by Ellis Maton
“You're getting married!” squealed Mika as she burst through my bedroom door.
She sat down next to me and gave me a look of sympathy. I knew exactly what the look meant. I have been given the same look a few times in my life, when I left school being at the top of the class, when I turned into an adult, when Samuel and I got engaged and now today on my wedding day I was getting the look again. Before Mika could even speak I smiled and replied to her look with “I know, Me too.”.
It was the I feel sorry for you because your mother is not here to share the special moment with you look.
I was anxious. Not because I was about to lie in front of hundreds of magical beings and tell them how much I loved a man that I did not but because I had not heard off Tobias. Also, Alex was late. She was my maid of honour she was not allowed to be late. I could see Alex's car pull up outside the house so I ran down to see her, well more to ask how Tobias was doing.
“Its manic out there! They wouldn’t let me through the gates because I don’t have any magical powers. Thank god I had your sisters number or I would have never of gotten in” Alex explained. “And before you ask. Your true love is fine. He is in a bit of a bad way about you marrying someone else. But, that is to be expected.”
“Does he miss me?” I demanded.
I needed him so bad right now. I knew that if he was here right now I would feel good again. Even if he did not agree with me going through with all of this I know he would still support me. The plan had been the same since the beginning, as far as I was concerned this marriage was no longer for power or to fulfil the destiny I always wanted. It was now purely just about saving my love.
I never really thought about the future and about what would happen when Tobias' innocence was proved. At the moment it was all about the here and now. We needed to make sure that no one would find Tobias and that was our main priority.
This was it. My hair was ready. My make-up was ready and my dress was on. I felt like royalty. My dress was white of course, the upper half and arms of my dress were lace. Silk flowed down naturally from my waist. The back of the dress had a bit of a trail. This was not my first choice of dress. I changed to this one just after I realised I was in love with Tobias. I wanted to keep my number one dress for him – because you never know what could happen.
Alex and I were watching out of my bedroom window as Mika welcomed the guests. I was nervous.
“Alex, can Isla and I have a moment please?” my father asked as he made his way into the room.
Alex gave me a gentle squeeze as she whispered in my ear “Keep it up, you're doing great.” She was the only person who knew the whole thing was a sham.
My father and I sat down on the bed as he gently spoke to me “ Darling, you will always be my little Isla Stone. You have grown to be a fantastic woman and also a great witch. You have made the right choices and that is why you have been blessed with a day like today. Samuel is a great man.
As I made my way out of the door to walk towards the marquee three women were standing in front of me, it was a bit intimidating. They were quite scary looking and I was on my own standing there in front of them in a wedding dress.
“Isla, your mother told us about this day. She foresaw it way before her time come to an end. We were her friends. We all know today is not the day that your mother used to foresee. We know the truth and we know what you are doing. But, don't worry. Your secret is safe with us. You have been using your gift to save a life and find justice for your mother. Do not worry my dear. I have seen what will come of this. The devastating consequences of your actions will all be worth it for the greater good. The world will tear into two. People will die. If you marry Samuel you will not fulfil your destiny and everything will come to an end. But be with your true love and everything in the world will go back its natural order. Tobias is innocent. You know it and so does your mother. Run my girl. Make the right decision. We will always be here. Your Mother will always be here. Just look for us all in you darkest hour. Good luck Isla the fate of the universe lies in your hands. Your love is forbidden but it is not impossible.” announced one of the ladies with a croaky voice.
I was taken aback. The women shuffled off quickly just as my father and Alex came out of the house.
I was shaking. I never thought of it like that. The implications on the whole supernatural world never crossed my mind. I needed to keep myself together.
I love Tobias.
I love my family.
I love the supernatural community.
But I had to choose one. I needed to do what was best not only for myself but for everybody else.
Alex walked in front of my father and I. We slowly walked into the marquee. My heart was pounding. I was shaking.
“You have done the right thing dear. I am proud of you. Your mother would also be proud of you.” my father said to me as we stood at the end of the aisle.
The inside of the marquee was draped with white silk. White roses were scattered around the room in big black vases. This was it. The wedding song began to play and we began to walk down the aisle.
My heart was thumping and my head was too crammed with decisions that needed to be made. My heart was telling me to drop everything and run back out of the door. But, my head was telling me something different. I needed to stay and go ahead with the wedding. All of the guest turned and looked at me. It was too late. There were too many eyes on me and I could not let all of these people down.
The prime-minister and I made eye contact and as usual he kept up with his creepy aura and gave me a wink and half a smile. He literally sends shivers down my spine.
Then there he was, standing down the end of the aisle – Samuel. He was beaming with smiles and I had to try and recreate those on my face. This was the worst I had ever felt. The guilt had started to overcome me. I was going to break his heart and he just didn't know it yet. He was genuinely happy and all I had become was a genuine actress.
We finally reached the end of the aisle. I was so tempted to run. I was too scared to not go ahead with it now and I knew it was too late. I had to go through with the wedding. I looked around and realised this was not what I wanted for myself. I looked over to the left side of the room and could see Willow Fenn sitting there. I never really understood why my father insisted she be invited neither of us had ever gotten on. It made me realise more that this wedding was not even about me it was about the power my family had in the community. For the first time in my life I finally knew that this life was not about gaining power, it was no longer my destiny and it never had been.
I was finally face to face with Samuel. The music stopped and the all the guests sat back down. This was it. I was about to marry a man who I did not want to, all so I could protect my true love.
Mary Livler was conducting the service, she was my mother's mentor and she helped my mother control and use her power. She started to speak.
“Today, the supernatural world has come together as one unit to celebrate the coming together of two great witches. During my time on this beautiful planet I have learned a lot about life and magic. We as supernatural beings strive for power and all of us want to be better than the rest. That is until the day we meet our true loves. When that love appears in our lives we realise power is nothing. When in love we realise our powers are there to protect not just us but our true love and that is when we finally figure out what all of this is about. It is about protecting and fighting for our loved ones. As much as we would prefer to disagree, the power of love is stronger than any power we have inside of us and therefore we are all more human than we think.”
As I stood in front of Mary listening to her words I knew how true they were. I had to stop it. I knew there was another way I could protect Tobias.
“Who gives this woman to this man?” asked Mary.
As my father stood up to reply the ground beneath us started to vibrate and shake.
Everyone looked around confused. Alex and I stared at each other, we were
both thinking the same thing. They know, they know it is all a sham. The top of the marquee burst apart. I was blinded by light. A humongous red lightening bolt shattered through the ground right down the centre of the marquee. Everyone jumped up out of their seats even though everyone looked a little blinded by the light. I was frozen. I was too scared to move.
As the red light faded he was standing there, cuts all over his face and hands. His jumper had scorch marks all over it and he was sweating and out of breath. My heart sank.
“Isla, they have found me. Your father sent them. They are trying to kill me! Help.” Cried Tobias.
“Kill him!” Demanded Willow Fenn.
“No wait, Please. I can explain!” I cried.
“He killed your mother there is nothing to explain.” Willow shouted.
“He is innocent. Why are you even here? I don't even like you so keep your mouth shut!” I snapped back at her.
“Isla, what's going on?” Samuel asked.
“She loves me, and for all of your information I was a child when Isla's mother was killed and I did not have the power to do it.” Tobias explained.
“He did I saw him! It was him. I remember!” Mika piped up.
Everyone was getting angry and heated. I slowly walked towards Tobias.
“Isla! What are you doing!” screamed Samuel.
I was ignoring all the shouting I could here around me. All I wanted to do was touch Tobias. I needed him and he needed me. I knew deep down he was innocent, and if he was not innocent why would my mother send me all of the visions to prove it. He needed saving and I was going to save him. I grabbed Tobias' hand.
“Isla don't you dare!” my father shouted in his powerful tone.
“One last time he's innocent and I will prove it. Do you all understand?” I begged.
My father slowly raised his arm towards Tobias. I knew what was coming. I slowly pushed Tobias to the ground my fathers bolt of lightening shot came hurtling towards me. Screams echoed around me. My arm was blasted by it and I was shocked to the floor.
As I opened my eyes I saw the three women that earlier warned me. One of them ran over to me and Tobias. “Isla come with us! We will protect you.” she said.
Mary Livler ran over to us. “Leave them alone.” she screamed. All the guests had now started to hurtle fire and lightening towards us. We were narrowly getting missed. The three woman and Mary circled Tobias and I. They started to chant.
Gusts of wind started to circle us. I knew we needed to protect Alex as well. I could see her cowering under a few of the chairs scared. I jumped out of the protective circle. Samuel ran towards me. And grabbed me by my arm.
“Why are you doing this? Isla don't embarrass me I will kill you!” he hissed at me. I didn't know what to do.
“I don't love you! I screeched as I shot him with a lightening bolt.” I got Alex up and we ran back towards the protective circle. I pushed Alex into the circle first as I wanted to take one last look at my family. All of whom were using all of their power to try and kill us.
“Don't do it Isla, please.” begged Mika.
“I'm sorry but you must have saw wrong.” I sympathised with Mika but I knew she was wrong.
As I jumped into the circle the fighting started getting worse. Then a loud explosion of sound and light appeared around us. We started spinning. I couldn't handle it. My head was hurting and it made my whole body ache. My eyes slowly closed even though I tried to keep them open.
6.
“Isla, wake up!” I heard.
I could smell burning. My body was cold. As I opened my eyes I could see Tobias and Alex staring at me.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Your mothers friends used their powers to get us out of there. We are safe. That is all that matters. We are in a place we cannot be tracked.”
I looked around and it looked liked the inside of an old country farm house. A coal burning fire, a small kitchen and some blankets on the floor.
I saw Mary standing over in the kitchen area. “Isla I know you will still be in shock but we need to talk about this. Come for a walk?” she asked.
I stood up, my head was still hurting. My body felt weak. But Tobias was safe and that is all that mattered. Mary pushed open the creaky wooden door which led us outside. The building we were in was an old farm house which was in ruins half of it was rubble. I looked around and the land was completely empty. There was no light at all. We were in the middle of nowhere.
“Isla, I need you to know we all believe you. Your mother saw all of this before she died. She never knew he was going to kill her, but she knew that they would blame Tobias. But, she always told us she was not going to stop her death because her death would be the reason you would meet your true love.” Mary revealed.
“Thank you for protecting us Mary.” I said.
“We all need to sleep now. Its been a long day. Plus I think we need to think of a plan. We will figure something out tomorrow. The house has been blasted with protection from people it is invisible to the naked eye. No one not even a witch should find us here.” she informed me.
Tobias held me in his arms as we went to sleep. Well, everyone else slept a part from me. I was still in shock. I knew how disappointed my whole family was in me but I knew my mother would be proud. I needed to prove Tobias was innocent. I knew that because we all went off with Tobias we would all be on their hit-list including me and Alex. It was official we were all fugitives and we were all on the run. For the first time in my life I had lost track on who was good and who was bad in this war. I was doing the right thing but now I was the bad guy.
For the first time in my life people thought I was the bad person. I finally realised that my actions had caused an official war. My head was going crazy with everything that had happened. Even when I prove Tobias is innocent there will be no way my family and I will be the same again. I slowly shuffled my way out of Tobias' arms and got up to go for a walk to clear my head.
I walked into the small forest by the house. I was lost. Not physically but mentally lost. This was not supposed to happen to me. I was supposed to be a powerful witch that would go down in history. But now unless I solved this mess I would be known as the witch who betrayed her family for love. I never wanted to be in love. I never wanted any of this. I couldn't control my emotions. Tears filled up my eyes and I lost it. I punched one of the trees. It felt good to feel physical pain. So I punched it again and again. Until all I could think about was the pain in my hands. I looked at them and they were covered in blood.
I had finally lost it. I managed to keep it together for so long and now I let it all go. I fell to the ground and cried. All I needed now was a hug from my mother. It was sad really. I had never believed in love my whole life and then I now that I am in love, everything was starting to go wrong.
The ruined cottage allowed the cold air to blast through all of its cracks it was a good job I managed to squeeze back into Tobias' arms when I got back. The sun had rose and it seemed as though I was not the only the one waking up with a sore head. Mary was standing over the coal fire stirring a pot of something which smelt absolutely vile.
“Soup! We need to get warm and get our thinking hats on. We need to some how get out of this mess.” she explained.
We were all shivering under our blankets. I needed time with Tobias alone. So we went outside.
“Isla, I know this was not part of the plan. But they would have killed me. I love you. I know its crazy as we have only known each other a short while but please we can find a way to make all of this work.” Tobias said as he hugged me and gently kissed my forehead.
For some strange reason my feelings of being lost and not knowing what to do, or where to go next had all gone. His touch just heals me every time and as long as I am with him I will always have that.
