Broken (The Immortal Coven Book 1)

by April Gutierrez

  Of course, I wouldn’t think of meddling as a good thing. So many times I’d been told to mind my own business by so called friends.

  Turning the corner out of the classroom, I took a double take towards a figure at the end of the hallway. It looked like Dmitri lurking by the doorway. Dmitri who had been absent from school since he’d walked me home, since I realized my mother had been a witch.

  “I will see you later.” I told Carla, waving as I merely walked away.

  Reaching the glass doors at the end of the hall, I confirmed that the figure was indeed Dmitri’s.

  “Hi stranger.” My tone more annoyed than I wanted to admit.

  “I figured we could walk to P.E. together.”

  “Well that is very gallant of you, but won’t your boys have something to say about that?”

  “I could care less what anyone says about me.” And there it was again, the other worldly sound about him, making him seem ancient regardless of what his physical qualities deem real.

  Taking lead, I started the path to the other side of campus. “So where have you been, I haven’t seen you around?”

  “I caught something. Why, did you miss me?” the amusement spread across his face, and completely did the usual 180.

  Without thinking, my mouth started moving, not giving my mind enough time to catch up, “I did not miss you, I just wondered if my nonsense from the other day made you uncomfortable.”

  “Funny.” He blurted out, his face fixed forward.

  “Excuse me?” I said, my feet suddenly becoming very heavy. I stopped walking and took in his tall lean figure go a few feet ahead of me.

  When he realized I had stopped walking, he turned around and shook his head. “Nothing you could say or do could possibly make me uncomfortable, Celia. Believe me when I say, I’ve seen some pretty unbelievable things.”

  There he went again, sounding incredibly ancient.

  “Why do you do that?” I asked softly.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean,” starting as I closed the distance between us, “that every time you speak to me, your demeanor changes as if you’re a character from a far off land.”

  “And every time you speak to me, I want nothing more than to kiss you. It seems we are both challenged to understanding something new and confusing.” His face hovered over mine. Close enough, that if he truly wanted, he could make true his words.

  “Yes, well, we can’t always have what we want, and weren’t you the one who said we should only be friends.”

  “I vaguely recall such a statement.”

  “I recall it perfectly well, and how miniscule it made me feel.”

  He tenderly sucked in a breath, as if to say more, counter me once again, but said nothing. Finally, he shook his head and turned away from me.

  “We are going to be late.” He groaned.

  Letting the words rest in my mind, the walk behind him to the gym was far too long. With every step, I felt him further and further away. The distance was the same, but the warmth of his closeness had worn off. In its place, longing.

  I did not bury my nose in a novel during that hour. I sat on the bleachers and watched him. Feeling as though taking my eyes off of him would make him vanish, and I did not want him to disappear again.

  He is like no other boy I’d ever met, and for some reason, I can’t decide if I should be terrified by his peculiar nature or excited by it.

  My imagination played at the movements of his lean muscular figure, keen on the flexing of his calf muscles as he stepped, turned and twisted, the way he almost clenched his jaw every time he took a shot. He followed the other boys across the court like a hungry lion, wanting to get the ball back, but he didn’t chase them. He was calculating the precise moment to strike. Time after time, Dmitri dominated but awed the other players, as he proved his skills.

  Before I knew it, the basketball court was clearing out and everyone was heading into the locker rooms to change.

  Before he disappeared, I caught him turn in my direction. He paused for only a moment, his features remaining emotionless, and then he was gone.

  I gathered my belongings and left the gym, not waiting for anyone. More like making sure no one would have the opportunity to follow me.

  Trisha greeted me as I reached the ‘dungeon’ as my 4th period photography classmates like to refer to our class.

  “Look at you all out of breath. You’re a whole 5 minutes early. Don’t you come from the gym?”

  “And you? How do you get here so early?” I countered.

  “I’m next door for 3rd. Art.”

  “I wasn’t running. I left gym early. I don’t have to dress out until next week. I don’t have a locker yet.”

  “Well aren’t you the lucky one. I remember having P.E., about the only good thing was seeing the boys sweat as they played their group sports.”

  She’s right….it really is the only good thing about the class.

  “Do you know any of the boys in your class?” she asked curiously as she flipped through a photography book.

  “A few boys from lunch, Kevin, Jason, Dmitri…”

  “Oh, Lucky girl,” she sighed in awe. “What I wouldn’t give to have that class with you.”

  What could I do but smile? “All you can ever do is watch, they are forever playing basketball.”

  “Shirtless?” she asked, her eyes gleaming for the proper response.

  “and dripping with glorious sweat.” I added sarcastically.

  “Oh, what’s this? Not charmed by the handsome boys of Hernando High?”

  “Charmed? Now there is something amusing.” I lied.

  By the look on her face, I doubt she believed a word I’d said but she left well enough alone.

  Mrs. Ashby spoke of natural light in photographs and how it is to be captured not created. Her later words captivated my attention but lulled me into a sad state.

  ‘Light is offered freely, one must first know what is beautiful in the light to capture it precisely how it is seen. Even then, your eye must see the beauty or possibility of it, to know what to snap at. Think back to a moment you saw light shimmering through clouds or an object in which a beam had managed to shine past. Does it not invoke an emotion that makes you want to see it again?’

  I’d seen such a light. The afternoon my mother died. I laid on the side of the road, held by a passerby, screaming at our mangled car as the firefighters tried to extract her body from the fragments. I looked up to the great blue sky, yelling at God, begging him not to let her die. The ray of light was not of God answering my prayers, my cries of anguish. It was merely beautiful light shimmering through a cloud at dusk. But Mrs. Ashby was right on one thing, it does invoke emotions, just not the ones she was hoping for.

  I left class in a daze. So much so, that I didn’t realize Cassidy was walking right behind me until she grabbed my shoulder. Lisa had sent her to fetch me because we were eating out on the lawn for lunch.

  The niceties continued, and in a way I was glad for this new group of distractions. Each and every one of the girls who surrounded Lisa, believed that she was enchanting.

  Funny, they are all right. A true witch, as my mother’s book explained, is a magnet to all earthly beings. Weird, I’d never realized it about myself until now, being around this group.

  At Springstead, I was always surrounded by people but no one invested energy in getting to know me as Lisa’s friends have. It could be that she has invested interest in them which makes all the difference between the two of us.

  Even the boys are friendly, not vulgar like the boys you’d think roam the halls of high school now a days.

  Making it a point to inconspicuously help a friend, I asked Carla to sit next to me to eat. You see, Jason was very close by and I was pretty sure he would be able to hear our conversation given the chance.

  ‘So how was the rest of your morning?” I asked her.

  Her eyes darted from me, over to Jason, and back to me before she a
nswered.

  “It wasn’t as bad. The well dried up thankfully. Yours?”

  “Somber, I’m afraid. Conversations have been deep and the subject’s dark.”

  We giggled at my response which peeked the precise interest I’d hoped.

  “What are you girls talking about, deep and dark?” Jason asked frigidly.

  “Oh nothing, I was only mentioning it to Carla here how I’d hoped to borrow her notes for Mrs. Brown’s Biology class.”

  His back straightened and his eyes darted to Carla’s.

  “Didn’t I ask you to borrow those the other day?”

  “You did, but Celia showed more interest. She seems to need them more than you.”

  The bewilderment was incredible. He didn’t have a single word in response. Carla on the other hand turned to me, courage clear in her demeanor and smiled.

  “Carla, I could hold off on the notes. I mean…if you’d rather let Jason borrow them first.”

  “I’m all for ladies first, but I do need them.”

  As if unleashing a floodgate of emotion, Carla took in a deep breath her eyes glossed a little, “Fine.” She huffed, “Take the notes.”

  Tossing them at Jason wasn’t the problem. Her storming off as a woman scorned was. It’s as if boys will never understand the female heart, the drama that it is always dwelling in.

  “What was that all about?” Kyle asked as she brushed past him as she left. Her haste warranted a follow, but Kyle prevented any leave from the situation.

  “We need to talk about your attendance Saturday.”

  Curious. Why does it matter?

  “How is it any of your business?” I hissed under my breath, realizing his heightened interest annoyed me.

  “It matters because of what they want you to do whilst you’re there.”

  “Again, I ask, how is that any of your business?”

  Once upon a time I wouldn’t begin to imagine where he was coming from. Today, however, I am all the wiser that his caution was due to witchery and all those involved.

  “I still don’t understand how you play into all this, Kyle, your part in all of it?”

  “Eventually, everything will be clear, but now, all that must remain clear is the warning that leaves my lips.”

  A shadow darkened his face and he looked gravely serious. If I’d been anyone else, I believe fear would still their heart, but Kyle for some unknown reason doesn’t provoke fear in the pit of my stomach. On the contrary, I find myself oddly comfortable, despite the feeling of being coddled.

  “So should I expect to see you Saturday then?” I asked, unaware of my surroundings.

  “Kyle wasn’t invited, Celia” Lisa interrupted. “He only wishes he was.” She smirked at him.

  Knowing there is more to their looks of intrigue, I let Kyle reply as he so willingly would.

  “I’m always invited, Lisa. You know that.” He smiled at her and continued. “Always around when you don’t think you need me. You should know better by now than to think I won’t be there when you go meddling in things you know nothing about.”

  Her attention turned towards me, “Pay no mind to his ranting, he is just trying to ruin my fun.”

  We watched as Kyle walked over by the boys and sat next to Dmitri. They started their hushed conversation, every once in a while glancing over to us.

  “What’s the deal with Kyle?” I asked her quietly.

  She smiled, her eyes falling down to the sandwich she was about to bite into.

  “He moved here a few years ago. Before Justin and I became an item, Kyle and I spent a lot of time together.”

  “So you guys use to date?”

  “Not really. We were just really close, but then I found that witch book and he distanced himself completely.”

  “So he is against all that?” I couldn’t help but feel the opposite considering our recent interactions regarding the craft.

  “If he is, he has a weird way of showing it. Every time we try something from the book, he is there watching intently.”

  Lunch ended on that weird note and the rest of the day passed with nothing more said about Saturday. Lisa and Kyle acted as though neither existed during Mr. Hamric’s class. Although, in high school, such a thing happens all the time.

  Honestly, it was the why I wondered about for the remainder of the day. Why would Kyle say those things to Lisa? The two could hardly stand to look at each other now, but to say that it was because Lisa is interested in witchcraft seems odd. On the other hand, he made it clear that he would always be there for her, as if to protect her from herself.

  I rushed home to find Olivia waiting for me on the sofa. The look on her face worthy of any upset parent waiting to scold their child.

  “What did I do?”

  “It’s not what you did. It’s what I’m afraid you will do.” She sighed.

  Another thing I never understood about my family is how they possibly know things before they have actually happened.

  “So is this going to be me getting a lecture or can you just be worried and I go upstairs to do my homework?”

  “Don’t sass me, Celia.”

  “Sass you? That would be absurd, as I don’t even know how to sass, Aunt Olivia.”

  “Child, you forget who you are talking to.”

  “Oh, no, I know exactly who you are, as well as the current state of things.”

  “Oh, so you are willfully going to go against the wishes of the forsaken witch out of pure childishness.”

  “I’m not doing any such thing!” I yelled, the frustration boiling over, the emotions surging through my system.

  It was the first time I felt a connection between the magic and my emotions.

  A surge, I was not prepared for.

  “You need to be careful getting all hot and bothered. The first time your mother got that way, our room all but exploded.”

  I took a few steps back and looked down to my hands. A hot energy was just under the surface, I could see the glow just as a light at the end of a tunnel.

  “What is this?” I asked her.

  “Like I said before, you are gifted. All things are connected by the energy in our being.” She reminded. “Your energy just happens to be brighter than most.”

  “Most?”

  “Well, there are older witches, more knowledgeable in the craft.”

  “Will I meet them?”

  A part of me needs to meet them, those witches that are older. Knowing that they will make me feel like this is a gift as opposed to the current feeling of being cursed.

  “You will, but you have not been summoned yet. But your summoning should not be brought on because you go against the spirit’s command. She said, ‘No coven crafting’. And I’m sure she especially meant with a coven not your own.”

  “They are not a coven. They are a bunch of girls who think they are witches. I need to learn, Olivia. How am I even going to be anything if I don’t start somewhere?”

  The glowing became brighter and I was seeing the color that shown in my hands.

  “Look at you. You can’t even control your temper, and you think you will be able to do magic with a bunch of teenagers?”

  I took a deep breath because I could no longer see her face behind the bright light.

  Calm down Celia, soothe your heart.

  I heard it whisper.

  “Who was that?” I mumbled, as the beating of my heart eased and slowed.

  I looked around and I was no longer in Aunt Olivia’s living room. Once more, I was in the cave I’d visited before. The mist was making the area seem small and confined.

  “Who’s there?”

  “But you know the answer to that question already.” The voice replied. “Ask me something you don’t know.”

  “Why can’t I do magic with Lisa?”

  “Oh, well, you know the answer to that as well.”

  “I assume many things, but the answer eludes me.”

  “You should trust your assumptions dear chil
d, for your intuition is keen.”

  “Who is my protector?” The question came out like lightning and her laughter echoed as the thunder would in a storm.

  “You know that answer as well, for he has become a torment of yours.”

  “I know him?”