by K. A. Poe
Alan helped me clear the table once we were done eating. We had talked a little about his family and what life had been like for him growing up in the mansion. His mom was rarely seen, being too busy working and bringing in more and more money. It had been like an obsession for her — she rarely even spent the money, only when it was necessary. Alan said she was like a dragon hoarding gold. His dad decided to become an Exile when things became too stressful for him; we were alike in a way, he could see into the future too. He denounced his role as a witch and forced himself to believe that he didn’t have any powers, and after a long while, it was like he never did. He somehow forced himself to forget how to look ahead, but, after a time, it began to drive him mad despite his previous desires. He found that he wanted the power back. He was lost without his gift, unsure of what was safe and what wasn’t. He locked himself in his office for hours, writing and reading and losing himself in fictional worlds where magic was still alive, trying to find a way to bring the gift back into him and remember.
“I think that if he hadn’t repressed the memories, my parents would still be alive.”
“Maybe ... but there are some things we can’t see even with magic,” I said, chugging down the remainder of my drink. “What happened to Michael?”
He looked up at me, having been looking down at the surface of the table, examining the patterns in the wood. “He still lives in the mansion. It was the least I could do after he dedicated his life to serving my parents. I allow him to live there at no cost, and he has a fair share of funds to occupy himself with.”
“Most people would take advantage of the situation you are in ... with all of that money.”
“After a childhood of being spoiled with toys, clothing, education, cars ... it grew old. I still use the money they left behind, but only when I need it. The majority of it goes to helping fund the Clan.”
I looked at him then with a sense of admiration. “That’s great,” I said and truly meant it. “So why does Artemis use this old run-down motel?”
Alan scoffed, but looked amused. “I offered the mansion to him on numerous occasions. We could all make great use of the space, but he seems attached to this place for some reason. Maybe if the number of members became too much to handle in such a small place he would reconsider it.”
“Is there something special about this place that makes him want to stay here?” I asked and walked over to my bed where Willow was curled up — I swear that cat was always asleep somewhere.
“He believes it is built on sacred ground ... and not in the spiritual sense. There are some places in the world that are naturally magical and witches are attracted to it.”
I remembered Noah saying he felt an attraction to the motel when he was lost and weary after being kicked out by his parents. “I saw something on TV about places like that. Like Ireland or something too, right? It talked about a lot of places there and throughout Europe.” I suggested.
Alan’s eyes twinkled. “I suppose so. It is rumored to be a magical place, with faeries and the like. But these places of energy are definitely not limited to Europe.”
“Are things like faeries real?” I asked, although it was more out of humor than anything. It felt silly asking.
“Who is to say what is real and what isn’t? There was once a time where I would have said that witches and vampires were all fairy tales, but now look at me — I live among people that are capable of magic. I am capable of it. And you. Your mother was a vampire.”
I was left wondering what else could be in the world that I didn’t know about. Hannah didn’t seem unconvinced that werewolves or ghosts could exist when I asked her a similar question. Alan approached the bed and sat beside me, his eyes resting on an object lying on my nightstand — Serena’s charm bracelet her dad had given her.
“Is this yours?” he asked, pointing to it.
I shook my head. “No. It’s Serena’s ... I guess she left it behind.”
“May I?”
“May you what ...?”
He smiled lightly. “Do you mind if I use my gift on it?”
“It’s not really mine to say whether you can or not ... I don’t know.”
Alan delicately lifted the charm bracelet off of the nightstand, held the trinket in the middle of his palm and his eyes turned that same unusual green they had the day he showed me the past through his ancestor’s necklace. A look of discomfort and repulsion displayed on his delicate face and I became worried — what could he possibly be seeing?
Thinking little of it, I reached my hand out and placed it over his. As soon as I felt his skin against mine, I felt myself being pulled into the vision along with him.
Serena was maybe six or seven, with her hair its natural brown, and was looking at her reflection in a full-length mirror in her bedroom. She let the oversized charm bracelet fall to the floor, then lifted the side of her shirt, grimacing as the fabric scraped across her abdomen. A purpling bruise marked her skin, running along the length of her ribs. Trailing a slim finger along the injury, she winced and forced back tears.
“I won’t cry. I won’t cry. He’ll hurt me again if I cry!”
Shouting voices sounded in the background — I recognized them at once as her mom and dad.
“You don’t hit my baby girl!” Mrs. Dupont screamed.
“She wouldn’t eat her damned food! She can’t just get away with that.”
“They’re just beans, Henry! Beans! You don’t have to hit her! You did the same with Cameron, and where did that lead?! He was taken away! They took my boy away!”
“They brought him back.”
“Maybe they shouldn’t have. Not with you here.”
There was a loud crash, a muffled scream, more banging, a slammed door, and then silence.
Gasping, I clung onto Alan’s hand until I noticed it was turning red from the pressure. “Oh, my god,” I said almost inaudibly. “What did I miss?”
He shook his head and pulled me against him. “You don’t want to know, Madison ... believe me.”
“Why did she never tell me? How could she keep something like that a secret from me?”
“I don’t know,” he whispered and held me firmly. “Some things are better left unsaid … or forgotten.”
“It’s no wonder her mom cheated on him ... he’s an abusive asshole and always has been. How did I never know? We’ve been friends for ... almost as long as I can remember. I should have known!”
“She clearly did a good job of covering it up. Don’t guilt yourself over it. It isn’t your fault, and it is in the past. No matter how much someone may want to, they can never change what has been done.”
I raised my head to look at him. “I’m sorry if I ... if I hurt your hand or anything ... and if it felt like I was intruding ...”
Alan smiled and brushed a strand of hair from my face. “You had every right to see it, at least more so than I did. It’s your best friend’s memory, not mine. And my hand is fine.”
I didn’t get a chance to respond. His warm lips brushed against mine and at first I was afraid — remembering the night at the Halloween party when James tried to take advantage of me — then relaxed and felt myself easing into his arms, circling mine around him and kissing him back. I gently pushed him back against the bed and unleashed all of the stress, worry, and frustration I felt, letting it all seep through me and develop into passion as our kisses grew fiercer. His hand trailed up my sides and I shivered involuntarily at his touch.
“Alan —” I murmured against his lips and he pulled away hesitantly. “I don’t think we should be doing this.”
He looked reluctant at first, then pushed me gently off of him, and lay beside me, staring up at the ceiling. “I didn’t mean to upset you or anything … I’m sorry.”
I shook with laughter. “You didn’t upset me ... it’s just ... I’m not ready for anything like that.”
“You certainly seemed like you were ready,” he said with a suppressed grin.
“My
body might be, but my mind ... not so much.” I turned onto my side, looking at him closely. “I was almost raped last month.”
He looked at a loss for words. “Oh, Madison… I’m sorry. If I had known …”
I knew there was little more that he could say. “Don’t be. Mathias saved me.”
“Is he another reason you can’t do this?”
Startled by his question, I failed to reply right away. “I-I don’t know. I’m not sure how I feel about him, or how he feels about me.”
Alan scoffed and sat up. “Forsythe’s feelings for you are ... evident in everything he does. The way he follows you around to ensure your safety, as he puts it, the way he gets jealous if any other boy talks to you, the way he looks at you.”
“I never really noticed ... and he follows me around because Artemis assigned him as my guide and protector.”
“You’re too focused on everything else to notice,” he said and stood up. “Thank you for dinner, Castus Young ... I’ll see myself out.”
“Alan, wait!” I tried to get up from the bed fast enough to catch him before he made it through the door, but he was much too quick.
“Great,” I grumbled to myself. “Now I have two boys upset with me.”
The door swung open and Serena came in, carrying a single white rose, her face wearing a grimace. I sat up on my bed and eyed the flower curiously. She plopped down next to me, discarding the flower and setting it beside her.
“Who’s that from?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes. “That Noah kid. Sure, he’s cute and all, but does he not know how to take a hint? I must have told him a hundred times already that I’m in an exclusive relationship.”
“Maybe he’s just being really friendly,” I shrugged. I didn’t believe that, and by the look on her face, neither did Serena. “Okay, okay. He’s not ... he obviously likes you, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You should be used to it by now.”
“I am, or I was ... things at school kind of changed a lot after Zach and I got together. The other boys seemed to realize that I was no longer on the market and left me alone. I missed the attention at first, but then I decided the only attention I wanted anymore was from Zach.”
“You really like him, huh?”
“Uh, duh,” she said with another eye roll. She sometimes reminded me of my aunt. “He should be back tomorrow, and hopefully he can help distract me from ... everything.”
“I’m sure he will have no trouble distracting you.”
She blushed. “Is there like, a rule on bringing boys over here?”
“I have no idea. But you already somehow broke one of the Clan’s policies, so I wouldn’t risk it with trying to sneak Zach in. How’s Cam doing, anyway?”
“Fine. He’s really pissed off, but who can blame him. He hasn’t spoken to mom since he told her to leave the hospital.”
“That’s harsh,” I said, then shook my head. “Actually, it isn’t. There’s something I kind of wanted to ask you, though.”
“Yeah? What is it?” She reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a tube of chap-stick and applied a large amount to her lips.
“One of the witches here ... he can see things from the past by touching things.”
“Oh, wow, that would be so cool! I wish I could do … something.”
“Yeah, but that’s beside the point. He kind of —” I paused and nervously tugged on the fabric of my blanket — a growing habit that I had only just realized I engaged in when I was upset or anxious. “He touched your bracelet. You left it here on my nightstand ... he thought it was mine and was curious about it. He picked it up …”
Her expression went blank. “Wh-what did he see?”
I shifted uncomfortably and tucked my hands under my legs to avoid any more fidgeting. “Your dad used to abuse you.”
Moisture began to coat her eyes and she wiped at the corners, smearing her mascara. “A long time ago ... he did. He’d get so mad over ... just little things. If I said I didn’t like something he cooked for dinner, he got furious. If I missed a day from school ... ” She paused, her lip quivering. “More of my scars are from him than anything else. I … I haven’t thought about that in a long … long time.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me? And why didn’t your mom do anything about it?”
“I couldn’t tell you. There were times where I tried, but I couldn’t. Talking about it would make it real, and I preferred to live in a make believe world where my dad was a saint. Mom sent me away to summer camp briefly to get me away from him; I’m sure you remember. They went to counseling when I was away, and when I came back ... things were normal. We all pretended like nothing had ever happened. Dad started working much longer hours and was home less often. Everything was … good … sort of.”
I nodded as I took in her words, trying to make sense of it all. “And Cam? Alan — the boy who saw the vision — he said that Cam was taken ...?”
She looked even more upset than she had when I’d asked about her side of the horror story. “Child Protection. They took him away when he was like, five or six. He told me about it a few years ago. It’s all messed up. My dad was abusing him too, and that’s part of why he came back while Dad was away on his business trip ... not just to make sure Mom didn’t cheat on Dad, but to make sure Dad didn’t come home and beat on her … or me.”
“He used to beat her, too?”
“Used to? More like still does. Or did. I don’t know. I don’t agree with what she did — cheating on him and all — but she’s been trapped with him this whole time, afraid to try to escape, and I can kind of see why she’d do it.”
“I guess that explains why she always treats his business trips like a vacation of her own.”
She nodded and looked at me. “I’m sorry I never told you before, it’s just ...”
“No. Don’t apologize. I’m just glad that you’re safe, now.”
Mom came home later that evening looking worn out. I explained to her what happened with Serena moving in, that Artemis was against the idea of her staying, then suddenly changed his mind and gave her a room of her own. She thought it was kind of weird, but we both passed it off as sympathy for a young lost girl. She told me about the few places she’d applied for — a shoe store, coffee shop, and a nail salon.
“Don’t tell me Jason applied for the salon too,” I said with forced humor.
“No ... he was somewhere else. He’s looking into hardware stores and electronics, things that appeal to him more. He’s actually gotten an interview call, so that’s good.”
“Yea, that’s good. Does he like staying with Uncle Mitchell?”
“He seems to. They lived together for the majority of their lives, so it’s sort of like old times. He misses you ... Jason, that is.”
“I miss him too ...” I said with a sigh and threw away the remains of the chili I’d just eaten for dinner. “And I miss you. I’m sorry about how I behaved last night. I think I was just stressed about Serena and the news about you and Jason … surprised me ... a lot.”
“I know. I shouldn’t have just pushed it on you like that, especially not after what you had already gone through ... but if you feel up to it, Jason wants to take us out tomorrow night, just the three of us.”
“Umm ... sure. I guess. That’s fine. I’m going to go ahead and just go to bed ... it’s been a long day.”
“Same here,” she said with a faint smile. “Goodnight.”
“Night.”
My phone flashed in the darkness and I blinked repeatedly until my eyes adjusted to the brightness. A new text message had come through and the vibration against my hand disturbed me in my sleep — I had fallen asleep with it in my hand while reading a digital book on the tiny screen. My heart raced with nerves and unexpected excitement when I saw who the message was from.
Mathias.
Chapter Fourteen
When I checked the time on my phone, I realized a few hours had passed since I’d fallen asleep. I
could remember snippets of a dream I’d had before the phone disturbed me — reflections of a red-eyed boy submerged in the depths of a frozen lake. Shuddering, I finally looked at the message Mathias had sent —”Are you awake?” I almost wanted to be annoyed that I’d been woken up, but instead I was relieved that he’d texted me. My fingers rapidly tapped at the phone’s buttons. “Yeah, what’s going on?” Shutting my eyes while awaiting a response, I wondered what he was doing up at this hour. Noah had mentioned that he wakes up an hour or two later than everyone else, but I didn’t think he’d be going to bed too much later than me.
Only a few seconds passed before the next message came through. “Can you meet me somewhere?” I stared at the phone for what felt like a long time, my heart racing and my mind wandering. Why would Mathias want to meet with me at such a late hour? Wasn’t he sick? Despite my doubts and worries, I asked him where he’d want to meet and waited again. This time, the response came a little later. Maybe he was trying to think of a place to go.
“On the roof,” was the next message to come through. Skeptically, I replied, “Are you serious?” He then responded explaining that there was a ladder out back that goes up to the fire escape, then up to the roof. Hesitantly, I sent a quick message saying “Okay, be right there.” and sat up. My hair was a disheveled mess and I was sure that I looked awful. It was dark out and he likely wouldn’t care anyway, though. Dressed in flannel pajamas and fluffy slipper boots, I went over quietly to my mom’s bed to see if I’d woken her up. I hadn’t. She wasn’t there.
I stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind me. There was a brief sense of regret due to the fact that everyone else in the building was likely asleep, but it washed away quickly.
I was out of breath and shivering when I reached the rooftop, despite the thick material of my pajamas. There was snow covering the top of the motel building, and sitting with his knees brought up to his chest, on a damp blanket over the snow, was Mathias. In the darkness, I could barely see him — nothing but a shape draped in shadow. Snow crunched beneath my feet and I could feel the moisture seeping into the fabric of my slippers. Hopefully I wouldn’t wind up getting a cold, too — if he even was sick.
