Strikes

I ran. Faster and faster through the streets of the old neighborhood. I never looked back as my faithful tennis shoes kept pounding on the ground beneath my feet like a racing heart. The frozen sidewalk never broke my step so I had no reason to stop.

I had my book. I took my book back from Ms. Jones and I was getting away unscathed. There's no way she would be able to catch me. I was running too fast and I ran down random streets to avoid being followed. Even still, I kept running as through she were right behind me. I kept sprinting as if my life depended on it. Mailbox after mailbox passed me until I lost count of how many yards I had passed. Every other one looked the same so I gave up and kept running.

I pounded off the sidewalk and onto the frozen street. The wind stung my face and thrashed through my blowing hair but I kept my pace down the street. I was two blocks away from the corner my mom had promised to meet me at. I was praying that she didn't forget or change her mind and leave me running the four miles home in the insidious cold. The wind pinched my toes through my running shoes that I planned to wear in case of this event and my nose numbed. Although I did not foresee my powers arriving to over come her...

"Don't seem as though the book means something to you." Alicia's voice said as it ran through my head like a skipping CD. But I did show like it mattered. I did show that evil women that I wanted that book. Strike one.

"Remember, Lily," Alicia reminded me before my dream ended. "You have to control your temper. Now that you know you have powers, your going to use them subconsciously." But I did use my hidden powers to force her to do what I wanted. I used my powers and I liked it. I felt so powerful and superior compared to Ms. Jones. Strike two.

I stopped at the end of the second block where my moms Jeep Wrangler was suppose to be. It wasn't. I sighed and looked cautiously behind me. No one or thing had followed me down the ten crooked blocks. The street was quiet and it seemed as though no one had lived in this neighborhood for years.

"Don't steal the book." Alicia said right as I was traveling. It was the very last thing I heard her say before I ended back in my bed at home, sweat still sticking to every inch of my glistening body. Beads formed above my eyebrows and slide down m face and over my lips. I knew I had to steal. I forced the handover and ran away with it tucked carefully under my arm. Strike three.

I saw my moms red jeep round the corner and slowly make its way over to me. I opened the door and jumped quickly into the warm inside. I closed and locked the door before I sighed in relief and relaxed in the seat.

"Hey sweetie!" Said my mom, looking over her shoulder and giving me a warm smile. "Got everything done at your friends house?"

"Yes I did." I said proudly, cradling the book that had created so much trouble for me. Even still, I loved it.

The short ride back to my house was quiet except for some small talk between my mom and Patrick. Form the back, Patrick looked like an average guy with short blond curly hair and a soft voice that would make anyone like my mom fall in love with him. Although he did not seem so spontaneous and different as my mom's impression him was.

I was nothing like my mom and I never wanted to be. She didn't care about herself in any way. The only think that seemed to matter was what guys thought of her. She rarely had regular meas, she would do slimming pills along with birth control and every other pill out there to keep her from getting pregnant. She liked her love without the question of a baby. I have vowed to myself that I would never be like her. I am not going to every try anything just for guys attention.

When we pulled into the drive way, I hurried out of the car and up to my room. Closing the door firmly behind me, I strode over to my bed and lay down, opening the book. I looked onto the first page and the book fell through my fingers. It was not my book. All the pages were blank. I could not believe that this was happening to me! I picked up the book and took a closer look. The cover of Somnium Libri was there, the real one, but it was sewed onto a pile of blank papers. I was tricked. Ms. Jones knew that if I was to get the book, I wouldn't see if it was really the book right in her house. She knew that I would wait until I got home.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I threw the fake book against the opposite wall. I collapsed on my bed and dug my head into my pillows. I couldn't believe I fell for her devious trick. I cannot believe that I couldn't see this coming. I did exactly what Ms. Jones wanted and now she knows that I'm a witch. She knows that I am in the book too and that the book is important to me. That was too many strikes to count now. I messed up and now I am going to have to admit it to Alicia.

Before I knew it, and before I could control it, sleep stole me away as through it knew that I had to go. It pulled me, away from my bed in my room, through the darkness and back to the place I was not ready to face. Back to Krystal. Back to Alicia.