My mythical creatures~Mermaid

Chapter 19

The one thing you wouldn't think would be near these modern houses was green lands but you'd be surprised. They had me running behind them in their dirt trials. I will admit that I don't exercise as much as I should but this is taking it way too far for me. After what felt like 2 hours, we came to a stop in a field. I collapsed onto the floor breathing very heavily.
"You alright there?" Asked Linda through the deep puffs of air. I had no energy to say anything so I just put my thumb up. I heard her laugh before moving over to Bill. Austin came and sat by me. I was surprised that this run caused me to be so out of breath due to last time when I felt fine. "You haven't seen anything yet!" He exclaimed.
"What do you mean?" With that, he smirked and looked up to Bill. I sat up to turn to him as well. He was crouched over on the ground.
"Right, let's see how powerful you are Cassidy." He ordered. I didn't feel up for it but I knew I had no say. I got up, wiped my hands on my legs to find that they were burning. I moved away from them so they wouldn't get affected by anything I did but at a distance to where I could still hear him. "What do you want me to do?" I asked. He looked around for something before looking back at me.
"Without looking, lift the log behind you." He commanded.
"You're joking right?" I question. He crossed his arms to signal that he was being serious. "How am I meant to do that?!"
"That leads me to lesson number 1 of the day," He walked over towards me, "clock your surroundings before anything else." He grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me to face the log. "Now lift it" He muttered in my ear.

I gritted my teeth together. I stared at the log for some time, judging the weight of it. I closed my eyes and blocked out all the sounds around me. I cleared my mind for a moment to picture the log hovering over the ground like it was being abducted by a U.F.O. The thought made me chuckle to myself. "Concentrate Cassie" I heard Bill order. When I opened my eyes, the same sense of power came rushing over me but the log didn't rise. I let go of the breath I didn't know I was holding. "Again!" Called Bill. I sighed to myself and tried again. Once again, nothing happened. "Again!" Called Bill again. I collapsed onto my knees.
"I can't!" I called back.
"Can't or won't?" He asked.
"Bill!" Linda snapped. "Go easy on her or it will never work!" She yelled at him. Something was different about Linda, she seemed...nicer. Bill started breathing heavily before turning into a wolf. He ran off into the woods without a second thought. Austin ran over to me and put my face between his hands. "Are you okay?" He asked of me. I nodded and he pulled me into a hug.
"Now he's gone, the log can go away." Linda said whilst looking at it. I looked at the log and watched it disappear.
"That's why I couldn't lift it, it never existed in the first place." I stated the obvious. I looked up at Linda. "How did you know it wasn't real? Did you put it there?" I asked of her. She came and sat beside me, pulling the grass out of the ground.
"I'm like you Cassie, I'm a witch but I'm nowhere near as powerful as you. I can create objects that aren't really there where as you are able to make objects and people do what you want them to do." She paused. "Your dad left your mum because he thought I was the most powerful witch out there and wanted to use me for my powers. Bill trained me as he is doing to you now but your dad found out that I wasn't the most powerful. I used to live in Manchester with all my friends like you did but he ruined it for me..." She started to cry. I moved away from Austin to comfort Linda. I placed one arm around her shoulder and she relaxed her head on my shoulder. "He told my family and friends I was dead so I would never return to them." Wow my dad is a jerk.
"But why did you fake the log?" I asked. This time it was Austin's turn to talk.

"Because it's part of our plan!" he exclaimed.
"What plan?" I asked. Linda and Austin shared a look that they were up to something. It reminded me of the look Stacey and I used to share when we were up to something.
"Your dad is using all of us for this war." Linda stated but it was pretty obvious. But I knew that there was more to be said. "But we're going to use him. We are going to seem like we're with him when we're actually against him. When you were in hospital, your friend, Stacey, kidnapped me and took me to Liverpool. Heads up to her, she had guts!" That's my Stacey. "Anyway, we had a 'friendly' fight and your friends helped me to see sense. Especially Jaz, I didn't realise how bad this all is for her kind. We all need to stick together without the humans finding out. Austin brought me back but I promised I wouldn't give myself away too much for Bill and your dad to realise." She explained.
"Linda, if you get caught..." I start. I don't want to think about it.
"That's why we have our plan!" Austin exclaimed again. "We plan on training you up to your full potential so when it comes to the war, we can change sides. All we need is Bill not to find out." He finishes.
"Leave that to me..." Linda suggested with a change in her tone. I am starting to like this new side to Linda. I hope this plan works.

Sometime later, we hadn't moved. We were still in our training clothes sat in the field where Bill had left us. Austin's phone went off causing him to get up and move away from us. Both Linda and I were watching him take the call. When it was over, he came back over. "Are they ready?" Linda asked Austin. Who's they? "Yeah they are. Cass, we need to show you something." He said with a calm and trust worthy tone with his hand out for mine. I took it and asked no questions as he took me off to his secret location where awaited the unknown for me but the known for the two of them.

10 minutes later, we were approaching what looked like an abandoned shed but it obviously wasn't. We moved around to the door. Linda went in first and I lingered behind. "Cass, it will be alright! Trust me." Austin reassured me. He went in next. I took a deep breath and followed. Inside were people who I was not expecting! Stood around a table was Dr Kay, Linda, Andy, my next door neighbour from Liverpool who I once babysat her children, Austin and finally Drake. He came up to me out of nowhere and hugged me like we hadn't seen each other in years. I hugged back before breaking the hug. Everyone then moved to take their seats where I noticed one empty for myself. It was located between Andy and Dr Kay.
"Andy, why are you here?" I whispered to him. He smiled to himself as if I had said something funny.
"Drake didn't want to bring me as I'm not like your guys so I hid in the back! He had a nasty surprise!" He laughed. I then turn my head so I was facing the inside of the table. It reminded me of one of my favourite stories, 'King Arthur and the round table' as the table itself was round. In the centre was a pile of rough papers with plans and writing on them.
"What's with all the papers?" I asked. I got freaked out as everyone turned to face me. I felt like shrinking in my chair.
"It helps being on the inside to know what is going on." Dr Kay spoke for everyone. That made sense in a way but why would my neighbour, Maggie, be here?
"I came here for your mum" she tells me. How did she? "I can read your mind, your mum was worried so I asked if Max could babysit whilst I come here." She admits. Makes more sense. There was no point in asking why Drake was here.

They all went back to their discussions and I just sat there awkwardly feeling out of place. Andy and I sat at the side lines, hardly talking to one another. I spent most of my time staring at my fingers and thinking about how much power they have within them that I could just end it all right here right now. As I looked up, I could see Maggie staring at me. "That won't work sweetie. Your father is so powerful that the only way to defeat him is to strip away his powers." She explained.
"Well can't I do that with my powers?" I asked.
"You're powerful, but no one is that powerful. That's why we are all here, hoping to maybe strip his powers as a group." She continued. It lead me back to the place I was before, on the outside. Every so often, I would look up and spot Drake and Austin staring at me. I didn't like the attention, I'm nothing special to myself. In the end, I decided enough was enough so I got up.
"I'm going home, you guys don't need me right now. If my dad asks, I'll say you two have gone home." Whilst pointing to Linda and Austin.
"You going to be alright?" Drake asked. I could see that he beat Austin to the question. I smile at the group of people around the table before replying.
"I should be. Anyway if something was to happen, dad will be there sadly." I say. On that note, I left the cabin and started to head home. The rain started falling and I had no coat or umbrella so I decided to run home. If I'm lucky, dad won't ask why I didn't come back with Bill. Then again, he trusts Linda and Austin.