Arabelle

Chapter 12 - New Discoveries and New Family

Bella’s POV

I paced around in my room, I was angry and restless, I could not believe that Richard had thrown away the last chance, despite my claims for revenge, if he had at least given me a strong reason for what he had done, I might have considered forgetting about everything just like Danny had suggested, but what did he do?, he threw away the last chance he had, I was going to take away everything he cared about and destroy it, he deserved much worse than that, this wasn’t something I could do on my own, I needed all  the help I could get, I needed enough influence to get into his world, I couldn’t use mum’s influence, I didn’t want her involved in all this, I wanted her safe even after all this was over so I must keep her safe from everything, I hated lying to my mother but I will do it to keep her safe at any cost.

I ran my fingers through my hair in exasperation and fell on my bed, laying there, looking at the ceiling, I couldn’t help but think of everything Richard had told me earlier today, he had told me the truth, even now, I could still tell when he was lying to me and today, every word he had spoken was nothing but the truth, it was obvious that he had suffered a lot, he harbored guilty feelings over what he did and he was willing to pay for his crimes but one thing failed to add up, and that was the one thing he refused to tell me, he was hiding something, something he would rather agree to suffer for instead of telling me what it was, perhaps he was trying to protect someone, someone he would rather let himself be punished for, I couldn’t think of anyone, I only think of two people Richard cared about enough to that for and one of them had been me and the second  was his mother, but Lady Blackwood was not a person capable of committing  the crime in question, she was a kind woman, who treated me like her own child, on my wedding day, she had hugged me close and told me she was happy to have me as a daughter and she hoped I would look at her like a mother instead of a mother in-law, there was no way she was the one Richard was trying to protect so I was left with an incomplete story and too many question marks, I sighed and rolled around on the bed,

I needed someone with a brain for such thing, someone with a calculative mind and an eye solving for problems and most importantly, someone who get me close enough to strike Richard where it hurts the most, I sighed again, this in itself was another question mark, where was I was I going to find such a person?

Suddenly there was a knock on my door, I turned to look at the door,

“Come in, it’s open” I said and sat properly on the bed,

The door opened and the last person I expected to see walked in,

Ian walked in with a smile on his face, his green eyes twinkling, I jumped up from the bed, I suddenly felt self-conscious, I was dressed in a pair of shorts and a tank top,

“What are you doing here Ian?” I asked, looking around trying to find something I could put on quickly,

Ian chuckled and said “I had no idea this was how ladies dressed at home, if I had known, I might have entered a lot of rooms in the past”

I threw a pillow at him, which he caught easily, I quickly grabbed a sweater from my bed and slipped it on, by the time I was done wearing my sweater, Ian had made himself comfortable on the sofa, he was looking at me with amusement in his eyes,

“What are you doing here Ian?” I asked and sat on the bed facing him,

“I am here to give you the one thing you so much desire” he said simply,

I was getting confused, what the hell this guy was talking about, I thought,

“And what might that be Ian?” I asked,

The look of amusement vanished from his eyes and it was replaced by a look I had seen once before in his eyes, the look he had given me that day during lunch,

He leaned forward and stippled his fingers under his chin, his green eyes flashed a bright green, this time I was sure I wasn’t imaging things, his eyes had really just glowed,

“I am here to help you destroy Richard Blackwood” he said, his voice was low and dangerously cold, there was no hint of humor on his face,

I felt my rate pick up, how did he know about Richard? There were only three people who knew about my past and those were me, Richard and Danny, and I highly doubted that either Richard or Danny told him about it,

I sat up from the bed, my eyes flashing a dull blue color, I felt the power in my blood come to the surface and tiny sparks flashed from my fingers “Who are you?” I asked, the threat was very evident in the tone of my voice,

Ian chuckled and held up his hands in a show of surrender, as he raised his hands, I could see the sparks crackling at the tips of his fingers, his eyes were now a magnificent green, emerald colored light shone brightly from his eyes,

My heart beat increased once more and I felt my muscles tense up, I couldn’t believe my eyes, Ian Langrove was also a witch and he seemed like a powerful one, I wasn’t sure if I could fight him and what had he done to my mother, how did he get into my room in the first place, many questions flashed through my mind,

“Calm down Arabelle, I am not your enemy, we do not need to fight, I am here to help you” Ian said and dropped his hands down, the glow in his eyes dimmed until slowly it faded completely and the sparks on his fingers crackled once more and disappeared,

I remained alert, I wasn’t sure when he would attack me or something,

“Answer me, who are you and how do you know me?” I said,

“That is a question I am not fit to answer I am afraid” Ian said,

I was getting tired of people not giving me answers to the questions I asked,

“Then who the hell is fit to do so?” I asked, I was getting angrier by the second,

“I think that will be me” I heard a very familiar voice,

Turning toward the door, I saw Aunt Marla standing there wearing blue jumpsuit similarly to the one my mother had worn during our lunch last time, she was smiling at me brightly and love shone in her eyes,

I was really confused now, my hands dropped to my side and the magic along with it “What’s going on here? I am really confused right now” I said,

Aunt Marla was walking over to me now, her eyes were glistening with unshed tears, she enveloped me in a warm hug once she got to where I was standing, I froze, this wasn’t the first time Aunt Marla had hugged me but something about this one was different, it felt familiar, it felt like a hug I had received a long time ago, a feeling that was centuries old, I felt tears well up in my eyes, was this even possible?, my head was spinning as I tried to process everything all at once,

“Oh my dear Ara, I am sorry, I am so sorry, I couldn’t protect you back then, I was unable to do anything as they dragged you away, I am so sorry my child” Aunt Marla kept saying as she held me close to her,

The first drop of tears rolled down my cheeks, followed by another, then another and then I was sobbing silently, my hands wrapped around her slender body and I hugged her tightly, my mother, I could feel it, the bond we had shared in our past life,

“Mother?” I said, I already knew the answer but still I wanted to hear her say it,

She nodded her head against mine, then she pulled back and looked into my eyes “my dear Ara, I never thought I will see you again and yet, here we are” she said with a smile, her green eyes were shinning with tears,

I smiled and said “I never thought I will see you too mother, I am so happy to see you right now”

Ian cleared his throat behind us, we both turned around to look at him,

“Aren’t you guys supposed to include me in the happy family reunion?” he said, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips,

Aunt Marla laughed and said “ I will like to introduce your brother to you, he is my son from this lifetime as you already know, he also has magic just like you, I was surprised when I discovered he had magic, I had not expected him to develop powers because I wasn’t reborn in our family line but he still ended up with it somehow, it was the reason we moved to London back then, because I needed to train him and now, he is a truly a realized witch”

Ian looked proud of himself, I smiled and walked toward him, he had a smile on his face as he looked down at me,

I had a brother, the thought sounded weird “So am I supposed to be your elder sister?” I asked with a smile,

Ian gave a loud chuckle and said “Not on your sweet life, I am older than you so I am the elder brother”

I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me “I am older than you with almost 4 centuries so I think I should be the elder sister” I said,

Ian looked me up and down then he said “Nah, I am the older one, you are too tiny to be the older one”

I laughed and said “I guess you are right there”

He smiled and took a step forward then pulled me into a warm hug, it felt very different from all the hugs I had received before, I had a big brother now, the thought felt nice and refreshing, I wrapped my hands around him and hugged him right back, we remained like that for a while  for a while before we pulled away from each other,

He lowered his face until he was on eye level with me, he had that serious look in his eyes again,

“I am very sorry for everything you went through before and I promise you that I will sure the bastard who hurt you suffers greatly, I don’t care whether he is Richard Blackwood or Derrick King, he will rue the day the day he ever hurt you” he said, every word was spoken with a high level of conviction and in his eyes, I saw the sincerity with which he spoke,

I felt a tear drop slip down my cheek, I can’t believe how much he cared about me, it was the first time we were meeting as brother and sister but I already felt a strong connection with him, I smiled hugged him again, I felt another pair of arms hug me from behind, it was Aunt Marla or maybe I should my mother, standing there in between them, I felt safe, I felt protected and I knew that Richard stood no chance against us, I will get my revenge and then finally I can be at peace.

After a few minutes, we pulled away “Why are you guys even here?” I asked, now that I thought about it, I had no idea why they were here in the first place,

Ian rolled his eyes and said “They planned to have dinner together today and didn’t inform us, I just happened to walk in on their conversation”

Aunt Marla raised her hand up in surrender “it was all Melissa’s plan, I am just an accomplice” she said

I laughed and said “Well this is the first time I am hearing about this and dinner is due in 2 hours”

Ian laughed and said “I feel for you sister”

I put a very said look on my face and said “My life is hard”

Aunt Marla laughed and said “if you kids will excuse me, I am going to see my friend”

With that she walked out of the room leaving just me and Ian, he smiled at me and said “I should go as well, you need to get ready for dinner, I will see you downstairs”

I nodded and watched him as he left, I felt a kind of happiness inside me, my mother was here and I also had a big brother, I felt like things were finally looking up,

With a feeling of excitement, I got ready to eat dinner with my family.