Fire and Djinn

Answers

The fact that Lisa hadn’t said anything was a clear sign of what I had to do. I suppose it’s what’s best for her. I just hate for her head to have to be manipulated away from the truth.

I glanced at Bo in the rearview mirror. I told myself I had to quit looking at him, no matter how gorgeously God-like he is. Plus, there is still the fact that he still hasn’t answered any of my questions.

“So, are you going to answer any of my questions?” I asked him.

“What would you like to know first?” he asked me.

“What am I?” He glanced at me in the rear-view mirror.

“You are a Phoenix.” He said as he looked at me in my rear-view mirror to gage my reaction.

“And?” I asked, waiting for him to continue.

“You are the last one. The rest were hunted down years ago by the other super naturals.”

“There are other super naturals?” I questioned him. He nodded his head but continued speaking.

“In order for you to understand, I need to start at the beginning. The original Phoenix was created from a human Queen in Europe, by one of the gods. Although, no one knows which one. The human queen was forced to marry a psychopathic king as a young girl. The King did unspeakable things to the queen at his pleasure, and someone, felt pity for the girl. She was granted the Powers of the Phoenix, Fire by touch for those who dared to hurt her, wings so she could fly to safety, Resurrection so she would revive herself or others she cared about. With great power also came a great price. She was warned to never to use her powers against innocents. If she did, gradually, the power would consume her, and she would become a Black Phoenix. The black Phoenix does not care who she kills, she will burn entire villages. Her anger becomes explosive to those around her.”

“You said ‘she,’ has there been an occurrence before?” I asked him

“I was just getting to that. The Phoenix ‘gift’ can’t be transferred after birth anymore. Now you must be born with it. Even then, only females could inherit their mother’s ability. Forty years ago, a Phoenix girl was slipped a paralytic and was set up on by 4 men and they violated her. For revenge, she killed not only the men who hurt her, but their entire families as well. After, she still wasn’t satisfied. She began to hunt down other monsters who hurt women and killed them and their families. Over the course of a year, she killed so many innocents that it gradually stripped her humanity away, making her a Dark Phoenix. She began wiping out towns and cities. That event is what is known as the h*******t. The supernatural counsel decided that all Phoenix’s need to be eradicated. So, over the next century they were snuffed out and killed. The last one before you were your mother. She kept her pregnancy a secret, and with my help, dropped you off at a safe haven. We couldn’t risk anyone seeing you with her, if they did, you would have been killed.”

“Wait, hold up. How could you have known my mother; you don’t look much older than I?” I asked skeptically.

“Elena, I am a Djinn. I have lived for an exceptionally long time. I am, for lack of a better word, immortal.”

“Immortal? Just how old are you? And how did you know my mother?” The questions rushed out of me as I was eager to get answers.

“I don’t recall precisely how old I am, but I was released from purgatory when there were still dinosaurs. And your mother sought me out to protect you, even after her death.”

“Purgatory? Dinosaurs?” I repeated in disbelief.

“Yes, and let me tell you, today’s scientists have dinosaurs all wrong.” Bo half smiled as I rolled my eyes at him.

“Listen, what do you mean by purgatory?”

“Think of it as a holding cell of nothing but darkness, and total isolation.” he said quickly. “But my story isn’t what matters now.” He seemed guarded and by the tone of his voice and the way his jaw clenched, I gathered it was not a topic he wished to discuss. I decided to drop the subject for now.

“So why did you agree to help my mother protect me?”

“I am a Djinn, or what you know as a genie. I spent most of my time on this earth, enslaved to the desires of several generations of kings. One king asked me to do something that jeopardized his wife, the queen's, life. I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t budge. When I came face to face with the queen, although she did die, she also came back to life. That last wish from the king was his last to make. So, I hinted to the queen I could be in her servitude if she so chose, to repay my debt of ending her life. That queen was your mother. Instead of enslaving me to her for eternity, or her death, she set me free. Nevertheless, I stood by her. Your mother and I were friends for several centuries before she found the love of her life. We parted ways, but we stayed in touch. When the hunting for the Pheonix’s began, I searched and searched for your parents, but in the end, it was your mother that found me. Your father died to protect you and your mother. When your mother found me, she had already been wounded. She gave you to me and told me the instructions for what I had to do. She told me to protect you with my life and that you were the last. So that’s what I’m doing. I’ve watched over you your whole life.”

Wow. That was a lot of information. Certainly, more than I was prepared for. I had some tears gathered in my eyes, but I decided to focus on something else.

“You’re telling me you’ve been stalking me my entire life?” I joked, catching him off guard. He began to laugh, and I smiled.

“Funny.” He said as he looked at me in the rearview mirror. “You’re freaking out, aren’t you?” I didn’t want to answer that with a yes, because I was scared if I opened my mouth, I would start crying.

Just then an intrusive thought popped into my brain. Where was he when I died at 7 years old? My emotions suddenly shifted from sadness to anger.

“Elena. Look at your hands.” Bo said to me. Looking down at my hands I could see that my hands were starting to turn red. My emotions had gotten the best of me. I could accidently kill Lisa if I’m not careful. Yet another reason why it’s best if she does not remember any of this.

“Bo?” I asked him with tear filled eyes. His eyes made contact with mine and his face softened. Not trusting my voice, I pointed to Lisa and then my head. He nodded his head in understanding.

For the rest of the ride, I cried silently for a bit. Mainly because I knew I was about to lose my best friend, but also partly because of how much I hated my situation. I now have to leave my friends and family to keep them safe. What am I going to tell my parents?