Seventh (The Hafling Chronicles Book 1)

by Abigail McGovern

  “So then…do we have superpowers because we are the guardians of this place?”

  “No, you are the guardians of this place because you have superpowers. You see, you’re not completely human, you are what’s called a Halfling. A human with the properties-or powers- of a ghost. Halflings rule the Underworld, to the dismay of some beings, and they protect the peaceful beings there, the graveyards and cemeteries of ghosts unable to cross over to this world. There are three levels of Halflings: The Royals, The Guards, and The Peasants. The Royals are, obviously, the rulers, and the aristocratic lords and nobles, and usually possess only one gift, or power as you call them. They are so strong in that skill that no other halfling in either world can use that same gift quite as well as them. Guards usually posses three gifts, because their job is to protect The Royals and The Peasants, but they wouldn’t be able to wield them as well as a Royal with only one of those same gifts. The Peasants possess only one gift, but are also not as strong as a Royal with the same gift. About every thousand years someone with the ability to use all six gifts comes along, they are either a seventh son of a seventh son, or a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. You are one of those.”

  When I don’t say a word he continues. “Your family is a branch of the royal family. Your Mother’s, Mother’s, Mother’s, Mother’s, Mother’s, Mother’s, Mother was a member of one of the aristocratic Royal families.”

  I take a deep breath. This is a lot to process. It’s almost impossible to process. I have superpowers. Sorry, gifts. I have all the gifts it’s possible to have. Or something. I’m not sure I quite understand, and I don’t know what question to ask Lukas. There are so many I could ask. “Does this mean Nate and Max have powers too?”

  “Yes, they have one, but since they are Royals they will be very strong.”

  “But I don’t have seven sisters, and neither does my mom. Isn’t that what being the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter means?”

  “Sometimes, but for the halflings it means that you are the seventh eldest daughter to be born in seven generations. In your family that is.”

  “Ok…..so why am I so important?”

  “You are not only a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, but a Royal, so you can master all six gifts better than every other living halfling. Your role isn’t to protect this place, our most important cemetery, but to protect all of us. All the peaceful Halflings. And my role as a guard is to protect you.”

  I am freaking overwhelmed right now. My job is to protect an entire race-an entire race- of people, and I don’t even get a choice! Lukas didn’t say that, but if I am the most powerful Halfling alive, then I don’t just get to walk away from this. I have to do it. “Why is this the most important cemetery?”

  “It’s a double cemetery. It connects to the main cemetery of The Halflings down in the Underworld. It’s basically a portal from this world to our world.”

  “So why don’t I have to protect it then?”

  Lukas drops his gaze. “Our king is old. Very, very, very old, even by Halfling standards, and his grip on sanity is rapidly slipping away. Our world is in turmoil. We are at war, and have been for a long, long time. We fight demons and Shadows, Halflings that have been turned to the dark side, to prevent them from harming ghosts or humans. Our city will need an heir to protect us, and lead us after our king has passed. Which, frankly, won’t be that long from now. There are four in line for the throne. The eldest son Titus, who mustn’t be allowed to rise to power as he is suspected of treason and helping the Shadow army. Then Kenzie, the eldest daughter, who is headstrong and courageous, and would be a strong choice. Following Kenzie there is Kellen, who is a tad young, but brave, and smart. And finally there is Kira, who is only ten, but intelligent and a wonderful strategist. Our kingdom doesn’t work like other kingdoms, Titus is not the Crown Prince like he should be, instead the king would choose, but he is in no condition. He can’t even remember the names of his children. So you will be our protector, the one who leads our armies and advises our new leader, who you will choose.”

  “Why me?” I ask in a small voice.

  “Because Liv, you are a Royal; you would have power even if you weren’t a Seventh Daughter of a Seventh Daughter, but you are more than a Royal and the role of Seventh Sons/Daughters of Seventh Sons/Daughters is always to protect the people.”

  I decide to make the most of what I’m forced to do, because honestly, who doesn’t want to have gifts and be the Half-ghost equivalent of a superhero? “What are all the gifts that a person can have?”

  Lukas lapses out of his formal speech. “Well you’ve already developed the ability to pass through objects, Phasing, but the other abilities you should develop are the ability to fly, and to turn invisible, Telekinesis, Shapeshifting, and Teleporting.”

  “All the things a ghost can do. How did Halflings get to be the way they are?”

  “No one really knows exactly. Some say we were humans who found our way to the underworld and stayed there. Some say we were humans who swore to do exactly what we are doing now; protect ghosts. Some even say we were a type of spirit who somehow found their way to partial humanity, and kept the powers of a ghost.” I don’t say anything, thinking it over and trying to decide which theory I believe. I think the spirits into humans is the most likely story.

  Lukas takes my silence as an invitation to continue talking so he says “Come on, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

  I look around, remembering that we are on the roof. “Uh...how do I get down?”

  He raises his eyebrows at me, surprised. “Come on, you’re the one with all the gifts. You tell me.” I shake my head, and shrug. He sighs. “Just Phase through the roof.”

  “Yeah….about that…...the thing is Luke, I don’t exactly know how…….”

  “You did it twice earlier today!”

  “Yeah twice by accident!”

  He stares at me, clearly disappointed. “Just climb down the rose trellis.” He gestures to the rose trellis that covers half of the front of the house.

  “Do I want to know why you have a rose trellis?”

  “Because to the rest of this town I’m a gardener, not a Halfling who has lived for years and is here to protect a family of Royal Halflings who are here to protect a cemetery, the ghosts in it, and a portal to The Underworld. I’ve got to keep up pretenses.” He vanishes through the roof, and I make my way over to the rose trellis.

  By the time I finally get down he is leaning against the house waiting for me. When he sees me he straightens up. “Come on, you’ve got a ghost to see.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Bree!” Lukas shouts. “I have someone I want you to meet!” So, I’m waiting for a ghost. A ghost that Lukas wants me to meet. Not only seeing a ghost, but talking to a ghost is just going to make this whole thing feel more real. Also, infinitely more weird. But real also. Let’s just focus on the real.

  A few seconds later the air shimmers and a rather rude voice says “Oh it’s you. I thought it was going to be someone interesting.”

  I glare at the African American ghost, with her big golden brown eyes, and braids that brush her collarbone. “Oh it’s you.” I say, in a voice every bit as rude as hers. “I thought it was going to be an exciting ghost.”

  Lukas glances back and forth between us. “Have you guys met?”

  “Briefly.” I say. “On the day we moved here. There was no talking involved. Only glaring……..and that was all on her part.”

  “Oh you little-”

  “Hey.” Lukas steps in between us. “I didn’t bring you two here to fight.” When we don’t say a word, but continue to glare at each other he proceeds with introductions. “Olivia, this is Breanna. Breanna this is Olivia. She’s Sophie’s daughter, and the one we’ve been waiting for.”

  “What!? Her? Are you sure she’s a Seventh Daughter of a Seventh Daughter, Luke? You didn’t get her mixed up with someone else?”

  “Yes, Bree.” Lukas says patiently.
“I’m sure. She-”

  “Wait, Luke.” Breanna scowls at me for using his nickname. “How do you know that I’m the right person?”

  He sighs. “Bree, I’ve only just explained this to her. Quit putting doubts in her head.” He turns back to me. “Liv, it genetically makes sense. Plus I saw you use a power.”

  “Right. You saw me use one power. Not six. One.”

  “Yeah.” Breanna chimes in. “You only saw her Phase. What’s to say she has any others?” I’m not even going to ask how she knows that.

  “Liv. I know that you are the right one. You still wouldn’t remember what happened here last week otherwise. I’ll admit, I had my doubts when you didn’t instantly remember like I thought you would, but it turns out you did, just not quite how I was expecting.”

  “Why did you wipe my memory in the first place?”

  “Because I wasn’t sure yet. If you hadn’t been the Seventh like I thought you might be, then you finding out about this would have been disastrous. You see, Sophie wanted all her kids to find out at the same time, but she wanted Max and Nate to be at least thirteen before they found out.”

  “Wait. If the next oldest daughter in our family always inherits the cemetery then why is Gram still running it? Shouldn’t my mother be in charge?”

  If Lukas heard me he chooses to ignore me. “All right. Liv, you’re going to need a lot of training, and Bree, I need you to help her.”

  “What? No way! Sorry Luke, but this is one favor I’m not doing for you.”

  “She needs someone to teach her how to use all her abilities, and the people I know, besides her, who can do that are ghosts.”

  “So find another ghost who’s willing to help.”

  “Bree, please. You know this is important.”

  She sighs, her resolve breaking. “I know. I’ll teach her, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

  Lukas nods. “Thank you. Now let’s get started.”

  Breanna turns to face me. “Okay Olivia, the only gift you’ve developed so far is the ability to pass through objects like you’re made of nothing, right?” When I nod she continues. “How well have you mastered this skill? Are you good?”

  “I’ve only done it three times. The first two were accidents, the last one was because Lukas dragged me through his ceiling.”

  Breanna smirks. “Wow Luke, you’ve brought me a real Seventh Daughter of a Seventh Daughter. So powerful!”

  “Bree. Focus. She needs to master her gifts.”

  “And what are you going to do to help her with that?”

  “I can help her master the gifts that I have, and she needs to learn to defend herself. I can teach her to fight.”

  Breanna nods, seemingly satisfied with his response. “Now, Olivia, to master this gift you need to envision being weightless. Being nothing.”

  “But you don’t do that. You’re a ghost.”

  “Well, duh. But I’ve been dead long enough; I’ve helped enough people to know the way to teach someone to use this gift. Now, do you want me to show you or not?”

  “That was an incredibly complicated way to say it.” I comment. She glares at me. “Oh, don’t mind me. Do continue, Oh great teacher.”

  Her eyebrows raise but she continues anyway. “So, I was saying, you have to imagine that you are a ghost. You weigh nothing. You basically are nothing. Nothing but thoughts, and feelings. Once you’ve done that you have to hold onto that feeling in order to walk through something. That’s the hard part, because if you lose that feeling while you’re passing through something, you’re stuck inside of that object. You can get out, sometimes, but depending on the way you’re trapped you could die. But then I wouldn’t have to teach you anymore would I? You’d be a ghost.”

  “That’s one way to deliver a warning, Bree, but I think she gets it.” Lukas teases.

  She glares at him, but turns back to me. “Try it! Walk through that memorial wall.” She points at a large stone wall inscribed with lots of names, and Lukas recoils, his eyes wide.

  “Bree, that’s too dangerous! You should have her put a foot or a hand through a headstone.”

  “You want me to teach her, you’re going to let me teach her my way.” Breanna snaps, although it does sound like she is taking too much of risk…….with my life.

  She rolls her hand at me in a ‘go on’ gesture, and I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I concentrate, imagining myself as a ghost. Nothing. Weightless. I feel it. I can’t feel any of my limbs, just an odd tingling feeling. I grab that feeling, and hold onto it, then open my eyes. Judging from Lukas’s worried expression, and Breanna’s annoyed one I must have taken a long time.

  “Do you have it?” Lukas asks nervously, and I briefly wonder if he is losing faith in my ability, but then that feeling starts to slide away.

  I hold tighter to the feeling, and give Lukas a small nod. “Ok.” He says. “Go ahead.”

  I concentrate on the feeling, and walk toward the wall. Inches away. Centimeters. Then I am through. They see thick gray stone around me, then I’m out again. Almost.

  “OLIVIA!!!!!” I jump at the sound of Nate’s voice and the feeling slips away.

  I jump forward, pulling, checking to see if I made it out. My ankle won’t come out and I fall to the ground, among the dirt and leaf pieces. “No!”

  “Liv!” Lukas calls in a panic. “Are you ok!?”

  I hear a muffled “Hah!” then Breanna drifts out. Lukas somersaults over the top of the wall, and lands on the ground next to me.

  His eyes widen in disbelief and Breanna collapses into laughter. His expression is so comical that I dissolve into giggles as well. Lukas stares at us for a moment more, then gives one short laugh. “Liv, just envision your ankle is weightless.”

  I do, then collapse forward with a sigh of relief. I flip onto my back and run my hands down my ankle. Leaping to my feet I squeal, “Freedom! I’m free!” I dance a little jig.

  An arm wraps around me, on my shoulders, but in them at the same time, the same feeling I got at the ghost party. I glance up and see Breanna standing with her arm around my shoulders. “I can’t believe you did it! Maybe there is some hope for you after all.”

  I start to say something when I hear Nate yell. “Liv, come on!!!! I can hear you! What are you doing? It’s taco night!” I look up and see him coming down the path, his blond hair shining like a beacon.

  I dust the dirt off my jeans, and grin at Lukas and Breanna, too happy to care that she’s being rude. “Gotta go, dinner time!” I turn and sprint down the path, closing my eyes as I run, concentrating, then passing through a tree.

  Chapter Nine

  “I want to see these practice sessions of yours, in the flesh.”

  “Mer.” I stuff my English books into my backpack, and straighten up. “I don’t think you’re even supposed to know about them, much less come to watch them.”

  “So? Take a risk. It’s not like they can get all that mad at you, being the Seventh and all. Which is sooooooo cool, by the way! Please let me see your practice, we can do homework together afterwards! At least demonstrate here!”

  I glance around to make sure nobody’s around, then lean forward and whisper in her ear. “Ok. You can come, and watch. But just in case they don’t let you….” I close my eyes and draw up the feeling, which I’ve gotten faster at, then I take a deep breath, and step through the row of lockers in front of me.

  “Oh no…..” I whisper, inching quietly around the perimeter of the classroom I just accidently Phased into, so I’m standing in front of the half open door. Hopefully it looks like I just came in.

  Mrs. Boyle, my English teacher looks up, her eyes narrowing in suspicion, and I wince. I’ve only been at this school a couple weeks, but I already know that Mrs. Boyle has a reputation for being one of the meanest, grouchiest, teachers in the whole school. She doesn’t hesitate to give out detention slips for even the smallest things. Not to mention you can hardly understand her through her thick southern accen
t.

  “Did ya have a question Ms. Norfolk?”

  “Um...yes.” I ad lib. “I was wondering what pages we’re supposed to read for homework tonight?”

  “Diddin’ ya look at the homework board?” She gestures to the now erased homework board.

  “No. I was trying to finish my essay, before the bell rang.” Which is both true and not true. I was trying to finish my essay, but I did copy down the homework.

  “I trust ya got yur essay turned in?”

  “Yes. Right in the nick of time.” It’s a good thing I’m a good actor, because this improv is sounding weak, even to me.

  She sighs. “Yur homework was ta read pages one hunned ta two hunned in Moby Dick.”

  I nod. “Ok, thank you Ma’am.” Got to at least use the famed southern manners, even if I stick out like a sore thumb northerner.

  She looks back down at her desk, I hurry out the door, and head for the exit, trusting that Mer went to the bus to wait for me. I slip on just before the doors close and drop into a seat next to Mer. “That was so awesome!” She whispers to me.

  “Thanks. I ended up in Mrs. Boyle’s room though, and I had to make something up about not knowing our homework.” I look up and catch Lukas staring at me, suspicion written all over his face.

  “Oh, lame.” Mer says, louder now. “I can’t believe you just walked through the door and into Mrs. Boyles room by accident!” She shoots Lukas a pointed glance, and he looks away.

  I laugh at her bluntness, and nod. “Yeah, I know! I guess I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”

  She laughs too, “Yeah, I guess.”

  We sit in comfortable silence, until the bus pulls to a stop in front of my house. We wait until Lukas gets off the bus to get off, then we stand near my mailbox, and watch as Lukas disappears around the back of the house. As soon as he’s out of sight we run for the front door and let ourselves in. We dump our backpacks by the stairs and head into the kitchen.

  Gram calls from the living room as we walk in “Grab some of those cookies off the tray if you’re hungry!”