by Tanya Dawson
I walked as fast as I could down the street and avoided everyone; I had tunnel vision to get home. Tears started to stream down my face as I thought of her and I quickly ducked into an alley to gather myself before I ran into anyone and had to explain why I was a bumbling idiot walking down the street.
How my life had changed so suddenly. It was like a full steam train forging ahead whether I wanted it to or not. I didn't fit in here, less so than my life before. Sure, everyone was trying. However, I just wasn't feeling it. Skylar was more interesting than I had thought, and sure enough, he had good intentions for me. He was a bit pushier than I was used to. Eve, Garrison, and Amber all seemed to be very friendly, as well, however, I wasn’t sure how much we had in common. And Henry, well I seemed to have a connection with him that I didn't have with the others that I couldn't explain.
I could feel my body shiver as the tears freely flowed from my eyes. This was the first time since my mother went missing that I let myself cry, a real cry. My body shook with the emotions of anger and pain, and I let out a loud scream. Suddenly the wind picked up, and it started to rain hard. I heard a noise that sounded like metal scratching, so I turned my head to the left and saw a large metal garbage can being lifted from the wind, hurtling my way.
I put my arms over my head to protect myself the best way that I could, waiting for it to hit me. Instead, I heard Henry whisper in my ear, “Follow me.”
With one swift movement of his hand, the large garbage can flew over me. I had no idea where he had come from but I was so happy to see him. Before I could say anything, he grabbed my hand, and we ran into one of the restaurants through the back door.
“Are you okay?” His cold hand rubbed my back. I was still speechless at how quickly he appeared and how he moved that garbage can with little ease.
“How did you do that?” I asked.
He let out a sigh and for the first time, looked like he had no words. He shrugged his shoulders and avoided looking in my eyes.
“I don't know what you mean.” He said, but the way he scrunched up his nose and avoided eye contact, I knew he knew exactly what I was talking about.
“The garbage can. How did you do it?” I backed up from him as my stomach began feeling nauseous. I felt ill, and I wasn't quite sure why.
“What about the wind? And the rain?” He asked as he stepped back from me this time. I had no idea what he was trying to suggest.
“The weather?” Did he think I could control the weather?
“You did that.” He grabbed two towels that were in the room and threw one towards me. He wiped his hair down and his face with the one he kept for himself.
“Did what?” What on Earth was he trying to say or suggest?
“You have no idea, do you?” He said with half a laugh and a look of disbelief.
“No idea of what? Are you trying to say that I made the wind and rain happen?” I threw my towel on the floor childishly and couldn't believe what he was suggesting. But wasn't I suggesting the same thing of him?
“Your family has been around for a long time, Olivia. That's about all I am going to say.” He avoided me altogether.
“What does my family have to do with this?” I wanted more answers, and the questions he was asking me, made me feel like he could give them to me. But did I cause that storm? How's that even possible?
“Maybe you should ask them? After all, they are family, aren't they??” In seconds, he was inches from my face again, and I had no idea how he had gotten there so quickly. I looked up into his eyes as he was at least a foot taller than I was. His beautiful green eyes were dark and his face was somber. He looked like he was in pain emotionally, and had a deep dark secret he wanted to share but couldn't.
“You’re acting crazy now,” I shook my head and felt like a fool that was utterly confused.
“Maybe you should go home and ask your sisters what they are.” His face showed anger and annoyance at my ignorance.
“So they can think I'm crazy? How am I supposed to tell them that you think I can make wind and rain appear and not sound like I need to be put into an asylum?” I backed down from him and took a seat as I needed to study myself. This is ridiculous.
“Think about it. Try to remember times when you were so angry or so hurt that things around you changed.” He waited in silence for me to remember such incidents.
I leaned back in the chair and thought to myself, and yes, there were times when I wondered why things had happened at certain times. They felt like they were meant to happen, but it couldn’t have been me doing them.
“Or don't.” He walked around the room and shook his finger not looking at me. It was clear that we both were something unusual.
“Don't?”
“Yes, don’t tell your sisters anything.”
“Why would I do that?”
“How well do you know them?” He had a gleam in his eye and a point to make.
My head started to pound. This was all too much when I was already on a thin line. Why was I even entertaining him and this craziness?
“Look, all I'm trying to say is that maybe you should try to figure this out on your own at first. Sometimes other people can block the truth from you.” I hated to admit that he made some sense. And this wasn’t something I wanted to run home and announce, especially to Lily.
“Why would they want to block the truth from me?” This is all so puzzling. They were all strangers to me, but what Henry was telling me made me think twice. After all, what did he have to gain from this?
“Trust me.” He got down on his knees in front of me, and I could feel his vulnerability. I didn't know if I could trust him, but I could keep this a secret for a while. After all, what would they say if I told them I now have magical powers? I rolled my eyes at the thought.
“Okay. I'll trust you.” I could sense a look of relief on his face. That made me a little uneasy, like maybe I gave into him a little too quickly. “But you have to tell me what you know.”
“I can't do that. In fact, we shouldn't even be having this conversation. You are right; I did stop the garbage can from hitting you but only because I had to.” He was pacing again, and was apparently unraveling, but from what?
“Were you following me?” The thought just crossed my mind. I left quickly from school, and no one was behind me. I checked before I started to cry.
“I was.” His eyes drifted to the floor uncomfortably, and I knew there was much more to the story than what he was going to tell me.
“Why were you following me?” I asked. I could see his jaw clench as he turned away from me. I knew he wouldn’t tell me the truth. He shifted his weight back and forth from his feet, stalling to come up with a right answer. He was easier to read than I had thought.
“It wasn't that I was following you necessarily.” His eyes narrowed as he struggled to say as much as he could.
“How did you make it to the garbage can so quickly?” I knew as soon as I asked that he wasn't going to answer truthfully.
He took a deep breath in and tried several times to start a sentence. “Things are not always what they seem to be.”
“Is Skylar involved in any way? Does this have anything to do with why you attack each other all the time?” I asked.
His facial expression changed and he held his head down. I knew from his lack of response that he was. I leaned back in my chair and let out a huge sigh.
“I can't speak for him.” His silence told me more than his words did.
“I don’t even want to talk about this anymore.” My head spun, and I just wanted to leave and run away from him. I wanted to go back home to my old house and forget these past few weeks.
Henry looked like he wanted to say something to me and again was gathering his words. “Promise me one thing. Wear this, always.”
He took my hand and placed something in it, and folded my fingers around it. The warmth of his hand felt comforting, but I didn’t feel comfortable with him touching me right then. I pulled aw
ay from him, and he turned and left.
I looked down to my hand and opened my fist. There was a pendant with some tribal crest on the front, and when I turned it over, I saw the initials W. S.
CHAPTER 7: LILY
I SAT AT THE END OF the table with Ruby at the opposite side. We may as well have been in separate places on the continent. I grabbed my glass of wine and swooshed it around in my hand, my mind occupied by the politics between the fae and the vampires.
Ruby sat staring off into the distance. She was just as conflicted as I was. We were backed into a corner, and I wasn't sure how we were going to get out. There was an empty place set for Olivia, but as usual, she wasn’t home yet.
We had let it slide, as it was easier to go about our business with her not in the house. With all she had been through, we decided to let her get settled in before we dropped the bombshell on her.
She had been seen several times with the Sabean kid, despite our warnings against it. She had no idea what she was in for and what she was doing. It was clear that we had no control over her. I took a drink of my wine and tried to remember she had no idea what this world was like and what kind of creatures were in it. She was a typical teenager.
“Do you think she'll be home for supper?” I placed my wine glass on the table and looked at Ruby. She kept tabs on Olivia, and I stayed out of it.
“Unlikely.” She reached over and poured herself another glass of wine. Ruby looked tired and unrested.
“We're going to have to tell her something. You know sure as hell they're going to try to tell her their side of the story. Who knows what they've already filled her head with.” I pushed my plate away having not eaten very much. That was not a priority these days.
Grandmother was due back. However, we had not heard from her in a few days. Which was the new normal since she retired from the council. She spent her days running around like a young girl in her twenties.
“It would help if you were nicer to her.” Ruby took a large swig from her wine glass and leaned back in her chair staring at the ceiling. I knew she was holding herself back and wanted to say more to me. I couldn't help not bonding with Olivia. She reminded me too much of our mother.
“I've been nicer to her.” While that wasn't a lie entirely, I indeed could have been nicer. I walked over to the window and stared out into the darkness, wondering if anyone was out there watching us.
“I've had to overcompensate for you ever since Olivia arrived.” Ruby took another drink from her wine glass. That seemed to be all she did lately. I knew she didn't like to behave this way but given the lack of support from the council, we were in a tight position.
“Olivia’s been meeting Henry. I should have said something sooner but...” I didn’t have an excuse, except that I wanted to shoulder all the responsibility myself.
“I know.” Ruby got up and walked over to the window beside me, with a look on her face that I had never seen before. Defeat.
“How do you know?” Ruby was never good at keeping secrets, especially from me.
“I've been having Olivia followed, and Henry Sabean, also.” She stared off into the distance, not being able to see much further than I could. I was surprised she went to those lengths for Olivia.
“And?” I leaned back and sat on the ledge and watched her face. She was paler than usual and looked older than she was.
“She won't keep away from him. I'm afraid they've grown closer than I would like.” Ruby said.
“Do you think he's told her anything?” I figured if he had by now, that would play in his favor.
“I don't think so. If he had, she would have mentioned something to me.” She sat on the ledge next to me.
“We should tell her soon, so he doesn't beat us to it. It should come from us.” I was letting my guard down; I normally didn't give her any leeway. However, I had to put my feelings aside. She was not my mother, she was my sister, and she was innocent. “She wasn't brought up like us; she has no idea about this world and no idea how to protect herself.”
“I agree. But we mustn't tell her everything at first.”
“The ring?”
We both sat there in silence thinking of the best way to tell a complete stranger that she is a descendant of the fae people. We were deep in thought when we heard the pocket doors to the dining room open and there was grandmother. Debbie Whitby was the matriarch of our Fae clan. Her long red hair was brushed softly out, and she wore a beautiful purple flower poncho. However eclectic, her leather pants and high leather boots made her feel young again. She came in and went straight for the good whiskey.
“Well, what are you all standing there for? Come give your Grammy a hug. Don’t make me beg.” She stretched out her arms, and we immediately hugged her. She was more like our mother than anyone else. No matter how long she had been gone, she always wanted us to hug her like when we were little children and she returned.
While we looked forward to her return, her time away may have given us time to fix the drift between the council, so this was one return we were not looking forward to. She had no idea what has been going on, or at least we thought she didn’t.
“There's something different here.” She stepped back from us as both of her hands moved through the air searching for a new energy. She walked towards the door and turned her back to us. “She’s here? You found her?”
“Not exactly. She found us.”
“Your mother?” She scrunched up her eyebrows confused. She hadn’t known that mother had planned to leave that night. There was no letter or anyone to ask questions to. She held no ill will to our mother, but it was never something that was spoken of in the house.
“No. It's not mother.” Ruby said and we both averted our eyes, as if we were school-age children getting into trouble.
“It's the girl.” She turned and looked back to the door up the stairs. She shook her head in disappointment, and the light airiness about her became cold.
“Mother’s missing again. Olivia was given our address by her lawyer, and she ended up here one day.”
“Does she know anything?”
“Nothing. However, the Sabean Clan have been circling her.”
“No good can come from that.” Grandmother went to the table and sat in the empty seat without saying anything. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer.
“We were just discussing telling her the minimal she needs to know.” After a few awkward moments, I felt like I should continue the conversation. Ruby and I exchanged glances as we had never seen our Grandmother silent for very long. We still felt like little children under our Grandmother's care.
“Well then, go on, tell me your plan.” She filled her plate with food and began eating as we sat down beside her.
“We were thinking about starting with the ring.” I said.
“She is very interested in why we all have the same ring.” Ruby played with her ruby ring. “Perhaps I could speak to her alone. We seem to get along much better.”
“Much better?” My grandmother looked between Ruby and me for an explanation. We didn't need any more words for her to understand. She knew how both of us would react to a new sibling.
“I perhaps didn't leave a good impression.” I let her decide what that meant as I didn't want another lecture on how I needed to be nicer. I had to protect this family by any means possible.
“And the Sabeans? Have they been keeping to themselves as they promised?” Grandmother looked up from her meal and saw our faces, and again, she didn't need us to respond. “They're going forward with their plans. Is the council aware?”
“Some are aware, and others are in denial.” I didn't want her to get involved. I had to be able to take care of this myself, but this was growing much larger than anything I could handle. “It’s possible they may have inside help.”
“From the fae?” This is probably the first time I had ever seen my grandmother with a look of shock on her face. But this was a new age, and a new generation was coming up int
o the ranks. Loyalty to one's kind was not a necessity anymore. There were benefits for trading votes with others. That meant a precarious future for all creatures in the treaty.
“There are a few families that I believe could be swayed fairly easily. Based on some things that I have heard from a few of my friends. They are sympathetic to the views of the vampires.”
Grandmother quickly dropped her fork and knife on the plate with a crash. Ruby and I sat silent and waited for her inevitable instruction.
“I never thought in my lifetime this would ever be an issue.” She sat up promptly and pushed the chair out from under her.
“We're going to figure this out, Grandmother. I don't want you to worry about anything. We just need some time to figure out what to do and how to get everything back as it should be.” I stood up and followed her as she went into the Parlor Room.
“Did she bring the trunk?” Grandmother asked as Ruby and I shared glances between us.
“The old trunk that mother took? What would that trunk have to do with any of this?” I asked confused.
“Yes, she took the truck with her.” Ruby quickly went to the closet door and opened it. Inside was the trunk in question.
“Do you have the key?”
“No. The front has been modified and doesn’t need a key anymore. However, there is a section in the trunk that needs a key, but no one has it.” Ruby said as she dragged it out of the closet.
“Well, we're about to fix that.” Grandmother flipped open the lid to the section that was locked. She looked at the lock and then walked over to the large desk. She pulled one of the drawers out entirely and underneath was a key. She slipped open the top piece and put the key in the lock, and it opened.
“I never thought I would see this again.” Grandmother pulled out a shiny light blue stone that lit up the room. “Your mother hadn’t realized that I put it in the trunk when she took it.”
Ruby and I stepped closer to the stone, and as we did, the brighter it got.
“What does it do?” I asked as I reached out towards it. As my hand got closer, the more revived I began to feel.
