Burned

Chapter Twelve

"Where's Daniel?" Erik asked me, attempting at sounding casual. We were standing in line, empty trays in hand, as people carelessly took their time. I was being too harsh -- I hadn't touched the Amulet today. Apparently, without the lack of confidence, I'm bitter. This was what I was thinking about, not where Daniel was, so it surprised me that Erik asked. He was probably just making small talk.

Still, I looked around the cafeteria before remembering it was Wednesday.

"It's Wednesday," I muttered under my breath.

"My dudes, ahhh!" Erik made this weird half-scream in the back of his throat. I raised an eyebrow, utterly confused. What was he doing? There were people staring at us now. Although, I should have been used to the stares. It didn't really bother me anymore, but maybe that was because the stares had dissipated some. People still made sure to give me extra space. I wonder if they think that helps? It doesn't, but how can I tell them? 

"What was that?" I glared, looking up at him. He wasn't embarrassed -- not even a little. I relaxed my shoulders back, taking a tiny step back to look at him. 

"You haven't seen that gif? Or is it technically a meme? I'm not totally sure, but anyway it's this guy in a Spiderman costume--

"Let me just stop you there," I put up my hands, somewhat joking. 

"You really haven't seen that? It's everywhere." He trailed off. 

"I haven't, no," I tell him blankly. 

"Oh, well it's funny. I'll send you the link." He kept his tone light. Thankfully, I didn't have to respond, the line moved forward. He grabbed a burger and fries and I picked what I wanted on my salad. Then, I caved and got fries too. Neither of us said anything as we walked to our table. 

"You never answered my question," he said as he set his tray down. He took his usual spot. I took mine, in between him and Addie. It was just the six of us today. Since Ivelyn and Troy had broken up, he didn't join us at our table. I bet Ivelyn told him not to. 

"About what?" Addie asked, then popped one of my fries in her mouth. I went to answer, but my head felt like a white-hot iron poker had probed it. I know I felt like screaming, but I didn't realize I was actually screaming until I fell to the floor. Then, my body wriggled against the linoleum without my intent. 

Then, everything went black. 

I recognized the body I was in. I knew this was Elizabeth Locke -- a past life of me. I knew even before I heard my name get called. It wasn't the same time because I wasn't a young version of Elizabeth. She had to be in her late teens. I knew she died one month before her twenty-first birthday, so she was younger than that. 

"Elizabeth," a voice behind hissed. I saw as she spun around who it was: Samuel, her older brother. I knew from her thoughts, she had been spying on him like she had so many times before. She was here against his will. He didn't want her here, but here she was, this time spying to make sure he wasn't going to ruin his life.

What did that mean?

I pushed through her thoughts, searching for the reason behind this. 

He was here, trying to un-do a spell our ancestor had cast. It was a difficult spell and neither one of them thought he was strong enough to cast it alone. 

What spell was he trying to un-do?

"You shouldn't be here," he grabbed her forearms with a force that scared her. He was panicking, which calmed her. She was great in a crisis, and this was a crisis.