Timeless (20 page)

I suddenly decided to tell him
everything—nothing improvised or made-up. Just the truth. What did
I have to lose? He already thought I was crazy, making up Damien
just to get away from him. So I told him everything and watched his
eyes, which never strayed away from my face. He didn’t say a word
until I’d finished.

I finally ended my strange story and fell
silent. Ben didn’t say anything for a few minutes. I knew it would
take awhile for what I’d told him to register.

“Emily, are you serious?” he finally
asked.

“Completely.”

Would he believe me? I could tell he was
trying to decide if I was crazy or not.

“Ben, if I showed you what I can do, would
you believe me?”

“Maybe,” he said skeptically.

“Choose something—anything. And I’ll be able
to change it with my mind,” I said, now anxious to show some proof
that I wasn’t completely insane.

“Alright, make it stop raining,” Ben
challenged.

I imagined a bright day, not having to think
too hard to change it. I didn’t have to work nearly as much as I
did even a month ago. The more I used my power, the easier it
became. Ramona had explained to me that it was like a muscle.

The rain began to let up, and the sun came
out.

He looked at me in amazement.

“You did that?” he asked incredulously.

I nodded and could feel myself blushing.

“No wait. That could have been coincidence,”
he said, disbelieving his own eyes. I couldn’t blame him.

“Alright, then pick something else,” I said
quietly.

“Do you see that billboard?” he asked,
pointing to the large black-and-white canvas, an ad for a local
newspaper.

I nodded.

“Can you change that?” he asked.

It took almost no effort at all.

I changed the board to match a Monet painting
of lilies, the same poster I had plastered on the wall in my
bedroom at home. I knew Ben would recognize it immediately.

I looked over to him. He’d stopped breathing
for a minute.

“Emily, you really are a…”

“A witch,” I finished for him. He looked at
me with new eyes. I wondered if my telling him the truth would
achieve what all my other efforts could not. Would he now reject me
because of what I was?

He started the truck again, and we rode in
silence the rest of the way home. I noticed that Ben’s hand shook a
little as he shifted gears.

When we got home, I saw that the Saratoga was
gone and remembered that Aunt Jo decided to go to Daytona to have
her hair done for the day. She only went once a year. But I still
didn’t think it was a good idea to invite Ben to come in.

He seemed to understand. He sighed audibly
and turned to me.

“Emily, it makes no difference to me. If it
works out in March for you, fine, but if it doesn’t…” He stopped,
but I knew what he meant. He was trying to tell me that he still
wanted me even knowing I loved someone else. My voice caught. I did
love him, had loved him for years. It just wasn’t strong enough.
Even if I’d wanted to, I couldn’t ignore what I felt for Damien,
who called to me across time.

Before I got out, I looked at Ben, really
looked at him. He put out his hand, reaching over to smooth back my
hair as he had a thousand times before. I didn’t say anything, but
I felt all the weight of our past suddenly pushing me forward. I
pulled Ben to me, kissing him harder than I ever had before. I
tried to let my lips say what my heart could not.

I broke off suddenly. It was too late to turn
back.

“Goodbye, Ben,” I said without looking at
him. I quickly opened the door to go for the last time. This time,
I meant it.

Chapter Ten

"Flight"

If you came this way,

Taking any route, starting from anywhere,

At any time or at any season,

It would always be the same: you would have
to put off

Sense and motion…prayer is more

Than an order of words, the conscious
occupation

Of the praying mind, or the sound of the
voice praying.

T. S. Eliot, “Little Gidding”

Since the day I’d told Ben who and what I
was, he’d left me alone, but a new sadness had come into his eyes.
And I didn’t think it had anything to do with Angela Rossi.

Ben didn’t have to wait for rumor to reach
Angela. She’d seen us embracing the day of the fire alarm and
immediately dumped Ben. Even though I disliked Angela, I still felt
terrible. Ben deserved someone, and I’d wrecked their
relationship.

I had no real doubt that Ben could get her
back, but he didn’t try. And I didn’t use my power this time. Ben
likely already suspected I’d locked the door that afternoon in the
mentoring center.

Though we’d agreed to be friends, even
sitting together again at lunch, Ben and I didn’t talk much. It was
too hard for both of us, and I needed to focus on preparing for the
upcoming trip.

March approached, and I felt both nervous and
more excited than ever before. I couldn’t wait to try my power and
bring Damien back from the past.

When the actual morning of the trip arrived,
Aunt Jo took me to the airport in Daytona. I’d decided not to meet
everyone at school first and ride on the bus. As we drove, she
repeated all the safety rules she’d told me the night before.

“Yes, Aunt Jo, I promise not to lose my
passport. No, Aunt Jo, I won’t go off alone by myself,” I assured
her, hating that I had to lie. If she only knew, I thought.

It was essential that I travel alone by train
to find the chapel in the woods, and I’d already planned for this
by approaching Mr. Dean and telling him I had family near Salisbury
that I wanted to see. He looked at me skeptically, but didn’t say
no outright. I thought I could easily elude him for a day. And that
was all the time I needed to cast the spell.

I was not yet sure what my story would be
once I brought Damien to the present, but I’d worry about that
later. Perhaps I could bring him back as a distant relative or
friend of a cousin. I’d actually already called the airline and
booked him a one-way ticket home with me, hoping that I’d be able
to bring him back. Ramona had felt confident, and so did I. The
practical details were the least of my worries.

A few days before the trip, Mr. Dean finally
told me he had no problem with my detour as long as Aunt Jo
approved. This was a bit trickier. Using my power, I produced a
note ostensibly written by her. It was much better than a forgery
since it actually was her handwriting. I thought he might call Aunt
Jo to verify it, and I sat by the phone waiting for his call. But
he didn’t, telling me on the morning of the trip that he trusted me
since I was such a good student. That shamed me a little, but I
knew it couldn’t be helped.

When we arrived at the terminal, I kissed
Aunt Jo goodbye and told her not to worry. Everyone was already
there, I saw, getting out of the bus just ahead of us. I quickly
unloaded my bags and went over to join the others. Ben stood
somewhat at a distance.

“There you are!” Annie began.

“I’m not late, am I?” I asked.

“No, but I worried with the Saratoga and
all.”

We laughed. For a brief moment, it felt like
old times.

After Mr. Dean counted us off, we entered the
airport, checking in and then heading through security to wait for
the next two hours before boarding the plane.

Zack and Ben went off to find food, while
Annie and I sat down.

“So this is kind of weird, you know, with
Ben,” she said.

“Not really. I think things are okay now,” I
answered, more assured than I felt. They were as okay as they would
ever be, I thought.

“Yeah, it seems better. At least he’s not
with Angela,” she said, rolling her eyes. I was grateful that
Angela had decided not to go on the trip, choosing instead to
cruise the Caribbean during break. I thought that she probably
wanted to avoid Ben and me, though I still felt guilty about
causing their break-up.

“I was sorry to hear about that,” I said.

“Are you serious?” Annie asked me,
incredulous.

“Of course. I want Ben to be happy.”

But did I really want to see him with someone
else? Ben seemed content enough without her, but I knew that he was
still hoping for a reconciliation with me.

Ben and Zack had come back, pizza and coke
bottles in hand.

“I got you a slice,” Ben said, handing me a
slice. “Pepperoni, mushrooms, and extra cheese, right?”

“Yeah, thanks,” I said. This would be so much
easier if he wasn’t so nice, but I had to admit, it felt good to
have Ben take care of me as he always had.

Zack and Annie looked at each other
knowingly, and I knew they thought we’d get back together during
the trip.

We ate our pizza in silence, all of us, I
knew, with our own thoughts. Zack was texting; Annie was reading a
magazine; Ben was concentrating on one of the guidebooks he’d
bought before the trip. I was too excited and nervous to think of
anything but the task that lay ahead of me.

“Now boarding…” the announcer called over the
loud speaker, interrupting my thoughts.

I stood up, and Ben automatically grabbed my
carry-on bag.

“That’s okay, I got it,” I said, taking it
from him.

He put his hand on my arm.

“It’s cool, Emily. I’m not going to bother
you. I’m just being polite. You know, like friends?”

“Oh, right,” I said, feeling horrible. What
was wrong with me?

We boarded in silence. As it happened, my
seat was next to his.

“I’ll trade with Zack, so you can sit with
Annie,” he offered.

“No, Ben, it’s okay. Really,” I said,
thinking that I was glad we’d come this far after the break up.

I didn’t want Ben to think I was completely
heartless. And I realized that I did want to sit beside him. I
missed Ben and could use some support—as long as it didn’t mean
that he believed we were getting back together. I didn’t want to
cause him more pain.

He looked at me and smiled, and I knew then
that I wanted him in my life, no matter how things turned out with
Damien. I missed his friendship too much.

We took our seats, and I stared out of the
window, anxious to find the place in my dream. Even though we’d
broken up, it felt right to sit next to Ben, as though I was
touching both of my futures at once. It was impossible, I knew, but
a strong feeling nevertheless.

We sat in silence for the first hour of the
flight, neither of us bothering to watch the in-flight movie that
had started. Eventually, he put his hand over mine, casually, as
though to offer support.

“However this turns out, Emily, remember that
I want your happiness,” he said, somehow sensing what I would do. I
hadn’t told anyone but Ramona about my plans.

I wanted to tell him how much I loved him for
saying that, but I knew it would be too cruel. I couldn’t tell him
how I felt without opening the wound all over again.

We sat together for the duration of the
flight. Eventually, I must have fallen asleep on his shoulder. I
awoke sometime later with a start, waking up Ben in the process.
I’d been dreaming of Damien, and we were in the woods again,
running from Lamia and her guards. I’d not had this dream in a long
time. I reached into my inner pocket for the rosary beads for
comfort.

Not having grown up a Catholic, I was unsure
what to say, but all of a sudden I felt the need to pray. Aunt Jo
and I had attended some church services when I was young, but we
hadn’t been back since Mom died over a year ago.

The only formal prayer I remembered was the
Lord’s Prayer, so I said that, feeling the beads between my
fingers.

“Deliver us from evil…” I murmured, not
realizing I’d uttered the words aloud.

“Emily, are you okay?” Ben asked.

I didn’t immediately hear him.

“Emily?” he repeated.

“What? Oh, yes…yes, I’m okay. Just a little
tired. Got a crick in my neck, that’s all,” I replied. I rubbed my
neck and stretched for emphasis.

Ben called for a flight attendant, ordering
us both some water.

“Is it hot in here, or is it me?” I said,
reaching in my pocket for a rubber band to pull back my hair. My
throat felt dry, and my heart raced.

For once, I was grateful for the water and
splashed myself in the face and neck before taking a long drink. It
was as though a strange feeling had come over me, a feeling of
danger that I remembered from the dream.

“What is it?” Ben asked, knowing it wasn’t a
stiff neck or the heat.

“I just got hot sitting here,” I said
evasively, not knowing how to explain the feeling I had.

Ben looked at me doubtfully. I couldn’t
explain it to myself, let alone to him.

We had a connecting flight in New York, where
we waited for passengers to disembark or get on. Then we were on
our way for a direct overnight flight to London. I felt as though
I’d been sitting on the plane forever. The air felt hot and sticky.
Increasingly, I couldn’t breathe and nearly hyperventilated. I
excused myself, stood up, and walked down the cabin aisle, glad
when the intense feeling of nausea and fear subsided. Several
minutes later, I felt calm enough to return to my seat, my heart
beat slowing down.

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully.
I drifted in and out of sleep, and I could tell that Ben was
watchful, worried about me. I couldn’t shake the feeling of
something dangerous looming over me, but neither could I imagine
turning back. I’d come too far.

We arrived in London to a cold, wet day. Once
we’d gotten our bags, took the train, and found our hotel, I
decided to investigate the best available means of transport to
Salisbury.

The front desk attendant answered me without
looking away from her computer.