Both Clive and Jacob rushed to see it.
"They are in Maryland, well, at least the house is." Clive said. "Everyone's always looked in Virginia."
"I would bet anything they planned it that way." I said as I remembered a conversation I had with Mrs. Coe. "I bet they let everyone believe they were in Virginia. I mean, with our powers, we can really go anywhere from any destination. And what better way to stay protected than to have no one ever really know where you live."
"Well what do you want to do with this information?" Clive asked.
I looked at him almost expectantly, like he should have known. "I'm going."
"You don't even know if this house is still there." Clive argued.
"And you don't know that it's not. This could actually be a lead. The Romars had something to do with getting rid of the cult the first time. What if there's something there that can help us do it now?" I reasoned.
"She's got you there." Jacob agreed.
"What if it's a trap?" Clive asked.
"Then I’ll get us out of there. I wouldn't have to portal us far but just enough of a distance away from them."
"I think we should go." Dessen chimed in. "After everything that's happened, this is the first real lead that could give us info as to what is going on in her life. Would we really be good friends if we didn't at least help her?"
"Dessen." Clive gave her a look, I guess this is a conversation they had in the past.
"No." She shook her head, standing firm. "She needs this. All of us know where we came from, we know who we are, we know why things in our life are the way they are, except her. This is the first chance she's ever had to learn who she really is and to learn why they're after her."
"Fine." Clive relented. "When do you want to go?"
"Now. So, chop chop." I clapped my hands for emphasis. "Both of you get ready. I want to be on the road right after rush hour."
"Bossy one you are." Jacob laughed.
"Only when it's really important." I smiled.
"Well, I'm not going anywhere until I shower." Clive said.
I plopped down on his couch and Dessen joined me. "We're not leaving here until about nine anyway, so you have time." I smiled.
He just shook his head and left the room.
"Um," Jacob looked around, unsure of his position in the room. "I'm going to wait here ‘til he's done and then I'll shower as well."
"Cool." Dessen and I exchanged a look while we tried to fight back laughter. Even though we knew nothing happened between Jacob and Clive, it was amusing how awkward they were making the situation.
NINETEEN
Clive emerged from his room fully dressed. After showing Jacob the shower and his change of clothes, he joined us in the living room.
"What’s the plan?" Clive asked.
"Go to the house and check it out." I stated.
"We need more than that Olivia," Clive explained. "Where the house is, there will be no backup if anything goes wrong. We need a contingency plan."
"Nothing's going to go wrong. No one knows I’m here. Everyone still thinks I’m at the shop. By the time they realize I’m not there and come looking for me we will be gone. There is no chance we will be followed.
"They'll realize something is wrong if the shop isn't open." Clive countered.
"True. But seeing how Chelsea did die yesterday and it does still hurt, I think people would understand why I wouldn’t open the store. How are you going to explain not being at work today?"
"We’re letting our team know we're following a few leads and we will be out of the office for most of the day." Clive said. "And that goes back to my earlier point, that we'll be alone out there if anything happens?"
I swallowed my annoyance at his hesitance; he was just trying to protect us. "I know, but Clive, short of telling people where we are going, we won’t have a backup plan. Unless someone stays behind who can help us if we are attacked. Do you want to tell Arte or Andrew where we are going?”
His eyes hardened. “No, I don’t fully trust them.”
“So, then what? I understand your concern, but this is something I have to do and if you don't go with me, I'll just go by myself, and you can be my back up plan.” I smiled trying to lighten the mood. “This is the first real tangible proof I’ve ever had about who I am, and my family and I can’t pass this up. I have to go and find out for sure."
He sighed. "Olivia, I understand. I do. But we have to understand you may not find anyone there. If you did have family still alive why wouldn't they have come for you?"
I shrugged. "I just know it. I just know that something good is waiting for me there."
"Clive stop fighting this." Dessen said. "You know how much she needs this."
"I know that," he snapped at her, "but with everything that's happened I just don't want to see her hurt. What if you get there and there's no house? Or worse, what if we get there and she does have family that just ignored her."
"Then I'll have my answer." I said.
Dessen pulled out her phone and typed in the address. "It looks like it's about two-hour drive from here."
"So not far at all." I smiled.
"How far is not far?" Jacob asked as he emerged from the hallway, thankfully he was about the same size of Clive, otherwise he would be drowning in Clive’s clothes.
"The house," I answered. "It's only about a two-hour drive."
"Ok." He nodded. "Well let's not waste any time and get on the road."
"See, he's excited." I smiled looking at Clive.
Clive rolled his eyes and walked over to his wall and took down a picture revealing a wall safe.
"You have a secret safe?" Dessen asked in disbelief. "I always wondered why you had that wall here. No other apartment does."
Clive shrugged and turned his back to us and unlocked the safe. He opened the door and pulled out a few weapons. Most magical weapons looked similar to their non magical counterparts, but they were vastly different. A standard bullet wouldn’t stop a rogue vampire, or a witch or warlock bent on killing. The SPF created handguns and other similar weaponry that would do the job needed with out standing out.
"Do you think we will really need all of that?" I asked.
"I don't know." Clive answered, placing a handgun in his waistband and pocketed a few extra special bullets.
"But it's better to be safe than sorry." Jacob walked over and did the same, thankfully they did not offer me one, I knew their purpose, but I was not comfortable with handling one, especially since I had no training.
"Let's get this show on the road." Dessen stood and I followed her lead.
We left the apartment, loaded up in Clive's car, and took off.
We drove in silence for most of the ride, this was not a road trip playlist type of drive. Getting out of DC was the hardest part, but soon we were driving towards Waldorf, Maryland, then Brandywine, and after stopping for gas at the Costco out there it was a straight shot to St. Mary’s County where the house was located. I think this was the first time I’d ever been this far into Maryland. Eventually we were just driving passed open fields. Clive made a comment about how the air out here always smelled cleaner than the city. We crossed onto some back roads and drove for about thirty more minutes until the road ended and we arrived at a ‘Dead End’ sign.
"There’s nothing past here." Clive said, bringing the car to a stop. We looked at the overgrown brush behind the sign.
"No." I said as I stared at the sign and the landscape behind it. There was something off about it. The longer I stared at it, the more I realized what the off thing was. "There's something behind it, the sign. I think that's a barrier."
"What are you talking about? Nothing’s there." Dessen said.
"No." I shook my head. "I see something. Clive pull the car forward. But do it slowly."
He turned and looked back at me with the questioning look. "Are you sure?"
"Yes." I nodded.
Reluctantly, Clive agreed.
; We rolled slowly until we came up against the sign and the barrier. Clive glanced back at me and I nodded again, urging him forward.
The car rolled forward in through the thick brush of trees behind the dead-end sign.
I felt a wave of magic course over me as we crossed the barrier, but I didn't think much of it. My eyes followed down the road to the grand house; my breath caught in my chest.
"Oh my gosh." Dessen gasped as she stared at the house.
"It's real." I exhaled. I felt an immense weigh lift off my shoulders.
Clive rolled slowly up the long driveway until we arrived at the front of the house.
I took in the enormity of the home in front of us, the photo did not do it justice. It looked at least four stories high. Did they even make homes this large? It was a massive Châteauesque style manor with a stone finish and a few overgrown planters lining the steps in the front of the main door. The door itself looked twice as big as a normal size door. I jumped out of the car and ran towards it, ignoring Clive's calls for me to stop.
I hesitated for a moment before I grabbed the dusty handle and pushed my way inside. The door gave way with a loud clunk and I rushed inside the small welcome foyer. A thick layer of dust covered the items in the foyer. There was a small welcome table, a dust-covered bowl with a few keys, and an umbrella stand with a few umbrellas still in it.
I felt along the side of the wall for the light switch and turned it on. The rest of the foyer was bathed in light and showed that it connected to a long hallway.
Have you ever felt like you were home? Like you were meant to be in a certain place? Like you belonged. I did. I hadn’t before, but that was no longer the case.
I was home.
I finally felt the peace I had longed for.
I don't know how long I was there before the rest of the group joined me.
"You can't rush into unknown places like that." Clive rushed in behind me with his gun drawn; Jacob rushed in behind him.
"You can put that away," I said waving away their guns. "There is nothing in this house that will harm me."
He stepped in front of me and checked out all of the angles of the small foyer. "You don't know that." He hissed.
"I do," I repeated. "I can feel it. The magic in this house speaks to me. I feel at ease here." I knew it all sounded crazy but there was no other way to describe it. "Please Clive, just trust me." He glanced back and shared a look with Jacob before they both put their guns away. "Thank you," I nodded to both men.
"All safe for me to come in?" I turned and saw Dessen standing at the doorway.
"Yea," I smiled. "It is."
"So." She gestured to the doorway. "Invite me in?" She smirked.
"Oh, yea." I laughed realizing she had never been there before. "I hope this works. Dessen you may enter."
She glanced at the door frame before taking a tentative step inside. "It worked. This really is your place."
"It is." I smiled. "Proof enough?" I looked at Clive.
"We should split up and search the home." Jacob suggested.
"That's how people get killed in every horror movie." Dessen laughed. "Just saying." She rolled her eyes at our looks of disbelief. "You know I'm right."
"We should split up," I agreed. "This house is huge."
"House is not the word." Dessen laughed as Clive and Jacob moved down the hallway. Dessen and I followed behind them, making mental notes of the floorplan.
TWENTY
We walked in silence while everyone took in the hallway or I guess an entry way. It was only about 20 or 30 feet long, but the walls were lined with different pieces of artwork and I think, older family portraits. It looked like the wallpaper was black, but it was covered in a thick sheet of dust. At the end of the hallway we were presented with four options. There was a spiral staircase that went both upstairs and downstairs, a doorway that looked into a large living room and another hallway that branched out to another section of the home.
"I’ll check upstairs," Dessen said. "I'll scream if I find anything," she winked and took off.
"Well that's settled." I turned to Clive and Jacob. "I'm going to go down." I motioned to the stairs going to the basement.
"I'll join you." Jacob offered.
"Good. I will check out this floor." Clive said heading into one of the other rooms.
Jacob led the way down the stairs, and I followed behind him. The staircase spiraled down for a few feet until we finally reached the bottom.
I felt along the wall and found the light switch and flipped it up. The basement hallway was flooded in light. There was a chill in the air, and it felt a bit damper. The walls were stone cinder blocks than felt damp to the touch.
"Ok, this is creepy." I laughed.
Jacob gave a slight nod but didn't say anything. He started down the hall and I followed.
"So..." I trailed off not sure of what else to say.
"Yea." He glanced back at me.
"Do you give all of your cases this amount of attention?" I asked as he checked the first door and found it was locked. He turned back towards me.
"I think we can both say this is a special case." He rammed his shoulder into the door forcing it open.
He flicked on the light switch by the door. The room was filled with old cardboard boxes and we both concluded that it was a storage room. We continued down the hall to the next door. Jacob tried it and it was unlocked. He opened it, revealing another storage room.
The room was larger than the last one. Well, it might have been the same size, but we thought it was bigger because there were no items in it. Either way Jacob and I only stayed in for about a second before we exited and continued down the hall.
There was one unexamined door at the end of the hallway. As we got closer, I could tell the door itself looked thicker than all the others we had come in contact with.
Jacob tried the handle, but it wouldn’t give. He tried forcing the door in with his shoulder like the other ones but that didn't work either. "Do you want to give it a shot?"
I shrugged and stepped forward. I grasped the handle and uttered every unlocking spell I knew, but nothing worked. I was about to suggest another tactic when I felt a shiver, no make that two shivers, run through my body from head to toe. I couldn't quite place the feeling. It didn't feel bad, but it also didn't feel good. It felt weird.
"Are you ok?" Jacob asked noticing my small movement.
"I think so." I responded. I didn't know how to phrase it. "I just had a shiver, a full body one."
Before Jacob could respond, Clive's voice echoed down the stairwell. "Hey guys, come upstairs. We have company."
Jacob and I shared a look a disbelief as I felt my stomach drop. How did anyone know we were here? We practically ran up the stairs. Jacob took two at a time and I tried to keep up.
We made it to the landing just as Dessen came down the stairs from the upper floors.
"Do you know who is here?" I asked.
She shook her head no. "I was looking through the back rooms. But girl," she bumped shoulders with me. "You have a nice place. I went through at least ten bedrooms and five bathrooms."
"I'm in the living room." Clive called. "The hallway to the left."
We followed the sound of his voice. "How did you get through all of those rooms?"
"Vampire speed." She winked as we walked into the living room.
Living room was the wrong word, this room was the size of my old apartment. It had about four couches, two loveseats, and three coffee tables. There were two desks on each side of the room and a very outdated television sitting in the middle. Clive was standing over near the windows peeking through the dust covered curtains. "Guess who just pulled up?" He said, never taking his eyes off the window. I rushed over and peeked out myself.
"You have got to be kidding me." I seethe as I saw who exited the car: Andrew Easton and Arte Abbas. "How did they find us?" I watched as they walked up to the front of the house.
I cursed under my bre
ath and ran for the front door. I didn't want them to have any thoughts of just letting themselves inside if they could. I kept trying to figure out how they found me. I portaled from the shop to Clive's house and we all left from there. Unless they were watching Clive’s place how did they find us.
I grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. "What are you doing here?" I nearly screamed.
"Hello to you too," Arte smirked at me. I could just slap his stupid smug face. I was tired of his games.
"Cut the bull." I snapped, not in the mood. I felt Dessen place a hand on my shoulder reminding me to stay calm. They must have followed me to the door, but I was too annoyed to notice. "How did you find us? There's no way you could've followed us from where we left."
"We have our ways." Andrew answered in a cryptic manner. I blinked and looked between Arte and Andrew. My eyes widened and the magical means started to fall into place.
"You better be joking. That's illegal." I hissed before clapping my hands together. I did a revealing spell and three different colored lines formed all wrapped around my waist. One flew to Arte, one to Andrew, and the third flew out the door into the woods and out of sight. I closed my eyes, hating that there were three different tracking spells on me, and I never noticed. I pushed my hands down and out in a sweeping motion and all the lines broke.
"You assholes put a tracking spell on me." I turned away trying to control my emotions. Tracking spells were such an invasion of privacy, so disrespectful. It was illegal to track anyone without their consent. "Do you even- you spoiled little- dumb-" I couldn't finish a sentence.
"We could arrest you both." Clive hissed as he approached. I could hear the anger in his voice as he spoke. His halfling side was starting to wake up.
"We needed to make sure you were safe. You refused to join either of our Covens so we couldn’t give you a Coven bracelet. This was our only other option." Andrew explained.
I opened and closed my mouth a few times, but I wasn't able to form any words.
"Who had the third?" Dessen asked. "You had one," she pointed to Arte and then looked at Andrew. "You had the other, but there were three lines. Did you have your security team do one?"
Ahmentree's Magic Page 12