Arabelle

Chapter 22 - Ian III

Ian’s POV

I listened as mum narrated the story of Arabelle to me, as she spoke, tears spilled down her cheeks, I could hear the pain with she spoke, I could feel the emotions she felt, I couldn’t explain it but I was able to connect to her, I felt my magic reach out to her, I could feel it wrapping itself around her emotions and pain and then it was forming an image, looking closely at the image forming in my mind, I saw a young girl of no more than seventeen or eighteen, she was being dragged roughly on the ground by a man, also very young, I figured he should be around 20 or so, he had a look of determination in his eyes, like he had set his mind to do whatever it took to carry out what he wanted to do, I could feel the wind as it blew and howled, I watched as the young lady was dragged and then tied to a stake, I heard a woman scream, I turned toward the direction from where the scream came and I saw my mum, she looked different, she was dressed in a long blue gown and she had a hairstyle on her head that would be considered funny in present day, she was struggling and trying to break free of the people who were holding her, she was calling out to Arabelle who had now woken up, Arabelle started to mutter a spell and the ground began to shake, the rain fell with even heavier drops, it was like an earthquake.

Suddenly, the young man pulled out a dagger from his boot and leapt up the raised platform, he stabbed Arabelle right in the chest, a gasp escaped my lips, I had not expected that, I felt pain deep in my heart, I thought the pain came from my mum since her emotions were linked to my magic but deep inside my heart, I knew I also felt pain for this girl who I felt a connection with for some reason, I watched with horror as the young man threw the burning torch and the wood went up in flames, I watched as the flames surrounded Arabelle, I closed my eyes and the images seized.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the room with my mother, she was crying and I felt an anger I could not explain, I felt a sudden desire to get that man and teach him a terrible lesson, I felt the power in blood calling for some sort of release, the lights began to blink on and off, my mum looked me quickly,

“Ian, stop it, you have to control yourself” she said as she rushed over to me, she was shaking me but I wasn’t paying attention to her, the only thing I could see was the burning image of Arabelle and the young man who had lit the fire,

The lights were flashing a lot faster now then one exploded, I felt like I needed to release more power or else I will go crazy from the rage I was feeling right now, without thinking I released a wave of energy from body, mum flew back and crashed to the floor, it was only then that I realized what I was doing, the flashing lights seized, I rushed over to mum, who was lying on the floor,

“Mum, are you okay?” I said as I tried to lift her up, I could hear the panic in my own voice, inside, I was praying that she was okay and that if anything had happened to her because of me then I will never be able to forgive myself,

Mum opened her eyes and I felt relief wash over me, she sat up quickly and hugged me “I am sorry that you had to see that Ian, I didn’t know that could happen, if not I would have warned you, I am so sorry Ian” Mum said as she hugged me,

She must have realized that I had somehow accessed her memories, I hugged her right back and I couldn’t stop muttering how sorry I was that I had hurt her,

She pulled away from me, with a look of determination in her eyes, she said the last thing I expected her to say in this situation “Let’s go to London, our house there is in the country side and you can practice your magic more effectively, there you can master how to control your magic and also your feelings”

I couldn’t understand why she would suggest something like that immediately after my outburst but I didn’t argue with her, I simply smiled and nodded my head.

And that was how me and mum moved to London, there, I practiced and learnt everything mum could teach me and it was a lot but I felt it wasn’t enough, I studied on my own, I developed a habit of finding and researching on anything vaguely alike to magic and witchcraft, I collected rare artifacts and scrolls for different parts of the world, I fashioned my own versions of spells and different ways of using magic, it took me over 8 years to master everything and at the same time, I had to learn how to manage the family business, my life was a constant learning process, I was always learning and studying.

It was until we were about to return to new york that mum told me that she had long found Arabelle, and it turns out that I also knew her, I was a bit surprised that my sister from the past was Isabella Mavericks, the daughter to mum’s friend, Aunt Melissa, I remembered that mum was always fond of her but never in my wildest imaginations would I have thought that she was Arabelle, I didn’t remember her very well, all I remembered was a cute little girl with beautiful blue eyes and pigtails, I found myself wishing to go back home quickly so I could see the woman she had become, I already felt an unexplainable affection for her even before I met her,

And I when I finally met her that day, I felt happy that she had grown to be a very beautiful woman and the smile I saw on her face that afternoon made me want to make sure she never had to go through the pain and suffering she went through before, on that day, I made a plan to protect her from all harm.

Mum had found out that Richard Blackwood had returned as Derrick King, it was a matter of luck, she had gone for a meeting back then when we were in London and she had seen Richard Blackwood, she had returned home that day looking like she had seen a ghost, it took me a while before I was able to calm her down and she was able to explain everything to me, I had thought we were very lucky that faith just handed him to us like that and that was I started my planning, I had studied everything about him, I found that he was just an easy going business magnate, he was an heir to fortunes just like me, a lot of people described him as charismatic and gentle but I didn’t care what anyone had to say about him, I had my own score to settle with him and I will do it regardless of whatever anyone had to say about it.

When I had seen him with Arabelle today at the hospital, I had to gather all the control I could muster to stop myself from smashing his face in, I found it amusing that he had the right to say that he was just trying to protect Arabelle when he himself had stabbed and burned her and now he spoke of protection, I was sure that I would have lost it had I not left with Arabelle when I did then surely I would have ended up causing a scene.

I had long dropped Arabelle off at home, I was back home now and I had spent the day remembering memories of the past, I sat in my study thinking about how different life will be if certain people didn’t exist,

Mum walked in and said with a smile on her face “What are you thinking about with that serious expression on your face?”

I returned the smile and answered “Memories of the past”

She smiled and said “Back when you were a nerd or before then?”

I laughed and said “After that actually, I am talking about the time when I became the smartest witch alive and all the events that have followed since then”

Mum rolled her eyes and said “I don’t know when you became so cocky”

I chuckled and said “I wonder how I ended up like this as well, perhaps it’s because I am way too handsome for my own good or maybe because I am so smart”

I winked at mum who laughed and said “Like you said, you are too handsome for your own good and that smartness has obviously gone to your head”

I smiled and simply shrugged my shoulders,

Mum suddenly had a serious expression on her face, she walked up to me and said “I heard about Ruth Grant on the news, are you doing okay? I know you blame yourself for what happened but I want to understand that it wasn’t your fault, you are not responsible for her death, the person who killed her is”

 At the mention of Ruth’s name, I felt a stab of guilt, I ran my fingers through my hair and a sigh of exasperation escaped by lips, regardless of what mum and Arabelle say , I will still feel guilty, I had dragged her into this and now she was dead.

Perhaps mum had thought about what I was thinking because she said “Don’t blame yourself my dear, the only you can do for Ruth now is to make sure that the person who killed her doesn’t get away with it, make sure you find the person and make them pay”

The person was going to pay for sure, that I would make certain of but the guilt will be with me forever,

I looked at mum and smiled “Don’t worry mum, they will pay for sure, I feel like all this is connected with Arabelle somehow, and that means they might go after Arabelle and I will die before I let anyone hurt her”

Mum was quiet for a while then she said “Ian, I love Arabelle but I love you just as much, I don’t want to lose you because of all this, I care about you just as much as I care about Arabelle so I want you both safe at the end of all this, I don’t want you risking your life all the time, I know you care about your sister but please I want you to also look out for yourself, promise me that okay”

I gave her one of my charming smile and said “Yes ma’am, I promise you I will look out for myself and stay safe while I protect you and Arabelle”

Mum smiled and said “If it gets too dangerous, we can just back out, I will not lose any of you again this time”

Even if she was smiling, I could see how worried she was, she was scared for both of us, I stood up and turned around the table and walked towards her, i placed a smile on my face and said “I promise you mum, you won’t lose any of us, I will make sure of it”

She nodded her head and smiled “I already said I will do anything I can to keep you kids safe, so I will make sure I protect you kids” she said,

I scoffed and pulled her in for a hug “It’s the responsibility of the man to protect his family and I am the man here, so kindly leave the protecting business to me ma’am” I said with a smile on my face,

Mum scoffed and pulled away from the hug “Yeah some man” she said, the sarcasm in her voice was so thick you could cut with a knife,

I gave her a smile and said “You break my heart mother”

She laughed and said “Let’s go have dinner, it should be ready by now”

“Yes ma’am” I answered and followed behind mum who was already walking out of the room with a smile on her face.