Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
“My mom believed you, but I didn’t. I’ve never really had any dealings with that kind of stuff. Never had a reading or anything like that, not even just for fun.”
“I know, and it’s okay that you don’t. You just focus on taking care of yourself. There are others taking care of all the rest.”
“What about Ryder? Is he in danger?”
“Not the kind that you mean no. I’m going to make sure that their magic can no longer touch him.”
I didn’t want to disrespect her by not believing everything she was saying, but it all sounded like hocus pocus to me. But she seemed to believe what she was saying, and my own mother had mentioned it a time or two.
Back then, I thought she was only trying to comfort me when she would mention the fact that Ryder seemed different from the young man she knew. She’d say stuff like Ryder seemed to be under the influence of something other than drugs, that his eyes never really looked like his own, and he seemed almost robotic in some of the earlier videos that were made public after his wedding.
I always ignored such things as they had no part in my reality. But now…. “Are you saying that Ryder got married because someone did something to play with his mind?”
“In a way, yes, that’s how it would’ve worked. I know it’s a lot to take in at once, and you don’t have to force yourself to accept my word for it. Just know that as long as I’m here, they won’t stand another chance.”
“Is this stuff really real? Does it really work?”
“Yes, believe it or not, it has been since the beginning of time. Have you never heard of the witch of Endor, who raised the prophet from the dead? Did you think that was just a fairytale? No young one, it’s very true, and people still practice such things today.”
“And do you? Practice dark magic, I mean.”
“No, my gift comes naturally and should only be used for good. If I try using it for evil, I’m afraid it might disappear, or something more horrible might happen to me. So, I’ve never been interested in using my gift to harm others.”
“I see.” I had so many questions, but like she said, this was a lot to take in at once.
“Does he know?”
“Not yet. He has other things to take care of. But since you are the one they’d come after next, I thought it was best if I shared this much, at least with you. He’d be told, of course, when the time is right. But right now, he’s dealing with a different kind of evil.”
“A different kind of evil? What’s that?”
“Oh, it’s nothing for you to worry about. Those young men will take care of him. Would you like me to have something brought up for lunch? You haven’t eaten as yet, have you?”
I only realized when she said the words that it was way past lunchtime, and I hadn’t even had breakfast. “Now that you’ve said it, I am a bit hungry.” I rubbed my tummy when it started to rumble as if just mentioning food had awakened it.
“That’s fine, you stay here, and I’ll have it brought up unless you’d prefer eating outside by the pool.” I smiled for the first time since she started talking.
“That would be awesome. It’s so pretty out there.” And I needed to sit outside under the sun and think about all that she had said. She had me almost feeling sorry for Ryder if only what she was saying was true.
I still had to call Mom and the others to let them know I was going to be gone for a while, and I wasn’t really looking forward to talking to Rachel. I wasn’t sure I was quite ready to hear her voice or that I could get through a conversation without giving away the fact that I knew what she had been up to.
By the time I made it outside, my lunch was waiting, a rice bowl and a chicken and grape salad, two of my favorite things to have for lunch. I was touched because I knew that Ryder must’ve told them that I liked having either of the two, and they’d made both. As simple a gesture as it was, it brought tears to my eyes that he’d remembered after all this time. The fact that I still remembered all of his likes and dislikes was neither here nor there.
Char had disappeared to take a phone call after our little chat, and now that I was alone with my thoughts, I wondered even for a slight moment if I’d fallen down the rabbit hole. Now I wish that I’d listened to Mom’s warnings in the beginning instead of brushing them off as nonsense because Char’s words sounded pretty close to the things Mom had tried warning me about.