The Afterlife series Box Set (Books 1-3) (31 page)

I saw tears were welling up in his eyes. I squeezed his hand.

“So is that a yes?” he asked. “Can you forgive me?”

“Yes, Mick. You are forgiven.”

C
HAPTER 17

M
Y REUNION WITH
M
ICK
made me well in no time. Faster than they had ever seen anyone recuperate from being torn apart, they said in the hospital. So a week later I had regrown a kneecap and was back in my class and, most importantly of all, I was back with Mick. Soon it was almost like it used to be. Mick and I would hang out after school and on the weekends and during meals in Hornam Hall.

And he was nicer to me than ever before. A real gentleman, really. Bringing flowers and chocolate-covered strawberries to my room and basically taking care of my every need. It was like he was constantly trying to make up for the lost times and I could tell that his guilt over acting badly toward me was bothering him.

Finally it became a little too much for me and I had to tell him to slow down a little. We were on my bed when I addressed him. “You are smothering me,” I said.

He sighed deeply and looked so hurt that I immediately regretted having said it. He got up from the bed. His eyes had that angry look in them.

“Now I am being too nice to you? I don’t know how to please you. What do you want from me?”

I got up and grabbed his shirt. Then I pulled him closer and kissed his soft lips. I loved the way he smelled and took in a deep breath. Then I let go of his lips and looked him in the eyes.

“I love you Mick, I really do, but you don’t have to feel guilty. I forgave you, remember?”

He nodded. “Sure. But I just—”

I put a finger on his lips. “Shh.”

He looked confused.

Then I whispered, “All I want is for everything to go back to be like it used to. I want you to be like you used to be. I want you to be yourself.”

Mick nodded. Then he smiled. “That doesn’t sound too hard. I think I could do that.”

Mick stared at me. It made me feel a little shy. Then he grabbed my shoulders and pushed me gently back on the bed.

I never told anyone the truth about what had happened inside the tornado, but I had a hard time forgetting about it myself. It was like the whispering was stuck in my head. Especially at night I would hear the small alluring voice calling my name again.

Meghan … Meghan … Meghan …

It drove me insane and I didn’t get much sleep the following days and weeks. Instead I would sit in my window sill and read my books in the light from the shining moon outside. My nights became long and lonely and somewhere inside of me a fear had taken root. It was slowly growing inside of me, filling me with this nervous feeling that something bad was coming, that something evil was after me. What if this was a real warning? The message on the horse, the whispering voice. What if it was really something I should be afraid off? I began regretting not having spoken to anyone about it, but I really didn’t want them to take away what little freedom I had. I was free to go wherever I wanted on school premises, but I still wasn’t allowed to go and visit Jason. It had been such a long time since I had seen him—and it was even longer for him. I had no idea what had become of him. Was he still doing drugs? I began devoting my nightly reading to learning more about healing. I wanted to find something that could help me heal Jason. I knew he would have to want to get out of this abuse, and I was so sure that he would come around one day soon. I wanted to be ready.

I sighed while imagining his face close to mine. I don’t think I even remembered how it felt to touch him, let alone kiss him any longer. Suddenly I was filled with guilt. Here I was, Mick and I were trying to figure things out, and then I started thinking about Jason again. Why couldn’t I just let him go once and for all? It certainly wasn’t fair to Mick who was trying really hard to fix our relationship. I had to put in an effort as well.

As my mind wandered, I suddenly gazed out the window and spotted the big black panther again. It had been a long time since I last saw it. I had become more and more convinced that Adahy was feeding it.

“Going off for a nightly snack, are you?” I whispered.

I followed it as it moved toward the stables again. I saw it lift its paw and scrape at the door.

Since I had seen it before I turned to look at my book again. But something made me look back outside, like a feeling that something was very wrong. As I turned to look I noticed that the door to the stables was still closed and the panther was still outside scratching on it. It had become angrier and now I even heard the panther burst into a roar. It rose on two legs and started hitting the door with its paws. When the door didn’t open, it did something strange. It turned itself into a human spirit and went right through the door.

My heart raced. Something was very wrong. I got down from the window sill and streamed out into the corridor. The guarding Angels were standing on the corner and were talking low and laughing as I ran toward them. When they saw my face they immediately became alert.

“Whoa. What is going on here?” one of them asked as I reached them.

“I … I think I saw something … from my window … a black panther … then it was a spirit.”

The Angel looked down at me while nodding seriously. “Go on.”

“I have seen the panther  going to the stables a couple of times before. Always at night. I think Adahy had been feeding it or something. But today no one opened the door and it became angry and turned itself into a human spirit so it could go through the door.”

“Or maybe it is the other way around,” the Angel said and looked at the other Angel next to him.

“A spirit turning himself into a panther. That is not good,” he said.

The first one looked at me. “Where did you see him go in?”

“The stables. Over by the forest.”

“Stay here. We will take care of this,” he said and they both stormed through the solid brick wall.

I hurried back to my window sill and watched as the Angels flew insanely fast toward the stables, lighting up the whole yard. The panther must have sensed them coming because suddenly I saw it come out of the building as a spirit and then turn itself into a panther and start running toward the forest. But the Angels were much faster and soon they caught him. As they grabbed him the panther disappeared and the spirit returned. More Angels arrived and flew into the stables. Then nurses from the hospital tower arrived. There was a lot of commotion, people hurrying in and out of the stables.
Something bad has to have happened
, I thought to myself.

Then I saw him. As the Angels brought the spirit they had caught back toward the castle in chains, I had a glimpse of his face.

It was Adrian, the third-year student who had told Portia about the mirror in the cellar. And who had made fun of Abhik when he had a hard time riding the Pegasus.

C
HAPTER 18

“
I
T WAS A GOOD
thing you alarmed the guards.” Salathiel looked at me intensely. I had been called to his chamber after class the very next day. As with the rest of the Angels, he looked too big to be indoors.

“Who knows what horrible things would have happened if you hadn’t done that,” he continued. “They found Adahy in the stables. The panther had ripped his whole stomach open.”

“How is he?” I asked, truly concerned.

“He is better. It will grow back, but it is not a pleasant experience.”

I knew that
, I thought and looked at my knee. It had healed nicely and I didn’t even feel any discomfort anymore.

Salathiel looked serious. “But I don’t understand why you didn’t tell us about this animal before. You had seen it several times?”

I sighed. Now I was feeling like a little child at the principal’s office explaining my actions. “I did. Twice before. It moved toward the stables and one time I saw Adahy let it in. So I thought that it was his friend or something.”

Salathiel nodded. “You didn’t want him to get into trouble, I understand that. But next time, please talk to me or Rahmiel about it, would you?”

“Sure. I am sorry I didn’t—”

Salathiel interrupted me. “It is okay. Adahy will be fine, I assure you. He had a scare, all right.”

“But I don’t understand. Why would the panther suddenly attack him?”

Salathiel sighed like he wanted to tell me but was afraid it would be too much for me to handle. “As I assume you already know, the panther wasn’t an animal from the forest. It was a spirit from this school who had transformed himself into a panther.”

I nodded. I had seen his face.

“But I am sure you are wondering why.” Salathiel said with a little smile. His bright light illumined the entire room. And it became even brighter when he smiled.

“I am.”

Salathiel sighed. “It has been a while since we last had so much commotion on the school premises, so excuse me if I am a little confused. I guess you are somewhat involved in all of this so you deserve to know the truth. Let me try to explain.”

He exhaled deeply before he continued. “When we spoke to Adahy, he explained to us that, when the winter was over and he had begun his classes, Yofi had reacted dramatically when he saw a third-year student named Adrian. Adahy had immediately known why. By the look in Yofi’s eyes, he knew that Adrian had to have been the one who burned the message in his coat in the fall.”

“But the message was meant for me? Right?”

“Yes, it was.”

“But … why?”

Salathiel sighed again. “Now that was our question as well when we brought Adrian in yesterday. Today he has explained to us that he wanted to scare you. Last year, you and your friends went after Portia through the mirror—”

“A mirror that Adrian had told Portia about,” I interrupted. “Was he mad that I told on him?”

Salathiel gesticulated with his arms wide out. “You are even smarter than I thought. Yes, that is what he told us. He was punished last year for telling Portia about the mirror and for going through it several times himself, pulling pranks on the humans—messing up their computers, going into their TVs to jumble up the channels, and so on. Of course we had to punish him. But somehow he blamed you for it and wanted to teach you a lesson. That was why he burned the message into your Pegasus’s coat. A horrible thing to do, and he will be punished for that as well soon when the school board of Angels will decide what is going to happen to him.”

Salathiel sighed again. “It is all a great mess, but I think we might have solved it by now.”

“But … I don’t understand.”

“What?”

I looked into Salathiel’s eyes. They were dark brown and very kind.

“Why did Adrian come at night as a panther to visit Adahy?”

Salathiel smiled widely. “I see you like to get the facts straight. Very well, then. It is important to have all questions answered. Adrian came to threaten Adahy into silence. He did that on a regular basis. See, he too saw how Yofi reacted when he saw him, and he didn’t want Adahy to tell about it. He knew that Adahy slept in the stables to protect the Pegasuses from further attacks, and then he came to him, reminding him to keep quiet. If Adahy told on him then Adrian—or the panther—would kill Yofi.”

I nodded. It made sense. “So what happened yesterday? Why didn’t Adahy open the door, and why did the panther … or Adrian hurt him?”

“Adahy had decided to finally stand up for himself. He is an ancient warrior and has never been afraid of anything in his life. On earth he was a buffalo hunter and he has fought mountain lions with his bare hands. So last night he decided he no longer wanted to be a coward. He was ashamed of himself for how he had handled this situation, how he had bowed down to fear. So he told Adrian that the deal was off and  he would tell the school board in the morning. That was why Adrian attacked him. If the guards hadn’t arrived, Adrian would have killed Yofi.”

I swallowed hard. I felt so bad for both Adahy and Yofi. All that because Adrian wanted to revenge something I had done.

“How did he make himself into a panther?”

“See, that is a difficult question, one that I am afraid I don’t have the answer for just yet. But my guess is that he was using some kind of magic. I don’t know where he has come upon it. It is not normally something spirits get involved in. It is not good. He might have read about it somewhere. But things like that are not good for the human spirit. Magic is evil and it will poison the heart. Satan knows a lot of magic but he never gives it to someone for free.”

I looked at Salathiel. His fatherly smile showed behind the bright light that shone from all of his body. “You don’t look too satisfied to me. Do you have more unanswered questions on your mind?”

“Well I do have one question.”