Storm's POV
I was on the bus back from the test when I got the good news. I got a text telling me that I'd got a place on the team, and not as a sub. I was overjoyed at the news, more than anyone else, I imagine. In my crazy world, basketball is what hold me together. It's my glue. Without the normality it provides me, I feel like I would fall apart. I ran a hand through my silvery hair, pushing it out of my eyes and reading the text again in disbelief. I was a sub last season, and I had to make sure what I was seeing was real.
I'm no different to the rest of my classmates, except the family I was born into. I wish I could have been born a human, with human parents, oblivious to the supernatural world around me. But it appears that is not my destiny, as much as I yearn for it to be so.
When I got home, I rushed inside to tell everyone the news. I expected the household to be lively as usual, and for everyone to be doing what they normally do. My brothers lounging on the sofas watching television, my mother sat at the table with her face buried in a book, my father cooking dinner...
But not today.
Today, I walked into silence. Compete and utter silence, except the choking sobs coming from my mother which made my heart ache.
The whole family was sat at the kitchen table. My brothers both had their faces in their hands, and didn't look up when I came in. My father had a chair pulled up next to my mother, an arm wrapped around her reassuringly. She sat, huddled in his embrace, crying into his chest.
It was one of the most heartbreaking sounds I've ever heard, and the worst thing was that of was coming from my mother. My usually smiling, cheerful mother.
My father was the only one who acknowledged my presence. He looked up at me, though I wished he hadn't. His eyes were sad, his expression full of pain. "Take a seat, Storm" he said simply.
I did as he asked, wondering why everyone seemed so down. It's so unlike them, this place is the happiest home I know!
"Storm, grandma passed away today" my father whispered, looking down. I fought the urge to ask which one, because that much was obvious from my mother's reaction. Grandma June had died. Plus, Grandma Joan had already passed away from natural causes.
"How" I whispered, feeling the familiar sting of approaching tears in my eyes. Grandma June was basically the head of our family! Although she didn't possess magic herself, she was the one who passed the gene to my mother, who passed it onto us! She can't be dead...
"A shifter killed her" Robin whispered, raising his head from his hands, revealing that his face was stained with tears. "A shifter called Kaine from the pack we were trying to subdue. But now we have less control over them than ever"
I couldn't fight the tears back any longer, I just let them fall freely down my cheeks. Choking sounds escaped my throat, and it was then that I realised I was crying.
"She can't be dead!" I shouted. I knew I was being insensitive, but in that moment I didn't care. I just wanted someone to say 'haha got you!' and for us all to laugh it off. But nobody did.
I ran to my room, tears cascading down my face, slamming the door shut behind me. "No! No, no no no no no!" I yelled, running to my bed and punching my pillow in frustration. Somebody knocked gently on my door, and it opened slowly to reveal Phoenix.
"Hey" he said softly, coming to sit beside me. He moved to wrap an arm around me, but I shuffled away.
Hurt washed over his expression, but he quickly covered it up with a smile, his dark hair falling over one of his hazel eyes.
"It'll be okay. We all have each other" he said softly, going in for a hug. But I wasn't in the mood for someone to comfort me. Right now, all I wanted was to be left alone.
"Don't touch me" I told him, glaring. Of course I love my brother, but I'm hurting so badly right now I don't want to snap and take it out on him. And I know I'm close.
His eyes started to shimmer in the light with tears as he got up to leave, and it wasn't until he'd left that I realised it wasn't just me he was trying to comfort.
He wanted me to comfort him, too. But that wasn't something I could do right now and it made me feel like the worst brother in the world.
Although I was surrounded by my close family, I'd never felt so alone.
~~~
"Grandma, can I try one?" I asked, pointing at the lemons growing in the garden. Grandma laughed and picked me up, walking towards the small lemon tree.
Grandma June had always loved gardening, but she had always told me it was a big responsibility to look after another living thing's life like she does. I always admired her for that.
"You can try one if you want, but you won't like it" she managed to say through her laughter. I scowled. I don't like being laughed at, and besides, she let me try every other fruit in the garden and I liked them all, so why wouldn't I like the lemons?
She pulled one from the tree and cut it in half with the little pocket knife she carried around with her all the time before handing it to me.
I took the half she offered and took a big bite out of it, expecting it to be sweet. Though it was anything but.
My face scrunched up involuntarily as the sour taste hit my tongue. I dropped the lemon in the dirt and my face made grandma laugh even more.
"I told you, Storm" she chuckled, putting me down. I shook my head.
"No, I like it. See?" I insisted, picking it up and taking another, smaller bite. But my face betrayed me by scrunching up again in disgust.
"The lemon has to be sour in order for it not to get eaten, Storm. If the lemon was sweet like a strawberry, it wouldn't last very long. It's taste is its only defence" grandma told me, putting me down.
"So it's supposed to taste like that?" I asked, gazing up at her. She smiled down at me, nodding.
"Yes. I knew you'd want to try it some day, and when you did I decided that would be the day we told you what you are. I've always been a little quirky, but you already knew that" she said with a wink. "In this cruel world, magic will be your only defence against those that would harm you. You need to remember that this world isn't a nice place"
"Magic, grandma?" I asked in wonder, gazing up at her. She took my hand in hers and turned it over so my palm was facing up, before clasping it with both hands.
"Yes, Storm. It comes from within, you've inherited a very special yet dangerous gift. All the males in the family inherit the magic, for better or for worse" she told me, rubbing my palm gently with her fingers. "And you free the magic through your hands, shape it to your will. If you don't try, you'll never know"
~~~
Grandma's lesson from the day that I first discovered my powers made me think. Is there a spell to bring back the dead? Or at least see their ghosts? If I don't try looking for one, I'll never know, as she taught me.
I'm not sure, but if there is one, I'm going to find it. I just want to talk to her one last time, but I'm doing it mainly for my mother. Maybe she'll feel better if she gets to say a proper goodbye.
If there's a spell, I'll perform it.
I'll bring grandma back.