Rebirth: The Awakening Of A Witch (24 page)

He sighed.
“
They haven’t seen you yet when they came here. All they know is your eye color.
They must’ve used a location spell to find you, and that’s hard with only
the color of your
eye
s
to
use as a basis.
Even if they
have teleportation abilities like
us, they still need
an
article
that belonged to
you or must have
already
seen you in order to
picture you in their minds and
find you
.
”

“That’s how they found me here at Nana’s,”
I pieced in the puzzle, looking right at him.

He nodded.
“
At least o
ne of us should always be with you.” I opened my mouth to argue but then he continued on. “It’s either that or I’ll take you away from here by force.”
I frowned and searched his face, trying to see the truth in his words.
I groaned when I realized that I had no choice.

“Fine,” I replied as I flicked my hand at him. I can’t believe that just happened. He just cornered me, and I couldn’t do anything about it.
I crossed my arms over my chest as I leant back on the couch. I instantly felt annoyed with him for being so
adamant all of a sudden
. I risked a glance
in
his direction and noticed that h
e had that frown back on his face again, probably trying to figure
out
ways on keeping me caged. Then something popped into my mind.

“Adrien,
you didn’t mean 24/7 watchdog
, right?
”
I asked. That would be ridiculous.
He didn’t answer me right away so I
turned to face him.
My eyebrows shot up instantly when I saw a grim expression on his face, immediately answering my question. “Oh my God! You can’t be serious!” I whisper screamed at him so my Nana won’t hear us from the kitchen.

“Even when I sleep?” I inquired, widening my eyes at him. He just nodded and I desperately wanted to
shriek
at him.
I clenched my hands and sat on them to prevent
them
from scratching his face.
It
would be
such a waste
if that happened
.

Just then I felt the couch dip in the middle. I turned to that direction and saw Cole comfortably sitting there. He smiled at me and I couldn’t help smiling back. At least he came in at the right time.

“Nice work earlier,” he said and raised a hand to me. I happily slapped his hand
in a high five
.

“Thanks,” I grinned.

Adrien cleared his throat then
,
and Cole immediately turned his attention to him.

“Did you see anything?” he asked.

Cole shook his head, instantly transforming his
once playful
expression into a serious
one. “I haven’t.
Were you able to see them?”

“They were in a playground near here,” he replied. “We’ll all have to take turns guarding her,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. Cole just nodded in reply
and I raised my hands in exasperation.
I can’t believe even Cole agreed to babysit me.

I stood up and hurriedly
made my way
to the stairs, thoroughly ignoring both of them.
I closed the door to my bedroom and grabbed my towel as I headed straight to the bathroom.
I was just
turning on the shower when I suddenly felt Adrien’s presence. I immediately closed the shower
and was about to turn the knob on the bathroom door when he knocked.

“What?” I
asked, my voice not hiding the irritation I felt for him.

“I’ll wait for you here,” he replied.

I snapped.
“
For real
, Adrien
?
Even in my own room? Get a grip, okay?
”

“Whatever. Come out when you’re done,” he replied, sounding extremely bored.

“Ugh!” I stomped away from the door and went back to start shower
ing
. I didn’t take the usual fifteen minutes it took me to
shower, knowing
that
he was right
on the other room
waiting
for me
.
When I was done, I quickly dried myself and went out the bathroom.

I was about to give him a long l
ecture
when
I saw him standing by
the foot of
my
bed, staring at the masterpiece on my wall with that
gentle
expre
ssion I saw him wear when we were on the Art room.
I leaned on the door frame and crossed my arms over my chest, clearing my throat when he still didn’t notice me. He immediately
turn
ed t
o
me and
look
ed away almost at the same time, furiously blushing as he did so.
For a moment, I was afraid that he’d snap his neck by doing that.
I raised one of my eyebrows at him, wondering what he was flustered about.

“I’ll wait outside. Call me when you’re
uhm…
dressed,” he said and instantly evaporated out of sight.
It wasn’t until I realized that I was just in my towel that I felt myself blush
feverishly
. Oh
,
crap
!
I’m so stupid.
I was totally infuriated with him that I
complete
ly forgot I was only
wearing this
.
I hit myself in the head and hurriedly grabbed the first clothes I got
my hands on
. I hastily put them on before wrapping my towel on my wet hair.
When I
accidentally caught sight of
myself in the mirror, I abruptly stopped in my haste
and just stared back at the necklace hanging on my neck.
I grinned as I was again taken by surprise
by
its beauty.

“I’m done,” I whispered, strangely knowing he would still be able to hear me.
Without any wasted moment,
he was back in my room. I turned to him and saw that he still looked uncomfortable
, completely avoiding looking me in the eyes.
I smiled and knew that I needed to ask him something.
“
What d
o
you think of my tree?
”
I asked, tilting my head to the side, pointing it to the direction of the masterpiece
above my headboard
.
He
brought
his eyes to the
art piece
and I instantly saw that serene
appearance back on his face.

“It’s wonderful,” he simply said and my smile broadened at
that short answer.

“Thanks. Yours was amazing, too, even if it was only halfway done.
Not only that
,
but
your sunflower paintings were
also
great.
” I walked to his side
and we both just gazed at my tree.
I threw a side glance towards him and saw him nod with a smile tugging
at
his lips
.
“Adrien,
will you tell me how you knew about this tree?
”
I asked in a soft voice as I
dragged my eyes back to the
tree on my wall
.
I felt him
tense
a bit before he
let out a breath and
relaxed.
There’s something about this tree that he’s just not telling me. “How did you know about my tree?” I asked when he didn’t reply.
I motioned for him to sit on the swivel chair
at
my study table as I went to sit on the bed.

“That tree’s very special to me
,
”
he began as he made his way to the chair
. “It was actually
under
that tree that I first saw you,
”
he said so softly that I almost didn’t hear him.

“Oh,” I replied just as quietly as he did.

“You were with your parents then, picnicking under that tree
,
”
he said with a far-off look, like he was actually picturing
the scene
. “
You were sleeping in your father’s arms when I first saw you
.
”

The moment he said that, I immediately remembered the vision I had of my parents.
“Was that the same time as that vision I
recently
had with my parents?”

He nodded. “That was the exact one.
I just s
tood there, hiding behind
one of
the trees
. I knew
that
Princess Celine
realized that
I was watching
you
,
because she turned to smile at me.
W
hen I was already old enough to understand
, it shocked me
that she was still able to sense my presence even though she already married a
normal human
and lost
all
her powers.
I guess
she was just like you in some way. She has that
natural
ability to sense people
, reading and understanding their emotions
and feelings
.
”
He looked at me then. I smiled my appreciation as I lifted my hand to wipe my eyes before tears started streaming down my face.

Suddenly, there was a knock on my door. I immediately knew it was Cole.
“Come in, Cole,” I said as he peeped in and instantly raise an eyebrow at us with a mischievous smile on his lips.

“Sorry to interrupt you guys, but snacks are
ready
.” He winked at me before he closed the door behind him.
I sighed and stood up, walking towards
the
door with Adrien close behind me.
I instantly tensed up once I reached the foot of the stairs. I knew I had to learn to relax so I would be able to easily point out everyone’s presence. This
,
and one other thing occupied my mind as I made my way to the dining table.
I knew I had to discuss it first with Elise.
I didn’t know if she would actually agree
,
but I had to try.

“Absolutely not, Skylar!” Elise fervently responded
as I just told her my idea. We were in my room now. I told Nana that Elise was staying over and that we would be going to school together in the morning.
I managed to request Elise to be the first one to be my ‘watchdog.’ Adrien didn’t seem too pleased with my choice of term
,
but he easily agreed
,
seeing that I was willingly participating in the whole 24/7 babysitting thing.

“Please, Elise. You know
that I need this.
”
I begged her
,
tugging
on one of her arms
.

“You won’t need it. Trust me. Plus, it’s too dangerous for you to even go that
close to
them,”
she retorted.

I sighed. “Even just
the basics? I can’t be
a sitting duck while you’re all risking your lives to save me.”

The moment she came back half an hour ago
,
bring
ing
her
duffel bag
full of clothes
just
to keep up with the sleep over act,
I immediately dropped the bomb
on her
. I told her to teach me a few martial arts moves just so I could help out
and save my own skin
if worst comes to worst.