Silverlake

Chapter 8

I didn't sleep that night. 

After our little talk, my parents had gone back to being normal. My mom went into the kitchen and made dinner while my dad went into his office to go over some papers. Dinner came and went, and not another word of magic was brought up. I itched to ask more questions, to ask about my tattoo, but I was too scared of the answer. I was too scared to practice anything else. 

I went up to my room after dinner, but I didn't come down until it was time for school. I traced over the tattoo on my collarbone, making sure it was still there, before getting dressed in a simple long sleeve shirt and jeans.

"Mom?" I called, pausing at the top of the stairs. I smelled pancakes, and breakfast before school in this house was almost non-existent. 

"Reese, honey? I made breakfast! And I have good news!"

I trudged down the stairs. "What could be good news at this time in the morning?"

"Your sister is coming home for a few days! Isn't that exciting?" She turned around to face me after flipping a pancake, "Oh honey, you look...tired." Her lips twisted into a frown.

"I couldn't sleep." She came over and pulled me against her, pulling her fingers through my hair. I didn't feel the need to do anything fancy with it today, so my hair did its own thing and laid out down and flat all over my shoulders. 

"Eat some pancakes, they'll make you cheery," she said stepping away from me again. I rolled my eyes.

"So, when does Katherine get in?"

"Most likely around 2:00. She said she'll take a cab here from the airport. I'm sure she'll be here when you get home." 

I nodded my head. 

"What's wrong?" 

"Nothing, why?" I hated being asked what was wrong, especially when the person knew the answer.

"Well, you're resting your head on your empty plate, and I thought you would be more excited to see your sister?" I lifted my head off the plate and placed it in her outstretched hands. 

"I really am excited to see her," I honestly told her, "I just didn't get any sleep." She smiled, and I hoped that she would bring up the magic again. 

"Well, you better get going to school. I better not get a call from the office today telling me that my precious baby had detention for sleeping in class." She winked and laughed at her own joke. 

"Love you," I said grabbing my keys off of the counter. 

"And Reese?" Finally, she was going to bring it up. "You have pancake in your hair," I mumbled a thank you and roughly combed through my hair. I pulled out the piece of pancake and threw it onto the gravel before getting into my car.

I made it halfway to school before I realized my left side blinker was still on. How embarrassing. 

When I pulled into the parking lot next to Sky's car, it seemed she and everyone else seemed to already be inside, but I still had a couple more minutes before first, and the car was nice and warm. I turned the radio up and pulled out my physics flashcards. We weren't even through with the first week of school and our teacher already had us taking a test. Ugh. 

I stared at my steering wheel trying to remember who came up with the idea of Gravity, and call it lack of sleep or whatnot, but my mind swiftly drifted from physics to magic. 

What comes up, must go down, but what if it didn't? I decided to try it. I threw my flash cards in the air, focusing on the top card, they clattered back down onto the passenger seat. Now I was curious, I picked the cards back up, stacking them into a neat pile before throwing them once again. This time I focused on each individual card. I imagined each note in my head, seeing the words on both sides, and dared them to come back down. They stayed in the air. I watched, fascinated, as I swirled the cards around my car in circles. They floated like little feathers up and down each one suspended in the air. I giggled like a little girl and clapped my hands when they all fell back down around me. I tried to pick them back up again, but when I reached around to the backseat my seatbelt locked. 

It pulled tighter and tighter against my chest, keeping me prisoner on the driver's seat. I reached for the button, but my attention was caught by the flames licking on the front of my car. I screamed, making the seatbelt cut into my throat. I tried reaching for the door, but suddenly it seemed miles away. I coughed, breathing in the heated air around me, and suffocating in it as if it were a blanket that now covered the entire car. 

Sweat starting gathering on my forehead as the car continued to get warmer. I pushed and pulled on the door relentlessly, having no choice but to breathe in the smoke. Coughing only made my eyes water and my throat burn more. I hit the windows and banged on the roof, trying anything to get out. I closed my eyes, trying to think of something, something magic to end this, but when I closed my eyes all I saw was fire getting closer and closer and a dead end. Opening my eyes didn't make me feel any better because when I opened them, my vision was taken over by the sight of the flames crawling their way devilishly up towards the windshield.

I almost gave up, even the glass was hot to the touch, and now only smoke made its way through the vents. 

"Hold on, Reese!" I heard someone shout from outside, or at least I thought I heard someone from outside. It was hard to tell, everything seemed so foggy. 

The door was ripped open, and I felt my body being lifted up from the seat as the seatbelt slackened and drifted back up into its slot in the car. 

"I've got you now." I wanted to thank the voice who held me, but I couldn't. My eyes were too heavy and my entire body felt tired. I slackened against the figure that carried me, giving up the rest of my fight and letting myself slip into unconsciousness.

*Author's Note: I know these are all a little short! I apologize, and I wish I had more time to write! I hope you like it though! Any ideas on who might be Reese's savior?? *