Beautiful Souls

by Mullanix, Sarah

  We must have company, I assumed, and slumped at the thought as I slowly approached my house. I didn’t feel up for visitors, not tonight of all nights.

  “Great,” I muttered sarcastically under my breath, as I reluctantly climbed the back steps. My mom approached the doorway to greet me.

  “Hi, hon. How’d dinner go?” she asked, as I slipped passed her through the screen door she held open for me.

  “Not well,” I replied, still in my muttering-under-my-breath voice.

  “Yeah, we know,” she voiced, and the answer surprised me.

  I looked up to see our kitchen full of my parents, Leo and both of his parents, and also my Homeroom teacher Mr. Stanley. He was flanked by my dad and a middle-aged pretty blonde woman, whom I assumed was Mr. Stanley’s wife. My teacher, as a guest in my home, was the sight that surprised me most. Why was he here?

  “That’s what we’re all here to talk to you about,” my mom continued.

  I froze where I stood, keeping a tight grip on my backpack with one hand, while the other remained hovering over, almost caressing, the key dangling on my chest.

  “You’re all here to talk to me about the fight I had with Zoey at dinner?” I questioned, understandably baffled.

  “Kind of,” my mom answered, putting her arm around me while trying to lead me to an open seat at our kitchen table.

  I looked over to Leo, flashing him a questioning and pleading glance, hoping he could save me from this intervention of sorts. He simply smiled sympathetically in return.

  “We’re all her to discuss the topic of your fight tonight,” my mom clarified.

  “How’d you even know about the fight, let alone what we fought about?” I questioned, thoroughly confused.

  “We’ll get to that part a little later. Right now, I think we should start with you,” my mom sat in the chair next to me and held her hand out for mine.

  “Bec, just listen and keep an open mind,” my dad chimed in, as he laid a comforting hand along my shoulder.

  “Okay?” I let out a nervous laugh. “Am I dying?” I joked, but as I looked around the room into all the eyes locked on me, I saw the way everyone huddled my direction. I didn’t discount my latter question from being a definite possibility.

  “No, Becca, of course not. It’s nothing like that,” my mom reassured me.

  “Just listen to what they have to say. Everything’s going to be fine,” Leo added.

  The constant eye contact and reassuring did nothing except make me feel even more anxious. They were playing with my already erratic emotions.

  “All right, let’s get on with it. You’re all beginning to scare me,” I ordered, in the most polite tone I could muster under such circumstances.

  “Okay, okay,” my mom conceded. “I’m going to begin with this lovely necklace Leo gave you.” She touched the beads lying loosely around my collarbone, gently pulling the chain till the antique brass key lifted and appeared above my shirt collar. She held the solid key in her hands. “It’s a very special necklace, Becca,” my mom began to explain, as she caressed the key with her fingers. I looked up at her to see a comforting, dreamy look in her eyes, reflecting whatever she was about to tell me.

  “Yeah, I know. Leo told me that it’s been passed through his family for two hundred years.”

  I tried to hide the swirling thoughts in my head along with any expression that may be escaping out onto my face, avoiding giving away Leo’s family secret. I didn’t know how well, or if at all, my parents would deal with news that my boyfriend, and their neighbors, had come from a long line of Witches and Warlocks.

  “It’s more than just that. This necklace…,” she turned briefly to gain assurance from my dad and the rest of the room. The others nervously smiled at me in support. My mom turned back toward me and continued, “The necklace is magical, Becca,” she spit out. “With each new generation, it gets passed on to the one that it’s meant to protect…the chosen one. A Natural…and that’s you.”

  I sucked in a gasp.

  Chapter 8.

  The Experiment

  ex-per-i-ment

  /ik’sperement/

  Noun

  A scientific procedure undertaken to make a

  Discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate

  A known fact.

  Verb

  Perform a scientific procedure, esp. in a

  Laboratory, to determine something.

  I felt trapped. I sat surrounded by my loved ones who just broke life-changing news to me. My mind flooded with impossible truths. I felt completely and utterly trapped.

  I was a living nightmare that just turned my world upside down; the kind of nightmare where you’re running for your life, around every bend and curve, attempting an escape. My heart raced, ready to pound its way free from my chest, yet an escape would be impossible; however, I held out hope. Hope is human instinct after all, but this was not a dream. There was no such nightmare to escape its intense and devastating grasp. This was real --- my reality.

  I sat in my kitchen, surrounded by people I loved and trusted. Time seemed to stand still. I no longer heard the comforting ticking rhythm of the black clock with its tan face hanging over the kitchen window. Leo’s yellow lab, Lullabelle, had been silenced by the numbness in my ears, and the echoing sounds of the woods that I had always longed for in the past were being pushed so far away, I feared they may never again return to flood my head with their river of serenity.

  All of the intrinsic sounds, now considered to be part of my past life, I thought I’d never want to hear again. Ever. They wouldn’t hold the same feeling, meaning, or tranquility as before; everything felt like a lie. My brain turned each silenced sound into supernatural echoes from an unknown and dark world, one in which I now felt alone and betrayed.

  My head felt thick and foggy, as if there was a cloud draping around it. Time stopped, sounds silenced, and I was sure my heart had sunk so deeply into my gut that there was no possibility of it ever returning to the high point in my chest where it had happily rested for seventeen years.

  I must have zoned out. For how long, I didn’t know. I did eventually notice that my mom had stopped talking. For a moment the entire room stood still.

  My mom turned slowly, shot a glance around the room, and for a second I thought I saw each and every person, standing in my kitchen, nod. I must have gone crazy. Not a chance in hell this is all really happening.

  My mom turned back toward me. “Becca, are you catching most of this, honey? Is anything sinking in?”

  It took me a minute to respond. My senses and reaction time felt numb and slow, and they had obviously been affected and dulled by this gush of new information. Tonight’s bizarre and insane turn of events had left me motionless and completely speechless. My body remained immobile, and it felt detached from my cloudy brain. My eyes did manage to catch glimpses of my attentive audience’s watchful stares; stares which turned more worrisome with every moment that they awaited my response.

  I tried to form coherent words as quickly as possible now to ease the minds of everyone in the room. “Uh, um yeah…I’ve heard every word, Mom. I’m just processing.”

  “Do you think that you could endure a little more? There are a few more things, one in particular, that I think we should clue you in on before we call it a night,” my mom spoke with more pep in her voice than I thought appropriate for this situation. She was rubbing my forearm the same way she used to when I was upset as a little girl.

  “As if I’ll be able to sleep.” I motioned for my mom to continue.

  “Okay, good.” my mom bounced up with a new glint in her eyes. A smirk drew up the corners of her beautiful bow-shaped lips as she added, “’Cause this next part is going to be a lot of fun.”

  I couldn’t understand. I was dumbfounded. I had just sat and listened to how my entire world had been changed and turned upside down. It was all falling apart, and everything I’d known for the past seventeen years were half-truths and lies.
My own mother had just spent the past fifteen minutes explaining to me the gist of what my life will entail from this night forward --- my life as a Witch. I just couldn’t understand how anything related to being ‘a chosen one’ or ‘a Natural’ could be interpreted as good, or “fun” as my mom had just stated.

  Premonitions, spells, supernatural powers, and even shape-shifting were all described as things that would become my reality and a very vivid and substantial part of my new world. My mom spent very little time, so far, actually cluing me in as to how any of these things were possible, and right now, I didn’t ask. I wasn’t ready --- yet.

  Perhaps having already known a tidbit about this new world --- Leo’s family secret and apparently mine as well --- had given me an edge in order to comprehend the fact that everyone in this room were Wizards. I hesitated to even think of my reaction had I not already had a small insight into this supernatural world.

  As the minutes ticked past, everyone seemed to be functioning at a whirlwind speed around me, while I sat motionless on the kitchen chair. I felt as if I was beginning to awaken from a dream, and the initial blow and shock devastated me less and less.

  Perhaps acceptance took over, yet there was no doubt that the devastation of my inherited abilities continued to lay under the current emotions now swirling in my head. What I had viewed just minutes ago as a life-long curse, now flabbergasted me. I was intrigued by the fact that people, including me, could possess supernatural talents and abilities. This really existed. Everyone else's excitement had given me the slightest bit of hope that this wouldn’t totally devastate my way of life.

  I viewed my new abilities, powers, and responsibilities as burdens. The weight balancing and vigorously pressing down on my shoulders caused an internal struggle within me. On one hand, there was a slight part of myself that secretly loved this news, that I was special. This revelation meant that Leo and I were now the same, and my heart pounded harder and more quickly just thinking about the forever-bond we now shared. However, on the other hand, I kept hearing Leo’s words from last night echoing in my head --- ‘there are hundreds and maybe thousands of others out there, and not they’re not all like me’.

  I completely doubted myself. How would I ever know how to handle all I had inherited. Clearly, the word that I am ‘a Natural’ had spread throughout the supernatural world. I had assumed this to be accurate since it would explain Zoey’s bizarre behavior and also the fact that there’s a shape-shifting coyote out there somewhere with me in its sights. To my dismay, there were actually people --- Witches and Warlocks to be exact --- who wanted me dead. One had already tried to kill me in the woods. I didn’t even know why besides the obvious, simply that I was a Natural. I was now more confused and terrified than I had ever been in my entire life.

  “Come on, Becca,” Leo spoke, pulling me from my thought-filled trance. “You’re gonna enjoy this.”

  What was with everyone assuming that anything related to being a Witch was going to be fun for me?

  “Just forget all of your questions and worries for tonight and follow us outside,” my mom almost bounced out of the kitchen through the back door as she spoke. She was eagerly followed by my dad who patted my shoulder reassuringly as he passed. He was followed immediately by Leo’s parents, then Mr. and Mrs. Stanley.

  Only Leo lagged behind, obviously waiting for me. When he was close enough to touch me, he took me by the waist and raised me from the kitchen chair. My heart raced as the touch from his fingertips grazed the small of my back, instantly growing warm and tingly. I felt a flutter in my stomach as I caught a glimpse of him flashing me his ‘oh, so familiar’ crooked grin. My heart skipped a beat.

  Everyone else had already crossed over half the field behind my house, and they congregated near the edge of the woods before Leo and I had ever pushed our way through my back door. Apparently, we’d all be continuing this in the woods, and a flash of remembrance crossed my mind. Instant hesitation froze my muscles, and I stood motionless, stopped right in my tracks.

  My dad retreated from the group toward me when he noticed my apprehension. “There’s nothing to be worried about, Bec. We already scanned this whole area. You’re safe tonight.”

  I started walking again, slowly, still very cautious considering my dad’s choice of words “you’re safe tonight”, but there was no point trying to fight against Leo’s pull.

  “Besides,” Leo added. “I can sense when danger is near and so can you, with the help of that necklace of yours. Actually, you can probably sense it better than the rest of us now, you’ll just have to learn to recognize the signs.” Leo looked me over with a wink, and my composure melted into his capable arms. Oh my God, how embarrassing could I possibly be? Knees collapsing, heart racing, flushed cheeks --- way to play it cool, Bec.

  I saw a slight smirk and chuckle escape Leo’s moist lips. They caught glints of moonshine which beamed into the midnight sky, lit by thousands of twinkling star lights.

  I felt him lift me up, almost to my full height, to give me a moment to compose myself before I grounded my legs firmly, planting them back on the ground.

  Leo and I had finally reached the rest of our group. They were huddled together, whispering excitedly as they waited for me near the fringe of the pine tree beside the edge of the woods.

  “Let’s duck into the trees just a little farther to ensure we won’t be seen by any neighbors or late night passers-by,” my mom spoke quickly as we approached the huddle of anxious and strangely giddy adults.

  We followed everyone a few more steps into the black darkness of the trees protection. I soon felt the familiar soft crunch of fallen leaves and loose pine needles beneath my feet.

  “All right then,” I heard, but could not see, my dad’s voice. My eyes were still attempting to adjust and refocus to this new level of darkness.

  I could barely make out dark masses being passed around the group. One dark lump was given to each out-stretched hand, then my eyes focused in again. Images were now more clearly visible, and I defined one of the shadowy figures as my father.

  I watched as he reached inside a black duffle bag, carried out to the woods unbeknownst by me, and pulled out another dark mass. He pushed the wad of glimmering, black material my direction and I followed suit, reaching out for the mysterious heap.

  I took the armful of silvery black velvet, and peered over the crumpled pile toward the others. I remained clueless as to what this mound of cloth was that was heaped in my arms, and I wanted to refer to the others as to what I was supposed to be doing with it. Heaven forbid I look like an idiot on my first night as a Witch.

  I watched captivated as the rest of our group slipped the material over their bodies, disappearing under the glowing moonlight. The moon’s radiance was filtered by the sparse branches from the tree tops that made up the forests canopy, draping us overhead.

  “These are our shields,” my mom explained, as she slipped her hooded cape over her head. The cape covered her entire form, fluidly draping from her head to her feet. It shadowed the top of her eyelids while the remaining velvet mask concealed the rest of her curvy body, hiding everything it covered all the way down to its bottom seam, now lying on the forest floor in jagged, wispy tendrils. She was completely invisible from anyone with merely human eyesight. “We use these cloaks each and every single time that we…well, you’ll see.”

  My mom’s lips curled up at the edges, and from what I could see of her soft olive-skinned face, hidden beneath the shadows of the midnight-colored cloak, she was grinning from ear to ear.

  Leo held my silvery black cloak open near my back. He easily helped me slip my arms inside, then I wrapped the velvety vastness of the cloak around the rest of my body. I unintentionally pressed my back against his hard muscular chest for just a second, shivered, then fastened the front of the material. I slipped the shadowy hood over my head, tucking my loose, unruly wisps of hair caught by the breeze behind my ears. Everything but my face was now camouflaged in darkness. />
  “What are we wearing these for again?” I asked curiously. I spied the smiles and anticipation on everyones’ faces, peeking out at me from underneath the unisex cloaks. Their enjoyment peaked my interest to say the least.

  Leo ran his hand along my waist once I was fully cloaked and walked around to stand by my side. His hand slid from my back around to my side and caressed my arm, running his fingers down to my wrist then on to the palm of my hand to lock fingers with mine. “We’re gonna try a little experiment,” he whispered in my ear.

  Chills of pleasure ran throughout by body from his touch and breath, tingling my ear and neck. My legs grew weak again with my increased heartbeat. “Oh, are we now? What experiment might that be?” I asked playfully. Maybe this Witch thing was going to be a little ‘fun’ after all.

  “Ahem,” my mom stepped between us, realizing that nothing would be accomplished tonight until she interrupted our moment of flirting and infatuation with each other. I heard a round of snickers escape the throats from the adults in our group. “Here’s were the fun begins,” my mom paused for a moment, her eyes excited yet intense while never losing contact with mine. She continued, “Becca! We can fly!” her eyes danced.

  “E, Excuse me?”

  “Fly!” my dad reiterated.

  “So, all those stories…fairytales…they’re true? The broomsticks, the Witches dressed in black capes and hats flying above the trees framed by moonlight…it’s all true?” I shouted in amazed horror.

  My heart sank. I could never imagine myself to be anything that was such a cliché.

  “Hardly.” I heard Leo’s whisper reach my ear as if he were still standing directly next to me.

  “A few similarities, I suppose. But no, not exactly,” my mom added, and pulled herself up to her full height.

  Mr. Stanley stepped forward. “Maybe I can explain this in better detail,” he stated in his best, most professional teacher-like voice. “You see, Becca, the cloaks are specifically designed and enchanted by a very difficult and involved charm so that we can remain unseen by any and all, human and otherwise…”