mind and
exploded in front of my eyes. I saw Chris Wynn’s cycle come
out right from under him in the turn. As he and his bike tumbled
across the pavement the other riders that had been close started
slamming into both of them. I jerked my head away in horror but
even as the vision faded away, I could see Chris begin to take the
turn. Already I could see the wobbling start, it was too late…The
nightmarish vision was happening.

With only a split second to consider, I
forced my bike to spin out in a low side crash; applying both
brakes I let my bike skid out from me and we slid across the
pavement. I took a quick glance back to make sure the one guy
behind me missed me, which he did, narrowly missing my head. Seeing
the pileup just in time he pulled to a rocky stop just ahead of me.
When I finally came to a halt I rolled over to my hands and knees
and tried to see what had happened to Chris Wynn and the others,
but all I could see was flames, motorcycle parts, and riders
sprawled out across the road.

Even as I watched, the emergency workers were
running out onto the field along with half the bleachers, it
seemed. I desperately wanted to help and make sure everyone was ok,
but I knew I would just be in the way. Before the reality of what
had happened really hit me, I was surrounded by my
friends. Christian kneeled down next to me and removed my
helmet.

He stared deep into my eyes probably seeing
that they were as clear-headed as they ever were. “Are you ok?”

 I nodded my head, but what disturbed me
was the wary look in his eyes again. He wrapped his arms around me
and lifted me to standing, and after a brief bear hug, he released
me and stepped back, letting my friends take the job of fussing
over me. Most everyone had assumed I had made a lucky mistake that
had saved my life, but I noticed Christian wasn’t saying or doing
anything. He was actually slowly distancing himself from all of us,
standing on the very outskirts of our circle. Confusion and
despair swamped me.

I didn’t understand why he would react this
way--then it occurred to me. Out of all my friends he was the only
one that rode motorcycles, the only one that would have realized
that my lucky accident hadn’t been an accident at all. At least
most of the other spectators would have been watching the front
runners, not the back of the pack. But Christian…surely wouldn’t
guess the truth. Glancing at him one last time, I noted the sad,
resigned expression on his face, watched hopelessly as he turned
away from me. All the sudden I felt all my emotions crash down
on me.

It was all too much, the horrific crash that
must have injured a lot of my friends, Christian avoiding me, the
truth of what my grandmother had been trying to tell me, the
feeling of hopelessness that I had for being unable to save anyone
but myself. Surely my gift would be more useful than that. I
absolutely refused to break down in front of everyone, but I knew I
wouldn’t be able to keep it together for much longer. With one
potent look at Tina, she dispersed everyone around us. Then she
asked Jim to load my motorcycle into his truck, he could drop it
off at her house later, and then she led me to her car.

As we walked she kept looking back at the
pile up of riders and cycles and I could tell the aspiring doctor
in her desperately wanted to help the injured riders, but being the
amazing friend she was—her first loyalty was to me. I knew she had
already noticed Christian’s aloofness and had picked up on the fact
I didn’t anticipate him taking me home. I got right into her car
and shut the door, not risking a single glance at him. I didn’t
want him to see how badly he was hurting me. I could hear him
talking to Tina as she got into the car. 

“Can you call me and let me know how she is
doing?” he queried softly. 

“No, call her yourself,” she replied coolly
as she slammed the door on him. 

“Thanks… for everything,” I whispered and
then broke down into sobs as we pulled out of the lot.

She wanted to pull over to give me a hug and
help me calm down but I just wanted to get away from the race
track. Like a homing pigeon, my only drive and need was to get back
to Steilacoom. Since I didn’t want to go home and deal with my
mom’s questions and subsequent drama, we drove straight to her
house and closeted ourselves in her room as soon as we got there.
As much as I loved her mom Tracy, I was glad she wasn’t there. I
didn’t need any other witnesses to my meltdown.

While I didn’t feel ready to talk about my
gifts yet, I could certainly tell her everything else. When I had
finally calmed down and regained control I could tell by the look
in Tina’s eyes that she knew something wasn’t right.

“Spill,” she demanded and so I
did.  

CHAPTER 7

Walking up the pathway to my Grandma Anne’s
house, I looked up at the sky and watched how the angry grey clouds
seemed to march across it, the trees up on the hill and in her yard
were swaying sharply back and forth from the strength of the wind,
and the smell of rain was in the air. It reflected my mood
perfectly. After knocking on her door, I waited impatiently to
be let in. Seeming to sense the state I was in, she said nothing as
we headed to her morning room in the back of the house. After I sat
down she handed me a hot cup of raspberry tea while she sat down
with her morning coffee and for a time we were quiet, taking turns
staring out the window. Then finally she spoke.

“How is your familiar?”

I could hear the hint of a smile in her voice
and I finally turned to face her. I knew she had brought up Cody
first as an easy ice-breaker compared to what she suspected was
coming, and it worked. I loved Cody like crazy. 

“He’s perfect of course. He seems very
intuitive to my needs and moods. I feel like I can see the devotion
and love in his eyes. He’s the best gift I ever got, thank
you.”

She smiled at me but I could see the concern
behind it. “I was glad to get him for you,” she said, turning her
coffee cup around and around in her hands. “I take it something has
happened,” she mused.

I took a sip of my tea and nodded. “Do you
remember that day you called and asked me to come
over?” “Yes.”

“That was the first time it happened,” I
sighed. “This headache just came on from nowhere. I even got a
little dizzy for a moment and then I found myself opening the phone
and knowing it was you before it had barely rung.”

 “But that isn’t why you are here.
Something else has happened,” she prodded.

I nodded again. “I have had mainly two
visions since then. I have been dating this guy Christian; his
parents died a couple of years ago. I’m telling you that cause I
think it is relevant to the vision but I don’t know how. I seem to
be having repeating visions of him in a forest in pain and I can
hear his parents arguing nearby but I can’t see them. I have no
idea what the vision is supposed to mean or how I am supposed to
help. When I have tried to talk to him about how they died, he
shuts me down. I don’t know what to do,” I finished, the
frustration ringing in my voice. 

She reached over and patted my hand. “I can’t
claim to be an expert at this, but if he is unable to talk about it
maybe it’s because he hasn’t dealt with it yet.”

“It feels like there is something more to it
but I don’t know what.”

She seemed to mull that over for a moment
before she moved on. “What was the other vision?”

I looked at her warily, “You have got to
promise not to tell my mom or dad.”

I certainly didn’t need my parents to forbid
my racing because of the accident, or worse try to get me to sell
my bike altogether. She wasn’t pleased but she finally nodded her
head in agreement. “I raced yesterday at the track in Kent. It
happened as we were going into our second lap. I got a vision of
one of the riders ahead of me losing control of his bike in a turn,
and since everyone was riding so tightly together there was no way
for them to avoid crashing into him. It was horrible.”

I felt the tears start to well up as I
remembered. I got up to re-heat my tea, giving myself a second to
pull it together. She didn’t get up to hug me knowing how I hated
to feel weak. I started to pace the room to distract
myself.