Pendragon

Chapter 1: The Locket

Chapter 1: The Locket

I went to my room, shut the door and sat on a little chair beside my window. There in the dark, I looked at the sky and tried not to listen to the noise coming from the kitchen. My stepmom, Jane, and my dad are fighting over something downstairs. This is the first time I heard them shout at each other. Jane is a wonderful stepmother. She treats me like her real daughter and I know she's not a type of woman who likes arguments. "NO! I will never leave you both," I heard her cry downstairs. The pain in her voice made me so angry at myself. 'This is definitely my fault,' I thought.

Yesterday morning, Jane's cat, Mr. Whisky, startled me when I was taking a bath. Then the cat suddenly burst into fire. I covered myself with my body towel and tried to kill the fire with a pale of water. But I was late, I have killed Mr. Whisky. I know it was my fault. Stupid things like that happen whenever I get angry or whenever my heart jumps. Now it's guilt. I feel so guilty.

I can't take it anymore. I ran as fast as I can to the kitchen. "Stop!" I shouted at them. I wanted to calm down but all of my emotions are trying to get out of my heart. "Stop, please." That's when I noticed that my eyes were swimming in tears. And their worried eyes met mine. Silence covered the kitchen until my dad spoke, "Alexandria, what are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay in your room?" My father's the only one who calls me Alexandria. Most people including Jane calls me Alex and that's what I prefer. Alexandria Fisher. The name a woman whom I never met gave me. My mother... who disappeared right after my first birthday. 'Who cares?' That's what my brain keeps on telling me but my heart seeks a mother's love and warmth.

I suddenly felt my back hair rise.

I have a bad feeling about this. One look at my dad and I know he can sense it, too. "Dad? You can feel it, can't you?" My dad, still looking around the house as if danger will arise, said in a panicking voice, "Jane... Jane! Look at me dear, go out for a walk with Alexandria for a while." Jane gave my father a curious look. "Why? We have nothing to talk about." "Jane! Leave the house for a while. Explain everything to her. NOW!"

I wiped my nose with a paper towel and followed Jane outside. "I don't know why he needs to shout." Jane mutters to herself as she opens the gate. I put myself back to my senses, gathered my strength and said, "Jane, what happened? It's about me, isn't it? Did I do something weird again?" Jane looked at me and smiled, "Being special is different from being weird, Alex. It depends on you." Special? One of the words which are included in my 'Not Me!' list. "I'm a monster, Jane. I killed Mr. Whisky, I almost killed you on my 12th birthday and I destroyed Uncle Dean's Lamborghini. Now tell me I'm not weird." Then, I ran to a convenience store a few blocks away and she went after me. Her hazel eyes looked straight into my green ones and she explained every detail about their argument a while ago. "It's just... I don't want to leave you two. I feel like something bad will happen to you if I leave. If needed, I'll die for you." Tears start streaming from her puffy eyes. I don't want to break her heart but I think dad is right. "Hey, please stop crying. I'm sorry but I think it's best to let you go and start your life normal again." She was about to reply when the explosion happened.

We hurry back to our house and found it dancing with fire. But the odd thing is, the other houses in the village aren't burning except for ours. I looked at Jane and found her sitting on the floor, hyperventilating. "Jane! Calm down and breathe slowly. Now listen carefully, go to the fifth house on the left side of the convenience store. Mr. Abernathy is a cop, report this to him now and ask for help." She looked at me and I gave her an encouraging look. She stood up and ran on the street as fast as she can. I wanted to get inside our burning house and look for dad but I can't move. Something is pushing me backwards through my chest. I looked under my green shirt and found my heart-shaped locket. Dad gave it to me as a gift on my twelfth birthday. The same day he married Jane and the same day I almost killed her with a knife. The shock their marriage gave me is the reason why my hands started moving by themselves and pointed the knife at Jane's heart. The fear in her eyes put me back to enough senses and stopped my hands from attempting to kill.

My twelfth birthday. The day I wanted to kill her and the day she gained my trust. A reminder to myself that I can't have friends. Or unless, I want them dead.

All the thoughts in my head went blank and a voice talked to me. I suddenly remembered the garden in grandpa's house when I heard her voice. Yes, she is a HER. I can tell from her gentle and soft voice. Her voice which reminds me of my father's smile as if it is the reason he's happy every day. "Stop, my love, you can't go inside. They'll kill you." The voice told me. Something from what she said scared me. 'Who wants to kill me? I neither have a friend nor an enemy,' I thought. Then, I realised I asked the wrong question. "Who are you?" I asked and she told me that someday I'll know who she is.

Then, a purple light blasted from our house. 'Dad!' I thought. I didn't mind the woman's warning. I ran as fast as I can towards the door but someone shouted my name. I looked at the corner of the street and there, I saw Mr. Abernathy and the other cops, Jane and two fire trucks. "Don't even think about it! You'll be burned before you can get out." Jane said in an angry voice. Her tone was changed from fear to anger. But it put away all my worry about her.

It took an hour and a few minutes to kill the fire. A fireman informed me that they found my father and asked me to go there. At first, I hesitated because I don't know if I can handle the truth that he hid for fifteen years. I felt selfish for thinking about my feelings without remembering everything he had given me so I stood up. I went to my dad. I looked at him for the first time after the explosion and I felt like the earth fell down on me. "Dad, who did this to you?" I asked but he just shook his head. "Darling, I need you to go to this address," he gave me a piece of paper and continued, "your godmother Alice will explain everything to you. Now go before they come back." "Who? Dad, tell me! Please!" My father leaned closer to me and kissed my forehead. After that was only... Silence. He moved no more. He left me with a note and a kiss. The kiss that whispered to my heart how much my father loves me. And a note which tells me that I got to do things alone, from now on.

Jane put her hand on my shoulder as if to say that everything's going to be fine but instead of accepting the comfort, I pushed her hand away from me. "Leave, before you die just like him." I said without thinking it might hurt her.