Seaside, California September 4, 2012
Celesta
I could feel myself being roused from my slumber, first I heard the chatter of someone saying my name repeatedly. Something swiped across my face, causing me to jolt awake with a yelp. My hand reached for my now stinging cheek, I saw Lily standing at the edge of the living room couch, grinning at me like a retard. We had a pact, when we were children, we had a habit of slapping each other across the face to wake one another up. It was stupid I know but we were eight.
"Did you have to slap me?" I grumbled.
It was just us in the living room. The sun blazed through the tall bay windows; the vaulted ceiling was as tall as the house. Lily came and sat beside me, she looked better than she did earlier. I wish today was just a dream, but I felt something deep inside me, magic wanting to come to life under my skin, it felt destructive.
Getting up from the couch I asked, "Do you feel it too?"
Lily glanced down at her hands which were trembling. "I might be feeling it more than you, I've been a shaking mess for the past hour. My mother is making us rings to deactivate our magic," she replied. "She said it would stop my nightmares."
This whole keeping Lily in the dark was ridiculous. Her mother, her father, Scott; everyone was lying to her. It was stupid. She was like a sheep surrounded by wolves.
"I'm sure that will solve everything," I muttered sarcastically.
Looking around the living room, I noticed something odd. The mantle to the fireplace was bare, the usual glass objects Laura had were gone, and even their large flat screen was missing. Every breakable object was out of sight, expensive ones anyway. They could have just put us in a bedroom instead of moving everything.
It wasn't like Lily and I was causing things to explode randomly. Yet.
I looked out the window, their pool was to the right of the deck. The deck had a beautiful view of the ocean, especially since they lived up the cliff-side.
"What happened after I passed out?" Lily asked. "I know Scott brought me home somehow, but the bastard just walked out the damn door when I woke up."
"Yeah instead of using a car like a normal person he just ran 10 miles home with you," I chuckled.
"What?" she gawked, "How the hell would he do that?"
I no longer cared what everyone thought or said, she was finding out now.
"Uh because he's a vampire?" I quipped.
"He is a what?" Lily gasped, her entire body becoming rigid.
She collapsed to her knees suddenly, gripping the sides of her head as if she were in pain.
"Lily?!" I panicked, grabbing onto her as she started to shake.
"Make them stop!" Lily screamed as she let her head go. She looked up at me, her eyes glowing.
"Make what stop?!" I shrieked.
"I keep seeing them, everyone fighting, and I-I-I'm covered in blood," she stammered.
I hesitated, knowing how I flung Zach with my mind earlier, staying away was the safest option.
"Lily, what are you remembering?" I asked as I took my hands off of her.
"What are you talking about!" she shrieked. "It's the nightmares! They won't fucking stop!"
The sound of cracking glass caught my attention, my eyes widening in horror as I noticed the windows had large cracks forming in them.
"Lily snap out of it! None of it is happening to you!" I pleaded, and she gripped the sides of her head again.
The windows shattered with a horrible sound as I dived for cover on the other side of the couch.
It sounded like a bomb went off, the glass exploded everywhere. I peeked my head up from the side of the couch to see Lily passed out on the floor.
Despite the sheer amount of glass, most it of blew out on the deck. Lily didn't appear to have any on her. Though there was a good bit inside in front of the now shattered window inside.
I heard a commotion of voices from the other end of the house. Did they just now hear Lily acting like she was from a Paranormal Activity movie?
I used the back of the couch to get back onto my feet. I crept back over to Lily carefully and sank beside her. She was knocked out cold.
"Oh my god," I heard Laura cry.
She stumbled onto the floor beside me and lifted Lily's head onto her lap. Cynthia and Elle came running in as well, their expressions shocked at the sight before them.
"Do you know what is going on with her?" I accused, narrowing my eyes at Laura.
Laura glanced at me, her green eyes were bloodshot. "She passed out because of the overuse of magic. You two aren't supposed to wield anything yet, it is bound to drain you quickly," Laura sighed. Looking over towards the destroyed windows she added, "Especially of that magnitude... Samuel is going to have a cow."
"I already figured that," I retorted. "I'm talking about the fact that her nightmares are suppressed memories resurfacing. Scott told me what you asked him to do, I just want to know why?"
Looking down at her daughter, Laura smiled sadly. "I didn't want any of this to happen, it was a mistake to have Scott erase her memories, but I wanted her to have a normal childhood for as long as she could, but I can see that has ended today."
"Could Scott just undo the compulsion then?" I asked.
Her magic was eroding some of the compulsion, but it still was not enough.
"That I do not know," Laura confessed, "He may be able to but once a witch has their magic they cannot be compelled."
Great.
"What are we going to do about that woman?" I asked.
"We will let the coven deal with her," Laura assured. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "My priority right now is to get your magic under control."
"Which I have covered. But first, how shall we clean up the mess? With brooms and a pan? Or the fun way?" a voice chuckled from the other side of the room.
Cynthia stood there with Elle.
The fun way? I raised my brows in confusion, Elle glanced at her mother worryingly.
"I rather replace the windows than accidentally impale one of our kids with glass shards!" Laura hissed.
"What?!" Elle gasped aloud.
Cynthia rolled her eyes, "We won't impale anyone Lori, that happens if you don't do it right. Besides, it will save you and Samuel some money," Cynthia walked over to her. "Why don't we give the kids a good show, show them that magic can be well," she paused and turned towards me. "Breathtaking."
I'm sure it can be breathtaking; it wasn't like Lily almost had a heart attack just moments ago.
Laura sighed but nodded.
"Celesta step back a bit," Cynthia instructed.
I stepped over the glass shards and stood beside Elle.
"You're so lucky to have magic right now," Elle whispered in my ear.
Was I lucky? All it has done so far is cause problems.
Laura and Cynthia intertwined both of their hands together, their arms crossing. They both started to rapidly speak in Latin, too fast for me to comprehend.
Suddenly, shard after shard of glass began to rise in the air, almost like it was in slow motion. I stood there frozen, in complete awe, the sunlight glistened off the glass.
Lily jolted awake, I looked over towards her. She gaped at the sight before her, at a loss of words, as were the rest of us. I had seen magic do some cool things, my mother saving a few glass plates that I dropped as a child, my father bending the elements to his will, but the most devastating side of it, they never showed me it.
This showed its silent beauty of it. As the glass started to fuse once again into windowpanes, the last shards that were outside looked iridescent, they twirled back into place. I felt like I was tripping out on acid or something.
"Well damn," I blurted out.
"Now that that's in order, I made these to help keep your magic at bay," Cynthia murmured as she pulled out two rings from her pocket.
She handed one to me and Lily.
They were silver with archaic markings on them, I memorized one of them, a marking that meant silencing. That was an effective way to cut a witch's power. I didn't know what the others meant. I just put it in my pocket.
Lily slid the ring onto her index finger. Almost instantly she was calm, eerily calm.
"Lily? Honey, look at me," Laura coaxed. Lily turned her gaze directly at her mother. "Are you alright?"
"Considering everything that just happened," Lily replied almost robotically. "No, I am not alright. Do you care to explain everything that you've been keeping from me?"
"Yes, when your father comes home, and when everyone is gone, we will tell you everything," Laura cried. "I swear it."
An hour after Laura and Cynthia demonstrated that they were cooler than us, Samuel, Lily's father, got home from work. After Laura told him what had happened, he was livid at first but then grew worried as she told him about the day's events.
Lily and I were in the dining room with Elle. They were picking out paint colors for some clients' basement remodel. The two of them loved designing, no doubt they would join their mothers in the business after graduation. I leaned against the wall, eavesdropping on the conversation between Laura, Samuel, and Cynthia.
They were discussing what to do about Seana, and perhaps having the coven come and kill her. My parents were heavily involved in the coven, whereas Lily's parents haven't been active in it for several years.
"Laura, you know they won't do anything unless they see she's killing people," Samuel explained.
Tell my father, he would kill her in a heartbeat. But wait, he was away for God knows how long. But I know what he was doing, he was hunting down rogue supernaturals and capturing them. I didn't want to know what he did next.
"Fuck the coven, they're a bunch of assholes," Cynthia spat.
"Well those assholes are still your family," Samuel reminded.
"Samuel, stop it," Laura pressed. "This isn't the time right now."
"Lori, how do you expect them to protect themselves from this woman?" Cynthia ridiculed. "We need to take this matter into our own hands, even if we have to go to their school and watch them."
"Francis teaches there you know," Samuel chimed in. "He's our daughter's art teacher."
Wait, he was a witch? Then his last name clicked, Hathaway. I felt like an idiot. But who the hell was this Francis Hathaway? Before I realized it I was already making my way toward them.
They all stared at me awkwardly.
"I know self-defense," I muttered.
Cynthia turned to look at me, her expression somber. "One of the things I hate about being a witch is that we are still human. The strength of even a newly turned vampire is enough to kill a witch, especially a young and inexperienced one," Cynthia went on. "I am not underestimating you, but you must realize that even having magic may not be enough."
"No, Aunt Cyn," I smiled. "Having my friends right there at my back is enough."
"It may be enough," Cynthia murmured. "Or it may not."
I grimaced.
"So, are you going to tell us how our magic came early?" I heard Lily grumble.
"It is very rare but sometimes a witch may get their magic early. The two of you are both descended from the leaders of our coven," Laura put forth. "It just so happens your magic is more potent than a normal witch. Though between the time when you get it early to when you turn eighteen, it is a very delicate time. Your magic hasn't settled yet, so it can be dangerous if not controlled."
"Well, you always kept the supernatural away from me. And now it turns out you went so overboard you had my memory wiped," Lily cried. "So since you never taught me anything, I have to wear this damn ring till my magic settles?"
"No," her father sighed. He got up from the couch and walked over to us. "We will teach you control and how to protect yourself. I just regret not doing it sooner, we didn't expect any of this to happen so suddenly."
Lily just shook her head and laughed in disbelief. I felt the same as she.
Were my parents aware that it happened to me too? While Lily was directly descended from our coven's leader. Her grandmother. My mother's grandfather was our leader long ago. His eldest son was our current leader's father.
"Alright, but I want to know why you had Scott wipe my memory," Lily demanded.
Her mother got up from the couch, "We will," she replied sadly. She glanced at us standing there, "But I rather it be just us honey if you all don't mind."
Cynthia nodded without saying anything and got up and motioned for Elle and me to follow her to the kitchen.
I followed without hesitation, I didn't want to be in the shouting match that was about to follow.
LILY'S parents spoke to her for well over an hour outside on the patio. We could still hear their shouts, but it slowly got calmer once they convinced their daughter it was for her own good. I rolled my eyes when I heard that part.
During that time I called my mother and told her what was happening here. When she told me she had a feeling my magic would come early, she still made sure if it did that I would be prepared.
Which I was in a way, but I still had a lot to learn. Lily was going to have a really hard time, thanks to her parents' brilliant idea of sheltering her to death.
Laura and Samuel came back inside, both of them looking like they had just run a marathon. It must be tiring to be overprotective parents. Cynthia and Lily's parents went back into the living room, perhaps to talk more about the Seana problem.
I peered out the window and saw Lily standing there alone. I sighed and strode out the doors toward her.
Lily was standing at the edge of the patio, gazing off at the ocean.
Lily turned her head towards me as I walked over to her. She looked absentminded, twirling the silver band around her finger. She looked like she had been crying.
"Are you okay?" I asked, I grabbed her arm, linking it with mine.
Lily looked towards the ocean again. "I'm mad at my parents for hiding this from me. I know they wanted to protect me but damn," she muttered.
Lily's reasons for being angry were justified, her parents did think they were doing what was best. She did have a normal childhood, an oblivious one, a happy one.
"I know of every scar I have. But this, I have no idea. It must have been so bad, that not even vampire blood could have healed it completely," she sighed as she traced her fingers over her collarbone, shifting her cardigan slightly.
A few thin marks on her shoulder, barely visible, were there. I never gave much thought about it, she had other childhood scars from the number of times she had fallen or tripped over thin air; she was that clumsy.
I felt a slight resentment go through me, but I knew that it was an accident. Lily knew that too, she showed no anger at Zach for it.
I heard the French doors open and close, Elle peeked her head out and gave me a tight smile. it was time to go.
"I'll call you later, okay?" I said and gave Lily a tight hug.
Afterward, I followed Elle through the door, Cynthia was holding her purse and car keys. I lifted my backpack and slung it over my shoulder.
Cynthia and Elle were in the foyer, putting on their shoes. I overheard Samuel and Laura talking to each other, though their tones did not sound happy.
Elle and her mother glanced at one another and quietly walked out the door, I followed suit.
I got into the backseat of Cynthia's van; Elle got into the passenger seat. My gaze drifted out the window, we were getting closer to the bridge. Elle put earbuds in, an interesting thing about her, was she seemed all dainty and timid, but that girl was in love with dark heavy metal bands. I could hear the low buzz of it from back here. She always said it helped her focus more, or she just wanted to drown out the world around her.
As we drove, my mind wandered to what Cynthia had said to Samuel, why was she so against our coven? I knew she didn't exactly follow the coven's rules. Hell, she wasn't even in the coven.
"Cynthia?" I asked, "Why do you hate our coven?"
"It is a long story my dear, but let's just say there are factions within the coven that are stuck in their old ways," she said darkly.
That got my attention, my head snapped to her. Cynthia looked at me through the rear-view mirror, her green eyes having a curious glint. Elle was so engrossed in her phone I thought she would be swallowed whole into it, it wasn't like she could hear us anyway.
"Factions?" I asked, eager for the response.
"Well, there were factions," Cynthia mused. "My grandmother specifically. She taught me things you would not normally teach a young witch. She also detested humans and I was with Elle's father at the time. My father also sadly shared his mother's views, but they are no longer affiliated with the coven anyway. I moved to Arizona, had Elle and Kenny and the rest was history."
I did know their father had died a few years ago from a car accident.
"The only family I ever need is my children, my brother, and my wonderful cousins," Cynthia proclaimed.
By that, she meant all of us.
We pulled up into my driveway, I thanked Cynthia for taking me and got out. As the van was pulling out, Elle rolled her window down, "I'll see you bright and early!" she shouted and waved. I waved back.
Before I stepped any closer to the porch, I pulled out the ring Cynthia made for me. Those markings just didn't seem right. I slid it back into my pocket; I didn't think I wanted to wear it. It just felt, wrong.
Taking a deep breath, I opened the front door, the familiar smell of jasmine filled the air. My mother liked to burn incense and shit; It was weird. I saw her in the living room, she was on a mat, doing some weird yoga pose.
"Hey, Mom!" I squeaked.
She got up off the mat, and walked over to me; she seemed out of breath.
"How are you honey?" she asked, smiling. I could hear the television shouting to do more yoga poses.
"Just peachy," I imparted.
"I know things are in a knot right now, but we will get through it alright?" my mother coaxed and wrapped an arm around me. "Besides, I ordered your favorite pizza for dinner."
I started to grin at that. Even if hell came to earth, my mother would always try to take my mind off of the bad things.
So that night was any normal night, except that it rained like a monsoon outside. Mom filled me in about where Dad was, he was in New Mexico tracking a witch who was doing human sacrifices.
That will cause some nightmares tonight.
I had called Lily, and we talked for hours, her droning on about her parents, and me talking about what happened during gym. Along with how I could care less if Scott burnt to ash, I just had an innate dislike towards him. But it was clear Zach was close with him, so I would just have to tolerate him. Lily didn't understand why I was infatuated with Zach all of a sudden, we just clicked, and that was that.
It was almost midnight when I got comfortable enough to drift off to sleep.