Spellbound (Spellbringers Book 1) (21 page)

“I have my ways. I won’t let her mess with my
friend.” She patted me on the shoulder, smiled, and then turned and
headed down the hall to her second period class.

I stared after Rachel, barely able to speak.
Having endured a lonely existence all through middle and high
school, I was now fortunate enough to have two very loyal
friends—Jace, the guy I’d once hoped to marry, and Rachel, my
cousin’s former best friend. My gaze followed Rachel as she
progressed down the hallway. She paused in front of Becky and held
up her cell-phone. I could hear her saying, “click, click,” from
down the hallway. I wondered what that was all about.

As the day progressed, people watched me with
new interest. Some looks expressed admiration for my bravery at
standing up to Becky. Other people, I suspected, merely looked at
me out of curiosity, like one looks at a horrific car
crash.

On the way home, Jace laughed and
congratulated me on taking Becky down. “Seriously, Alisa,” Jace
said in a more serious tone. “I’m proud of you for standing up to
her. I know that’s huge for you. And don’t worry about her trying
to get even with you. Rachel and I will protect you.”

I told him I would call him later and ran into
my house. Before I could do homework, have a snack, or do anything
else, I had to check my email. I hoped I wouldn’t turn into one of
those internet junkies you see on talk shows who spends nineteen
hours a day logged on to social networking sites, eating cold
ravioli out of a can while sitting in front of the computer. While
waiting for the computer to start up, I changed my clothes. With
shaking hands, I clicked on the latest email from Bryce.

Alisa,

It’s been another cold, exhausting
day. In case you were wondering… yes, Hell really does freeze over.
I know because I am there and it is numbingly cold. I’m looking
forward to another summer in the hot Georgia sun, and right now
that seems eons away. I spend a lot of time fantasizing about less
dangerous jobs like race car driving or firefighting.

How about you? What do you dream
about doing?

I often wonder what Jace will
decide to do. To the best of my knowledge, he has no immediate
goals for college or any sort of career when he graduates. Maybe
you know him better than I do these days. We were never close and
any interaction between us has been confined to arguments. We’re
both very competitive, in case you hadn’t noticed.

When I come home, I’ll try to be a
good boy and get along with him. I thought letting him use my truck
was a nice gesture, although I hope it is as much to your benefit
as it is his. I don’t like the idea of you walking home from
school. I gotta go. I’ll write you later.

Miss you,

Bryce

He missed me? Bryce missed me. Chills wracked
my body. What should I write? I sat for a while, trying to come up
with a clever and humorous response. It was difficult after the day
I’d had.

I still felt anxious about Becky, my first
cousin and sworn enemy. Family wasn’t supposed to be like this. In
a perfect world, the two of us would be inseparable, sharing
secrets and having sleepovers. I could never understand why she
hated me so. I’d spent my whole life comparing myself to her and
wondering why I wasn’t good enough for her to like me. I think I’d
finally come to the realization that she was the
problem.

I typed out an extended email to Bryce,
hopefully something that would raise his spirits. I couldn’t
imagine the dangers he faced in warrior training. Did they track
Hunters and Demons, or was the training confined to the classrooms
at WTB? I thought about asking him, but I didn’t want to bring up
unpleasant topics.

It worried me that he sounded so downtrodden.
I’d gotten the impression he wasn’t sharing his thoughts and
concerns with his parents. As soon as I hit the send button on my
latest email, I heard my dad’s truck pull into the driveway. Time
to get serious about finishing my homework.

Around five, I clomped down the stairs, said
hi to my dad, and tackled dinner. I tried to help out in the
kitchen when I could. After all, I was the only member of the
household who didn’t work. My life was easy, as my mom constantly
pointed out. Apparently, I was supposed to be experiencing the best
years of my life. If that were the case, I was surely headed for
disappointment and unhappiness going forward.

I could tell my mom was in a foul mood the
second she walked in the door. The way she shut the door a little
harder than usual, her clipped, brisk walk across the hardwood
floor, her brief hello to my dad as she headed toward the kitchen,
were bad omens indeed. I knew instinctively that her anger would be
directed toward me and longed for days past when I was simply a
quiet disappointment. I started shaking when she came into the
kitchen.

“I just spoke with your Aunt Leanne,” Mom bit
out. “Apparently, Becky is inconsolable. Leanne said you insulted
and embarrassed your cousin in front of the whole school. Becky is
so upset she won’t stop crying. I’ve never heard Leanne sound so
angry. How could you do such a thing to your own
cousin?”

To my horror, I started crying before I could
even begin to defend myself. Tears of anger spilled down my cheeks,
and before I knew it, I was gasping for air. I couldn’t believe the
unfairness of the whole situation. After everything Becky had done
to me, I was the one getting in trouble.

“I told you she hated me,” I choked out.
“She’s lying. She said something to me first, and I insulted her
back…” I was doubled over from the intensity of my sobs, and my mom
just stood there watching me.

“I don’t believe…” Her words were cut off
abruptly when Daddy walked into the kitchen.

Looking thunderous, he declared, “Jan, that’s
enough. Whose side are you on here? Are you gonna believe that
conniving little niece of yours over your own daughter?” He said
this in his usual slow, southern drawl. He would never raise his
voice to a lady, but I could tell how angry he was
nonetheless.

“Now, everyone needs to calm down. Alisa, you
didn’t do anything wrong, so don’t worry about it. Becky got what
was coming, and if she’s upset, then I say that’s her problem. Jan,
why don’t you go upstairs and take a hot bath? You can call Leanne
later and straighten things out. But if I find out you apologized
to her over any of this, I’m going over there myself.” Daddy gave
me a big hug and kissed me on the cheek. “This food can wait until
tomorrow, Alisa. Cover it and put it in the fridge. You can drive
me over to Lakeview. You need to log some more driving hours before
Saturday.”

I stored the uneaten dinner without looking at
my mom. I was afraid to make eye contact. “Your father’s right,”
she said softly. “I’m sorry, Alisa. It wasn’t fair for me to attack
you without even getting your side of the story. You’re my daughter
and I’m always on your side.” She hugged me as I started crying
again. “I’ll finish up in here. You’d better go with your dad
before he gets involved in one of his games.”

***

When I received my beautiful, laminated
driver’s license that Saturday, I was ecstatic. For some reason, I
couldn’t wait to tell Bryce. Even before I called Jace, I ran
upstairs to my computer and sent Bryce a celebratory
email.

My mom let me use her car the rest of the day,
so I spent my time driving around town, past the farms, feeling
independent and invincible. Every moment I was away from home, a
little piece of me wished I were in my bedroom in front of the
computer, waiting for Bryce’s next email.

Chapter
Eighteen

Rachel

I spent four weeks listening to the thoughts
in Becky’s head and it was enough to drive a person straight to the
loony bin. The first time I listened in on her thoughts, I actually
had to pull back and take one of my migraine pills. Her mind was so
full of bitterness and hatred, I couldn’t believe I’d never
realized before what a horrible person she was. Inside her
wholesome, All-American, cheerleading shell, lurked the soul of a
sociopath.

Becky only had two types of thoughts: those
about herself and those against others. Seventy percent of what I
found in her depraved little mind centered on clothes, hair, and
herself. The other thirty percent involved which girl was getting
too full of herself and needed a reality check. Or which guy was
getting too focused on his girlfriend and needed some distraction
from Becky. I was shocked to discover how much plotting and
scheming went on inside a brain I’d always assumed was virtually
empty.

As Alisa had been
pre-warned about Becky’s initial attack, a juvenile attempt to turn
her own mother against her, she was able to not only survive, but
to come out ahead. Although Becky’s plot did not exactly backfire,
my nemesis was
almost
forced to realize the world did not revolve around her.
Manipulations are no match for a parent’s love for their own
child.

Becky, as expected, set out to
systematically ruin Alisa’s reputation. Alisa didn’t really have
any friends other than me and Jace, which rendered that plan
utterly pointless. She spread rumors that Alisa and Jace were
messing around behind my back. Other than giving the haters
something to talk about for a few days, this accomplished nothing.
Trying to damage the friendship between the three of us may have
worked if one of the intended victims didn’t read minds. Becky was
completely frustrated and enraged by her inability to hurt Alisa.
She even considered physically attacking her cousin, assuming that
Alisa was weaker and destined to lose. I almost wished she would
try it. Alisa’s dedication to Abe’s training guaranteed she would
wipe the floor with her cousin. Becky, of course, didn’t consider
this idea for very long. A master manipulator, she preferred a less
direct attack.

I filled Jace and Alisa in on Becky’s
vengeful thoughts, no longer caring if they knew my secret. If
Alisa worried about me reading her mind, she never brought it up. I
thought about the pictures of Becky I’d been saving in my cell
phone—those could ruin her. But the idea of causing harm to another
human being sent shards of pain through my skull. My developing
Empathy made it impossible for me to cause physical or emotional
harm to another person. Too bad.

Jace wanted to use Becky’s mind
against her, to pick out her secrets and mastermind a plot to
destroy her. Or use Persuasion to get her to do something
humiliating and out of character. I forbade him to act against her
in that way.

“Look, there has to be rules,” I tried
to explain to Jace, while Alisa listened silently. “This is all new
to me and I’m making it up as I go, but some moral law must govern
how I use my abilities. I don’t want to start a slippery slide down
the path of evil.”

“Becky already is evil. You have to
fight fire with fire,” he argued.

“That’s great for Becky, but I don’t
want to be evil. I don’t listen in on someone else’s thoughts
without their permission.” I felt a little guilty saying this in
such a sanctimonious manner since I’d done just that on a few
occasions. “I made an exception in this case because it’s to
protect a friend. If it’s a choice between protecting someone I
care about and sticking to my own made up rules, I’m always going
to choose the first option. I will not, however, sift through her
brain at will, pulling out her secrets and using them against her.
And I certainly won’t try to plant ideas in her head, even though I
would probably be doing the world a favor.”

“How does that work? I mean getting
thoughts out of someone’s head?” Alisa interrupted before Jace and
I could continue our argument. She seemed curious, but fearful as
well. Maybe there was something in her mind she didn’t want me to
see.

“Well, at first when I looked inside
someone’s head, I picked up random thoughts, stuff I really didn’t
want to hear. Now I push a question into Becky’s head and that
enables me to focus on what I want to know. I can filter out things
I don’t want to know about, or things that are none of my business.
I guess none of it’s my business, but you see what I mean. I
basically zero in on any thoughts that have to do with you and try
to block out sleazy thoughts about Justin or her incessant worries
about clothes.”

I asked Jace silently if I could
explain to Alisa how our link worked. He gave me the go ahead, so I
went on with my explanation. I figured it would be good practice,
seeing as how I would need to spill my guts to Jerica sometime real
soon. She needed to know what she was dealing with before she could
train me properly. At least that was what Jace kept telling
me.

“It’s different with me and Jace. We
have a connection between us that allows us to speak back and forth
with no effort whatsoever. We have conversations in our minds the
same way people speak out loud. We don’t dig through each other’s
minds at will, although I guess we could. I ask him a question or
make a comment, and he responds. It works that way whether we’re in
the same room or miles apart.”

“Can you do that with Jerica and Abe?”
Alisa asked. “The mind communication, I mean.”

“No, I can only communicate with Jace.
We’ve never talked to Abe and Jerica about our mind reading, but
I’m sure Jerica suspects. I have to come clean with them soon. I’m
already starting to feel panicked about putting off my training for
so long.” That was true. What Jerica said to me hit home. I could
be endangering Jace by leaving myself unprotected. I didn’t want to
put him in the position of having to defend me. “I’m thinking of
talking to Jerica on Saturday, and I’d like you and Jace to be
there for moral support.”