Magic & Mystery

Chapter 2 Never Ending Travel

I called my grandmother and told her what happened. She told me not to come home and to meet her at a grocery store that was usually busy this time of day. When I arrived she was there and told me to pop the trunk and then go inside. I did and 10 minutes later she and my mother came in. They handed me an envelope with a LOT of money in it and said they packed as much of my belongings as they could in the car for me as well as the books which would be in the duffle bag in my passenger seat. They packed a cooler with a bunch of my favorite foods and drinks as well and each handed me a letter with some family pictures and told me never to come back unless I had chosen a side and/or felt powerful and/or in control enough to fend for myself against whatever may come. I was crying my eyes out expecting this to be a fun happy night and now I would be on the run from monsters that used to be my best friends and their families.

After an emotional goodbye I got in the car and left deciding to head for a big party city...New Orleans. The long drive would give me time to think and hopefully it would be easy to blend into a city like that. Just as I was crossing the state line into North Carolina my phone rang. I looked down and it was Edith. I ignored it and let it go to voicemail. About 10 minutes later it rang again and this time it was Shannon...again I ignored it. Both left voicemails but I wasn't interested right now, I just wanted to get as far away from them as I could. I still can't believe my 2 best friends were a werewolf and a vampire and I kissed Ediths brother...yuck,,,I kissed a vampire but it wasn't bad...STILL he's a vampire but a really cute one...NO stop thinking like that. Then there's Shannons brother Lee that I kinda fooled around with once...very cute aside from the crooked nose but again he was a werewolf. Suddenly I heard a noise in my floorboard on the passenger said and looked down. My beautiful little soft hair Jack Russell Terrier had obviously been drugged and was waking up in my floorboard. I then saw her food and water waiting. I thought 'Well at least I won't be lonely having my sweet little protective princess around. I smiled down at her and said "Wake up Minnie! We're going to have a long ride in the car!"

That was all it took and her eyes popped open and she was trying to get in my lap to see out or the windshield to see exactly what I saw. I pet her and hugged her close knowing she would be my only true friend for quite a while. We made it into Tennessee near Nashville before I finally had to find a motel for the night. Once I paid for the room which I made sure was on the first floor, I grabbed my overnight back that I took to Ediths earlier and found the books and grabbed a few things out of the cooler to eat along with Minnies food and water and went inside. I set Minnie up and took a shower changing into my night clothes and ate and drank until I was full. Then I sat down and started reading the books.I got about halfway done with the first book and had to stop for the night to get some sleep. I packed everything aside from my change of clothes back into the car and Minnie of course and went to sleep.

I woke up and checked out of the motel, loaded Minnie and my night clothes into the car and off I went again. I decided to take a circuitous route in the wrong direction for a while to confuse anyone who might be tracking me somehow. The next time I stopped I was in Kentucky near the Missouri state line. I repeated my routine from last night and got a change of clothes and Minnies food and water and this time only the book I already started reading. I did set Minnie up then showered, ate and then read. Again the next morning got repacked and off we went. Now we backtracked south and by the end of the day we went a bit further and stopped near Tulsa. This time I took the second book along with everything else and read about half of it before falling asleep. Next time we stopped was in Dallas and that night I finished the second book. Now we turned back east and made it to Texarkana and I stopped to read the first half of the third and final of the books. Finally we made it to New Orleans and I disguised my identity as per the instructions I was given and signed a 6 month lease on a small house within walking distance of Bourbon Street. I found a job at a little coffee shop and settled in. I moved all of my furniture in that night magically and arranged it, went to the grocery store and didn't buy too much just in case I needed to make a quick escape again. I finished the third book that night and began to practice as best I could.

Over the course of the next month I managed to get pretty good at using and controlling my magic properly. I went out every other weekend and cut loose to blow off some steam. I came across a voodoo shop while exploring the city one day and the owner knew who I was as soon as I walked in. She came up to me and told me she foresaw my arrival and gave me another two books to read and told me I had to leave New Orleans in another month or risk being caught. She explained that she was a part of a magical bloodline as well and had visions to warn me of the impending danger. I thanked her and went home to read. Her books were about voodoo magic and were quite enlightening. I told my landlord I would be leaving again in a month and paid the early lease termination fee in advance. I gave him the exact date I would be leaving and told him the key would be pushed under his office door the night I left. He wasn't pleased to lose me but when I told him a stalker found me and I thought I would die if I didn't run again he understood.

I studied the books over the next month and practiced even harder. When the month was up I left in the middle of the night with everything packed up. Before I left I used the landline for the last time to call my mom and grandmother to let them know all about New Orleans and that I was leaving as soon as I hung up the phone. They were relieved that I was ok and told me they put more money on my prepaid credit card they gave me before I left. On the road again I headed west back into Texas. I made it to Houston by morning and found a place I could rent month to month. I moved in and spent another 2 months re-reading and practicing even more. When two months were up I packed and left again. This time I headed north and over the course of days I ended up in Milwaukee and repeated the process. I was getting pretty good with my magic and called my mom and grandmother again on the landline just before I left for my next destination. The next city I called home from was Seattle and again repeated the same process after 2 months. It was a shame because I enjoyed Seattle as much as I did New Orleans and Houston. Next stop was Los Angeles and then Las Vegas followed by Phoenix and then to really confuse anyone tracking me I went to Colorado Springs. I was finally ready to face whatever came my way so I began the long journey home to Virginia.

When I got to St Louis I stopped for a couple of months and decided to explore Canada and the north east part of the US before heading home and refine my magical skills. I enjoyed Alaska and Canada because I loved cold weather. I finally arrived in New York City and had an incredible time exploring that city as well. There was a problem though that I didn't know, that was the headquarters of both the vampire and werewolf leadership. I was spotted fairly quickly but was oblivious that I was being followed and observed the entire time I was there.