Unforgettable (OLD COPY DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 31

A necklace of mine from the second grade sits in the cup holder of my mother's car, the chain rattling when we occasionally hit a bump in the road. The pendant is a set of tiny, pink ballet slippers with the word 'Best' carved into the top of them. I can't remember who has the matching 'Friends' pair, I had forgotten about the necklace altogether until now, as my mother likely used it to cast a tracking spell to find me.

My mother clears her throat suddenly and I realize then that I've been staring at the necklace. I glance up at her before I turn my gaze away and look out the window.

"Kara," she says and the concern in her voice is enough to make my eyes tear up.

I don't say anything, I don't know what I can even say to defend myself. Tessa and Astrid had taken the Ouija board with them when my mother had dropped them off, but I can still feel the tension in the air from having the object around.

"Talk to me," my mother says, her voice barely more than a whisper as I suppress the urge to cry.

"I'm sorry," I croak at last, "but mom..., I can't explain myself right now."

She falls silent at this, the silence dragging out long enough that it makes me fidget in my seat as I risk a glance in her direction. Her face is pale and her eyes are hollow as she stares ahead of us blankly.

"Mom?" I interrupt, afraid for a moment that she's trying to See which is something she really shouldn't be doing while she's driving.

She blinks several times, confirming my suspicions as she comes back to reality.

"How are you blocking me?" she asks softly, though I only feel confused from her question.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't See any of your future," she retorts as she glares at me from the corner of her eye, "how are you doing it?"

"Mom, I don't know, I'm not blocking you," I promise her.

She doesn't say anything as we lapse into silence that lasts until we pull up along the curb outside of our house. My mother shuts off the car but I don't dare move from my seat as she continues to grip the steering wheel, like it's somehow keeping her anchored in place.

At last, she breathes out softly.

"Go inside and go to bed," she murmurs, "tell your father I'd like to speak with him."

I'm out of the car and up the steps before I can process the fact that I've unbuckled my seatbelt and gotten out. I don't look back, I keep going until I've opened the front door and stepped inside.

My father steps out of the living room and into the entry hallway as I shut the door behind me, his arms crossed as his dark eyes survey me.

"She didn't say much, she just grabbed her keys and ran out the door," he says and my gut twists with guilt.

"I'm not going to ask you what you did," he continues, "I can already guess that she'll tell me, but you need to go to bed, it's late."

I nod, relieved as I slip past him and head for the stairs. Indigo is huddled at the top, out of sight of my father as she gestures silently to me in a secret code we had developed as children.

Go to your room, meet you there in an hour, is what her signing reads and I obey as I head to my room and shut the door.

****

I must slip into sleep because the next thing I know, I'm lying sprawled across the covers as the door is slowly opening a few inches and Indigo steps into my room. She slips in before she shuts the door and casts a quick muffling spell on the door so we can speak freely.

"What did you do?" she asks me in a low voice.

I sit up and rub at my temples as I squint at her in the darkness. Her bright green eyes watch me, like she's trying to See that answer but I know it's not her ability. The warning Tessa had given me rings freshly in my mind as I bite back the urge to say anything.

But at last, I tell her everything.

She sits on the edge of the bed when I'm done, her eyes wide with what might be shock and disbelief before she looks away from me.

"Kara...I don't want to believe what you're telling me," she murmurs. "But...I know-, I know now that something is wrong, I'm sorry I didn't believe you earlier, I'm sorry, I'm sorry for what I said."

"It's okay-," I start to say but she cuts me off.

"No, it's not okay, god Kara, you're my sister, I should have believed you but it just...it just wasn't adding up to me at the time, I thought you were going crazy," she trails off suddenly and in the dim light of my bedroom I can see that her eyes are welling up with tears.

I open my arms and she lurches forward into them as she wraps me into a tight embrace that stifles me. I can faintly pick up on the fact that she's trembling as she holds me, though I don't say anything about it as she finally sits back and shakes her head.

"I don't want you to forgive me because you feel like you need to, I want you to forgive me when you want to forgive me, I don't have to be forgiven right now," she says quietly as she reaches out and grabs my hand and squeezes it, "I love you, Kar."

I can't help but smile at the childhood nickname as I'm hit with nostalgia, "I love you too, Indi."