CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

I awake with a start, my stomach churning as if I've just jumped off a skyscraper. Images and voices swirl through my mind fast enough to give me a headache.

A second later, the exhaustion hits.

My muscles slackening, vision blurring, I can do nothing to stop myself from collapsing onto the couch.

"Melissa!" Katherine exclaims. Her voice reaches my ears muted, as if it's had to pass through a wall. "What's wrong with her?" she demands.

"She's just had a vision - possibly more than one - where for the first time she could control it," Renée tells her. "Obviously, it's used up a lot of her reserves. She's tired, is all."

But even with my sluggish mind, I know there's more to it. It's like with the truck at the intercept - for some reason, I'm not as strong as I once was. I'm tiring.

A few minutes later, my strength begins to return, regeneration kicking in and fuelling my tired mind and body. Gradually, I ease myself back up into a sitting position.

"Welcome back," Renée says, almost finished packing up her things.

I reach for her arm, stopping her. "Don't. I didn't finish."

Her eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't finish the vision. It - collapsed before I could. I was too tired." I take a breath, still working off the last of the exhaustion. "Please, you have to send me back. I have to see it."

Renée withdraws her arm. "I don't think that's wise."

"The prophecy?" Ethel asks from across the room.

I nod. "I was so close to seeing it. A couple more seconds was all I needed."

Renée finishes packing up her things and stands. Approaching her, Ethel asks, "Could you come back tomorrow maybe? Melissa should be rested by then and she only needs to have one more vision. It would hardly take up any of your time."

"My debt has been paid. I owe you nothing."

"Renée," Katherine says. "Without this prophecy, we won't know what we're up against."

"That is not my problem." Renée grabs her bag and heads for the door.

I look franticly between Ethel, Katherine and Renée. Without thinking, I push myself to my feet. Dizziness washes over me, my vision pinpricked with small dots of light, and for a moment I sway, on the brink of falling over. But my head clears and when it does, I rush after the witch.

She's already at the door and is swinging it open when I get there.

"Please," I say, and she turns to look back at me. "If I don't see that prophecy, something terrible will happen - and I won't be able to stop it. Don't you care what happens in this world?"

"My dear, I have never cared."

"But it's your home."

She narrows her piercing black eyes. "Let's not make assumptions."

"What do you mean?" I ask. "There's only one world." When she doesn't answer, I look to those around me. "What does she mean?"

"You know what I mean, you just haven't realised it," Renée replies. Then she seems to consider something. "Tomorrow. 10am. But this is a one-off."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Renée," Ethel says.

Renée just nods. Then the air around her begins to shimmer and warp, and a second later, she vanishes.

"Did she just-" I lose the end of my sentence, stunned, and turn to those behind me.

Katherine releases a breath. "She did."

-:-:-:-:-

"So seresins-"

"Seresin. It's both singular and plural. Like sheep."

"Right, so seresin aren't Avexyrs or Anarkks, but they're immortal and un-killable. And they have magical marks that can't be seen by normal humans. Is there anything I'm missing?"

I look to Ethel, seated at the dining table across from me. I made myself some coffee as soon as Renée left, hoping it would help me regain my energy faster. And now, as I sip at it, waiting patiently for it to cool, Ethel clarifies the real-world version of a witch.

"They're loyal only to themselves and their kind, and care only for the benefit of the otherworld. Their marks and powers come from there."

"And when she hinted that this world wasn't her home...?"

"She was talking about the otherworld."

"Even though she hasn't been there?"

"I've no doubt she's seen it. But this is the thing you need to understand about witches - they're deeply connected to the otherworld. They may not be able to visit it, but it runs in their veins, and they can certainly feel it."

I take another sip. "So no pointy hats?"

Ethel throws up her hands. "One witch, one time, and the world thinks it's all pointy hats and broomsticks. She didn't even own the stupid hat - she was trying to stay unrecognised by the villagers."

"You knew her?"

"I know her. And so do you."

"Renée? The pointy-hat witch stereotype was based off Renée?"

Ethel laughs. "Technically yes. Although she hardly circulated it. The writers of those penny merriments had the honour of doing that."

"Don't they portray witches with dark hair though? Renée's got white hair."

"On that day, it was covered in soot and dirt."

"You make it sound as though you were there yourself."

Ethel takes a drink of her tea, smiling into the cup. "That's because I was. The year was 1710. Coincidently, it was the same year I became immortal."

"Became?"

She puts down the mug. "Another story for another day. Right now, we need to discuss what you saw in your vision."

I tell her about the vision involving the prophecy. She looks dismayed when I get to the ending. "So it truly is real," she breathes.

"Well, we don't know for sure. I never saw the drawing." I give her a minute to think it through, during which I stare down into my mug, trying to see my reflection in the rippling brown liquid.

"There is something else though," I say eventually. "Another vision."

Ethel looks up. "I'm listening."

"It was of Keon. He was in the city. It looked like he was...moving in."

Ethel stiffens. "You're certain it was him."

I nod. "Patrick was there as well. He called him by name."

"If Keon's come to the city, it means he's about to do something. He would never leave their base out west otherwise."

"But why here?"

"I'm not sure. Hold on, I have to make some calls." Ethel stands up and leaves me alone at the table. I down the rest of my coffee, barely lukewarm at this point, and walk into the kitchen to rinse clean the cup.

When I emerge, Katherine's in the dining room. "Melissa," she says. "You haven't seen Sarah by any chance have you? I know she left earlier but it's getting late."

I shake my head. Katherine's forehead wrinkles in concern and she heads off. At the last minute, I think better of my decision to stay quiet. "Katherine, wait."

She stops and turns back around. "What is it?"

"It's Sarah," I say. "I had a vision of her. I think she's...changing sides."

Katherine frowns at me. "Changing sides? I'm not sure what-"

At that moment, Sarah walks in through the front door. I feel myself stiffen, rooted to the spot.

Katherine approaches, donning her motherly worry like an apron. "Where have you been? It's nearly 8pm. I understand sometimes you want to go places but you can't stay out late if I don't know where you are! It's dark out. Anything could have happened to you."

Sarah has the look of someone who just wants to sleep. I can see the dark circles under her eyes, the sluggishness of her movements. "I think I know how to handle myself. I went to the intercept, didn't I?" She sounds fed-up.

"After we expressly forbade it."

"Yes. And I survived unharmed." She steps around Katherine and heads for the hall.

At this point, my feet finally uproot themselves. I step in front of the hall, blocking Sarah's path. "I saw you," I say.

"Saw me what?"

"This afternoon. The garages." I lower my voice. "Thomas."

Sarah flinches, taking a step back. "How do you-" Then it dawns on her. "You had a vision."

"How could you do that? How could you even consider it?"

"I didn't do anything," she hisses.

"Girls?" Katherine asks. "What's going on?"

"Melissa's accusing me of something I didn't do," Sarah answers, without once breaking eye-contact with me.

"You're lying. You went to him for help, even though you knew - like the rest of us - that he's an Anarkk."

"Who are we talking about here?" Katherine asks.

"No one," Sarah says firmly. And then to me: "It's not like I had any other choice. I see the way you and Caden look at me - like I'm about to stab you in the back. Didn't you ever consider that I was struggling with it as much as you were? All of a sudden I had this ability and no one was telling me what to do about it!"

"Then why didn't you come to us? Ask us? You know things have been crazy lately. We've been preoccupied."

"Exactly! You've been too preoccupied with your own problems to even think about mine. Don't you see? Thomas was my only option!"

"But you didn't have to join him! Just because he's an Anarkk, doesn't mean you are too!"

"It's a belief!" Sarah says. Katherine looks shocked.

"You're saying you believe all humans should die - that only our kind deserves to live?"

"No, of course not. I just believe in us over them. Think about it - if you had to make a choice between saving your people or some strangers, who would you pick? Because one day, that's what it's going to come down to. If they even knew we existed, they'd lock us up. We'd become prisoners - science experiments. They fear what they don't understand. That's how it's always been."

"There is no us over them. We're all human. Some of us just happen to have unusual abilities. And anyway, what about my - your father? You heard what he said about me. How can you let that sought of thing slide?"

"I didn't!"

"But you joined him."

"Of course I didn't! If I had, I wouldn't be here!"

"But - you were considering it!"

"No, I wasn't! How could you even think that of me? Do you have no faith in me at all?"

"Of course I do! But visions don't lie."

Sarah breathes in deeply, trying to control her temper. "I was considering making a deal - me for Caden. But he said no. So I left."

"And how do I know this isn't another lie? How do I know you're telling the truth? For all we know, you could have been sent back here to spy on us."

"What are you saying?"

"That we can't trust you! Not anymore - and especially not now that I've seen you having a secret meeting with an Anarkk!"

Sarah looks stunned - hurt even. "God, you're cold. He's your father. I'm your closest friend. And you turn on us, just like that?"

"He told you I meant nothing to him! I'm not turning on him - he's turning on me. And we haven't been close friends since we were five, and you know it."

Sarah looks ready to explode back at me. At the last second, something changes in her eyes. "No. No, you know what? I'm not doing this. You don't want me here? Fine! You get your wish. I may not have joined Thomas earlier, but I sure as hell am now!"

She turns around and stalks off.

"Sarah," Katherine says, reaching for her shoulder. Sarah shrugs her off, pulling open the front door.

"Sarah, don't do this," I say. "I'm - I'm sorry."

"You should know," she says, stopped with her back to us, a hand on the door. "Lying doesn't suit you."

Then she steps out of the house, slamming the door shut behind her.

A/N

Chapter twenty three is posted on wattpad, as promised. I haven't been writing much recently - because of christmas, new years, etc. etc. - but I am slowly getting back into it. If you want to keep reading, this is just a reminder that chapter 24 is available to read on radish for free. Otherwise, it'll be coming to wattpad on the 18th of January.

Thanks for bearing with me !

Shaye x