Mirage (The Great Wattpad Write-Off)

Ultimatum

I peered through the blinds, propping them open with two fingers. He was there again: the same man that had appeared on the corner of Willow and Madison consistently for the past five days.

I had noticed him first on Sunday and thought nothing of it.

I saw him again on Monday and thought he must be waiting for the bus because he was there at the exact same time. But no buses run through the neighborhood except school buses, and not at five in the evening. And no bus ever came.

He was there on Tuesday, but I had to stay at school late, so my mom drove me home that day. He watched our car as we drove away.

Wednesday, he was a few minutes later, but he stayed a lot longer. He was still there, standing in the light of a street lamp. And he was staring right at my window.

Thursday I tried my best to ignore him. I didn't know who he was or why he was there. But he was. He consistently was.

I was about to pull away and tell my mom, until he looked at me. Our eyes locked. I couldn't pretend I wasn't there, I knew he saw me. He smiled briefly, then started walking. But he wasn't walking away from my house-he was walking straight towards it.

I stumbled backward. "Mom," I whispered, then screamed, "MOM!"

I turned and ran down the hall and down the stairs, nearly crashing into her coming out of the kitchen.

"Jesus, what?" she asked, concern evident on her face.

"That guy we saw the other day, he was there but now he's not and he's coming here and I don't know why, what do we do?!" I cried.

"Slow down," she told me, "and tell me that again."

I opened my mouth to speak, but as soon as I did we heard a loud knock on the door. I slammed my jaw shut and I felt my eyes grow wide. My mom's face seemed to drain of color, but she acted strong as she turned to go to the door. "Go upstairs," she mumbled.

She slid the door chain to lock and unlocked the deadbolt so she could crack the door. "How can I help you?" she asked tentatively, but the man just forced the door open, snapping the door chain with a ridiculously strong force. The plate holding the door chain latch popped off and the door slammed against the wall, leaving a deep mark.

My mom started backing away slowly, and I disappeared into the kitchen to get the landline. When I came back, my mom was standing a bit taller and had an angry look on her face.

"Don't do this, Christine," the man growled. "You knew I'd come."

He knows her? I wondered in shock and snuck back out of sight to eavesdrop.

My mom shook her head. "I'm trying to protect my daughter."

"Our daughter," he corrected, and my jaw dropped in shock.

"No!" my mom shouted and pointed her finger at him-my dad?! "She's not your daughter. You lost that right when you tried to turn her. I specifically kept you away to keep her safe."

I was so confused. Turn me? Turn me against my mom? Turn me... into something else?

This crazy person claiming to be my dad visibly rolled his eyes. "Keep her safe? She needs to know what she is; she needs to know her true potential."

I shook my head. This didn't make any sense.

"Let's see what she thinks," he suggested with a smirk, and I gulped. "Emily, come out, why don't you?"

I took a shaky breath, unsure of whether or not I should trust him. He obviously knew my mom, so that had to be something, right? My mom put her head in her hand and shook her head as I slowly made myself visible. The man's face instantly lit up when he saw me.

"Emily!" he exclaimed and opened his arms wide. I did not want to hug him.

My mom looked up at me. "Emily," she said through clenched teeth, "this is your father."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "But... I thought you said he was dead?"

"Really?" My father (apparently; I was still really confused about the whole situation) gave her an unimpressed look.

My mom shrugged. "I wanted to protect her. It was for the best. She doesn't need some magical wizard parading around her life showing her how to make things move wave a magic wand!"

Wait. "Wizard?" I asked. "Wand? Like Harry Potter?"

They both looked at me. "No," my mom hissed.

"Yes!" my father grinned.

"I get a wand?"

"Sort of," my dad said.

My mom rolled her eyes.

"Do I get to go to Hogwarts?"

"No," he told me and chuckled.

"Emily," my mom stopped me from saying anything else, "this isn't a kind of magic you want to be a part of. It's a dark and dangerous magic."

"Emily. Listen to me." My dad walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. "You are my daughter, so you have received my magic. It's a powerful magic that can give you everything you have wanted and more. It can be dangerous, but only if you don't understand how to use it."

I knew this would be one of the most important decisions of my life, and I had to make it after thoughtful planning and contemplation.

"Have you ever felt that you were slightly different from all the other kids? That there was something putting you above all the rest?"

I looked at my mom. She had a concerned look, and it reminded me of the sixteen years that she had been there for me, constantly taking care of me. This man who is supposedly my father hasn't been here. Maybe it was because my mom kept him away, but she always had my safety in her best interest, so I trusted that she did it for a specific reason.

"No," I finally told him. "I don't want your magic."

His face instantly turned sinister. He looked genuinely scary, like he could break my body with the flick of his hand-maybe he could. "You're making a huge mistake," he growled and turned towards the door. Before walking out, he looked straight at my mom and warned, "You'll regret this. You better watch your back." And with that, he walked out and slammed the door.

I instantly ran to my mom and hugged her. I didn't know what would happen or what he'd do to her or us, but I knew deep down that I made the smart decision.

With a weak smile, I told my mom, "I love you."