The Executioners

by Vanora Belmont

  All the furniture was sitting at an angle, and the curtains swayed despite the window being closed. Confused, I got out the bed and turned on the overhead light. When I looked up I noticed that it was all swaying.

  What the hell? I thought. Had I done this? Was I still doing it? The curtains and light didn’t show any signs of stopping. I looked at the bedside table, it jumped forward slightly, startling me. It was me. When I looked at the bed it also sprang forward.

  I slammed my eyes shut. How the hell was I moving stuff about? And, more importantly, how did I make it stop? I opened my eyes again, but immediately regretted it. The smaller items in the room were now floating a few inches in the air. Pens, clothes, the broken lamp, and even the rug.

  I tried to calm myself down by taking a few deep breaths, but it wasn’t working. Being scared just made things worse. Even my grandmother couldn’t do this. The only family member I knew of, that was telekinetic was my great-great grandmother. And she had been an evil cow...... or so I had been told.

  ‘Anora, I heard a bang. Are you okay?’ Sorin’s voice asked from the other side of the door. I had never been happier to hear his voice.

  ‘Sorin, I don’t know what to do!’ I shouted back. The handle was moving, but the door wouldn’t budge. I could hear Sorin throwing his weight against it from the other side.

  ‘Open the door.’

  ‘It’s open,’ I said, confused. My door didn’t even have a lock. Shit. Did I seal it with magic? Am I trapped in here? I looked over at the window, thinking maybe that was the way out. But instead the glass started to shake. I threw my hands up just in time to protect myself as the glass shattered.

  ‘Anora!’ Sorin shouted. He continued to push on the door, trying to break it down. With his strength it should have been easy, but it wouldn’t budge.

  ‘Anora, listen to me. I need to you open the door,’ he said.

  The broken glass was now slowly floating around the room in a clockwise direction. Careful not to cut myself on the glass, I made my way to the door and grabbed the handle.

  The door opened for me. As soon as there was enough space, Sorin pulled me into the hall. But that didn’t stop the chaos inside my bedroom. The items in my room just seemed to be picking up more speed. We both stood there with a mixture of amazement and shock.

  ‘How do I stop it? I don’t even know how I started it’ I said.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Sorin said pushing me behind him slightly. We both ducked as a pen came hurtling through the open door like a torpedo and embedded itself in the wall behind us. I looked at it, shocked then turned to Sorin, who looked more impressed than anything else. ‘Magic and emotions are linked, right?’ he asked. I nodded. ‘Are you emotional right now?’

  What a question to ask.

  ‘What do you think?’ I asked. ‘I’m trashing my bedroom.’ Sorin turned around to face me and placed his hands on my shoulders. His stormy blue eyes looked determined as he stared into mine.

  ‘I need you to calm down,’ he said.

  Easier said than done, I thought.

  He continued, ‘Try and follow my breathing. In and out.’ I did as he said, watching as I tried to get my breathing in sync with his. It was hard to block out the noise of the near-tornado behind us. The force was blowing our hair around. After a few minutes I managed to block it out and match Sorin’s breathing.

  His eyes never left mine. Now that I had a proper look at them, they were more blue than grey. Almost as bright as mine.

  I jumped when everything in my room suddenly crashed to the floor. I pulled my eyes away from his to look at the mess. His hands left my shoulders so I could turn for a better look. Sorin did the same. It was going to take quite a bit of work to clean it up. There was broken glass and furniture everywhere. It was over at least.

  ‘How the hell did I do that?’ I asked in a hushed voice.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Sorin said. ‘Maybe your powers are just growing. How were you feeling before you went to sleep?’

  Pissed off, but I didn’t want to admit that. Maybe I had been a little scared too. I had never been attacked like that before.

  ‘Angry,’ I answered. I didn’t feel like that now, but I did feel different. Sorin didn’t reply. ‘What now?’ I asked.

  ‘Well, you can’t sleep in there until it’s been cleaned up. You’ll need to use one of the guest rooms.’ He paused and looked at me before shifting his gaze back to the mess in the bedroom. ‘Do you want me to contact the queen and tell her what happened?’ I nodded, not exactly sure what I would say to her. Sorin was right about sleeping in one of the guest rooms, but I had no intentions of going back to sleep. What if it happened again?

  ‘I’ll be in the sitting room,’ I said. I walked past him and headed downstairs.

  As I sat on the sofa, my mind wandered to the men that had broken in. They had a key, which meant that someone had given them one. I needed to find out who. The first people I would be questioning would be the cook and the butler. I had known Mary since I was a little girl and she couldn’t have done it.

  The police were probably looking into it, but I doubted they would actually do anything. I rubbed my eyes, fighting sleep. The clock on the wall said it was almost five, so I had gotten maybe got two hours sleep. This had easily been the worst night of my life. I was worried about what my grandmother would make of the mess I had made. I looked up as Sorin walked into the room, looking just as tired as me. He probably hadn’t slept well either. He deserved a day off.

  ‘You look tired,’ he said.

  ‘So do you,’ I said as he sank down on the chair beside me. ‘What did she say?’ I asked my voice breaking slightly.

  ‘She’ll be home as soon as she can. Don’t get yourself worked up. She’s not mad, but did ask if I would keep an extra eye on you,’ he said, his eyes meeting mine. It wasn’t very reassuring that she had asked Sorin to watch me better. I needed her here right now. I needed her guidance. I was worried that if I lost control Sorin wouldn’t be able to stop me. I needed my grandmother here to stop me if necessary.

  An hour later my grandmother came home, she walked into the sitting room with the same confidence she always had. Sorin, who had been relaxing beside me on the couch shot up like he had just been caught doing something he shouldn’t be. I would have laughed under different circumstances.

  ‘Sorin, I need a word in private with Anora,’ she said.

  ‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said before quickly leaving the room. She walked over and took a seat next to me on the couch. She looked so out of place.

  ‘I know you want answers about what happened tonight,’ she said. ‘My grandmother’s magic allowed her to move things around without touching them, but you already know that.’

  ‘I don’t want to be like her,’ I admitted. Her magic had consumed her to the point that it controlled her. She had been a bad person and had done terrible things.

  ‘Listen. Just because you have the same powers as she did, it does not mean you are her. It doesn’t work like that,’ Gran said. ‘Your powers are growing, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to be a bad person.’ She was right, but her words didn’t help all that much.

  ‘All these years I thought I was just a weak witch that didn’t have a lot of magic. But something’s changed,’ I said. ‘I feel different. Like I woke up with more energy.’

  ‘You were never weak. All the females in our family have been powerful,’ she said. ‘It’s part of who you are. It’s just been bottled because you don’t practise enough. And now the top has blown off. Does that make sense?’

  Yes, it did. I understood what she was saying, but it didn’t reassure me any. So, now I had magic that I didn’t know how to control? How long would it be before I could control it? If I didn’t learn to control it, would it control me?

  ‘How do I control it, though? What happened upstairs can never happen again,’ I said.

  ‘You’ll learn to in time. You might have some slip-ups when your emotions a
re heightened, but concentration is the key to magic. As long as you can keep calm and stay in control of yourself, you should be okay,’ Gran said.

  I knew what she was saying was true, but it didn’t stop me from feeling stupid. Pathetic, even. At twenty-five-years-old I should have complete control of all my abilities. I did have control of the ones I used the most, though. Controlling trees. Projecting light from my hand. Now it seemed that I would have to master the ability to move things without touching them. I knew deep down it was a gift that would come in handy. If I’d had it the night before when the men broke in, things would have gone very differently.

  ‘I’ll start practising in the morning,’ I said. ‘Do you think it would be okay if I slept, or do you think I’ll move things about again?’

  ‘Are you calm?’

  ‘Yes,’ I said. But the worry was still creeping around the edges. Exhaustion was the strongest thing I was feeling right now.

  ‘Then you’ll be fine. I’m going to head to bed as well,’ she said standing up. ‘Goodnight. We can talk more in the morning’ she added before walking out of the room. I pulled my legs up onto the couch and curled up to get comfortable. I could sleep here. The sofa was comfy enough and I was out of the way too.

  It was lunch time when I woke up. I could hear Mary humming to herself as she cleaned in the next room. I pulled myself up off the sofa and headed out of the room and up the stairs.

  My bedroom door was still wide open, but it looked like Mary had been there. The glass and broken furniture had been removed, but the window still needed replaced. I walked into my cupboard and quickly got dressed before heading to the gym.

  By the time I got downstairs my stomach was growling, but I ignored it. I had more important things to think about that food. I sat myself down on the gym mat with my legs crossed. I looked at the stack of small weights in front of me. I wasn’t leaving this room until I could lift them and put them back down without touching them.

  After an hour of trying all I had managed to do was shake them a little. The angrier I got, the harder they shook.

  Maybe I have to be angry for this magic to work, I thought. I replayed last night in my head and remembered how angry I had been. I watched as not only the little weights, but the ones weighing over fifty kilograms levitated as well. I took a deep breath, calming myself down. Nothing happened. The weights continued to float a few feet above the ground. I pulled myself to my feet and glared at the objects.

  ‘Down!’ I shouted at them. They dropped with a heavy thud. I was surprised they didn’t crack the floor. My eyebrows rose as I stared at the weights. I didn’t expect that to work.

  ‘Um, okay. Up,’ I said pointing at one of the smaller weights with my finger. It floated a couple of feet in the air and wobbled slightly, but never fell.

  ‘Come,’ I said. The weight started moving towards me and I held my hand out to catch it. I couldn’t believe this was working. Maybe if I had just said stop last night my room wouldn’t have been trashed.

  ‘Anora.’

  I snapped my head round to look at Sorin. The weight dropped on the mat a few feet away with a small thump. I looked from Sorin to the weight and back.

  ‘Impressive,’ he said with a nod to the small weight lying only a few feet from me.

  ‘Would have been more impressive if I had got it in my hand,’ I mumbled back.

  ‘You would have if I hadn’t distracted you,’ he said. I knew he was right, but I needed to learn how to do it even if I was distracted. My grandmother’s magic always worked for her no matter what was happening or how she was feeling. I wanted to be like her.

  ‘Is there a reason you’re here?’ I asked.

  ‘Just came to remind you about the party tonight,’ he said. Damnit. I had completely forgotten about it. I couldn’t go to a party with my face in its current state. I was a mess, everyone would stare. ‘We can leave for the night if you want. You don’t have to go,’ Sorin added.

  As tempting as that was, part of me wanted to go. I had a plan, and to make it happen I needed to meet people. I wanted to build my own team of Executioners. And to do that I needed to speak to the human Prime Minister.

  Chapter Ten

  The party had crept up on me quicker than I had expected. Guests arriving while I was still getting ready. I was in the spare room with Mary, who was trying to cover my bruises with makeup. Thankfully, she had managed to find stuff that was strong enough to cover tattoos so right now my face didn’t look too bad.

  ‘I think that’s the best you can do, Mary,’ I said as she dabbed at my face with a makeup sponge.

  ‘It does look better,’ she said.

  I stood up and slipped into my ball gown. She helped me lace up the back, pulling it tight to make my waist look smaller. I stood looking at myself in the mirror. I had an hour-glass figure in this dress. Very lady-like. I missed my baggy clothes.

  ‘There. All done. I’ll head downstairs,’ Mary said leaving the room. I picked up the long white gloves from my dressing table and slipped them on, hiding the scratches. Mary had put my hair in an elegant half-updo, which I preferred to a full updo.

  I opened my jewellery box and pulled out the only piece of jewellery I owned: a blue sapphire and diamond necklace that had once been my mother’s. When I tied it around my neck I realized I had forgotten how heavy the necklace was. But I knew by the end of the night I would have forgotten about the weight. I gave myself one last look in the mirror and slipped on my heels before leaving the room.

  The noise from the bottom of the stairs told me that most, if not all, of the guests had already arrived. I grabbed a handful of my dress and started down the stairs. I took each step carefully because heels, a long dress, and stairs were a recipe for a disaster. I had to admit that I did like the dress. The colour anyway. It was jet black with hundreds of little sparkles. It reminded me of the night sky. My grandmother had actually chosen this dress, which means she knew my style better than I thought she did.

  As I neared the bottom of the stairs I caught guests attention. While most simply looked, others whispered. It made me anxious.

  My eyes landed on a man with bright blonde hair and mischievous green eyes. I smiled when he spotted me. I was glad he made it. Though based on the gear he was dressed in I was guessing he’d been asked to be extra security for the night.

  ‘Beautiful,’ Zane said holding out his hand to help me down the last few steps.

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Was talking about the dress, but I guess you look nice as well,’ he said cheekily, making me laugh. That’s why I loved Zane. He released my hand as I stepped down beside him. Some people were looking at me as though they wanted to introduce themselves. But having an Executioner beside me seemed to put them off. I forgot that Superhumans had that effect on humans. I looked around but couldn’t see my grandmother or the Prime Minster.

  ‘Have you seen the queen?’ I asked Zane.

  ‘I saw her go that way,’ he said nodding towards the gym hall, ‘maybe ten minutes ago.’ I had no doubt the gym had been transformed for the event, just like when I was little. ‘Do you want me to walk with you?’ Zane asked. I turned to look at him.

  ‘Yes, but before that I need to ask you something,’ I said.

  ‘Okay.’

  ‘I want to start my own group of Executioners,’ I said. ‘If I do, would you join my team?’

  ‘In a heartbeat,’ he said quickly. ‘You thought I was going to say no, didn’t you?’ Zane smiled.

  ‘Actually, I thought you’d think it was a joke or tell me not to be stupid,’ I said.

  ‘Anora, I’d rather work for you than the government,’ he said. His tone was serious. He couldn’t be joking. I didn’t blame him. in my opinion the government took advantage of the superhumans, and I’m sure most of them felt the same way.

  ‘Good. Hope the others feel like that because I plan on asking them as well,’ I said dragging Zane through the crowd of people and towards the gym hall.


  There wasn’t a piece of gym equipment in sight. The tables were covered in navy silk and some of the chairs were occupied. Almost everyone in the room had a glass of alcohol in their hands, champagne by the looks of it. I wasn’t a big drinker myself. I was such a lightweight that I usually just avoided alcohol.

  The cook and butler were both walking around making sure empty glasses were taken away and refilled. I narrowed my eyes at the butler as he passed me. I still didn’t trust him. I had no evidence yet to say it had been him that had given those men a key, but I still suspected him.

  I spotted my grandmother easily enough. She was hard to miss in a cream mermaid gown. And luckily she was talking to the very man I needed to speak to. She looked up as I walked over, Zane close on my heels.

  ‘Anora, darling, let me introduce you to the Prime Minister, Mr. Adam Smith. Prime Minister, this is my granddaughter,’ she said. He was a weak-looking human male in his early fifties. By the looks of thing he wouldn’t survive long in a fist fight.

  ‘Your highness,’ he said with a small bow of his head. I still hated hearing people not addressing me by name, but I kept my mouth shut about it.

  ‘You’re just the man I was hoping to talk to,’ I said causing my grandmother’s eyebrows to shoot upwards. I was surprised they hadn’t shot up into her hair. She kept quiet, though.

  ‘What can I do for you? Is this about the attack? Because I can assure you that those men will be dealt with accordingly,’ he said. It wasn’t about that, not that I believed him.

  ‘No, it’s not about that. But that’s good to hear,’ I said faking a pleasant smile. ‘I actually came to talk to you about setting up another team of Executioners.’ Both the Prime Minister and my grandmother looked shocked.

  ‘This area already has a team,’ he said. ‘And quite a successful one I hear.’

  ‘Yes, it does. But I would like a team of my own. After the attack I feel I should have some extra protection like my grandmother does,’ I lied ‘And I wouldn’t be against them helping the community. In fact, I would want them helping the community. Protecting your people must be what you want?’