Witch and Wizard - James Patterson [15]
“Ugh.” Whit winced. “Do me a favor and hit the dimmer switch.”
“I don’t know if I can,” I said, my voice cracking a little.
Except for my flighty flower-power first name, I’d mostly escaped freakishness in my life. Didn’t have to wear hideous hand-me-down clothes from an older sister. Never the last one picked for a team in gym class. Never called four eyes, metal mouth, or fatty. Now I was an official freak, three times over. A witchy flamethrowing radio-active freak.
That’s not great news for a fifteen-year-old, let me tell you.
I suddenly welled up with tears, desperately needing my parents. “Mom? Dad?” I whimpered. The echo of their names hit my ears cruelly.
Whit got that annoyingly worried look on his face again. “Wisty…”
“Shh,” I hissed, crying now. “Mom… told me about everything, Whit. She told me about the birds and the bees, like, way before any of my other friends’ parents did. How she and Dad fell in love—very romantic. And Dad—he told me about his most embarrassing moments in school. And how proud he was of you, and me, and… and he was never afraid to say ‘I love you’ like the other dads.” I sucked in a tortured breath. “But why didn’t they tell me about all of this?”
Whit came close and hugged me, glow and all.
“The worst thing is, Whit, maybe they did tell me about it. And maybe I just wasn’t paying enough attention.”
Then I really started sobbing. My tears soaked into Whit’s jumpsuit, and he held me until we both sank into sleep, and my glow faded, faded away.
Chapter 24
Whit
WHOA!
Celia came to visit me again that night, or sometime during those first harried hours in the new jail. I wasn’t so sure about the passage of time anymore. I wasn’t sure about anything.
“Hi, Whit, missed you,” Celia said, same as before, only now she said it with a wink. “I was thinking about you. The way it was. Happy days. Our first date. You wore that wrinkly bowling shirt you love. Alley Cat. Remember?”
Of course I remembered.
Oh man, oh man, oh Celia. What is happening? Am I totally insane? Is that why I’m in a nuthouse? “Celes, listen, I need to ask you a question. Why did you stay away for so long? Please, if you don’t want me to go completely crazy, tell me what happened to you.”
Amazingly—especially if this was a dream—Celia reached out and touched me. I could feel her. It made me calm. Calmer. She felt like the old Celia, looked like the old Celia… and had the same sweet smile.
“I will tell you what happened to me, Whit. I want to so badly.”
“Thank you.” I let out a sigh from the bottom of my sneakers. “Thank you.”
“Not now, though. When I see you for real. In person. Not in a dream. We have to be careful, though—The One Who Is The One is watching us.”
I couldn’t let Celia go again. I held her close—very close—and I asked her once more for some kind of rational explanation.
Then Celia pulled away, but just far enough for her to stare into my eyes. I loved being able to look into her eyes again. We had the same baby blues. Her friends used to joke about the kids we’d have one day.
“Here’s all I can tell you for now, Whit. There’s a prophecy. It’s written on a wall in your future. Learn about it. Never forget it. You’re a part of it, of running the world. That’s why the New Order’s so afraid of you and Wisteria.”
I couldn’t even absorb that major information drop before she took a quick breath and continued. “Whit, I can’t be here any longer than this. I love you. Please miss me.”
“Don’t go,” I pleaded. “I can’t take this again. Celia?”
She was gone, but somehow I could still hear her voice: “We’ll be together again, Whit. I miss you already. Miss me. Please miss me.”
Chapter 25
Wisty
THAT MORNING, Whit and I were startled awake by a tapping sound, like a stick or maybe somebody’s cane. My heart immediately started racing full blast, but Whit still seemed groggy and disoriented.