by T. S. Harvey
It was quite late Saturday afternoon when the phone rang. As it was the landline, I didn’t think it wouldn’t be Erik, so I left it for Aunt Suze to answer.
‘I’ll get it shall I, then?’
She raised her eyebrows in mock annoyance but I knew she was OK with it.
‘Hello, who’s calling?’
There was a pause whilst she was obviously listening to whoever it was on the line.
‘Sarah. It’s for you.’
My stomach turned somersaults. Erik had called my cell earlier in the afternoon but I’d ignored it. Clearly he thought he was being smart by ringing the home phone. I’d wanted to call him back, but then again I didn’t want to call him back. Now he was calling me, at least I had the choice to refuse to take his call. For Christ’s sake, is love always this confusing?
‘Who is it?’ I said, as cool as you like and just loud enough for the caller to hear me.
‘Well, get off your butt and take the phone and you’ll see.’
Now that wasn’t the answer I wanted. I wanted to be able to keep him waiting, to be the one in control. It was my turn to raise my eyebrows. I took a deep breath as I took the phone from Aunt Suze.
‘What?’
‘What do you mean “what”?’ How about: “Hi Daddy, I’ve really missed you.”?’
‘Oh my God. I’m so sorry. I thought you were someone else. Hi, Daddy, I’ve really missed you.’
I had missed him. We didn’t get to talk that often, with the difference in time zones, and this was just what I needed. Of course, I couldn’t discuss normal boys with my dad, let alone a Warlock boy, but it was great, just what I needed today.
‘So when am I going to see you again, Daddy?’
‘How about Thanksgiving?’
‘Really?’
‘I’ve been redeployed. Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I’m coming home, sweetheart.’
I was over the moon. It would be great to be able to just jump on a plane and be with him in a couple of hours. I don’t think I realized until that moment just how much I did miss him. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t want to go back to that way of life again, but it would be great to see him more.
After I’d put the phone down, I felt so much better. So much so that I decided I would take Erik’s call next time he rang. Unfortunately, I was gonna have a long wait.
Having not heard from Erik again over the weekend, I figured I’d catch up with him at school on the Monday. Not so, he wasn’t there. Nor Tuesday. Nor Wednesday. By Thursday, I was getting a bit concerned and decided to call him. No answer. I didn’t want to call his home phone in case his dad answered, so I spent most of Thursday and Friday getting quite worked up about not knowing what was going on. In the end, just after school finished for the week I finally plucked up the courage to call the house. No damned answer there either! By now, I was getting really pissed about it. Perhaps he’d dumped me. Perhaps his phone had caller display so he knew it was me and just ignored it. Perhaps he’d finally gotten caught out doing magic and the Tracers had found them. This last thought was terrifying, so much so that I felt I was gonna physically hurl. I can’t begin to tell you the relief I felt when I turned the corner to our street to see him sat on the wall opposite our house.
I crossed over and sat a couple of inches away from him. He spoke first.
‘Hi, sorry I didn’t call you back. I needed some time to think. We also had to go to Canada to sort some stuff out. We went Tuesday morning, only just got back.’
‘Oh right, OK.’
I felt better at this point; at least he hadn’t just ignored me. I’d wanted to punish him for whatever it was he’d done to get into my room but I knew I didn’t want to lose him. As soon as he apologized again I would forgive him, that much at least I was sure of. I stayed silent, waiting for the inevitable ‘Sorry, please forgive me’.
‘I wanted to come round straight away, you know, to talk.’
I just nodded as I waited for the words. I wanted to hug him, to kiss him, and to tell him I forgave him.
‘It’s just that, well, I didn’t want you hearing it from someone else.’
‘Hear what?’ I was confused. This certainly didn’t feel like an apology.
‘I’ve met someone else. We’re getting engaged.’
I heard the words but I didn’t react. I was numb. Surely I must have misheard him. Eventually I spoke but all I could manage was ‘What?’
‘I’m getting engaged. I knew after we last spoke that it was never gonna work between us. Just too many differences. Anyway, I met Jess at a friend’s house and we just clicked. She’s come back with us. Like I said, I didn’t want you hearing it from someone else.’
By now I’d gotten a few thoughts together. I didn’t want to believe what he’d said. I wanted to shout at him and tell him not to be so cruel. But I didn’t.
‘Right, OK. I’d better get back, good luck; I hope it all works out for you.’
‘Are you sure you’re OK?’
NO! I screamed to myself. I wasn’t OK, I wasn’t OK at all, but I couldn’t let him see that. I just nodded and headed off across the road.
‘I could make it easier for you.’
I stopped at the kerbside and just shook my head.
‘No need. I’d rather remember just how bad this feels. Then perhaps I’ll never let anyone hurt me like this again. I just hope, for her sake, you don’t lie to her the way you’ve lied to me. I believed you loved me when all along you were just laughing at me. “Poor little mortal girl, hasn’t a clue, let’s have some fun”.’
‘It wasn’t like that. Honestly.’
‘Honestly? You don’t know honestly. Now go crawl back under your stone, I don’t ever want to speak to you again.’
I could hear him protesting as I walked away but I just ignored him and went into the house. I didn’t run upstairs like I had last week. That had upset Aunt Suze and I didn’t want to do that again. Instead, I just came into the lounge smiling and talking like all was well. I put on a brave face but inside I was dying. My only high point here was that I felt I dealt with it all with dignity. He might have dumped me from a great height but I didn’t beg and cry like some girls do when their boyfriends break things off. I may not have had Erik but at least I had my self-respect.
Chapter Nineteen – The Meeting
Erik
As I took the long walk home, my mind wandered back to the previous Sunday afternoon; the phone had rung and Jared answered it. I’d hoped it was Sarah but it wasn’t.
Lorcan Thompkins, one of the Segans that had agreed to keep an eye on our mother had gone missing a few months previous. However, now he was calling to say that he had turned up earlier that morning. He had news and was getting in touch with as many of the line as possible to arrange a meeting. He didn’t say on the phone what it was about but we knew it must be important. Dad went in to work on the Monday but arranged to take the remainder of the week off. I was still pissed with him about not telling me what he’d said to Sarah but I decided to let it go. I didn’t know what was going on, but what I did know was, if there were problems in Canada, we would need to be strong as a family.
We landed in Ontario on the Tuesday evening and it was just a short drive to Schomberg. It was a small place, quiet, friendly, where not much happens. It had a couple of small boarding houses and a couple of decent restaurants. The Scruffy Duck was a favourite with the locals. After we had booked into the boarding house on Main Street, it was just a short walk to Maynard Drive.
Lorcan had lost his dad and his brother when he was just seventeen. It was in the early days, when the Tracers had first been given the order to hunt us all down. It had been Lorcan’s dad Peta and brother Ramon that had warned us all to stay hidden. They hadn’t enough time to call us all individually, so had Whispered to those closest to them and told them to pass it on. Warning so many people in such a short space of time had taken an immense amount of power and must have been like drawing a huge arrow in the sky
for the Tracers to find them. Lorcan had been studying at a friend’s house the night they were taken – this was the only reason he survived.
When we arrived, it was clear he had managed to contact quite a few of us. It was getting on for 8 p.m. when the last Segan pulled up outside. Dad greeted him like an old friend; it wasn’t until he got closer that I noticed the resemblance.
‘Erik, Jared, this is your Uncle Leon, my brother.’
We had never met before and it felt awkward somehow calling him Uncle. Thankfully he sensed this and first names were agreed on.
‘So, Logan, what’s all this about?’
‘No idea. Got the call out the blue on Sunday.’
‘Yeah, me too. Guess we’d better go inside and find out.’
Lorcan’s house was quite large, which was fortunate, as there was probably the best part of two dozen Segans there; more, in fact, than I’d ever seen at one time.
It turned out that when he’d been taken in August he’d been told that The Council no longer wanted us killed. They did, however, want some of us rounded up. Apparently, their seer had had another vision; that the Segan they were looking for was still in school. Lorcan had been allowed to leave unharmed, on the understanding that he find out the whereabouts of those that fell into that group and report it back to The Council.
‘One other thing,’ he said, after he’d finished telling us this. ‘The Tracers have orders not to kill the Moirai when they find her. They want her alive.’
‘I don’t get it,’ said Dad. ‘I thought this witch posed a threat to them?’
‘Yeah, but it seems they now think they can use her in some way. If they get control of any child she has, then it will give them more power. The Moirai draw their strength from the Four Seasons and there is no stronger power than that. I’ve given this a lot of thought and I reckon that we should try to find her. Find her, bring her back here. I’ll question her to make sure she doesn’t know anything useful and then I’ll kill her! Once she is out of the way then we’ll all be safe, they’ll have no reason to hunt us then.’
The others, including Leon, all nodded in agreement. All except me. I looked across at Dad and Jared and they were nodding too. I couldn’t believe it.
‘Why are you agreeing?’ I Whispered to them angrily.
‘Because if we don’t it might raise suspicions. Now nod for Christ’s sake!’ Whispered Jared.
Nodding for all I was worth, I couldn’t wait to get out of there. These people were our friends, our family, but I couldn’t let them hurt Sarah. We couldn’t even be certain she was the Moirai; it was only a feeling we got. For all we knew she could be Grenae, another group of witches thought to be extinct. We knew she had something different about her but we could be wrong. Either way, I had to keep her safe.
‘Where are you staying, Leon?’ I asked as calmly as I could. I didn’t want to give myself away. We sensed people’s feelings and fears so easily, I had to convince everyone there was no issue with finding Sarah.
‘Over at The Moorings. It’s a bit of drive but it’s better than the boarding houses round here.’
That was good; at least it wasn’t the same place we were staying.
When we got back to the boarding house, I wanted to stop up and discuss what had been said but Dad insisted we turn in for the night. I wanted to call Sarah, to tell her to run, but how could I? We were barely speaking as it was – there was no way I could explain all this over the phone. I couldn’t believe how things had gone from bad to worse so quickly. Yesterday it was just The Council and the Tracers I had to protect her from, but now it was our own people as well. I felt exhausted with it all and although I struggled to get my head around it all I finally dropped off to sleep around 2 a.m.
When I went down to breakfast, Dad and Jared were already there.
‘We need to talk about this, about what we can do,’ I said, before I’d even sat down.
‘Not here,’ said Dad.
‘Too many ears.’ Whispered Jared.
‘OK.’
I nodded impatiently. I wanted to get this sorted but I knew we had to be careful.
After breakfast, we all took a walk over to Schomberg Park. It wasn’t actually a park, it was a campground – it was closed to campers from the end of October but locals would often go to picnic, or just walk around the grounds. It was pretty deserted and the ideal place to talk privately.
‘I’ve given it a lot of thought, Erik. In fact, I did nothing but think about it all night. There is only one way we can keep her safe.’
I nodded. I knew what was coming.
‘Yes, I know Dad. I’ll give her up. I won’t see her again.’
‘You’re gonna have to do more than give her up, E. You’re gonna have to break her heart, make sure she wants nothing more to do with you. You are so connected to her; if she so much as raises a smile for you, you might not be strong enough to stay away.’
‘Jared is right, Erik. I know it won’t be easy, but you can do it. You have to do it.’
‘So what do I do?’
I’d never had a proper girlfriend before, let alone broken someone’s heart.
‘It’s easy, bro. You replace her.’
I felt sick to my stomach. The thought of looking at another girl was disgusting. I was seventeen now and as horny as hell, but I couldn’t bear the thought of being with anyone but Sarah. I’d managed to restrain myself with her when we were alone but it hadn’t been easy. My Warlock side became very vocal when I got aroused; I also underwent physical changes that I wasn’t yet ready for her to see. Not only was I worried it would scare her off but the urge to ‘release’ her at the height of passion would have been overwhelming.
‘Replace her with who?’ I asked.
‘Anyone. It doesn’t matter who. We’ll find someone here. I’ll take care of it,’ said Jared.
I couldn’t believe just how amazing he was being about all this. My infatuation with Sarah had put us all in danger.
We had arranged to go back to Lorcan’s that afternoon to discuss how we could all search for the Moirai. Ben Tillington was the same age I was. He and his family lived in Alaska. It was clear from the outset that he was keen to find and kill the Moirai as quickly as possible.
‘Won’t it be great if we can travel freely, practise as often as we want and not worry about being taken?’ he smiled gleefully.
‘Yeah, great.’ The words stuck in my throat.
By the end of the day, it had been decided that all those with sons still at school should be extra vigilant when they started to take an interest in mating. It was also decided that we would buddy up for visits with another Segan, to be sure that we didn’t get complacent about the people around us; to be sure the Moirai didn’t slip through the net. This part convinced us that we were doing the right thing; I had to find a woman, move her in and convince everyone that she was the one I would mate with. Perhaps if they were convinced, then they would leave us alone.
The following day Jared left the boarding house early while Dad and I stayed back. After the other residents had gone out for the day, we sat out back in the garden.
‘What did you say to Sarah, Dad?’
‘Does it really matter now?’
I didn’t answer, there was no point. He was right, my relationship with Sarah was over, it had to be. What was the point in dragging this up again? Whatever he’d said to her, it was clear he was as determined as I was to keep her safe and in the end that was all that mattered to me.
Jared came back around noon with a pretty young woman called Jess. She’d been working as a waitress at The Scruffy Duck. It was clear from the way she reacted when she saw me that Jared had done one hell of a memory job on her.
‘She has no family around here. Her father passed away when she was a little girl and her mom died last year. She has no siblings. She’s perfect for what you need.’
‘She’s a bit old!’ I protested.
‘Don’t be so picky,’ said Dad. ‘Sh
e’s twenty-five – that isn’t that old. There’ll be a few sceptics but you should be able to convince people the age gap doesn’t matter.’
I just shrugged my shoulders. To be quite honest, if he’d bought home a supermodel I still wouldn’t have shown any enthusiasm.
We landed back home just after lunch on the Friday. Once I’d settled Jess into her room, I took a walk over to Sarah’s. She wasn’t due back for a couple of hours but I needed some air, and I needed some courage. I had no idea how I would pull this off. I loved her so much and the thought of hurting her tore me apart. I had to keep reminding myself that I was doing this to keep her safe, which did make it a little easier. When I saw her turn the corner and I realized she’d seen me, I knew in that moment that I had to do this. I had to stay strong.
Chapter Twenty – Who is that?
Sarah
When Monday morning came around, I just couldn’t bear the thought of going into school. I’d never played hooky before but the thought of seeing Erik, of telling Kacey and girls what had happened, made me sick to my stomach. Aunt Suze had come in to wake me just before she left for work but I didn’t want to get up.
‘My stomach is hurting – period pains. Can I go in a bit later when I feel better?’
‘Will you be OK on your own? I can ring in and take the day off if you need me here?’
‘No, I’ll be OK. I’ll just sleep it off.’
I wanted to be on my own. Company was the last thing I needed. Aunt Suze left a few minutes later and as soon as the door shut behind her I got up. I didn’t bother to dress; I just put a cardigan on over my PJs and made my way downstairs.
