The Price of Power (The Price of Secrets Series Book 2) (2 page)

    Megan, after picking her jaw up off the floor, turned to walk away. Before she made two steps, Phebs was up and going after her. She grabbed Megan by the arm and turned her around. Still holding her arm, Phoebe yelled at her. “You just crossed the line bitch.”

    “Let go, you’re hurting me.” Megan whined as she scanned to room, suddenly aware that all eyes were on them. I guess she didn’t expect her little performance to backfire on her.

    Phebs pulled her closer and lowered her voice, almost to a whisper. “You better listen to me and listen good. If you ever, EVER, go after Kayla again I promise you that you WILL be picking yourself up off the floor. That is not a threat, Megan, you have just been given a guarantee.”

    “Shut up.” Phoebe stopped Megan before she could speak. “Nod if you understand that Kayla is off limits.” Megan nodded her head with tears in her eyes that Phebs didn’t notice, or just didn’t care. “Good, and I just decided that you have a new job. I am holding you responsible for anyone talking about Kayla. That means if you hear any gossip you will put a stop to it. Now walk away before I change my mind and take back your last chance.” Phebs let go and Megan ran out of the lunch room.

    “Damn Phebs!” Jaycee walked up beside me. “The only thing that would have made that more perfect is if I had said it.”

    I turned around to make sure Kayla was ok. “She’s gone. Where did Kayla go?”

    “Yes, where did she go?” It was Jacob. He was with Daniel, standing at the head of the table.

    Just how much of Phoebe’s rant he had heard, I haven’t a clue.

     “I think I might know. I’ll go check on her.” Jacob looked so upset. As I walked past him I laid my hand on his arm and felt the pain. It wasn’t for himself, it was for Kayla. “Don’t worry, I’ll come back with her.”

    I headed for the girls bathroom, of course, Jaycee and Phebs followed. We heard her crying as soon as we walked in.

    “Kayla, honey, please don’t cry.” I tried to open the stall door. It was locked.

    “Don’t let what that crazy bitch said upset you. Open the door Kayla.” Phoebe jerked on the door with no luck.

    Something didn’t feel right, I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

    “Kayla, you and Jacob are perfect together. Megan is the school joke. Everybody hates her, and no one listens to anything she says. We all know that she is a cheerleader only because her mom is in with the PTA.” Jaycee paused to see if Kayla would respond. Nothing. “Come out or I’m crawling under, which will mess up my outfit, and you know that will just piss me off.”

    Finally, we heard the door unlock and slowly open. I then realized what I was feeling. It was not Kayla that emerged from the stall, it was Megan.

    The three of us just stared speechlessly at her. Jaycee was the first to walk out of the bathroom, with Phebs right behind. I started to follow, but for just a fraction of a second I thought I heard Megan call out for me to stay. She didn’t actually say it out loud, I heard it in my mind. I snuck into her head just to see if she really was trying to talk to me telepathically. The sudden feel of pain and loneliness was overwhelming. I definitely wasn’t expecting that.

    Before I could search any deeper, Jaycee walked back in. “Hannah, come on. We found Kayla.” I took one last look at Megan before leaving with Jaycee.

    The rest of the day was uneventful, thank goodness, which left me to do what every other normal student was doing- counting down until three o’clock.

    “So, we finally convinced Kayla that there will always be haters and people that thrive on causing drama. I just can’t believe that there are still people that still think like that. On the bright side, that percentage gets smaller every year.” I caught Daniel up on everything he missed while we waited at the park for Jaycee. It’s not a huge shocker that she was late. “What bothers me the most, is Megan. Daniel, she’s in so much pain. I couldn’t tell if it was physical or emotional, but it was a tremendous amount.”

    “We can think about Megan later, I promise, but right now I can’t feel sorry for her because she is the reason Kayla and Jacob are upset. But I’m sure they will work it out and get through this.” He leaned over and kissed me sweetly on the cheek. “How are you holding up? You’ve had to absorb more than your fair share of emotions today.”

     “I have had better days, and worse, but I’m fine.”

    
Wonderful
was the first word I could think of to describe him. Well,
yummy
would be the first word, but
wonderful
would be a close second.

    He looked around to make sure no one was paying us any attention. Once he saw that the coast was clear, he took his necklace off and put it in his shirt pocket. It was not just any necklace, it was an amulet that protects him from supernatural interference. It was almost identical to the one he gave me on my birthday. Where his stone was turquoise, mine was an amethyst. He pulled my hair to one side so he could unclasp my necklace, pausing to kiss the tip of my nose, then placed it in my lap.

    “Ok, it’s off.” He laid his hands in mine. “I want you to feel what I am feeling. I think it might take some of the negative energy off of you.”

    I closed my eyes and let Daniel’s feelings, his energy, flow into my mind and body. The first thing I felt was love, followed by a feeling of contentment and joy. I quickly sent the emotions right back to him. I then felt, heck I could almost say I saw, what seemed to be a whitish blue light starting at the top of my head and working its way down my body leaving behind relaxed, limp muscles. It was like a psychic massage. I didn’t try to figure out how he did it, rather why he hasn’t done it before. He’s getting really good at this connecting thing. It has only been a few weeks ago that we attempted to join our abilities for the first time. We figured that since there was always a jolt of electricity between us when we touched that maybe it was our gifts, or powers, trying to connect. We found out that while holding hands we give each other a power boost. My gift of being able to see into someone’s thoughts was enhanced to not just seeing the conscious thoughts, but also thoughts that have been put on the back burner, so to speak. It also gave Daniel’s telekinesis three times more strength. Yes, my boyfriend can move things with his mind.

    “You know it’s not fair that you have a blocker from Hannah so she can’t read you. I want you to get me a necklace like that for my birthday.” It was Jaycee, along with her perfect timing.

    “Once you understand how to use your power you will be able to make one of your own.” Daniel told her as we both fastened our necklaces back around our necks.

    “About that, just when and how am I gonna learn it?” Jaycee made herself comfortable on the bench in front of us.

    “Well, that’s the second thing I wanted to talk to you two about. I think we should go this weekend to talk to your great aunt and see if she can help point us in the right direction.”

    “What was the first thing you wanted to talk about?” I asked.

    “I’ve been having these dreams, they started after our night at the cemetery. I wanted to know if it’s just me, or if y’all are having them too.”

    “I have.” I admitted. “I keep having the same dream almost every night. We are at the cemetery standing inside the circle of salt that Jaycee laid out. She was chanting, or casting a spell is a better way to describe it. Then I see the shadow demon and the form that it started to take, with the fangs and blazing eyes.” My body shivered from the memory. “The last thing I remember is Daniel telling me that he loves me. Then I wake up”.

    “So you are dreaming about something that actually happened.” He squeezed my hand. “How about you Jaycee?”

    “Mine is the same dream every time also. All I see is fire, everywhere, and I hear screaming. The only difference is that I wake up feeling more drained after each dream.”

    I looked over at Daniel. “What about you, what are your dreams about?”

    “It’s the same recurring dream for me too. In it, I have taken the role of my ninth great grandfather. I shape shifted into this beautiful solid black horse, well, the only markings is a white start above the eyes. I’m running through woods, I don’t recognize the location, with someone on my back. I have this feeling of urgency, afraid I won’t get there in time. Wherever ‘there’ is. Then I wake up.”

    Is it wrong, or just plain weird, that the thought of somebody riding on the back of my boyfriend’s dream-shape shifted-self made me kinda jealous? I really think I’m gonna need therapy one of these days.

    “So what does this mean? We are not having the same dreams, but it’s all tied together somehow.” I stood up to pace.

    “I agree it has to be connected, but we keep coming up with more questions instead of answers.” Jaycee focused on Daniel. “Do you think this is because we found out that I’m a witch?”

    “It might be. Or maybe something is just messing with us. Until we find out for sure, we need to find a way to stay safe. Han and I will help you do some research. I’m betting that there is a spell that you can cast to keep any evil out of our dreams. I think that…”

    Daniel tried to catch me as I fell to the ground screaming and holding my chest. The pain was making it hard for me to breath. I just knew I was going to pass out any minute but I had to fight it to hold on.

    Daniel was down on his knees beside me. “Hannah! What’s wrong, what’s hurting you?”

    “My chest, my heart.” I was able to get the words out in between sobs.

    Jaycee was behind me with her hand stroking my hair, a habit she has always done when she was trying to comfort or connect with me. “Who or what is hurting you, Han?”

    “Not me...It’s Dad. Please help my dad!”

Chapter 2

    “Hello, Mom?” Daniel had calmed me down long enough so I could call home. “Where’s Dad? What happened, is he ok?”

    “Hannah, slow down. Your dad is fine, he is still at work but he should be coming home soon. What’s going on?”

    “Mom, listen to me. Something has happened or is gonna happen to Dad, I can feel it.” Having my every thought on my dad had to be the cause of what popped in my head next. I had a vision of my dad being taken into the emergency room on a stretcher.

    “Hannah, you’re scaring me. I’m going to call your dad and check on him.”

    “Ok, then meet me at the E.R. entrance, because that’s where he is headed.” I took a deep breath. “And Mom, I love you.”

    “Love you too.”

    I hung up the phone and was heading to my car, when Daniel stopped me. “You’re not in any condition to drive. I will take you.” I would have protested had it not been for the ‘I’m not taking no for an answer’ look in his eyes. He opened the passenger door of his car. Saying nothing, I got in.

    “I’m going too.” Jaycee jumped into the backseat.

    I sat quietly looking out the window but not really seeing anything. So many thoughts rushed through my head, like my dad teaching me how to ride a bike and how to swing a bat. I was so bad at both, but Dad was always patient with me. When it was his turn to tell me a bedtime story he would make one up instead of reading from a book, which most of the time made it more interesting. That time Mom was working late and Dad decided that we were going to make supper. Mom ended up walking into a food fight and a mess. He helped me clean up while telling me how much of a bad influence I was on him. Of course, he was joking. Or when he knew, and didn’t tell Mom, that Jaycee and I tried smoking a cigarette and that we hid the pack in my special hiding place, after almost choking to death. Once, he stayed up with me all night reconstructing my solar project after I had fallen while carrying it down the stairs. I can’t lose him. I just can’t.

    Daniel reached over and held my hand. “He’s gonna be okay, Hannah.”

  My phone rang, it was Mom. “The ambulance has taken your dad to the hospital!”

     Daniel barely had time to put the car into park before I was out the door. I knew we had beat Mom here, and now I wished I hadn’t told her I would wait outside. I made it to the sidewalk and automatically started to pace. “Where is she?”

    “She’s gonna be here any minute.” Daniel walked up behind me, put his hands on my shoulders, and started to attack the knots that had formed in my neck.

    Jaycee, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, finally spoke. “Do you think I could do something to help?”

    “Aww, Jaycee,  just you being here helps me more than you know.”

    “I mean could I do something with... you know... my gift.”

    “Everything that you do with your power has a chance of having consequences. You really need to have a better idea of what you can do, and the rules that go along with it, before you do anything that huge.” Daniel said, giving Jaycee an apologetic look.

    “But thanks for offering.” I gave her a tight squeeze.

    “Hannah!” Mom yelled my name as she ran up the sidewalk.