Crest (Book #2,Swift Series) (5 page)

“Or we could just stay here all night.” Blake smiled and looked back over his right shoulder. “It’s peaceful here, isn’t it?”

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you it’s mean to tease?” I narrowed my eyes playfully.

“Maybe one day we can escape all of this.” He sighed, looking forward again into the dark ocean. “It would be nice to get away from the constant worry and have peace again. Don’t get me wrong, I love magic. If it weren’t for magic, I wouldn’t have ever known you, but there are times when I wonder what it would feel like to be normal and not have the constant worry that the people you care about are always in danger.”

 I sat up after hearing the apprehension in his voice, understanding exactly what he was saying. “Hey, it’s all going to be alright. Isn’t that what you keep telling me—that everything is going to work out?” I squeezed his arm and leaned up to kiss his cheek. “Thank you for doing all of this. It really helped me relax and get my mind off some things.” I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder. “We should do this more often.”

He wrapped his arm around my waist. “Well, I’m glad my plan worked. I’d do just about anything to see that smile on your face and that look of content in your eyes.”

It was at that moment I decided I wasn’t ready to go back just yet. I fell back towards the blanket, pulling on his shirt, forcing him back down with me for a long kiss; hoping that maybe I could persuade him to stay a little longer. My plan worked for a minute, but not at all as long as I’d hoped for.

“We should really be going now.” He breathed against my neck, his warm breath sending chills over me. “If we stay here much longer, I don’t know if I’ll have the strength to ever leave.”

That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?
I thought to myself, but I let him help me stand and we made our way back home.

Just as we had suspected, Abby was sitting on the front porch glaring at us as we approached the estate. “Seriously, am I going to have to start setting a curfew for you two?”

“You can’t set a curfew on two adults, Abby,” Blake fired back.

“Well, then maybe I’ll just find a spell that forces you to return home by a certain time.” She gave us both a pointed look, tapping her foot on the porch. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get
my
student in bed at a decent hour.”

We both tried to hide our laughter, knowing that neither one of us could say anything to sway Abby’s thoughts on this subject. She took her teacher role very seriously, and rightfully so, but it didn’t mean that it wasn’t annoying at times. Wasn’t she just saying today that she may be pushing too hard?

Abby turned on her heels and walked into the house, leaving Blake and I close behind; both of us still trying to contain our laughter and act somewhat respectful. This night was so close to perfect and I wasn’t about to let anything ruin it, even if it meant that I would have an angry teacher in the morning. I kissed Blake goodnight at the bottom of the stairs and then headed down the hall to my bedroom; like a good student should.

After changing into a pair of pajamas that Abby had so kindly given me after I arrived here, I grabbed my toothbrush and then headed to the bathroom—the same one where just a couple months ago I had taken shelter when my vision of Isaac came unexpectedly. It was also the night that the Harpers told me who they really were and who I was destined to become. Those memories were always with me, not matter how much time had passed.

Before going to sleep, I pulled my journal out from under my pillow. There were a few notes that I wanted to make about our lesson today as well as document the most romantic night of my life.

It made me smile from ear to ear and my insides warm just thinking of our night together. I tried to be as detailed as possible, writing how amazing the blanket and candles looked under the star filled sky. I wrote about how sweet and gentle Blake was all night, focusing solely on me and wanting me to think of nothing except the moment.

Just as I was finishing my entry, a soft knock was at my door. “Come in,” I called, shutting the journal and stuffing it back under my pillow.

Abby’s head peaked through the door opening. “May I come in?”

“Sure.”

Her features held a look of regret and sadness. “I just wanted to apologize for being so stern earlier,” she said, walking over and taking a seat on the bed beside me. “I’m sorry for yelling at you and Blake. It was just earlier today when I admitted to myself that I was pushing you too hard. It’s just that I want you to be the absolute best witch you can possibly be. You have no idea how guilty I would feel if something happened to you. So, my being strict has more to do with my insecurities than your capabilities.”

I really hated seeing her like this. “You really have nothing to apologize for.” I placed my hand on the top of hers, letting her know that what I said was genuine. “Like I told you before, if it were up to me, I would let you teach me twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”

She shook her head. “But I see it now. Really see it. You can’t let this become your entire life. You deserve to separate yourself from being a witch... from magic. It’s what your mother wanted for you. That’s why she shielded you from this life when you were younger, and now, all I’ve done is push you full force towards it.” She stopped talking, put her hand up to quiet me just as my mouth was opening, predicting the argument I was about to make. “Now, I know what you’re going to say, but I’m your teacher and I make the rules when it comes to your lessons. So from now on we’re going to back off a little. We’ll still have lessons a few times a week, but on the days off, there will be no talk of magic. None, whatsoever. It may be difficult for me to do at first, but I will try my best. Instead of magic talk, we’ll talk about regular stuff—like clothes, boys, or some other interesting non-magic topic.” She paused and pondered for a moment. “Well, come to think of it... no boy talk. That would entail you talking to me about my brother and I’m sorry, but that’s just too weird.”

I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. “You’re unbearable sometimes, Abby, but I love you.”

She smiled back at me. “Well, you are in luck because I love you, too.”

After Abby left my room, sleep came quick and easy for me that night. I hadn’t dreamt, or remembered dreaming, since arriving back in 1905... until tonight that is. As I drifted off into a deep slumber, I began to see an image that was familiar to me. It had been months since I had seen her in my dreams. My heart smiled at the sight of her.

My mother stood in total darkness, almost as if she were floating. She smiled and I wished more than anything that she was real. I wished that I could reach out, touch her, hug her and tell her how much I’ve missed her. I wanted to tell her how grateful I was to her for sending the Harpers to me and for sending me to 1905 in order to save them. There was so much I wanted to tell her about what had happened over the last few weeks and ask about the things that still confused and worried me. For a moment, she didn’t speak, instead she just smiled. She was beaming actually. Then her mouth opened and I heard my mother’s voice speaking directly to me...
that
had never happened in a dream before.

“
Meredith, sweetheart, it’s been so long. I know it must be a little shocking for you to see me here, now, after all that has happened over the last few weeks. I know there are still so many questions you have for me and I hope that one day they will all be answered. There are still so many things you must learn and figure out on your own and in your own time.

I’m so proud of how you handled yourself when finding out about your destiny. It was a lot to take in, but you did beautifully.

 There are some things that are about to happen and I’m so sorry it has to be this way. They are out of my control and if there was another way, please believe me that I would’ve done it differently. Trust in yourself and everything will work out as it should. I love you.”

Just like that, the image of her vanished. I tried to scream out to her, to tell her to come back. I had so many things to say to her, but no words escaped me. I knew that I’d been dreaming and I wanted to wake up and run to Blake and Abby and tell them that I saw my mother. I wanted to repeat her exact words to them, but there was no way for me to wake from my stupor. Trapped in what felt like a padded room with a straight jacket around me—I fought, screamed and clawed, trying to get out, but couldn’t. It felt like hours passed as I struggled to wake myself up.

After what seemed like an eternity, I was able to force my eyes open. My body felt anxious from the dream; but I was relieved that I had finally woken up. For a second, I laid in my bed and stared at the bedroom ceiling, trying to remember my mother’s exact words. Then, all of a sudden, a sharp pain stabbed my heart. The dream had me so confused and distracted that I hadn’t realized what ceiling was above me. It felt like a ton of bricks were sitting on my chest when I realized that it was
my
bedroom ceiling.
My—bedroom—ceiling—at—my—house
.
Not
my bedroom ceiling at the Harpers’ house. My body sprang up into a sitting position and I glanced around the room. My breath was coming fast as my eyes darted around at the familiar things: my desk, my alarm clock, the picture of me and Aunt Rose at graduation as well as the picture of my family and me before the accident. I shook my head, hoping this was just another dream to wake up from. This couldn’t be real. I didn’t want this to be real. This was my biggest fear coming true!

Panic consumed me as I jumped out of bed, ran to my bedroom door and swung it open. The house was silent except for the familiar tick tock of the grandfather clock at the bottom of the stairs. I took hold of the banister and tried to steady my shaky legs as I walked down the stairs. After searching the kitchen and living room and finding no one, I heard a door shut quietly. Taking a deep breath, I took a couple steps towards the noise of footfall that I now heard coming towards me. Slowly, I peeked my head around the corner and up the staircase.

“Oh my God, Meredith. You scared the sh…shucks outta me!” Aunt Rose grabbed her chest, her voice frantic. “What are you doing up so early?”

There was nothing I could do, but stand there and stare at her. She was there, in the flesh, like so many nights I had wished for her to be. It was always my biggest regret, not being able to tell her how much I loved her and how thankful I was for her. However, a part of me was wondering why she wasn’t screaming with joy—something along the lines of: ‘
Oh, thank God, you’re alive!’
Or where were all the questions, the ones like: ‘
Where have you been the last six weeks? Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been?’

There was nothing, though.

No questions.

No screams of joy that I hadn’t been kidnapped or wasn’t dead in a gutter somewhere.

The night Aunt Rose and Jack came home from their honeymoon and I didn’t get home until two a.m., you would have thought I’d been missing for years by how they reacted. Now that I had been gone for over six weeks and disappeared without a trace, there was nothing. This was weird.

“Meredith, are you okay?” Aunt Rose asked, staring at me curiously, probably wondering why I was staring at her like I’d never seen her before. I couldn’t find the words, though; my head was too overcome with confusion. “Meredith, seriously, you’re scaring me.”

Without even thinking twice about it, my arms flew around her, engulfing her in a big hug.

“Well, this is a surprise,” she said as she stumbled back a little, totally taken aback by my sudden embrace.

She smelled just like I had remembered her. It was a mixture between our laundry detergent and her pomegranate body wash. I hugged her even tighter.

“Meredith, don’t get me wrong, this is really nice... but I have to ask, is everything alright?”

I thought about that question for a second before responding. No, everything wasn’t alright, but it felt so good to hug her again, to see her standing there in front of me. So, for now, I was going to try and forget about being separated from the Harpers and just enjoy the moment. In the back of my mind, I knew the realization of what was happening would soon hit me and that thought scared me to the core.

“I’m just so happy to see you.” I smiled, releasing her and trying to fight back the tears that I could feel building inside me.

 “It’s good to see you, too.” Her voice sounded unsure, still confused by my actions. She looked me up and down with a strange expression. “Do we need to go shopping for some pajamas? I actually haven’t seen you wear that before, but please don’t tell me it’s new. The style these days...” her voice trailed off as she continued down the last few steps, patted me on the shoulder and walked into the kitchen. I looked down and examined myself and a small gasp passed through my lips when I saw that I was still in Abby’s pajamas.

As much as I didn’t want it to, the reality of the situation finally hit me. Abby and Blake’s faces entered my mind and my heart began to ache, knowing that I wouldn’t see them today... and if I was being completely honest with myself, I wasn’t sure I would ever see them again. As I stood there in the hallway, contemplating that thought, my mother’s words came back to me.