DF Chapter 10

Two long months of avoiding her friends of arranging her everyday life in order to determine just who was Kalina ‘Noreen’ Johnson. In a matter of days, her entire identity had been shattered and disposed of. She had begun to feel like the shattered Christmas ornament the family cat broke. It affected her both mentally and physically.

 

Every time Kalina went home, she felt withdrawn from her family because she knew they weren’t really related to her by blood. Then the truth couldn’t be discussed with her parents because they thought she was their biological daughter. She couldn’t bring herself to tell them that their daughter died at child birth. That the daughter they thought she was was in actuality dead.

 

Sleep had become a foreign dream to Kalina. When she laid her head on the pillow at night, her mind would continue to run a hundred miles an hour. It restricted her sleep to an hour at night, if she was lucky.

 

Her already medium figure became smaller as she often skipped meals. Breakfast was exchanged for the possible extra hour sleep. Lunch was skipped in order to hide in the school library. And unless the parents were attending dinner, it was left cold as she picked at it. She only ate every other fork full. She gained a figure that many girls in her grade would kill for. Kalina began to receive envious glares from the populars that once ignored her as she shuffled from class to class. ‘If only they knew the cause that triggered the effects,’ she often thought at these looks.

 

Kalina’s powers also went through a change since her birthday. She found that spells that once gave her problems could now be performed in her sleep. That was if she could sleep. In addition to the power up, she developed a new ability. About a week after her true birthday, she had begun to hear voices in her head that didn’t sound like her own. And the two people she could have asked for help, she didn’t want anything to do with. So Kalina did the only thing she thought she could do. She redid the summoning spell and talked to her past self. Badanie informed her that the voices she was hearing were other people’s thoughts. That Kalina, just like Badanie, was a mind jumper, a witch with the ability to jump into other people’s thoughts. Since then, Kalina retuned to the cliff every night so Badanie could teach her how to control her new powers. Now Kalina could read peoples minds at will and had a block on her own mind so strong that only an extremely experienced demon could break through.

 

And that was what she was doing now. Having walked into her History class to find out about an examination she had forgotten about, she only had one option. Her grades would not drop, therefore Kalina jumped into her teachers mind and un-surfaced the answers. Sure it gave her eyes a glassy look and later she would have a killer headache, but it was worth it. Kalina retreated out of her teacher’s mind just as the bell rang and turned in her exam. Gathering her bag, she ignored the head ache forming and retreated before Kristina could get to her. Kalina knew she couldn’t avoid her friends forever, but she just wasn’t ready to face them. Not until she knew who she was. Besides, deep down, she could feel that something was coming. And what ever that something was, it was evil and big.

 

Walking outside, Kalina looked up at the sky to find herself puzzled once again. The clouds were long thin strips, crisscrossing through the sky. “I wish I knew what as happening,” She mumbled to herself.

 

“Talking to yourself again witch?” The familiar voice made Kalina jump, as she hadn’t been expecting a reply. Looking forward, Kalina found herself smirking at the sight before her. Zane was dressed in jeans, grey tank top, a black leather jacket, dark tinted wrap around sunglasses, and a slate colored Indiana Jones style hat leaning against the third or fourth hand beat up Volvo her parents bought for her on her birthday.

 

“So what if I am? I thought we determined that as long as I don’t answer myself, I’m fine.” Kalina walked the rest of the way to her car and unlocked it, throwing her bag inside the trunk.

 

Zane shrugged and watched her progress, letting his eyes examine her. “You look different Kalina. You haven’t been eating.” When she looked up at him, he noticed the bags under her eyes. “Nor sleeping,” he added.

 

Kalina felt the anger spurn inside her at the comment. Who was he to make such observations? He appeared in her life once two months ago and dropped out of her life, until now. He also was the only one to notice her lack of eating and sleep and it only pissed her off more. “Don’t want your meal ticket wasting away Zane?” she asked angrily and slammed her trunk closed. However, when she turned to move around the car, Kalina ran smack into his chest. Forcing her to take a step back to regain her balance. “Watch it vampire. You don’t want to alarm the mortals.” She sneered and took a step to move around him. But he was right there as well. “Move it Zane.”

 

“No, I don’t think I will.” Zane growled and looked down at her, removing his sunglasses. “If you want to match tempers Kalina, I’m sure I will win.”

 

“Wanna bet?” Kalina put her hands up against his chest to push him away. However, her eyes connected with his and she found herself captured. His optics were pitch black with silver flakes. Nothing she had ever seen before.

 

Zane grinned, “No one ever told you to not look into a vampire’s eyes Kalina? That’s how we catch our prey.”

 

Kalina shook herself out of it and continued to look into his eyes defiantly. “I’m not afraid of your eye magic Zane. You couldn’t crack me with a two ton hammer.”

 

“That sounds like a challenge.” Zane whispered to her and placed his hands lightly on her shoulders. “And I never let down a challenge.” His hands traveled down her arms and cupped her elbows, slowly pulling him closer to her. He leaned in until his face was a hairs breath from hers. He heard her heart beat increase as her hands gripped his shirt. Whether it was to hold him still or push him away, he wasn’t sure. “Am I cracking you yet Kalina?” He whispered against her lips, kissing them with his breath.

 

Kalina shook her head, unsure if she could speak just yet. Her heart was raging in her chest and her body went still. Her mind told her he was messing with her but her soul wanted him to go through with it. Instead, her lips curled into a smirk. “Not even close.” She finally managed and stepped away from him before she could do something she would probably regret later. She was a witch and he a vampire; they weren’t exactly the best of buds. “I got to go, so unless you had a reason to see me, I’ll see you later.”

 

Zane sighed with relief mentally when she retreated. He had been mere seconds from kissing her and that wouldn’t have been good. Replacing his glasses and shoving his hands into his pockets so that they would obey themselves, Zane nodded. “In fact, I wanted to talk to you about the clouds. Mind if I ride with you?”

 

Kalina jiggled her car keys as she thought it over. She felt that she could trust this vampire and couldn’t find a reason to turn him away. Shrugging, she gestured to the passenger side and opened her door. “Jump in. I’ve been wondering about the clouds myself.”

 

Zane walked to his side of the car and slid into the seat. Adjusting the chair to accommodate his long legs, he buckled the seat belt. Not that a crash would kill him, he just didn’t want Kalina to be ticketed by his accord. He stayed silent as she started the vehicle and pulled out of the slot. Tapping his fingers against the door as he looked out the window, he watched the trees along the road zoom by.

 

“I’m a fairly good driver Zane and know how to multitask. You can talk to me as I drive.” Kalina chuckled and glanced over at him. He looked out of place in the old car. His portrait belonged in a fast convertible sports car with wrap around sun glasses. Better yet, astride a motorcycle with the strong vibrating machine between his legs.

 

“I know I just like to enjoy the ride.” Zane turned and smiled over at her. “So where are we going? Or do you want to talk about the clouds before we arrive where ever we are going?”

 

“We are going back to my house. My brother has football practice, my sister has choir, and my parents are working late tonight. We’ll talk about it there.”

 

“Is that an invitation?” Zane raised a brow.

 

Kalina nodded but kept her eyes on the road. “I don’t know why or what it is Zane. But something about you makes me trust you. I know you won’t attack me unless I allow you to.”

 

“Dangerous assumptions about a vampire, however you are correct. I won’t bite you unless you offer. Like I said before Kalina, you intrigue me. Therefore, I will keep you around for a while.” At that Zane returned to watching the scenery past. He wasn’t sure whether his feelings were good ones or not, so he wasn’t very comfortable with them.