Whispers at Moonrise (Shadow Falls #4)(87)

Her grandfather's words echoed in her head. Come with us. We'll help you understand everything. You need to learn who and what you are.

More than ever, and maybe not even for the first time, Kylie wondered if he was right.

* * *

"You've lost her daughter?" John snapped. "What kind of place loses kids?"

"We haven't lost her," Holiday said, but Kylie saw fresh panic flash in her eyes. "I'm sure she'll show up any minute."

Her mom seemed to relax, but Kylie didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling from Holiday's tone. And when Kylie listened closely, she heard the camp leader's heart beating to the tune of a lie.

Crap! Crap! Crap! Kylie tried to think. She had to get herself out of this because ... well, apparently she'd gotten herself into it.

"I can do this," she said, needing a little encouragement even if it was as fake as a mall Santa.

She tried to rationalize. If she'd gotten this way by wishing it, maybe she could un-wish it. She started un-wishing, if you could call begging to everything holy in her mind to change her back as un-wishing. She closed her eyes and realized that if it worked, she'd magically appear. That would freak everyone out even more. "Go somewhere else," she muttered to herself. "Somewhere private." She dashed toward the bathrooms.

Hurrying into the room, she heard voices but ignored them, and stormed into an empty stall. Breathing in, then breathing out, she closed her eyes, closed them really tight. "I wish ... I wish I was visible." She opened her eyes. Her gaze shot to her feet. Or to the space where her feet should have been, but weren't.

A knot formed in her throat; fear bounced around her chest like bumper cars. What if she stayed like this? What if ... No! She'd been in worse situations. Heck, she'd been kidnapped and chained to a chair and survived. She'd been tossed off a cliff and came through it. All of a sudden, she questioned again if this was Wicca related. She wiggled her pinky. "Turn me visible. Turn me visible."

Nothing happened.

"What the hell have I done?" The knot in her throat doubled in size. She started to cry. "Somebody help me, please?" She leaned against the bathroom stall door. "Daniel." She whispered her father's name, even though she knew the likelihood of him showing up was slim to none. "Can you please, please help me?"

"Think yourself there," a voice said.

Her breath caught when she realized it wasn't just any voice, but Daniel's. She pulled away from the door and saw the vague apparition of him, crowded between the toilet and the stall wall. "Think it. Make it so in your head."

"How?"

"Think it. In your heart. You have the power-" He faded.

"No," she begged, but he was gone.

Wiping her tears, she did what he said. She concentrated on being visible. On being there, physically.

Closing her eyes again, with no faith but desperate enough to try, she concentrated. She opened one eye and peered down. Her feet had never looked so beautiful in all her life.

"Thank you! Thank you!"

"For what?" someone asked in the stall beside her, but Kylie barely listened, too excited that she wasn't invisible anymore.

She walked out of the stall and came to an abrupt stop when she saw Steve and Perry both standing in front of urinals, their jeans hanging low on their butts. The sound of urine hitting ceramic filled her ears. It wasn't a pretty sound.

Her face heated to a nice shade of red.

The stall door behind her swished open. "What are you doing in the boy's restroom?" someone asked.

Steve, pants still down, swung around. Completely around. Kylie slapped her hands over her eyes.

"I didn't see a thing. I swear." Okay, maybe she did, which had her face turning hotter.

"What the hell?" Steve growled. Along with Perry's laughter, she heard the sound of zippers being pulled up.

"I'm sorry." Hands over her eyes, she moved in the direction of the door, but she hit a wall instead.

Perry laughed again. "Our friends are all put up. You can open your eyes now."

She did, but refused to look at anyone. Their friends! She darted out, wishing she had a minute to get her head together before ...

Too late.

Holiday spotted her. And so did her mom and John. All three came hurrying over.

Holiday stared at her wide-eyed with questions flashing in her eyes. Questions Kylie didn't have answers to.

"Was that the boy's bathroom you just walked out of?" her mom asked, sounding a bit annoyed, but mostly worried. John moved in and slipped his hand around her waist. Something about the way he touched her had Kylie envisioning them naked together. Oh, Gawd. They were having sex. She knew it.

Then she saw it. Saw it in her head. And it was not pretty!

"Are you okay?" her mom asked. "You're beet red."

"Yeah." Kylie squeaked. She pushed away the image of them naked before she wanted to vanish again.

"You were right there," her mom said in a mildly scolding voice. "I turned my head and you were gone when I looked back."

Kylie opened her mouth to say something, to apologize, or maybe to say something mundane like beautiful weather isn't it, but those weren't the words to leave her lips.

"You didn't turn your head. You were sucking face with that idiot." She inhaled, clamping her mouth shut, but it just flew back open. "You're sleeping with him, aren't you? Have you even read the sex pamphlets you gave me all those years?"