Goodbye Normal

by Lily N Anderson

  “I was hopeless, helpless didn’t know what to do. I had to strain myself from helping out when someone followed and asked for my help. Most of the time I knew where to find their stuff but I faked and said I didn’t.” he stopped for a split second, his jaw clenched and Zoe kept observing him tentatively.

  “It was unbelievable even for me, so I decided not to hold grudges when I thought it out in their shoes. That day when you stood up for me in class, I knew you were a special person. I don’t know how you did it but you help me not hate myself. That was important to me.” Chris glanced at her for a thankful minute and Zoe smiled at him appreciating the gesture.

  “Nonetheless, until then I had no idea I was a witch. The showstopper was when I was with my cousins in LA. When I went to visit, that is before I left Doomsberg, I did a lot of flower gardening with them. I came to realize something incredible. I could feel the energy of the plants when I tended to them.” He turned to Zoe, shifting glances from her to his hands “When I caught a flower it bloomed in my hands and that definitely gave me a red light. I was super daunted by these superpowers I seemed to posses.” He chuckled.

  “I had no idea about what was happening to me. I didn’t know if I could ask my aunt or not! We were not very close and I was still trying to fit in, which made it alot harder.”

  He signed heavily then went on “Then when I came back to school that was when I met Jackie Stuart. She kinda saved me.” he puffed out a happy grin this time.

  Zoe eyes blinked, she was surprised by a sudden discomfort to his revelation. It was almost like jealousy.

  “She befriended me and told me about the energy she felt towards me and was certain I was a witch, I freaked out on her, I was skeptic about the possibility but after a few incidences and personal couching, she got me to understand the whole witch enigma and later on introduced me to Fred Colam, who naturally brought me here.”

  “That’s deep” She said airily “Can I ask you something else?”

  Chris nodded in approval.

  “Why did you move to LA?”

  “That’s where this house comes along.”

  “How?” Zoe marveled, what could connect that dead house to LA?

  “I found out my parent were murdered, they did not die in an accident as I grew up believing.” He began with a terrifying hint of pain in his voice.

  “What? How do you know that?” it was a shocker for her, because it had been another reason they had bonded easily, both their parents had been involve in an accident that left them parentless. Except luckily for her, one was still there.

  “When I came to the coven, I was told different stuff about the history of this building which involves the very sole purpose of my hunt in LA”

  “Hunt? I don’t understand. What were you hunting?”

  “When my parents died their eyes went black, deep charcoal black. I was young and naïve. I just went along with what the police and uncle told me. But I never forgot that fact, I saw them and it had traumatized me for the longest time possible.

  “Oh my God I’m so sorry.” her mind traveled back to the history of Desolia, what could be behind the eyes? Was it black Magic?

  “Is it Black Magic?” she questioned feeling a wave of horror as she said it.

  “Sort of. Long ago when mutual coexistence with Darkeel’s dark magic failed to work, the founders of our coven came together and decided to come up with a powerful tool that will protect its Witches against the evils of Darkeel.

  “What tool?”

  “The Humeleons! Our coven leaders came up with a spell that went against all rules that define us. This pernicious spell enabled a man to shift ethnicity but without changing gender. And when they shifted, their faces remain their own. No one else will look like them.” Chris articulated as he watched the shocking bitter truth consume Zoe’s face.

  “Four young children were picked for the first trial. There was one Korean girl, and 3 boys specifically black, Caucasian and Mexican. These kids were joined together with the spell and a ritual. Thereafter they were supervised thoroughly for any changes. But nothing happened to them until they got to their teenage years.

  “It was then that they started craving for power, this was not the normal kind of material power. They needed bodily strength. And this strength was harnessed from killing another human being. They called it Charging.

  “So when they kill a human being, they are automatically charging their bodies?” Zoe asked terrified.

  “Exactly. Relatively were their ages. The age that one commits their first kill is the same age the shifter remains for the rest of their virulent lives.”

  “But Uhm wait Uhm, so what happens to those who do not kill?”

  “They age. Only those who actually kill become ageless, if a humeleon overpowers the need to kill another being, it’s when you age like a normal human being. But you will not be able to shift instead you will only have the most painful skin aches on every 22nd of every three months. And on every new moon it’s best if they seek refuge indoors because they get burned by it.”

  Zoe breathed, she felt the weather getting too warm for her body, but in truth it was very breezy.

  “By the way humeleons came from the lizards called chameleons, since they are able to change their skin color for protection. The witches cast this spell knowing firsthand that there are incredibly pestilent consequences. Furthermore when humeleons kill their eyes become as bright as the sun. When charging, they look straight into the victim’s eyes. That is the why when found dead the victims eyes are black.”

  “Oh MY GOD so you mean, they killed your parents?” Zoe grimaced, her eyes.

  “One of them did, the rest are in there.” he said sullenly, pointing at the house.

  8. GETTING PUNCHED

  “WHAT? how?… are they dead?” she asked with her brows pulled together.

  “No they are alive. Humeleons were meant to kill dark magic witches who threatened our coven witches. Only that they got beyond control and started killing innocent people. Our coven leaders had an agreement with Darkeel about making two people of this kind but instead they made four. They had initially decided that Darkell will have one and we would have the other. Darkell deplorably came to realize that we had deceived him. And so, he took his humeleon and locked the rest in that house with a spell that only the Channeler can break.”

  “Oh really now! That’s good to know, cause somebody has to kill me before I open that door.”

  “Listen first Zoe. The reason I went to LA was because I was informed that the black magic humeleon Pablo Rodriguez was there. There are a number of killings he committed up north. I wanted to track him down for the sake of my parents and other people he had killed over the years.”

  Wait, if this guy was hundreds of men more powerful, what good will it be for a not very powerful witch to track him!

  “Then let’s say you found him, what would you have done?” she mused.

  “I wasn’t going to catch him, I just needed to follow him and learn his different identities and faces. I think they hide them because it’s like their weapon of deception. It would have been easier to deal with him later on.”

  “Isn’t it dangerous, like isn’t he very powerful by now?” obviously, she answered herself.

  “It is dangerous, and yes by now, he must be very powerful. Since humeleons powers are determined by how many kills they have made. Their arithmetic is kinda tricky but easy. It like when a humeleon kills a certain ethnic group abundantly they gain a body of that particular ethnicity and the same theory goes for killing their archetype body. You have to go through killing the ethnicities he or she has gained to finally kill the real him.”

  “No way!”

  “I hear you. I wish to the sacred depths of my being that it was. But it’s not. It is as real as our heartbeat.”

  “So how does this body surface? Is it like he can be an African this minute then an Indian the next?”

  “They can change to another bo
dy and stay with it for not more than two hours permanently. Then their body goes back to normal, with or without commanding it to. And they can flip it to another ethnicity when in between those two hours but not more than that limit.”

  “Do their personalities change too?”

  “No. Just their appearance, skin, hair…something like that. And another important detail is, they cannot kill one another!”

  “Why not?” Zoe asked disappointed.

  “They would risk the sensory curse.” He informed.

  “Sensory curse! what the…!”

  “If a humeleon killed his fellow, the attacker risks becoming blind, deaf or dumb.”

  “Dear God! This really is Doomsberg!” she groaned, not sure if she wants to hear any more of it.

  “Welcome to my world, beautiful.” he smiled sardonically.

  “What have we gotten into?”

  “Sometimes it’s better not to know, you become cautious about everything that surrounds you. This is not an easy life.”

  “Seriously! That is so not helping.” she cried, shooting him a nasty glare.

  “Am stating facts,” Chris defended “ungifted people are blinded by so much, they do not know what we do to fight for their safely. To make myself feel better I sometimes think am a self made CIA agent.”

  “Huh, how cozy” Zoe said gooily, feeling sorry for both their sakes.

  “Really, we are saving lives and helping our country in a way no one else could.” Chris argued convincingly.

  “What else do you know about the rogue humeleon?”

  “Pablo is a Mexican, black haired, tall, handsome and cunning as hell. I don’t know which part of the world he is in right now! What ethnicity he is trying to add up to his list. I have tried looking wherever I could but no luck. I only know his original face, which makes it hard for me to track him down.”

  Zoe noticed that Chris’s eyes got clouded by a searing hate when he talked of Pablo.

  “He has killed a good deal of family members in our coven by both his passion and orders from Darkeel. All that just to prove a point that they are the rulers in this domain, though I once heard Longwood say it’s their way of punishing us for betraying them years ago.” he informed her looking pensive far beyond the horizon.

  “Does he kill witches too?”

  “Not frequently. He mostly goes for the weakest. The ungifted members of our families”

  “NO” she bled inside as she thought of her own family and friends.

  “How can he be stopped, why does he do it?” she angrily questioned his queer humanity.

  “He is kinda immortal himself you know. I don’t really care about why he does it, maybe he’s jus bored, it has to be one of his pass time fun jobs” he assumed ironically.

  “Damn, this life is so orphic.” she sighed, laying her back on the bench.

  “But it’s worth the fight we are wedging.” Chris declared, tilting his neck to watch her and Zoe held his gaze towards her with as much intensity.

  “To win it, we need a good army.” he told her while choosing his words carefully, he added “and the army we need is in that house.” he said that never leaving her eyes. Zoe jumped up from the bench fierily.

  “I already told you Chris, there is no way, after what you have told me about those monsters, that I will use an ounce of my energy to let them go.” she squalled.

  “I understand Zoe. One of their kind killed my parents, but we need them whatsoever.”

  Zoe stared at him, totally unimpressed.

  “Do you hear yourself, they are dangerous, if we let them go we are risking another epidemic for God sake!” her voice was lower but held more urgency.

  “I hear you, but what if this solitary has changed them? What if they can now live without having to kill for the energy? Because they have been in there for over a century.”

  “What if their powers are so drained that they need to charge after all those confined years huh Chris? What about that?” she fired back, challenging him as her eyes glared with fright and concern.

  “It’s a risk we have to take, it’s either that or worse destruction to the people around us. It’s just a matter of time and Darkeel will find a way to get you to give him his power back. When he has his own power charged up, who knows the limits of his dark magic. It is twice as powerful, twice more dangerous than those Humeleons.” He breathed “Zoe right now this man is immortal and powerless but was able to control and accumulate a great deal of dark magic witches to his advantage. They act at his command, they respect and protect him. What do you think will happen when he has his powers back?” he detailed with insistence.

  Zoe fell back to the bench, supporting her head with her elbows. At that moment she could no longer feel the serenity of the beautiful surroundings. Rather the thoughts screaming in her mind, which were blocking all else. And she felt that her powers were better dead than alive.

  “I can’t do this, I can’t do this Oh Chris this is not right” She cried with despair. Inside her, she felt ashamed and devastated. Ashamed that she was failing the people who depended on her and devastated for what her powers are capable of letting loose.

  Chris crouched beside Zoe, hoping he had to some extent put sense into her head. He knew they had to see the issue eye to eye for her to agree to it.

  “Please Zoe, you have to. You are our only hope.” He murmured to her hapless face. Unfortunately it was the right thing to say at the wrong time.

  She muttered despondently “Don’t…Don’t say that, don’t say that right now please.” vulnerable tears rolled down her eyes. Zoe was broken inside. She couldn’t afford the luxury of being vulnerable, but for the first time in two weeks of her mystic life she had a shoulder to cry on. Someone she knew and knew her back, someone who was a friend. Chris held her shuddering body in his arms, shielding her as the waves of tragic pain engulfed her. His eyes closed as he felt every sob burn his soul. He could only hope she outgrew her fears and geared up for even much worse circumstances.

  “T…take me home pleeea…se” she begged in between sobs, stammering over his back.

  And he did just that. With both their heads covered with headgears, Zoe’s hand’s clenched tightly around his waist. They got out of the coven quarters on his motorbike and skidded back to the ungifted civilization.

  Darkness was evidently seeping in and the breeze got chillier. The strong wind blew away her tears, but that didn’t stop the flow. She was angry at her life, tired of the consequences and most of all not ready for her responsibilities. She asked him to take her to Joe’s for her ride and when they finally arrived he threw an offer at her.

  “Am sorry about meeting up like this after two silent years.” He began.

  Zoe looked back at him and shrugged with a wooden smile.

  “I have a lot to apologize for Zoe, throwing bombs at you this afternoon and all-“

  “It’s alright, It’s not your fault and besides you can’t do nothing about it.”

  “Well I can take you out for dinner.” he offered pointing inside the restaurant….he saw the impartiality on her face then added “For old time sake. And I promise you, this time around we’ll talk about photography and and…novels” he smiled coyly.

  She managed a faint smile. Chris was trying so hard to cheer her up. It would have helped if they were in better circumstances. She knew for a fact that he was not interested in books or photography. Her mood was already foul and beyond saving. Surviving some normal time with him would be a total joke and an act of selfishness. All she needed was a quiet room to cry her eyes out and hate the world for putting her in that crazy position. Her heart sank to what she was about to do, but she was saving them both a boring dinner.

  “Thanks, but I’ll pass, I didn’t tell mom I’ll be dining out.”

  “Oh,” he grimaced, openly disappointed.

  “Can I at least drive you home?” he begged.

  It was hard to resist the pitiful look on his face. She made a distinct
ion that it wouldn’t do them any good whatsoever. She needed the short alone time before getting home.

  “I’m fine really, I can take it from here.” she declined again, watching with a scowled face how she hurt him. She turned quickly to lessen her guilt and left.

  As he watched he go to her car, he remembered something he had brought along for her.

  “Zoe wait” he called, and she stopped and turned to him.

  “Here.” he said while giving her a thin old journal “It was written years ago about Darkeel, atleast it will give you an Insight about what we are dealing with”

  She nodded “Okay. Thanks” then it hit her, how will they communicate? “Chris, your number keeps going to voicemail”

  “Oh right. I misplaced that one at the airport” he took her phone and typed his number and address.

  When he gave it back, she walked away to her car feeling ten times heavier than she did when she went out jogging that morning.

  She climbed in to her car, dropped the journal and her phone on the passenger seat then wore her seat belt. When she was just about to turn on the ignition, she felt an unexpectedly itch on the center of her chest. Her eyes squinted down to the itchy area and accordingly her fingers scratched her affected skin.

  Staring down at the pendant she furiously took it off, tossed it away, letting it fall below the car seat. She glowered at it accusingly, reprobating it of being the cause of all her problems and drove away hating her new life.

  Quarter way to her home she noticed a car following her. At first she didn’t take heed at it but after a number of turns it didn’t seem right. It was a truck and she couldn’t see clearly who was inside but she was certain it was not Chris. Not unless he borrowed it in the restaurant. Peering around, the road was in the middle of a natural mini bush land.

  She wasn’t scared anymore; she had her witchy powers to protect her. Zoe knew she couldn’t let whoever that was tailing her get to her home and probably cause trouble to her mother. She stopped and climbed off her car and so did the other truck. When she heard their engine turn off, she called out to the chilly darkness that was illuminated by the car lights.