“You know this sucks. You finally decide to learn your magic and I’m on restriction.”
“When is your mom going to let you out of the house again?” Ava wrapped the phone cord around her finger.
“I don’t know…”
“I can’t believe she doesn’t believe you. At least she wasn’t really poisoned.”
“Yeah…speaking of that, while you’re learning your magic see if there is a spell for annoying, sadistic stepdads in there. I want him gone…seriously.”
A door slammed. “Mom’s up. Let me call you back when I can. I’m gonna go kiss some butt, and try to get off restriction.”
“K…Bye.”
“Bye,” she whispered.
Ava hung the phone up and walked back into the living room where Aunt Avalene and Sherri sat together. She had to admit there was something magical about being in the house with all five of them. Somewhere deep inside of her she could feel a sort of buzzing feeling coming from all of them. Somehow she knew that two were upstairs and one was out back, and she had already seen Aunt Avalene and Sherri in the living room before she answered the phone.
They had pulled out the old photo albums. Sherri was laughing so hard she lost her breath and started a sort of half cough, half laugh. Aunt Avalene was laughing too. They sat together on the sofa, the big album spread across their laps. Sherri looked back and waved over her shoulder, “Come look at this, Ava.”
“Don’t show her that!” Aunt Avalene tried to hold in her laughter.
“Come see,” Sherri insisted.
Ava walked over, looking over Sherri’s shoulder, “What is it?”
“Look,” Sherri said, pointing to the big album.
Ava squinted and looked down at the photo. It was a crowd of people. Two girls stood in front, arms linked together. “Who is that?”
“That’s me,” Sherri pointed to the girl with curly brown hair, holding up a peace sign with pink paint on her face. “And that’s Avalene,” she pointed to the girl with long red hair wearing a bandana around her chest like a shirt.
“That’s you two?” Ava blinked. “Where was this?”
“Woodstock,” Aunt Avalene shook her head.
“Wow!” Ava slid into the seat next to Sherri so she could get a closer look at the photo. “You two look…different.”
“Just a little,” Sherri said.
“That was so long ago,” Aunt Avalene sighed.
“Yeah,” Sherri smiled, “but it feels like yesterday.”
The both blinked slowly like they were seeing a different time, remembering...
Aunt Avalene shook her head “time sure can get away from you.” She looked towards Ava, “Eighteen, Shug… I can’t believe you’re almost grown.”
“Yeah, me either,” Ava muttered. She turned the page of the album. A picture of the five of them standing together sat alone on a page. Ms. Ruby was easy to spot. She wore really tight jeans and a shirt that was really low cut. “Is this all of you?”
“Yes,” Sherri pointed. “This is the first day we all met.”
“How did ya'll find each other?”
“Well, Shug,” Aunt Avalene smiled, “that’s a long story.”
Ava flipped the page again. There on the next crinkled page was a picture of her mother. She knew it was her right away. Her hair was still red then and she had a smile on her face. She was in Ava’s room and she had to be about the same age Ava was now. “Is that my mother?”
Aunt Avalene looked down at the picture, “Yes, that’s when she was still here.”
“Was she always…you know…the way she is?” she looked Aunt Avalene square in the eyes.
Aunt Avalene shook her head slowly, “No…not always.”
“Why didn’t she get the magic?” Ava wondered why she never asked that before.
“She did get it, Shug.”
“She did?” Ava looked at the picture, then back to Aunt Avalene. “How…I mean. I never thought…”
“She gave it up,” Aunt Avalene looked hard at Ava as she spoke.
“Why…I mean…what happened?” her mind raced. She never imagined her mother had the gift. “Was she like me? A True Elementris?”
“No, she was born in a circle just like me and Sherri.”
“Do you know why she gave it up?”
Aunt Avalene hesitated and looked at Sherri.
Sherri stood up, “I’m going to put on a pot of tea.”
“Aunt Avalene nodded at her, her eyes suddenly looking tired. “When your mother moved in here it was just after my sister…her mother, Nadia’s, death. Your mother was so different. I knew it the instant she got here. We used to be so close. I spoiled her rotten when she was little. She had grown up on Element Island, but I visited with her and Nadia every chance I got.” She tucked a piece of red hair behind her ear and continued.
“Nadia became the True Elementris just after Joyce Anne was born. Joyce Anne was always a free-spirited child, but when she came here she was different, locked inside herself. You could see it in her eyes. She refused everything to do with magic after that. It was only a few weeks before her eighteenth birthday when Nadia was murdered. On her eighteenth birthday she gave it up and left the next morning. I tried to talk her out of it, but she was stubborn and heartbroken.”
Ava nodded, tears in her eyes.
Aunt Avalene reached over and patted her hand. “That’s still no excuse for what she did with you.” She leaned forward, “Come on, we have a lot to do.”
Ava didn’t let go of her hand, “Wait!”
Aunt Avalene sank back down on the couch, “What is it, Shug?”
Ava took a careful breath, “Who was my father…my real father?” her throat tightened behind the words. She finally had the courage to ask after all this time.
Aunt Avalene looked sick suddenly, the color draining from her face. Her green eyes looked suddenly dim, “That’s a story for another day.” She stood quickly, “We need to get started. Go and grab your book and meet me in the attic.”
“The attic?” Ava asked, noticing the sudden glossy tears in her aunt’s eyes.
“Yes,” she sniffed and cleared her throat. “The attic.”
Ava got her book from her room, clutching it against her chest as she walked to the attic. Her mind raced. “What was so bad about her real father that Aunt Avalene didn’t want to tell her? Why did just mentioning him bring tears to Aunt Avalene’s eyes?” She couldn’t believe her mother grew up on Element Island and then gave up her gift. The hate she held inside was still as strong as ever, but she was beginning to understand why her mother was so against magic.
The door to the attic was normally locked with a padlock, but she had never thought to ask why. She had never once tried to go up there, even though as a child she had explored every inch of the old house. The door stood open now and she could hear their voices. She shut the door behind her and climbed the old narrow stairs to the attic.
The attic was large. There were books stacked on every wall and different bottles and trinkets lined every shelf. A big box of white feathers sat on the large table in the middle of the room with a bunch of candles on each side of it. For the first time she really felt like someone living in a fairy tale. There was even a cauldron over by the covered window. All of them were there; staring at her when she came in. She walked over and placed the book on the table.
“Um…,” she looked around. “Where exactly did this book come from? Does every circle have its own book?” The power she had discovered inside it the other night had taken her by surprise. She wondered why they would entrust such a powerful book to her unsure hands. Now, knowing what it could do, she was a little nervous being responsible for it.
“No, that’s not our circle’s book,” Sherri said. “Our books are just like recipe books. Each of us can make our own and add to it. Things like spells we learn from others and spells we create ourselves.”
Aunt Avalene took the book, “This one is special though. It has been passed down from, a
nd added to, by the Vangeretta family. It’s like our family recipe book.”
“How do you make a spell?” She looked at Aunt Avalene.
“Dear,” Mr. John said, placing his hand on her shoulder, “you’re not ready for that. It takes time to create a spell and you have to be very careful when creating one. It takes years of learning book magic before you can create one on your own.”
“What do you want to create?” Ruby asked suspiciously from across the table, one thin eyebrow arched.
“Nothing…I was just wondering.” Ava walked around the table to stand next to Aunt Avalene. She leaned over the book, placing her hands on the table in front of it. “So, how does this work. Do I just start practicing spells or what?”
They all looked around and smiled.
“What?”
No one said anything.
“What is it?” Ava asked again.
Aunt Avalene took her by both hands, a proud smile on her face. “It’s just that we are all so proud of you. Ava, you don’t realize what great power you possess. I want to give you something.” She turned and picked up a small wooden box from the shelf behind her. “It’s our way of celebrating your decision to learn your magic.”
“And learning very well I might add,” Mr. John said.
Ms. Greta smiled, “A natural.”
“You don’t have to give me anything,” Ava said.
“Nonsense!” She placed the old wooden box on the table. “This is yours. It was yours the minute you decided to learn. This, like your book, has been passed down through all the Vangeretta’s before you.” She brushed the dust from the lid and carefully opened the box.
She reached inside and pulled something out. A necklace dangled between her fingers. The charm at the end looked sort of like an angel, but when Ava looked closer she realized it was actually a woman with upstretched arms; the moon cupped between her hands.
“This is our family insignia; our symbol. It belongs only to the Vangeretta family. A statue with this insignia sits just at the entrance of Element Island along with the other four original family insignias. Turn around Ava.”
Ava turned and held up her hair.
Aunt Avalene placed the necklace around her neck and spoke from behind her. “This necklace is old and powerful. It belonged to the first in our family. Victoria Vangeretta. It has had many protection spells put on it along with a few other spells.”
Ava turned around to face her, clutching the charm in her hand.
Aunt Avalene put her arms around her and pulled her close, “I love you, Shug.”
“I love you too, Aunt Avalene.” She looked up and saw tears dancing in her aunt’s eyes.
They all cheered, “To the next True Elementris!” and drew closer.
Ava looked at each one of them and saw the tears in all of their eyes. For the first time she realized how important this was to all of them and felt the weight on her shoulders grow heavier; almost too heavy to bear.
…Alec…
Alec sat in the one chair in their bunk room. He had just finished telling Shawn everything the girl had said. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure that Shawn wasn’t keeping secrets from him too. But the look on his face said it all. He was shocked—pale and chewing his bottom lip painfully.
He shook his head back and forth slowly. “She’s lying…she has to be. Scotty would have told me. It doesn’t make any sense, none of it does. Why the hell would he meet with them and…the other part…I just…he wouldn’t go behind my back like that.” He looked up, meeting Alec’s eyes, “You know he told me everything…absolutely everything.”
“I know he did, but what if he didn’t? What if for some reason he couldn’t tell us? Just for argument’s sake, what if he had become a part of it somehow? He had been a little distant lately.”
Shawn turned and glared. “He wouldn’t! Don’t ever talk about him that way Alec. Don’t you ever…,” he stood, anger filling his blue eyes, “talk to me about him like that!” His voice dropped low, “He was nothing but good, and honest.”
“Shawn,” Alec said calmly, “Scotty was my best friend. I’m not saying he was with them or tricking us in some way. I’m just saying we need to figure this all out. Calm down.”
Shawn stared down at him silently for a minute; breathing hard, his face red and his eyes full of tears. “I’m sorry…just…don’t even let yourself think about him that way. He loved you like a brother Alec.”
“I know he did. I loved him like a brother too. I always will.” He stopped there because clearly Shawn was in a dangerous place right now; his wounds too fresh, even talking about Scott right now was too much.
They both sat there silently. The awkward tension between them felt alien, strange. As long as Alec had known Shawn and Scott he had never once felt awkward around them. Even though the twins had a tendency to make people feel that way. Their "twinnage," as Alec called it, made people uncomfortable. Now though, Alec felt a distance in the room he had never felt with Shawn. He really felt Scott’s absence now.
“What about the Vangeretta princess?” Shawn asked quietly.
Alec cleared his throat. “What about her?”
“Is she as powerful as we first thought? Does she really have a good chance at defeating Lareina?” he spoke softly now as they always did when they talked about Lareina, their secretly learned information, or their plan to help the mysterious Vangeretta princess defeat Lareina.
Alec looked up, “I don’t know for sure. I haven’t had much time with her.” The Waerven girl’s words suddenly rang through his mind like way too loud church bells, “The girl…Draken's going to get to her before she can.” He blinked, feeling very rushed and very protective all of a sudden. “I need to go to her…the Vangeretta princess might be in danger.”
“Why, what’s happened?”
“Nothing yet,” he stood. “It’s just something The Waerven girl said.”
“What did she say?”
“She says that Draken plans on figuring out who the next True Elementris is and finding her before Lareina can. I don’t know what he knows, if anything, but I need to go to her and make sure no one is snooping around. I have weekend leave starting tomorrow morning. I’m going to see what I can find out.”
“Yeah…you need to make sure she’s okay. If Lareina finds out that we know who the next True Elementris is, or that we are helping her, she will kill us. She doesn’t know it yet; we would be dead already.”
“I think there is a possibility that she suspects that we know about E Construction and about the human prisoners, but you’re right. If she knew about the Vangeretta princess, we would be dead already.” Alec ran his hand over his pants leg, “Honestly Shawn. I don’t know if I can leave right now.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re my family…my brother.”
Shawn smiled, just slightly, the first smile Alec had seen him smile since Scott’s death, “Aw, you know I can take care of myself. Go see her. What’s she like? The princess, I mean.”
“Bullheaded,” he looked up. “She’s red headed, blue-eyed, and stubborn as a mule.”
“Does she have control over her magic yet?”
“No…I think she will though. I wish I had more time to help her get ready. She seems so damn stubborn about the whole thing. It’s just because she doesn’t know. This place and our world is just a story to her. It’s not her fault; if we had known sooner who and what she is, we could have helped prepare her.”
“Are you falling for her?” Shawn smiled.
“No…I…what do you mean falling for her? Shawn, you know what I told you, what my grandmother told me.” He tilted his head.
“You know what I mean, brother.” He crossed his arms “I can see it all over your face. You have a thing for her.”
Alec started to shake his head, but then he just looked at Shawn, giving up.
“I knew it,” Shawn smiled again. “Be careful.”
“I’
m always careful.”
Shawn shook his head. “When it comes to girls you’re about as careful as a bull in a china shop. How many times have I seen you scare one off? He paused, looking down, “Watch your back while you’re gone and don’t worry about your big brother. I’ll be fine.”
Alec nodded and smiled; his shoulders relaxed and he finally allowed himself to draw an easy breath as he felt the distance between them fade away.
…Ava…
The summer heat enveloped Ava as she stepped outside. The warm breeze wrapped her hair around her shoulders. Troy’s big black truck was shiny in the afternoon sunlight. She smiled at him as he approached her. His return smile making her blush just slightly. He took her hand, “Are you ready?”
“Yeah.” She turned to look over her shoulder, seeing all five of them staring out the kitchen window. Ms. Ruby waved. She shook her head, smiled, waved back, and then followed Troy to his truck.
He helped her climb up and then walked around to his side and got in. He was still smiling as he started the truck.
She reached up, feeling her necklace under her shirt. “So…um,” she smiled, “Where are we going?”
He backed out, “It’s a surprise.”
“Oh, I don’t really like surprises.”
“You’ll like this one,” he said with a wink. “I promise.”
“We’ll see,” she smiled giving him a sideways glance. She turned to the window because her nerves were bouncing around like pop rock candy. The tall oaks on Aunt Avalene's street hung over the road. Up ahead, the afternoon heat left blurry waves hovering just above the paved road.
About thirty minutes later, they pulled up to the marina. Troy smiled as she looked through the windshield. All the boats rested along a long dock. They were rocking back and forth with the water’s movement. She got out and followed him. He slipped his arm around her and she felt the impact of his smell and closeness seep down into her stomach. She looked over at him. “Let me guess, we’re going on a boat ride?”
“Wow!” he teased, “You must be a genius. A marina, boats, how in the world did you put it together?”
“You’re an ass,” she shook her head.
Elementris, Exposure, Eruption Box set: The Vangeretta Curse Series Page 15