The 13th Witch Complete Trilogy (3 page)

“Do you know anything about witches? “ My mom asked me as she kind of looked in my direction. I was taken offhand by the question.
What is this about?

“Like, Harry Potter Witches or Halloween witches?” I snickered. Why something like this would be important to who my birth parents were and why they had given me up, I didn’t know “What does that have to do with my birth parents?”

“No, it’s nothing like Harry Potter or Halloween.” She was clearly getting agitated with me and my remarks. “And it has everything to do with your real family.”

“But, none of that stuff is real. It's all crap.”

“Your parents are witches. . .” I kind of smiled at the thought, but she was still looking at me with a very serious face. She had to be telling me the truth. “When you came to us, we knew that you were inclined to be… different. The woman that gave you to us told us that

you would be safe until your 18thbirthday, and then we

 

needed to tell you about your parents. It… would be important.”

I was taken aback by what they were telling me.
Witches and magic, right that was real. Have they lost their minds?

“No we haven’t. It’s all true and the sooner that you realize that, the better you will be.” My dad answered the question that was in my head. I looked at him confused and lost. I wondered how he had known what I was thinking. “We are also a little….different.” He said this to me as I thought about all of the things that had run though my head when my dad was around. A lot of that was something that I was ashamed of thinking at the time.

“When she left you with us, she told us that you would be a normal child and that you would be protected.” She stooped and looked at me as though she had no power to help me understand. “Until now. Once you became 18, your biological family could find you. You need to be ready and understand.” She pointed at my necklace as she spoke. “This will help you to find your power. When you’re ready to be done with it, you will know.”

“I know that it’s a lot and you have to sift through it.”

I needed to get out of this house. I was really confused and thought that maybe my parents were a little off their rocker. “I’m going to take a breath and go see my friend.”

“You can’t tell her about this stuff. Most people won’t understand it and will think that we are all crazy people.”

No shit.
I smiled at her and gave her a little hug. “I’ll be back later, okay?” They nodded at me knowing that it’s a lot for me to take in and absorb. I walked out of the house into the sun. I didn’t understand what my parents were doing and why they thought it would be important to tell me something that couldn’t be true. I had been a normal kid with normal parents that loved me. Why were they going crazy now?

Before I realized it, I was in front of Jes’s apartment. I really hoped that she was home. Even if I couldn’t tell her about the crazy morning I had, I could at least get my mind on something else. I walked up the stairs and knocked on her dark green door. She answered quickly and smiled at me.

“There is the birthday girl!” She chimed at me happily. I smiled back a sideways smile as I walked in the door. “Did you get that party thing with your parents that you were talking about yesterday?” I didn’t know what to say to her.

“I guess. It was weirder than anything. We talked about my birth parents.” I told her as I sat on her couch. I didn’t have to tell her about the whole magic thing that I had just been bombarded with. She stopped and looked at me as she started to sit down in the little chair that sat across from the couch and beside the television.

“Are you okay with what they told you?” “I guess. It was just a lot to find out in one day and some of it seems....crazy”

She kind of smiled at me and nodded. “Yeah, it probably would be hard to hear about parents that you never really knew.” She shifted in her seat a little.

“I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“I know, but sometimes you have to know where you come from. I knew my mom, but still get confused by some of the choices that she made.” I knew that she was right, but really didn’t want to talk too much about it.

“So, what have you been doing today?” I asked trying to change the subject.

“Just taking it easy. It really has been a bright and sunny day. I love days like this.” She said this to me as she settled better into the chair that she was sitting in. “I wanted to do something for your birthday, but I don’t really have anything to give you.” She sounded sad about this. “I do have a few friends that I'd like you to meet, though. If you don't mind that?”

“I don’t care. At least I can get away from all that stuff at home and have something normal in front of me.”

Jes smiled as I said this. “What is so abnormal about your family? You always look like everything is as good as apple pie.”

“You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”

“You might be surprised at what I’d believe.” She said looking for a reaction from me. I felt as though something wasn’t right with my longtime friend. It was something that I’d never felt before.

“I should be heading home. I told my parents that I’d have that birthday thing with them even after all the other things that we talked about.” I said this as I shot up from the couch and started for the door. She seemed startled by the sudden movement, but managed to get up and to the door before me.

“I think you should hang out here for a little while. I invited some of friends over for your birthday.”

“You said that you didn’t have anything to give me or any real money to buy anything?” I said to her questioning what was going on in my head, but I didn’t want her to really know that.

“I know, but my friends really want to meet you. They were very excited and I think that you will like them once you meet them.” She didn’t move from in front of the door. I was trying to figure out how to get out of the apartment. It was very small and a window was out because of the apartment being on the second floor. I decided that I was stuck and a little bit of panic set in. Maybe it was just my imagination. After all my parents had told me that I was a witch.

I backed away from the door a bit and Jes smiled at me. She reached down to the doorknob and opened the door.

Three

It flung open all of the way as though someone had kicked it in. There he was standing there in the doorway, the man from the diner yesterday. I stepped back a little and was overcome by shock. I didn’t know why he was here in front of me now. He held his hand out to me as he looked at me without saying a word. I didn’t know if I should really take it.

Jes, who was knocked down by the door, started to get up. She looked a little confused, but then realized that it was not who she had thought that it was at her door. She pushed the door back towards him, but he was a lot stronger than she was.

“You shouldn’t have come here, Conner” She screamed at him as she tried to push the door closed on him. He motioned his hand for me to come with him. I didn’t know him but somehow, I knew it was what I needed to do.

I reached to him and grabbed his extended hand. He pulled me from the apartment with a lot of force and then let the door close behind him. He pulled me down the stairs.

“Who are you?” I yelled at him as we continued down the street. He was looking around us watching for any people looking for any passing cars.

“I’ll explain everything later, but right now we have to go and fast.” He pulled me to him. I could feel the muscles under his shirt and how strong he truly was. In spite of myself, I smiled slightly. He pulled a small bottle out of his pocket and threw it onto the concrete in front of us. There was a puff of purple smoke as it hit the ground and I closed my eyes tight.

There was an instant cold wind that felt as though it could knock you over if you weren’t ready for it and then it was gone. I opened my eyes to see that we were no longer in the street in front of Jes’s apartment.

We were in a totally different area. I had no idea we were anymore. The grass was short in front of us and there were trees lining the walkway to the only house in sight. I looked up at Conner's face. He was still holding on to me around the waist. His hair had fallen into his face during the trip and he let go of me to push it back out of his face. Somehow the day had gone and the moon was up in the west side of the sky.

“Now, what is going on here!!?” I demanded as we stood there in the dark.

“I’ll tell you as soon as we get inside. It’s not safe out here.” He grabbed onto my hand and led me towards the house.

The house was old and tattered. It was black in color and had maroon shutters. The porch was rickety and seemed as though it was ready to fall in, but somehow stayed together. He led me up the stairs and into the house. It was a vast difference from the way it looked outside. The living room was dark but nice. There was a small greenish couch that sat in the middle of the room and a fireplace directly in front of it. The house was cool as though there was air conditioning. Which was a vast difference from the heat outside? I still wondered why I had let him lead me to a place that I didn’t even know. I didn’t know him from the man down the street, but somehow I trusted him.

“OK, now you have to tell me what is going on or I’m going to go home.” I demanded crossing my arms. I really didn’t know if I could get out of this house and go home if I wanted to.

He fidgeted around in his pocket and pulled out a clear crystal and placed it in front of the door that we had just entered. I wondered why he had done that, but at this point I really didn’t care. He looked at me and started to say something but stopped. I could tell he was trying to figure out how to tell me something that was important. “I have a letter for you. It will explain things a lot better than I can.” He walked out of the room to get the letter.

What letter? Why would he have a letter for me?

I stood there in the living room in shock as what had happened to me today. First my mom and dad tell me that I had witches for parents, then Jes was acting weird, and then a man that I barely knew took me in a blur of purple smoke to a house that seemed as though it was off the map. Oh, I can’t forget the dream that I had before the day even started too. I was confused and terrified as to what was happening around me.
I have to get to my family. They will wonder where I’m at and get worried.
I wondered if I could just sneak out of the door and find my way home. The only problem with this is that I didn’t know where I was even at.

Conner returned to the room with a letter in his hand. He looked at the envelope and then at me. I wondered if he was still thinking about whether he should even give it to me, but he handed it to me after a minute. I stood there looking at the man and then he motioned for me to take a seat on the couch. I sat down still thinking about whether I should even be here. I turned the letter over to open it. There was a seal of bright red wax on the envelope. I moved my thumb under the opening and popped the envelope open in my hands. The letter was folded nicely inside. I pulled it out and started to unfold it. It was reasonably short with only one page of writing and started with my name.

Lucy,

If you are reading this, then you have undoubtedly been bombarded with things that you may not understand. You are a witch and from a long line. Your parents were not good people and they did some horrible things, but you have a chance. When you were born, I took you from them and gave you to the parents that you know. They were witches at one time and could protect you without denying you a normal life.

When I took you, I bound your gifts until your 18th

birthday. This would also give you a chance to be normal for a time, but I fear it may have been a mistake. You will not be as advanced in your magic as others your age and you may not be able to protect yourself. Your mothers’ necklace should offer you some help and enhance your powers. I expect that Conner, my son, and Anna, his sister, have given you this letter and will help you to learn what you need to.

Be well, Animara

I finished reading the letter and was still somewhat confused. I looked up from the letter and folded it back into the envelope. What did all this mean and why was I stuck in the middle.

“You’ll be safe here. No one can break the barriers that includes dark magic” Conner said as he took off his coat and sat down in the couch beside me. “There is an extra room upstairs that you can use.” I looked up at him as he talked.

“I have to get back to my family. They will worry about me.” I looked into those blue eyes again as I talked and felt safe in this crazy world that had been revealed to me.

“It’s too dangerous tonight, but maybe we can go and check on them in the morning.” He smiled slightly as he talked. I didn’t know if I believed him, but I didn’t think that I could leave the house anyway.

I nodded in agreement and melted into those eyes of his. He lifted his hand and pulled a stand of my dark brown locks out of my face and placed it behind my ear. The touch of his hand made me shudder a little. It was kind of nice to have someone that wasn’t related to me touch me in such a gentle way. He looked up at the door as it opened and a young woman walked in. I looked over at the door and she looked back at me, then at Conner.

“What’s going on here?” She asked genuinely.

The woman was a pretty girl with the same jet black hair that Conner had. She was wearing a nice red button down shirt and dress pants. I figured that she had been working and had come home just now. I couldn’t be sure though.

Conner stood from the couch and straightened his posture. “Nothing really. This is Lucy. She’s going to stay in the spare room tonight.” Then he looked at me “This is Anna, my sister.”

Sister, thank god.
I smiled back at him and then looked at her. “Hi” I said relieved that she was a sister and not a lover. “I do need to know something. Why were you at Jes’s apartment today?”

He hesitated but sat back down beside me to talk. “I followed you there.”

“What did Jes have to do with it? She was my friend; at least I thought she was.” I really didn’t get what she had to do with all of this. I’d known her for a few years and thought that I could tell if she was a good friend or not.