Rebirth: The Awakening Of A Witch

by Jessica S. Quinn

  I immediately found Elise’s room. Before I even knocked, she already opened the door.

  “Come in, Sky,” she chirped happily.

  “You instantly knew it was me?”

  “Yes. We’re attuned to an Imperial’s aura. It’s part of the job description. But it’s not as strong as Adrien’s familiarity with your aura, or how you’re accustomed to his aura, though. Those are two entirely different things,” she narrated.

  I sighed, blushing again at what was coming out of her mouth. I immediately stopped walking further as I took in the beauty of her room.

  It was a slightly large room with cream-colored walls and dark wooden tiles. Right across the bedroom door was a queen-size bed made of the lightest shade of wood. The covers and pillows on it were all white, completely giving the entire sleeping haven a peaceful ambience. A light brown carpet accented with black swirls was directly under the bed, giving the room more character. A bedside table stood on either side of the bed, and both were adorned with small lamp shades with glass stands. Double casement windows were located just above each bedside table. A large abstract painting of royal blue, deep rose, light brown, and lime green comfortably hung on the wall above the headboard of the bed, drawing you into the room as soon as you set your eyes on it.

  A wooden dresser with six, square compartments was located on the right side of the bed. Right beside it was a desk holding a flat screen computer monitor. Small, separate, wooden shelves were securely attached to the wall, surrounding all sides of the monitor. A large closet equally divided into three-mirrored panels was situated along the wall on the left side of the bed.

  Right across the bed, directly beside the bedroom door was an average-sized flat-screen television with a long, light-colored wooden stand holding it securely. Three, separate oil paintings that formed a single sunflower, once they’re joined, were hanging on the wall above the flat-screen television.

  “Elle, who did all of these paintings?” I inquired, stopping in front of the television to gaze up at the masterpiece. They were beautiful art pieces, so much like the ones on their living room.

  “Adrien did. He loves painting sunflowers because they were my mom’s favorite,” she said as she walked up beside me, staring at them, too. “My mom died when the Scheols attacked your grandmother,” she mumbled in a soft voice. I turned and held her hand. I knew exactly how she felt. Losing a parent was unbearable, much more if you lost both your parents at the same time. She smiled warmly at me before leading me to the bed.

  “Your room’s beautiful, by the way,” I said as I glanced at the entire room again.

  “Thanks. You should see Adrien’s room. It’s exquisite!” she said animatedly.

  “Really? Are there more sunflower paintings?” I asked, suddenly excited to see more of his works. He is talented. I have to admit that much.

  She shook her head. “No. His room is filled with paintings of a weird-looking tree. It’s beautiful, actually, because it’s very unique, and it somehow looks like it glows. The entire tree is made of a mixture of blues and greens, even the branches and the trunks,” she continued on explaining every detail of that tree, which I was so certain was the same tree on my vision. My marble tree. I totally forgot to ask Adrien about that. I made a mental note to ask him again.

  “Have you seen that tree somewhere before?” I inquired. I could start asking Elise now, and then ask him again about it.

  She shook her head. “No, I haven’t. He wouldn’t even say where you can find it in Propheria,” she said softly and frowned. She looked like she was trying to piece up something.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Adrien’s been obsessed with that tree ever since he got interested in painting,” she shrugged.

  I frowned. Now I know that I have to ask him about that. But for now I need to ask Elise something else that I couldn’t ask in front of him.

  “Elise, the connection that Cole was saying earlier… was that the same connection my parents shared?”

  She nodded. “Yes. It’s also the same reason why losing all her powers didn’t mean much to her because she had your father…and you, of course.” She smiled affectionately at me, taking both my hands.

  I smiled back and immediately went to my next question, thoroughly satisfied with what she just said to me. “Why don’t I always get to feel yours and Cole’s aura?”

  “That’s because you’re always bothered with my brother that you don’t get to relax and sense anything else but him,” she replied, laughing while giving out her answer.

  “Oh crap,” I muttered, making her laugh even more while I was busy turning my face more flushed than it already was. This means that I was never really alone since that awful nightmare happened. They’ve been keeping a close eye on me… all of them. And all this time I was too disturbed with Adrien’s presence that I wasn’t able to feel their auras as well. God, I felt horrible about myself right now.

  “If you learn to relax, you get to feel the aura of every witch around you. That’s one of the privileges of being an Imperial. Don’t worry. You’ll get the hang of it. You just need practice,” she happily explained to me.

  I nodded, still not getting why she gets so excited about all this stuff about my powers. “Earlier tonight, did you already know that Rhiannon was planning something when I told you about Nana’s text?”

  She shook her head. “No. I did feel that something was off. That’s why I told you to call her,” she replied, pondering on it a bit.

  I immediately stiffened when I recalled that awful feeling earlier. Her grip on my hand tightened when she noticed. “I felt something before, Elle. I wasn’t feeling well because my breath constantly kept cutting off at that time. I felt this heavy feeling and I couldn’t explain it.” I felt myself shudder as I remembered that horrible feeling. It seemed so harmless at that time, but now I know better. My body was warning me that something was going to happen.

  I was shocked when Elise suddenly hugged me. I must’ve been in a daze. “Shh… Sky, that’s just your psychic ability. It’s the first power you’ve developed since you turned eighteen. It means that your power is already maturing.” She cooed, trying to soothe me. “It means that you’ve been so good at reading people’s emotions and expressions, or you’ve been great at reading people’s feelings before your powers were awakened. You’ll get used to it soon. I promise.”

  What she actually said was probably true. All those times I thought I was just being paranoid, but I guess there was always a reason for everything. I took deep breaths, slowly trying to calm myself when I suddenly felt Adrien’s presence lurking outside her bedroom.

  “Adrien’s here,” I said softly, taking deeper breaths.

  She nodded. “He probably felt your distress. That’s why he’s outside. Stay here, okay? I’ll be right back.” She went out of her bedroom and was back at my side after just a few moments.

  “Yep, he was worried.” She chuckled, obviously entertained at what was happening. “You know what, this reminds me how he stormed out of the house in that horrid weather after that nightmare you had of being in Alastor’s head,” she stopped when she looked at my expression. Her face immediately displayed her remorse. “You know he spent the night watching over you.” She winked at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

  Chapter 11 - First Attempt

  I gasped. He was watching me? “How?” I asked her as I desperately searched through my brain, trying to remember the events that happened right after that nightmare.

  She shrugged. “I don’t really know how, but he sent Cole a message a few hours after that, saying that he should watch you, because you were actually planning to walk all the way to school.” She said, shaking her head disapprovingly, clearly not happy that I walked all that way. “He just went home to change then got back to school right afterwards,” she shrugged and looked at me with a meaningful smile on her face.

  I was bewildered at what I heard. That’s why he looked so exha
usted that day. I can’t believe he actually stayed somewhere near the house and just made sure I was safe. That explains why I felt like that familiar aura was in the same room with me at that time, because he was practically that close.

  I groaned. Now I really needed to apologize to him for all the horrible things I did. He was totally not the guy I pinned him down to be. I sighed.

  After a few moments, I allowed my mind to go back to everything that happened since the first time I met him. I felt my brows slightly wrinkling as I realized something. I only did those things because he always annoyed the hell out of me. I automatically transformed into my defensive mode, trying to clear my conscience even for just a bit. But it didn’t work. I still felt guilty even though he acted that way towards me.

  “Why is Adrien so mad at me, anyway?” I breathed out, blowing my bangs out of their previously neat position in my forehead. I finally gave up. I know I needed to ask him this question personally, but I don’t think I could rein in the curiosity any longer.

  “He doesn’t like the prophecy. For him, it’s like being forced to fall in love with a witch that he’s supposed to protect. He wants to defy fate. I think he actually tried doing that by acting like an ass in front of you,” she laughed. “Back when you were kids, he didn’t really mind what his prophecy said because he was too busy following you around,” she said with a faraway look on her face. “Right now I think he’s already changed his mind about everything. But that’s just my guess. I haven’t talked to him about that recently,” she shrugged.

  I don’t really have a strong opinion if he’s already made up his mind on that subject. I actually share his view, though. Everything’s just too complicated as it already is. I couldn’t even fully wake myself up to the reality that I’m a witch. That alone has taken up all the available space in my brain, and I couldn’t possibly entertain anything else as of the moment.

  What Cole said about me being unable to ignore Adrien’s presence, and the fact that I was drawn to him… well, those were true. I felt myself blush as I admitted those to myself. But I don’t actually know if that prophecy was totally to be blamed for those things. Besides, I completely don’t understand him and his mood swings.

  “Ugh!” I groaned as I let myself collapse on the bed, my legs still dangling on the side. I absolutely forgot that I wasn’t in my own bed and was totally swallowed up in my thoughts. Only when I felt a sudden movement on my left did I wake up from that trance. I immediately sat up and turned to her with a sheepish grin.

  Elise just smiled at me and held out an oversized shirt. “This was all I could find. I would’ve given you one of my pajamas but I forgot those when we transferred here.”

  I frowned as I thanked her for the shirt. “Where did you guys transfer from anyway? I almost forgot to ask you that.”

  “Propheria.”

  “Really?” I asked, astounded at what she said.

  “Yes,” she replied with a questioning look. “What were you expecting Propheria to be, Skylar?” she asked as she comfortably sat on the bed, embracing her legs with her arms and resting her chin on her knees. She had an amused smile on her face.

  “More like those witch towns I see in movies or read in books,” I shrugged, blurting out the first thing that came to mind as I immediately took myself on an imaginary journey to what I expected to see there.

  She laughed and started shaking her head when she was able to gain her composure back. “Sorry to disappoint you, but Propheria’s totally not like that,” she smiled at me, making me more curious about what Propheria’s actually like. “You’ll love the place when you finally go there.”

  Wow. I never actually thought about going there. Now that she planted that idea on my mind, I felt more intrigued about it. I was totally set on quizzing her more about the place when I saw her stifle a yawn.

  I smiled apologetically at her before standing to leave the room, fully planning on heading to the bathroom right across from it. When I closed the door to Elise’s room, I immediately felt Adrien’s aura. His room was probably near. The curiosity of seeing how his room looked like almost made me walk away from the bathroom door and start wandering around looking for him. I shook the idea off and turned the knob of the bathroom door. By the time I got back to Elise’s room, she was already fast asleep. I smiled as I saw her peaceful, sleeping face. I really wouldn’t have guessed in a million years that she was capable of fighting off bad guys in her present state. I flicked her bedside lamp off and snuck under the covers on my side of the bed. I was slipping into dream land within moments.

  “There you go, Boxer,” an old woman cooed as she tossed a few biscuits on the ground for her Yorkshire terrier. Right behind them were two young boys with deeply furrowed brows, staring at the ground as a third boy was carefully laying out a set of cards on the perfectly manicured grass. I turned my attention the little girl as she passed by in front of them, driving her bicycle with her mom directly behind her, holding a long handle behind the bike to make sure she drives at a reasonable speed.

  I puffed my cheeks as I took in more of my surroundings. Everyone acted so normal. They handled the Sunday afternoon with such a carefree attitude. Why wouldn’t they? They don’t have to worry about supernatural stuff. I sighed my frustrations out as I leant back on the wooden bench I was currently perched in. Someone gently poked my shoulder and I forced my eyes to give him a side glance. Cole smiled widely at me and I just rolled my eyes at him.

  “Oh, come on. Being one of us isn’t that bad Prin—” he stopped when I glared at him. He raised one hand in surrender and tilted back slightly away from me. I ignored him and turned my attention back to the people in the middle of the park.

  We were currently sitting in one of the wooden benches in Rattford Cliffs Park. After what I learned about myself last night, I really didn’t think that being surrounded with normal people was a great therapy. I just ended up wishing to have that ordinary life back, without having to worry about anything else like being a witch, having powers, or being killed. Then again, I realized that I didn’t really have a normal life, because from the moment I was born I was already a witch, very different from any of my friends. I just wasn’t aware of any of it.

  When I woke up this morning, I remembered wishing so hard for everything to be a dream, that none of the chaos and revelations ever happened the night before, but I saw that futile wish crumble in front of me the moment I opened my eyes. When I realized that I wasn’t in my own room sleeping in my own bed, everything from the night before came streaming back to me in a flash flood. I instantly sat up on the bed and covered my face with my hands. I was still in that position when the door to Elise’s room opened as someone came in. I immediately knew it was Adrien standing beside me. He didn’t talk and just stood there, leaning against Elise’s dresser as he stared at me with an uncertain expression on his face.

  When I looked up at him, he actually looked like he was panicking. I raised my eyebrows at him, wondering what he was thinking. “A penny for your thoughts?”

  He shrugged. He seemed to have relaxed a bit, but his ambiguity was still obvious as it clung to every part of his body. “How are you feeling?” he slowly asked as he stared at me with a watchful expression.

  Was that what he was bothered with? I blinked at him, trying to be sure. “I’m fine, I guess. I still can’t believe what’s happening, but I’m hanging on,” I replied, nodding at him. I smiled when I saw him totally relax. Did he actually expect me to break and shatter into pieces? Well, any normal and sensible human would. Somehow I expected myself to act that exact same way when I wake up this morning. Surprisingly, it didn’t happen. And I didn’t actually feel like I was going to break down anytime soon.

  “Adrien, I’ll be fine. I won’t be having a nervous breakdown,” I stated and watched as he chuckled. The coldness in his eyes that I’ve grown used to seeing wasn’t there, and I couldn’t help smiling back at him. I didn’t actually know how I was being so resilient to any
of this. I know I still couldn’t fully grasp the reality of it all, but breaking down and sulking in a corner surely wasn’t in my options for handling the situation. He suddenly pulled me out of the bed, starting those little electric waves through my body, completely waking me up. He told me to come down for lunch and I grinned sheepishly when I realized that I actually slept in that late. He left the room and gave me time to wash up and get dressed.

  I saw the brown sleeveless tank top and the skinny jeans I wore last night neatly folded on the opposite side of the bed. They must’ve already washed it. I smiled at their thoughtfulness and hurriedly went to the bathroom right across Elise’s bedroom.

  Once I joined them for lunch, the twins urged me to go with them to the park. I didn’t really have any choice, so I sent Nana a message, telling her I’ll be home this afternoon. I also texted Nick and Anne, telling them I went home with Elise, confirming the story she told me she texted them hours ago.

  As Cole poked me again, I was brought back to the present. I realized they only brought me to the park to try to get my mind off things. They were actually trying to be helpful, and I felt glad about it. Maybe the reason I was able to gain this emotional and mental strength is because I know that I have them with me, and that I finally wasn’t alone anymore.