Book 1- Tainted

Chapter 14 : Where Do We Go From Here?

Come Monday morning, I found myself getting ready for school like nothing had changed, except everything had changed. I was a witch. Witches were real. And so were demons. Yup, this was my world now. I couldn't say it to myself enough times for me to believe it, but I also couldn't shrug it off. 

    I had spent the better half of the weekend processing everything I had gone through. The more I thought about my predicament the more I felt like freaking out. I felt as if my sanity was slowing dissolving. This was beyond topsy turvy, my world hadn't just been turned upside down, it had been obliterated and replaced  with one madder than a hatter. 

    However, for someone who had just recently found out that he was a witch and his mother was killed by a demon, and was currently been hunted down by most probably the same demons, I have to say I was doing pretty well. I was still standing, that had to count for something.

     I took one last look in the mirror before I exited the bathroom. My hair was more tousled than usual but I couldn't be bothered to fix it, it was a miracle I was even dressed. 

      I shut my bedroom door and when I turned I shrieked like a little girl when Harrod appeared from nowhere. Okay maybe I wasn't so okay. Let's just say I had been a little on edge since Friday.

     "Master Marcus," Harrod said clasping my shoulders, "Are you okay?" 

     "Yes, I'm fine," I sighed, holding my hand up to my chest, where my panicked heart laid. "You just surprised me." He nodded and was about to walk away but I grabbed his arm stopping him. 

     I nervously bit my bottom lip before I decided it was just better if I just came right out and asked what I wanted to ask. "Did you know about my mother?" I took a step back, "About her being a witch."

       "Yes, I did." He said, his face stoic. 

      "And you didn't tell me," my tone was surprisingly even. 

      "It wasn't my place," he said monotonously as he turned towards the stairs. "It was safer that you stayed in the dark. You mother wanted it so." I was honestly getting sick of hearing of what people thought was safer for me. I didn't voice this, of course.

      "She never wanted me to know about magic?" I asked with furrowed brows. 

       "Yes." 

        "Why?" I understood that this whole magic thing could be dangerous, I guess but it was also something that was a part of me. I felt robbed for some reason. I was terrified for obvious reasons, but didn't I at least deserve to have been given a chance to know this world. 

       "I'm unsure," he shrugged, "she never discussed her past." 

        He left me standing in the hall, puzzled. My mother was turning out be a bigger mystery than I had originally thought. I was starting to feel like I never knew her. Nothing about her was what I thought. I huffed before I moved towards the stairs. 

      Once downstairs, I entered the dining room where my father was waiting for me. I settled in my usual seat, across from his. His attention wasn't drawn to his laptop this morning, in fact his laptop was nowhere in sight. He cleared his throat, signifying he wanted to say something. It would be the first thing he'd said to since our talk on Saturday. 

       Things between my father and I were strange, they'd always been strange however this was different. He was acting weird, then again I was acting weird as well. We had no idea what to say to each other. After our talk on Saturday, we'd barely said a word to one another. We'd been avoiding talking. Apparently my father wasn't the only one closed off, I also feared confrontation. 

       "I wanted to talk to you about the council," he suddenly spoke, after a minute of awkward silence.

        "The council?" I'd heard about them enough to peek my interest. Who were they? And why were they so concerned with my life? 

        "Yes, the council are the leaders of every witch coven. They're who everyone reports to," he explained and I listened attentively.  "I'm assuming they're the ones that filled you in on everything to do with your mother," I simply nodded. "I need you to be careful with them. They've promised to keep you safe and I believe they'll do so, it's in their best interest to make sure you're protected but I still don't trust them. I want you to be careful around them."

        "They said that too, why is it in their best interest to keep me safe. What's so special about me?" I asked with furrowed brows. That was another thing that didn't make sense to me. Even if I was a witch, my father was human meaning I was only half witch, it didn't make me special, did it? It didn't make sense, nothing made sense anymore. 

         He averted his gaze, before getting up to his feet. He walked over to the patio doors. A sigh passed his lips as he stared out into the backyard. He was contemplating something, I could tell. He took another second before turning back to me, running his hand through his hair. "I don't know, they refuse to tell me. They're very secretive, another reason not to trust them." He explained, he didn't have to. I didn't trust the council already. They ordered people to pretend to be my friends, trusting them was last on my todo list. 

       However I got the feeling that he wasn't telling me the whole truth. I thought he was going to stop lying to me. I guess I was wrong. I stared into his eyes searching for the answer and coming up empty. Maybe I was just being paranoid. After everything that had happened, could anyone blame me for being a little mistrusting. Whatever it was I was too exhausted to pry for answers, he wouldn't give any if he didn't want to.

          "Okay, I won't," I promised taking a bite of my scrambled eggs. 

......................

When I arrived at the school the first thing I spotted was Adrian. He stood by his bike, the moment I stepped out of the car his eyes were on me. I met his gaze for a brief second before I averted my eyes. I ducked my head making a bee line for the entrance. 

       "Marcus!" He called for me. I ignored him as I entered the building. I knew he was right behind me as I hurried down the hallway to my first class. Unfortunately he was faster than me and he caught up to me in a matter of seconds. He stood in front of me, blocking me from moving any further.

        "Mark, please just give me a second. I need to talk to you," he pleaded. 

        "I don't want to talk," I huffed folding my arms over my chest. 

         "Please," he looked at me with glistening eyes and a pouty lip, as if he knew I couldn't say no when he did that. Even when I was angry at him he still had control over me, I hated it.

          "Fine, but just a second." He pulled me towards an empty classroom. He shut the door behind us. We were alone and I fidgeted nervously under his gaze. He wasn't saying anything and it was making me uncomfortable.

            I coughed, "so...?" 

           "I'm sorry," he began, "I should have told you, everything. But you have to understand, I did it for your safety. It was better for you not to know." He placed his hand on my shoulder. 

            "You still don't get it," I took a stepped away from him, shrugging his arm off me. "I sick of people telling me what they think is better for me. She was my mother," I was seething, "how would you feel is someone kept something like this about your mother. Of all people, I thought you'd understand. You sat and listened to me talk about her..." I huffed exasperatedly.

           "I'm done, stay away from me," I left the room before he could say anything else. 

            I rushed to the bathroom, locking myself in a stall. I couldn't hold back the tears this time. How could I have been so wrong about him? I thought he got me, understood me, that we shared something. But he was okay with me thinking my mother had been killed by a drunk driver when he knew everything. 

           That was so messed up. This was all so messed up. I didn't want any of this. I didn't know what was going on anymore. 

......................

When lunch time came along, instead of heading for the cafeteria I headed for the library. I settled in a corner away from everyone, as I ate my sandwich in peace. I missed the company but there was no way I was going back to Abby and Adrian. 

      However they was no point in my reluctancy, seeing as Abby found me fifteen minutes into the lunch period. 

      "What are you doing?" She asked coming up in front of me and ripping the book I was reading out of my hands. 

       "What's it look like? I'm reading," I said reaching for the book, but she jerked her hand, keeping the book out of reach. 

        "You didn't come to lunch," she stated.

        "Yeah, I didn't feel like it," I averted my gaze, drawing it to the desk. 

        "Marcus, why are you acting like this?" 

        "I don't know, maybe it's because you lied to me," I said a little too loudly and the librarian, a tall, slender red haired woman, shushed me. 

         "We're not friends Abby, you don't have to do this," I said, getting up to my feet. I started gathering my things.

        "And what makes you think we aren't friends." She crossed her arms over her chest.

          "Maybe because the only reason you ever talked to me was because you were ordered to," I said walking towards the library doors, Abby walked next to me. "I get it, it was your job. But you don't have to pretend anymore."

            "I wasn't pretending, I like you Mark. I'm sorry for everything but I wasn't pretending. Okay maybe at first, but you're pretty awesome, I liked being your friend. I hope you did too. I want us to still be friends," we stopped in the middle of the semi–empty hallway. 

            "You do? I liked being friends with you too," it was the truth. She was one the closest friends I had ever had, one of the only friends I had ever had. If she wasn't pretending and she actually liked me that meant I still had a friend. 

            She tucked one of her curls behind her ear, "good," she wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a hug.