The Headmaster looked up from his laptop and studied me for a moment. The door shut with a bang. He smirked when I jumped. "Good morning, Miss Knight," He said.
Just looking at him made my legs hurt. I would never forget how the lashes felt against my skin. Not in a million years. "You called for me?"
"Yes, the fire message was for you." The Headmaster closed his laptop and gestured for me to sit down. "Please, join me. You have no reason to be nervous."
I choked back a snide remark and sat without breaking my poker face. The cold leather hit my legs and seared against the aching marks on my thighs. "Can I ask why you called me in?"
"Of course," Mr. Hemingway said. "I will say that it is not because of how you disrespected your therapist a moment ago."
I frowned. Of course he already knew about that. "Then why?"
"Because I have questions."
I rolled my eyes. "If you're going to ask if I know where my parents are, the answer is no. Geez, why is everyone so obsessed with that?"
Mr. Hemingway stuttered. "E-excuse me? I beg your pardon?"
"I don't know where my parents ran off to the night I was captured." I repeated, perfectly enunciating every syllable.
The Headmaster didn't speak. He knitted his fingers together and leaned back in his chair like a TV villain. His eyes flicked back and forth as he thought whatever weird mage thoughts were going through his head. "I see," He said finally. "Who has been asking about your parents?"
"Other students," I said vaguely. "Everyone here is pretty obsessed with comparing back stories."
"Hm," He paused thoughtfully. "Evelyn, do you want to see your parents?"
I wasn't prepared for that. "What?"
"Do you want to know where they are? Do you want to be reunited with them once your sentence has been served?" Mr. Hemingway asked.
I stared back at him in silence while I processed what he said. Of course I wanted to be reunited with them, even if they were shitty parents. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life wondering what happened to them. But, at the same time, I knew that if they were ever caught, they'd probably spend the rest of their lives behind bars for crimes that I was never told about. "Yes," I said. "Of course I would."
"What if I told you that I could find them for you?" The Headmaster leaned forward in his chair.
Blake's warning flashed through my mind. Someone has beef with your parents and I'm pretty sure they'll stop at nothing to find them.
I chose my words carefully. "That wouldn't be necessary. I believe that they are already being looked for by the authorities. I will be reunited with them once they have repaid their debt to society."
The Headmaster scoffed. "Oh lay off, you don't really believe that, do you?" He snarled and regained his composure with a sniff. He cleared his throat. "Miss Knight. Your parents are wanted criminals that have evaded the law for years. Finding them would make this world a safer place. Don't you agree?"
There was no right answer to that question. I'd either incriminate them or myself.
Mr. Hemingway continued. "I'm sure this is difficult for you, seeing how they raised you."
Barely, I thought. "It has been a confusing time, sir," I said. That wasn't a lie.
"Of course," He agreed. "So I'm sure you understand why they need to be found. At the very least, we would all get some answers and they would be brought to justice."
I didn't like where this was going. "What does this have to do with me?"
"Because you are the key to finding them."
"I already told you that I don't know where they are!" I shouted. "The MCS used truth serum. I'm telling you, I don't know anything!"
The mage snapped his fingers and purple tendrils of smoke surrounded me. They coiled around my arms and turned to magical chains, forcing me down into the chair and squeezing. "You don't need to know for this spell to work," He said with a grin.
"Let me go!" I fought against the magical chains.
"I'll let you go when you've served your purpose." The Headmaster walked around his desk and leaned towards me. "This might be uncomfortable, but it is the only way." He looked me straight in the eye and started muttering words that I didn't understand.
I tried to shut my eyes. "No!" The spell was too powerful; I couldn't look away. A buzzing energy surrounded us and the room began to swirl and faded into darkness. Reality faded away and in a flash I was brought back into my memories.
I was seven years old in the new apartment. We hadn't unpacked yet, our belongings still boxed and stacked haphazardly. Mother and father were talking in the kitchen. I was playing with a Barbie and ignoring them. Their voices were hushed and their words were coming fast. It sounded like they were fighting, a normal disagreement maybe. Floating above them now, I could see that my mother was hiding their wands above the fridge in an old cereal box. My father was begging her not to.
"We have to be normal now. We have to." My mother said.
"Don't you realize we'll never be normal? We can't hide it. Evie's magic is already coming out. It's too late."
Two years later we moved across the country to the Boston. We were living in a sketchy part of town, but I didn't mind. My mother and father were dropping me off at my new school.
My mother smiled and straightened my back pack. "Good luck at school today." She kissed my cheek. "Do you remember the rules?"
I nodded. "No magic," I whispered.
I was thirteen now. I practiced magic in my bedroom with music blaring so I didn't have to listen to my parents fighting.
"She's an excellent witch!" My father yelled. "We should enroll her into magical school. It's not fair to suppress her like this."
"No! No magic outside the house. You and I both know it's the only way to stay hidden," My mother said. Her voice was hoarse. She had been crying. "We have to protect Evie from them."
"We can't protect her forever, darling. You know the MCS has their eyes on us." My father's voice was softer now. "All we can do is make sure that she can defend herself when the time comes."
My mother sobbed loudly.
I rolled my eyes and put my headphones on.
"You don't get it, mom!" I screamed. "All I want to do is go out like a normal kid."
"You can't, Evie. Please." She sighed. "I wish you could. One day you'll understand."
I remembered that night. It was my sixteenth birthday. My friends from school had invited me to see a local band play at a bar. We were living in upstate New York at the time. If I remembered correctly, we had moved twice that year and I hated my parents for it.
"How do you expect me to make friends if you don't let me leave the house?" I demanded.
"You go to school," My mother said.
"Yeah, mundane school!" I cried. "I'll never be a good witch and now I'm failing at being normal. Why are you so selfish?" I screamed, turned on my heel and stomped upstairs to my room.
The changing visions was making me sick to my stomach. All of these memories that I suppressed were flooding back and cutting me deep, opening up old wounds that I had long forgotten about. "Stop! Please!" I heard my screams through the darkness. The memories kept coming.
"Hey, loser," A red head girl called out to me in the hall. "Didn't you wear those pants yesterday?"
I kept walking. I was not about to deal with this school bullshit.The bell rang and I was only a few steps away from freedom.
"Are you that poor?" She continued to taunt me.
I stopped to face her. "What's your problem?" I clutched my wand that was hidden up my sleeve. "Why don't you step outside and we can take care of this like adults?"
The girl's confidence faltered.
"That's what I thought." I sneered. The summer humidity hit me as I began my long walk home. I had no money for bus fare.
The red head girl and her friend caught up to me. "You think you're so tough!" She shoved me.
I hit the ground hard and the gravel bit at my skin. I coughed. "You're going to regret that, bitch!
" I cast a hex in her direction. The magic hit her and she was sent flying across the parking lot. The rebound hit me and everything went black.
I woke up two days later in the magical ward of our local hospital.
"What happened?" I asked to the empty room. My mouth was dry and rough. My lips tasted like blood.
A man in a suit appeared at the other side of my bed. "Miss Evelyn Knight. I am Agent Sully. I'd like to have a few words with you."
The memories came faster and faster, stopping at one from last Christmas. I remembered this apartment well, it was the one that we were living in when I was captured.
My mother loved Christmas, she was the Hallmark-movie-watching, cookie-baking, carol-humming sort of woman. She was dressed in a green and white sweater that offset her blond hair perfectly.
When my father walked in, he had a worried expression.
"What's wrong, dear?" My mother asked.
"MCS is on the move again." He sank down in his chair. "We can't keep running like this."
"It'll be fine," My mother insisted. She looked at me. "Don't worry, darling. If anything ever happens, you'll know how to find us. Just trust yourself."
I gasped. The room came back into view. My head was swirling from the endless carousel of memories that the Headmaster had pulled from the deepest depths of my psyche. My head flopped forward. "I think I'm going to be sick." I groaned.
"None of that, Miss Knight." The Headmaster grabbed my chin and tipped my head forward. "Tell me, where are your parents?"
"I don't know!" I said. "I've told you. I've told everyone. Even those damn Sons of Hell. I don't know!" I choked back a sob.
The Headmaster dropped my chin and snapped his fingers. The magical chains disappeared. "Fine. You may go."
I didn't believe him. "What?"
"I said you may go, Evelyn. Don't let me reconsider." Mr. Hemingway's eyes glowed with anger.
I ran out of his office as fast as my shaking legs could carry me. My mother's words were at the forefront of my mind.
Don't worry, darling. If anything ever happens, you'll know how to find us. Just trust yourself.
TWENTY
------------------------
EVIE
Did I really know where they were in hiding somewhere in my unconscious mind? I couldn't remember a single thing. The memories that resurfaced under the spell were memories that hadn't crossed my mind in so long. It made me question why I thought my parents were so bad and neglectful. Staring at the scenes as they unfolded below me, I saw a bratty kid and caring parents, was I wrong this entire time?
I stopped in the third floor sitting room. No one was there except for two cats. One looked up and blinked at me. The other was fast asleep.
How long until the Headmaster came after me again? He couldn't want my memories like that and then just dump me. I knew there was something more going on. For the first time in a long time I felt truly afraid.
I ran to the room at the end of the hall. Someone had to be there. Blake. Knox. Zane. I didn't know who else to turn to. I knocked on the door. The magic barrier rippled around my fist. "Blake? Hello! Is someone there?"
A moment later Knox opened the door. "Evie?" He said with surprise. "What are you doing here?"
I rushed past him and collapsed on the sofa.
"Evie?" Knox asked again.
When I looked up he was standing over me, looking very concerned. It was only then that I realized his dress shirt was half unbuttoned, revealing the line down his chest. I brushed my hair out of my face. "Knox, I'm sorry. I just didn't know where else to go."
"What happened?" He knelt down and touched my leg. His skin was cold against mine.
Just as I was about to speak, the door opened again. It was Zane. His tie was lose around his neck. "What is she doing here?" Zane asked. His voice wasn't unkind, but surprised.
"I need your help," I said.
Suspicious looks flashed across their faces. Knox and Zane exchanged a glance before speaking.
"Evie," Knox asked. "What happened?"
"The new Headmaster has it in for me," I said.
Knox frowned. "We know, we had to watch him flog you."
"No, not that." I interrupted him. "He called me to his office today and did a spell to read my memories." I swallowed hard. "He wants to know where my parents are."
"Oh shit," Zane muttered.
"I want to know what's going on. All three of you have been after the same information. What the hell is going on?" I slammed my fists down on the sofa.
"Evie," Knox started.
He was interrupted by the door opening yet again. Blake. Great, all three of them in the same room. I was not leaving without answers. I bolted to my feet.
"What is she doing here?" Blake asked.
My cheeks burned when a memory of last night crossed my mind. No. I had to stay focused. This was more important than sex, more important than a fling with a bad boy, more important than tainted lust. This was about my family. "I came for answers."
"Answers?" Blake asked, shrugging off his blazer.
"Why do you all want to know where my parents are?" I asked. "The Headmaster just stopped short of torture to find out. I want to know what the hell is happening? Why are you so obsessed with my family?"
Blake let out a long sigh. "Alright, little witch, I suppose we owe you the truth."
"Damn right you do!" I sat back down and crossed my arms. "And I'm not leaving until you tell me everything."
Blake sat across from me and stared into my eyes for a moment. "First things first, what did the Headmaster want from you?"
"He asked me where my parents were hiding. Then, he asked me if I wanted to see my parents and a whole bunch of questions to gauge if I thought they were guilty or not. I was totally honest, I have no idea what they're running from or where they would go," I explained. "Then he got pissed off and tied me to a chair."
"That guy is a dom for sure." Zane whispered and wiggled his eyebrows.
Knox slapped his arm. "Focus!" He hissed.
"Anyways," I said while rolling my eyes. "He used some mage spell to get into my head and comb through my memories. We watched dozens of them like some sort of sick movie reel."
"What did he find?" Blake asked.
"Nothing, as far as I know." I shrugged. "There's no clues, aside from what my mother said to me last Christmas." I paused and recited what she said.
"Hm." Blake leaned back and thought for a moment.
"So now I want answers, Blake. You warned me yourself that someone was after them. How are you involved in this?" The tension in the room shot up. I waited in silence for him to respond, not looking away. He would not bully me out of an answer this time.
"There's a group of mages who are after your parents," Blake said finally.
"Blake," Zane said in a warning tone.
"Fuck off," Blake snapped. "If it's gone this far, she deserves to know." He turned his attention back to me. "I don't know the fine details, but I do know that a conservative mage community, the Sons of Hell, are after them for something they did twenty years ago."
"The Sons of Hell?" I exclaimed. "I thought that was just the little name you gave your boy band." I gestured at the three of them.
"No," Blake said with a shake of his head. "It's not anything that insignificant. People around here call us the Sons of Hell because our families are elite members of the community. Hundreds of mages around the world make up the organization, with a few exceptional others. Think like ... the Illuminati but for mages."
My mouth fell open. "No wonder you got your own apartment here." I pinched myself and regained my focus. "Ok, fine, so your an heir to a secret society, blah blah, very impressive. What does that have to do with me and my family?"
"Weren't you listening? The Sons of Hell want revenge for something that your parents did. Likely whatever that was, is what they are running from," Blake said.
"You said so yourself, you never found out their crimes," Zan
e added. "What if they weren't running from the MCS at all?"
I frowned. "But the MCS was always biting at our heels. I remember it happening. I went to their offices more times than I'd like to admit. Agent Sully..." I trailed off.
"MCS agents are corrupt," Blake said. "Some of them might be acting on behalf of the Sons of Hell."
I slouched back against the sofa, my fingers fidgeting with my striped tie.
"I don't know the whole story," Blake said. "But my father knows you're here. That's why he asked us to investigate."
"Investigate?" I exclaimed. I looked at each of the boys in turn: Knox, with his surprisingly sensitive nature, blue eyes and boyish grin. Zane, the arrogant trouble-maker with a personality as wild as his hair. Blake, the strong, tall and broad brooding bad boy with a fire inside his body. "You mean, everything was a lie?"
Blake ran his fingers through his black hair. "There never was and never will be a thing." He said. His words cut through me like knives.
"But," I whimpered. "But you saved me."
"I only stopped Mr. Hemingway because I hated hearing you cry. It was pathetic." Blake stood and put his hands on his hips. "There, now you have your answers. We can't help you."
I looked down at the floor, clutching my knees until my fingers went white. "I see," I forced my voice to be steady and even.
"It's nothing personal, little blue," Zane said. "If you knew the community like we did, you would have done the same."
I bolted to my feet. "No, I understand perfectly. You're all just a bunch of manipulative spoiled bullies. You are just as corrupt as the mages you answer to. I don't need your help. I'll fix this on my own, just like everything else I've done in my life."
I shouldered my way past Knox and Zane. Just as I got to the door I stopped and turned back. "If this place taught me anything, it's that I don't have to be like my parents. Maybe it's time that you think about that too." I let the door slam behind me; the sound echoed down the empty hall.
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