his holographic puppets dance.
A lump formed in my throat. My vision blurred. When I wiped at my eyes with the back of my wrist, my wrist came away wet.
I reached in for the watch.
Before I touched it, I could feel it. I recognized the magic coursing from it the same way I could recall a particular scent. The energy was purely Dad’s.
I took up the watch and immediately felt an invigorating wave roll through me. The wound on my neck tingled. My weary muscles gained sudden strength. Even the sorrow coiling in my chest from the memories of my father seemed to clear like a fog in the sunlight.
There was some serious power in this thing. I had never held it before. Dad would never let me. Now I understood why. When I was younger I wouldn’t have known how to handle such power. The raw flow of it could have scrambled the fledgling control I had over my own natural power. One touch of this and I could have shorted out every electronic in the house, or shattered all the windows, or set the carpet on fire.
I was older now. I had plenty of control. Still, a wave of vertigo made me unsteady. I had to lean against the table to keep my balance.
I gripped the watch more tightly and felt the energy thrum up my arm. The chain dangled and swung like a pendulum.
Wow. I could feel myself healing inside. My vampire bite had begun to pop and sizzle as if someone had dumped a bottle of peroxide on it. Instead of stinging, though, it felt marvelous, a little ticklish yet somewhat like a mini massage as well.
Damn, if anything could fight back the vampire infection, this was it.
I wondered why Sly hadn’t mentioned it. He knew my father and his capabilities as much as I did. Maybe more so. Then another question occurred to me.
What was this watch doing in this chest, locked up in the basement?
My father never went anywhere without the watch. He should have had it on him when he was killed. At the time I had been so distraught, I hadn’t missed it.
So why hadn’t he taken it? Would it have made a difference in his fate to have had such a powerful talisman? Would he have survived? And, back to the original question…what had prompted him to leave it behind, locked up in this old chest?
Had he known what was going to happen to him? Or at least suspected? What had they gone into that he would purposefully leave this powerful item behind? Had he intended to leave it for me to find?
I swallowed and wiped more tears from my eyes. I didn’t have answers to these questions. And nowhere to look for clues. So I had to add them to the million other unanswered questions piled up around the mysterious event that took my parents from me.
Clutching the watch, I went upstairs. I never loosened my grip. I laid down on my bed, the watch’s energy buzzing inside of me. I stared at the ceiling and quickly fell asleep.
Chapter Eleven
The pounding that woke me synced with the throbbing in my head. Not exactly a headache, more like my pulse had grown some heft and wanted to pound its way out of my skull. I grunted, thinking the sound would pass along with the sensation.
The noise stopped for a moment, then returned again. An even five thumps punctuated by another pause.
I realized the pounding (the outward pounding) came from my front door. I was tempted to pull my pillow over my head and ignore it. Something about the insistence behind the knocks gave me the impression whoever wanted to see me wasn’t going away.
Better not be some overzealous religious freak trying to push pamphlets into my hand. I might have to show them a real life miracle and set their pamphlets on fire with a quick word.
Thinking about magic reminded me of my father’s watch. I sat up in bed and the watch slipped down from my chest where it had been resting. The chain clattered against the silver case. I gathered the watch up and tucked it in the pocket of the pants I had spent all day yesterday in, and had slept in. A funky smell rose up from my body. I pitied whoever
A lump formed in my throat. My vision blurred. When I wiped at my eyes with the back of my wrist, my wrist came away wet.
I reached in for the watch.
Before I touched it, I could feel it. I recognized the magic coursing from it the same way I could recall a particular scent. The energy was purely Dad’s.
I took up the watch and immediately felt an invigorating wave roll through me. The wound on my neck tingled. My weary muscles gained sudden strength. Even the sorrow coiling in my chest from the memories of my father seemed to clear like a fog in the sunlight.
There was some serious power in this thing. I had never held it before. Dad would never let me. Now I understood why. When I was younger I wouldn’t have known how to handle such power. The raw flow of it could have scrambled the fledgling control I had over my own natural power. One touch of this and I could have shorted out every electronic in the house, or shattered all the windows, or set the carpet on fire.
I was older now. I had plenty of control. Still, a wave of vertigo made me unsteady. I had to lean against the table to keep my balance.
I gripped the watch more tightly and felt the energy thrum up my arm. The chain dangled and swung like a pendulum.
Wow. I could feel myself healing inside. My vampire bite had begun to pop and sizzle as if someone had dumped a bottle of peroxide on it. Instead of stinging, though, it felt marvelous, a little ticklish yet somewhat like a mini massage as well.
Damn, if anything could fight back the vampire infection, this was it.
I wondered why Sly hadn’t mentioned it. He knew my father and his capabilities as much as I did. Maybe more so. Then another question occurred to me.
What was this watch doing in this chest, locked up in the basement?
My father never went anywhere without the watch. He should have had it on him when he was killed. At the time I had been so distraught, I hadn’t missed it.
So why hadn’t he taken it? Would it have made a difference in his fate to have had such a powerful talisman? Would he have survived? And, back to the original question…what had prompted him to leave it behind, locked up in this old chest?
Had he known what was going to happen to him? Or at least suspected? What had they gone into that he would purposefully leave this powerful item behind? Had he intended to leave it for me to find?
I swallowed and wiped more tears from my eyes. I didn’t have answers to these questions. And nowhere to look for clues. So I had to add them to the million other unanswered questions piled up around the mysterious event that took my parents from me.
Clutching the watch, I went upstairs. I never loosened my grip. I laid down on my bed, the watch’s energy buzzing inside of me. I stared at the ceiling and quickly fell asleep.
Chapter Eleven
The pounding that woke me synced with the throbbing in my head. Not exactly a headache, more like my pulse had grown some heft and wanted to pound its way out of my skull. I grunted, thinking the sound would pass along with the sensation.
The noise stopped for a moment, then returned again. An even five thumps punctuated by another pause.
I realized the pounding (the outward pounding) came from my front door. I was tempted to pull my pillow over my head and ignore it. Something about the insistence behind the knocks gave me the impression whoever wanted to see me wasn’t going away.
Better not be some overzealous religious freak trying to push pamphlets into my hand. I might have to show them a real life miracle and set their pamphlets on fire with a quick word.
Thinking about magic reminded me of my father’s watch. I sat up in bed and the watch slipped down from my chest where it had been resting. The chain clattered against the silver case. I gathered the watch up and tucked it in the pocket of the pants I had spent all day yesterday in, and had slept in. A funky smell rose up from my body. I pitied whoever
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