Crave (10 page)

“I understand.”

He shook his head one more time then grinned at me. “Should've known my son would be more advanced at this stuff than normal.”

“Of course. I'm a Coleman, right?”

“Right!”

I smiled back at him, but guilt made it tough to pull off. He looked so proud of me, so happy that I'd decided to focus on my training. But the truth was I still wasn't the slightest bit interested in leading the Clann someday like he wanted me to. I just needed a spell or two so I could help Savannah. Then I could go back to trying to be normal.

“Uh, Dad? Can we…”

“Right, right. Back to work. Okay, so what other defensive spells might be useful?”

I remembered Emily's advice. “How about a memory confusion spell? You know, so I could block someone from messing with something.”

“Ah, yes. Emily likes to use that spell to get rid of punks who bug her too much.”

“How long would a spell like that last?”

“If your sister cast it, a couple days at best. She's too soft-
hearted to will anyone to stay away longer than that. If I made it…” His face darkened. “A few months. Maybe years.”

“And if I made one?”

“Thinking of Christmas presents for your sister already?”

I laughed with him. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Well, like I said, it would depend on how often the boy tried to go near her. And how much you wanted him to stay away. But for one of Emily's normal punks, I'd say at least a month if you cast it.”

The Creepy Three seemed pretty obsessed today. They might wear out a spell quicker than one of Emily's usual fans. Then again…I thought of how much I wanted them to leave Savannah alone. I bet I could make my spells last at least a couple months bare minimum. Maybe by then they would move on to someone else to obsess over.

“Okay, what do I do?”

He grinned at me. “Well, you know your sister. She hates to feel like she can't handle her own problems. So it's best if she doesn't know what you're doing.”

“So I'd need to know who the creeps are without asking her, then find objects to charm that she'd carry around with out suspecting?”

“Exactly!”

That last part might be tough. What could I give Savannah that she would keep with her at all times and not suspect? She'd question anything I gave her.

Unless she didn't know about it. Emily said I should put a small charm in Savannah's backpack. Maybe I could manage to sneak something small in there without her noticing.

“Okay, what else do I have to do?”

He taught me what to say and how to tap a finger on the object to load it with the memory confusion spell. “Every
time you tap it, you've got to sort of push your will into the object. Every push should equal one memory block.”

“Should?”

He shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. “Well, I've never been able to ask your sister or mother how many times certain people we know have started to approach them then ended up walking away confused.”

Ah. So he had been doing a little secret protection work of his own. Mom and Emily would go nuts if they ever learned what he had been up to. I grinned. “I see your point.”

“All right, let's try it. I'll turn my back, and you charm one of the lawn chairs. Then I'll try to approach each one. That way when I get confused, you'll know it really worked.”

“Sounds good.”

We practiced for a while to make sure I had the spell down. Then he had to call it a night. “Sorry, son, but I'm worn-out and have a board meeting early in the morning.”

“No problem, Dad. Mind if I stay out here and keep practicing awhile?” I held my breath, expecting him to say that I couldn't keep casting without his supervision according to Clann rules.

Instead, he nodded and headed for the patio door. Then he hesitated and looked back. “You know, I really am proud of you today. Feels like I'm seeing my little boy becoming a man right in front of me.”

My throat suddenly tightened. I managed a nod.

“Let's train again tomorrow night,” he suggested with a grin.

Before I could think it through, I found myself nodding in agreement. He was still grinning as he entered the house.

Great. Now he probably thought I'd changed my mind
about following in his footsteps for the Clann leadership. If so, I'd have to figure out a way to let him down gently. Later. Right now, I had some serious memory confusion to create.

Tristan

I ran up to my room and looked around. What could I put the spells in? Pens? Pencils? Paper clips? Nah, Savannah was always loaning out stuff like that in algebra. Maybe Emily had something I could use.

I had a sudden image of my sister handing me tampons just to torture me, and shuddered. No, I'd better not ask Emily. I glanced at my bedside clock. Eight fifty-six. Not too late to call for some insider advice. I grabbed a telephone book and my cordless phone.

“Hello, may I speak with Anne, please?” I said when a woman answered.

“Who is calling?” It was probably Anne's mother, who worked in the accounting department at Coleman BioMed, Dad's company. Not good. If she mentioned to any coworkers that I was calling Savannah's best friend at home…

Thinking fast, I replied, “Arthur.”

“Arthur, it's a little late for phone calls.”

At eight fifty-seven? Now I knew where Anne got her
personality from. “Yes, ma'am. Sorry for the late phone call, but it's a math emergency.” That wasn't too much of a stretch on the truth.

“One moment.”

I heard murmuring in the background. Then Anne picked up the phone. “Why, hello,
Arthur.
Having trouble with that warty little problem we ran into today?” Her voice dripped with smug satisfaction.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I am. I need to know what types of things S—I mean, your friend usually carries around in her backpack.” I barely stopped myself from saying Savannah's name out loud. Knowing my parents, they'd probably put a spell on my room to warn them if I ever said her name again.

“What doesn't she have in there? The girl never cleans anything. Not her backpack, not her locker, not even her bedroom. Every time I sleep over at her house, I end up spending half the time cleaning her room just so I have some space to breathe. Drives me crazy!”

I pictured lacy scraps of underwear and bras lying around a sleeping Savannah, and fought to exhale. “Uh, not to interrupt the venting here, but I could use your help now.”

“Ha! I knew you couldn't handle it on your own.” She sighed. “All right, what do you want?”

“I need access to her backpack at lunch tomorrow. Or better yet, maybe you can make the delivery.”

“And what would
that
be exactly?”

“Don't worry. I wouldn't give you anything that would get her or you in trouble. It's just something that needs to stay in her backpack for as long as possible, say a couple months, at least.”

Silence filled the phone.

“Anne? You still there?”

After another few seconds' hesitation, I heard a door click
shut on her end of the line before she whispered, “These things for her backpack…are they a…a Clann thing?”

Surprise made it my turn to hesitate. What had Anne heard about the descendants? “Define what you think ‘Clann things' are.”

“You know,
witchy
stuff. Stuff that would make my parents go nuts. They're Pentecostal.”

She said “they,” not “we.” It sounded like she was about as on board with her family's religious choices as I was with my parents' plans for my future.

I couldn't decide if it was a good thing or simply disturbing that Anne and I had anything in common.

“No offense, but I'm really not allowed to talk about the Clann.” There, that was honest and still playing by the rules. Descendants weren't allowed to discuss their abilities with outsiders other than their husbands and wives. And even those outsiders had spells cast on them to bind them from ever mentioning the Clann to anyone else. The elders didn't mess around when protecting Clann secrets.

Anne's sigh gusted into the phone. “Fine. Just tell me this…will it really help Savannah?”

“Yeah. It will.”

“Then I'll do it. Just don't use anything made out of chocolate, or she'll eat it. It's like her kryptonite.”

I laughed before I could stop myself. “I'll have to remember that.” I scanned my room, wondering what I could use and starting to get frustrated again.

Then I saw it…a box of those little conversation heart candies. Savannah had given them to me on Valentine's Day in the fourth grade. The same day we'd pretended to get married and kissed. She hadn't signed her name on the box, so Mom never made me throw them out.

“How does she feel about really old conversation heart candies?”

“Oh, she hates those. Apparently they make her think of a certain backstabbing traitor, or something like that.”

I glared at the ceiling, unsure whether to be happy that Savannah had talked about me, or bugged that she still seemed to be ticked off at me.

“So don't put them in a box, or she'll throw them away,” Anne added in a softer tone. “She'll probably ignore them if they're just loose in the bottom of her backpack, though.”

“Okay. When should I bring them to you?”

“Before school would be best. She's always running late, so she won't be there.”

“Right. See you then. And, Anne?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“Don't let it affect your ego there, Arthur. I'm doing it for Savannah.” I could practically hear the eye roll in her voice. Man, she was a pain. But I was also starting to get why Savannah was friends with her. Some people would think twice before doing something that went against their family's religious beliefs, even to help out a friend.

I grinned. “Yeah, yeah, as if I could forget.”

She hung up without saying goodbye. I hit the phone's off button with a shake of my head, then jumped up and grabbed the box of hearts, feeling good for the first time in days. This just might work.

Back outside, I sat down in the wet grass at the edge of the patio then shook three hearts out of their box. As an afterthought, I added a fourth to the lineup for that Romeo-wannabe soccer player.

While touching the first candy, I pictured one of the creeps, mentally whispered the spell word and tapped the candy while
visualizing a surge of energy entering it. How many times might these guys want to talk to Savannah? Twenty times? Fifty? I thought about how many times a day I was tempted to say something to her. Better make that at least a hundred times per candy. I could always create more charms later if it looked like any of them were wearing out too soon.

I went down the row of hearts, saving the soccer jerk for last. With every tap of my fingertip, more of the constant edginess seeped out of me. I finished charming all four candies, then decided to go back over them again just in case Savannah's weird pull on these guys proved to be even half as strong as the effect she had on me. But the first pass had really relaxed me. Stretching out on the grass seemed a good idea. The yard was wet and cold, but I could deal with it. This was more important.

The dream began just as I started the second pass on Stanwick's memory confuser.

Savannah looked like some sort of goddess, her hair down and blowing behind her in the wind along with the folds of her long white nightgown. She stood facing a setting sun, dark asphalt sparkling beneath her bare feet. We were on the flat rooftop of a building overlooking Jacksonville.

Behind her, a crowd of guys I recognized from school stood together in a tight group. They were edgy, staring at Savannah with wild expressions on their faces, ready to lunge at any second. Like a pack of jackals snapping at her heels. What held them back?

I would.

I was outnumbered, but I had to try anyway. Maybe if I stood close to her when they attacked, I could cast a blocking spell strong enough to protect both of us at once. If that didn't work, I'd have to risk taking the brunt of the attack myself
and focus the spell only on her for as long as I could make it hold.

A voice whispered through the dream, hers but huskier, more sultry. The voice of Savannah as a dark seductress. And yet her lips didn't move. “Look at them, Savannah. Give them what they crave, and they will end your thirst.”

The words made no sense.

Savannah seemed to understand though. Tears slid down her cheeks as she shook her head and whispered, “No. I won't look at them. It's not right.”

“Look at them!” the voice shrieked, and Savannah's hands darted up to fidget with the gold locket she always wore at her neck.

“No, don't, Sav,” I said, trying to walk toward her. But something invisible and hot, like heated glass, held me back. I pushed my hands against that barrier, willing it to give and let me through. “Savannah, listen to me. Do not look at them.”

The boys snapped and growled, their patience wearing out. They bumped into each other, and the group inched forward almost as a single, seething mass.

“Savannah!” I yelled. But she couldn't hear me.

Cursing, I hit the barrier between us. The heat burned my knuckles.

She stepped toward the edge of the roof and looked down.

Cold terror poured over me. “Savannah, don't! Wait for me.” I hit the invisible wall again and again with my fists, my will and power, even ramming my shoulders against it. A monstrous growl rumbled in my chest.

“You
will
give in to the temptation,” the evil voice whispered, already sure of its triumph. “You need them. You need the power.”

“No. Never,” Savannah promised, her voice choked and hollow.

And then she dived over the edge.

“No!” My roar swallowed me up until I thought it would never stop. I could feel myself losing it, right there on the edge of crazy, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered but the pain slamming into me in waves that brought me to my knees.

I needed her, needed her to be alive even if we couldn't be together anymore.

 

I was still yelling out the pain as I woke up the next morning, my body cold and aching in the wet grass of my backyard.

The minutes passed as I sat there, teeth clenched against the need to keep shouting, my breaths coming out fast and harsh through my nose. My chest burned. My fists were on fire. The dew on the grass became a sweet relief to my hands, cooling the flames on my skin.

Just a dream. But the dream had felt way too real. It had the same sharp-edged quality to it as the dreams I used to have of her in the fourth grade.

I stared at my hands, holding them up in the light of the sunrise. They weren't even red. But the pain had seemed so real.

Sighing, I dried them off on my sweats then scooped up the charmed candy. Time to face reality and get ready for school.

I couldn't shake the memory of that dream, though. Its gut-twisting terror and pain stuck with me all day. I barely said more than “Here” and “Thanks” to Anne when I shoved the protective charms at her outside the main building before school. I wasn't in the mood to even fake a smile for anyone in the hallways or my morning classes, much less talk.

At lunch, I couldn't eat, especially after seeing Savannah enter the cafeteria and join her friends. She'd worn her hair down today for a change. The ends looked wet, maybe from taking a shower after her pre-drill class. Seeing those red strands down and flowing with her every little move
reminded me too much of the dream. And the way her hair had streamed out like blood as she'd flown over the side of the roof…

“See you later,” I muttered to my sister before ducking out. I was tired for the first time in months, definitely in no need to do any grounding. Still, my feet led me to the same tree as yesterday for some reason.

I leaned against its trunk. The rough bark scraped at my skin through my clothes, reminding me that I was awake, that this was reality. I tilted back my head and stared up at the branches, watching the play of light and shadow above me as the leaves rustled in the wind, making a sound like someone whispering. Whispering like that evil voice in last night's dream as it drove Savannah to jump off the roof.

I closed my eyes and swallowed the knot in my throat. I saw her again in that dream, giving up, stepping over the edge. Again and again I saw her fall. The repetition should have numbed me to the images. But the pain only grew worse, until I wanted to yell from it.

I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to fix this.

There was only one solution, only one way to keep myself from going insane here. I would stay away from her. Stop looking for her at lunch. No more staring at her in algebra or reacting to her laughter in the hallways. These crazy feelings she created in me were just too much. I'd have to check on her every now and then to make sure the charms continued to protect her. But I couldn't keep feeling like this.

“She's just a girl,” I muttered to the leaves, the clouds, to no one at all. “A girl. Nothing more.”

Savannah

I was tense throughout the morning, bracing myself for another encounter with the boys from algebra. Though I didn't
have math class today, it seemed inevitable that I would run into them at some point during the day. I thought I saw one of them in the main hallway before first period. He looked at me, took a couple steps in my direction, then frowned and headed the other way.

Lunchtime was even worse.

“Are you okay?” Anne leaned over and whispered while Michelle and Carrie worked together on homework.

“Sure! Why?” I pasted on a smile.

One of her eyebrows arched. “You haven't eaten anything. And you're paler than usual. Which means you're white as a sheet today.”

I gave up trying to fake a smile. “Just a little…nervous.”

“Worried about running into the Warty Boys again?”

Warty Boys? I looked at her, letting my confusion show on my face.

“You know, the toads from algebra. The creeps that were bugging you before class.”

“Oh. Yeah. Think they'll be as…weird today?”

“Only one way to find out. We'll walk past them after lunch and see how they react.”

My stomach cramped. “Maybe being around them again so soon isn't such a good idea.”