Magic Hour (DayBreak Book 2)

by Meco Brown

  “How could I call upon my family, and reveal my true feelings for someone whom you'd all feel compelled to hate?”

  “Compelled to hate?” I barely breathed out. “The only type of person we'd disapprove of is...” The words stopped coming as I thought about Brock's emotions, comparing them to my own.

  He let out another icy laugh. “It happened so fast; One minute I'm taking over Taideo's life and the next I'm immediately thrown off guard. She's literally the gorgeous, heavenly creature of my heart’s desire.” Brock said, closing his eyes and placing his hand over his chest. “B-but I know what you're going to say; That these despicable feelings shouldn't exist in the heart of a man such as myself. That long-term feelings such as mine, are useless when it comes to her kind.”

  His words struck a chord; I knew and understood his exact feelings. When I first saw Taideo in the gym, I was hit with that premonition Lillian shared with me all those years ago, and I knew he was the one. But also, I immediately knew Taideo was human, and it hurt me. I became angry and the smell of his scent threw me over the edge. I was conflicted by the many thoughts of the situation, especially with the fact that time together is limited; But this wasn't just any ordinary love, Taideo and I were destined. So, I kept coming around him, trying to prove to myself and my family that we could make it work; In time, his humanity grew what love I already had for him. But it all started that day, with those feelings of confliction. “You're in love with a human.” I whispered.

  Aviva stepped back, shocked. “Wait, you mean human-human? Not Taideo half-breed human, but human-human?” She asked, panic surrounding her words. Brock nods slowly. “How human though? Like Chloe temporarily marrying a male with no intimacy human, or you falling into a long-term relationship with a human and do human things, that lead to human death human-human? Which one are we talking about here?”

  “It's a great thing we don't breathe huh?” I said with a short chuckle.

  “Airius, please, no jokes.” Aviva said with a solid face.

  “Does she share your feelings in return?” I asked.

  “Don't answer that, what we need to know is who is the girl in question?” She said. Brock was quiet. “Is it one of the girls at school? Whoever she is must know Taideo; Is it Ariel? Eamie?” Aviva took another deep breath. “It's Eamie isn't it? You feel we will disagree, because she's involved with the Haitian's and Navajo’s, don't you?”

  “No,” Brock huffed. “It's Taideo's friend back home, his friend Maria.”

  “You're an idiot Brock.” There was absolutely no hint of humor in Aviva's voice. “Out of all the humans, how is it possible that you managed to find feelings for the one person, that you really shouldn't?” She stepped back and stared off into the night sky. “I’m sorry Airius,” Aviva said to me, twisting back around to face us, “but after nearly forty resurrection spells, I'm convinced we can't bring Taideo back; Which means soon enough, Brock will stop impersonating him. Which also means little Maria, won't be speaking with you again.” Her voice was hard as steel.

  I peeked over at Brock, a mixture of disbelief and anxiety swirled in his cold dead eyes. Brock was so engrossed in his own thoughts, he completely missed Aviva's warnings, of what being with an actual human would cause for not only him, but our coven as well. For me, Taideo was half human, so there was a little wiggle room for he and I. Chloe would marry a guy just for the romantic aspect of a relationship- dinner, movies and playing house. She knew she couldn't be in it for love and would eventually divorce her new husband, calling on us to hasten their divorce with magic and she'd move on to the next eligible bachelor. There was no love in it for her; But Brock seemed to be in it only for love. I couldn't necessarily be angry with him, for wanting what so many of us fight to have.

  “You will stop appearing as Taideo starting now, and in three weeks you'll do it only once, but as his dead body, and we'll move on after.” She said threateningly.

  I couldn't hold myself back any longer. “Are you insane Aviva!” I took her face in my hands and looked her straight in the eyes. “If you think for a second, he's going to appear as my boyfriend’s dead body you're sadly mistaken.”

  Her eyes glanced over at Brock. They stare at each other for a long minute. “Do what you will, but if the Nioeaon come for us, it's on both your heads.” She shoves my hand away and took off deeper into the forest.

  “Do you think what I feel is weird?” Brock asked, catching a glimpse of my sideways grin.

  “No,” I muttered. “I'm just...” my words trailed off.

  “Just what?”

  “Concerned.” I said.

  Brock blinked, astounded by the true level of sympathy in my voice. He shrugged his shoulders and turned away from me, slowly making his way up a rocky slope.

  “Talk to me, Brock.” I pleaded as I followed behind him. Silence crept between us, as we climbed to the top of a long ridge. Dreary, looming trees on the left, and a massive drop-off on the right. I made sure to keep myself quiet, hoping Brock would soon speak of the matter, he mildly touched on only moments ago. As Brock climbed, I simply followed, all while noticing the higher up we went, a deep level of fog expanded around the area. We neared the top of the mountain, overlooking the massive sea of trees and dense brush.

  “You want to tell me what we're doing up here. Or why you brought me to this spot?”

  “Listen, Airius, I want you to know I appreciate you for having my back earlier. It really means a lot.” He said.

  I nodded. “You're welcome, Brock.”

  “I wanted to show you something. But let me say this before I do.” He glanced over at me, crossing his arms. “I took on Taideo's persona and led everyone to believe he was alive and well. For nearly three months I did just that; Talking like him, speaking to those he communicated with; But then one day, Maria video messaged me and I answered.” He said. I honestly never seen Brock so open and vulnerable. As I watched him, his body became oddly framed in the peculiar glow of concealed moonlight. The combination of it all, put a swell of pity deep within my stomach. “During our conversations, I took an immediate liking to her. God, Airius she's so smart and funny; And because she thinks I'm Taideo, we can talk about magic and she doesn't even get freaked.”

  I shook my head, “But Brock, she thinks you're Taideo. You can't possibly try sweet talking her using Taideo's looks. That's wrong on so many levels.”

  His arms swept the air, “No, no. As Taideo, I'm simply talking to her about Airius's hunky witch cousin Brock; Which is me, who just happens to be single. She's totally into me.” He said with a wide grin.

  “How can she be into someone, whom she hasn't yet spoken with? Brock that's like me telling someone you're into them, but you never speak to them yourself. Anyone with a brain would see something is off about the situation.” He crossed his arms when I said that. I could tell Brock really didn't think anything through. “So, you're pretty much tricking her; that makes for a wonderful start in a relationship.” I took a breath, “Brock, let me ask you something. Have you even talked to Maria as yourself and not Taideo?”

  He kicked a rock down below. “Are you kidding? No, I just been talking myself up to her.”

  “Then how do you know she's interested in you?”

  His head nodded side to side as if he were considering telling me something.

  “Brock, what is it?”

  “She's moving here.” He let out with a guilty expression.

  I took a step back, and felt my jaw tightening from the psychological punch Brock forced my way. “What the hell do you mean? You can't be serious.” I blurted out. He was silent, watching as I formed a tight fist in a fit of anger. “Wait, does this have anything to do, with Ms. Chestnut's home looking that way it did?” I questioned, still partly curious as to why her home was in such a mess.

  “Because we felt bad that she didn't know about Taideo's death, we sent Ms. Chestnut on several paid vacations. Once she returned to Olah, we put her in several hotels, including th
e one on Celestial Moon. No one has been to her home since Taideo died.” He said. “Well, except me, I went there a few weeks ago, to move all of Taideo's things into the other spare bedroom.”

  My eyes widened, “Y-you moved all of Taideo's things?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I figured Maria could have Taideo's old room, it's a bit bigger than the one his stuff is in now, but I figured it would be okay.”

  I inhaled sharply. “Brock, you shouldn't leave Ms. Chestnut's house unattended; Some hoodlum could just sneak inside and wreak havoc all over the place.” I said, shaking my head. Glad to see my one-man quarrel fest didn't get me into trouble with anyone.

  “It's fine, tomorrow I'm going to give the entire place a do-over.”

  “Brock, listen man, I support you in love, you need to know that. But you also need to understand that bringing her here, someone innocent in all of this is putting her directly in the middle of danger. Not just because of the witch-human relationship part either. I mean, although you can turn into Taideo, you can't maintain your form and his simultaneously. Sooner or later she'll figure it out; And when she does, if the Nioeaon discovers that a human knows, we're in trouble.” I say to him and really hope Brock understood what he was getting himself into. Out of anyone, I knew what it's like to fight for someone you truly care for; But something in the back of my mind, told me that this wasn't a great idea.

  He smiled and shot me a knowing glance. “She's special, and her level of intelligence is uncanny to any human, I've seen throughout my life, Airius.” Suddenly, a silver light filtered around Brock's hand, as he stretched them out towards the moon. The light was soft and enchanting, almost similar to siphoning the energy during DayBreak. The shimmering particles glittered around his entire body, illuminating a ring around his eyes before vanishing into nothing.

  “What the hell was that, Brock. How'd you do that?”

  “It was her; Maria talked me through it. After you and Taideo left from visiting her this past summer; She began researching our history, looking into our siphoning ability. She told me, or rather Taideo, how worried she was about us not being able to feed at night. She felt that if we could feed during DayBreak, as well as what she calls Magic Hour; We'd be stronger and less likely desire to feed on humans.” He finished and gave a tight smile.

  “But how?” I said, still mesmerized by what I just saw.

  “Think of it like a magnet. You use the light siphoned at DayBreak, to attract the power of the moon. It's a beautiful thing; That someone like her-human, could care for something like us. Airius, I want to know her.” He said, raising his hands in a calming gesture. I would never admit this out loud. But I envy him and what he wants to build with this girl.

  “If that's what you want cousin, then I support you.” I said, placing my hand on his shoulder, and took in the heavenly beauty of the gleaming moonlight.

  Rain slowly lifted just before three that Friday afternoon, which had cast the sky in a dark cover of gray clouds. Brock and I managed to talk Chloe, into helping us redecorate Ms. Chestnut's home. Lillian, Aviva, Esmond and Payton all agreed, that Brock's feelings toward that of a human girl, was something to not be involved with; And although some part of them wanted to support him, they each felt this situation, would only lead to our downfall if the Nioeaon were to find out. Lillian felt herself torn with the decision more so than anyone; Because she's both a great friend to Brock, but also the head witch in our coven, and in the end, she simply allowed us all to vote. Which resulted in Lillian, Esmond, Aviva and Payton staying behind; While Brock, Chloe and myself cleaned and reorganized Ms. Chestnut's home. Together, Chloe and I took this opportunity, to use our combined powers of telekinesis and plant manipulation, to rebuild parts of the house that hasn't been taken care of over the past few months.

  Brock took this time to further explain his feeling for this girl; that after their initial connection he wanted her here with him; And after much thought on the matter, Brock easily persuaded her parents and Ms. Chestnut, into allowing Maria to move here. I did however, find it odd Maria was moving in the middle of the school year, just as Taideo did before; And strange that Maria also agreed to move here herself; I've met her once and the things Taideo told me about her were spot on; She's smart, almost for her own good. I couldn't help but feel she wanted to be here, because she knew something was going on; Like maybe she knew that something happened to Taideo, and that Brock was appearing as him. She and Taideo were best friends, who knew almost everything about one another; And someone pretending to be Taideo, probably sent Maria hundreds of red flags. Why else would she decide to pick up everything, and agree to move far away from her family and friends if not suspicious? I find it hard to believe, that she's coming here just because Brock's version of Taideo told her to.

  “This is ridiculous,” Chloe said, gazing around in dismay. “Why does Brock get to decorate the inside of the house? Shouldn't that be my job?” She said as she surveyed the mess in the backyard. Piles of lumber stacked against the privacy fence, tables were littered with nails and other supplies.

  “At least we're almost done.” I said, quickly tearing my gaze away from Chloe, as I heard tires sloshing up towards the front of the house. “When did Brock say Ms. Chestnut was supposed to arrive?” I said, sniffing the air, taking in the scent of Taideo's grandmother.

  “Sometime tomorrow, I guess those plans changed.” Chloe said, scanning our surrounding. “You go stall her, I'll finish up here and make sure Brock is all good inside.” I nodded and jogged toward the front of the house, and stopped upon seeing Taideo -Brock- greeting Ms. Chestnut at her car door.

  Chloe stood three or less feet behind me. “Are you alright?” She whispered.

  I shook my head. “No,” I said, drawing out the word and adding, “It honest to God sucks to see my dead ex right here in front of me.”

  She placed her hand on my shoulder. “Don't be angry with him Airius, you know why Brock is doing this.”

  “I'm not mad,” I insisted. But that was a lie, I was highly annoyed, because seeing Brock in Taideo's form is hindering my ability to try and mourn him. I chased Terra for months, and now that I'm finally able to try and grieve, I can't. Still, I didn't want to spoil the rest of the day with negativity. “I'll behave myself. Plus, I feel sort of bad that you guys have been keeping her in different hotel rooms for the past few months.”

  “It was Brock's idea. Besides with a little magic, she didn't even want to come home. Until now that is.” She said.

  “Yeah, Brock's full of ideas lately.” I say to Chloe. I exchange a friendly grin with Ms. Chestnut, as Chloe and I approached her. Her dark brown eyes were calm when she looked up at me.

  Ms. Chestnut's then reached out and pulls me into a tight hug. “Well it's wonderful to see you again Airius. Hello Chloe.” She said, giving Chloe a hug as well. “Would you all like to come inside? I can whip us up some dinner.” Her lips turned up into a prideful smile. I always hated when someone put human food in front of us; As witches, we can't digest human food. Lillian did however, create a potion, which allows us to eat human food, and transmute it into usable energy, once consumed. Being that none of us had the potion, we'd sadly have to decline Ms. Chestnut's offer.

  “Actually grams, we already ate,” Taideo -Brock- said, “But, grams, when you walk inside you'll notice the house is a tad bit different.”

  “Different how, Taideo?” She said and placed her hands on her hips.

  “We just wanted the place to look nicer for you.” Chloe spat out.

  “Well, dear was my house not nice before?” Ms. Chestnut's face was suddenly serious.

  “Well I'm off to the bus station,” Taideo -Brock- said, taking the car keys from Ms. Chestnut, and hurrying to open the door.

  “Bus station for what?” I asked with a baffled stare. He sat in the car, started it and drove off quickly. “Um,” I said with a frown, “where is he going?”

  “To the bus station dear, his friend should be arri
ving soon, and I need to start dinner; I'm sure that child will be hungry after her trip.” Ms. Chestnut turned and headed towards the front door of her home.

  Chloe raised an angry eyebrow. “He planned for this didn't he?” She asked.

  “Chloe,” I said, desperately trying to catch her attention, as the trashcan and mailbox both began to shiver.

  “Are you doing that?” She asked, grabbing my arm as if to stop me.

  “No.”

  “Then what...”

  The windows on Ms. Chestnut's house suddenly exploded in a cascade, that started on the lower left side and ran all the way up to the second-floor bedrooms! Without thinking, Chloe immediately blurred over to Ms. Chestnut and pulled her to the side of the house. The entire area suddenly began to tremble.

  “H-how did you do that?” Ms. Chestnut screamed as Chloe tried to calm her down.

  “Airius!” Lillian's voice shouted. I forced myself to face her, while doing my best to resist the constant trembling of the uneven ground.

  “Lillian what's going on?”

  “Airius, you won't believe it.” She said.

  “What? What is it?” I shouted.

  “It's Taideo... he's alive.” She told me.

  A slight shiver of happiness clawed it's away into my heart, even as the ground advanced from a small tremble to an outrageous vibration. A sickly blue and red glow poured from the sky like liquid fire, stirring the wind with currents of energy drawn from a place of untold power.

  “Oh my God!” Lillian screamed! The energy grew stronger, shredding the boundaries between our reality and the next.

  “Lillian, what is this?” I screamed.

  “From my vision Airius, this is Taideo” She said.

  “You cast another spell?”

  “No, Airius this isn't our doing...”

  “I have to get to him!” Before I could run toward the source of the power, Lillian stopped me.

  “Airius, don't.”

  “But Taideo...” I said, instantly feeling a pit of fear growing within my stomach.