Clockwork Twist : Dreamer Read Free Page B

thank you,” Myra said, noticing that the waitress hadn't taken her eyes off of her for a moment.  The waitress gave her the flash of a polite smile and looked to Twist.
    “Anything else for you?” she asked Twist, her voice a little softer.  Twist looked away from her quickly, feeling highly conspicuous once again.
    “We're fine, thanks,” Jonas said through a grin.
    “I didn't ask you,” the waitress replied sharply.
    Shocked by her tone, everyone at the table looked up at her.  The waitress took a breath and seemed to pull herself into a taller posture. “I'll have your order in a moment,” she said, walking away.
    “That girl is weird even by American standards,” Jonas said softly.
    “Hush!” Tasha said to him quickly. “I think she heard you.”
    “What?” Jonas asked. “How could she?”
    “She looked back the moment you said that,” Tasha whispered to him. “She looked hurt.”
    “Jonas hurt someone's feelings?  No, I'll never believe that,” Niko said with no emotion whatsoever in his voice.  Jonas gave an unamused huff.
    “She couldn't have heard you before, could she?” Twist asked Jonas softly.
    “She'd have to have super-human hearing to catch anything in this place,” Jonas said, looking up to the vaulted ceiling. “All the sound just gets trapped up there,” he said with a point. “None of it travels very far beyond each table.  It's ingenious, really.”
    It was only a few moments later that the waitress reappeared with Tasha's coffee and Niko's cake.  The table fell totally silent as she placed the items on the table.  The waitress seemed to ignore them all and looked at Twist, as if trying to come to some sort of decision.  Finally, after an awkward pause, she reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled out a plain white envelope.  She held it out to Twist with a resigned expression.  Twist reached out to take it.
    “Just think about it, all right?” the waitress said softly. “You deserve better friends.”
    The moment the envelope was in Twist's hand, she turned and walked quickly away.  The others looked to Twist expectantly.  He opened the envelope and found only a white card inside.  It was of a heavy stock and had a golden border, with black writing in a flowing hand on the front of it, reading “Eleven Thirty,” and a date.  Only an instant after Twist touched the card itself, his Sight burned with a sudden vision.
    His awareness flew out of the restaurant on the cliff, racing over the sand and back into the city.  Streets and houses rushed by at a dizzy speed, until it all came sharply to a halt before a large, gated house.  The vision paused for a moment while the house numbers glowed brightly in his mind.  Then, just as suddenly, it vanished.  The card fell from Twist's fingers as he gasped against the sharp, burning pain behind his eyes.  He held his head in his hands and tried in vain to make the world stop spinning.  The pain was so shocking and so intense, that nothing else in the world could catch his attention.  His thoughts ran screaming in all directions.
    “Twist!  Oh, my darling!” Myra shrieked, reaching for him.
    “Wait!” Jonas said, already out of his seat and hurrying to Twist.  Myra looked up at him in horror, her hands a hair's breadth away from Twist. “Just wait a second,” Jonas said, kneeling beside Twist and reaching out slowly to his shaking, curled-up form.
    Twist felt the buzz in his neck grow above the unconscious level it usually hid in these days, and he reached out for it in the chaos of his pain and whirling thoughts.  Then, somewhere very far away, he sensed a warmth at his back, though he noticed no physical contact.  Slowly, a cool brightness began to fill the horizon of his mind, like swiftly approaching rain.  Twist managed to realize what was happening outside of his own chaos, and reached out for the light.  He felt himself ease in anticipation.
    Jonas placed his hand gently on Twist's back