Crimson Echo (30 page)

“You look exactly the same. Is this the way you’ll look for ever?”

“No, I won’t always be this dashing.” He joked. “Eventually I’ll age.”

“How does it work?”
I asked curiously.

“I suppose it’s the magic that we harness. We
age normally until we turn eighteen and then it’s like something triggers our cells to halt the aging process, it’s remarkable really. We’re still working on some theories, but that’s the best one we have so far. You don’t want to get me started, because I’ll never stop talking about it.” He laughed. “The body is such a complex creation. It’s a very fascinating thing.”

“That is fascinating. It seems a lot more interesting the way you tell it.”

“I’m sure you’re just biased.” He smiled as he ushered me up the last steps.

“Maybe I am
a little biased.” As I reached the last three steps they creaked.

“I’ve been meaning to fix that for the last century.” Kane sighed.

“
A century, how long have you lived here?”

“About a century, I guess. Time stops meaning so much when you have an endless supply of it.”

“And how long have you taught at Emporia?”

“
A quarter of a century next August.” He almost bragged. “I had the idea for Emporia a long time ago when my mother was trying to teach us the craft. I realized that there had to be hundreds of witches coming into their powers who could use a proper understanding of their budding abilities.

“Emporia was all your idea?” I asked in admiration.

“Well, I can’t take all the credit. My entire family helped me see this dream come to fruition.”

“If it was your idea why aren’t you the headmaster?”

“Who would believe that an eighteen year old boy is the Dean of a school? That’s where my mother came in and she was more than happy to help.” He opened a door to the left of the staircase and walked inside. “This is my mother’s laboratory. She spends most of her time in here.”

           
I half expected a mad scientist to be working in the bright, white room. There had to be thousands of books all over, neatly packed into the bookshelves—anything you would ever want to know about science. One row was filled with everything pertaining to Anatomy, the next row was Micro-Biology, and the next was a dozen books on cell reproduction and after that Chemistry.

           
There were two large metal tables in the center of the room with Petri dishes under microscopes containing samples of something, but I couldn’t make out what it was. On one end of the table sat six beakers filled with different colored liquids and near the window placed in direct sunlight were twelve small pots with plants growing from them. Against the far wall there was a chalkboard with a complicated equation scrawled out across it and next to it was a large drawing of a double helix.

“This room’s not much fun.” He closed the door and escorted me down the hall.

“What’s that room?” I asked, pointing back at the opposite end of the corridor.

“That’s Sabrina’s room and
that one on the end is my mother’s.” I followed him around the banister to the other side of the staircase. “That’s Kole’s and across the hall from his is Kaleb’s room.”

“Your mom must have been busy.”

“Contraception wasn’t as common as it is now, Tristan.” He seemed condescending.

“I meant raising five
witches, you all must’ve been a handful. I can’t imagine what you all must have been like.” I laughed.

“When we misbehaved we were grounded just like any other kid.”
He informed me.

“How does a mother punish five
supernatural children?”

“We were stripped of our powers until we learned our lesson.”

“That sounds just horrible.” I rolled my eyes.

“It was horrible.
I remember having my powers taken away for a week once because I used my gift to create a bonfire in the living room. It was winter and I wanted to roast marshmallows, but we weren’t allowed to go outside so I sat in the middle of the floor and had my own little cookout.” He laughed. “Mom wasn’t very happy with me. Needless to say I never did that again, I couldn’t stand feeling hum…” He stopped himself.

“I
don’t see my humanity as a weakness.” I put my hand on my hip and glared at him. “Why do you?”

“I didn’t mea
n to imply that being human is…”

“
I know you didn’t.” I said, cutting him off.

            With all of the talk about my humanity it got me to
wonder what it would be like to have a super power or to be strong and fast like Kane. I imagined having the gift of foresight or the ability to shoot laser beams out of my eyes or to fight bad guys with my super mind reading power.

Kane kissed me
on my forehead and brushed my cheek with his warm fingertips. “I love your humanity. I love every part of you.”

           
I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist and leaned into him as he opened the door to his room. I couldn’t wait to see what was behind the door. The room was almost as big as my entire house. My eyes were immediately drawn to the big bay window covered with black drapes. I pulled the curtains back and stared out of the window and it was like the moon was in his backyard staring back at us.

          
The ceiling was tall with large, amber beams at the top.  It reminded me of the wood cabin I stayed at in Colorado when my parents and I took our yearly summer vacations. An elaborate chandelier hung from the center plank and sparkled, casting rainbows around the room and the walls were painted a light moss green, but without the yellow.

          
There was a desk in the corner, near the bay window made of titanium and glass and on top of it sat a large computer screen, bigger than any I’d ever seen. Two large speakers were bolted on either side of the monitor and a shelf above it that held a small collection of discs. An entertainment center was built into the opposite wall and a large flat screen television was placed in the middle.

“You don’t do anything small do you?” I laughed.

“You noticed?” He chuckled as he followed me around the room.

           
Inside of the entertainment center, connected to the television was a video game console. Nearly one hundred games lined the built in shelves. I stared at the monstrosity as he shoved the game box back into it cubby and closed the doors. After he had shut the two swinging doors it looked like it could have been a closet.

“I see no matter what age you are
, boys still like their video games.” I laughed.

“
You have to have something to pass the time.” He admitted. “Sometimes a little mind numbing entertainment does just the trick.”

“How do y
ou have time between teaching, practicing magic and saving me every five minutes?” I half joked.

“We don’t require
any rest.” He seemed nervous as the words passed his lips.

“Like sleep? You don’t sleep?” I moved to his bed and sat on the
gray comforter as I absorbed everything he said.

“We can if we choose too, but it’s not a necessary requirement. It’s purely a survival tactic on our part.”

“If you don’t sleep, why do you have a bed?” I asked.

“Maybe it nostalgia, I’ve never really thought about it. It just seems like a normal thing to have, I guess.”

“Do you know how much I could get done if I didn’t have to sleep?”

His eyebrow rose.

“I guess you do.” I laughed, crossing to the bookshelf near the window.

“Do you see anything you like?” He asked, watching me with a strange look on his face.

“These are all of the classics,” I inspected them closer. “They’re all so old and worn out.”

“They’re all first edition, collector’s items probably.
”

“Shouldn’t they be put away someplace for safekeeping?” I touched the broken down spine of
Don Quixote
.

           
Just then I heard a loud explosion and then glass shattering. It sounded like it had come from downstairs. Kane froze momentarily like he was listening for something else to happen, but it stayed quite after that. When he came back to life he grabbed my hand and pulled me down the stairs with a sneaky smile on his face.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to the family.”

             We made our way back down the stairs, through the entry way and into the kitchen. The kitchen was a decorated in a blindingly white and titanium color scheme. There was a large, square island in the center of the room and behind it was Kane’s mom bent over a pile of broken glass. She swept up the pieces and dumped them into a trash can under the sink. Kane took the broom from her and swept up the remaining fragments.

“It’s about time you shared her with the rest of us!” Sabrina hugged me. “He can be such a hog sometimes.”

I eyed her suspiciously, wondering where the old, patronizing Sabrina had gone.

“Hi Tristan, we’ve heard so much about you.” Kane’s mom smiled as she gracefully glided around the counter.

“It’s nice to finally meet you Mrs. Evans.” I hugged her.

“My goodness, she has manners. You don’t see that much anymore. Just call me Aurora.” She instructed.

“Yes ma’am.” I nodded.

“What happened down here?” Kane asked, sitting the broom and dustpan to the side.

“Just an accident, that’s all.” Aurora brushed her hands together. “Kane tells me you know about our...little secret. I hope he mentioned how important it is that you keep it that way?” She asked.

“Yes, you have my word.” I mimed zipping my lips.

“Oh Kane, your brothers will be home soon, they went out patrolling for awhile. Hopefully they’ll blow off some steam while they’re out.”

Kane nodded.

“Patrolling… for what?” I asked curiously.

“A sign of danger.
  Running a school for witches puts us on quite the hit list.” Sabrina rolled her eyes.

I stepped closer to Kane.
“The seekers?”

Kane stared at me apprehensively.

“Yes, I see Kane’s already told you about them. That’s good, I’m glad you’re up to speed.” Aurora looked at Kane lovingly.

“Don’t worry, they can’t get you here.” Kane held onto me.

“This place has more security than the pentagon. I’ve made sure of it.” Aurora moved to the stove and began to stir a large, metal pot vigorously.

“What is that you’re cooking?” I changed the subject.

“It’s just a little potion. We’ve been working on an invisibility cloak for a few weeks, but we can’t seem to find the final ingredient to make it stick.” Kane informed me.

“Everything is
clear!” The two twins breathed heavily as they ran through the back door and into the kitchen.

“Oh loo
k, a human. Can we play with it?” One of the boys smirked before turning to the other and bursting into uncontrollable laughter at the horrified look on my face.

Kane waved his hand at the twins and they froze.

“No fair, mom said we couldn’t use magic on each other in the house!” One of the boys whined as he tried to break free.

“Apologize to our guest boys. Maybe if you can behave like civilized witches Kane will reverse it.” Aurora scolded them.

“They don’t mean any harm. They’re just really immature.” Sabrina gave her best nice girl routine.

“Sorry.” They echoed each other and they began to move toward the metal pot.

“That’s Kole on the left and Kaleb’s on the right.”
Aurora announced. “They don’t act their age sometimes.”

“How old are they?” I whispered to Kane.

“We’re two hundred eighty six and a half.” Kaleb boasted. “But I’m older.”

“By forty two seconds, big deal!”
Kole huffed.

“Why don’t we let Tristan add the last parts of the
potion? What do you say?” Aurora handed me two bowls. “I think this is the final ingredient we’ve been missing.”

          
Kane nodded at me to go ahead as he gently nudged me forward. I looked around the room anxiously at everyone and then stepped in front of the stove. I emptied the dish of red powder into the liquid and poured a dozen white rose petals into the mix. The scent of Jasmine swam through the kitchen.

“Stand back.” Kane pulled on my belt loop as
sniffed the pot.

           
The concoction erupted in a large cloud of purple smoke and popped like a bomb going off. I quickly covered my ears and Kane held on to me as Aurora pulled a dozen small vials out of the cupboard and began to fill them with the purple substance.

“Do you want to do some?” She asked me.

“Sure.” I took the glass dropper from Aurora and began filling the vials myself.

“Is Stefan back yet?” Kole asked Sabrina. “He pr
omised to teach us some martial arts tonight.”