Discovering Riley

Chapter 5: Necklace

Chapter 5

Adam’s POV

I watched as she took a seat on my bed. “I’ve been having dreams about the fire at this house for two years. I never thought it could be real until an hour ago when I connected it to what Josh did.” She explained.

I ran a hand through my hair and pulled at it. “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head and let out a shaky breath. “I just want to know if it had anything to do with witchcraft. The fire, I mean.”

I nodded reluctantly.

“Did people…die in that fire?” She asked.

“Yeah.” I told her simply. If only she knew who died…

She pulled her knees to her chest. “Was I in there?”

I nodded.

“I don’t get it.” She whispered. “You were a witness to the fire. That’s what the article said. Why didn’t you do anything?”

“I tried. God,” I fell back beside her on the bed and tucked my arms behind my head. “I tried so hard. But I couldn’t get through.”

“Why not?”

“There was some kind of barrier around the house. I’ve never seen one so powerful.” I told her and until this day I still couldn’t understand it. It was more powerful than anything. “I can’t lift a barrier like that without—“ I stopped myself before I said too much.

She turned to me. “Without what?”

I sat up quickly. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Wait.” Before I could get up, she grabbed my hand. I suddenly felt tingles rise up my arm and before I could feel anymore, she pulled her hand away shyly. My eyes fell from her face and onto the necklace on her neck.

“Where did you get that from?” I asked her. I’ve been wondering about that necklace for a while now. It bothered me but I didn’t know why.

She touched it and looked at me. “From a friend of mine from where I came from.”

I narrowed my eyes at the intricate design of a snake around the reddish jewel. “Do you mind if I see it?” I asked her.

She shook her head.

I lifted my hand slowly to the necklace around her neck. Once I got only a finger on it, I felt a sudden pain shoot up my arm and snatched my hand away.

She gasped. “What just happened?”

I eyed the necklace for a while longer. It looked familiar. I leaned in closer for a better look before meeting her eyes. “That’s not a regular necklace.”

She reached behind her and started to take it off. “Should I take it off?”

“No!” I grabbed her arm to stop her when I finally realized what the jewel was. “The jewel is called a carnelian stone. It’s used for protection.”

“But it hurt you.” She said. “And when Josh attacked me, it didn’t protect me.”

“I think it’s protecting you from me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t. But it has to be for good reason. So for now, don’t take it off.” I ordered her. “Okay?”

“Okay, I won’t.” She muttered and touched the stone. “But Walter—“

“Walter?” I questioned surprise obvious in my voice. If I would have known Walter was involved in this… “You know who he is?”

“He’s my therapist.” She told me. “How do you know him?”

He’s known all along that she was still alive? And he didn’t think it would have been a good idea to tell me? I knew I couldn’t trust him and that he would never trust me. He’s grown too close to her and thinks of her as a daughter he’s always wanted. Watchers aren’t allowed to get involved like that with their witches.

“An old friend.” I mumbled. “Do you know where he is now?”

“I guess he’s still in Massachutes…” She said, frowning. “Is he a witch too?”

“No, he’s human.” I gazed at her for a moment and got to my feet. “Look, I think you should get some sleep. I know that this is a lot to take in.”

She stood up after me and looked up at me. “I think you’re right.”

“Want me to take you back?” I asked her, knowing that it was dark out by now. I knew it was a risky move for me, but I couldn’t leave her alone.

She smiled a bit. “If you don’t mind.”

Riley’s POV

I kept my distance from Adam while we walked together to my dorm. Getting too close to him would just work my nerves up and I really didn’t want that right now.

We stayed silent for a couple of minutes until I decided to talk about something that was nagging me for a while now, eversince he told me about that barrier.

“Who’s after you guys?” I asked him, keeping my head low. I could feel his eyes on me. “Yesterday, you told Josh and Derek that ‘they’ could have felt it too. Who are ‘they’?”

“Nothing you have to worry about.”

Nothing I have to worry about? I repeated in disbelief.

I glanced up at him to find that he had his eyes forward and his hands stuffed into his pocket. I grabbed his arm so that the both of us stopped walking. He looked at me in surprise at my actions and was about to speak when I felt a sudden pain on my arm.

I shot my eyes to the pain and realized I had a huge gash on my bicep. My hand flung to my arm to stop the bleeding.

“What happened?” Adam demanded and grabbed ahold of my arms when my legs started to give in on me.

“My arm. Something—ahh!” I felt another pain shoot up my thigh and looked down to see another large gash there too. It had ripped straight through my jeans.

I snapped my eyes back up to Adam, my hands tightening on his shirt. “What’s happening?”