by Deandre Dean
“What can we do for you,” demanded Ginger.
Destiny sighed and replies, “I need to keep this secret. I had a daughter a long time ago. Mark touched my hand and somehow saw her. I would never reveal this information because it could put her life in danger.”
“So why are you telling us this?” wondered Lupio.
“Well Robin had a dream. She foresaw someone is after her. Well her powers are not as great as yours and I know I can trust you. Guadalupe is a fantastic tracker and can handle himself,” answered Destiny.
Great just brush his ego. He’s in, well looks like I got a case.
“So what can you tell us?” requested Ginger.
Destiny grinned knowing she had us.
Chapter 14:
So it seems Destiny had a teenage daughter whose life may be in danger. That was scary and Ginger knew from first hand experience that things could turn bad quickly. She wondered how she could handle things when Lupio and she teleported to the hospital.
It was there only lead, the hospital that Destiny gave birth. Talk to the nurse that put the baby up for adoption. Crisis Medical Facilities in Inglewood was the same place Stacey delivered Judy. They walk inside with Lupio as they made their way to the nurses’ station. There was the nurse Bridget Lagnor, the woman with all the answers.
The plan was for Ginger to ask all the questions and Lupio would verify the facts. Luckily they stopped by Moville to get Lupio to copy Shane’s ability to become the human lie detector. Ginger could easily read her mind but with something still following her, she didn’t want to leave herself open if something went wrong.
They asked to speak to her in private which she wasn’t going to do at first. If it wasn’t for Ginger who mentioned it could help save a life that seemed to persuade Bridget to listen to them. In the break room, Ginger reminded her that she was here of her own free will and could leave anytime.
Bridget says, ‘I understand, so what is this all about?”
Lupio gave her a quick look before answering, “You helped deliver our friends’ children. First Stacey Darkholme a few years back.”
She nodded and waited for him to continue.
Ginger spoke, “Well another friend of ours’ gave her daughter up for adoption about twenty years ago. I don’t know if you remember but the bay may be in danger. We have reason to believe it may be the father or someone else. We don’t want to get authorities involved because the mother fears for her life.”
Hopefully that would help persuade her, Ginger thought.
“So you know anybody that may match that description?” Ginger asked.
Bridget thought a second and responded, “Maybe. There was this one girl who came in and she had a mouth on her.”
That was all Ginger needed to hear. She knew it had to be Destiny. This was too simple.
Ginger coughed and said, “That sounds like our friend. Please, what else can you tell us?”
Bridget smiles and responds, “Yes, she is my special baby. I look after her. She comes here and volunteers. Her name is Caroline Ryder. Caroline works for Hillrender Airport.”
Hillrender, like as in Jurnee. Wait, Jurnee owns an airport?
Lupio says, “Thank you for your time.”
“Wait, has anyone else asked about her?” Ginger asked.
“No, why; should I be worried?” Bridget asks.
“We hope not,” replies Ginger.
Chapter 15:
As they left the hospital, this all felt to simple. Maybe someone was using her as a pawn or Destiny is full of shit! Either way, Ginger didn’t feel bringing Lupio in deeper if someone or something was after her.
“I’m not leaving you alone babydoll. Someone is after you and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to you that I was able to prevent,” Lupio answers.
Sighing, Ginger tried to ignore his explanation.
“You know I am right and that is why you are upset,” Lupio says with a smirk.
Ginger rolls her eyes and replies, “I can take care of myself.”
“Oh, I know you can. Remember I have spread with you, however you are an expected mother. So you need to take it easy and worry about that little one,” Lupio finishes.
“Fine, I’ll take it easy. So let’s go see Leo and see what he can find out about Caroline Ryder,” Ginger responds.
Lupio nods before stating, “Let’s call him. All this magic usage is probably draining you.”
She hadn’t considered that is why she craves naps, strawberries and Sunny D. That made being an unexpected mother crappy, but maybe Lupio was right. She needed to take it easier.
While sitting in the parking lot of the hospital, she waited as he made the phone call. Afterwards he would take her to get some thing to eat. Perhaps some Coco’s because she was in need of strawberries and waffles.
About the time they ordered and were waiting, Leo Lions texted Lupio back. He’d meet them there, so she could finish her meal in peace without rushing. As Ginger ate her waffles, Lupio has smoked Alaskan Salmon with rice and spinach. About mid bite, Leo showed up with a file on Caroline Ryder.
She is the acting CEO of Hillrender Airport. Once Jurnee and Penny had the twins, Jurnee decide to cut back on a few of her responsibilities. Such as running the bar and airport.
She has a small fortune from owning a few businesses across the country. Jurnee decided to keep the small back incase she needed a loan or help financing her assets. It seems that Caroline is very good at her job. She was the VP the entire time Jurnee ran the company. With Jurnee gone, it was oblivious that Caroline was the perfect replacement.
Ginger thanked Leo for the information. They needed to go to Hillrender Airport which was in Lynwood. Lupio drove them there, as Ginger saw it was almost five o’clock. She didn’t tell Lucas when she‘d be home. She hoped that this would be wrapped up shortly.
Chapter 16:
Once outside the airport, Ginger had no idea how they were going to handle this. Here they were outside a stranger’s job, about to tell them they are adopted. That was not the bad news, if didn’t know. No, that their life maybe in danger by some unknown supernatural elements.
This kind of anxiety was why Ginger had mini-panic attacks about motherhood. Would she be a good mom? Could she protect her unborn child, or had Destiny did the right thing by giving up her baby? These thought played on a loop as Ginger sat next to Lupio.
Lupio says, “So do you want to handle this, or should I?”
“I’ll let you take the reins,” Ginger smiles and states.
They get out the car about she fell it. Another indigo was close by, but not the same presence that has been stalking her. This one was familiar, that is what really got to Ginger. A blast from the past, perhaps it was Aiden.
Being in a public airport trying to find Caroline, who may or may not have magic to defend herself. This was not an ideal situation. Why didn’t Ginger get Caroline’s image out of Bridget’s mind or at least ask for a picture.
“Let’s split up. I don’t like it but we need to find Caroline or this threat,” says Lupio.
Ginger agrees and heads to the ticket counter. There she sees a beautiful black woman with curls and a yellow dress. The brown skinned beauty looked familiar.
“Oh shit!” Ginger lets out.
This is the familiar woman. Ginger had almost been killed by her years ago in the school. She had attacked Monica Glick, the empathic fairy that enhanced her abilities. Without realizing it, ginger gravities toward Darleshia Kirwood. This was her and she was after Caroline, right?
Before she could think, Ginger was standing at an angle behind her with a frown on her face, “What are you doing here?”
A startled Darleshia turns slightly to see Ginger and sighs before replying, “Ah, of course you’d be here. It wasn’t bad enough to be imprisoned in Moville because someone used mind control on me, but now today I have to deal with you.”
This answer shocked Ginger who wasn’t expectin
g anger. She hadn’t really considered how much Darleshia’s life had been affected by others. True she had tried to kill Ginger, but was sent away without a fair trail. That fact ate at Ginger’s conscious, but that would have to be resolved later.
“I am here to protect or stop a threat,” Ginger answer.
Darleshia laughs and says, “So you came to accuse me?”
“I..” Ginger tried to responds.
Lupio runs up and sees the two in a heated discussion. He looks from Darleshia to Ginger before asking, “Are you okay?”
That was a real brain twister, was she?
“No, because she doesn’t have all the answers. I am here to protect Caroline Ryder from a unique being,” states Darleshia.
This was not how she saw things turning out.
Chapter 17:
Wait, back up a minute. Did Darleshia just claim to be here to protect Caroline? Things were all turned upside down and Ginger completely turned around.
“Yes, I am here to help out,” remarks Darleshia.
Lupio looks lost before requiring, “How? What do you know?”
“I know a lot! I am the one that sent Robin a dream vision. She was kind enough to help me get free from Moville and land a job in New York,” Darleshia replies.
“What do yo do?” asks Lupio.
She smiles and Ginger knows it isn’t filled with rage or anger.
Darleshia responds, “I teach third grade.”
Ginger couldn’t believe her ears. This was like a totally new person. Well stranger things have happened in the last couple of years.
She asks, ‘So why are you here?”
“Destiny asked us to protect Caroline, so that is what we are trying to do,” explained Ginger.
Darleshia nods and they look around to see if any other threat arose. Ginger wondered was Caroline just a diversion from some larger scale plan. That would be her strategy if trying to achieve her goals.
They waited and walked around to see if someone attacked Caroline. Caroline had meetings all day so they were hoping to protect her from whatever might happen.
An hour goes by and still no action as they wait Ginger was irritated so decided to call Lucas to explain she wouldn’t be home for dinner like she originally imagined. He was disappointed and upset that something was keeping her from the love of her life.
The air felt vibrant with force and magic. This was it, something was about to happen. Ginger lowered her walls to try and search telepathically if somebody’s thoughts were off or disturbing. Nothing was jumping at her but she knew she still needed to be on alert. Magic was cracking the sky and Caroline’s life was in danger.
Ginger may not be able to figure out who was after her, but she certainly was able to protect Caroline Ryder. She linked her mind with the others so the psychic knit can warn one another if something happened. Closing her eyes to allow her senses to be ignored and let her intuition guide her.
There somehow Ginger knew who it was and what she was going to do. Slowly opening her eyes and began chanting an incantation to prevent Victoria Hellmick from trying to kill Caroline.
When Ginger allowed her mind to take over, she was able to detect the pain Victoria was in. Ginger could see that she was Destiny’s child, not Caroline Ryder. Caroline and Victoria got adopted buy the “right” family while Victoria was stuck in the system. This jealousy grew into rage and now a need for revenge.
With Ginger’s innate magic, she could easily block or prevent Victoria from harming Caroline. Ginger asked Darleshia to get Caroline to safety. This allowed Lupio to be her backup or lookout in case Victoria wasn’t alone. Ginger would have a few choice words for this young lady.
Chapter 18:
Ginger walked right up to a frustrated Victoria Hellmick who was trying to figure out why her magic wasn’t working. Ginger could see the rage on the surface of this impressionable 17 year old.
The fact her mother was shallow and not there for her child. Victoria was a child growing up with magical powers without guidance or leadership. Ginger was her glance at her and used her powers to stop time. She thought, now for a little one on one without interruption.
This was the reason she became an educator, to change lives and make a real difference. She touched Victoria to take her out of the time hold and allow her to see what path not to travel down.
A startled Victoria looked around her and demanded, “Who are you and what do you want?”
Ginger thought, right to the point, okay. No need to sugarcoat anything.
She takes a few relaxing breaths and explains, “I am Ginger Solis. I am a witch like you, but I also have a lot of other abilities. Today I came here to stop you from going down the wrong path.
“I want to help you. To prevent you from killing Caroline over you believing she got the better deal then you. She probably has it a lot worst then you with needy parents. I know who you birth mom is. She sent me to find you,” Ginger waits to see how Victoria will react.
“You’re lying,” Victoria accuses.
Ginger responds, “No, I’m not. A small part of you knows that you can trust me. I can show you. Just take my hand.”
Victoria eyes her suspiciously. Ginger reaches out her hand and waits for Victoria to grab her hand. When Victoria touches her, a vision is shown to the young girl. The vision started with the images Mark saw of Destiny giving up Victoria at the orphanage. It was a good thing Ginger asked Mark to show her what he had seen.
Victoria let go, grasping and unable to accept her life wasn’t what she thought. Her mother didn’t give her up due to not loving her, but to protect her from her enemies. This news really shocked her.
Ginger asks, “So would you like to get out of here?”
“You not going to turn me in?” replies Victoria.
“And what for? I am here to help you, come on. Let’s go somewhere and talk,” Ginger finishes.
She resumed time and let’s Lupio know telepathically the threat is isolated. He wants to stick around for another thirty. Ginger promises to call later, as they walk over to the ice cream shop.
Chapter 19:
After a nice long chat with Victoria, Ginger was confident that Caroline was out of danger. Victoria was on the fence with meeting Destiny. Ginger may not have been adopted but meeting Jensen was scary and she could totally relate with wanting more time.
Once Ginger got home, the first things she did was kiss Lucas before going to go brush her teeth. She crashed the moment her head hit the pillow. The next day, Ginger awoke with a startle because she had to go to both jobs and overslept. It was already 8:56 am and Lucas wasn’t in bed.
Damn, ginger hated Mondays at that moment. Her fiancée wasn’t home and she needed to fight rush hour. She sighed to herself as she went to the kitchen for a blueberry flavored bagel. Ginger took a quick shower before getting dressed after scarfing down the bagel. To save some time, Ginger decided to teleport to work.
Getting through the day was easy. It was the night classes she enjoyed the most, but it was draining her as she entered her second trimester. The day couldn’t get any longer as she taught her two classes and went home. No news from Victoria about adding classes at Dark Force University like they discussed.
If things went according to plan, Ginger planned to be her role model and perhaps get help from Gretchen. Gretchen was the ideal person to speak with in regards to reformation. Life was full of surprises, such as Darleshia helping out and how the day turned out.
The last thing Ginger wanted to do was get involved in telling Shane how to do his job. He worked part-time as a prison guard at Moville. Things were turning around, and she wondered if she’d have any more unexpected surprises from the past.
Over the years, she made quiet the number of enemies. Her fiancée and baby were in danger. Protecting her child was always at the forefront of her thoughts, worries and priorities. Not a day passed that if her stomach didn’t sit well or a kick, did she wondered if prepared to be a proper parent.
She needed to check in with Adorsa so not to have any bad blood between them. Every since Adorsa started dating Mark before moving in, things with them were rocky. With a steady stable relationship, now it was about proving she was a great friend.
Lately the pair went to book reviews, literary parties and other events of the sort. Things had been good without all the drama or issues, life had been great. Piper kept her nose clean or as clean as possible. MaryAnne and Jensen got married, that was a special day.
Ginger wasn’t rushing into marriage, baby or not. It was a lifelong comment and there was no rush to tie the knot. Right after work, she’d meet Shane about her past.
Chapter 20:
The day couldn’t seem to end fast enough. Just being a manager and filling out paperwork was a lot of stress, but add on top of that a ton of bullshit and she was ready to lost it. The complaints and pettiness among her adult staff was enough for her to punch someone. All the hormones added to her lack of compassion. No, her filter for stupidity was low.