I cover my arm with the thick of my forearm, because the blazing sun was just red hot behind my eyelids. In the thick, fresh-smelling strands of grass I felt at odds. My body was so hyper aware, and the meadow was so peaceful and calm. It's like we were humming on two different frequencies. I tried to close out all vibrations, not paying attention to the weird jitter I felt and just calm down. Somehow, it didn't feel like danger, just restlessness. Or worry, even.
I didn't hear someone in the meadow. I
probably wouldn't have noticed their arrival at all, sunbathing as I was, had the insistent heat not left my body with a broad shadow in its place.
"Funny how you are here sunbathing instead of working..." the red heat of the sun, replaced by a red aura.
"I could say the same for you..." I tried my best to sound unaffected, but my voice failed me and it sounded too anxious. If I was on hyperdrive before, I was faster than the speed of light in terms of jitters now.
"I won't tell if you don't." Alcander chuckled and landed in the grass with a plop way less graceful than I'd imagined he could ever be.
"Hope you don't mind the company..."
"I came here to just relax, don't get in the way and we don't have a problem." She half lied, but what could she say? 'Nature drowns out the crazy, and the thoughts. I came here for silence.'
But Alcander's head was ever silent, and she still wasn't sure as to how. They sat in silence for a long time. He was obviously thinking, by the way he was tugging at the strands of grass one by one, and carefully shredding each one until he couldn't make it smaller. Looking at him in this light, he was breathtakingly beautiful. His skin was the color of coffee with just the right amount of cream. His green eyes stood out against his light brown complexion. His cheekbones were high, and sharp. They shaped into his strong jaw line and molded his full, pink lips. Behind them, a set of perfectly straight teeth that must have been white as bone. His large chest was propped up against his knee, and his simple white t-shirt gave him kind of a bad boy look the way it clung to his shoulders and biceps. If he wasn't hotter than lava, I definitely didn't know what else could be. He must've noticed my staring, because he was looking at me through slit eyes.
"If looks could kill..." I trailed off
"I am just puzzled by you is all. You seemed so hard and focused, yet here you are playing hooky to lay in the grass on a hot summer day.." he smirked
"And yet here you are, so tell me who the real jigsaw is." I waved my hand at him for emphasis, failing to fight off my own smirk.
"It would be dishonest of me to say my intention was to come relax, but instead I sought out you."
And the formality of that sentence made me prop up on my elbows. The electricity that had hummed through me a moment ago was now a swarming buzz.
"Why would you be looking for me?"I scrutinized.
"Kai, my coven has bestowed it upon me to tell you the truth. Or..uh, what they believe is the truth. You see, when you saw me levitating my pen I had to tell our elders. Any chance of being outed can be very critical for us right now, as it is a sensitive time for us. When I told them about you, they began to watch you....Kai, you are just staring at me blankly. I know you don't know me at all and this is going to be a lot to wrap your head around so I need you to listen closely."
He places both hands on my shoulders, and I hadn't even noticed him move in front of me in order to do so. His hands are warm and stable, but my head is firing questions. Coven? Like witches...? Elders? Who was watching me, and why? The voice at Tymanni's...
"Kai, the couple you believe to be your parents are not. They are psychics, and they are your real parents enemies. Psychics used to have great powers, those beyond that of witches and warlocks.. You were stolen from your real parents in attempts for them to regain some of that power which they have lost."
"Are you insane? It's about connections, not about magic. Now you expect me to believe that there are witches and warlocks and covens?"
"There are, and you and your little sister Celestine were taken from your parents at her birth. You were about 8 then, which would make you 20 now. And Celestine about 15. That is when a witch begins to get her powers. You see, psychics have malpractices. They go against the laws of nature, but nature always has a way of finding a balance. And that balance was nature causing them to lose their powers. They are posers, who steal power from witches like you and Celestine to maintain their intuitiveness, and Astro projection. They use our magic to recreate a little of theirs and sometimes they can even practice magic while pulling from a strong enough blood line. You need to get away from them, and fast because if Celestine fully transpires and they draw from her, the power in the two of you witches alone could cause them to regain enough power to really do harm to the balance of nature."
"Even if I believe you weren't totally insane, or they you had the right person..all it really would take for them is to have two witches at once? Is it that hard to fetch a witch?" He winced as the last sentence left my mouse.
"You are not just any witch," he said through a tensed jaw.. "you are an Ellington witch. You and Celestine are actually the last of one of the most powerful bloodlines. Your ancestors carry some very strong magic. You would be able to access it, we all pull from nature and from the spirit of our ancestors."
"I'm sorry Alcander, but you've got the wrong person. Don't know how I'm going to pass you in the halls at work and not remember this moment." I laughed nervously, panic choking off the last few words.
"You won't be passing me in the halls, because you won't see me there again. Knowing what I now do, I have business to attend to in the coven. But before I do, I was told to make sure you know the truth.. and to ask you if you would allow me to show you something. Just to try to prove who you are. Of course, if I'm wrong no harm done but a prick of a finger and little wasted time. And you, you seem to have a lot of time here sunbathing and playing hooky." He smiled a wickedly handsome smile that hitched my breath in my chest.
I scrutinized him for a few seconds, thinking why the hell would he need to prick my finger. But as I glared at him he pulled out a little box from his pocket and opened it. There was a small booklet, and a shiny golden tack that sat in a very intricate fingerhold.
"Did they just know you'd need a fancy tack to poke people with when they told you to give people this crazy spiel?"
"It was made to go with the booklet. Only the blood of an Ellington witch can open this spell book. And only they can read the spells written inside it. It is of no use to you, or anyone else for that matter, unless your blood opens it."
I was freaked out, and I wanted to say no. Why would I poke myself and bleed for his delusions? I am not adopted and I am not a witch. But as long as I can think back to I have always felt different than my parents. My memories of them, and of everything really start around kindergarten.. and before then it is just hazy. And the electricity through my veins is swarming. The book is calling my name. I know I am insane, but before I know what I am doing my hand reaches for the tack.
I hold it above my finger and just stare.. what can a little blood hurt anyways? I poke myself and see a small bead of blood come to the surface. It hurt more than I expected, and I reflexively almost pop my finger in my mouth but before I can Alcander flips my finger on the front cover of the booklet. My blood dried almost instantly; as if the book had absorbed it into the pores of it's leather,
And the book leafed open...
