Prodigy: A 13 Covens Magical World Adventure (YA)

by Cassandra

  Her natural curiosity set back in when she opened her Jeep door and jumped out. Jessica examined the mysterious car and once again wondered why it was parked outside her house to begin with. She tried to make sense of it as she grabbed her backpack from the back seat and slung it over her shoulder.

  One of the neighbors has a visitor, that’s all, she thought and tried to ignore the fact that there were too many other available parking spots for that to be the case.

  She walked to her front porch and scrabbled for her keys, a little more relaxed now. The comfort of home tended to do that to her. Once she was inside the safety of her home, seated at the dining room table with cookies and a hot cup of tea, every problem she had—other than her math equations—would suddenly feel irrelevant and all would be right in the world once again.

  She pushed the door open. “Hey, Mom! Dad!” she called as she walked inside, ready to have a brief tirade about who’d had the audacity to believe their fancy red sports car, spit-shined to perfection, deserved to take her dutiful old Jeep’s parking spot.

  When she received no answer, she turned the corner and entered the living room.

  That was when she officially knew something was wrong. She halted in her tracks, dumbfounded. Two men sat on the sofa, neither of whom was her father.

  She considered them for an instant, averted her gaze, and finally looked at them again as if to make sure they were still there and she wasn’t actually seeing things.

  One of them acknowledged her. “Hello. I’m Chad, and this is Roger.”

  Chapter Three

  “Hi,” Jessica mumbled, still rooted on the spot. She blinked and glanced from the guy who had introduced himself as Chad to the one beside him who wore the red shirt—Roger. They both seemed rather young, with Roger obviously the younger of the two. She suspected they probably weren’t much older than her. College students, maybe.

  She swallowed. Crazy thoughts immediately sprang into her mind as she tried to figure out what to do.

  Were these the killers? Would she suddenly drop dead on the spot for no apparent reason? Or would she be the next body to be found in a graveyard? Worse, would the next major school gossip revolve around the question, “What happened to that girl Jessica from history class?”

  Okay, stay calm, she told herself. Go find your parents.

  As a matter of fact, where are my parents?

  Jessica glanced around and her panic mounted. She looked at the two men for a second. “Um…” Not knowing what to say, she suddenly bolted toward the back of the house while she dug frantically in her coat pocket for her phone.

  She had reached the kitchen before she finally found the device. Her gloves fell at the same moment that she registered the voices that whispered in front of her. She looked up, a little startled. Her parents stood in the middle of the kitchen floor—not kidnapped or killed but merely in the middle of a conversation.

  “Oh,” sputtered Theresa, her mother. “Jessica! You’re home, honey.”

  Jessica blinked at her and clutched her phone a little tighter. She hadn’t been consciously aware of what she was about to do, but she supposed she had come very close to calling the cops.

  In both relief and irritation, she exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Yeah…I’m home. As I always am around this time in the afternoon. It’s where I go once school lets out.” Jessica narrowed her eyes. She suddenly had a distinct feeling that she had intruded on something important. “Um… Am I interrupting something?” She pointed toward the front of the house where the two guys waited. “They kind of freaked me out for a second. I nearly called the cops.”

  “It’s nothing,” mumbled her father, Mark. He cleared his throat. “Why don’t you go put your stuff away.” He gestured toward her coat, backpack, and the gloves on the floor.

  Still sure that something was amiss, Jessica collected her things and left the kitchen. Her father walked behind her as she went to hang her coat in the closet. With her backpack in hand, she rounded the corner to the living room again and found the two men still seated on the couch. They looked as suspicious as ever, although she couldn’t for the life of her work out why. Her father had joined them and had taken a seat in the armchair adjacent to the couch. He said nothing but instead, chewed a toothpick and stared at the visitors.

  Seconds later, her mother arrived wearing a noticeably disingenuous smile. She balanced a tray of teacups and sugar carefully in one hand and held a hot kettle in the other.

  Jessica let her backpack slump to the floor. “So, exactly who are your visitors, Mom? Dad?” she asked and gestured toward Chad and Roger.

  Mark’s eyebrows lowered, and he pulled the toothpick from his mouth. “Jessica, dear, are you positive you’ve never seen these young men before?”

  She stared at her father, confused. “I’m sure.”

  “We never said we knew your daughter,” Chad interrupted and leaned forward. His eyes were wide with what might have been anxiety. “We simply said we were here to talk to her.”

  “Okay, that’s it.” Theresa lowered the tea tray and kettle to the coffee table. “We’re trying to be nice, but you’ll have to do a better job of explaining why you’re here.”

  He nodded and sighed. “Yes, I know. Just…just give me a minute. This will be a lot to…to process and—”

  “Do you have honey?” Roger interrupted as he reached for a teacup.

  “What?” Mark said.

  “Honey. For the tea. I like honey better than sugar if it’s not too much trouble.”

  “You have to be kidding me,” Theresa fumed and stormed back to the kitchen. Everyone grew silent and listened as her retreating footsteps stomped down the hall.

  Chad pinched the bridge of his nose before he nudged his companion with his elbow. Roger gave an apologetic shrug and stared at his teacup.

  “Seriously,” Jessica pleaded, “what is this about?”

  Mark tensed in his chair but Theresa returned with the honey and handed it to Roger with another terse smile. “Please, help yourselves,” she instructed as she sat on the other couch. She gestured for her daughter to join her.

  Jessica crossed the room, thoroughly weirded out by their strange behavior. She took a seat beside her mother and her gaze darted curiously around the room. A prolonged silence set in as Jessica, Mark, and Theresa watched the visitors prepare their tea. Chad’s spoon clinked noisily against his mug. A crude noise sounded from the bottle of honey as Roger squeezed some into his tea. Under normal circumstances, that would have made Jessica laugh, but not today.

  With an embarrassed grin, he set the bottle down, picked his cup up, and took a noisy sip.

  Meanwhile, Chad merely held his cup and stared into it. “Well,” he began and finally broke the silence, “I guess you all want an explanation of why we’re here.”

  “Yes,” Jessica, Mark, and Theresa insisted in unison.

  Chad nodded. “I’m here because…” He paused and looked at Jessica. “I would like your help.”

  She blinked at him, and both her parents turned their gazes to her. “And how exactly can I help you, Chad?”

  He gave her a sheepish smile. “I… Um… Well, let’s say I’m investigating something.”

  Theresa’s eyes narrowed. “Something like what?”

  “Something…important.”

  “And what does it have to do with our daughter? She’s not under investigation for anything!” Mark cried, but he cast a glance across the room at Jessica. His expression said that he observed her reaction and undoubtedly wondered, albeit briefly, whether his daughter had gotten herself into any trouble.

  Jessica couldn’t blame him because she wondered the same thing, even if she knew the idea was absurd. She had never done anything wrong—at least not seriously—in her entire life. Nevertheless, her brain quickly recalled the last few weeks and tried to identify whether there was anything unusual. Was there something that she could be even slightly connected to? All she could t
hink of was spitting a piece of gum into a toilet at school. Had it clogged something? Caused a flood? Made the janitor fall and break a hip?

  Chad smiled. “Yes, we know she isn’t under investigation. It’s simply that—well, she might be able to assist us with an investigation into…something.”

  Another prolonged pause ensued in which Chad seemed to exchange a meaningful glance with Theresa. Jessica’s brow furrowed, and she looked back and forth from her mother to him in an effort to figure out what unspoken communication occurred between them.

  Suddenly, Theresa’s eyes widened and a look of understanding dawning on her face. Jessica, however, was still in the dark, and judging from the stupefied look on his face, so was her father.

  What the heck? Jessica practically burned a hole into the side of her mother’s head from how intently she stared at her.

  Chad’s head began to bob slowly up and down, and he drummed his fingers on his knee. “Yeah, it’s something, all right.” He chuckled nervously and raised his teacup to take a long sip. Beside him, Roger tapped his foot rapidly on the carpeted floor.

  “Is that really all you’re going to tell us? You know what?” Mark stood, visibly agitated. Jessica watched, stunned. Her parents were usually such friendly people, but at that moment, she was reasonably sure her dad was about to kick Chad and Roger out of the house. “I think that’ll be the end of this—”

  “Mark!” Theresa snapped as she stood and headed toward him. She grabbed his arm and leaned in to whisper something in his ear.

  He froze and his eyes bulged for a moment. His jaw dropped but he quickly regained his composure and shut it with a click.

  Now, this is beyond bizarre. Jessica stared at her parents, annoyed. She stood and peered around the room. “Okay, I don’t know why I’m here. I have homework to do. If you speak in riddles over my head, I’ll simply leave. So…” She retrieved the tea kettle because she wanted the hot water. “I’ll take this and be on my way. Nice to meet you, Chad and Roger.”

  “Wait!” the two of them called together.

  Jessica halted and looked from them to her parents. What now?

  “Yes, Jessica, go to your room,” Mark commanded suddenly. “You’re right. This doesn’t involve you. There’s no need to concern yourself with it. You have a test coming up, right? That’s all you need to worry about.”

  Jessica stood motionless, rooted on the spot. Her curiosity had been piqued again. She knew her father well enough to read into the tone of his voice. Clearly, there was something he wanted to hide from her. Theresa acted strangely too, for that matter. What had she whispered in his ear? The fact that she had whispered meant that maybe whatever was going on really did involve her somehow. They simply didn’t want her to know.

  She glanced at her mother and noticed how her face had paled. Slight wrinkles were visible around her lips from the way she held her mouth. It was the way she looked when she was stressed about something but tried to hide how much it bothered her.

  Jessica tilted her head and studied her, baffled by the entire situation.

  Chad fixed his gaze on Mark. “Please, let me talk to her. She’s the main reason we’re here.”

  “I…We… She doesn’t want anything to do with this!” Mark sputtered.

  “Anything to do with what?” Jessica asked, now close to her wit’s end. “If you’re here to talk to me, then why are you talking in circles around me? Just say whatever it is you have to say already. Geez!”

  “Jessica,” Chad began and spoke quickly to prevent anyone from interrupting him again. “We’re here because I want your help. I need to enroll in your school for my, um, investigation.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Are you serious? You want to enroll at my school?”

  “Yes.”

  “This is like something straight out of a movie.”

  He chuckled. “Oh, trust me, I wish it were only a movie.”

  “What do you want to enroll in my school for? What adult honestly wants to go back to high school?” Jessica grimaced and shook her head. She then gave Chad a more careful study. “And can you even pass for a high school student? I mean, maybe he could.” She quickly glanced at Roger. “But you? How old are you?”

  Chad blinked. “Wow. Rude much?” he blurted. “Anyway, it hasn’t been that long since I was in high school. But that’s beside the point—”

  “Well, will you ever get to the point then? What’s your so-called investigation about?” Jessica gasped abruptly. “Hold on—is someone at my school in trouble? What happened? What did they do?”

  “Jessica,” Theresa reprimanded.

  “She’s a curious one. She may be exactly what you need for this investigation,” Roger chimed in with a smirk.

  “Who asked you?” Mark snapped.

  Jessica looked at her father, surprised once again. He caught her gaze and immediately looked away. She thought she heard him mutter an apology, but she wasn’t sure.

  “All of you are acting really crazy, you know that, right?” Jessica mused. “And how the heck am I supposed to enroll you into my school anyway?”

  “Shouldn’t she know?” Roger asked and ignored her questions.

  “No!” Mark and Theresa yelled in unison.

  “Oh, my God! Know what?”

  “Gentleman,” Mark shot out, “it’s been nice meeting you, but—”

  “I don’t expect you to enroll me into your school,” Chad entreated and spoke in a rush again. He stood quickly and accidentally spilled a little of his tea. “I simply need you to pretend to be my cousin. You know, to help make it more believable.”

  Jessica, who still held the entire kettle, set it back down. “Um, what?”

  “When I enroll in your school, I need you to help me by pretending that I’m your cousin, all right?”

  Jessica folded her arms across her chest. “Why me?”

  “Why not?”

  Unable to argue against that, she simply stood and stared at him. Suddenly, for reasons she couldn’t explain, she felt a strange kinship with him. There was something slightly familiar about him, something that she couldn’t put her finger on. Furthermore, despite her frustration at not having the slightest idea what was going on, she intuitively felt there was something trustworthy about him.

  Or maybe I’m plain crazy.

  He was a decent-looking guy, but her thoughts were not that of a silly and hormonal teenaged girl. She didn’t assume him to be trustworthy because he was fairly handsome. This was something else.

  He actually could pass for my cousin. They both had dark hair and light-colored eyes. Claiming they were relatives wouldn’t be too much of a stretch. Most people would accept it without question. Still, he was tall and tough-looking. Jessica doubted his ability to pass for a teenager. She supposed that was the reason he wanted her to vouch for him. If she pretended to know him—to be related to him, no less—people would more readily accept that he was a student. Lies were always more believable when someone trustworthy backed up your story. Thanks to her grades and stellar reputation among the faculty at Bishop Fenwick High School, the teachers and principal considered her reliable. If she claimed him as her cousin, that’s who he would be in their eyes with no questions asked.

  Chad returned her stare as if he could sense her train of thought. He locked eyes with her and nodded in wordless encouragement.

  “That’s enough,” Theresa decided.

  “Jessica,” he pleaded.

  “Stop talking to my daughter,” her mother scolded.

  His expression turned pleading. “Come on, the Seventh Coven needs her—”

  “No more!” Mark interjected sternly.

  Did he just say something about a coven? Jessica was dumbfounded. She was about to ask if she’d heard right when her father stormed forward and opened the door.

  “Good day to you, gentleman,” he thundered and dismissed them both.

  Chad lowered his head and sighed.

  Roger handed his teacup to T
heresa. “Well, thanks for the tea and honey.”

  “What is the Seventh Coven?” Jessica asked. The question seemed to suck all the air out of the room. The expressions on her parents’ faces startled her. She had never seen them look so frightened before. Chad and Roger looked as if they wanted nothing more than to answer her but were afraid of upsetting her parents any further.

  Theresa gritted her teeth and glared at Chad. “Do you see what you’ve done now? I swear, you’re exactly like my mother.”

  “He knows Grandma?” Jessica asked.

  Her mother clamped her jaw shut and closed her eyes for an instant, clearly upset with herself. She obviously hadn’t meant to let such a detail slip out in front of her daughter.

  “A wonderful woman, by the way,” Chad volunteered. He turned to Roger. “Come on. There’s no use staying where we aren’t wanted.” They headed into the hallway.

  “Wait!” Jessica cried out and ignored her parents’ protests. She hurried toward Chad and dodged her mother’s hand as she tried to reach for her. “How do you know my grandma, and what is the Seventh Coven?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “Then tell me about it. I’ll come with you. Wait—where are you going?” she asked, somewhat surprised at her nerve. Never before had she ever chosen to go somewhere with perfect strangers, especially not in front of her parents.

  “Jessica, go to your room!” Mark commanded.

  “Well, this is awkward,” Roger muttered.

  Jessica stood in the middle of the doorway, her furious parents behind her. Chad and Roger waited in silence, cautiously optimistic. It was like being at a crossroads.

  She loved her parents dearly, but she knew they were keeping something from her and didn’t appreciate being kept in the dark like this. She wasn’t a little girl anymore. It wasn’t right to hold things back, especially if they involved her. And while she couldn’t exactly figure out what this particular secret entailed, she could sense with every fiber of her being that it was huge. Major.