Arabelle

Chapter 39 - Magic Training Begins

Bella’s POV

I had taken my bath and I was currently sitting in front of my mirror doing my hair, I was taking my time to brush my hair, I was doing it very slowly all the while knowing Ian was waiting for me downstairs, he had brought me here for a change of clothes so I could go back and begin my training with Aunt Marla today,

It was probably over 45 minutes since I left him sipping a cup of coffee which Sofia had given to him and I planned to spend no less than 30 minutes brushing my hair, this was just simple payback for what he did earlier and I wasn’t done yet, a smile crossed my face as I thought of how tired of waiting he probably was,

I took about 15minutes to finish brushing my hair, I was getting bored, once I was done with my hair, I grabbed my bag and slipped my feet into the comfortable sneakers I had chosen, then I headed downstairs,

“Sorry I took so long, I was brushing the knots out of my hair” I said with a wicked smile on my face but the smile changed from being wicked to warm once I rounded the corner, Ian was sleeping peacefully on the sofa, he always looked so vibrant and bright when he was awake but now, he looked so calm and gentle and I could see just how tired he was,

He had spent the whole of last night watching over me, all the times I opened my eyes during the night, I always saw him sitting beside me, he would smile and tell me to go back to sleep, I walked over to him and knelt beside him,

“Thank you so much” I said to him as he slept, I felt a strong affection for this man that slept peacefully me, he cared for me so much, even before he met me and I was oblivious to his existence until recently, truth was I felt safe whenever Ian was close, it made me like someone was watching over me and it was great to know that sometimes,

I stood up and worked over to the kitchen, Sofia was inside cleaning up the pots and plates she had used earlier,

“Hello Sofia” I said with a smile,

“Hello Bella” she said as she turned to look at me with a smile,

We greeted casually and then I said “Umm Ian is asleep in the living room, I need to somewhere and I don’t want to wake him, so just let him sleep and when he wakes up, just tell him to call me and please don’t let any disturbance wake him up, he needs to catch up on some sleep”

Sofia was smiling broadly by the time I was done “Sure Bella, I will make sure he isn’t disturbed” she said,

I knew she was probably thinking we were dating just like everyone else and I didn’t correct her because it was a lot easier for her and everyone else to believe that, it could explain all the time we will be spending together in the future,

So I simply smiled and said “Thank you Sofia”

She smiled and nodded her head,

I turned and walked out, I got to the door when Sofia called my name

I turned to look at her and she had a warm smile on her face “He seems like a nice person, I am really happy for you dear” she said,

I smiled and walked out, this was weird, very weird, I saw Ian as nothing like a brother just the same way I saw Danny, I had no one I thought about like that,

As this thought crossed my mind, an image of Richard floated into my mind, I was shocked for a moment when I realized that it had been Derrick and not Richard, what the hell did that mean?

I pushed the weird thought out of my mind and focused on what was important, Derrick King was an enemy and he will be treated as such.

I passed and the sleeping figure of Ian on my way out, he was still sleeping peacefully, I whispered a quiet “Bye” and walked out.

*****************

Aunt Marla was the one who opened the door when I rang the doorbell 30 minutes after I left home, she gave me a smile and hugged me, it felt warm, just like when mum hugged me and it felt great to be able to feel that feeling from two people, I felt totally blessed,

“Where is Ian?” she asked after she had released me from the hug and I had walked inside with her,

“He was sleeping peacefully on my living room sofa when I left, I guess he must be tired after looking after me all night” I said as I followed her farther into the house,

She stopped then turned around to look at me with a warm smile on her face “That boy really loves you Ara, he cares so much you, so much that it baffles me at times” she said,

“I know mum, I know” I said and smiled,

With the smile on her face, she turned again and continued walking, I followed behind her until finally we got to a greenhouse of some sort, it was located at the back of the house after going out through the backdoor,

She pushed it open and gestured for me to go in which I did, it was beautiful inside, green plants filled the room and it smelt like spring in here,

“I felt like this will be good place for you to practice, its calm and relaxing and most importantly, no one is allowed here, I tend to this place by myself, even Ian hardly comes here, he says it’s too green for him, whatever that means, heaven only knows” Aunt Marla said and laughed,

I laughed and said “Well I think it’s beautiful”

“I knew you would think so” Aunt Marla said with a smile and I was quick to smile right back,

“Let’s begin, there is a lot we must do, the first and most important thing is control, if you fail to have control then events like last night will continue to repeat themselves, you were lucky Ian was there yesterday before any grave damage was done but stop and imagine for a second if he wasn’t, things might have ended very badly for both parties involved so control cannot be over emphasized, even great witches of the past sometimes took years to learn to master control but honey, we don’t have years right now, you are in a time a lot different from the one they lived in, so you have to concentrate and give it your all, this is a very dangerous time for a witch, if you lose control at the wrong time, things could go very bad for you, so this part of your training is very crucial and it will lay the foundation for all the magic you will be doing in the future” Aunt Marla said,

Her voice was calm and steady, mother had always been a great teacher even back then, her lessons were hard to forget, she spoke with a kind of power that inspired you to remember what she told you,

“Let’s get to it”