The Council, A Witch's Memory

by J. C. Isabella

  Did I have the strength to let her go?

  When this was over, when we were out of danger, could I set aside my own wants? Be selfless enough to walk out of her life forever? That is, if she didn’t want me anymore because of the deceit?

  I’m not sure, but I would do anything to make her happy, and to make up for everything I’d done, even though it wasn’t really my fault.

  I kicked off my shoes and sent them flying into the closet and grabbed the remote to the TV hanging on the wall over the fireplace. I eyed the chair in the corner of the room, but decided against it and sat on the bed next to Venna. She was still out cold.

  It was about fifteen minutes later when she started murmuring in her sleep.

  It wasn’t anything important. A few times she said my name, and that brought a smile to my face. Though one time she did call out for her mum.

  My heart hurt for her.

  I had no idea what she was remembering, but I had a feeling it wasn’t all pleasant.

  Chapter 15

  Venna

  “Venna,” my mom called. “It’s time to come inside.”

  I dusted my shorts off and ran down the beach, looking for my new friend. I’d only known him for a few days, but he was pretty cool. He was really good at making sandcastles too.

  “Henry?” I shouted. “Where did you go?”

  “Over here!” he popped up from behind one of the large rocks on the shore. “Look at what I found.”

  I ran toward him and squealed as he stepped out from behind the rock. “Yuck, put it back.”

  “It’s a jelly fish.” He was holding a stick out. A gooey creature hung off the end of it. “Hey, don’t touch it! It might sting you.”

  I stepped back and wrinkled my nose. “Is it dead?”

  “Yeah, super dead. I think the sun fried it.” With a grunt, he flung the stick into the rolling surf. “I’m hungry.”

  “My mom said she would make hot dogs and macaroni.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me down the beach.

  “Yes!” he pumped his fist in the air. “Think she’ll let us have cake too?”

  It was my little brother’s birthday. He was four now, and kind of annoying because he hated taking baths, and wearing clothes. “I think so.”

  “Want to race?” Henry let go of my hand and grinned.

  I nodded. “But no powers. You always win with them.”

  “Fine,” he sighed. “Ready?”

  “All set.”

  “Go!”

  I ran, pumping my legs as hard as I could. Henry tripped in the sand and I passed him, giggling so hard I almost bumped into my father. “Sorry.”

  “It’s alright.”

  I gasped and backed up. It wasn’t my father. The man was tall and skinny. He had a hooked nose like a big, ugly bird and a long, black ponytail.

  “Venna, get away from him!” Henry shouted.

  I turned to look at my friend. “What’s wrong?”

  Henry ran, tripping over his bare feet. When he reached my side he stepped in front of me and held his hands up like he did when he used his powers. His palms were facing the man, and I knew that wasn’t a good thing. “He’s got black eyes, Venna. All the bad men have black eyes.”

  I looked up at the stranger. Sure enough, his eyes were black as night. “Are you bad?”

  The man smiled and stepped toward us. “Very.”

  “I’ll blast you,” Henry cried.

  “Cal, I told you to stay away from the children.” I looked up the shore to see my dad heading for us. He looked really mad.

  I glanced back at the stranger. He laughed, and in a flash of black light, he was gone.

  “Daddy?” I ran up to him and he picked me up. “He was a bad man. Henry said so. He had black eyes.”

  Henry nodded. “Real bad.”

  My dad looked at me, then at Henry. “I will make sure he never comes here again.”

  “Good,” Henry said. “Do you want me to tell my father? He’s a king. He can make bad people go away forever.”

  “His name is Prince Henry. He’s a real prince.” I looked up into my dad’s blue eyes. They looked a little darker to me…maybe I was imagining it.

  “Henry,” my dad smiled. “I don’t want you to tell your father. I will tell him myself.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He nodded, setting me beside Henry on the ground. “Yes, in fact, I think it’s best you don’t tell anyone this happened. We don’t want them to think the beach isn’t safe. They would never let us play here again.”

  Henry shrugged. “Okay. But I’m still hungry.”

  “Then lets go eat,” my dad said, leading us back up to the house.

  My head throbbed. I winced from aches and pains in places I didn’t know could hurt. But voices speaking quietly met my ears, keeping my attention, preventing me from slipping back into unconsciousness.

  I blinked at the dim light filling the room. It was morning, and the TV was on low, which explained the voices.

  Huh?

  Wait, why was I in Henry’s room?

  I tired to get out of bed, but something had me pinned. I lifted the covers. Henry was curled around me, had thrown his leg over mine and his arm was hooked around my waist.

  Prince Henry.

  The title more than fit, he owned it.

  How come I never noticed before?

  How come I never remembered before?

  I always thought he acted differently because of his parents. They were English. It wasn’t a vastly different culture, but enough to set us apart.

  I shook him awake. “Henry?”

  “Hmm?” it took him a minute, but squinted up at me sleepily. “Hey, how do you feel?”

  I floundered for a good answer, “I’m…confused.”

  He was awake now, and sat up next to me, running a hand through his hair. “Do you remember what happened last night?”

  In one big rush I recalled everything, hitting the tree, hurting Cal…I hurt him. I made him bleed. The snap of his leg echoed in my head and I gasped.

  “Oh, God!” My hands shook and my teeth chattered violently. Each breath I took came faster, my chest heaving painfully. What had I done? What did I do to that man? I probably killed him!

  “Venna, you’re all right, calm down.” Henry caught me in his arms, holding me tight enough to subdue some of the tremors coursing through me.

  I gripped handfuls of his shirt, trying to make him understand. “No, I’m a monster! Did you see what I did to him?”

  “You were protecting yourself. You are not a monster.” He soothed, lips pressed against my ear.

  “I made him…bleed…just by touching his face.” I shuddered, staring at my hands. “How?”

  “I’ll explain everything. Just try to relax, you’re sending yourself into a panic.”

  Henry didn’t think I was a monster. But what was I? And my brother, what was he? It was like he sucked down a vat of jet fuel and took off!

  Pressing my ear to Henry’s chest to hear the rhythmic beat of his heart calmed me. My body relaxed as he held me, and I began to feel better, aside from the fact that my head hurt like someone had dropped an anvil on it.

  Henry handed me a glass of water and two aspirin that had been sitting on the bedside table. I took them, eager for the pain to dull. Although I wasn’t feeling as bad as I thought I would. Cal really put me through the ringer. A normal person would’ve been in the hospital.

  He set the glass back on the side table and pulled me into his side, wrapping his arm around me. “Please don’t hate me.”

  I glanced up at him, speechless, “I could never, I…”

  He stopped me by pressing the tips of his fingers to my lips. “No, don’t say anything.”

  Why didn’t he want to know how I felt? Did he feel differently?

  “I feel like I’ve woken up on a different planet. I’d appreciate it if you would fill me in.”

  “I’m sorry Venna. I wish this was going to be easi
er for you.”

  He really did look sorry, but he wouldn’t be getting off the hook that easy. I wanted answers more than an apology.

  “Henry, are you a prince?” I couldn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth. This wasn’t a dream or an elaborate hoax. My childhood friend, the boy I trusted with my life, was a prince.

  “Yes,”

  “Of what country?” Why did he keep this from me?

  He sighed, settling his hand on my knee. “I don’t have a country.”

  “Okay, what then, what are you the prince of?” My best friend had lied to me. I felt as if I’d lost my grip on reality.

  “The world. Are you sure you’re all right?

  “Yes, I’m fine…you rule the world?” I wanted off this crazy ride. I wanted to wake up. This had to be a very elaborate dream. I mean, for me to actually believe any of this was insane.

  “No, my parents do.”

  “Right, of course.” I decided to shut my mouth and focus on not freaking out.

  “Venna?”

  “Huh?”

  “Do you believe in magic?”

  “I don’t know what I believe anymore.” Especially after he told me his parents ruled the world. Oh, and he’s a prince, can’t forget that one. If he told me unicorns were real I’d probably ask to see one, because my belief system was pretty much caput.

  He glanced at the TV. The volume went up, down, and then it turned on and off.

  I giggled, thinking it was a joke.

  Then he picked up the remote and handed it to me.

  The batteries were missing.

  Chapter 16

  “What the heck is going on?” The TV turned on, then off. Again. Twice. “That’s not normal. How did you do that, Henry?”

  “Magic.”

  “N-no, not possible.” So he’s a prince, and he can do magic? I pressed my hand to my forehead, trying to reel my emotions in.

  “You know that’s not true. Think, Venna. Cal didn’t injure himself.”

  I didn’t want to think about that. I’d mangled the man with out fighting him. “Hang on, how do you even know his name? I didn’t tell you.”

  “We’ve been after him for a long time. I recognized him.”

  I shook my head. “I’m going crazy. I either can’t wake up from a dream or I’ve turned into one of those scary things I read about in books.”

  “No, you aren’t crazy, and you will never be scary.”

  “It’s supposed to be make-believe…and Zane, what the hell was that? One second he’s there, the next he’s moving so fast he gets blurry!” Dropping my head in my hands, a shiver ran through me. “This is not normal.”

  “It’s normal for us.” He tucked a stray curl behind my ear and the butterflies turned into angry hornets. He’d known all along. He was my friend and he never said anything.

  I felt like a fool.

  “You lied to me!” I rounded on him, wincing from moving my head too fast. “You’ve been lying for years! How dare you. You didn’t have the decency to…to…say something…anything!” I cried, my eyes hot with tears. I lunged out of the bed and ran for the door.

  But I never made it. There was a flash of the emerald light I’d seen before in the woods, and Henry appeared in front of me. “What the hell are you?”

  “I won’t hurt you, Venna. You’re safe with me.”

  “Why did you lie to me?” I looked into his eyes again. They seemed to flicker, glow greener as the seconds ticked by. “Why should I trust anything you say? Why should I trust you?”

  No matter how his lies hurt me, no matter how hard I worked I couldn’t find it in me to fear him. I was pissed, and I didn’t know if I could ever forgive him. But I would never fear him.

  And his eyes were glowing! He’d appeared in front of me in a flash of green light, a light that felt more familiar to me than I could comprehend.

  “I’m sorry Venna. I had no choice.” He whispered fiercely, gaze following the tears on my cheeks. “My parent’s felt you would be safer not knowing, I disagreed.”

  “You could have said something,” I snapped. “Eight years.”

  No, it was longer than that. I’d remembered something else about my past. About my best friend. We’d known each other before.

  He shook his head, “I wanted to tell you everything, but they insisted, saying you’d be safer not knowing. I tried to hint at it, hoping you’d figure it out on your own. Remember when I jumped off the roof?”

  “That’s how you didn’t get hurt? You can fly? What else have you been hiding from me?” my head was getting a tad light. I unlocked my knees and breathed slowly, not too deeply. I was not going to pass out in the middle of this conversation.

  “Not exactly, I can make objects fly. I was standing on the flying skateboard.”

  “Then how did you change the TV channels?”

  “With my mind.”

  Genius.

  “I’m sorry, so very sorry, Venna. You have every right to be angry.” He started toward me, but I shook my head. “What can I do to prove you can trust me?”

  “Let me go home.” I said. “Then, maybe, after I’ve cooled off, we can talk.”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

  I glowered at him, thinking his being a prince wasn’t too far fetched. He could be domineering, arrogant, and stubborn. “You can’t? Or you won’t?”

  “Both,” he crossed his arms.

  “Wow,” I blinked back tears. “I thought you were a good person. I thought we were friends.” I tried not to cry, but my bottom lip began to tremble and I knew I getting really close to losing it. “I-I thought I was in love with you.”

  “Venna,” he held out his arms. I pushed him away.

  “You hurt me, Henry.” I cried, not caring what he thought of me, or my wretched tears. “Now, please, let me go.”

  He stepped aside, “Fine.”

  I reached for the doorknob, but he opened the door for me. “And Venna?”

  “What now?” I bowed my head, defeated. If I looked back at him, I’d break down completely.

  “You will not leave this house.”

  I gasped, shocked at his commanding tone. “Or what, Your Highness? You can’t make me stay here.”

  “Actually, I can. Just know that it is for your own safety.”

  Without a word, I bolted out the door and slammed it behind me.

  I never wanted to see him again.

  “Zane!” I called for my brother, running down the hall, away from Henry’s room.

  “Hey, what happened?” he appeared in front of me. Literally appeared. I almost ran into him.

  I blinked, shocked. “How…how did you?”

  “I’m a warlock. Cool, huh?”

  Shaking my head, I stepped around him. “We need to get out of here.”

  “Why?” he fell in step beside me as I headed for the stairs.

  “Because Henry lied to me.” I reached the top step and Zane darted in front of me. He moved far too quickly for a normal person. I had to grasp the banister to keep my legs from giving out.

  “Did you give him a chance to explain?”

  “Of course I did. What he told me wasn’t a good enough reason to keep me here.” Maybe if I worked hard enough, I could force myself to fear him. It would be easier to hate him, to push away any feelings of love or friendship.

  Zane narrowed his eyes. “Being targeted by extremists isn’t a good enough reason?”

  I took a step back. “What?”

  “You need to listen to him. I know you’re angry and hurt, but he was doing it to keep you, and me, safe.” He took my hands and pulled me into a hug. “He can tell you about our mom. Henry knows what happened to our parents.”

  “You make it sound like an unpleasant story.” Damn, I couldn’t hate Henry, and the fear thing wasn’t going to work either.

  He grimaced as he pulled back to look at me, “It is.”

  I didn’t want to hear any more. I needed space. To breath. Somethi
ng to anchor me back to the earth. It felt as if my world was spinning out of control. So I ran for the library. It was a small room filled with old books and a movie projector that Henry and I used to watch old films on when we were little.

  I sat in one of the overstuffed red chairs after turning off all the lights and putting on a reel of old cartoons. They were comforting to watch. I felt safe in the dark, curled in the big chair. Flora came in a while later and sat with me. Neither of us said a word for the first hour or so. We watched an old black and white movie.

  She talked me into coming out of the room and having lunch with her and Zane. I accidently bumped into Henry on the stairs. He simply nodded and kept going up.

  I’d reached the bottom step when he cleared his throat, “I’m leaving.”

  “Why?” I froze, but I didn’t look at him.

  “So that I don’t upset you any further, Quinn will take my place.”

  He was leaving me? After all this talk about how much he cared and wanted to protect me, he was just going to leave? I squared my shoulders and nodded, “Okay.”

  “Aren’t you the least bit curious?” his footsteps sounded softly on the stairs and I felt him behind me. “Don’t you want to know why I’m keeping you here? Why you’re in danger? Do you even want to know what you are?”

  I wasn’t sure I believed any of this. It was so far fetched though, that I had to. What other choice did I have? A man attacked me. He shot lightning from his fingers and burned my skin with the simple press of his lips.

  Hiding my confusion and need for further information, I shrugged and faced him. “Fine. Henry what kind of monster am I?”

  His gaze was soft, but tortured, as if this was killing him. “Venna, you are not, and never will be, a monster.”

  I frowned. “What am I?”

  “A witch.”

  I swallowed hard. “Of course, how silly of me. I should have known all along.”

  “Venna, there are things you should know, things that I don’t want you hearing from anyone else.”

  “You know what the worst part is,” I said, not hungry anymore, I skirted around him and headed back upstairs. “I can’t make myself hate you. I can’t make myself not care for you as a friend, as more than a friend.”