Under the Moon - Book 1 in the Bewitching Moon Series

Chapter 18

I ran with all my strength, the bullets being shot by police officers flying just over my head.

"Marabella Antoinette Cooper! Please! You have to listen to me!" I shout up to her, hoping she can hear me. I had researched her earlier in the week, hacking into the school's database. I wanted to find as much information on her as I could, just in case I needed it in the future.

Marabella turned her head, her eyes widened in surprise. At that slight moment, Marabella got distraction and lost control of all the objects around her. She then started falling. Shit, I should've thought this through.

Marabella crashed into a fifth-story window of an abandoned building, producing a loud piercing sound of shattering glass.

I ran even faster, trying to get to the building before the police could get there. I only had a tiny head start.

I ran up the stairs to the fifth floor of the building which Marabella fell into. I ran through the maze of hallways, using my tracking abilities, I managed to track Marabella to one of the rooms on that floor.

Since I had gotten to know Marabella, and actually become friends, although based on lies, which I hate, my abilities are now able to track Marabella's exact location.

I slowed down my pace a bit as I got to the room where Marabella was in. There was no door, and it was especially dusty. The floor was covered in shattered glass and blood, but I didn't see Marabella. This concerned me because she should be here. I looked around once more and found her behind me, tucked in a corner with her head down and her eyes squeezed shut. She was clutching a duffle bag to her chest.

"Marabella," I said to her. She opened her eyes and slowly raised her head, clearly surprised to see me.

"Marabella," I said once again but in a more soothing tone. I knelt down so that she wasn't looking up at me, "Marabella, I need you to trust me, but first we have to get out of here before they find us." I didn't want to rush her, but the police were not that far behind.

"W-Why?" she said, her voice shaky. She seemed confused, and then it hit me, she wasn't sure why I was helping her. To her, I was a human, I was supposed to despise her now that I knew her secret.

"Because I'm just like you," I say. I unwrapped her poorly wrapped wound on her leg. It was deep and looked really painful. She winced as I lay my hands on her leg, channeling my magic. My hands glowed the familiar gold that I had been using since the first time I scraped my knee, the warmth spreading from them to Marabella's leg, healing her wound. I channeled my magic to also heal all the scrapes and bruises that were on her arms and legs.

Marabella had a look of astonishment as her wounds healed in a matter of seconds.

"Y-You're a witch as well?" she said in shock.

I nodded and got up, extending a hand to help her up. I didn't let go of her hand though, instead, I dragged her to the far corner of the room, reaching inside of my pocket, and pulling out the enchanted piece of seaweed. The police were probably not too far away and we had to get out of here quickly.

"I was told to use this only in an emergency, this seems like enough of an emergency to me," I joked, a smile on my face. I wanted to keep the mood light although this was not the best situation to be in.

I placed the enchanted piece of seaweed on the wall, preparing to hold it still, but to my surprise, it stuck. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my bedroom back at the safehouse, murmuring its address under my breath. The piece of seaweed grew into a rectangle of blue light. I pulled Marabella into it, she didn't hesitate, which made this easier. We entered my room and the portal closed behind us. I brought Marabella to my bed and sat down, motioning for her to sit down next to me.

I cleared my throat, "So um, Marabella,"

She cut me off instantly, "I have so many questions. How did you know my full name? Since when were you a witch, and why are you here if it's so dangerous for a witch to be here?"

"I could ask you that last question," I tried to say in a joking way.

"Aiden, seriously," Marabella said, annoyance in her tone.

"Fine," I sighed, figuring it was time I informed her on my mission, "I came here on a mission to find you, Queen Anastasia..."

"Queen Anastasia! You mean like, the queen of the Under Sea?!" she interjected.

"Yeah, since only your mother was exiled, although pregnant with you, the Queen is allowing you to come to the kingdom," I said casually, figuring she already knew the story from her adoptive mom, which I had found out was Gwendolen Cooper herself.

"My mother? Did you know my biological mother? What happened to her? Why did she leave me on a beach?"

Ok, this statement surprised me, the last question she had didn't line up with the facts so she must not have been told the true story.

"Beach? What? No that wasn't what happened, I would know because my dad was part of the royal guard, tasked on spying on all who were exiled and making sure they never came back." I said.

"Wait, so what did happen? Why did my mom, er my adoptive mom lie to me?"

I am going to hate having to tell the story, but it's what I have to do so I'll do it with as much detail as I'm willing to give.

"Your mom was exiled under... illegal business that I am not allowed to say and was sent here where she hid to preserve your and her life. She became great friends with Gwendolen Cooper, your adoptive mom, and they both raised you until you were about three months old. That is when the human government discover that your mom, Diana Ciro, was a witch, and executed her by setting her house on fire. Gwendolen Cooper managed to escape with you, changing your name to which I just found out to be Marabella Antoinette Cooper."

"What was my name before?" she asked. It didn't quite make sense that that was the first question she asked, but I guess she was still in shock.

"Antoinette Akosia Ciro, was your name before it was changed."

Everything was silent after I said that, either she had no more questions or she was still in shock and didn't know what else to say or do.

Eventually, I got up from the bed and started picking up papers from my desk, sliding them into the manilla folder of disclosed information before putting the folder into my backpack. We didn't have much time to waste and we had to get moving soon.

I went around the room stuffing what little things I had brought with me and a few of the newer items of clothes I had bought. All the while, Marabella stayed on the bed, silently watching me.

"Aiden?" I heard Marabella say quietly after a while. I stopped what I was doing and turned towards her.

"Yeah?"

"Did you know I was a witch before the incident, like in the cafeteria?"

"Somewhat. I had a feeling you were when you shoved Jake that day, but I wasn't a hundred percent sure." I shrugged, it was true.

"Oh," she said, before falling back into silence. I stood there for a bit in case she had anything else she wanted to ask, but after a bit of an awkward silence, I went back to packing my bag.