Uniquely Unwelcome (The Shadow World, #1)

by Brandy Nacole

  I hold back the tears and put the journal away. I am not one for crying because crying accomplishes nothing. But that last entry almost made me crack. I love my grandmother deeply. When she passed away, I felt like I had lost a part of myself.

  She always called me Harmony, even though I begged her not to. I hated that name. Racquel is my middle name. I like it better than Harmony. My first name fits someone like Addie, not me. I’m not friendly, joyous, or sweet. Harmony is something that brings peace all around it, and that’s not what happens when I’m around.

  I take a deep breath and put the box back into the closet. When I scoot the box back to the corner, it snags on a board. I pull the box back out and when I do, a loose board lifts up just a bit. Pushing the box aside, I lift the board up and find a single piece of paper hidden underneath.

  I look over the paper but can’t make any sense of it. It looks like it’s been torn out of a notebook. Formulas and foreign words cover the paper, but they make no sense to me. I look under the board again to see if more papers are hidden underneath it, but see nothing.

  I wonder who it belonged to. And why did they hide it under a board in the closet? I put the odd page in my backpack, making a mental note to check out those formulas and foreign words later.

  I grab my bag and go upstairs to finish unpacking. After putting everything up and changing the laundry around again, I lie exhausted on the bed. A few moments later, a sudden surge of energy overwhelms me. I look toward my window but can’t see past the boards nailed over it. I get up and walk over to the window. Opening the window, I shove a board out of my way to find darkness on the other side.

  I don’t know which part of me is coming to life. Considering it’s after dark it could be the vamp in me. But if the moon is almost full it could be the wolf. And there’s that sneaky little Shape-shifter that screams to be let loose every once in a while. I use my Witch powers often enough that I’m used to that hum of power. I have four different essences inside me, and when one starts getting restless it starts screaming for attention.

  Instead of finding out which inner demon wants out, I decide to take my extra energy out another way. I pick up my training gloves and walk over to my trusty bag to let out my frustrations. My bag has helped me through some of the hardest times in my life, and shows the time it has endured with me. Its surface is dented where my fists have pounded on its leathery surface. I take a ragged breath as I release my tension once again on the loyal bag.

  After thirty minutes, my knuckles have become so raw from the sweat, they almost start bleeding. I stop and grab the bag, leaning my forehead on it to catch my breath. Next, I turn and pick up a weapon, not fully satisfied yet. I choose the Bo staff. I grab hold of the hard wood, gripping it tight, and start showing my ghosts who’s boss.

  While I’m slashing my staff through my spacious bedroom, I think about my sister and how much I miss her. I think about my grandmother and the heart felt note she left. I think about my grandfather and how pathetic he was to walk out on us when we were so young. I think about my parents and hate how I never got to know them.

  I think about all my searching over the past year. The time I wasted searching for someone as different and unwanted as me. With defeat, I cower down and come back to live a life of solitude. I shake off my past decisions, and shift my thoughts to all the disappearances. I think about Ethan and his stupid assumptions. That last part really ticked me off and I released all my energy, swinging the staff hard against the bag. I hit it so hard it cracks.

  I collapse on the bed as the earlier surge of energy is finally dissipated. I slide off my jeans and turn off my lamp. As I lay in bed I think about those disappearances. It doesn’t make sense. It would be different if one race or maybe even two races had disappeared. Then it could be plausible to think that the person of that race had pissed off the wrong people. But this is different.

  My mind continues to ponder on this strange occurrence until I feel myself slip into unconsciousness.

  ~

  I’m roused from my nightmares by a banging noise coming from downstairs. I sit there a moment, listening. Sometimes when I let my control go and my body is left open I can hear things blocks away. The banging comes again. Yep, that’s definitely my door.

  I grab my jeans and slide them back on. I hurry to answer the door, not wanting anyone to think I’m cowering. A middle-aged woman is standing on the porch with her hands on her hips. Her energy and essence scream “Witch.” And not just any Witch, but a concerned, pissed-off Witch.

  I don’t know what I might have done to piss this woman off but I don’t want to get on her bad side. That would make living here a lot harder.

  “May I help you?”

  “What the hell are your plans and why would you hurt your sister? She loves you!” The woman takes a step closer.

  The mention of Addie makes my heartbeat pick up. “What are you talking about? Is Addie okay?”

  “Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about,” the woman snarls. “Don’t act like you don’t know your own sister is missing, along with the others. What happened? Finally get jealous enough to take her out too? All the others weren’t enough?”

  I really don’t care what this woman believes or what she thinks about me. Right now my focus is on Addie.

  I’m just about to ask if she was taken like the others, when I’m slammed up against the wall, a blue hue pinning me in place. The woman in front of me has her hands outstretched, eyes blazing.

  “What have you done to them?”

  Chapter Four

  My rage flares and I push her force off me by throwing my own power at her.

  “I haven’t done anything! And I want to know what’s going on right now!” I shout at her.

  She isn’t listening to me. She throws another wave of power at me, which I divert, then says, “You know exactly what is going on here, don’t act like you don’t. All these disappearances started happening when you left town. Then a young boy vanished from here right before you showed up. Is that coincidence? I don’t think so! Now tell me what you have done to them or you will regret it.”

  The woman is clearly enraged and ready to attack me again.

  They’re the same accusations Ethan threw at me yesterday. I start to defend myself when the tree in the front lawn rustles, followed by a loud thunk as something—someone—lands on the ground. Ethan stands up from a crouch with a fierce expression on his face. Great! These two are both accusing me of the same thing and I still have no idea what’s really going on.

  “Jeez Ethan, stalk much?” I try making light of the situation even though him being in that tree just gives me the willies.

  “I told you I would be watching you. Good thing too. She would’ve probably been next on the missing list.”

  “I don’t know what you two are talking about! Seriously! I’m just as concerned as you! Please tell me what has happened with my sister!” I shout at them.

  But I can see they still don’t believe me. I don’t know how to handle this situation. If I fight back, won’t that make me look guilty? But if I don’t fight back won’t that make me look weak?

  The woman shakes her head and gives me a stern, angry look. “You have one more chance to tell us the truth, before we unleash all our powers on you. Now tell us, where are they?”

  I just shrug my shoulders, shake my head, and quietly whisper “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I try devising a plan in my head, try thinking of a way to convince them that I don’t know what they’re talking about. Ethan moves toward me ready to restrain me or kill me, knowing him. I go on the defensive and take up a fighting stance.

  “That’s enough!”

  The loud demand stops all of us. An older woman stands in the middle of the lawn, shaking her head. Her graying hair sweeps around her disappointed face. “Leave the girl alone. She has done nothing wrong.”

  “But… but Aunt Dagna—” The Witch on my porch tries to protest but
is cut off by the older woman—Dagna.

  “I said to leave the girl alone, Dayana.” The older woman walks onto the porch and lays a hand on her niece’s arm. “Does she not seem just as concerned about her sister as does everyone else, if not more?”

  Dayana looks at me with frustration before turning back to her aunt. “But that could be an act. If she wants to hide something she could be—” Dayana never finishes. Her aunt gestures for her to be quiet and then moves closer. She pushes past Ethan and places her hands on my shoulders.

  The act, and her words, surprise me. No one has shown me compassion like this in years and even then it was my own family. A complete stranger has never made a kind gesture toward me.

  I’m silent as the older woman offers me a kind smile. “Why don’t we go inside and have a chat. There have been a lot of rumors going around and I need to speak with you about some important matters. I’ll also take a glass of water, if you don’t mind.” She gives my shoulders a reassuring squeeze before walking past me into the house.

  I look back at Dayana and Ethan who seem to be just as stunned as I am. Then Dayana straightens her shoulders and walks right on past me. My gaze follows her until she reaches her aunt. I turn back to Ethan, who’s standing there like he doesn’t know what to make of the situation. I can read it on his face. Should he retreat and stay outside? Or go ahead into the house with everyone else?

  I want Ethan to know that I have nothing to hide, and I want him to hear what the older woman has to say, so I step even further aside and motion him into the house, challenging him. He takes a step back but then stomps into the house.

  I make my way into the living room where everyone is sitting. I’m about to sit when I remember Dagna had asked for a glass of water. As I’m in the kitchen, I can hear eager whispering going on in the living room between Dayana and Dagna. I could release some of my hold on my power and hear what they are saying but decide to let them have some privacy.

  I make my way back into the living room, hand Dagna her water, and decide to sit on the opposite side of the room on the floor. Ethan occupies the rocking chair, Dagna and Dayana occupy the couch, leaving only the matching rocking chair next to Ethan. No thanks.

  Dagna takes a drink of her water and then sighs. “I’m sorry my dear for the inferences that have been made toward you. As you know, when people—even beings such as ourselves—don’t understand something they fear it. Of course many people fear you, because they don’t understand you. Just like people fear these disappearances. They don’t understand how this could be happening or why.

  “However, that is no reason for people to misjudge or make accusations toward another that are false. But as you also know, fear makes us do remarkably stupid things. I, for one, know that I am ashamed of how I treated your family over the years. I apologized to your grandmother before she passed, but that still does not make up for the wrong that has been done.

  “Your grandmother was a sweet lady, and never held a grudge toward those that treated her wrong, including myself. I have come to learn over the years that in order to stop fearing something we must learn to understand it. I learned a lot from your grandmother in her last years, including a bit about you, my dear. Then after her passing, I watched you from afar.

  “I was always afraid to approach you, not because of what you are but because I was ashamed of how I had treated your family in the past. I was afraid that you wouldn’t believe me, or that you would fear that I was trying to mock you.” Dagna takes another sip of water and continues. “However, that is all in the past now and we must deal with the present.

  “As you have heard there have been some disappearances over the last year involving each of the Shadow races. At first there were only four: a Lycan, a Shape-shifter, a Witch, and a Vampire. The next time it happened it was the same pattern. But then at the end of last year a fairy was added to the mix. The total for last year was thirteen.

  “We were all hoping that these were just fluke incidents because there was no activity for a while. But then in March of this year it happened again. Six were taken in total this time: a Lycan, a Witch, a Shape-shifter, a Vampire, a Fae, and a Leprechaun. How someone managed to get their hands on a fairy or a Leprechaun is beyond me, but the fact is that they did.”

  Dagna takes a deep breath and looks at me with sadness. I can tell she has more to tell me, but from the grimace on her face, wishes she didn’t. My stomach knots. I have a feeling I know where this is going.

  “Well, the disappearances have started again. First it was a Lycan, and then a Vampire last week. Then our dear Evan was taken as well. Last night a Witch was taken.” Dagna pauses, but with a look of resolve, she continues. “It was Addie.”

  I let go of the breath that I didn’t realize I was holding until she said Addie’s name. Then that fear she was speaking of before clenched my chest and I felt as if I couldn’t breathe.

  I finally shake my head and manage to speak. “But she was safe with the Coven. There are tons of Witches in that colony. How could they take her? That place is like the hardest place in the world to enter.” I can hear the panic rising in my voice.

  Dagna sighs again. She goes to speak but then stops herself. It’s as if the information she bears is too painful for me to hear. But I have to know.

  “Please, tell me,” I beg her.

  Dagna nods. “She left the colony a couple months ago.” I go to ask why but Dagna holds up her hand and continues. “She left to come looking for you, my dear. You see, before your sister left to join the Covenant, she came to speak with me. She expressed her concern over you and the mission you had in mind. She didn’t tell me what mission that was but I had my suspicions. She was debating even then to go with you rather than to learn more about herself.

  “She felt selfish for going off and learning more about her heritage and her potential when you did not have the same opportunities. I told her that this was a journey that you would have to complete on your own in order to find the answers you seek. The true answers. Nothing makes you see life and reality more than when you’re alone.” Dagna pauses for a moment, staring off as if lost in another time or place.

  “Later when she decided to go ahead and join the Covenant, she came back to me. She brought me a bunch of money for the utilities and some extra in case you were to return. Then she asked me if I could have someone board up the house to keep those that were curious out. I did everything that she asked.” Dagna’s sad smile deepens. “I knew Addie would not fare well while worried about you. Her fear got the best of her. Her studies slipped, until finally she gave up and left.”

  Dagna gives me a minute to process all this information. I feel raw emotions course through my body. Sadness at making my sister feel like she was being selfish. Fear of not knowing what happened to her. Happiness that she cared enough about me to come looking for me. Guilt for being happy about that last one and the fact that it’s my fault she’s missing.

  “How does anyone know that she is truly missing then?” I ask.

  That’s the last hope I can cling to. If she had left the Coven to come looking for me, she may just be traveling. Maybe she’s on a plane headed overseas. Maybe she’s headed home.

  “The Coven was worried about your sister going out on her own. They gave her a cell phone and some items they had charmed. Your sister made a call yesterday morning to check in with the Elders, telling them that she didn’t even know if she was in the right area let alone the right continent. She asked them if she could come back and request their help in tracking you down.

  “The Elders agreed to help, and she told them that she would arrive that night. When the Elders hadn’t heard from her by midnight they decided to check on her. First, they called her phone but there was no answer. Then they checked the charmed crystal they gave her and found that it was in the same spot that she had been at earlier.

  “So the Elders sent a local Witch from that area over to the where the crystal was. She found your sisters’
belongings and went straight to the Covenant. The Elders were able to feel all the emotions that your sister felt before her belongings were lost to her.”

  “Well, what did they find out?” I can barely contain myself from going over to the older woman and shaking the information out of her.

  “It’s actually rather odd. At first she felt relief and happiness. But then she felt sadness and fear. Before her belongings were lost to her, she was absolutely terrified. Then all goes black.”

  I gasp with fear, but Dagna is quick to reassure me. “It certainly was not death, as you might fear, for the Elders would have felt that.”

  Relief washes over me, knowing she may still be alive. I’m baffled at her emotions though. “Why would she feel relief and then be scared? Do you think she knew her attacker?”

  “That is what I suspect.” Dagna takes another sip of water and clears her throat as if to continue but is interrupted.

  “This is insane. How does any of this clear Racquel from being the one behind any of it? If Addie felt relief and happiness at first, wouldn’t it make sense that she was relieved and happy that she had finally found her sister? That’s when her sister turned on her and she became scared?”

  I give Dayana the stink eye. How could I have done any of that? I was here the whole time. Dagna quickly voices my thoughts.

  “Dayana be reasonable. Racquel was here yesterday. How could she have possibly kidnapped her sister who was over five hundred miles away?”