by Kate A. Fox
"You will soon learn the mysteries of our world, Brianna Winters."
She knew my name! How the hell did she know my name?
I was so utterly speechless that all I could do was gawp at her as she stood and began to walk away.
"Who on earth was that?" Polly piped up.
"I have no idea."
I shook my head.
"She knew your name." Polly stated the obvious.
I nodded again, speechless.
After a few moments of catching flies, I put a little pressure, testing it before I made any attempt to get up.
There wasn't a single ounce of pain. Not only was the bruising gone but the sickness in my stomach and the haziness in my vision was gone too.
"What did she do to you?" Polly gaped at me when I turned to look at her.
"I have no idea."
I lifted my hand up in front of my face and flexed my fingers. Perfect movement. In fact, I was almost sure that my joints felt better than they ever had before.
I knew one thing for certain.
"We probably shouldn't tell anyone about this."
"Why not? It was awesome!" Polly exclaimed, scowling at me when I shook my head.
"It was freaky."
And the last thing I needed was anyone to get another whiff of freaky coming from me.
CHAPTER 4
BY THE TIME I EVENTUALLY GOT HOME, AFTER TWO buses with Polly chattering away, I was more than a little relieved to find that Nicola was still at work.
I wasn't at all ready for her nightly routine of asking me how school had gone.
What was I meant to say? Oh yeah, it was great. I got into not one but three altercations with my best friend's girlfriend. I somehow threw her across the room without even touching her. And oh, I broke my wrist but it’s better now because some beautiful stranger healed it by chanting some weird jibberish at me.
I could still remember the hot, uncomfortable tingling sensation that had radiated from the woman's hand.
There was no way in hell, Nicola as a hospital nurse, would believe what I was saying. She'd probably call one of her doctor friends to come and section me.
Sure, I'd grown up with her telling me bedtime stories of witches, werewolves, vampires and ghosts, but none of that had ever been real. They were just stories. Weren't they?
If you'd asked me yesterday I would have said yes. Now, I wasn't so sure.
Home itself was a small two bed apartment in a building that held six. All the walls were painted in pastel colours and each room was cozy, decorated with rose gold accents. Nicola claimed she wasn't very girly but she totally was, even if she did spend half her time elbow deep in blood as an accident and emergency nurse.
Peter had once lived in the exact same flat with his parents but when Polly came along they knew they needed somewhere bigger and now lived in a three story townhouse next door to the apartment building. When I'd reminded Peter I lived right next door, I hadn't been joking.
The moment I had seen Polly to her front door, I'd hurried up to the flat, eager to make it to the only place I felt at peace - my bedroom.
Dropping my school bag by the front door and kicking off my shoes, I grabbed a bottle of Pepsi from the fridge in the kitchenette and went through to drop down onto the bed.
After everything that had happened I was exhausted and my temples were throbbing with the beginnings of a headache.
A part of me knew I should get some paracetamol to make sure it didn't turn into one of my dreaded migraines but I was too damn tired to move.
Instead I swigged my pop and curled up against the cushions that were propped up against my allergenic pillow. I wasn't very girly myself but my cushions were shaped like love hearts even if they were a dark purple.
In fact, most of the things in my room were dark purple or mint green - my two favourite colours.
I lay back and stared at the glow in the dark star stickers that were positioned like a milky way on the ceiling above my bed. At the centre was a large crescent moon.
It wasn't yet dark out so the stickers weren't glowing but they were still an odd luminescent green.
I was staring at the crescent moon at the centre as I drifted off to sleep. Perhaps that's why I dreamt what I did.
I suddenly stood in the middle of an open field. Nowhere that I recognised. It was more of a meadow really; with tall grass and wildflowers as far as the eye could see.
About me shone the brightest full moon I had ever seen. It cast its silver light all around me and the flowers and grass seemed to dance, revelling in its glory.
At first I thought I was alone but when I lowered my head to look straight forward I caught sight of a woman walking towards me.
Okay - she didn't really seem to walk - she floated towards me as though her feet were just barely brushing the ground. The grass and wild flowers seemed to part to make a path for her just as the crowd of students had done for Lola.
I trembled at the comparison knowing that this woman certainly was nothing like her.
Her hair was so icy blonde that it had a silver tint to it. At first glance her eyes were a striking blue that reminded me of the woman who'd healed my wrist. But as she drew closer I saw that her eyes danced with specks of lilac, silver and gold.
She was wearing a simple white, shift dress, almost like a nightgown and her skin was so pale and luminescent that she seemed to glow from within, almost making the light of the moon obsolete.
My mouth dropped open at the sight of her. I mean, my jaw practically hit the floor.
Brianna Winters. Her voice was soft and silky like a running brook of clear, cool water and as she spoke I realised that she hadn't even opened her mouth. I could hear her right there in my head.
I trembled all over again, this time because I felt a warmth washing over me as though I had slipped into a hot bubble bath after being caught out in a storm.
I have chosen thee. Her voice continued to echo in my mind. Come to me.
She opened her arms to me, uprising them as though inviting me for an embrace.
Deep down, very deep down, I told myself I should probably turn and run the other way.
But her words were enticing and everything about her made me feel warm...safe...home.
There was that tingling sensation again. This time I could feel it pinpointed in my heart. My pulse quickened and the blood began to roar in my ears but for the first time I wasn't angry. The emotions I was feeling couldn't have been more opposite.
I felt happy tears begin to prick at the corners of my eyes.
Why the hell was I crying?
I had no idea but what I did know was that I was walking towards her.
My feet almost had a mind of their own as I glided into her outstretched arms.
When she closed her arms around me I felt as though heat itself had enveloped me. The spicy scent of burning flames mixed with the fresh, cold smell of water and that of fresh cut grass. The scents were carried to me on a breeze that whipped all about us causing our hair to spread about us like a cocoon of silver and red.
Still I wasn't frightened. I was happy. Happier than I'd ever felt before and smiling like a stupid kid.
When she finally stepped back I was disappointed not to feel her arms around me and the scents began to fade, lingering at the very edge of my sense of smell as though they were live things, desperate not to leave me.
I have chosen thee, Brianna Winters. The woman stared down at me with those magical eyes. It was not a cruel hard stare like that of my PE teacher but a warm, loving stare like that of an affectionate mother to her child.
"Who are you?" I gasped and my voice sounded far away, carried off by the wind that still swept around us.
I have been known by many names. Mawu. Thoth. Abuk. Ala. iNyanga. Luna. Triple Goddess. Moon. She explained to me, her voice like honey suckle. But you may call me Selene.
"What do you want from me?"
The woman - Selene - began to smile then. Her rosebu
d lips began to part to show brilliant white teeth and the corners of her mouth began to twitch up with amusement.
I want your devotion, my child.
Okay, so I knew she wasn't my mother. How could I have come from such a beautiful being? But the way she spoke made me feel as though I belonged.
I will be watching over you, my child. She continued to smile. I will always be with you. Through the good times and the bad. In the darkness when there is no light to guide you. When you feel as though you can go no further I will be your energy. When you are starving I shall fill your belly. When your heart is broken I shall heal it. When you are lost I shall guide you…
Then suddenly the sound of a door slamming shut made me jump. I practically fell off my bed in fright.
The pounding of footsteps in the living room told me that Nicola had had a terrible day at work.
Her footsteps were growing ever closer and I quickly sat up in bed, trying to wipe the crazy happy smile off my face that seemed to have followed me from my dream.
Was that really all it was? It had felt so damn real.
"Bri?" Nicola's wary voice sounded through the door that I'd left ajar and a moment later it opened up to reveal her stood in the doorway.
Still reeling from my dream, I croaked, "Yeah? Yes."
"Are you alright?" Nicola asked, her eyebrow raising as she examined me closely, "You look...odd."
I grabbed my pepsi bottle and took a deep swig to ease the dryness of my throat even as I nodded.
"What's up? Bad day at work?" I asked in an attempt to take the heat off myself.
Nicola shrugged her shoulders and her brown ponytail began to swing high on the back of her head as she shook her head.
“A frustrating day at work.” She huffed.
I leaned forward and patted the edge of the bed, “Come sit. Tell me all about it.”
She may have been my legal guardian but Nicola and I were more like sisters. She tried not to baby me because, well, I wasn’t actually her daughter. What mattered was she was my mum when it counted; when I fell over as a kid and grazed my knee or the time I broke my arm falling off the monkey bars when I was eight.
She only needed to say one name for me to know exactly why she’d had a rough day, “Doctor Lawson.”
Swoon. Doctor Lawson wasn’t just a doctor, he was a freaking surgeon. The stereotypical doctor who made women weak at the knees with just a glance. I’d met him a couple of times. He’d even stitched me up When I cracked my head open, falling off my bike (yes, I’m accident prone). The fact was he was drop dead gorgeous in that tall, dark and handsome kind of way.
I know what you are thinking. Why was a day with Doctor McHottie frustrating?
I’ll tell you. Ever since Doctor Lawson started working at London Memorial hospital two years ago, he’d had his eye on Nicola. There’s something you should know about my adopted mum: she’s seriously strict when it comes to things like colleague relationships. The fact is she will NOT enter into one.
The only problem was, Doctor Lawson made it almost impossible for her to say no.
“What did he offer this time?” I raised an eyebrow.
“A picnic and a screening of Titanic at the outdoor cinema just outside of town.” Nicola sighed as though it had been one of the hardest things she’d ever had to turn down.
God Lawson was good. Titanic was Nicola’s all time favourite movie. She must have watched it a billion times. I couldn’t blame her, DiCaprio was a heart-throb (even if he was old enough to be my dad now).
“Seriously? What is stopping you?” I gaped at her. This had been going on for long enough. It was time to make a stand.
Nicola turned her head to look at me from where she was now perched on the edge of my bed, “It's just not ethical.”
“Ethical Schmethical!”
I furrowed my brow at her, the urge to slap some sense into her almost uncontrollable.
“Don’t go there, Brianna.” she warned me. I knew she was serious when she used my full name. Ordinarily she always called me Bri.
After the incident in the showerroom with Lola I was feeling brave.
“Come on. If this was just going to be some kind of fling with a co-worker, do you really think he would still be trying after two whole years?”
Nicola straightened up at that.
“Is it really that long?” she gasped and her eyes became round as saucers. Shaking her head, she added, “It can’t have been that long.”
She averted her gaze then and I could tell from the look on her face that she knew exactly how long it had been.
Damn, I wanted to shake her so badly.
“I fell off my bike and cracked my head open just over two years ago. That’s about the time he started working at the hospital. Correct?”
“I guess so.”
Nicola shrugged but I knew that she remembered it well. She had been absolutely devastated when it had happened, blaming herself because she hadn’t been watching me close enough. I mean, come on, I was thirteen for goodness sake.
I still remembered the stinging sensation as Lawson stitched me up as a favour to Nicola so that I didn’t have to wait in the emergency room for three and a half hours like everybody else. I also remembered the clear, static electricity between them and the way Nicola had unknowingly fluttered her eyelashes at him.
“Give me your phone.” I ordered her, holding out my hand.
“What for?”
She looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
“Just give it.”
Nicola, still looking suspicious, reached into the pocket of her jeans (nurses weren’t allowed to wear their uniform home due to possible contamination problems. Yuck!) and handed it to me begrudgingly.
Nicola and I had no secrets from each other so it wasn’t hard for me to dial in the passcode and bring up her messages. I opened a new message window and typed Doctor McHottie’s name in the top before writing a quick message: Hey Sam, I’ve been thinking a lot since our chat earlier and I’d like to take you up on the offer. Pick me up at 8?
Then I pressed send and handed the phone back to Nicola. She turned her attention to the screen and her eyes bugged right out of her head.
“You didn’t send it, did you?”
She looked at me in alarm and I offered a smug, satisfied smile in return.
“You didn’t!” she exclaimed, “How do I delete it?”
I rolled my eyes at her. She never really was any good with technology.
“Even if you delete it this end, he’ll still get it on his.” I chuckled, “You’d better get ready. You only have a couple of hours and we both know how you love to take your time.”
“Jheez! Bri! I can’t believe you did that.”
For just a moment I thought she was going to give me the telling off of my life. Then she jumped up from the bed and began to hurry for the door.
“I have to get ready.” she gasped, almost sounding excited.
I knew she had always had the hots for him. It was about time she got something good in her life. She’d been raising me for practically half her life. I mean, she’s thirty nine and I’m fifteen, you do the math.
She hadn’t been on a date in probably - if I had to put a time on it - six years. Not since her last boyfriend cheated on her and she decided to give up on men all together. It was about time she got her head back in the game. I wasn’t going to be her roommate forever.
Nicola was barely out the door when my own phone suddenly began to buzz.
CHAPTER 5
I ROLLED OVER ONTO MY SIDE TO GET BETTER access to the pocket of my school trousers and shoved my hand inside. The pocket was small and tight and barely held my Samsung, making it extremely difficult to put my fingers inside. I just managed to pinch the edges of the phone to slip it out.
When I looked at the screen I was startled to see the name Bobby flashing on the screen. A picture of me and her with our arms around each other, laughing when we had been around twelve, popped up
behind her name.
Excitement bubbled up inside me.
Bobby had been the closest thing I’d ever had to a female best friend. She’d moved to London around six years ago and two years later moved away again to Plymouth.
“Bobby? Is that really you?” I answered the phone, shocked.
“No it’s the boogeyman. Of course it’s me!” she chuckled.
Man, it was good to hear her voice.
“It’s been like two months!” I scowled into the phone, “I was starting to think you’d been abducted by aliens or something.”
I couldn’t see her but I could imagine her rolling her eyes at my overactive imagination.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been so busy.” she sighed, “We’re moving again.”
My heart ached for her. My life as an orphan was bad but her life as an army brat must have been so much worse. Always moving, never staying in one place long enough to make any real friendships, always being the new kid at school.
“Crap. Really?” I grumbled and reached for one of the cushions to hug it to my chest. The thought that she might be moving even further away made me feel sick. I already missed her enough as it was.
“Yeah. And it gets worse!” Bobby practically growled. How could it possibly be any worse?
“Tell me.”
“We’re moving to Germany!”
My heart skipped a beat at that. Germany? It may as well have been the other side of the world. At least with her living in Plymouth I had the opportunity to jump on a train and go see her.
“Jheez. Why so far?”
“Dad got a new posting out there.” Bobby huffed, “There is one good thing though.”
“You’re killing me with all this suspense!” I snapped at her, “Just spit it out already.”
“Mum and dad are driving me to London in the morning. We’re all going to stay with Grandma for a couple of days before our flight!”
My heart soared then. If she was coming back to London then I was going to get to see my best friend again!
“We’ll be there right around the time your school lets out.” Bobby continued.
“Does that mean you’ll be waiting at the school gates for me?” I chuckled, imagining some kind of heartfelt scene in a movie.