So the next day, the couple piled into Hayden’s car and made their way to Lucky Palms.
“Did Paige say what she thought it could be?” Kenzie inquired.
“She isn’t sure, but she agrees with my theory that it’s something supernatural.”
“Maybe we should just move to Lucky Palms, as often as we have to recruit her for help.”
“Kenzie, she doesn’t mind, honestly. She told me that, and she’s very worried about what’s going on. Besides, this is the last resort we have. A human doctor couldn’t tell us anything, not even your blood type, so this is the next logical step.”
Kenzie leaned her head back against the seat resolutely. She knew Hayden was right, but she felt so helpless. Not only that, but she was getting very frightened. Before it had just been annoying; now it was worrisome, not knowing what was wrong with her or what – if anything – she could do about it.
*********************************************************************************
They arrived in Lucky Palms a couple of hours later. Paige greeted Kenzie and Hayden warmly, though concern flashed through her eyes.
“How are you feeling?” she questioned as soon as they all sat down in the living room.
“I feel okay,” Kenzie stated, “and that’s how it always is, until I get hit with this wave of nausea and throw up.”
“Hayden mentioned that you went to the doctor for a pregnancy test, and it came back negative.”
“Yeah, it did. That was my first thought, but apparently that’s not the case. Unless it was a false negative, and there’s some spell you know of to get an accurate reading.”
“No, I don’t think such a spell exists. And that wouldn’t explain the weird things that happen when your mood spikes, even if the baby was supernatural.”
Kenzie leaned forward with a sigh. Hayden looked at Paige and said, “I forgot one thing when I talked to you over the phone. Kenzie had a dream the other night that woke her up. I don’t know if that’s relevant or not, but I’ve never known her to wake up screaming before.”
“A dream? What kind of dream?”
Kenzie looked between the two of them. She’d been afraid to tell Hayden what the dream entailed before, as she was afraid doing so would upset him because he was a werewolf, and the dream depicted her as a werewolf with a monstrous appetite, even for those she loved the most.
Still, if she wanted to find out exactly what was going on with her, and how to fix it, she’d have to tell both Hayden and Paige everything. There was no other way.
“Well,” she began, “first I should probably mention that that dream…well, that wasn’t the first time I’ve had it. I first had it a couple of months ago, but now it’s almost been a nightly thing. And it’s not the only one, either. There are two recurring dreams that wake me up like that.”
“What?” Hayden asked, alarmed. “Kenzie, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because of what exactly the dream’s about. I don’t want you to worry, or to blame yourself, or…”
“Kenzie, please, whatever’s going on here is no one’s fault but the asshole’s that bit you. Now what was the dream about? Actually, what were both dreams about?”
“It’s…well, the first dream I had showed my ancestors that I discovered when I did that genealogy research. The witches, remember? I keep seeing them, and the older sister is burning to death and the younger one is running away, but I can feel her pain because she had to see her sister die. In the one I had the other night, I’m running through the woods, but I’m transformed. I’m a werewolf like you, Hayden, and I’m just running and suddenly I see Jillian up ahead. And then I keep running toward her, but she starts looking more and more scared. Then I see more of my friends, and my family, and then I start howling, and the closer I get to them, the more scared they look, and right as I’m about to get to them, I wake up. But it feels like I’m trying to…hurt them, or something.”
As Kenzie told more of her tale, she began to sob, and by the time she was finished, Hayden was holding her closely, caressing the back of her head consolably.
As she was crying, Paige’s lights flickered. She stood up and surveyed the room, her brow furrowed.
“You know,” she said at last, “this looks familiar. It kind of reminds me of how young witches are when they’re first learning how to control their magic.”
“Control it?” Hayden asked. “Don’t they just learn how to cast spells?”
“Sure, but magic isn’t like a light switch. There’s no on or off switch. It has to be controlled and channeled. And sometimes, when a new witch is learning how to use their magic, their emotions cause things like that to happen. I guess I should have picked up on it when you called me, but it’s the way the power flickered that made me think of it. I guess it’s one of those things you have to see to understand.”
Kenzie was holding onto Hayden’s wrist tightly, but she lifted her head upon hearing this.
“And what would explain why my senses are so messed up?” she questioned as she wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“What do you mean?” Paige asked.
“I swear I’ve been picking up smells that half the police K-9 unit would miss. And sometimes I can hear things really far away, like Hayden’s pack when they’re clear out in the woods. Yes, we live in a pretty secluded place, but the pack’s never that close.”
“What?” Hayden exclaimed for the second time that day. “Kenzie, what the hell else aren’t you telling me?”
“That was it,” she promised. “I thought the heightened senses were another sign of being pregnant, but…”
“All your senses are heightened?”
“No, and it only happens sometimes. One minute I’ll smell rain before it comes, and the next I can’t smell supper cooking when I’m upstairs. It’s random. But I always need my glasses to see far away.”
“Throwing up green sounds like you ate a bad salad,” Paige replied, “but with all the other factors to take into consideration here, I think it’s worth noting. Hold on, I’m going to try something.”
Paige vacated the room and came back a few short moments later carrying a wand.
“Witches don’t always have to use wands,” she explained, “but they’re great for beginners.”
“Uh…I’m not a witch, though.”
“No, but you have witch blood in your body, remember? Don’t worry, I’m not going to have you cast any spells. I just want to test something. Take this.”
Kenzie stood up and Paige handed the wand to her. She incredulously took it in her hand and gazed at it. It was a finely carved wooden stick with an intricate design. She didn’t know what her friend expected to happen, but she received a shock when the wand’s tip began to emit a glow in her hand, and continued to get brighter the longer she held onto it.
“Just as I thought,” Paige ascertained as she took the wand away from Kenzie.
“What the hell?” Kenzie asked quizzically. “I’ve touched wands before, like at the supernatural convention when we first met, and they never did that. Why did that happen now?”
“Because the witch blood in your body was dormant until you were bitten by that werewolf. Now it’s been awakened, so it’s able to draw power.”
“So…I can use magic now? And that’s why my emotion spikes have been causing these weird power surges and things? Oh, and sometimes rain and thunder, for that matter.”
“I’d say so. The problem is that, when we first figured out you had three blood types, you were definitely emotional then and nothing happened. And you didn’t get sick until fairly recently. Plus I’m sure if I gave you a wand then, nothing would have happened, unlike now. And you didn’t have the keen senses like a werewolf, either. But now you do.”
“So what are you saying? That I’ve evolved over the past few months?”
“Theoretically. But I’m not a scientist. I can only give you my supernatural theories. We know you have all three blood types in your system, but that’s it. It sounds like you need to literally be examined under a microscope or something.”
Hayden interjected with, “I’m not sure ‘evolve’ is the term to use. If Kenzie had just evolved, I don’t think she’d be sick.”
“Maybe it’s just a side effect,” Paige suggested. “Hybrids have the abilities of both creatures they share blood with, but Kenzie has three blood types in her body, not two. So maybe the sickness is the only way the three blood types can coexist.”
“I’m not waiting around to find out,” Kenzie declared. “Hayden, let’s go.”
“Where?”
“Appaloosa Plains. We’re going to see Austin. He found a cure for vampirism, and he’s the smartest person I know, and he’s a scientist. If anyone can help me, it’s him.”
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