When We Spirits Awaken

Chapter 13: Not so Secret, Part 2

He moved.

He groaned.

He was waking up.

I moved away a bit, about to take the bag of ice with me when his hand stopped mine.

"I still need that," he groaned again.

"Maybe I hit him hard enough that he doesn't remember." Shade thought hopefully.

I tried my best to fight a smile, if that was the case, that would mean the last hour of waiting and worrying was in vain, but I could cope with that. Unfortunately, I wasn't foolish enough to hope that he had forgotten when he was still half out of his senses.

"How's your head?" I asked.

"It hurts."

"And here I thought it would tickle. Now I feel just terrible," Shade thought.

I looked at him and shook my head. Now really was not the time for him to be sarcastic.

I turned to look at Kaleb again to find him sitting straight up and staring at me. For a moment he smiled, and then he lifted his gaze ever so slightly and saw Shade behind me. That snapped him out of whatever peaceful reverie he had been in.

He shot up off the couch. "What the hell is going on?"

Shade stretched his legs out in front of him. "Aren't we off to a good start."

I ignored him, standing and keeping my eyes on Kaleb. "I know this is all very confusing, but how about you sit down and tell me what you think you saw."

"I don't have to sit down to tell you I know that I saw a giant, freaky, werewolf looking thing three inches from ripping your throat out while you suddenly had glowing white sparks in your hand. Or that the werewolf ran at me and hit me in the head!" he shouted, holding the ice to his forehead again.

 Taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth and closed it again. I had planned what I was going to say while he was knocked out. I had decided I would tell him that when he came in the yard Shade, my normal, oversized dog, had knocked him over and that he had hit his head on a patio chair on the way down.

A simple and believable story... if he hadn't remembered everything so clearly.

"Kaleb, I'm sure you think--"

"No. Don't you dare," he moved closer pointing his finger at me. "Don't try telling me I'm wrong. I know what I saw!"

Shade jumped off the couch and stood beside me, his hackles up.

"Shade, enough!"

"He's too close to you." He snarled at Kaleb, forcing him to back away.

"He's fine! Shade, enough!" I shouted, trying to push the boulder of a dog away.

Kaleb stared at Shade, but he wasn't afraid, he was angry. "He was that thing, wasn't he?"

I sighed, I had no choice anymore. "Yes."

"Show me," he asked, taking another step back.

"What? I don't think... you want to see again?" I questioned.

"I need to see. I need to know I'm not crazy."

"You're not crazy, but--"

"Then show me," he demanded, interrupting me.

This was all my fault. How could I have possibly forgotten that Kaleb was coming today? I should have had it written in big, bold, red letters on sticky notes throughout the house! My mother had been in and out of this world and never made a mistake, never made anyone suspicious. Now, in one day I had ruined everything. I wanted to believe I could trust Kaleb not to tell, but how could I when I couldn't even trust myself to protect a secret that could destroy me if anyone found out? 

"Shade--"

Kaleb interrupted me again. "Not him. I want you to show me whatever it was you did."

I nodded, lifting my hand, defeated. My magic flickered in my hand, first just a few white sparks, and then a single white flame. I pulled my hand away and the flame stayed, a single glowing orb of white fire floating in between me and Kaleb before I waved it away.

For a moment everything was quiet; Shade kept any sarcastic remark he had to himself, I stood there with a million senseless thoughts, and Kaleb paced as he silently fumed. For a moment.

"All this time..." he began, the tone of his voice dripping with rage and betrayal. "... You're what? A witch? A magician? A liar, to everyone! You pretend you're so put together, normal! And this whole time... All you've done is mess with my head! Was that some sort of game, or did you put me under some stupid spell so the last 3 and a half months of my life were as good as damned?"

Kaleb put the ice pack on the couch then and headed for the door.

"You don't understand," I ran after him. "Please, if you'd just let me explain before--"

"Before what? Before I tell the whole school? The whole city? Or before I walk out on you, just like every time you walked out on me? Take your explanation and feed it to the werewolf."

"He's a Lynkire," I said, my voice cracking in an odd place. 

"Of all the things you could have said, that was it?" Shade questioned.

I ignored him and continued with my stupid comment. "Werewolves don't exist; they aren't real."

Kaleb opened the door. "They might as well be."

"Kaleb I'm--" I tried to apologize.

"Whatever," was the last thing he said before slamming the door. Not 30 seconds later I heard his car engine rev as he sped off.

 I sat on the couch, throwing my hands over my face. "I could have handled that better. I should have," I mumbled.

"I thought that went quite well." Shade thought as he laid on the opposite couch again.

"Oh, certainly, because all the good situations end with the guy taking off."

"You're making this sound like one of Emily's sappy movies."

"I have to tell Emily."

Shade flopped onto his back. "At least she'll be in a good mood today."

"Not after I tell her," I groaned.

Shade shrugged. "There is still a positive side to this."

I pulled my hands away from my face, searching Shade's eyes, desperate for an answer. "And what's that?"

"She doesn't have magic to throw fireballs at you."

I threw myself back on the couch. Fearing Emily was the least of my problems, and though fearing the rest of the world should have been my primary focus, I could not shake what happened with Kaleb. In the midst of all the potential chaos waiting at my doorstep, all I could care about was the drilling guilt in the pit of my stomach about how much I had hurt Kaleb. I couldn't distract myself anymore.

"I'm doomed."