Freak of Nature (The Lost Witch Trilogy #1) (4 page)

Sarah’s face went white and she stood up, walking slowly towards the window.
“
Race Livingston?
No way,” she said, her voice cracking.

Race Livingston was a loner who lived by himself at the edge of town in a large house. Everyone thought he was really weird.
Some kids claimed he was a serial killer hiding out and other’s thought he had mental problems.
That’s who might be her father?

Zane moved quickly to her side, taking her hand.
The warmth Zane gave her, wrapped around her like a cocoon, comforting her and giving her strength at the same time. Gretchen moved out from behind the counter and came to stand on the other side of her.

“You didn’t know? You really don’t know who your father is?”
she said with a perplexed look on her face.

Sarah leaned her face against the window and traced a star pattern.
“I’ve never been told who my real father is. His name isn’t even on my birth certificate. All my aunt would ever tell me is that he lives around here, but that for some important reason, I shouldn’t know him.”

Gretchen and Zane shared surprised looks over her head. “Honey, come sit down.
Let’s figure this out,” she said and turned the sign to CLOSED before motioning Zane and Sarah to a couch by the fireplace.

“Tell me everything,” Gretchen commanded and pointed to the couch as Sarah looked nervously at her.

Sarah sighed tiredly and wasn’t surprised when Zane sat right next to her, his hand firmly holding hers.

“There’s not much to tell.
I grew up just like any other normal kid until I was about thirteen. That’s when I knew I was different and that I could do things that other people couldn’t. It was at that point that I started giving off this weird protective barrier. I noticed people would wince when they got too close. By the time I was fifteen I no longer had any friends. Some days it’s stronger. And I’ve noticed that some people are more affected by it than others. When I turned seventeen last year, my aunt told me that she and I were witches and that I would need to accept my destiny and all this mumbo jumbo crap.”

Gretchen snorted.
“Lena was always an idiot. Sorry, keep going,” she said, wincing at Zane’s frown.

Sarah picked a piece of lint off her jeans, ignoring Gretchen’s comment. “She’s been getting really pushy about being a witch lately.
She has these meetings once a week where three other ladies and this super icky guy come over and when they leave, the house feels dark and heavy and horrible. I can’t stand to even be in the house sometimes. On some nights, it’s so bad I sleep out in the woods behind my house in an old abandoned tree house. I don’t feel very safe in my house anymore. I feel like I’m being watched even though no one’s there. I feel like something is waiting for me. Something dark and bad,” she said, shivering and feeling sick to her stomach as she finally voiced how she felt.

Gretchen pursed her lips and pulled her feet up under her long cotton skirt while Zane put his arm around Sarah’s shoulder, making her feel safe and warm.

“Has your aunt ever brought up Race’s name?” Gretchen asked curiously not commenting on her aunt’s activities.

Sarah shook her head.
“No, never. When I was fourteen we had a huge fight about it. I insisted on knowing who he was. I mean, all I knew was that it was a man who lived here in town. I wanted to know so badly because, I mean, if I started to like a boy, I didn’t want it to be my brother or cousin or something gross like that.”

Gretchen smiled and nodded her head.
“I see your point. But she wouldn’t tell you, huh?”

Sarah shook her head and played with Zane’s ring on his right hand.
It felt soothing for some reason.

“The harder I pushed the more determined she was to hold his name back from me.
All she would say was that it was for my own good.”

Gretchen nodded her head and took a sip out of her cup as she thought about everything she had just heard.
“Well, I’d say you have a right to know who your father is and that your father has a right to know his daughter. But that’s not really my business. What seems strange to me is that your aunt would tell you that she’s a witch. People don’t just become witches out of the blue. You’re born with it or you’re not. And she was not.”

Sarah shook her head in confusion.
“But I didn’t even know I was different until I was a teenager.”

Gretchen shook her head.
“Every witch comes into their power when they’re teenagers. Rarely you’ll see someone exhibit power before the age of ten. But even babies have a power stamp. A little hum they emit. Sarah, close your eyes and concentrate. Reach out with your mind and try to sense me and Zane. What do you feel?”

Sarah did what she was told and closed her eyes.
She let go of Zane’s hand so she could concentrate and moved her energy out of herself and towards Gretchen. She reached her with her mind and felt a warm haze of sunshine. She did the same to Zane and felt something hotter and brighter. She opened her eyes and smiled.

“I could feel you. But I can sense other people too and they’re not witches.
This boy at school, Lash, I always seem to know exactly where he is.”

Gretchen rubbed her forehead with her hand.
“Okay, first of all, you weren’t sensing me; you just reached out with your energy and
connected
to me. That’s very different and that’s very rare Sarah. Not many witches can do that. Most witches can sense, but they can’t connect. Zane is the only other witch I know who can. I’ve never been able to.”

Sarah turned and stared at Zane.
“So when you wrap around me the way you do, that’s rare? Is that what I just did to you?”

Zane swallowed and looked at her intently, his eyes bright and gleaming.
“Yes, the same way you did this morning when you pushed back at me through your foot. That’s why I was so excited about getting to know you.”

Sarah tore her eyes away from Zane and took a breath.
She decided to think about that later and looked back at Gretchen. “So I can connect but I can’t sense? What’s wrong with me?”

Gretchen sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
“Maybe we’re making this too complicated. Think hard Sarah. When you’re with your Aunt, what do you feel or sense in comparison to what you feel or sense with me?”

Sarah closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the couch.
“When I’m with my aunt, I just feel cornered and poked. Not physically, but like she’s pushing on me or pulling on me. But I don’t feel a light. I just feel, kind of nothing. With you, I feel like you warm the air around you.”

Gretchen smiled and nodded.
“That’s a good description. Witches let off a power around them that does just that. Warm the air around them. Only another witch can sense that warmth.”

Sarah smiled and opened her eyes.
“Okay, I can do this.” And then she frowned. “Those people my mom invites over to the house, they’re not witches either then. Why would they call themselves witches if they’re not? And they’re always wanting me to join them for their meetings. It’s like they’re waiting for me to do something, or like they want something from me.”

Gretchen frowned worriedly.
“Sarah, I don’t want to freak you out, but I’ve known of regular people trying to harness a witch’s power. It usually destroys the witch or breaks her into darkness. And the people who are willing to sacrifice a witch’s soul just for power? They’re predators.”

Sarah looked away from Gretchen’s compassion and worry and stared up at the picture of the ocean above the fireplace instead.
Lena,
a predator
? Would her aunt use her like that? She closed her eyes and felt lonely and cold. She wouldn’t put it past her.

Sarah had Zane drop her off a block away from her house. He was visibly irritated by her insistence, but she held firm. She didn’t want to answer questions about him just yet.
Her aunt wouldn’t like it that’s for sure. She hated Sarah being connected to anyone but her.

She walked up to the older red brick rambler with black shutters and opened the door.
The blast of darkness that hit her as soon as she stepped over the threshold had her putting her arms across her stomach protectively. She swallowed nervously as Gretchen’s words ran through her mind for the hundredth time. Her aunt’s friends were here to use her and change her. And she didn’t want anything to do with it.

She heard low murmurs coming from the kitchen as she walked softly down the hallway towards her room.
She shut the door quickly and grabbed a book, her favorite blanket and some clean jeans and a sweater. She shoved it all in her back pack and slowly opened her door. She saw movement down the hallway and held her breath.

“I think I heard the front door Lena. I hope Sarah’s ready tonight because I don’t want to wait any longer,” a man’s voice said, carrying down the hallway on a stream of excitement.

Sarah eased away from the door and turned her bedroom light off.
She quickly moved to her window and slid it open. She jumped the three feet to the flower bed below and turned to stare up at the window. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the feel of metal in her mind and heard the window shut itself. She smiled in satisfaction. Her smile turned into a grimace of annoyance though as someone turned the light on in her room. She sprinted quickly away and into the shadows.

She had been brutally honest with her aunt about not being a part of her group of friends or joining in any of their activities.
Before when Lena demanded to know where she went at night, Sarah had told her she went to Jill Cavanaugh’s to do homework. On nights she stayed out all night, she told her she was sleeping over. But really, she escaped to the woods. Most kids her age wouldn’t understand wanting to be in a dark and spooky forest rather than in a nice home. But most kids didn’t understand what evil really felt like. She did. She knew and she hated it.

She jogged lightly down the street and towards the woods.
She felt a soft buzzing in her ears and glanced around slowing to a walk. The buzzing turned into a light flutter that settled in her chest. All of her senses went on high alert and she could feel the adrenaline being released into her blood stream. Her breath started coming fast as she walked towards the last home on the street. She blended into the shadows and calmed her breathing as she scanned the street over and over wondering what had tripped her senses. She eased back even further and hunched down over her feet and waited.

A shadow pulled away from a house halfway down the street.
She watched it curiously as it moved slowly down the sidewalk. It paused looking down the road and towards the woods but then changed course and moved quickly in the opposite direction towards town. She closed her eyes and sent her energy out towards this entity. Her energy reached the shadow and she felt a deep, dark blackness. Her energy scattered instinctively so she brought it back. She watched until she couldn’t see the shadow move at all. When her heart rate slowed and her energy was calm she pulled away from the house and ran for the trees. She would be safe now.

Sarah walked into first period just as the tardy bell sounded.
She smiled at Zane who was already sitting down and collapsed in her chair as she tried to hide her yawn.

“Late night huh?”
Zane said softly as Mr. Terrence started handing out papers.

Sarah winced and nodded.
“You could say that.”

Zane frowned worriedly but let it go as Mr. Terrence handed them both the course syllabus.

Mr. Terrence
spent the rest of the class right in front of her and Zane lecturing so there was no chance for conversation. But as soon as class was over, Zane grabbed her hand and pulled her outside the school to sit on the front steps.

“I’m going to be late to Calculus,” she protested.

Zane rolled his eyes. “So get a tardy. Now tell me what happened after I dropped you off. I knew I should have gone into the house with you. I need to know what you’re dealing with Sarah. Did they do anything last night? Did that guy you were telling us about pressure you into doing something?” he asked tightly, looking more and more upset.

Sarah shook her head quickly and reached out to touch his arm, sending a comforting wave through Zane automatically. Zane relaxed and clasped her hand in his.

“No, it was nothing like that. I snuck in and they were all in the kitchen. But it felt horrible.
Dark
. It’s never felt that bad before. It was like this overwhelming bleakness mixed in with evil. So I grabbed some stuff out of my room and jumped out the window. I spent the night in the woods,” she said with a frown as she heard the bell for the next class.

Zane pulled her up and they walked back into the school together.
“That’s not exactly safe either Sarah. Come to the bookstore. We have an extra room you can sleep in.”

Sarah smiled gratefully up at Zane as the hallway began to thin out.
“That’s sweet Zane, but I don’t know if I’m ready to move in with you just yet.”

Zane grinned and slung an arm around her shoulder. “Give me one more week and you’ll be more than ready.”

“
Sarah
.”

Sarah turned around, causing Zane’s arm to fall away.
Lash was standing in the shadow between the lockers and the custodian’s closet. He stared at her intently as he walked towards her ignoring Zane.

“Hi Lash,
” she said, blushing as he looked her up and down in a blatantly admiring way. She did some looking herself and noticed he looked even better than he had yesterday. He was wearing dark jeans and a form fitting gray v neck t-shirt that accentuated his new physique. He moved in close to her and grabbed her hand blocking out Zane.

“I was wondering if you had plans this Friday.
We could catch a movie and then go back to my house.”

Sarah felt her heart warm as Lash tried his best to dazzle her.
He had come a long way. She found herself honestly tempted to say yes, but something held her back. He looked amazing, almost like he could be a member of a boy band with his dark, carefree hair and bright blue eyes. Her smile dimmed as he confidently waited for her answer. There was something dark in his eyes behind his new charisma. Something that shouldn’t be there.

“Lash, as much fun as that sounds, I’m going to have to say no. Jill was my science partner and I consider her a friend.
You guys looked pretty close yesterday and I don’t want to cause any problems.”

Zane sighed loudly and walked a few steps away to lean against a locker. He took out his phone and scanned through
his texts but at the same time she felt a strong warm breeze wrapped around her torso and move up the back of her neck. She tried to ignore it and looked back in time to see Lash’s smile turn into a disappointed frown.

“Sarah, Jill is just a friend.
You and I have had a connection ever since I moved here. I do . . .
need
to be with Jill sometimes, but every time I’m with her, it just makes me want to be with you even more. I told you yesterday I would give you some time to think about the two of us, but the more I think about it, the more I like the idea. I don’t really want to wait anymore. I think we should start going out.”

Sarah’s eyebrows went up an inch in surprise and her mouth opened. “
Uhhh
. . .”

Zane moved away from the locker and came to stand next to her sliding his phone into his back pocket.
“Hi, I’m Zane,” he said, extending his hand towards Lash.

Lash tore his eyes away from Sarah and turned impatiently towards Zane.
“Yeah, I’m aware,” he said staring at Zane’s hand for an awkward moment before taking it. He looked almost angrily at Zane and then instead of letting go, stepped closer, squeezing tighter and tighter. Zane raised an eyebrow derisively but then shrugged and squeezed back.

“Look, I know you just moved here Zane, but
me and Sarah have a history that you couldn’t understand. We’ve cared about each other too long to have some surfer show up and ruin everything.”

Zane’s face turned from friendly to hard as the muscles in his arms bunched.
Sarah switched her gaze to Lash’s face and noticed that not only were the muscles bunched in his arm too, but he was gritting his teeth and looking like he wanted to kill Zane.

Zane shook his head, still trying to squeeze the life out of Lash.
“There’s caring and then there’s caring. I’m sure the way Sarah feels about you is
very
different than how she feels about me. Don’t take it too hard Lash. And just for the record, I don’t surf.”

Lash ba
red his teeth at Zane as his other hand turned into a fist.

“That’s enough guys.
I insist you stop right now,” she said putting her hand over theirs and feeling the brutal effort they were both putting into crushing each other’s bones.

Zane’s eyes turned silver and she felt a burst of energy shoot through him and into Lash causing him to gasp in pain and immediately let go of Zane’s hand.

“Whatever you say Sarah,” Zane said, putting his arm back around her shoulders.

She stared at Zane reproachfully but wasn’t sure she disagreed with the way he handled Lash.
Lash seemed determined to be aggressive.

“But to answer your question Lash, Sarah already has plans Friday night.
She’s working at the book store and then having dinner with me and my mom. Sorry buddy,” he said, not unkindly
Lash flexed his hand and looked at Sarah as if he was hurt.
“Seriously Sarah?
This
guy? You’ve never let a guy get close to you before,” he said, sounding confused.

Sarah tried to push Zane’s arm off, but gave up and reached out for Lash’s hand.
She concentrated her energy on the pain she could feel coursing through his nerve endings and pulled it out of his skin and into the air. Lash’s face relaxed as the pain disappeared and he looked pleadingly at her.

“Lash, Zane and I are friends.
Just
friends, right now. I think you’re sweet to want to go out with me, but like I said, this situation is too messy for me. Something is different about you now. I’m worried about you Lash. Something’s not right. Please tell me what’s going on.”

Lash looked surprised and massaged his hand, ignoring Zane again.
“You wouldn’t understand Sarah. I’m doing this for the both of us. You know I would never hurt you, right?”

Sarah blinked in surprise.
“Of course you wouldn’t. Why would you say that?”

Lash shook his head, looking sad for a moment.
“I just mean that out of everyone in this world, I would never want to hurt you. You mean more to me than anyone.”

Sarah’s eyes softened and she stepped forward and gave Lash a hug, putting her arms around him and squeezing warmly.
It was the first hug she’d ever given him. Lash’s arms immediately wrapped around her, holding her more tightly than she expected. She could feel raw emotion pouring out of Lash and stepped back in surprise. Lash refused to let go at first, but then slowly released his arms.

“
Lash
,” Sarah said, shaking her head as he leaned his head against her shoulder for a moment before pulling away.

L
ash stared for a moment at Zane and then turned and walked quickly down the hallway, leaving Sarah and Zane completely alone.

Sarah let her breath out slowly and rubbed the goose bumps off her arms.
“Oh my heck. What just happened?”

Zane stood silently staring after Lash, not saying anything.
Sarah bumped her hip into his and grabbed his arm. “Come on Zane. We’re both going to get a tardy now. Let’s go.”

Zane shook his head with a frown and then put his hand on the small of her back.
“Okay, but before I wash this little scene from my mind with bleach, you have to admit that was a little bit much, don’t you think?”

Sarah frowned and looked away as they walked quickly towards the other end of the school.
“It was so sweet and sad at the same time. I guess I kind of understand why he would feel that way about me. I’ve been the only one in almost ten years to be nice to him. But he seemed kind of desperate. I could feel it in his voice. He needs me for something. It almost feels like he needs my help.”

Zane snorted rudely and moved his hand up to the back of her neck, sending streams of warmth down her spine soothing her.
She smiled up at him gratefully.

“Yesterday was the first time I’ve seen Lash and every time he’s around you, he looks at you like you’re a Thanksgiving meal and he hasn’t had anything to eat in a week.
That crap about not wanting to hurt you? It sounds like he’s trying to convince himself. That guy is dangerous Sarah. I don’t want you going out with him,” he said in a deadly serious voice.

Sarah stopped in her tracks and turned to stare up at Zane’s cold metallic eyes.
“Did you just say what I think you said? No
,
of course you wouldn’t be telling me who to date. That’d be kind of strange coming from a guy
I just met yesterday
.”

Zane’s eyes turned angry and he stepped away from her for the first time since they’d met.
“I’m just a guy you happened to meet yesterday? Fine Sarah. Have it your way.”

Sarah felt ill as she watched Zane turn and walk away from her, taking all the warmth with him.
She was left with the remainder of her goose bumps and an empty lonely feeling.

“
Grea
t,” she grumbled and walked into calculus. She zoned out what her teacher said and didn’t even flinch when she was sent to the office for being tardy.

Three hours later, as she took her lunch tray and scanned the cafeteria for an empty table she felt
a strong warmth wrap around her middle and actually pull her to her right. She gasped and stumbled as she felt jerked towards the farthest table. She frowned in consternation as Zane’s strong back and his wavy dark blond hair came into view.

She shook her head but moved of her own free will to sit down next to him.
Zane ignored her and smiled up at Charity Klein, the daughter of the Mayor.

“I’d love to Charity, but Sarah has plans for me Friday.
She wouldn’t tell me what we’re doing, but I’m kind of excited to go out on our first date.”

Charity blinked in surprise and turned to stare at Sarah in displeasure. “You’re dating
her
? Please tell me you’re kidding,” she said looking sincerely confused.

Zane shrugged and turned away from Charity to face Sarah.
“I know, I was surprised too. The most beautiful girl in school, practically throwing herself at me. What can I say, I’m a lucky guy.”

Sarah raised an eyebrow as Charity walked away in a huff.
“I
threw
myself at you?”
Zane sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest and stared at her coolly. “Am I really just some guy you met yesterday, Sarah?”

Sarah dropped her eyes to the Hawaiian Haystack on her plate and pushed the rice and pineapple around and around with her fork.
“Well, yes and no. Yes, you are a guy I met yesterday. But then you’re also the guy who knows me better after one day than anyone else has after a lifetime. Look, I’m sorry I hurt your feelings this morning, but I care about Lash. That doesn’t mean I want to date him, at least I don’t think so. But he might need me and you don’t have the right to tell me who I can and can’t spend time with,” she said quietly, but firmly, still not looking at him.

Zane took her fork out of her hands and took a bite of her lunch.
“This is disgusting. Eat this instead,” he said, pushing one of his mom’s muffins across the table.

Sarah glanced up cautiously and took the muffin, peeling back the foil slowly.
The smell of nutmeg, cinnamon and apples flooded her senses and she smiled.

“Thank you,” she said, taking a decadent bite of the glazed muffin.

Zane watched her as she closed her eyes in pleasure and gave her a half smile. “So let’s settle this then. You and I have a connection. Because we’re both witches, or because I’m attracted to you, or because it’s a combination of both, who knows and I don’t care. It doesn’t matter because the bottom line is,
we’re connected
. I can understand that you’re also connected to Lash. From what I gather, it’s a protective bond that’s been created over time. But he wants to change that connection to a romantic one and you’re too smart not to realize that. But here’s the problem. Because I’m already connected to you, I don’t want Lash connected to you at all. Mostly because I can see something in him that tells me he’s a danger to you. I care about you Sarah. I already care about you, enough to know that I don’t want you hurt,” he said in a deep, serious voice that she’d never heard him use before.