by L. C. Miller
Abby sighed as she looked around. “I’m fine. Look, we better leave or we’ll be late for class.” She could tell they didn’t believe her, but since they saw Ms. Wonks heading toward them, they hurried off.
Abby did her best to make herself eat like she normally did during lunch. She started up conversations to get their minds off how she was doing. As she sat in Magical Beast Lore, Abby tried to pay attention to the teacher and not the note in her pocket. She knew what the letter contained. A very cheerful note from Rainy trying to convince her, yet again, that she should not just remember the bad things that happened in the past, but also the good.
Once inside the house, she went to her room and closed the door. She was glad Ethan decided to go to Aaron’s house to do homework. She would meet them there later.
She sat on the bed and let Bombers curl in her lap while she read Rainy’s note.
Dear Abby,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I know you don’t like it, but get over it. You should always remember the good things about this day, not just the bad. I have your present for you and could get it out to you tonight. Please don’t be too sad. How are things with school and stuff? Life is the same old, same old here. Rollen is still gone. Marcella is mad that he’s not here to get her firewood and lift all the heavy stuff. Naturally, she gets me to do it.
I’ve been working on a spell to make things float. It worked for a bit earlier, but it stopped after a few minutes. The log that was floating landed in a cauldron Julie was using. The splash caused her white dress to turn an icky brown color. I thought it was funny, but she didn’t see it that way, and neither did Marcella. Guess who gets to clean the tent for another week? Hopefully I will see you soon. Stay strong!
Rainy
Abby folded the note and went to her closet. Opening it, she laid the note inside a box. She started to close it when the album caught her attention. Picking it up, Abby walked back to her bed.
Bombers sat there quietly watching her. “I know I normally wait for dark on our anniversary, but I miss her more now than ever. I wish I could tell Ethan, Aaron, and Carly everything. You have no idea how hard it is to continue to lie to them.”
She opened to the first page. Her mother was sitting in a rocking chair with a sleeping three-month-old Abby in her arms. As she flipped through the pages, she remembered all the good times. Her mother teaching her how to dance, or showing her how to make her first potion.
She turned the page to the one where her mom was teaching Abby her first dance spell. This was one of her favorite memories. As her mom spun her, Abby’s hair changed from turquoise to bright pink. Her mother had just dipped her when Abby’s smile dropped from her face. She could make out a small form on her mother’s right shoulder.
“No,” she said as she quickly flipped to the last page in the book. It showed her mother walking in the garden and looking over her shoulder to Abby, laughter in her eyes. It wasn’t the eyes that held Abby, but a half-bloomed yellow rose with a bright red circle that showed on her right shoulder. “It can’t be,” she whispered. She didn’t know how long she stared at the rose, her heart hurting. She couldn’t seem to breathe.
Closing the book with a snap, she got up and went to her mirror. She stared at her reflection, her hair turning very black with streaks of bright red, as it did every time she was beyond upset. Tears welled in her eyes. Going to her door, she flung it open. “I need Rainy,” she whispered, grabbing Bombers.
She didn’t pay attention to see if anyone was watching her; didn’t care that her hair was different colors. She ran fast toward the oak tree.
Once the camp opened, she looked for Rainy. Abby spotted her as she came out of her tent. Abby hid in the trees. “Rainy,” she whispered as loud as she could. Rainy looked up in surprise. Her eyes widened when she saw Abby’s hair. “I need to talk to you!”
The duo ran off through the woods, the camp disappearing behind them, and stopped at the small creek, far from camp. “What’s going on, Abby? Are you okay? What …” She trailed off as Abby turned to face her. It had been years since Rainy had seen Abby cry.
Uncontrollable tears were running down Abby’s face, hair now changing to almost black. “They lied to me,” was her anguished whisper.
“What are you talking about? Who lied? The Herrins?”
“No, the Madam and the rest. They all lied. Here, look at this,” Abby said, and shoved the album at Rainy.
“Your family photo album? You never let anyone see this. What’s this have to do with it?”
“Just look at the last page.” Abby said nothing more as Rainy flipped through the pages. She took Bombers off her shoulders and laid him on the ground but he didn’t leave. He stayed by her side. Rainy finally came to the one of Abby’s mother and the tattoo.
“Wow, this is the picture on the headstone. How can that be? The river—”
“They lied to me,” Abby interrupted. “They said they gave her our kind of funeral. They said it was done over the ocean, with the fire and everything to light her path to the afterlife. Said I was too distraught to go. Madam and the elders were the only ones to attend. But they didn’t. I know that’s her grave. I know it is. They lied to me!” Abby screamed as she fell to her knees sobbing, her hands covering her face. “They buried her there and didn’t tell me. They didn’t have the decency to keep her grave nice. You saw all the weeds and everything. They could have at least kept it clean or given her flowers instead of letting it grow over.”
“I’m so sorry, Abby,” Rainy whispered, close to tears herself. She knelt down next to Abby and wrapped her arms around her. “I’m so, so sorry!” Rainy hugged her tight.
“What am I supposed to do?” Abby asked, tears streaming down her face. “They lied to me.”
Rainy leaned back. “Maybe they had to or something. There has to be a reason they did it like that. Maybe it wasn’t the Madam who lied. It could’ve been the council, and the Madam just didn’t know how to tell you.”
“They should’ve told me! She could’ve found a way to tell me! They disgraced her like she was nothing! Not a Mystic, but some nobody no one would care about! You saw the grave. No one takes care of it.”
“So why don’t you? Abby, you have a way with plants I’ve never seen before. You can clean her grave up in no time, and it would be the best-looking one in the whole world.”
“You’ve company ...” a voice said above Abby’s head. She rose to her feet quickly and looked around. Her hair faded back to the dark brown color. Rainy looked up in surprise.
“Abby?” Carly said as she, Ethan, and Aaron stepped closer to them. Rainy rose to her feet while Abby stared at the ground, her photo album open next to her feet. She couldn’t bring herself to look at them.
“Abby?” Carly said again. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Rainy leaned in close to Abby and whispered, “You need to tell them. You need friends in both worlds, Abby, because like it or not, you are from both worlds.”
She glanced up at Rainy, eyes terrified. “I can’t ... they’ll hate me!”
“I think you underestimate them.” Rainy gestured them closer and picked up the photo album. “Does this look familiar?” she asked them, showing them the last photo.
Ethan stared at it, confused, but Aaron’s eyes went wide. “The mark on the grave! Abby, you know who it is?”
Abby raised her eyes to look at them and nodded. “Yes, it’s my mom.”
Chapter Nineteen
“Your mom was a Wielder?” Carly asked, looking closely at the picture.
Abby shook her head. “No, my dad was.”
“Was she a Normal?” Ethan asked. “They usually bury their spouses next to each other.”
Abby shook her head again. “No, she wasn’t a Normal either.” She took a deep breath and said, “My mom was a Mystic.”
“Holy cow!” Carly started. “So you’re a Mystic, too?”
“Yes. Well, an unofficial one,” Abby said.
“Unoffi
cial? What does that mean?” Aaron asked.
“It means,” Rainy started to explain, “she’s not officially a Mystic because her dad was a Wielder; but since her mom was a Mystic, that made her an unofficial Mystic. Does it make any sense to you?”
“No, not really,” Carly said, confused.
“Yeah, it doesn’t make sense to us either,” Abby remarked.
“Hey, wait!” Ethan said excitedly. “Does that mean you can do things without a wand?”
“Of course she can!” Rainy exclaimed. “She also dances in the tribe. You guys will be seeing her perform at the Halloween dance.”
“Really?” Carly squealed. “So cool!”
“So was the bubble about that?” Ethan asked, sitting down on the ground. The rest of them followed, forming a circle next to the creek. Aaron sat next to Abby.
“How do you know about that?” Abby asked, shocked.
“I saw it floating in during brewing class. Was it about the dance?”
“Nope,” Rainy said. She ignored Abby’s sharp look. “I was forcing her to remember her birthday, and not just the bad times.”
“Bad times?” Ethan asked.
“Today’s your birthday!” Carly jumped in. “Are you serious?”
“Yes, but—” Abby started.
“Why did you tell us it was in December?” Aaron asked.
Abby hung her head. “Today is also the anniversary of my mom’s death. She died on my tenth birthday.”
The woods were quiet after she made that announcement. Then Carly suddenly put her arms around Abby, giving her a hug. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Abby.” She leaned back. “But Rainy’s right. You shouldn’t just remember the bad times. You can’t tell me there weren’t any good times.”
“That’s easier said than done. I always dream about that night all through October,” Abby said.
Ethan shot his head up and looked at her strangely.
“Do you want to fix up her grave?” Aaron asked. “If you do, I heard about some Ghost-Be-Gone stuff you can get at UMM.”
“What’s UMM?” Rainy asked.
Ethan launched into a description of the underground magic mall as night started to fall.
“Hey,” Aaron said suddenly. “You know who your mom is, but what about your dad? Do you know who he was?”
“Of course she does!” Ethan scoffed. “It’s the notorious Will Reed!” Abby’s eyes went wide and she shot a look at Rainy. Ethan laughed loudly at what he thought was a joke as Carly rolled her eyes.
“I could only think of a million people who would be better than that,” Aaron said. “Mr. Horace and his backfiring hexes, for one.”
“Ah, come on,” Ethan joked. “Ya can’t leave Widely Crazy Will all alone now.”
“Oh, you mean Wicked William?” Aaron shot back, smirking.
“Stop,” Abby broke in.
“Mr. Revolting Reed, Mr. Manslaughter, Killer Willer?” Aaron continued with the nicknames.
“Stop!” Abby yelled, jumping to her feet. “Just stop already. You don’t know if he really did anything like that!”
“I can say what I want,” Aaron shot back. “He killed my dad!”
“You don’t know that!” Abby yelled at him.
“Yes, I do! Everyone said he did! My mom even said he killed my dad in that stupid dark green shirt my dad got him!” Aaron snapped. “And why do you care?” he demanded. “Why are you defending him?”
Ethan, Carly, and Rainy rose to their feet. Rainy put her arm around Abby as if to calm her.
“Because he’s my dad!” Abby roared.
Aaron’s jaw dropped at her outburst.
“Because he’s my dad,” Abby said, more tears leaking from her eyes. She stalked toward Aaron. “How would you feel if everyone around you said the only family you have left is a murderer? How everyone hated him and trash talked him? You say your mom saw a guy kill her husband in a green shirt? A green shirt that you can get in most the stores of UMM! He’s my dad, Aaron, and I just can’t believe he’s a killer.”
Aaron looked at her as she spoke. Not saying a word, he turned and left. “Holy cow …” Ethan breathed. The four of them watched Aaron’s form fade away.
The next morning, Ethan knocked on her door and asked if she would talk to him in his room. Having never seen his room, she thought it looked pretty much like what she expected. It was messy and the bed wasn’t made. His sheets were red and yellow. Above the bed was a poster with a phoenix in bright red and orange flames. There was a telescope with a broken eyepiece sitting on his desk. There were posters of people waving their fists in the air below banners of red signs flashing Red Phoenix Racers.
She glanced back at Ethan. “Oh, yeah,” he said, going to what Abby thought as a mound of clothes. He pushed all the clothes to the floor to reveal a chair.
She laughed as she took a seat. “What did you want to talk about?”
He took a deep breath and sat at the end of his bed. “A couple of things actually. First, I wanted to say that I’m really sorry about your dad. I know you’ve heard us trash talk him before, and you’re right about no one ever actually seeing him murder anyone. And I’ll try to talk to Aaron, but he’s always been pretty sure your dad killed his. No promises he’ll change his mind, but I’ll try,” Ethan promised.
Nodding, and trying not to cry, Abby asked, “What was your second thing?”
“You know when you said you dream about that night?” Abby nodded as she stared at his face. She hated remembering. “Well, I think I did, too,” Ethan continued. “Not the dream entirely, but, like, bits and pieces. I remember a kid screaming something, but can’t make out what she says. I also hear a cold laugh and crying. It was horrible.”
Abby wouldn’t wish that memory on her worst enemy, much less her friends. “Be grateful you didn’t see it in its entirety,” she whispered.
They went silent for a few minutes, both lost in their own thoughts. “I mean, it’s not like I see visions or anything like that,” Ethan said. “It’s just sometimes I have dreams or feelings of the like.”
“Why are you nervous?” she asked, studying him after his admission and seeing he was anxious.
He looked at her, a little confused. “Because I don’t want people thinking I can tell the future. If we were supposed to know the future, we’d all be Seers. I mean, you should see how many people talk to Ms. Freeberly about seeing the future. ‘What color is my kids’ hair going to be? What do you think would happen if I drank Myrtle’s miracle hair re-growtherizer? Should I marry Skit Skittles? If I rob the bank, will I get caught?’”
Abby laughed at that one. “It’s a far cry from getting occasional dreams to being able to tell the future,” she said, “but if you think you can, then am I going to pass Mr. Frump’s test on Thursday?” She smiled as she said it and was glad that Ethan grinned back. “But don’t worry, I won’t say anything.”
“It’s okay. Aaron knows I get them sometimes. We all seem to have something weird about us, so it doesn’t bother me that you know now.”
~*~
It was Thursday before Abby decided to stop worrying if Aaron was ever going to talk to her again. After having another restless night, Abby woke up a little before dawn and grabbed her Glider. Deciding to go to the graveyard, Abby slid her carpet out. Laying it flat on the ground, she went to open the window. Her Glider rose a few feet into the air. Picking up Bombers, she slung her bag on the carpet. Once seated, Abby flew silently to the graveyard. Flying high, she scanned the graves for movement.
“I don’t see anything,” whispered Abby to Bombers. He looked over the edge, too. Stopping near the neglected grave, Abby jumped off her Glider. Once she landed, she stared at the grave a minute. “It’s sad, isn’t it?” she asked Bombers. “Everything she did, and she’s left like this.”
Tears started to sting her eyes, so she quickly wiped them off. Crouching down, she started with the weeds, working her way up to the vines that covered the tombstone. “What are you doin
g?” asked a male voice behind her.
Abby froze in the act of pulling a tough weed. “I hope you are not destroying that grave,” the voice said again as Abby slowly turned around. It was the same guy who spoke to Abby that first time. The ghost with the empty eye socket and oozing skin.
He wasn’t alone. Dozens of ghosts appeared around her. The guy took a step toward Abby, and Bombers lunged at him, hissing menacingly. Bombers’ sudden movement brought Abby out of her stupor, and she did the only thing she could think of. She transformed into a large cat, hissing at the ghosts. The guy froze in his tracks but didn’t disappear like a few of the ghosts did. He cocked his head to the side and looked at her. Why aren’t they all disappearing? Abby thought frantically. Scared down to her claws, Abby hissed again when she heard it. Turning her head to the side, she listened. The dead guy said something. He pulled an eye patch over his empty eye as he spoke to her.
He said her name. She stared at him as he repeated it. Transforming back, she asked, “What did you say?”
The dead guy smiled. “I was right. Your name is Abby, is it not?”
“She said she was an Unrestricted,” spoke another Wielder-ghost. Her voice was high-pitched and giggly. “We wondered when you would come here. Her grave is so overgrown.”
Abby looked from the woman ghost back to the guy. “How do you know my name?”
“She told us,” said the ghost guy.
Confused, Abby asked, “Who told you?”
“Your mother told us,” said the dead guy, grinning.
“My mother!” exclaimed Abby, stunned.
“Yes, your mother,” replied the giggly woman. “Her name is Esmeralda Reed, is it not?”
“You spoke to her? You actually spoke to her? When? Does she come out like you guys do? Where is—”
“Hold on, hold on,” interrupted the dead guy. “Yes, we have spoken to your mother. We last saw her right after she was buried here. She said she couldn’t stay because there was someone she had to look after. She also told us that you would change shape when we confronted you because she always told you ghosts feared cats as they’re keepers in the afterlife. Which is only true for some, by the way. “