Chapter 16
A Lesson in Magick
I let my eyes wander generously over Alexander's body as he brought the car roaring to life, and found myself thinking that if you were to put aside the arrogance and hot temper, he'd actually be attractive.
What with his sculpted features, amber flecked eyes, and the thick locks of blue-black hair that framed his face effortlessly.
"Enjoying the view?" He asked with a satisfied smirk, raising a dark brow at me mockingly.
I jerked my head away as if he had hit me and felt my cheeks begin to burn, embarrassed that he caught me staring and somehow sure that he heard what I was thinking.
"I was just wondering when you were going to stop checking yourself out in the rear view mirror and start explaining what the hell faith trust and pixie dust has to do with my shifting." I snapped, mentally reminding myself not to bother looking at Alexander as anything other than a nuisance who on rare occasion let an empathetic side of him come out.
He rolled his eyes, but the triumphant grin still danced on his lips as we pulled away from my house and back onto the main road.
"You were the only one doing the checking out," He purred, clearly enjoying our back and forth much more than I was. "But don't feel bad, I've been known to work my charm on plenty of girls with stronger resolves and smoother lies than you."
Is he serious?
"First of all, I wasn't checking you out, so shut up. Second of all if all you're going to do is be an asshole I will gladly walk back to Valerod myself and ask Akshana about magick because I know for a fact that she won't act like an immature testosterone driven teenage boy when I ask her."
I didn't pull my eyes away from the scenery passing by my window, but for a moment of priceless conversational silence, Alexander had no witty self reverential comebacks, and I let myself smile the slightest bit.
"Fine, there's no need to go flinging yourself out of a moving vehicle just to try to get away from your attraction to me." He sighed with a theatrical amount of grandeur.
"Alexander so help me god," I began through clenched teeth. "I am about five seconds away from shoving my foot so far up your-"
"Alright alright calm down, I'll tell you." He interrupted, the jesting in his tone gone.
"Thank you," I muttered begrudgingly, pulling my feet up onto the seat and hugging my knees to my chest.
"What do you want to know, specifically?" He asked while we were stopped at a small intersection, the few cars with a green light moseying by as if they hadn't a care in the world.
"What did you mean when you said that you found me because I have magick in my blood?" I turned my eyes back to him, but kept my cheek resting on my knees.
At first he was quiet, most likely trying to find the right words to say. Then with a messy tousle of his hair that didn't seem to actually ruin it whatsoever, he began.
"All beings with abilities, powers, gifts, whatever you wanna call it, have magick in their blood. And when you're near another magickal being, you can sense it. It sort of feels like...like a tingling in your bones. Like a live wire is running through your body. Anyways, magick is passed down through your biological parents, or in some cases just one of them. It's sort of like, if your parents were good at chess then you're probably good at chess, only obviously chess and the ability to essentially imprison someone in their own mind are entirely different things."
"Wait a minute, that's a thing? People can do that?" I asked incredulously, not bothering to hide my disturbed shock.
After all, could you imagine? Wandering through a maze with no end and no beginning, essentially living forever only to be tortured by your own thoughts, fears, and guilt? It would be enough to make even the strongest person break.
"Yes, people can." Alexander replied tersely, his tone strained. "And it's really not fun, trust me."
I opened my mouth to ask how it felt when it happened to him, and why in the hell it did, but he shot me down with a glare so sour it could've curdled milk straight from a cows udder.
So instead I asked, "How many different abilities are there exactly?"
He turned his eyes back to the road and let his face relax as he answered, "Theoretically an infinite amount. Two people may have the same abilities, but with slightly different boundaries to them, or slightly different forms through which they can be used, and when they reproduce it can show up differently in their child. Especially if they end up with another abled."
"You know all of this is really quite convoluted." I scoffed, twirling a lock of my hair around my fingertip. "The fairy tales didn't do this shit justice."
By now, the abandoned school that marked the entrance to Valerod was in sight, looking slightly less decrepit in the distance.
"Tell me something then?" I kicked my feet up onto the dashboard and leaned back into the worn seat. "How come there are so many people with shifting abilities? Me, Adam, you, Akshana? If there are hypothetically an infinite number of abilities, why does it not seem that way?"
Keeping one hand draped over the wheel, Alexander's other hand shot out and smacked my feet down irritably, though not overly so.
"Because" he enunciated, bringing his hand back to rest on the stick shift. "Shifting is the most common form of magick. Most people you'll meet who have magick, are shifters. Sort of like most people have brown eyes, and only a few have say, gray eyes. And I said theoretically not hypothetically. There is a difference you know."
"You're like an encyclopedia of metaphors aren't you?" Ignoring his haughty correction, I stopped playing with my hair to smirk over at him with an expression that I hoped was just the right amount of condescending.
Maybe it was immature of me, but he knew exactly how to push my buttons, and it seemed only fair if I did the same to him. I guessed that was how siblings must've felt, but I never had any so I wouldn't really know exactly.
"Are you always such a smart ass?" Though the question was snappy, he had a light heartedness to his tone.
"Only whenever I breathe," I replied sweetly, batting my lashes.
Suddenly, the car was pulled to a stop with a sudden jerk, making my body fly towards the windshield like a rag doll.
I expected that when I looked up I would've seen some lost little kid chasing a ball, or a stray dog hobbling away blindly, either of which would explain why stopping so suddenly was necessary, but the only thing that moved in the small lot next to the school was an abandoned plastic bag, drifting humbly in the wind like a tumbleweed.
When I looked back over at Alexander, there was a hint of a sly grin on his face that I only caught as he pulled himself from the drivers seat while mumbling quietly under his breath, "Good to know."
Then he let the door drift closed behind him, leaving me alone in the car with the keys still in the ignition and the engine still residually warm.
I kicked the door open carelessly, no longer worrying about being gentle with his precious car, and stomped after him with half a mind to wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze until he would undoubtedly throw me back onto the ground.
"I am gonna kick your pretty boy ass!" I screeched after him with his back still turned to me.
"Good to know you think I have a pretty ass!" He called back over his shoulder.
Unbelievable.
***
"You were right to tell me about this."
We were in the throne room with Akshana, explaining all that had happened with my mother.
Akshana, however, wasn't actually sitting in the throne. Instead she was sprawled out on the floor in a pair of loose fitting jeans, her hair falling down her bare shoulders in tight ringlets.
It was the most casual I'd seen her, but somehow she looked more elegant in a tank top than she did in a finely stitched dress.
She looked up from the piles of pictures and papers laid out in front of her and the light above made her hair look woven with scarlet.
"Based on what you've told me and what I've previously learned, Kaylee's mother may be even less safe to be around then she was before."
Her and Alexander exchanged a look that I didn't quite understand, and irritation bristled through me.
"You two obviously know a lot more than you're letting on, so can you please stop talking about me like I'm not in the room and explain why my mom has turned into some sort of sober neat freak?"
Akshana stood and brushed the nonexistent dirt from her legs, eyeing me warily. "There is a lot you don't yet know or understand Kaylee," She said, as if that was an explanation.
"Yeah, no shit. Alexander already gave me the speech, so would you care to enlighten me?"
She pursed her lips distastefully and turned away, running her fingers slowly through her tangled hair and pacing back and forth.
"It doesn't make sense fully to me yet, which is why I'm hesitant to explain seeing as I won't be able to answer the questions I'm sure this will raise but..." She sighed and turned back to face me. "We believe that your mother may be gone, and she may never come back."
My brows furrowed, not at all understanding her cryptic answer. How could she be gone if she's sitting at home right now?
Seeing my expression, Alexander thought it best to step in then. "What Akshana means by that is that there are certain people, ableds I mean, who we like to call inserts. They have the ability to essentially implant themselves into someone else's body, and take control. So based on your description of your mom before, we're guessing that's what happened to her now."
"But why would anyone want to do that to my mother? It isn't like she's some millionaire or superstar or anyone who matters, she lives in a run down two bedroom and drinks herself half to death every day for gods sake!"
None of this was adding up, and I was more than annoyed with the fact that they were trying to plaster answers onto my questions frivolously, although it wasn't as if I had any answers myself. Not that that was news.
"Well...that's where it gets kind of weird." Alexander muttered, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck and looking away from me.
"Oh, you mean more weird than it already is right now? Glorious." I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.
"The thing is," He began patiently, ignoring my bitchy attitude. "Inserts typically don't use their ability arbitrarily. They use it for a purpose, and rarely for personal gain unless they're younger. So either an insert saw something they could gain from trying to take control over your mom, or someone paid one of them to."
We were all silent after that, though I had a feeling I was the only one who actually needed a moment to process what he was saying.
"Neither of those are really good," He whispered when no one said anything.
No shit.
"Why would someone want to control my mother? I'm sorry but this still isn't making any sense to me. Even if someone paid an insert to do that, what could they gain from being her?"
"That's what we can't figure out, exactly," Akshana sighed again, clearly not happy about her lack of knowledge, although it was obvious she only saw it as that and not my life falling apart like it had been doing ever since I met her.
"Okay well. Clearly this is getting us absolutely nowhere. So you guys have fun brainstorming, I'm gonna go now before you have more useless bad news for me."
Not waiting for them to reply, I promptly left the throne room and ignored the scalding burn of their eyes on my back.
Since she had no way of knowing before, I doubted that was what Akshana had called for me about, but if she wanted to talk about it it would have to wait. If I stayed in that room for any longer I probably would've exploded, and seeing as we were underground and I couldn't exactly get some fresh air without leaving, I just wanted to get some space from the two harbingers of doom and gloom.
All I could think about was how I wished more than ever to be normal, that none of this had ever happened, that I hadn't met Alexander or Akshana or discovered the truth about myself.
I wandered down the wide corridors with this in mind, ignoring the gawking and glaring of the unfamiliar faces of other Valerod residents and instead just watching my feet move back and forth against the uneven ground. Before long, I found myself standing in front of the familiar door to Adams prison.
I guess it made sense that I had ended up here.
Sure he was an abled too, but maybe talking to him made me feel a shred of normalcy, however brief. Maybe it was because he was the only one I actually got along with, or that he was the closest thing I had had to a friend for awhile. It didn't matter, because I liked him, and I wasn't going to feel any better about anything that was going on if I stayed around Akshana and Alexander.
Nudging the door open quietly, I craned my head inside to see if he was awake, and saw that he was sitting up straight, smiling warmly at me as if he had expected me all along.
"Come on in," His voiced reached me easily in the echo of the hollowed out room, though he couldn't have spoken in more than a whisper.
I felt my own mouth stretch into a shy smile of its own as I slunk into the room, closing the door gingerly behind me.
"I didn't mean to come by unannounced, I just..." I sighed and plopped down on the cold floor, crossing my legs and trying not to look defeated. "well I was feeling kind of shitty and I didn't really know where else to go."
Hearing me say that, his smile stretched even wider. "Well, I'm glad you came. I could use the company."
His hand snaked out from the chilly darkness shrouding him and landed gently on my own, making me jump at first. But when I realized it was just him, I let my fingers close around his, and smiled up at him gratefully.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked with gentle concern, as if he knew better than to pry but still wanted to help.
I eyed him cautiously at first, unsure of whether or not to confide in him. But when his smile didn't waver and his eyes just watched me warmly, I decided it wouldn't hurt to talk to a somewhat friend about it all.
And so, with his hand still locked onto mine, I dove into all that had happened, starting from the very beginning, from when I first discovered everything.
During every moment while I talked, his eyes never left me once. He simply sat by me with his body as close to the bars that separated us as possible, and nodded along occasionally, not interrupting.
When I finished, he hesitated only a moment to make sure there was nothing else I wanted to say.
"It'll be okay Kaylee. I know it's a lot to take in and it's kind of overwhelming, but it will all work itself out in the end. I promise. And if you wanna talk, I'm here for you. You know where to find me after all."
I paused, looking in his eyes and seeing only honest caring looking back out of them.
"Thank you Adam. That's very sweet of you." I whispered, and he nodded softly before pulling his hand back.
Seemed like everyone was holding my hand today.
"How about we practice some more? To get your mind off of things?" He offered, stretching lazily in his cell enough that I could hear his joints pop.
I nodded, pulling myself to my feet and cracking my knuckles in welcome anticipation.
"What should we do today?"
"I've had some time to plan for this," He murmured, a glint of excitement in his eyes. "See that flower over there?" He reached a hand out of the cell to point at a small rose growing out of a thick crack in the ceiling, upside down.
"How is that even growing? Shouldn't it be growing up, and we would only see the roots?"
He chuckled and pulled himself up carefully, using the rusted bars of his cell for support.
"Yes, if it was grown naturally. But from when you came to visit me before, I was able to harness a little of your ability and I used it to grow that. It'll probably die soon anyways since there's basically no light or water here for it, but I just wanted to see if it would even work."
"You harnessed my ability? How did you do that?" I should've been more upset, but all I really felt was curiosity. It wasn't like he took enough that I even noticed anyways, though I'm sure if it was Alexander who had done it I would've been on a murderous rampage.
"The rust from the cage, it's worked it's way into the walls and the ground, so when you came and you touched it, a little of your ability was absorbed, enough that I could take it from the ground itself. I didn't even realize it happened until you left, but I figured I might as well have tried it out."
"Why didn't you use it to break out? You could've been free this whole time!"
It bewildered me that he would use it on something so trivial when he could've used it instead to take back his freedom, which seemed like the logical thing to do.
"It wasn't nearly enough to do that," He laughed, leaning his head against one of the bars and smiling at me.
"Oh."
"But even if it was, I wouldn't try to break out. I'm not guilty of what they charged me for, and breaking out would just make me seem like I was. If I'm going to get out, I'm going to get out fair and square, and not have to hide like a criminal."
"That's, that's very honest of you," I said quietly, surprised. If it was me, I would've broken out at the first chance I had gotten and wrecked havoc on whoever had put me there in the first place. Guess he was a bigger person than me.
"Yeah I guess..." He murmured. And I could've sworn he looked a teeny bit bashful. "But anyways do you want to get practicing now?"
"Oh yeah, right, yeah sure," I felt my cheeks warm a little, somehow embarrassed that I embarrassed him.
"So uh," He cleared his throat and pointed to the rose again uncomfortably. "Just make that rose grow down toward the ground. It might be a little difficult because you're used to Shifting inanimate objects, but it'll be easy once you get the hang of it."
"Alright, I'll try it." I didn't know why he was acting weird, why we were both acting weird, but either way he was helping more than anyone had and he was better company than anyone else I could think of, so I brushed the awkwardness aside and focused on the task at hand.
Inhaling deeply, I let my lids flutter shut and my hands rise up, palms out and fingers splayed. I brought my mind to the place that was becoming easier and easier to go to with time, and focused my energy on the flower and only the flower. The way its stem curled, and the petals peeled outwards, and the vibrancy of the color in an otherwise colorless room.
And then, I opened my eyes.
And absolutely nothing had happened.
Adam laughed faintly, trying to cover it up with a throaty cough, and I scowled over at him poisonously.
"Sorry, it's just, you get this look on your face."
He scrunched up his nose and squeezed his eyes shut so hard that wrinkles lined his face, then puffed up his cheeks. The end result made him look like a kid trying to hold their breath for as long as they can manage.
"I do not look like that!" I protested, but I could feel my skin getting hot.
"No no, it's fine, I think it makes you look really..." He trailed off, shrugging away the rest of his sentence. "Doesn't matter. Just, try again, I promise I won't laugh this time. Try focusing your energy from the deepest parts of you, and it might be a little easier."
"Fine," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "But if you laugh I'm leaving!"
"I won't laugh," He said, and he held up his pinky. "I pinky promise."
"Good, because if you laugh I can tell you exactly where your entire hand is going after I break it off."
I closed my eyes once more, and concentrated on breathing evenly.
Inhale, and picture the rose clawing its way out of the crack in the ceiling. Exhale and focus my energy on it.
Inhale, and this time do what wasn't necessary for me to use my shifting before; pull myself from all of the darkest corners of my mind. Exhale, and root myself in making the flower grow.
Inhale, Exhale. Inhale, Exhale.
Then, for a second time, I opened my eyes.
And Adam gasped sharply.
To my surprise, the rose hadn't grown at all. Instead, what it had done was shrivel and wither right in front of us. The petals had browned, blackened, and fallen off one by one, floating downwards pitifully before hitting the ground and disintegrating. The stem curled in on itself, turning hard and crunchy, then into nothing but dust, the thorns on the stem plinking to the ground quietly once it was dead.
We were both hushed by the sight before us, tension growing in the air between us.
"Oh my god, what..what did I do?" I stuttered, all of the blood draining from my face and my stomach knotting. "I didn't mean to, I swear, I was just trying to-"
"I think I know why someone put an Insert on you," Adam interjected quietly, still staring at where the rose once was.
"Why?" I whispered, but I had a feeling that for once I didn't want to know the answer.
"You have don't have just any kind of magick in you." He began, his face looking as pale and cold as mine felt.
"You have dark magick, Kaylee."
***
A/N: Uh-oh! Looks like Kaylee's troubles are just getting started aren't they?
So what did you guys think of the update?
I know a lot of you are silently hoping that Kaylee and Alexander might get together eventually, so I figured I'd throw in a little of the scene in the beginning just for you guys! :D
But aside from the bickering between them, what are your opinions on what's going on with Kaylee's Shifting? Thoughts? Predictions? Critiques?
Anyways, I hope this update wasn't too long! I was thinking of cutting it into two parts but I decided it would flow better if it was all one, I hope you guys don't mind!
One last thing, sorry about the update taking such a long time. I'm trying to make all of my stories the best that they can be as cheesy as that sounds, and so I took a little more time to work on each of them than usual. Plus, I typically spread out my writing time over a few days, because I want to make sure that my work isn't half assed if you know how I mean.
But anyways! Thank you again for all your support, whether it be in the form of a vote, comment, or even just reading to the end of the authors note! :) You guys are all so amazing and I still am awestruck everyday at how much you love this and my other stories.
I really wouldn't have pursued my love of writing if it wasn't for all of you. But before I get too sappy, I think I'll end this authors note with one final THANK YOU, and rest assured the next chapter will be coming, chalk full of drama of all sorts!
Love you guys!
-abn