Freak of Nature (The Lost Witch Trilogy #1) (5 page)

Sarah swallowed her bite of muffin and pushed the rest away as she took in what Zane was telling her.
She licked her lips and took a sip of her chocolate milk.

“I agree with most of what you said and I understand it.
But I can’t just ignore this bond I have with Lash because you’re not comfortable with it. I know Lash wants a more romantic relationship with me, but that’s not going to happen.
Unless I want it to,”
she added softly.

Zane sat up straighter and narrowed his eyes at her.
“Pity is not a good basis for a relationship you know. Mutual strength and compatibility win every time. You don’t really want some strange, sick co-dependent relationship do you?”

Sarah shook her head in frustration.
“Stop psycho-analyzing this Zane. The point is, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I like you. I like Lash. I like you both for different reasons, true, but it’s still there.”

Zane frowned and tore off a chunk of her muffin.
“You really want a guy who just got back from doing who knows what to Jill Cavanaugh? She’s been dating him, what? For a week? And she already looks used up and half dead. That’s the guy you’re considering going out with instead of me?”

Sarah turned her head to see what Zane was looking at and saw Lash and Jill come through the side doors.
Zane was right. Jill didn’t look good. The smile on her face looked strange and faded and she looked pale. Her usually glossy brown hair looked dull and mousy and her bright, brown eyes were almost colorless. Lash had a possessive arm around her shoulders and a content look on his face. She knew in her gut what they’d been doing. Lash paused for a second and scanned the room, stopping when he found her face. Sarah looked back, curious as to why just that morning he’d ask her out when something physical was going on between him and Jill.

Lash tilted his head, ignoring Jill pulling on his arm and smiled warmly and almost sweetly back at her.
He raised a hand in a half wave and then gave in to Jill’s pulling and followed her to the lunch line.

Zane’s hand on her chin pulled her face back to him.
“You don’t want to be a part of that Sarah. I don’t want to see that happen to you. If you dated him, it would.”

Sarah looked back into Zane’s clear gray eyes and realized he had moved his chair closer to hers.
They were hip to hip now and his hand on her chin was sending a wave of warmth down her body. She didn’t try to move away when he moved in closer.

“I don’t know . . .,” she managed to say before Zane moved his face a few inches closer and kissed her.

Sarah’s mind went blank as Zane moved
in, kissing her in a frank, possessive way that had the sounds of the lunchroom immediately fading. It was her first kiss and she didn’t want to miss a second of it. Almost against her will, her energy swelled up out of her and surrounded Zane as her arms reached up around his neck, pulling him closer. She leaned in, letting her energy envelope them in a protective field. A moment later, she was disappointed when Zane broke the kiss.

Sarah opened her eyes, to see Zane staring down at her, dazed.
She stared back up at him noticing that his gray eyes were bright silver again and that she could almost see a golden haze shimmering around him. They stared at each other silently for a moment before she pulled her arms from around his neck. The golden haze around Zane slowly faded until the air was normal and she could hear the chatter and noise of the people surrounding them again.

Zane reached up and touched her lower lip with his finger.
“You can’t deny our connection.”

Sarah swallowed and realized that her energy was still surrounding Zane.
She pulled it back almost by force. He looked disappointed she had. “Why would I want to?”

Zane smiled and leaned in again but was stopped by the sound of Lash and Rod screaming at each other.
Sarah stood up at the same time Zane did just in time to see Lash go flying over a chair to land in a heap. Before she could even move, Lash was up and diving for Rod. The fist fight was short lived but brutal. Rod outweighed Lash by a good thirty pounds, but Lash’s relentless fists had Rod on the ground almost immediately. Three male teachers surrounded the fight and it took all three teachers to restrain Lash. Two of them cornered Lash until he calmed down while the other teacher helped Rod to his feet. Rod limped through the doors with the help of Mr. Terrence while Lash sauntered by Sarah and Zane, escorted by Mr. Jones, the Vice principle and Mr. McAllister the football coach. As he passed them, he stared at Sarah closely and then turned to glare at Zane, pointing his finger like a gun at him.

Zane and Sarah sat back down when the doors swung closed and looked at each other.
“Okay,” she said, not knowing what else to say.

Zane shrugged and grinned a little.
“You do look like you’ve just been kissed.”

Sarah blushed and rubbed her hand over her lips.
“
Really
?”

Zane nodded with a smile.
“Don’t worry. I’m a lot harder to take down than Rod.”

Sarah groaned and grabbed her tray, standing up.
“Zane, please don’t fight with Lash. I don’t understand what’s going on with him so instead of fighting, let’s figure out how we can help him.”

Zane took the tray from her and put his arm around her shoulders. “I would never throw the first punch. I’m not that stupid.”

Sarah looked up at him suspiciously. “You look like you’d throw the second, third and fourth though.”

Zane dumped their garbage and then opened the door for her.
“You are very perceptive Sarah. I like that about you.”

Sarah accepted a ride home from Zane since she had to be at work by three.
She waved goodbye to him and ignored his request for a good bye kiss with a laugh. She felt him leave and walked slowly up the pathway to her front door. She paused before opening the door with the bright cheery sign on the front that said,
Welcome
. She felt a wave of darkness hit her, but it wasn’t half as strong as it had been the other night. She stepped cautiously through the door and came face to face with her aunt.

“I’ve been waiting for you Sarah,” Le
na said, looking sternly at her, her hair looking spiky as if she had run her hands through it, over and over again.

Sarah slipped her back pack off her shoulder and sat down on the couch.
“Okay, what’s up?” she asked in a polite, calm way.

Lena’s eyes narrowed at her as she sat in the chair opposite her niece.
“I expected you at the meeting last night. We all did. We waited for you until after one o’clock in the morning. You let me down and I won’t have it Sarah. You’re my niece and you’ll do what I say.”

Sarah took in a deep brea
th and looked down at her plain finger nails. “I was very clear with you that I want nothing to do with your meetings. I’ll never
go to your meetings Lena. So let it go.”

Lena’s cheeks turned bright red and her foot started tapping.
“You don’t know what you’re missing Sarah. You have to give it at least one chance before you turn me down. How can you say no when you don’t know anything about what we do? You need to learn how to be a witch Sarah. How else will you learn unless I teach you?” she asked sounding rational.

Sarah felt the strain of the atmosphere wrap around her head, pushing in like a nail.
“How can someone who isn’t a witch, teach me?” she asked quietly, knowing suddenly it was true.

Lena gasped and stared at her in shock.
“Who have you been talking to? Why would you say that to me? Of course I’m a witch. It runs in families.”

Sarah massaged her forehead before answering.
“Gretchen Miner. She says she knew you when you were both growing up and she says no way you’re a witch. So what exactly are you playing at with these people every week? What are you doing that makes the house feel so dark? And who is my father? If he’s a witch, I have a few questions for him,” she said, watching curiously as Lena’s face turned paler and paler and her foot tapped faster and faster.

“Gretchen Miner doesn’t know one thing about me,” Lena hissed, looking furious.

“Lena, it doesn’t really matter if I’m a witch or I have a whole bunch of psychokinesis. It all comes down to the same thing. I can do some things other people can’t and I can sense things about people. I was around Gretchen and now I know what another witch feels like. I can sense that. Lena, you’re
not
a witch. So why are you doing this?” she asked sadly.

Lena stood up and grabbed a small emerald green vase off the coffee table and threw it as hard as she could at the wall.
Sarah held her arms out and sent her energy out instinctively to protect herself from the shards of glass flying everywhere.

Lena stood with her head down and her hands on her waist, breathing heavily.
Sarah had never seen her lose control like this before. “Is Race Livingston my father?” she asked standing up and inching towards the door in case her aunt felt like throwing anything else.

Lena raised her head slowly and speared Sarah with her pale eyes.
“I won’t talk about your father. Not now, not ever. I don’t care what Gretchen has been telling you, she doesn’t know as much as she thinks she does. Power is power and if you’ll just come to my meeting, Drake can explain it to you. It’s called a binding. You bind yourself to us and then we can guide you. You’ll be even more powerful than you are now and I’ll be able to share it with you. Drake knows exactly what to do. He’s done it before and he says you’re perfect for this. He says I’ll finally have the life I’ve always deserved,” Lena said, in a pleading voice.

Sarah’s face contorted in pain.
Gretchen had been right. Her aunt had gotten sucked in to a group that was determined to use her and break her.

“My answer would have to be no
then. And if you want me to keep living here, you’ll stop inviting your friends over. Now I just got a part time job at the book store, so I’ve gotta run. I don’t know when I’ll be home so lock up and I’ll use the key,” she said, standing up and walking towards the door.

Lena darted forward and grabbed her arm, pulling her to a standstill.
“I’ve done everything for you Sarah. I’ve sacrificed so much of my life for you. And you won’t do this one thing for me? I’ve never asked you for anything Sarah. This is very important to me. If you love me you’ll do this,” she asked in a wheedling voice.

Sarah felt a mass of darkness from the corner of the room glide ov
er and float next to her aunt. She couldn’t see a form, but she could feel the energy outline. She felt the dark energy start to flow around her, like it was trying to meld with her. She closed her eyes for a second and concentrated on her ever present energy barrier. The darkness couldn’t break through. She wouldn’t let it.

She pulled her arm out of her aunt’s grasp and opened the front door.
“I love you enough to tell you that if you don’t stop this, you’re going to end up a lonely shell. I shouldn’t have to live my life in darkness because of your choices.”

Lena glared at her niece as she walked out the door.
She shut the door slowly and leaned her head against the cool metal as the dark energy folded itself around her.

Sarah ran down the street as fast as she could.
The faster she ran the cooler and cleaner the air felt. Two blocks later she could breathe easier and she slowed down. She moved her energy over her body and around in a fast circular motion almost as if she were trying the scrub herself clean. Being touched by that evil made her want to puke. She shivered and ran her hands through her long red hair.
What was happening to her aunt?
She barely recognized the woman who had just thrown the vase at the wall because she wasn’t getting her way.

Sarah glanced at her watch and saw that she had ten minutes before she needed to be at the book store.
She slowed to a walk and shoved her hands in her pockets, breathing deeply and praying for calm. But it was no use. Her energy was in turmoil because of the evil that had tried to touch her. Her hair was starting to go from wavy to curly and she knew if she looked in a mirror her eyes would be too bright and her energy would be too hot for anyone to get close to her. This had happened only a few times before since she’d turned thirteen and all three times had been when she’d felt she was in danger.

Sarah wrapped her arms around her torso and walked over to a shop window.
She leaned against the window for a moment, pretending she was looking at all of the baby clothes and toys. Instead, she closed her eyes and tried to push some of her energy out into the air. If she could get rid of some of it, she might not have to scare all of the customers away. She didn’t want to get fired on her first day of work. Gretchen had been very clear. No magic around customers. Or in her case, enough energy to power the city for a week.

She wasn’t sure if she could control herself. A year ago, after an especially vicious fight over her power, she had burst every light bulb in the house.
The microwave stopped working and they’d had to buy a new computer.

Sarah breathed in and out and tried to gather her energy again, but it was too volatile.
She couldn’t control it when her emotions were overloaded. If she could just go for a five mile run or a swim she’d be able to contain it a little. She could feel her power spiraling inside of her, getting further and further out of control like a tornado.

“Hey Sarah!”

Sarah groaned and opened her eyes, fisting her hands and turning to see who was calling, hoping they wouldn’t notice her burning eyes. She shaded her eyes and saw a man getting out of a parked car about five feet away.

She watched cautiously as the man walked up to her, stopping a foot away.
He was tall with short brownish hair and a large beer belly. He had colorless eyes and a big smile. He wore the basic adult male uniform of her town, polo shirt, tan pants and tennis shoes. He held a hand out to shake.

“I’ve wanted to meet you forever Sarah.
Your aunt has told me so much about you,” he said still holding his hand out to her.

She knew if she shook his hand, he’d get hurt.
She was surprised that he wasn’t bouncing off her energy barrier as it was. She stepped back from him and shook her head warningly. He lowered his hand and frowned at her.

“My name is Drake Conway.
I’m a close friend of Lena’s. I’d like to be a good friend to you too,” he said trying to come closer. Sarah frowned and stepped back again.

“I was just talking to my aunt about that.
I don’t want to be friends with you and I don’t want you coming over to my house ever again. Stay away from us,” she said, her voice breaking when a spike of energy ripped through her.

Sarah heard a strange cracking noise and glanced at the window she had been pretending to look through just a moment before.
A long jagged scar was forming in the glass. If she didn’t move away quickly, the window was going to shatter.

She moved around Drake and started walking away.
He fell in step with her and she immediately felt a wave of darkness try to attach itself to her and she shivered.

“There’s no reason to act like this Sarah.
I’m sure once you get to know me and hear me out, you’ll agree that you and I and your Aunt are going to have a very long and productive relationship.”

Sarah looked at Drake, aghast that he’d even think such a thing.
His eyes were bright and he looked excited. She realized that he had her between himself and his car and felt a moment’s panic. Her senses were so fried she’d barely noticed the adrenaline rushing through her system. He reached out to grab her arm and she went on instinct. Her energy converged and tightened around her and when Drake’s hand touched her, it shattered around his hand, making him scream in pain.

She reared back from him and almost fell into his car, since the passenger door had been left open.
Drake fell onto the sidewalk staring at his hand in horror and still screeching. She shuddered as she eased around him and turned to walk backwards. He tried to roll to his side, but cried out in agony. He turned to stare at her, getting up on his knees, holding up his hand to her. She gasped as she could see it had turned bright red and purple.

“Sarah!” he screamed after her.

She turned and ran into what felt like a brick wall. She almost fell down but was grasped by two warm hands that immediately pulled her in close to a hard chest. She sighed in relief.
Zane.

“What’s going on Sarah?” Zane demanded tightly, staring at the man still holding his hand and moaning loudly.

Sarah glanced back at Drake and shuddered. “That’s the man who’s been coming to my aunt’s house. He just tried to talk to me and then he grabbed my arm. I think I fried him,” she said, turning back into his chest, searching for some warmth.

Zane made a low sound in the back of his throat and set her back from him.
Sarah felt cold as she watched him advance towards Drake. Zane pulled Drake up to his knees and threw him against his car. He got close to his face and talked in a low voice she couldn’t hear. Drake swallowed and shook his head back and forth. Zane grabbed Drake’s injured hand making the man squeal loudly. Zane said something else and then stepped away. He turned and walked back to her without looking back.

Zane took her by the shoulders and looked closely into her face.
“I could feel you three blocks away Sarah. You’ve got so much energy pulsing around you, you’re about to start flying.”

Sarah groaned and felt her hands begin to shake.
“I know, when I get like this, I can’t control it. I just keep spiraling up and up until I find a release for all of this energy. I don’t know what to do Zane. I’m supposed to be at work right now.”

Zane nodded and took out his phone.
He called his mom and put an arm around her shoulders sending his warm breeze around her body trying to calm her down. Instead it just made her hair crackle and kink and her body shake even more.

“My mom says to take an hour and then come in.
Let’s go. Where do you feel safest?”

“My tree house.”

“Let’s go there,” he said. “Can I take my jeep there or should we walk?”

Sarah shuddered and glanced back at Drake who was now sitting in his car, staring at her and muttering to himself.

“Both. Drive down Bracken Street and you can park it at the end by the last house. No one lives there anymore so it’s okay. We can run the rest of the way.”

Zane helped her into the car and joined her a moment later.
Sarah closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. She tried reciting the alphabet over and over but even that did nothing.

Zane stopped the car a few minutes later and she opened her eyes.
“Let’s run,” she said and jumped out of the jeep. She felt the energy she had been trying as hard as she could to hold back whip through her body and scream out her fingers. She flew down the road and into the trees, feeling the energy crest in her shoulders and pour down her back. She leaped over a log and ducked under a branch before she headed down the path that was so familiar to her.

She looked to her left and felt her heart ease when she saw Zane running right with her.
He glanced over at her, looking worried. She put on more speed hoping that would help and reached the tree house much too quickly.

She came to a stop by the large maple tree still shaking from the power.
She leaned against the tree as Zane came to a stop in front of her. She stared back at him, as their breath slowed down. His eyes were silver again and he stepped closer. “I can take a little energy off your hands. Give what you can to me,” he said and leaned in, settling his mouth against hers.

The same thing that happened at lunch happened again.
Her power whipped through her body and out, surrounding him. He seemed impervious to the energy, as if he soaked it in. As he kissed her, her arms snaked around his back, holding him tight. His hands came up to her face to hold her head gently. She felt her body sigh and relax. She pulled back, staring up into his eyes and then kissed him gently one more time.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, leaning her head against his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her protectively, rubbing circles on her back.
“Kissing you is not a chore. But you’re welcome.” He tilted her chin up, looking over her face carefully. “Now tell me what set you off.”

Sarah smoothed her hair back and sighed, letting the last of the excess energy seep out into the wind.
“Come on,” she said and turned towards the tree. She rubbed her hands on her pants and then jumped up to grab the lowest hanging branch. She flipped her body up and over and then hitched her leg over. She pulled herself up and then grabbed the next branch. Four more branches later, she crawled into a small tree house someone had built many years ago and then abandoned. It had a roof and a floor and that was about it. Her sleeping bag and pillow were covered with leaves and twigs. She sat down and waited for Zane to join her.

He landed beside her and showed her a cut on his hand.
“Your tree attacked me,” he said with a shake of his head.

Sarah took his palm in her hand and rubbed her thumb over the blood and closed her eyes.
She sent a pulse of energy through her hand to his and rubbed his palm again, back and forth. She opened her eyes and looked down. The blood was still there, but the cut had closed.

Zane studied his hand, touching it was his finger.
“Cool. It felt hot where you touched me, but the pain left. Thanks. I guess we know what your special talent is. That and running.”

Sarah grinned and leaned her head on his shoulder.
“Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes I can’t control it at all and sometimes it works without me wanting it too. That part scares me.”

Zane nodded in understanding and put his arm around her shoulders.
“Tell me what happened.”

Sarah went over her confrontation with her aunt and what Drake had said to her.
Zane didn’t say a word until she was done.

“Well, I don’t think you’re safe at home.
But Sarah, its September now. It’s going to get cold fast. You won’t be able to hide out in the woods much longer. And you shouldn’t have to. What if Drake found you out here by yourself sleeping? I don’t like it. Do you have any other relatives that live in town?” he asked, leaning down and kissing the top of her head absently.

Sarah shook her head and played with his ring on his finger, feeling peaceful and safe.
“My mother died when I was five, around the same time as my grandmother. My aunt mentioned a long time ago that I have cousins in Minneapolis, but I’ve never met them. Next year I’ll go away to college, but for now I think I’m stuck.”

Zane shook his head.
“No, we’ll figure it out. When do you turn eighteen?”

Sarah looked up and shrugged.
“I’m already eighteen. My Aunt started me in school late. She held me back a year. I’m legally an adult.”

Zane grinned.
“I don’t turn eighteen until December. I’m holding an older woman in my arms. This day just keeps getting better and better. But the best thing is, you can legally move out any time you want. This is perfect.”

Sarah groaned.
“Yeah, my life is so perfect.”

Zane stood up, crouching down so he didn’t hit his head on the little roof.
“Come on, we gotta get you to work before your boss fires you.”

She followed him down the tree, and floated down from the last branch. She loved the feel of the air pushing her from below. She landed next to Zane as he stared at her with a grin.
“Now that’s gotta come in handy,” he said as wrapped his arms around her. “Maybe I should kiss you one more time, just to make sure you’re okay?”

Sarah laughed and felt normal again.
“If this is how you act on Tuesday what are you going to be like on Friday?”

Zane swooped in and kissed her quickly.
“Well, I’m pretty sure you’re taking me out on a date.”

Sarah grinned and shook her head.
“That’s right, I threw myself at you. I’d forgotten about that. Come on, let’s run back,” she said and took off leaving Zane by her tree.

Zane caught up with her halfway to the car and passed her up.
Sarah focused all her energy into her legs and caught up with him quickly. They reached the car at the same time, panting and grinning. Zane opened the door for her and shook his head. “No one’s been able to catch me in years. You’re incredibly fast. You could get a scholarship to run track, easy.”