Page 6 of Spirit Witch

Once more, I wondered how I was able to recall moments like that, but not my entire past.At least, not clearly.Memories were triggered by the oddest things.A smell.A sound.A phrase someone said.I felt like a half a person most days.Not being able to remember the whole of my life before waking up in the hospital to Leanne Stolbright’s grim mug after my little accident, before coming to live at Westwood Academy, was seriously messed up.

Even I knew that.

“I see,” Armstrong replied, and I flicked my gaze back to hers.“Finished your tea?”she asked.

“Um, yeah,” I said, frowning down at the cup.

I didn’t even remember drinking it.Crap.I was seriously messed up.Hiding the fact I saw fades from my roommates was one thing, but lying about all this was another.I deliberately excluded any pertinent facts about my memory loss from all conversations with the girls.

I set the cup down and stood up, excusing myself and leaving the headmistress’ office almost as quickly as I’d arrived.The fade that hounded me through the halls earlier had disappeared, and normally, I’d feel tons better.But something wasn’t sitting right with me.

I looked down at my hands, noticed they were shaking, and balled up my fists, shoving them into my pockets.Bile rose in my throat as I raced down the hall, head down.

By the time I reached room 563W, I was sweating profusely.My head ached, and I felt parched.I snagged a bottle of water from the fridge and downed the whole thing without taking a breath, collapsing onto an empty chair at the table.

“Hey, Enid!I was just gonna plant this, wanna come?Say, are you okay?”Jade asked, coming into the room with her arms full of seedlings she had planted in recycled egg cartons.

They were big enough now to move to one of the indoor greenhouses used by students affiliated with the Tellum Coven.Normally, I’d be psyched about it, but I was not feeling it right then.I blinked hard, trying to remember just how to form words so I could respond to the bubbly earth witch.But it was like my body just couldn’t function.I started shaking, my head pounded, and just before I hit the table, I heard Jade scream my name.

Then everything went black.

CHAPTER3

I knewI was unconscious because everything was so much clearer whenever I fell into my dreams.It was almost like I was in another realm.Hell, maybe I was.The dream realm sounded like something witches could access.

In my dreams, I could see everything really clearly.It was like a fantasy scape in Super Hi-Vision, which was what they called ultra HD in Japan—I don’t know why I knew that.It was even more intense though.Like one of those advanced virtual reality totally immersive gaming systems with surround sound and all the perks, the whole nine yards.

Some folks never dreamed, or if they did, they could not remember them.For me, well, I didn’t remember my life before Westwood, but my dreams were better than memories.I could see, hear, touch, and smell just like I could in the real world, but it was better in my dreams.Everything was so much better than when I was awake.

Even my appearance was different.Not that I was particularly vain or anything, but I hated my hair.Also, no matter what I did, my skin always seemed to look so dull and gray in the real world.But not in my dreams.There, I had glossy black hair with thick, silvery platinum blonde streaks.Like a full on manga romance heroine.

Also, my skin looked so much better.It practically glowed with that same silver-white tint, making me appear almost ethereal.I had to hand it to my imagination, my dreams rocked.And I wasda bombin them.

If only I had superpowers other than fainting, seeing ghosts, and managing to spill every single thing I attempted to eat or drink—sigh.

Unfortunately, even in dreams, I was pretty normal despite my hair and skin, and the long flowy white gown I wore.For some reason, I always dreamed myself wearing white—something I would never do in real life.You know, because of the whole spilling thing.

Anyway, it was night in my dream, and I was walking through a meadow or field with knee high wildflowers perfuming the air.It seemed familiar somehow, and I got that same hollow feeling inside my chest, like something was missing.Tears filled my eyes as I took in all the beauty around me.

I’d been there before.I knew it.But I could not recall a single time I had dreamed of that place in the last year.Beautiful butterflies with bedazzled wings fluttered about, and I smiled when one landed on my shoulder.It seemed to kiss me, and I giggled like a child without a care in the world.It only stayed a second, but I missed it already.Like that butterfly was something special to me.

“Hello,” a deep, masculine voice interrupted my musings.

I startled, and I grabbed my boobs in reaction.I don’t know why I did that, but it was like my go to response for being scared.Giving the wholehold on to your tittiessaying a whole new meaning as far as I was concerned.Yep, I was even a dork in dreamland.

Fanfuckingtastic.

I dropped my hands and whipped around to face the direction the voice came from.I didn’t remember ever dreaming of another person, and I was surprised, to say the least.Shadows hid the mystery man from view, but as if he sensed my trepidation, he stepped forward, and stole my breath for real this time.

Holy cow.

He looked like something out of a fantasy novel.Over six feet of pure muscle covered in warm, bronzed skin.Inky black hair hung down to his shoulders.He had full lips, a straight nose, and eyes the color of cinnamon bark as he stared down at me.The second he entered my space, it was like he commanded all the attention in the room—er, meadow.Power radiated from him, and I wondered how, since I was in control of my dreams.

Did I conjure this guy up?

“Who are you?”I asked, curious and wondering if my psyche had concocted a dialogue for my dream boy.

“How did you come upon my meadow?”he asked, eyes furrowed.

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