‘Start at the beginning,’ Laura supplied, her eyes finally free to explore the room.
That was when she noticed the unbelievable paintings that hung over the fireplace. With wide eyes and a gaping mouth, she studied the portraits before her, drinking them all in.
All three paintings contained a throne much like ones seen in movies, covered in red velvet and gold lace. In the first painting, sat a man, his left hand extended in front of him, his right set firmly on his knee. He couldn’t have been much older than thirty and had the bluest eyes Laura had ever seen. Upon his outstretched hand hovered a shimmering blue sphere the size of a basketball. Within the perimeter of it was what looked to be entwined vines of… lightening? She wasn’t sure.
The next painting was much the same, only it was a red-head woman holding a glittering sphere of bright purple lightening.
The final portrait contained an older man with jet black hair that cascaded down his shoulders, a long, ugly, crooked nose, and a sinister smile. Both his hands were outstretched, a blazing red ball of light sitting calmly within them.
Slowly, Laura turned to Stella. ‘What are these? What am I?’ she whispered.
‘That, we don’t exactly know. I guess I should start by telling you this: Witches and Wizards exist.’
Laura’s heart began to race, ‘don’t be ridiculous, and don’t lie to me.’
‘It may take a while for you to believe it, but it is true,’ Leo said kindly, ‘we are not lying Laura.’
Laura once again looked around at the paintings. ‘So I’m a Witch?’
Stella shook her head, ‘not exactly. I am a Witch, Leo is a Wizard, as are the others of this manor. All we know is that you are an Enchanted, like us. Someone of the Spirit World deemed good.’
‘An Enchanted? Sounds elegant.’
‘Your grandmother was a Witch, and she fell in love with a human. Only this human’s body possessed a Spirit. They then-‘
Laura cut in quickly, ‘wait, what’s a Spirit?’
Stella’s eyes were sparkling with excitement, ‘Spirits are Angels or Demons who possess a human’s body when they are on the brink of death in order to save them, or in a Demons case, take advantage of them. The Angel looks after the body until the soul has healed. The Demon uses the body to do its bidding.’
‘I- wha- how are they formed?’ Laura furrowed her brow as fear gripped her. There was so much more she wanted to ask, but she could barely slow her thoughts down enough to grab a hold of the questions and let them tumble from her mouth. She still wasn’t quite sure she believed it.
‘Angels and Demons are the children of the Gods and Devils of course, however some Angels are formed when an Enchanted dies, and when a Wicked – someone like us but who has been deemed evil at heart – dies, their soul is never quite at peace and they become what we know as a Demon.’
Laura didn’t say anything. She couldn’t.
Stella took this as a sign to continue, ‘So, your grandmother and a human possessed with a Spirit fell in love and when they had their child, she survived and was born an Enchanted Warlock. Part Angel, part Witch and very powerful. On most occasions, the child dies before birth because the mother can’t supply what is needed to keep the baby alive, but sometimes, if the baby is strong enough, it manages to survive, and your mother was one of those survivors. Once she was old enough, Cara realised that she didn’t want the life she was expected to lead, so she left and took up occupancy in the human world.’
‘And she met my father?’ Laura guessed.
Stella nodded, ‘yes, and when she fell pregnant with you everyone was sure that both of you wouldn’t make it. She came to us for help and we did the best we could to look after you both. The child of a human and anyone of our race needs air and because Warlocks, Sprits, Witches and Wizards don’t require it the child has no way of receiving it. They then suck the life from the mother’s soul in order to survive until it ends both of their lives. Remarkably, you both made it. Your mother wasn’t meant to have survived her own birth let alone giving birth to you. I don’t know how you both did it, no one does. It was a miracle. We don’t know exactly what you are because we have never seen it before,’ Stella was speaking faster and faster as she tried to explain everything to Laura, ‘your mother then took you away to live in the human world. You wouldn’t remember any of that of course because you were only a baby, but she didn’t want you to grow up in this sort of life, fighting evil, risking your safety. You were her miracle.’
Laura shook her head astonished, ‘I could have killed her?’ she whispered.
She couldn’t believe that her mother had been through such pain, such terror, all to give birth to her.
How in the world could any of this be possible? She asked herself. It seemed ridiculous.
‘Don’t blame yourself, Laura. It was a long time ago and you both survived,’ Leo said gently, giving her a warm smile as he reached up and readjusted his glasses.
‘I still don’t understand; why did those people take my mother then?’
‘Because they want you. You have great power, more than anyone has ever seen before, and now people want you,’ Leo said.
‘But how? I have never done anything before. I have no power,’ Laura insisted.
‘You do, you just don’t know how to use it because you haven’t had the training.’ Stella said calmly.
‘If I haven’t done the training then how is it possible for everyone to know I have power?’
‘You have the power of a Warlock mixed with the power of a human, which means you live and breathe. You have warm blood running through your veins, a heart beating in your chest, air filling your lungs, and that is something no one of our race has. Not even Warlocks. We may not know your exact powers, but we know you are definitely nothing like anyone has ever seen before,’ Leo explained.
Laura didn’t know what to feel. Part of her wanted to believe their words but another part of her wanted to turn and run and keep moving forever. Everything she had heard seemed absurd. Silly. Unrealistic. She was human. Magical powers and creatures didn’t exist. That was stupid. How could any of it really be true?
She shook her head, ‘I just.. it’s all so.. I don’t know if I can believe it.’
Leo gave Stella a look and she closed her eyes for a moment before giving him a short, sharp nod. Leo clasped his hands together, rubbing them as if to warm them from the cold. Then, he turned them outwards, palms up.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, unexpectedly, something started to appear in his hands. Something glowing blue like a light bulb. It was the size of a nut, then a golf ball, then a tennis ball. It continued to grow bigger, the light filling the room. The whole library glowed a brilliant blue and Leo’s face was full of concentration.
Then, as quickly as the glistening ball had appeared, it began to dissipate, growing smaller until suddenly his hands were empty. The two of them looked up at Laura with hopeful eyes.
Her jaw dropped open, and for the second time that week, she fainted.
Chapter Four
Dreams That Haunt Us
Laura was drifting through a deep sea of blackness. Panic flared in her stomach, travelling up her spine, wrapping around her neck with its sharp claws. She lay on her back in foggy water, unable to move. Faces slowly drifted across the dark sky above, and the panic held her head still, forcing her to watch. Her father, her mother, Estella, Leo, the three kidnappers, the people from the paintings, the other occupants of the manor, they all blurred together above her. And then she could hear someone calling her name. Fear struck her like lightening as she thrashed around, thick black liquid spraying up around her. Still, she was forced to watch the faces above.
‘They are coming for you Laura,’ her dad whispered, and it was as if the words had engulfed her.
‘You are different. You are special,’ her mother sang, her voice echoing across the sea of blackness.
‘I know it’s hard to believe,’ Leo’s voice boomed ove
rhead, the words swooping down to meet her as she thrashed harder.
‘You are powerful,’ Estella whispered from beside Laura’s head and she jerked away, breathing heavily.
Then, as quickly as they had appeared, silence and blackness swept back over the abyss above. Laura let out her breath and closed her eyes, but as she began to relax, the faces loomed back up to her sides, surrounding her.
They screamed.
Her eyes flew open as she again began to thrash, trying to break free of the invisible grip that rendered her immobile. Alarm and terror clasped their greasy hands around her lungs, squeezing the air from them.
‘Stop it! I’m human! Stop! LEAVE ME ALONE.’
She took a deep breath and with all her might, pushed herself beneath the surface and down, into the murky depths of the black sea.
Laura sat bolt upright in her bed, breathing heavily. Sweat pricked the back of her neck and her eyes darted frantically across the room, searching for the faces. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but when they did, she realised that, to her relief, she was very much alone. Her eyes began to wander thoughtfully across the room.
Thin white curtains blew slightly in the breeze that swept through the open window. Streams of light from the moon shone down over the foot of her bed. She pinched the skin of her upper arm, hoping with all her heart that this was a dream. A terrible, terrible dream she was yet to wake up from. However, as the pain tingled beneath her pinch, she knew that this was reality.
Laura pulled back the covers, dangling her feet over the side of the bed. She rested her face in her hands for a long minute, then pushed back her tangled hair and planted her feet firmly on the ground. She padded across the cold floor and rested her hand on the cool brass handle of the door.
Quietly, hesitating for only a moment, she turned the nob. She poked her head out into the corridor, looking both ways. Dim lights shone down from the roof, illuminating the hallway full of closed doors. She could see no movement around her so softly, she tiptoed down the hall towards the library.
Fumbling through the dark, Laura found the light switch and flicked it on, blinding herself momentarily. She rubbed her watering eyes, willing them to hurry and adjust. When they had, she began observing the paintings again. This time, she noticed the distinct ‘W’ tattooed across the wrists of the Wizards and Witch.
She drifted through the room, coming to a stop in front of the final painting, the one of the Wizard who held the red light. His mark was slightly different. It was not silver like the other two, but gold.
‘It’s hard to wrap your head around isn’t it?’
Laura turned and watched as Caspian pushed himself upright from where he had been leaning against the door frame.
‘I remember when they first told me I was a Wizard. I was in denial for weeks. Kept wondering how it could all be possible.’
He wandered forward, his hands laced behind his back, and came to a halt before the first painting.
‘Did they tell you about me?’ Laura asked.
‘Yes. I’m so sorry about your father,’ he said softly.
Laura didn’t say anything. She couldn’t, not without choking up again.
‘We’re all orphaned,’ he said.
Laura’s mouth formed an ‘oh’ and guilt washed over her. She felt selfish for acting as if everything was all about her.
‘Don’t feel bad, it was a long time ago for most of us,’ Caspian smiled as he turned to face her.
‘None the less, I’m very sorry to hear that.’
Caspian turned his gaze to the portrait before Laura. ‘This is Erebus Cain Wizard. The first ever Wizard to walk the earth. The first to learn how to use the power we possess.’ His voice was soft, his movements graceful.
‘What power exactly?’
‘There are a lot of aspects to our abilities, but I guess the most obvious power we possess is the light. It is like electricity, and when inflicted upon another can shock them, most of the time resulting in death. We call it Lightening.’
‘You can kill people with it? That’s awful!’
‘Not when you aren’t on the receiving end,’ chuckled Caspian, eyes creasing slightly at the corners.
She felt her mouth tug up into a small smile,
‘Ah, success!’ Caspian grinned and she allowed the smile to stay.
‘How was Erebus created?’ She urged him on. She watched his face as he spoke, listening intently.
‘He was a genius, I guess you could say. A professor who was fascinated by the alteration of human genes. He wanted to push the boundaries, modify the human body, and make it do unbelievable things. He begun by experimenting on lab animals, finding out what made them stronger, faster, smarter.
‘He soon pushed the tests too far as he started to try and entwine electric circuits and lightening into that of an animal’s body. The experiment went wrong, and he didn’t escape the testing lab in time. When he next awoke, he possessed a power that soon began to consume his soul. He couldn’t stop there. He wanted more. Improving the experiment, he lured his assistant and her husband into the lab.’ Caspian paused, indicating with his hand at the first two paintings.
‘Carmon and Josie Witch. But when the experiment was over, Carmon produced a blue light and Josie produced a purple one.’
‘And he had been producing a red one,’ Laura appended.
‘Yes. Evil ran in his veins. He repeated the experiment over and over but continued to fail. It drove him completely mad. Eventually he went into hiding, devising a plan to destroy, what he called, ‘the failed attempts’.’
‘So he was going to kill all the Witches and Wizards?’ Laura inhaled as she stared up at Erebus’ stone hard face.
She wondered what it was that made a person good or evil. Was it something they did that defined them as one of those elements? Or was it something that was within them, something they were born with?
‘Yes,’ Caspian continued, breaking her out of her trance, ‘but many years later when it came time for battle, he hadn’t anticipated just how strong they were. And they had one more thing.’
‘What was it?’ Laura pressed, encouraging him to continue.
Caspian pointed to a painting Laura hadn’t noticed before. It was of the battle Caspian referred to. Erebus stood on one side of the field, the Enchanted on the other. Then, Laura saw what Caspian had been gesturing to. A woman, standing between Carmon and Josie, hands outstretched, green Lightening flowing from them.
‘Mara Warlock. After a long fight, and the loss of many lives, she managed to wipe out Erebus, who was yet to master the entirety of his lightening, draining him of his own power, thus bringing the battle to an end and freeing the Enchanted to live as they pleased.’
They were both silent for a long moment, Laura peering up at Mara. It all felt so real. As much as she didn’t want to believe it, she could feel the truth in the story. She could see how the pieces fit together.
‘So after that, the Enchanted just went about their daily lives?’ she finally asked.
‘Not quite. Almost a century after the battle, Evil loomed up on the Human world and the Witches and Wizards came to realise that they had a power within them that not only allowed them to defeat Erebus, but to enter a life long battle with that Evil.’
‘The Lightening?’
‘Exactly.’
‘What kind of danger were they holding back?’ Laura questioned thoughtfully.
‘Monsters that lurk in the shadows and hope to feed on humans and Enchanted. We call them Goblins.’
‘Goblins? Like, the ones from movies?’
‘Ahh… not quite. Even the Enchanted can turn evil, if they allow the power consume them as Erebus did. And some did, creating the Goblin race. They are formed when an Enchanted commits murder upon a human, Angel or other Enchanted. Their Angel blessed soul which would have risen to Heaven, is instead banished to burn in Hell. When a Demon enters the human world Goblins come through with them trying to escape Hell and w
in back the power they once possessed. That is why we must fight them. To protect the human world from them.’
‘So, if these ‘Goblins’ are real, why haven’t I ever seen one? Or any trace of this world for that matter?’
‘You can see it now, can’t you?’ Caspian concealed a smile as she stared at him, ‘I can only assume you hadn’t seen any of it before because you didn’t know to look for it. We conceal it well.’
She glanced at Caspian, and caught him watching her. Hoping to change the subject, she pressed on, ‘and Goblins are all that threaten the mortals?’
‘God no!’ His eyes flickered away as he laughed, ‘we help to ward off the Demons that attempt to possess humans. And we are forever battling the Wicked’
Laura furrowed her brow, ‘I think Stella mentioned them. What are they?’
Caspian hesitated, ‘at the age of eighteen we go through what is considered to be the ‘final’ stage of our learning; The Ceremony, where the Gods determine if we have good or evil in our heart. If we will remain with the Enchanted, or will join the Wicked.’
‘And after that you will either have the red light indicating you are evil or one of the other colours indicating you are good?’
‘Yes, exactly.’
Learning more about the Spirit World seemed to put Laura’s mind a little more at ease, and the way Caspian spoke made her believe, really believe, that this world was capable of all he said it was.
‘What do the Wicked try and do?’ She probed him onwards.
He seemed to pause for a moment, as slight as it was, before he answered, ‘there are those that attempt to weaken the human race, and it is the job of a Guardian to protect them. Leo used to be one before he came to work here at the manor with Stell,’ Caspian explained.
‘Gosh, so he was good? At fighting Wicked I mean?’
Caspian’s eyes widened as if to imply Leo was beyond good, ‘he was fantastic. He’s quite intelligent, especially when it comes to discovering which tactics and fighting methods are most effective. We have all learnt so much from him. He and Stell are some of the best trainers out there. We are all very lucky.’
The Enchantress (Wicked Book 1) Page 4
