When the Magic Stops

Fanning the Flames

“Dad, Adrian is carrying me because I can’t see through the blood filling my eyes. I had a vision for the first time while we were training. I can’t keep training when I can’t see. Mom’s sending a coven warrior for me in three hours so I need to get packed. We were actually going to ask you if Adrian could come with me because I’m scared because of what I saw and I need my brothers with me.” It was so quiet that you could hear a f*****g pin drop. The silence stretched on for a minute. Then two, before my father finally spoke.

“You had a vision, baby girl? Really?” I huffed, annoyed that he didn’t seem to believe me.

“Yes, Dad. I had a vision. I saw the coven compound completely burned down except for the gate with piles of corpses everywhere and one of the coven members sitting on Mom’s throne looking proud of all of the death and destruction. I already explained it to Mom over the phone. Adrian and Imogen were there, ask them if I’m lying.” It was quiet for a few moments.

“It’s true, Dad. She went rigid like a human having a seizure, then her eyes rolled back and started to bleed and she dropped. When she came to, she was panicked and in a lot of pain. Imogen ran to get you, I guess. I was a bit more concerned with whether my baby sister was okay than how scary she looked with her eyes full of blood.” Adrian said, his voice level, but his arms trembled slightly as he spoke, relaying his nerves to me. He was worried about me, much more than he was letting on to our father.

“Back up. What do you mean, her eyes started to bleed?” My father sounded alarmed. “She’s a vampire princess, her eyes shouldn’t be bleeding.” My temper snapped.

“I’m a witch too, Dad. Sometimes a witch’s powers cause dangerous side effects, especially if the witch in question isn’t ready for the power when it surfaces. I clearly wasn’t ready to become a Clairvoyant, but I will adjust and the bleeding eyeballs will eventually stop. I got an active power. You should be proud, but it means that I have to go back to the coven compound to train on my new powers as a witch because with the first active power, there’s no telling how many I’ll be getting. I’m the High Priestess’ daughter: my potential rivals a trinity of experienced witches, and I’m not going to reach my potential here. You want me to embrace my powers, then I need to go and train them. I also still need training for my vampire powers, so I need Adrian to come with me. That’s just the way it is, Dad.” I didn’t hear my father respond before Adrian started walking again.

“It’s not every day someone has the guts to tell off the vampire king, sis. I’m proud of you. Strong case for me coming with you, by the way. You’re right; you do need more training with your vampiric abilities. Dad will probably let me know whether or not I’m allowed to go with you in an hour or two, but I’m going to start packing anyway. You’re just going to need clothes and your stuffed animals, right?” I smiled, thankful that Adrian understood what I needed.

“All the stuffies except for Appa and Momo can stay here. I have plenty at the compound. I just don’t have either of those two there and I’m not going anywhere without my favorite lemur or sky bison. As for clothes, I just need workout clothes, spare towels, and my leather jacket. Thanks, Adrian.”

“Any time, munchkin. You’re my baby sister.” I felt him set me down on my bed before he ruffled my hair. “So I’m packing Appa, Momo, workout clothes, spare towels, and your leather? Or did you want to wear the leather?”

“I’ll wear the leather.” I glared in the direction that I heard his voice from, trying to fix my hair while still temporarily blind. My vision was starting to clear within the next half hour, to the point where I could see vague shapes of things. Adrian had gotten the okay from our father to come with me as my trainer, and had gone to his room to pack a bag for the trip.

“Finally! I’m starting to be able to see again!” I shouted into the silence of my room.

“That’s great, kiddo. How’s the headache?” Adrian asked, walking back in with a duffel bag on his shoulder.

“It still hurts a little, but not too bad. Nothing a bottle of A positive can’t cure. I’m sure Dad’s got some stashed somewhere. He’s probably even going to insist that I bring some with me. You know the coven doesn’t keep any on hand, and so does Dad.” I could make out Adrian nodding his head.

“Yeah, he’s packing some for both of us, and planning on bringing more to us every week. We don’t know how long we’re going to be there, after all.” I nodded my head, agreeing with him completely. I had no idea how I was going to learn to control this new power, let alone any more that may or may not crop up in the future.

“This is going to be brutal, isn’t it?” I groaned. “Mom knows how hard it is to control Clairvoyance. She’s had to for fifty one years. What if I can’t do it? Then I’ll never have a shot at a normal life!”

“Maybe instead of focusing on wanting a normal life, you should consider that you’ve been given these gifts for a reason. The gods never do anything on whims, Catrina. As someone that belongs to two factions of the supernatural world, you should know that better than anyone.” Adrian was trying to be encouraging, but it felt like he was patronizing me.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. The gods always have a purpose, whether we can see what it is or not. Why can’t they pick someone else though? I don’t want all of this!” I griped for what seemed like the millionth time today. “I just want to feel normal, you know? Just once.”

Adrian sighed as he sat down on the edge of my bed. “I know sis, really. But look at it this way: maybe the gods are giving you all of this because you’re the only one that can handle all of this power. Think about it: are there any other hybrids you know of that have the same level of power as you do?”

“Well, no. There aren’t any recorded.”

“Exactly. What if the gods need you to have the amount of power that you have for some reason? What if that’s the reason you have so much trouble suppressing them?” I stayed quiet. I didn’t want to think about that possibility. If the gods need someone incredibly powerful in the world to stop whatever it was that caused what I saw, then as far as I was concerned, they picked the wrong girl. I didn’t want to be massively powerful, I just wanted to be like any other girl my age.

“Come on. Let’s go see if Dad has any of that blood packed up for us yet.” Adrian stood up, offering me his hand. I took it, getting to my feet as well. I couldn’t see clearly just yet, anyway. Adrian guided me through the mansion, deciding to use the elevator to get me down to the kitchen instead of the stairwell. When we got down to the kitchen, there were already seven coolers full of various blood types on the counters, as well as two bottles of A Positive with our names on them.