The Mark

            Natalie knew she had magic within her; has known it all her life. But magic wasn’t like in the movies, it was dark and consumed her every thought. But she couldn’t let them find her, couldn’t let them know what she could do. It was for this reason she didn’t allow herself to use her power. Not only could they not find her, but magic was unpredictable, so Natalie never knew who it may hurt, or sometimes even kill.

            Natalie watched the sweat pour down the familiar boys face. Everyone’s screams drowned into the background as their eyes locked and her body tensed. Her mind went blank, as she silently tried to guess his next move. Natalie allowed her eyes to quickly dart to see the weapon gripped tightly in his hand. If her side was to win, she couldn’t let it touch her. She felt the weight of her own weapon hanging from her left hand, All she needed was a second, whether he got distracted or hesitated, it would do. It took only seconds for her opportunity to arise when the far door swung open. Derricks eyes flicked over to see Principal Harris walking in. Natalie raised her arm and hit Derrick with the ball, claiming victory for the girls team.

            The screams transformed into cheers as the girls came barreling across the room to grab her in a huge embrace.

            She carefully moved her body, separating herself from the girls still clustered in a tight circle. She saw Derrick still sitting on the ground, poking at the spot on his chest where she had hit him. Smiling, she walked towards him as he glanced up at her.

            “You know you don’t throw like a girl, right?” he asked looking at her with a smirk on his face.

            “If that’s supposed to be come kind of compliment, it sucks. But I’ll accept it anyways,” Natalie smiled as she put out her hand to help him up. “So thanks.”

            “No problem Nat,” He said accepting her gesture.

            Natalie never did end up helping him up. The second his hand touched hers, their mark flashed into her mind. She ripped her hand away, causing him to fall back as he lost his balance once again.

            “That ain’t fair Nat, take away a man’s game, only to rip away his last morsel of pride. Where’s your sportsmanship?” Zach, Derrick’s best friend asked her laughing. But Natalie was still staring at Derrick, who was looking back very confused.

            “Earth to Natalie. Do you hear me?”

            Natalie’s eyes flashed to Zach. “Yeah Zach I hear you. Sorry Derrick, I guess it’s pretty low. I gotta go change, see you guys in fourth.” She said already turning away.

            “Hey man are you okay?” Zach asked Derrick laughing.

            “Yeah man. You know how it is, I let her win.”

            “Sure you did man, anything you say.”

            Natalie didn’t hear anything else as the door closed behind her. She could sense Derricks gaze on the door, but tried to ignore it. She shouldn’t have acted like that, she knew better. But there was simply no explanation as to why Derrick’s touch had brought on the mark. She’d touched his hand before without anything happening, so why know? Natalie found herself unable to think as a migraine surged into her had. This was a common side effect to seeing the mark, but one she hadn’t had to experience in years. She knew that because of this incident, the sign would be burned into her brain for days, perhaps even weeks; and like always, Natalie would have to deal with it.

            When Natalie grabbed her stuff from the locker at the end of the day, she could still feel the pounding headache with full force. At the end of fourth block she had gotten out of the class as fast as she could without outright running, She knew how she was acting was dangerous. If Derrick had anything to do with THEM then Natalie knew that she had to act as naturally as possible. She didn’t know if they reacted in anyway when they touched her with the mark. Derrick’s confused stare could mean one of two things. Rather that he has sensed the magic within her; and like her didn’t understand how it had randomly started. Or the other being that she had acted like an idiot when she had pulled her hand away from helping him up. Either way Natalie knew she had given Derrick a weird feeling around her. Fourth block has consisted of Zach and Amber making play by plays of the dodge ball game, attempting to sway either of the players to add in comments. Unfortunately all they received where awkward smiles and nods from both. Natalie felt grateful that the day had come to an end, and was looking forward to the bottle of aspirin she knew was in the drawer at home. Grabbing her keys, she walked to her car, looking forward to the drive out of town.

            The familiar green trees arched together, as though creating a banner to welcome her home. The colorful flowers were in full bloom, relishing like always, in the power that surrounded them. Even though it was late November, this was her little green haven that always has the power to calm her. Even her head eased a little as she pulled into the driveway. Most of the neighboring kids attended a school not too far away, but Natalie felt safer at a more populated school. It was easier to blend into the high school drama in the city, then to act as naturally a school where everyone liked to know everything about anyone else. That wasn’t an environment Natalie could see herself doing well in.

            Upon opening the door, Natalie knew she was alone. Since her Mother left, her Dad spent countless hours at the office or in the garden with the herbs. Even though Natalie had sworn off the power, or Dad still held the hope that she would train hard enough to one day be welcomed into the council. But it didn’t matter to Natalie what her Father wanted when it came to her powers, she would not live the isolated life others like her had chosen, she would live the short fulfilled life of those around her. She tossed her keys onto the counter and headed to the bathroom drawer. After popping a few tablets of aspirin, she took a long look at herself in the mirror. It was easy for her to note the small details that told of the panic she was hiding inside. Her pupils where larger than necessary in the fluorescent bathroom light, as well as the more glassy look it held. Her skin was a dull light color that did not resemble the summer glow that other girls had obtained. After minutes of poking and prodding her face, she ran the tap and splashed the cool water over herself. Instantly feeling a bit better she took one last glance and turned the light off as she left. Natalie moved across the hallway to her room, as she tried to shield her mind from the only thing it could picture. Because of the concentration this took, it took a few minutes for her mind to process the mans reflection in her dresser mirror. And Natalie’s mind was not quick enough to stop the blood-curdling scream that quickly escaped her lips.

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