by Nina Perez
“How convenient for you.” Violet rolled her eyes.
Jack looked to Violet, a smirk on his face. “Your diagnosis?”
“I’m dyslexic.” Violet’s voice filled with defiance and she lifted her chin slightly. She’d been picking at Jack all evening. She was determined to prove she could both dish it out and receive. If Jack had any desire to tease, he held off. He had bigger things on his mind.
“Why her?”
“Excuse me, Jack?” Dr. Tesla asked.
“Why her? Why Kalina?”
“Yeah.” Violet addressed Kalina. “Are you a human pet of this Alliance? What makes you so special?” A week ago, she’d never have spoken to Kalina like that, but now Violet felt angry and betrayed and not so much intimidated anymore.
Kalina turned her head slightly, barely looking over her shoulder in Dr. Tesla’s direction. He nodded and then Kalina was gone. One moment she was standing next to him and the next the space she’d occupied was empty.
“Over here.”
Everyone turned in the direction of Kalina’s voice. She stood, once again, in the doorway. And then she was gone.
“No. Over here.”
They turned again. This time towards a window where Kalina sat perched on the sill, like a cat ready to pounce. Her movements across the room didn’t register to the human eye, not even a blur. Her green eyes now shone a deep, dark, red. She smiled and flashed two sharp, white fangs.
“Now do you believe?” she hissed.
Jack and Violet, immobile with fear even though their instincts said to run, had their first agreement and answered, “Yes.”
Dr. Tesla didn’t look amused. “A simple, ‘I’m a vampire,’ would have sufficed, Kalina.”
Kalina slid from the window sill, retracted her fangs, leaned against the fireplace, and shrugged. “My apologies. I don’t get to do that very often.” Her eyes had returned to green.
“Violet,” Dr. Tesla said tentatively, “do you have any questions for Kalina?” Violet was too stunned to talk. She managed to shake her head no, and avoided looking at the vampire. Visions of the Edi attacking one of their own mixed with all the times she’d been alone with Kalina. Her hands began to shake.
Kalina turned to Dr. Tesla. “I may have helped in getting them to believe you, but I fear staying may cause more harm than anything else. I will go.” As she passed Violet on the love seat, she paused. “Violet…,” she said, but Violet shrunk at the sound of her voice. After a nod to Dr. Tesla, Kalina left the room.
Jack stood and paced in front of the love seat. “So let me get this straight: this…” he waved his arms around the room and then pointed at the television. “… is all real? Witches and werewolves? Fairies and… vampires?” He turned towards the door, looking worried that Kalina might burst through it at any moment.
Dr. Tesla kept his voice low and even. “I know it’s a lot to process.”
“That’s kind of an understatement.” Jack said. He ran his hands through his hair and Violet noticed they were shaking, too. She looked at Dr. Tesla and asked, “Where are they?”
Dr. Tesla narrowed his eyes in confusion and shook his head. “I’m sorry?”
“All of those… things… where are they?”
“Everywhere.” Dr. Tesla allowed that to sink in for a moment before continuing. “There’s not a place in this world that doesn’t have some kind of supernatural being living in it. They’re all around you.” He could see they were both frightened. Violet looked around the room as if she were trying to determine the best escape route. Jack had stopped pacing, but didn’t look at ease. He folded his arms across his chest and tucked his hands under his armpits. It was the only thing that stopped the shaking.
Dr. Tesla knew that they were in no condition to process anything else. “Jack, Violet, you still have questions and I still have more to share, but it’s getting late and you must be exhausted. My housekeeper, Ms. Sweet, has made some soup and sandwiches and prepared your rooms. Will you stay here tonight? Will you trust me?”
In a haze of shock and exhaustion, Violet and Jack agreed. It’s not like they had anywhere else to go.
Chapter Six
No Hocus Pocus Here
Besides the occasional sleepover at Liza’s, Violet had never spent the night anywhere but at home. While Dr. Tesla had been turning their lives upside down for the second time in a week, his housekeeper, Ms. Sweet, had set a pair of pajamas, a robe, towel and a toothbrush on Violet’s bed. Or maybe she’d done it before they arrived. From the looks of things, they’d been expected.
Violet’s new bedroom looked as if Dr. Tesla had taken a catalog displaying what a teenager’s bedroom should look like, and then bought everything in the picture: puffy comforter, area rug, television, and computer, with cream walls and curtains. The room had too many touches of lavender and pink, but she figured someone must have told Dr. Tesla that fifteen-year-old girls liked that kind of thing; perhaps Ms. Sweet or Kalina. Violet wondered how long it had been since Kalina had been fifteen.
As thoughtful as it was, Violet ignored the pajamas, but washed her face, brushed her teeth and crawled into the bed. After a few moments, she tossed back the comforter and locked the bedroom door, then checked to make sure the window was locked as well. It wouldn’t keep out vampires or warlocks, but it would have to do.
Sleep didn’t come easy, but when it did, her dreams were filled with blood-stained crops, the sound of bones breaking, and a dying girl covered in blood.
Jack rose before the sun and moved quietly to the hall bathroom, showered, and put on his clothes from the day before. He looked around the room for the first time. The night before, he’d been too exhausted, too stunned, to do anything but pass out. Like Violet, Jack noticed that his room wasn’t just a spare guest room given to him on short notice. It looked like it had been waiting for a boy of his age to live in it. Just one more thing decided for me, he thought. Without me even knowing a decision needed to be made.
He figured there was no use delaying the inevitable, and went downstairs. The living room was empty. The glasses used to show them a story so fantastic it rivaled any movie he’d ever seen were still on the coffee table. He walked over to the table and picked up a pair. They looked no different than a pair of fashion sunglasses - the tiny blue bulbs along the arms could have been rhinestones. No one would guess what they could do.
“Good morning, Jack.”
Jack almost dropped the glasses. From the doorway, Dr. Tesla said “Careful.” Jack folded the glasses and placed them back on the coffee table. “Sorry, I was just looking…” Dr. Tesla stepped into the room. “No, it’s okay. I didn’t mean to startle you. You’re welcome in any room of this house. This is your home now.”
He hadn’t felt like he had a home since his parents died. Living in the house he’d shared with them immediately felt temporary; a holding place until someone told him what came next. Apparently, like it or not, this was it. Jack had a feeling that Violet was finding it a lot harder to swallow. She had barely touched the dinner set out for them and had gone to her room without a word. Despite the secrets and deception, Jack found that he couldn’t be rude to Dr. Tesla. He’d always liked him and he’d even felt sorry for the guy, having to counsel him while he’d been holding on to such a secret. Of course, now he knew that if there was anyone uniquely qualified to talk to him about his visions, it was Dr. Tesla - and to some extent, his parents, too.
“Would you like something to eat? Ms. Sweet has prepared breakfast.”
Jack shook his head. “I’m not really hungry, but I would like to ask you something.”
“I figured you would. You can ask me anything.” Dr. Tesla sat on the love seat. Jack hesitated a moment before deciding to sit on the sofa.
Jack asked the questions that had plagued him before falling asleep. “Did my parents want me? Or was I something needed to help The Alliance?”
Dr. Tesla frowned. “They absolutely wanted you. Your parents, and Violet’s,
were already expecting when I approached them. It wasn’t an easy decision for either of them, but they’d seen how destructive our world can be and wanted to help, despite the risks.”
“And look where it got them.”
Jack and Dr. Tesla turned. Violet stood in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest and a sour expression on her face. “It got them killed,” she added.
“Yes, and I regret that more than I can ever express.”
“Wait a minute.” Jack leaned forward. “You think someone did this to them on purpose?”
“Are you new? Knowing what we know now, you think it’s a coincidence that both of our parents died on the same night in the same accident?”
Jack felt foolish, but he hadn’t given that much thought. Then again, it’s not like he hadn’t had a lot to digest in a matter of hours. Violet was right: stranger things had happened – he’d witnessed them last night – but it seemed unlikely their parents’ death was an accident. And that meant one thing.
“They were murdered.” Jack’s words were more a statement than a question, but he looked at Dr. Tesla for an answer anyway.
Dr. Tesla chose his next words carefully. “We’re not sure what happened yet. I have a contact that’s working on getting me a copy of the accident report.”
Violet walked over to the sofa, but did not sit. Her face was set like someone who was looking to start a fight. “You guys have quite the network; nurses, lawyers, cops, too. How many humans know about people like you and Kalina?”
“There’s no way to know for sure. Outside of the ones that aid us, there’s no telling how many have seen something they can’t explain and so they make excuses or stay quiet out of fear.”
“And there’s no telling how many have been exposed to your kind and didn’t live to tell. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, that’s right, Violet.” Dr. Tesla sighed heavily.
“You said they’re everywhere, but do you know how many … supernatural beings there are?” Jack asked.
Dr. Tesla looked grateful for the change of subject. “On record, registered within The Alliance, there are hundreds of thousands. And that’s just here in the United States. Each country tracks their own and is run by their own Trust. But there are just as many, if not more, that have chosen not to live under our laws. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they are evil. Some want to live as human without any trace of being who they really are and they feel that registering and putting it on record puts them in danger. They’re not harming anyone. They just want to be left alone. But there are others who want to remain free from our laws and their consequences because they are doing the exact opposite.”
“And that’s where the Hunters come in?” Violet asked. Curiosity had relaxed her body and her tone.
Dr. Tesla nodded. “Our Hunters don’t just track members of The Alliance that break the rules. When we become aware that unregistered beings are a danger to our mission and to humans, we take care of them. Sometimes this means stripping them of their powers and other times the penalty is more… severe. You cannot, for example, strip a vampire of their powers.”
“So, did you send Hunters after Lincoln and Ashlyn?”
“No,” Dr. Tesla said, standing and reaching for the glasses on the coffee table.
“You can just tell us what happened. I don’t think I can handle going back in there right now.” Violet raised her hands in a “back off” gesture. Jack agreed; his mind was still reeling from seeing the destruction of the Furla, Edi and Ianto tribes in living color.
Dr. Tesla grinned. “I was just putting them away.” He proceeded to open the small compartment on the table and neatly placed the glasses inside. “And I’m afraid the situation with Lincoln and Ashlyn was far too sensitive to entrust it to anyone outside of The Trust. Investigating them for their accused crimes was one thing, but casting the spell was another.”
Jack asked, “How did you do it?”
“We had an informant that helped us arrange to get the Bales in one place so we could ambush them. They were too powerful for us to do it any other way. Grace wasn’t supposed to be there, but she showed up partway through the spell. We had no choice but to defend ourselves against her attacks. She was killed. We staged an accident to cover up their disappearance. As far as the world is concerned, Grace and her children died in a plane crash, and their bodies were never recovered.”
“And what happened to our souls?” In all the craziness of the past twelve hours, at least one thing had made sense to Violet: she now knew where her ability came from. Having Ashlyn’s soul was responsible. But what did that mean for her soul?
“Souls are created at birth. By being there when you were born, we were able to use the Fairies’ spell that cleansed the old souls and insert them into your bodies.”
“So we never had souls.”
“Jack, you did. I mean, do have souls. Those souls are yours. The spell acted as a reboot, erasing any poison inflicted because of their actions. It’s what you do with the souls you are given that counts.”
“Were you sure of that? How did you know that nothing would… happen to us?” Jack asked, looking down at the carpet. He was afraid that by making eye contact, Dr. Tesla would somehow figure out that he got visions.
“The spell didn’t harm you, if…”
“No, I mean, you said the souls needed cleaning. How do you know that it took? How do you know that we didn’t get… infected?”
Violet sighed. “He's trying to ask how do you know we’re not evil, too?” Her impatience with Jack was a definite front. Neither knew it, but both children were equally anxious to hear Dr. Tesla’s response.
“You are not evil and Lincoln and Ashlyn were not born evil. Their souls were corrupted by the choices they made, misguided by their mother, Grace.”
“So, why did you need to watch us?”
“Jack, nothing is definite, even in magic.” Dr. Tesla said. “You were normal, happy, and healthy babies. We knew there was a small chance that you might display abilities around this age, and that’s why it was imperative that we watch you both closely. Have either of you experienced anything you want to share?”
Violet shrugged her shoulders. “No hocus pocus here.”
Jack looked Dr. Tesla in the eyes. “No, I haven’t experienced anything either.”
That afternoon, Gervais returned with the necessary paperwork that would officially make Dr. Tesla the children’s guardian. He sat with them separately and made arrangements so that they could each get whatever they wanted from their homes before they were put up for sale. Violet asked if she might go through her house without Dr. Tesla or the attorney. Sensing how hard it was going to be for her, Dr. Tesla agreed.
With the help of Ms. Harkin, Violet packed up her clothes and other personal items. Dr. Tesla made arrangements for them to be delivered to his house. Some furniture, mementos, and other keepsakes were put into storage. Jack followed the same routine except he accepted Dr. Tesla’s offer to assist him. Violet was envious at the ease in which Jack seemed to be assimilating into their new lives. He actually shared meals with Dr. Tesla in the dining room, whereas Violet opted to eat alone in her room most nights.
Violet assumed that all of the cooking and cleaning was done by the elusive Ms. Sweet. Dirty clothes left in the hamper in her closet mysteriously disappeared. Whenever Violet returned from showering, she’d find her clothes cleaned and neatly folded on the bed. She also suspected that Ms. Sweet was responsible for the vase of fresh pink roses by her bedside. It had taken Violet a week to realize they never wilted. She’d only caught one glimpse of the housekeeper since she’d been living there. Violet was leaving her room, about to step into the hallway when a petite woman with silver hair exited Jack’s room and disappeared down the stairs. That had to have been Ms. Sweet. Who else would leave his room carrying a basket of linen?
Not that Violet had any interest in meeting her, or speaking with anyone, for that matter. She spent the first week in h
er room with nothing to keep her company but anger – anger at her parents for leaving; anger at Kalina for simply existing, but especially for lying; anger at Dr. Tesla for trying too hard to be nice to her even when she was rude to him; and most of all, anger at Jack for his complete lack of anger. He was the one person in the world who should not just know how she felt, but feel it, too.
His easy fit into life at Dr. Tesla’s and the almost nonchalant way he digested the news about magic and monsters only served to convince Violet of what she’d suspected since the moment she learned of having Ashlyn’s soul: she was destined to fulfill the first prophecy. Tapping into other people’s emotions wasn’t normal and it had to be a byproduct of housing an evil witch’s soul. Was the evil so strong that the spell didn’t work?
She felt like something was consuming her, taking over aspects of her life. From her emotions to the things happening around her, there was very little she could control. In less than two weeks, everything she thought she knew about herself was wrong. Violet couldn’t tell if she was going crazy or turning evil. Maybe they felt like the exact same thing.
It was with part jealousy and part curiosity that Violet found herself listening in on Jack and Dr. Tesla’s conversation one evening. She thought they were in Dr. Tesla’s office and the plan was to quietly find something to eat in the kitchen and take it back to her room. Dr. Tesla’s stern voice stopped Violet in her tracks as she prepared to cross by the living room.
“Because you simply can’t!”
“I just find it hard to believe that you guys can do so much with magic, but this is…”
Dr. Tesla interrupted, his voice lower, but still firm. “Jack, magic is as old as time. Do you not think that someone hasn’t tried before now? It shouldn’t be done.”