The Derivative Ring

Chapter 4

The next day after I had gotten ready, Ben knocked on my door.

"Hey, I was wondering if you wanted anything from the coffee shop," he said.

"Yeah, are you walking there? I'll come with you," I replied, grabbing my purse off the side table by the door.

"Oh, before I forget," Ben said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out my emerald on a silver chain and fastened it around my neck for me. "Now let the fun begin."

"I just wear it and see what happens?" I asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. You might not even notice anything at first but if you start to feel overwhelmed or like you can't handle it then tell me and we'll take it off, okay? And if you think you know what it's doing for you then tell me."

"Okay, I will."

We left the Bronson's house and headed towards the coffee shop. After walking and talking for about five minutes, Ben slipped his hand into mine and we walked hand in hand to the coffee shop.

We bought our coffee and decided to sit in the cafe for a little while before walking back to the house.

"Do you feel anything different yet?" Ben asked as we sat down.

"No, everything feels normal."

"That's a sign that it probably doesn't have to do with magic."

For a second I looked around, thinking people would think we were crazy talking about magic in a coffee shop. But that's when I remembered, I was in Salem Falls. Everyone here could do magic. This conversation wouldn't seem weird to them at all. You would gather up all kinds of whispers and weird stares if you had this kind of conversation at a coffee shop in the real world.

"So, everyone in this room has their own special skill?" I asked.

Ben nodded. "Of course theirs aren't as powerful as ours, but everyone has their own forte."

As I started noticing more of the people around me, I started noticing how they looked at me. As if they wanted to know who I was. And then I realized, of course they wanted to know who I am. I'm sitting with Ben Bronson, the son of the Head of the nation and part of the Derivative Ring. One of the brothers who was cursed by the Valiente Coven. So who was the girl he was with? Why was he holding her hand across the table? Was she part of the Ring too?

No one here knew who I was, exept for the few people who would recognize me as my mothers daughter.

"Are people ever going to stop looking at me like this?" I asked.

"Not really, no. They're always going to be curious. You just have to learn to ignore it."

The way they were looking at me made me think of the way paparazzi follow celebrities in Hollywood in the real world. Thank god Salem Falls hadn't caught on to that, because if they had I'm sure there would have been paparazzi outside the windows of the coffee shop at that very moment.

Ben and I finished our coffee and headed back towards home. He was holding my hand again, which generated more stares on the street, but I didn't want to let go.

A little ways down the street, I noticed a little girl by herself walking towards us. As she got closer, I figured she had to be about five years old, with blonde curly hair and blue eyes. As we passed her on the street she smiled at me and I smiled back, and kept walking. After a few steps I had realized that the little girl had turned around and was now walking directly behind Ben and I.