“How did you get to the gym?” I asked Mom.
Mom looked dazed as she thought for a moment. “The mayor called a state of emergency and evacuated everybody here. I don’t know what happened, because every form of communication we have with the outside world is out of order right now, from TV to cell phones, but it wouldn’t matter even if we could leave. Those stupid crows would eat us alive.”
“The murder crows got to you?”
She nodded. “They picked off half a dozen of us before we got to safety. I don’t know why they don’t come in here and destroy us, but I guess they have better things to do.”
“Yeah, like chase us.”
“You saw the crows, hija?”
I sighed deeply. “We barely escaped from them. We are only alive right now because of Katie.”
Mom turned her attention to Katie, who was sitting across the gym with her mother. “I thought you were crazy. I honestly did, but everything you said was the truth, wasn’t it?”
“As much as I could say.” I placed my hand on hers. “I know I sounded crazy. I don’t even blame you for not believing me.”
Mom squeezed my hand. “I just wanted to keep you safe, chica.”
“I know, Mom, but if I learned one thing this year, it’s that nobody is safe. You could die in your own room at any given moment.”
“Then, maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll come back. Look at Katie!”
I chuckled. “Yeah, but she just might have caused all this, too.”
“How?”
I shook my head. “I’ll tell you when this is all over.”
I tried to stand up, but Mom pulled me back down. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going to end this.”
“You can’t, hija,” she said, her voice desperate. “I don’t want to let you out of my sight!”
I pulled my arm away. “I can’t stay here. You didn’t trust me before and look where it got us. Trust me now. I have to do this. Please, just let me go.”
She started to cry as she stood up and wrapped her arms around me. “Just be safe, okay, chica? Don’t die. Please.”
“I’ll try.”
I gave Mom one more long hug then walked across the bleachers to where Samantha was talking to her mother. They both had the same soft features and wild hair, except that Samantha’s mom had her hair pulled back in a ponytail, and her eyes had far more age under them.
Samantha saw me walking over and waved. “Time already?”
I shrugged. “I mean, the longer we stay here, the more likely the world is going to end.”
“Right.” Samantha turned to her mother. “I wanted you to meet under better circumstances, but Mom, this is Anna. Anna, this is my mother.”
I smiled. “It’s nice to meet you. Your daughter is lovely.”
“That’s an interesting thing to call her. She’s stubborn and hard headed, but yeah, I suppose she’s lovely as well. Samantha has told me a lot about you.”
“All bad, I hope.”
“A little of this, and a little of that,” she replied. “She said you saved her life.”
“Yeah, but I also put it at risk, so there’s that too.”
She wrapped her arms around me. “Well, thank you for bringing her back to me.”
I patted her on the back, and then pulled away. “There’s a lot of that going around now, huh?”
Samantha stood up to meet us. “Mom, we have to go, just like I told you, but I’ll be back.”
Samantha’s mom stroked her daughter’s cheek. “You remember that spell I taught you, okay?”
Samantha nodded. “I will, Mom.”
We turned to walk away, and I looked over at Samantha. “A new spell? I thought your dad was the witch.”
“Apparently he taught my mom a thing or two. I guess if I had just opened up to her before…we have more in common than I thought.”
“If only the world had ended years ago.”
“Yeah, but then I wouldn’t be here to stop it from ending, and that would be a travesty.”
The last stop in the gym was Joanne, who stood up when she saw us and blocked our path to Katie.
“No,” she said, gritting her teeth. “You’re not taking her. You’re not taking her again.”
“Joanne,” I said. “We need her help. We can’t do this without her.”
“I don’t care. You’re not taking her.”
“The world’s going to end,” Samantha said.
Joanne wiped the tears falling down her face. “I don’t care. If that’s what it takes to bring my girl back to me, then let the world end.”
“You’re being hysterical, Mom,” Katie said.
“Of course I am! You finally came back to me and I don’t want you to go back there. That’s not fair. None of this is fair.”
“You’re right,” Katie replied. “None of this is fair, but life isn’t fair. It sucks that I got cancer. It sucks that Dad died. It sucks that I died. And it sucks that I have to save the world now, but we just gotta deal with it.”
“I don’t want to deal with it,” Joanne said. “How about that?”
Katie smiled at her. “Tough. Now, let me give you a ghost hug.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s like a real hug, but you can’t feel it.”
“You can kind of feel the cold on your skin,” I said, “but it’s weird.”
“Let me have my moment,” Katie said, wrapping her arms around her mother.
And I did.
Chapter 52
Principal Foster led us through the dark hallways of the school and toward the main office at the front entrance. As we walked down the steps toward his office, he marched across the great seal of the school.
“I’m happy you found a friend in Samantha,” the principal said over his shoulder. “I suppose I was right all along.”
“Maybe don’t gloat until the world is saved, huh?” I replied.
“Fair enough,” he said.
Katie floated up to the great blue bear emblem on the floor but couldn’t pass it. Instead, she just hovered next
