by M. R. Polish
“Magic? You’re saying my mom has—or had—magic? And it’s because of me that she has no more?” This was insane. He was insane!
“You have it too, don’t forget the flowers, and no, it is not because of you that she won’t have her magic anymore.” He leaned back in his seat, his elbow rested on the small ledge the door offered. “I wanted to help her, but the wards around your house were too strong for me to break. The warlock who placed the spell over her and the house is exceptionally talented and has more abilities than I do. I’m not the most endowed warlock.”
“A warlock?” Oh, he undoubtedly was delusional.
He chuckled a little, holding his hand up. “I mean no disrespect to you witches, trust me—there are some of you who can put us warlocks to shame. I just speculated since your dad is one.”
My dad? Now he wanted to tell me that both of my parents wielded magic? “I didn’t mean that. I just meant… oh never mind.” I wrapped my arms around my middle tighter, and leaned over in my seat, trying not to throw up.
I could imagine the sick and twisted games he would play before killing me. Oh God, he probably thought he lived at Hogwarts. I hugged myself so tight I was sure I bruised my sides. My fingers tingled from lack of oxygen as I held my breath.
“You know you’re special,” he continued, placing a hand on my back.
Opening one eye, I shrugged off his touch. “Yeah, yeah, I’m a witch.” I couldn’t restrain my need to be sarcastic. Humor and sarcasm rolled off me when I was nervous or in pain. Not exactly the normal response.
“Your mom was a zealous witch at one time. I thought she could help me…” He trailed off in silent thought, still looking out of the window.
I could not believe he honestly thought this was real. I love Halloween and all, but presuming witches were real was too much. Glimpsing down at my hands, a smidgen of doubt dissolved. Or, maybe it was real? Deciding that at least for right now, I would play along with what he said. Maybe it would keep me alive longer?
I looked up at the darkening sky, it gave the impression of being even later in the day than it was. My eyes were heavy from such a long day of stress and crying, but no matter how hard I tried to settle myself in the seat, I was too tense to get comfortable.
“So if my mom isn’t dead, where is she?” I prayed he wouldn’t say she was a hostage, bound and gagged in some abandoned cabin.
His finger pressed against his upper lip as if he contemplated telling me the truth or not. “Before I tell you where she is, let me tell you a little about what happened first. Clear the air so to speak… Your dad found out about my plans to meet with your mom, but he was not about to let her walk away.”
I nodded. My mom and dad argued all the time. It bewildered me that they’d stayed married as long as they did. My mom running off and having an affair didn’t seem like a big deal to me. It shocked me, sure, but honestly I was more surprised it hadn’t happened sooner.
Victor’s nostrils flared. “On her way to meet me is when the truck hit her. I went immediately to be by her side—you have to understand, I only have so much power and my magic alone can’t heal her.”
I grabbed my head in my hands, releasing an aggravated sigh. Everything was extremely confusing. With my face still buried in my hands, I managed to mumble something that resembled words through my fingers. “I don’t understand. Why kidnap me?”
“Would you have come willingly?”
“No.”
Peeking through my fingers, I watched as he rubbed the back of his neck. “What do you know about magic?”
Raising my eyebrow, I lowered my hands away from my face, letting them drop to my lap. “Seriously—magic?” He was persistent I’d give him that.
“What do you know?”
Smirking, I rolled my eyes. “It’s kid stuff. Things fairytales thrive on and make the imagination scream for more, but if you’re looking for a real answer, it isn’t real. Magic is not real.”
He snorted. “You seem to know everything about magic, except for the truth.”
I rolled my eyes at him. He exasperated me. There was no getting through to him.
He flashed me a grin as he fidgeted with the ring on his right hand. “I wish you had been given the opportunity to know the truth. You’d be one heck of a witch by now.”
I didn’t hide my scoff at the mention of me being a witch this time. “Do you honestly believe that? Because I think you’re delusional. I’m sure there’s a good hospital we can take you to.”
“I could show you if you’d like.”
My heart lurched with his words. I couldn’t decide if he was serious or not. “No, I’m good without visuals.” I remembered my glowing hands from earlier, and a small shiver ran through me from the thought that what he said could be true.
“Your mom is special, but she only has days left before she changes.”
“Changes? You’re confusing, and scaring me even more.”
“The only way she can survive is to change into a … a half vampire.”
My breathing hitched. “A what?”
“Vampire. Magic cannot heal her. It has gone too far. A rare and venomous plant is killing her. In other words, she was poisoned. It either happened before or right after the accident. I was the only one who knew about the poison. It is something doctors would never be able to detect, but to a witch it is deadly. So her magical life is ending, and her new life is beginning as a dark creature of the night—a vampire.”
“You’re sick. Vampires? Really? First witches and now this? You need help.”
“I know it must be hard to accept since your whole life everyone kept the truth from you, but it’s real. All of it. You’re a witch, I’m a warlock, and there are vampires, among other supernaturals. It’s hard to accept, I know.”
My stomach rolled with his delusions. “I don’t believe you.”
“Arabeth, long before you were born, a war broke out between magical beings. Vampires, witches, guardians, and then crossbreeds emerged. They are the result of a power hungry warlock, Nicholas, who thought creating half vampire, half magic would help him get the upper hand in the fight. Vampires are sired, so whoever creates them can manipulate them to do their bidding. Nicholas is a warlock so he can’t sire a vampire, but he can sire a Crossbreed where the magical half is bonded to him.”
He shifted nervously. “When your true mom, Adonia, found out she was pregnant with you there was hope. You see, Adonia was the most powerful witch known to our kind. She was the one who led us all in the war against Nicholas. She wanted us to stay free and not become slaves to a domineering dictator. Or worse, become a Crossbreed against our will.”
Did he say true mom? A deep throbbing emanated from the front of my head. I couldn’t understand what he said. Somewhere between being kidnapped and his gibberish about magic, I had no more room for his stories, but he stared at me, waiting for a cue to continue. “What happened?” I asked, knowing I’d regret it.
“Right before you were born, Adonia was captured. She had you while she was imprisoned, but Meadow, who worked for Nicholas, stole you away. She was supposed to bring you to me, but Bry found her first and that resulted in a spell where neither of them could leave or communicate with anyone about you. A safeguard spell of sorts. Anyway, as I said, I searched for you for years and finally found you. Now, here we are.”
“Why do you want me?”
He grinned. “Let’s just see if you can help Meadow first. If you can do that, then I’ll know you can help me.”
I wouldn't argue with him anymore about his imaginary magical life. “Just get me to her.” Desperation settled itself into my soul. I didn’t care anymore. A strong tug at my soul made me think about his story. What if it was true and she wasn’t my mom?
“You don’t know what it means to save her, what is entailed, or even how I will forever be grateful if it works.” His eyes softened as he finished speaking.
“I honestly don’t care, as long as she’s okay.” F
or the most part, that was true.
Victor leaned over to me and grasped my hand. “Just think about it and it will all make sense.”
I shirked back, his touch jolting my fear to the forefront once again. “Are you going to kill me?”
He laughed. “No.”
I looked out the window. The last remaining streaks of sunlight fell on my skin then only shadows danced in the dark. Lights flashed in the distance, lighting up a runway. “Where are we going?” I panicked as I realized we were stopping at the airport.
“I told you, to see your mom.”
Wide-eyed, I couldn’t take my stare off the runway. “We need an airplane for that? I assumed she was across town.”
“Yes, I had her flown out to Madrid. Ree is taking extremely good care of her.”
I gulped and tried to think about my high school geography class. My C average in that class paid off as the world map flashed in my mind. “Madrid, as in Spain?”
“Yes. I have an old friend who has agreed to change her and take care of her after the turning process. She lives there, and it would be less noticeable since Meadow supposedly died here.”
My tongue swelled, barely letting me try and swallow the lump in my throat. “Do I have a choice?”
“No, not really.”
My mind told me to run as far away as I could get, but my heart ached for my mom, and a little part of me wanted what Victor said to be true.
Another thought came to mind. I was not prepared to leave the country. With a smug little grin, I twisted to face him. “What’s your plan to sneak me into another country?”
“What do you mean?”
I tossed my hands up. “I have no ID with me. No passport means no entrance. You kidnapped me. Remember?”
“About that… I have a bag of your belongings from your apartment. I took the liberty of packing for you since you didn’t know about this little trip.”
“You were in my apartment!”
“It’s not like you locked it. It was easy enough to enter. Besides, you’ll thank me later.”
Ugh! My skin crawled. It’s not like being stalked and kidnapped were enough; I was now a victim of a burglary. As soon as I got out of this predicament, I was so talking to Ailaina about locking the door from now on.
The car stopped on the tarmac. I tried the door, forgetting about the lock, but to my surprise, it opened. How in the world? It was locked the entire time, I remembered trying to open it. I just know it was!
I slammed the door, irritated that nothing today was normal, and wanting to shut out the events, leaving them behind in the car. But, Victor’s door closed shattering that dream.
The cold night air caressed my flushed skin. My hair whipped in the breeze around my face and stuck to my lip glossed lips, irritating me.
Wait.
I was free. Now was my chance to run away.
Summoning up all the courage I had, I took one glance over my shoulder to make sure Victor’s eyes weren’t glued on me, then took off. The heels I wore hindered my getaway. Hearing footsteps gaining behind me, I kicked them off and ran as fast as I could barefoot down the tarmac.
My chest burned as I breathed. Thinking back to track—which I only did to pass PE in school—I tried to remember how to breath. In my nose and out my mouth, or the other way?
The advancing footsteps played on my fear that I’d be caught. I had to keep running. I couldn’t give up.
Fingers brushed against my upper arm, but I pushed myself to speed up, lunging toward the safety of the hanger ahead. I cried out against a sharp pain in my side.
Hands grabbed me from behind, ending my escape.
Out of breath, I screamed, but it came out in more of a harsh gargle.
“Come on, I don’t get paid until you’re on the plane,” Joe said, gripping my arm roughly and twisting it behind my back.
He led me back. Back to the car. Back to Victor. Back to my nightmare.
Victor shook his head disapprovingly. “You’re really making this harder than it needs to be.”
Good. I’d hate to make this easy on him.
The other dude jogged up holding my shoes out for me to take. I snatched them from his chubby fingers and glared.
The roar of the jet’s engines screamed. Red, green and white lights flashed on the plane.
Victor came around the car, holding his arm out for me to take. “Ready?”
No, I was not ready!
I took a step back, shaking my head, but Joe tightened his grip, stopping me.
How could I just agree to letting someone kidnap me?
“Enough, Joe. I have it covered. She won’t get away again.” Victor gave me a sly grin that I wanted to slap off his smug, Clark Gable-like face.
Joe pushed me forward. I nearly tripped, but his grasp on my arm kept me from face-planting into the asphalt.
I glared at Victor as his hand replaced Joe’s. Although, his touch was not as rough.
The metal steps leading up to the door of the plane looked overwhelming as if they were the stairs that led to the beginning of my future, and one false move would make them crumble. My body trembled as I took the first step up. He let go of my arm, and the sudden desertion left me swaying. I steadied myself against the railing.
Victor brushed past me into the plane, leaving me to stand in the doorway.
Alone.
It couldn’t be that easy, could it? My heart raced with the prospect of escaping. Turning to run, I smacked into an invisible wall with an oomph.
At least, I think it was a wall. There was nothing there for me to see to know for sure.
Gingerly stretching my hand out, I touched the smooth but solid air in front of me. My fingers trailed the unseen barrier that prevented me from leaving the plane. Everywhere I touched the air turned solid, confining me into an invisible cage.
The only place I could move to was inside the plane—the one place I didn’t want to go. But I refused to give up.
Still standing at his post near the car, Joe snickered as he watched me, fueling my anger even more. A burning sensation in my hands made me wince and look down.
A ball of fire hovered over my tender flesh. Instinctively, I flung my hand around like a crazy woman, trying to dissolve the flames, but they only grew. In a wild attempt to rid myself of the fireball, I pitched it like a burning softball. It hurled through the air, battling the lights on the runway for attention in the night sky.
Sparks flew from the tail of the fireball. I watched, unbelieving that I had just thrown a flaming ball.
The ball changed directions and began to plummet in Joe’s direction. He must have noticed it at the same time as I did because he darted away from the car, falling in a face plant about three feet away, just as the fireball smashed into the door panel.
Joe got up and brushed off his pants, glaring at me. The other guy got out of the car, wide-eyed, staring at the smoldering flames on the ground next to the car.
I wasn’t sure how I got the ball through the invisible wall, but now, as I watched the fury in Joe’s eyes locked on me, I hoped the barricade worked both ways and I hadn’t dissolved it.
Hesitant, I stretched a hand out, not taking my fixed stare off Joe, and relaxed when I felt the recognizable concrete air. If I couldn’t get through, then neither could he.
“Come on, man. Let’s get out of here. She’s on the plane, the money is as good as ours.” The other man got back in the driver’s seat and revved the engine into a purr that I could barely hear with the idling hum of the plane’s engines warming up.
Joe hit the roof of the car with a fist before getting in the car.
Relaxing, I watched the car pull away. The red taillights confirmation that half of my kidnappers had left.
With a quick glance over my shoulder to make sure I wasn’t being watched, I pushed against the wall again. It was like trying to move a mountain for as hard as it was. I couldn’t even make it budge.
Kicking, hitting, nothing worked.
With my backside against the frozen air, I dug my heels into the landing and pushed back. If the wall gave out I would go flying backwards down the stairs, but I didn’t care. A mime probably looked more convincing of getting out of his imaginary box than I did.
I cried out as I thrust my hips into the barrier one last time. Out of breath, I gave up.
Victor was good. I’m not sure how he created such an illusion, but he was good at it.
Surrendering, I stepped into the plane. A hushed murmur of voices came from deeper inside, but over the roar of the engines they weren’t perceptible. Peeking around the corner, I hoped to see who Victor was talking to.
The door to the cockpit shut, making me jump.
Venturing farther into the plane, there were four ivory colored captain’s chairs with two tables in the main area of the cabin. I’d never flown before, but all the movies I watched were with commercial planes and nothing ever looked this stylish.
It got warmer the farther away from the door I got, even with it still wide open, so I shrugged off my sweater and draped it over the back of one of the chairs. With Victor still nowhere in sight and some unexplainable shield preventing me from leaving, my weary body slumped down into a seat close to a window.
I reclined back in the chair, wishing I had my phone. I’d give anything to talk to Ailaina. And what about my dad? Was he looking for me? Ugh, what was I doing? I should be thinking about calling the police, not my best friend. Did my dad call the police yet?
My heart broke into a thousand pieces for him. He’d been through so much already in the last week. I didn’t want to be the cause of more grief.
I spun the chair so I could see out the small oval window. The green lights on the wingtips blinked in rhythm with the beat of my heart. I couldn't see the airport building, but looking beyond the wing of the plane, I saw the outlining hills in silhouettes that made an eerie backdrop with the Nevada night sky. But, no police lights anywhere could be seen.
