Inside the Fire Book One in the Warden's Series (4 page)

She gave me a few weeks to adjust before
enrolling me in school. I had pleaded with her to just let me
finish my last year of high school online. This way I didn't have
to deal with all the negativity from the other students. She
thought it was "ridiculous" and demanded that I have social
interactions with other teenagers, like a normal girl my age.

She was tired of me always hiding from the
world. I needed to become an individual. So what if they chased me
down with pitchforks and torches. I would do as my mother said.

I had woke up that morning with the feeling
of dread in my stomach. You know the one that digs so deep you
swear you can feel it in your intestines. It is not my most
favorite of feelings to be honest.

I do not do well meeting people because I do
not know what side of me they will meet. The mood swings can happen
so rapidly that I don't even know what side of me is coming out.
I'm always trying to pinpoint it but just when I think I have it, I
find out I was wrong.

However, today there is no choice I had to
get out of bed and get dressed. So I did my morning yawn and
stretch and pulled myself out from under my warm bedspread. Jumped
through the shower and got dressed quickly, I was standing in my
room doing my makeup and trying to figure a way to talk my mother
out of making me go today. That’s when I heard her bellowing
through my door.

“Dawn!” my mother called from the
kitchen.

I could hear her throwing pots and pans
around which meant that she was attempting to make me breakfast.
She had read somewhere that it was a custom to make children
breakfast every morning before school. Half the time I had to take
mine on the go. It is a nice gesture, but I wanted to know what
book she read before she arrived on this planet.

I rolled my eyes and pulled my hair back
into a ponytail. First day of senior year, first day of not meeting
expectations, and first day of faces I had no real want to meet. I
had left the few friends I had back in Texas. I was in no rush in
replacing them with new ones.

Needless to say I wasn’t a member of the
popular crowd. I could never understand why they called them
popular anyway. Nine times out of ten they were hated by a majority
of the school. I suppose that would make you popular though. Even
when people are thinking of stringing you up to the ceiling fan in
the Science lab and watching you dangle.

I’m more of a loner, a lone wolf if you want
to get technical. Except I’m not a wolf and if you have followed me
up till now you realize that I’m not quite human either.

“Jesus Mom! Do you have to yell?” I reached
down grabbed my red messenger bag from the floor and left the
room.

I stopped and took one more glance in the
mirror. I stuck my tongue out at my reflection realizing this would
be as good as it got. A lot had changed over the last four years.
For instance, my eyes had a mind of their own. One day they were a
dark chocolate brown and the next they would almost be blue.
Because the changes happened at the least opportune moments I had
to create an excuse for the change. So I told all my friends I wore
colored contacts to match my brooding personality, they all bought
it.

My hair had once been blonde. Over this last
summer it turned jet black and hung in waves to the center of my
back. My mom said it was the stress that caused it. She also
mentioned that my mood had changed again which could be another
reason my appearance had taken a dark turn. I tend to appear as I
feel I suppose. Since I was in the middle of constant confusion my
body had no clue what it was supposed to do.

However, my skin was one thing that never
changed. I was pale, like transparent. No matter how hard I tried
to get color from the sun it would never happen. In fact, shortly
after my father’s magic act I had become sensitive to the sun. Not
like it burned me to ashes or anything, it just wasn’t the most
comfortable feeling and it made my fingers burn.

“Dawn, do not use the lords name in vain.
How would you feel if every time he got upset he cursed you?” This
was my mother’s number one pet peeve. Do not use the Lord’s name in
vain in front of her.

I had no qualms with cursing or being
sacrilegious, I think that was the dark side of me making its
presence. I giggled as I entered the dining room. As usual she had
made a royal feast; pancakes, bacon, eggs and toast all laying out
on the table. I looked at my mother and smiled. One has to
appreciate how much she has tried to make my life as normal as
possible.

“Geez mom, you think you are feeding a small
army?” There was so much food and there were only two of us.

She always did this, cook like it was our
last meal. Maybe one day it would be if the stories she told me
were true. I don't think she ever meant to scare me. She just told
me that everything wasn't always going to be peaceful. Sooner or
later someone would figure out who and what I was. When they did it
would change all our lives for good.

“I suppose I got carried away.” She looked
at me her blue eyes were still sad.

Since my step-father’s death she had
appeared more tired and upset. She was constantly praying to go
home. I think she thought if she was accepted back she would see
him again. I know she misses it, the whole being in God’s glory. It
would be nice not having to worry about anything. Always knowing
that good triumphed over evil no matter the issue.

However, in the real world it wasn’t always
the case. It seems more often than not evil beats out good. The
little guy would lose and the big guy, with his vile smile, would
be triumphant. When there was a flip in the scale it would drain my
mother emotionally, the one thing she couldn't grasp was
humanity.

I never knew how to respond to her crying, I
suppose my darker side relished in it on some level. At the same
time though I could also feel the guilt rising in nauseating bursts
through my stomach and chest. Regardless of what I was feeling I
always understood her maternal instincts. Hearing her cry at night
though would rip me in two. She was my mother, and she was thrown
from Heaven for being in love with a demon. I always felt to blame
for my mother’s falling. If she had never been pregnant with me she
would never have been forced to come to Earth.

I glanced at the clock I had twenty five
minutes to get to school and ten miles to drive. I grabbed a
handful of bacon and one of the pancakes, kissed my mother on the
cheek, and threw my messenger bag over my shoulder.

“
Put it in the fridge mom,
we can have it for dinner or something. I have to get going or I
will be late.” I took a big bite of the pancake before turning to
leave.

“Ok honey, have a good first day.” She
hesitated a moment too long, I could see the wheels in her head
moving. “Please don’t scare the other students.”

For the last two years I had been struggling
with the reputation of being a witch. I mean a real witch, a
mistress of the dark arts. A few minor altercations occurred,
nothing huge, and I was present at each one of them. So what if
usually someone got hurt. They always blamed me, weather I had
something to do with it or not. Someone light the pyre we have a
live one here!

****

The first time it happened was in tenth
grade English. The girl in front of me had it out for my best
friend. Her little clique of pink clad rich bitches were making
comments about my best friend’s mother less than a month after she
had died. They said that her mother had committed suicide because
she didn’t love them and was ashamed of her children. I didn’t care
if they were right or not, it was not something she needed to hear
two weeks after her mother was buried.

I know it sounds stupid now, but to an angry
sixteen year old it was fighting words. It was the first of my
gifts to show and it was completely by accident. I was sitting at
my desk thinking about how I wanted to hurt her for saying those
awful things. And for spreading such filthy lies.

Suddenly these bruises
appeared on her arms, the side of her face, and around her neck. It
was the most amazing and yet horrifying thing I had ever seen. She
then screamed these horrible screeches of pain. She was in pain
because it
was
hurting her. All I could do was just sit there and stare,
amazed by what I had done. A couple students noticed my undisturbed
staring and just like that my reputation as a witch
began.

I try to stay away from that power that
showed that day. It has ways of messing with your mind, making you
darker than you want to be. I made a vow to only use this one when
I found it absolutely necessary. Still though, it only takes once
before people think you will do it to them.

The hallways would clear for me and my
friends. Students running away screaming if I even looked at them.
I had the face of an angel but everyone feared me. Afraid I would
turn them into a newt or a frog I'm sure. My mother did not find it
amusing in the least and forbid me from using my gifts in public. I
was sixteen, and I was powerful, so I only used them when I knew
nobody was looking.

I had few issues with the group of
princesses after that. They left me and my friends alone for the
most part. The other students were not always so quick to learn.
You know what, I had my fun, and I relished in the joys of bringing
pain to those that brought pain to me and mine. I may have taken
the rumors too much to heart, went a little too far with them.

This move was about change. I would step
away from that perspective and see Midvale as something different.
I would ignore the fact that we had moved into the center of the
Bible Belt and work solely on morphing myself into a better person.
I was doing this for mom. I had to do this for her no other option
was available.

****

After twenty minutes in the car and two
minutes of telling myself to go inside. I made my way into the
admission’s office of Midvale High School. It's not a large school,
rather small compared to my last institution of learning. It is old
though. The first smell that hit me when I opened the door was
mildew and it made me gag.

The lady behind the desk by the wall
instantly paled and hesitated even coming to the counter to speak
to me. I couldn’t blame her, the girl standing before her was
dressed in black from head to toe. This was including a dark ring
of black eye liner around dark brown eyes. It also doesn’t help
much that when I smile it looks like I’m about to devour their
souls.

Thanks Dad, much
appreciated
.

“How may I help you dear?” Her Missouri
accent was thick and you could tell she hadn’t seen the front side
of the woods her whole life. She didn’t smile, and she didn’t
frown, Hell she didn’t even make eye contact.

I looked at my hands trying to hide a smile.
It was amusing how uncomfortable she was becoming the longer I
stood there saying nothing.

She smiled one of those fake pageant smiles
and went back to her desk returning with a white sheet of paper.
She set it down on the counter and scooted it towards me.
Apparently she was afraid she might contract some horrific disease
from me if we made contact. I let out a soft giggle, and she looked
at me confused. I shut my mouth and looked up at her and grinned
again. She fidgeted.

“Your first class is down the hall, room
203, just go on in they are expecting you.” She took a deep breath
like she had been holding it this whole time.

“Thank you.” I replied amused. I gave her
yet another grin and left the office the white paper clutched in my
hand.

The walk was short, but the door seemed much
larger once I got up to it. I fought the urge again to bolt, but
instead sucked up my pathetic fear and trudged head first into the
classroom.

It went silent. I mean you could hear a pin
drop. I glanced around for a second. The pretty painted faces of
the girls all stared at me like I was a cockroach on their turf.
The room swam in pastel and I suddenly felt like I was in the
spotlight. I walked towards the teacher and handed her my schedule.
She smiled at me sweetly. She looked at the page and then handed
the schedule back before touching my shoulder.

“Class, this is Dawn Weathers. She just
transferred here from Texas.” Her voice was sweet and flowed like
honey, thick and rich.

The class on the other hand still stared
back glaring at me, except one. Back row third from the left, brown
hair and blue eyes. He was staring like the others, but instead of
mock horror he was actually smiling. I looked at him curiously,
interested.

“In the tradition of new students Miss
Weathers, please let everyone know something about yourself.” I
know she meant well but the unease of standing up in front of
everyone was starting to get to me.

I looked at her pleading with my eyes not to
make me speak in front of these people. She ignored my plea and
instead motioned for me to go ahead.

“Um, I’m Dawn.” I breathed. “I just moved
here with my mother a few weeks ago.” I didn’t know what else to
say, public speaking was never my forte.

“Tell us Mortisha. How you are able to walk
in the sun?” One of the girls in the front row giggled.

The teacher shot her a warning look as the
class erupted into laughter. I could feel my face burn. I flipped
her off with no hesitation giving her a toothy grin. I fought the
urge to make her burst into flames and instead pushed by her and
took the only open seat. Which just so happened to be in front of
the boy with the blue eyes.

“I wouldn’t worry about them. The sheep will
come to slaughter soon enough.” He whispered over my shoulder.

His breath was cold against my skin. I
fought the want to turn around and look at him, but I knew that it
would only draw attention. Something seemed magnetic about the boy
behind me though. I felt drawn to him like a mosquito to a bug
zapper.