Legacy

by Gerald Pruett

  Ellen took a breath before confessing, “I had seen a moon-stars birthmark similar to that… in a picture of my dad’s dad. The moon-shaped birthmark had looked more like a crescent moon though. Hey, perhaps we’re cousins.”

  “I doubt it,” Jessica got out before a thought occurred to her. “Is your dad a twin?”

  “He is,” Ellen confirmed.

  “I know what happened to your mark,” Jessica said. “The mark of Merlin fades when twins are born, and your grandfather was the one in your family to carry the mark last.”

  “Okay,” Ellen said in a tone as if to say, ‘if you say so.’ “So why is the moon-stars birthmark called the mark of Merlin? And why were you concern about me having it?”

  Jessica skeptically stared at Ellen for a moment before looking at her watch and saying, “My next class is gym and it’s beginning to start.”

  “It appears that we have two classes in a row together,” Ellen supplied.

  “Yes, well, before we go in there you should know that my twin sister Karla is also in our gym class,” Jessica supplied. “And I’m telling you this because you will also feel Karla’s presence as you do mine.”

  “Thanks for the heads-up,” Ellen said while trying to sound sincere.

  “Just for the record, Ellen, I’m not convinced that you didn’t know about any of this before…”

  “Why would you say that?” Ellen interrupted.

  “Your actions while walking into the history class were the actions of someone who knew.”

  “I had only felt this feeling among my family,” Ellen lied. “I was thrown when I felt it here at school.”

  Jessica stared incredulously at Ellen before saying, “Regardless…” Jessica sighed before gesturing towards the door to the gym. “Let’s go.”

  “After you,” Ellen said while gesturing for Jessica to go first.

  Jessica again stared incredulously at Ellen for a moment before breaking the stare. As she moved past Ellen, she told her, “To set the record straight, I’m very selective of my friends, so don’t expect to become one.”

  “Don’t even try to make friends with Jessica Harman— check,” Ellen quipped as she followed Jessica into the gym.

  Jessica looked back while shooting Ellen an annoyed look as if to say, ‘Don’t test me.’

  Ellen smirked while saying, “I was a tomboy. I’m not easily intimidated.” Jessica rolled her eyes and slightly shook her head before facing forward. Ellen then glanced at her schedule. “Anyway, can you point out Mrs. Warner for me?”

  Jessica slightly hesitated before saying in an indifferent tone, “Follow me… and for fair warning, Mrs. Warner is also the girls’ basketball coach and she is a bit of a perfectionist.”

  “Okay, again, thanks for the heads-up,” Ellen told her.

  “At least with this I know for a fact that I’m giving you the heads-up,” Jessica retorted as she glanced back. Ellen just politely grinned.

  Ellen followed Jessica across the basketball court to the coach’s office. Mrs. Warner was in the office while talking to a male student who had his foot wrapped in an ace bandage.

  When Mrs. Warner saw Ellen and Jessica sticking their heads in at the door, she stopped talking to the student and demanded harshly, “What do you want, Ms. Harman?!”

  “Jessica brought…” Ellen was only able to get out.

  “Was I addressing you, young lady?” Mrs. Warner demanded to know.

  Ellen shot her an ‘are you serious?’ look before saying, “No, but…”

  “Then I would like the person who I was addressing to speak,” Mrs. Warner ordered. Ellen crossed her arms while staring harshly at Mrs. Warner. “Now, Ms. Harman, why are you here?”

  Jessica gestured towards Ellen while saying, “This is Ellen Anderson. She had transferred to this school from Kansas City, Missouri, and she was assigned to this gym class. So I was just showing her to your office.”

  Mrs. Warner turned towards Ellen while asking, “Do you have any papers for me?”

  “I do,” Ellen said in an indifferent tone without attempting to move.

  After a moment, Mrs. Warner questioned, “Well?”

  “Ma’am?” Ellen prompted for her to say more.

  “Well, may I have what you have for me?” Mrs. Warner questioned impatiently.

  “Of course,” Ellen said before breaking her pose and moving towards Mrs. Warner. “I didn’t want to do it without being addressed to do so.”

  Mrs. Warner stared at Ellen as if she was just insulted while questioning, “Do you really want to get off on the wrong foot with me, Ms. Anderson?”

  “Of course not, Mrs. Warner,” Ellen said in a tone as if there was an open ‘but’ at the end.

  Mrs. Warner stared at Ellen as if she was trying to size her up while taking Ellen’s paper. Before glancing at what she was handed, she questioned, “Do you have gym clothes?”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” Ellen replied politely. “They are the gym clothes I wore at my last school, and they’re in my book bag.”

  “Most likely your gym clothes won’t match the gym clothes of the other students, so I suggest that you get matching clothes as soon as you can,” Mrs. Warner strongly suggested.

  “Yes, Ma’am,” Ellen replied politely.

  “Starting tomorrow I’ll be deducting points from your grade for not having the proper gym clothes,” Mrs. Warner added.

  “Consider me informed of the rules, Mrs. Warner,” Ellen quipped.

  Mrs. Warner shot Ellen an unimpressed look before ordering, “Ms. Harman, show Ms. Anderson to the locker room.”

  “Yes, Mrs. Warner,” Jessica replied. “Let’s go, Ellen.”

  Without saying anything else Ellen followed Jessica out of the coach’s office while leaving the male student alone again with Mrs. Warner.

  Once Ellen and Jessica were out of earshot of Mrs. Warner, Ellen told Jessica, “She’s definitely not a ball of sunshine.”

  “No, and her brother-in-law is the assistant principle,” Jessica informed.

  “Okay,” Ellen said in a tone as if she didn’t know what point that Jessica was trying to make.

  “I’m telling you this because you seem to be a smart person and I believe you when you say that you’re not easily intimidated,” Jessica continued. “It doesn’t matter if you are in the right. If you butt heads with her, don’t expect to come out as the winner.”

  “That’s good to know,” Ellen said in an understanding tone.

  Karla was in her gym clothes while lying on a bench away from the other students with her eyes closed.

  Ellen followed Jessica past the female students who were getting dressed and up to Karla. Without opening her eyes or sitting up, Karla asked, “How many more minutes before gym starts, Jess?”

  “Not many,” Jessica replied. “Grandfather had kept you awake all night again, didn’t he?”

  “Yeah, I was up and down all night,” Karla said without opening her eyes. “I bet I didn’t get two hours of sleep. At the risk of repeating myself, the day time nurse really earns her pay.”

  “I can take over tonight for you if you’d like,” Jessica offered. “So you can get some sleep.”

  “No-no, it’s fine; I’ll do it,” Karla quickly said without opening her eyes. “He doesn’t keep me up every single night.”

  “Okay, well… you need to open your eyes,” Jessica informed. “There’s someone with me who I think you need to… at least learn about.”

  When Karla opened her eyes to look, Ellen politely waved. As Karla went to sit up, she asked, “Who are you?”

  “I’m Ellen Anderson,” she replied. “I took care of my mom just before she passed away. So I got a slight taste of what it’s like to care for someone who can’t care for her or himself.”

  Karla slightly grinned before asking, “What was wrong with your mom?”

  “Brain tumor,” Ellen answered sullenly. “She thought that stress was what was causing her headaches and by the time she decided t
o see the doctor about them, her tumor had advanced too far for the doctors to do anything about.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” Karla sympathetically said.

  “Thanks,” Ellen said with a pleasant grin.

  “So—since I have never seen you before—I’m assuming that you’re a new student,” Karla prompted.

  “Yeah,” Ellen agreed. “I moved here from Kansas City, Missouri.”

  “I’m introducing Ellen to you because you need to know something about her,” Jessica interjected.

  “What?” Karla asked.

  Because of the acoustics of the locker room Jessica chose her words carefully before saying, “Her dad’s dad had carried the moon-stars birthmark, but she doesn’t, and apparently— although she doesn’t carry the birthmark—all three of us can still sense each other’s presence. So for now on you need to open your eyes before you speak because you may be speaking to Ellen and not me. She also claims not to have knowledge of why the moon-stars birthmark is significant.”

  “Your grandfather didn’t tell you about the birthmark?” Karla asked.

  “He died before I was born,” Ellen replied simply.

  “And your dad didn’t tell you about it?” Karla questioned.

  Ellen shook her head before supplying, “I’m not on good terms with my dad.”

  “So who are you living with if not one of your parents?” Karla asked.

  “My sister-in-law’s brother,” Ellen replied. “Before that, my brother and his wife. My brother and sister-in-law died in an auto accident thirteen days ago.”

  “Again, I’m sorry for your loss,” Karla sympathetically said.

  “Thanks,” Ellen again said with a pleasant grin.

  “Guys,” Jessica interjected. “Gym is about to start. Ellen, you and I aren’t even dressed, and Mrs. Warner doesn’t like tardiness.”

  “We’ll talk more after gym, Ellen,” Karla told her.

  “Of course,” Ellen said. “So I’m guessing that all of these back lockers are free.”

  “You should take this locker over here,” Jessica told Ellen before walking towards the other students.

  Ellen followed Jessica to an empty locker, which was across from Jessica’s and Karla’s lockers.

  A short time later, the twenty sixteen-year-old students (twelve males and eight females) were gathering on the basketball court in front of Mrs. Warner.

  Ellen was talking about her previous school to a few of her fellow students when Mrs. Warner told everyone, “Okay, quiet down and listen up! As you have all noticed we have a new student. Her name is Ms. Ellen Anderson and you all can welcome her to our school after class.” Ellen saw the harsh stare that she was getting from one of the male students and apathetically stared back. “Right now though, give me some laps around the gym. I’ll tell you when to stop.”

  The male student broke his harsh stare first before running along with the other students.

  Ellen joined the runners at the end, and after a brief moment she decided to catch up to the male student and say, “We haven’t met so it couldn’t have been anything I said.”

  “Excuse me?” the student questioned in an indifferent tone.

  “You were staring at me as if I had offended you… and I don’t even know your name,” Ellen pointed out.

  After a moment of not answering, he said, “I’m Everett.”

  “So do I remind you of someone who had pissed you off?” Ellen prompted.

  “There is no talking, Ms. Anderson!” Mrs. Warner informed.

  “Yes, Mrs. Warner,” Ellen acknowledged before complying.

  During the passing minutes, Ellen had followed along with the other students, and once there were fifteen minutes left of the class, the students broke into four teams. Two of the teams played basketball on one end of the court while the other two teams played on the opposite end. Ellen and Everett were on opposite ends.

  Once Mrs. Warner dismissed the class, she continued with, “Ms. Anderson. Come with me to my office so I can give you my syllabus.” Ellen gave her a confused look. “This syllabus will inform you of my rules and describe as to what gym clothes you should be wearing.”

  Ellen just nodded with a polite grin before following Mrs. Warner to her office. Once Ellen got what Mrs. Warner had wanted her to have, she went to the locker room to change back into her regular clothes. Jessica and Karla were on their way out of the locker room as Ellen entered.

  Before Ellen walked past the two, she asked, “What are your two’s next class?”

  Karla was the only one to answer with, “My next class is Geometry. What about you?”

  “Spanish,” Ellen said before turning towards Jessica. “What about you, Jessica?”

  Jessica rolled her eyes before saying, “I have science.”

  “Do you have first lunch or second lunch?” Karla asked Ellen.

  “Second actually,” Ellen replied. She then slightly shook her head. “I can’t remember what class it follows.”

  “I have second lunch too,” Karla supplied. “You’re welcome to sit with me and my friends.”

  “Okay, thanks,” Ellen said before turning towards Jessica.

  When Jessica saw Ellen looking patiently at her, she said, “I have first lunch.”

  Ellen nodded with a polite grin as Karla said, “Well, I should get to Geometry. I’ll see you at lunch.”

  “Okay; bye for now,” Ellen said.

  “Bye,” Jessica and Karla echoed before the three went their respective ways.

  Once Jessica and Karla were out of Ellen’s earshot, Jessica warned, “Ellen’s friendliness seems genuine, but be careful around her. She might not be what she seems.”

  “If she doesn’t carry the birthmark then how much of a threat can she be?” Karla questioned.

  “I don’t know, and I really don’t want to find out,” Jessica began. “So until we learn more about her just be careful. Okay?”

  “Fine,” Karla agreed.

  Ellen changed back into her regular clothes and then made her way to her Spanish class.

  At the beginning of the second lunch period, Ellen stepped into the long food-line directly behind Everett and two of his sixteen-year-old friends. Everett and his friends were laughing and joking around, but when Everett saw who had joined the line behind him, all cheerfulness had drained quickly from his face.

  Once Everett quickly faced forward, Ellen asked, “Do I remind you of someone who had pissed you off?”

  “No,” Everett said without looking.

  “Then why the attitude towards me?” Ellen asked while drawing the attention of Everett’s two friends.

  When Everett didn’t answer, one of his friends asked, “Would you be Ellen Anderson?”

  Ellen shot him a curious look before cautiously saying, “Yes.”

  “I thought so. I’m Andy and he’s Ted.”

  “Hi,” Ted said.

  “Hi,” Ellen echoed. “So, Andy. How is it that you heard of me?”

  “Everett hasn’t stopped talking…” Andy was only able to get out.

  “Andy!” Everett hissed.

  “At least I made an impression,” Ellen quipped. “I just wish I knew in which way it was.”

  “And wishes coming true come easy for you, don’t they?” Everett snapped.

  “What the hell does that mean?” Ellen asked in a puzzled tone.

  “Nothing,” Everett grumbled. “I’m just talking too much.”

  “He claims that he can see…” Andy was again only able to get out.

  “Andy!” Everett uttered. “What the hell?!”

  “Dude, I humored you over Jessica and Karla Harman,” Andy retorted. “But your delusions are now spreading.”

  “I’m not delusional,” Everett insisted.

  “Well you’re not acting sane,” Ted told him. “And you need to get a grip before you end up like your grandma.”

  Ted had barely gotten the words from his mouth before Everett had hit him across the jaw,
hard enough to knock him down.

  Andy shoved Everett back off of Ted while uttering, “Dude, what the hell?!”

  “You just go to hell!” Everett hissed as Ted was getting back on his feet. The incident drew the attention of everyone in the lunchroom. “All of you!”

  “Hey, you four!” a lunchroom worker uttered. “Break it up!”

  “I’ll do better than that! I’m leaving!” Everett hissed towards the worker before walking away in a haste.

  As Everett was leaving, Ellen demanded to know, “Before I was just mildly curious, but now; what in hell does he see when he looks at me?”

  “He claims that he can see every person’s aura,” Andy began as he, Ellen and Ted continued through the food-line. “An extremely light gray aura is a good hearted person. An extremely dark gray aura is an evil person, and according to Everett the color of everyone’s aura falls somewhere in the grayscale between light gray and dark gray…”

  “Actually he claims that people will ride the rail between light gray and dark gray,” Ted corrected.

  When Ellen shot Ted a curious look, Andy said, “Let’s not confuse her by adding changing morality with life growth.”

  “I think I understand,” Ellen said. “So does Everett see my aura as dark gray?”

  Andy chuckled before saying, “No. It seems that your aura falls out of the normal category and into the witch’s category.”

  Ellen shot Andy a disturbed look while demanding, “Excuse me?!”

  “It’s ridiculous I know,” Andy said while not giving the look that he was getting any attention. “But according to Everett, you, Jessica Harman and Karla Harman are witches.”

  Ellen pondered that thought for only a second before asking, “What exactly does Everett see when he looks at me?”

  “A light pink aura,” Andy replied. “And according to Everett, Jessica’s and Karla’s auras are a lavender color.”

  “So—going along with Everett’s color coding and not claiming to be a witch—do all witches supposed to have pink and lavender auras?” Ellen asked.

  Andy grinned before saying, “Everett’s grandma knew Jessica and Karla’s mom and their mom’s dad. Everett’s grandma claimed that their grandpa had a very dark purple aura, and their mother’s aura was a medium purple.”