CHAPTER 21: MAGIC SCHOOL III
1561 Words
VALENTINA
I tuck the straps of my strawberry-red bikini top in to avoid visible tan lines and adjust my bottoms before flipping over face down on my towel between Anessa and Giada. It’s our last beach day, and I intend to soak up the rays as much as possible.
My eyes are closed when something lands right above my head with a thump, kicking up a bit of sand in my face.
“Hot dad alert,” Anessa whispers.
Giada giggles, and I can’t help roll my eyes as I lift myself a bit to find a soccer ball in front of my towel.
“Sorry!” A man yells and makes his way towards us with a young boy, who probably is the reason for the apology.
The closer he got, the more I realized Anessa was right. Hot dad alert for real. Tall, dark, and handsome, just the way I like them. By like them, I mean that's the way I like my men, not men with children. I'm not a homewrecker, or about to become someone's stepmom at 18.
Maybe he's the boy's uncle. He looked young. Older than us, for sure, but who knows? The boy reaches us first. His chubby cheeks and halo of curls make him look like a cherub.
“What’s your name?” I pick up the ball ready to throw it his way.
“Phee-o!” He smiles brightly. “I’m phree!” He holds up two fingers proudly.
“Theo. His name is Theo,” Hot dad explains, chuckling and placing his hand on the boy’s shoulder. A hand that clearly has a wedding ring.
I try to throw the ball lightly to Theo, but it slips right through his arms, so I pick it up quickly, depositing it directly into his hands, and freeze from the contact.
Giada nudges me and my stomach churns. The man smiles awkwardly, grabs the boy's hand and walks away. Did he say something? How long was I trying to stop the frantic beating of my heart?
A chill enters my veins while I piece together my vision.
Shit.
“Val, what is it?” Anessa asks.
It takes me several moments before I can even open my mouth to speak.
“Did you see where they went?” I look around and spot them several feet away with a woman packing up their belongings.
Double s**t. How am I going to do this?
Rule number one of the Tribunal- Don’t let humans know about us.
Maybe I won’t have to explain.
“Tell us what’s going on. What did you see?” Giada questions.
Maybe they’ll believe me.
Who am I kidding? They’re going to think I’m insane. I race towards them, my entire body dreading what I’m going to say, and Theo waves, drawing the woman’s attention to me.
I take a deep breath. “Sorry to bother you, but did you drive a small red Volkswagen here?”
The couple looks at each other and then back at me, confusion and concern written all over their faces.
“I don’t know exactly how to say this, but you need to call a taxi or get someone to pick you up.”
“What’s happened to the car?” The man looks in the direction of the parking lot even though it can't be seen from here.
I feel a presence behind me and know without turning, it’s Giada. Thankful for her silent support, I try my best to carry on.
“Nothing.” I want to add yet, but could I be more cryptic? “There’s a black SUV and the front tire is going to come off.” I look down at the sweet boy, and I shudder. They notice and continue to stare at me strangely. “There’s going to be an accident. You can’t drive your car.”
“What do you mean?” The man asks.
“The SUV is going to lose control and collide with your vehicle.”
The man grabs Theo and moves in front of him. He picks up the handle of his cooler. “Let’s get out of here. She’s crazy.” He stares at his wife, who stands. I reach for her arm and freeze.
Another vision.
Shit. s**t. s**t.
Can this get any worse? Why me?
“Please!” I plead. “I know I sound crazy. I know that, and I can’t explain how I know all this, but I can guarantee it’s going to happen.”
The woman looks at me and steps forward. “How?”
“Don’t entertain this psycho. Come on, Marla.”
“You’re pregnant.” I blurt out. “You’re pregnant,” I repeat, and Marla’s lips part slightly. For a second, I catch the surprise and fear on her husband’s face before it twists with anger.“Not far along, right? How would I know that? You have to believe me. The accident…” my voice shakes. “You’re not going to make it. All of you.”
“That’s enough!” The man yells, and his wife jumps. “I don’t know if you think this is f*****g funny or something, but you need to leave us alone now. Right now!” he shouts.
My heart plummets to my stomach. “I’m so sorry. Please,” I beg.
“Leave us alone!“ he screams, walking away with his family.
“So what happened?” Orla asks.
“My friends and I left immediately, half-dressed and with only our phones and wallets. There was no time to pack up the rest of our stuff. I remember throwing on some shorts in the car. I would be in that bikini top for the remainder of the day.” I threw it out the second I got home. It was my favorite one, but I couldn’t bear to look at it afterward. “We trailed them, and sure enough, the vehicle that would lose its tire and control appeared five minutes from the beach on the highway. I made my friend call 911 as soon as we saw it signal in front of the Volkswagen.”
It’s been a few months since I’ve thought about Theo. His beautiful family used to plague my nightmares for years. Back then, I was 18 and had no idea that my visions would only become stronger and the things I saw more disturbing.
“I’m sorry,” Orla says, snapping me out of my memories. Her eyes are full of unshed tears, and I curse silently. I didn’t mean to tell her this to make her sad. I understood her, that’s all.
I place my hand on hers and squeeze it.
“Theo had massive internal bleeding, but because the paramedics arrived within seconds of the accident, the doctors were able to treat him and save his life. They later explained their fast arrival really helped.”
“And his parents?”
I shake my head.
“I waited three hours at the hospital that day for Theo’s grandparents to show up. They ended up raising him.” My chest constricts with the knowledge of the cruelty of it all. “You asked me if it gets easier. I’m not sure how to answer that. I’m not sure what the right thing to do is with our gift even now after all this time. I know you feel torn about what happened with Johnny, but none of it is your fault. You tried to help. I know I beat myself up about doing the same for many years.”
“You tried too. You tried to tell his parents, Miss Dragone, and you saved him. You did. You shouldn’t feel bad.”
“The Goddess works in ways we cannot fathom. She had other plans for Theo, plans I knew nothing about.”
“Maybe that’s why you saw the accident.”
“I don’t know why we see what we do. Theo developed Glioblastoma three years later, a brain cancer that was relatively rare in children. He passed away a little before his 10th birthday, which devastated his grandparents.”
AMADEO
I stood behind her, listening to the heartbreaking story, feeling her pain through our bond, despite the graceful set of her shoulders and the calm expression I knew she was wearing even if I couldn’t see it.
“That’s-that’s terrible,” the young redhead whispers. Neither of them says anything for several seconds, but Valentina doesn’t stop holding her hand, and the small gesture comforts the girl. That much is obvious.
“Maybe telling Johnny was a mistake. I don’t know. Changing the future has serious ramifications, but then why have seers at all?”
“So many questions,” the girl mumbles.
“Maybe we’re not meant to ever find the answers.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe the purpose is to keep asking hard questions.”
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A/N
This was a bit of a short chapter but it offers us some more insight into Valentina's character and her past. I hope you enjoyed it.
Thank you to all those who voted for little Theo's name on my sss group. I enjoy allowing some of your input at certain points in my stories.
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