Sword Play Read Free Page A

had no idea how she’d react to my leaving. Maybe I’d send her an email or write a letter.
    Manny gave me a stern look, as if reading my mind. “Seriously, Beany,” he added, “leaving is a lose-lose situation. The newspaper needs you.”
    “You’ll find another proofreader.”
    “But no one with your special talents.”
    I smiled sadly. He may have a reputation of being a player, but he’d been a real friend to me. He kept my secrets and in return I helped with his Mystic Manny column by giving him authentic predictions. I foretold hook-ups, heartbreaks, and what students would be doing in ten years. Manny’s readers were amazed with his uncanny accuracy.
    “You have special talents, too,” I pointed out. “You’ve helped Dominic and I track down info on my ancestors and the missing charms. You’re an amazing researcher.”
    “Go on, say more. I thrive on compliments.”
    “Watch out, your head is swelling.”
    “Is that all?” He glanced down with a wicked grin.
    “You are so bad.”
    “Stick around and I’ll show you how bad I can be.”
    “Save it for your girlfriends.”
    “So many girls, only one Manny,” he joked.
    “Egotist!” I swatted his arm.
    “Just telling it like it is. Some guys have it, and some guys have more of it.”
    “More than I need to know.” I gave a bittersweet smile, thinking how much I’d miss teasing with him. “Anyway, don’t worry about predictions for your column. I’ll email them from San Jose.”
    “Thanks, but it won’t be the same.” His expression sobered. “Will you be going back to your old school?”
    “No!” I said a bit too sharply. “I could never return there after all the lies and accusations. I’d rather die.”
    As I said the word “die,” a chill shivered through me. I grabbed tight to my chair as dizziness struck. Lights flickered around the classroom, bright colors spinning into confusing images. Posters fluttered like birds in flight and white walls shimmered into a silver sandstorm.
    I stood swaying, afraid of passing out. To clear my head, I focused on the floor. Only the tile whirled, changing from dull-gray squares to golden polished wood. The computer lab was gone, replaced with a silvery cave. And Manny had vanished.
    But I wasn’t alone. Ghostly white-clothed figures glided around me on the golden floor, shifting in quick moves like living chess pieces. They had no faces, only blurry gray masks. With deft spins, they paired and began battling among themselves, slashing with blade-shaped arms and razor claw fingers. They ignored me, except for one. A lone figure glided toward me, slowly, with chilling purpose, gleaming silver claws outstretched. I was paralyzed, unable to move, watching in terror as knife claws loomed closer, closer …
    “Sabine … Beany!” Manny snapped his fingers in front of my face.
    “Huh?” I jumped back to reality; the hum of computers, the bright lights overhead and posters on faded white walls.
    “You’re so pale,” Manny said, leaning closer and studying me. “Did something just happen? Was it a vision?”
    “Yeah … I think so.” I clasped my hands in my lap to keep from shaking.
    “Tell me,” he insisted.
    So I did. And when I finished, he stared at me with both concern and curiosity. “Knives, figures in white, a chess board? Any idea what it means?” he asked.
    “No.” I shook my head numbly. “But it could be a warning.”
    “A warning for whom?”
    “I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling.” I shuddered. “If I don’t find out, something terrible will happen.”

My suitcase bulged, a red shirt hanging out like a distress signal. Tucking the shirt back in, I shoved down hard on the lid, then grabbed the metal zipper tag. Ziiip! A sound so final my heart nearly broke.
    Soon my mother would arrive to take me away.
    My gaze drifted to my window, a view I loved dearly, and I thought how very far away the treetops seemed. I hadn’t even left, yet I was already homesick.