by Blythe Baker
“I don’t recall that…” she said. “All I remember is seeing this lake, and hearing your footsteps.”
“Oh…” I said, resting my hands on my hips as I walked over to her. I wasn’t really sure I trusted my knees to hold my weight, as they were shaking from the adrenaline still surging through them.
“So, Marianne…what did you need of me?” she asked.
“I’m sorry that we woke you again,” I said. “I wanted you to be able to sleep, of course. I hope that…you’re well?” I asked.
She gave me a small smile. “I have far more peace now than I ever did in life,” she said, looking back down at the lake in the distance. “But something has caused you to call on me once again.”
“Yes,” I said.
Everything had been building to this moment. I’d been waiting for so long to find the answers to the questions I had. I’d done so much, searched in such far places…
I swallowed hard, the gravity of what was about to happen weighing heavily on me.
“…I want to know about my mother,” I said.
Isabella blinked at me, and her head tilted ever so slightly. “Your mother?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said, taking another step toward the hovering ghost. “The last time we spoke, you said that I looked just like her. And I was hoping that…well, you could tell me about her. I don’t even know what her name was.”
Isabella’s face split into a gentle smile. “You have done a great deal to help me, Marianne. It would be an honor to be able to repay you.”
My heart began to beat faster. This was it.
“As you know, I died young. And since I was the one who chose to end my own life, I was…quite restless, especially in the months immediately after my death. As such, I spent a great deal of time in the forest and the town itself, and in that time, I learned a great deal about the people who lived there, both Gifted and non-Gifted,” she said.
“That was thirty years ago, right?” I asked.
Isabella nodded. “Indeed. Well…your mother was quite the important figure in town. In fact, she was the leader of the spell weaver’s council of eleven.”
All the hairs on my arms and neck stood straight up. “She was?”
“Yes. She was a rather gifted spell weaver. Had many talents, so many in fact that she was considered quite rare. She could speak to ghosts as well as animals, and could sing spells and practice alchemy. She was praised for her talents, and for the good that she did in the community.”
“Wow…” I said. Joy filled my heart at the knowledge that my mother wasn’t a devious faery like I’d secretly feared. She was respected, talented, and good.
I guessed that my own desires to be good had to come from somewhere, right?
Isabella’s smile faded somewhat. “Well…as there always is, there were some who became jealous of her powerful magic, and began to question whether it was even possible for a spell weaver to have so many gifts. I heard many whispers from these other Gifted, saying they’d never heard of a spell weaver like her. They began to think she had a secret…especially when she gave birth to a baby girl that she wanted to keep shielded from everyone.”
“That’s…me?” I asked.
Isabella nodded. “This angered those jealous Gifted. So they decided to take it out on your mother, to punish her.”
My throat grew tight. “How did they do that?” I asked, thinking back to the baby blanket splattered with blood.
“Unlike your mother, your father was an ordinary, non-Gifted man. He had a simple job, and provided a simple life for his wife and new daughter as a worker at the saw mill in town. But he loved your mother, and she loved him just as deeply. Their love was the sort that everyone hoped to have one day. You could just tell how much they cared for one another simply by the way they looked into one another’s eyes…”
I swallowed hard. Everything sounded too good to be true…
“Those Gifted who were jealous of her knew how much he meant to her, and planned to do something to get back at her. Within a week, there was news of a tragic accident that happened at the saw mill, and four men who worked there were killed,” Isabella said. “Your mother was absolutely devastated. She suspected there had been foul play, but she had no proof of it. It wasn’t long before she began to sense that they were suspicious of her and her gifting. For she was a faery, descended from faeries…and had passed that bloodline along to her only child.”
I reached up and touched my chest, feeling my heart beat beneath it. What terrible things my mother and father had to endure…and it was all because of me?
“Your mother soon realized that her magic wasn’t strong enough to cloak and protect you any longer. She knew that they would learn of your bloodline. And as soon as they did, she knew you’d be in terrible danger,” Isabella said.
“But why?” I asked. “Why are faeries so feared and hated?”
“Faeries are easily the most powerful creatures in the Gifted realm,” Isabella said. “Not only are they able to steal the gifts of others, but they also possess far more magic than any of the other Gifted put together, and can learn spells far more easily than other races. Which is why your mother became the first chair on the council of eleven before she turned thirty. I’ve heard it takes most Gifted much longer to even be considered a candidate.”
I scratched my chin. “So what happened?” I asked. “Did she just leave me at the edge of the forest, hoping someone would find me?”
Isabella shook her head. “No. She never would have abandoned you like that. She loved you far too much,” she said. “No, she took you to the very heart of the forest, where the magic is the most potent, following the words of an old woman who’s long since passed on…an ancient tale passed down from the fae, where a pact could be made with the forest itself to protect the faery in question. The task would not be easy, though, as it required your mother’s blood to work.”
I winced. “Blood magic? That’s evil, though.”
“Faery blood is magical in and of itself,” Isabella said. “Far more valuable than gold or diamonds. And your mother knew this, which is why she took you into the forest to plead for its protection over you, protection that even she, the head of the council of eleven, could not give you.”
My heart skipped. “But something went wrong…didn’t it?”
“That’s how these stories always go…” Isabella said. “Your mother, unfortunately, was not alone in the forest that day.”
9
“I found your mother and her story fascinating,” Isabella said. “I had the opportunity that no one else had; I could follow her around, be with her during her most difficult, isolated moments. At first, she chided me, recognizing my constant presence. But soon, she realized she could not control me, and befriended me instead. In exchange for agreeing to put my spirit to rest, I would relay information to her about those Gifted in town who sought you harm. It worked well…”
Isabella sighed then, staring out over the lake.
“I just wish I’d been more aware of what was happening that day…”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “What happened?”
“Your mother had prepared everything for the ritual in the forest,” Isabella said. “She’d selected a proper blade that would draw her blood to the surface quickly, and allow it to heal as well. She also wrapped you in an enchanted shawl, just in case. Being a faery, the forest already responded to her presence, as well as yours. The forest always bowed to the faeries, tied to them in an ancient way. Even your mother didn’t understand it.”
I shifted my weight on my feet, knowing the difficult part in the tale was coming…and wishing I didn’t have to hear it.
“It was midnight, which the elderly wise woman had said was the best time for enchantments. High noon also works, but your mother feared that she’d be discovered by someone hiking. She set you down in the very heart of the forest, where a gnarled log sat in the middle of a pool of spring water. She called out to the fore
st, begging for its help. As she spoke, the magic in the air became thicker, almost as if it was converging in on the two of you. I stood off to the side, watching in great anticipation. She drew the knife across her palm, and allowed her blood to spatter against the ground at her feet. As soon as it struck the dirt, it began to glow a brilliant green. Thin wisps of magic like vines rose up from it, and began to slowly intertwine themselves around you. I could hear the laugh of relief from your mother as the magic took hold. But that was when the other onlooker appeared…”
Isabella shook her head.
“No, please, Isabella…you must tell me what happened,” I said. “I need to know.”
“Are you sure you wish to know this?” she asked, her eyes round and opaque.
I hesitated for only a moment. “Yes,” I said. “Please.”
Isabella inclined her head. “Very well. The onlooker was a vampire that had detected the smell of her blood. They are incredibly fast creatures, and who knows how many miles it had traveled just to find her standing there, bleeding, her infant baby circled in magic. I’ll spare you the worst of the details, but…it attacked.”
I recoiled. The blood splatters on the blanket –
I knew something awful had happened, but I never imagined something like this.
“She fought it off with some magic, but it had managed to bite her. I helped however I could, but the vampire didn’t seem bothered by me at all. Your mother, however, managed to find a secure place for you, hidden among some bushes near the edge of the forest. After placing some protection spells on you, she ran off into the forest, drawing the vampire away with the scent of her blood.” Isabella ducked her head. “She…asked me to stay with you until someone found you…which happened to be the very next morning just as dawn was rising. The person was a hiker, and obviously non-Gifted. She picked you up and carried you away, in the direction of the Lodge that overlooks the lake.” Isabella pointed into the distance…to the wooden Lodge that Aunt Candace owned.
“I…found your mother’s body after knowing you were safe,” she said. “The vampire…well, it certainly had no intention of turning her into one.”
My stomach clenched, and bile churned, making my throat burn. “She was dead?”
Isabella nodded. “I’m sorry.”
I sighed, my breath shaky. “It’s okay,” I said. “I…hadn’t expected any different, honestly.”
Fear gripped at my insides, though. A vampire, rampaging through the forest? It could have been anyone, especially since it was thirty years prior…but I had to know.
“Isabella…who was the vampire that killed my mother?” I asked.
Isabella turned her large eyes to me. “Are you sure that you wish to know this answer, too?”
My heart sank right to the ground beneath my feet. “It was Cain…wasn’t it?” I asked in a shuddering whisper.
Images of Cain swirled through my mind. Images of him smiling at me, of him listening to me speak. I thought of the way he’d cared for me so tenderly after he’d rescued me from my sinking car in the river…
“No,” Isabella said. “…but it was his sister. Rebecca Blackburn.”
I knew a small sense of relief, but still not enough to wipe away the anger I was feeling. Cain had done his best to keep Rebecca locked up. Was this why? It was because of her that my mother was dead.
“Cain covered the whole thing up,” Isabella said. “In the months that followed, he spread the story that his sister had been killed in a freak accident, and that was when he began to lock her in the tower, preventing her from ever leaving again.”
“I knew that much…” I said. “I just never knew it was a result of what happened with my mother.”
“He didn’t stop there, though…” Isabella said. “He went as far as to bribe local town officials into keeping things secret, such as the report of your mother’s death. As he was the one who did her autopsy, he could make the coroner’s report say whatever he wanted it to. But that wouldn’t remove the police records and the pictures taken at the scene. So he had them destroyed.” She gave me a sympathetic look. “I think he was afraid that someone would look into it again, or try to investigate it further.”
“I see…” I said.
It was a blow, that was for certain. I had come to trust Cain…or at least, I thought I had. Now to find out that he had been the one to dispose of those records?
My skin prickled as another thought came to me.
I’d gone to Cain about Ruth Cunningham, the woman who had been the head of the records department back then. I had known from the very beginning that she had been lying to me, but Cain? How had it been so easy for him to lie to me, too, without even batting an eye?
“I’m sorry that I had to be the one to tell you this tragic tale,” Isabella said.
I took a steadying breath. “It’s okay,” I said. “Thank you, Isabella. Before you go…I just have one more question for you.”
“Anything you ask,” she said in her soft, echoing voice.
“What was her name? And the name of my father?” I asked.
“Her name was Adriana Hart,” she said. “And your father, William Hart.”
I mouthed their names, feeling the words on my lips. It made me wonder how long it had been since their names had been spoken aloud like that.
“Now, faery protected by the forest…would you be so kind as to release me?” Isabella asked.
“I thought the spell to protect me didn’t work,” I said, my eyebrows coming together.
“Oh, it did,” Isabella said. “The forest accepted your mother’s request. The forest of Faerywood Falls has a personal allegiance to you.”
That actually sort of made sense…given how the woods had seemed to almost speak to me, time and time again.
“You have the power to release me,” Isabella said.
“How?” I asked. “Don’t I need the spell that woke you?”
Isabella shook her head. “No. That spell is what ties me here. You just need to release it.”
Confused, I stared around. I couldn’t see anything that tied her here.
But like I’d done when giving gifts back to people, I reached inside myself, locating the magic within me.
“Use your magic to see,” Isabella said.
That sounded incredibly cryptic, but I did as she said.
Closing my eyes, I pulled some magic up toward the surface. It was like water, slipping through my grasp. Less and less of it rose with me.
My hands began to glow, though, as I reached the surface of consciousness.
“Open your eyes. You will see,” Isabella said.
I did. And when I did, I saw what looked like a glowing red spiderweb. It was attached to Isabella’s wrist, and ran long and thin back through the trees, in the direction of the cemetery.
“Is that the spell?” I asked, pointing to it.
Isabella nodded. “This was a trick your mother used to use. One of the other advantages of being a faery – detecting magic and having power over spells.”
I blinked, and the spider web wavered, making me dizzy.
“Careful not to use too much magic, though, Isabella said.
I reached out, and was just about to latch onto the red spell when I looked up at Isabella. “Thank you…for taking care of my mother like you did.”
Isabella smiled at me. “She loved you. I hope you know that.”
I nodded. “Goodbye, Isabella.”
“Goodbye…daughter of fae.”
I grabbed onto the red spell, and it vanished at my touch.
Like smoke, it faded into the night, and so did Isabella’s ghost.
Soon, the only light was from the moon, hanging just above the horizon.
I sighed, the truth clinging to my mind, different aspects fighting for control in my thoughts as I started back down the hill into the cemetery.
I knew who my parents were. I knew my mother was a faery after all, and that she’d disguised herself as a spell weaver�
�just like I had. Not only that, but she’d managed to become the most powerful spell weaver in her time, as the first seat of the council of eleven.
I was glad to know my parents had a good life together. It made me happy that they loved each other so much, and that they’d been an example to those in the community.
At the same time, it angered me that some people’s jealousy and selfishness had been so absolute that it had lead them to plan my father’s death.
My hands balled into fists as I reached the end of the line of trees, the rest of the cemetery splayed out before me.
And Cain…I knew that he would do anything to protect his sister from the rest of the world, but to destroy records like he had?
More than that, he must have realized the woman his sister had killed was in fact my mother, as I hadn’t exactly been quiet about the fact that I was looking for those records.
I grabbed onto my head, the thoughts racing so fast that it was making me dizzy again.
I looked up, though, when I heard shouting ahead of me.
A twinge of fear pulled me away from my own mental wanderings, and I picked up my walking pace a little.
Two shapes appeared out of the darkness, backlit by a streetlight in the distance. I didn’t have to go very far before I could hear their words a little more clearly.
“…crazy, you know that? I always thought you had some screws loose, but to just attack her like that?”
It was Bliss, and she sounded almost hysterical.
Attack? Who?
I jogged toward them.
“That was for ruining my pants, you flea bag!” Delilah screeched, her voice echoing off the tombstones in the cemetery.
“What’s going on?” I called, anger and fear fighting for control of me.
“You!”
A flash of blue light soared through the air toward me.
I ducked just in time, and it struck one of the headstones. The left corner of it crumbled to pieces, falling to the ground below.
“Are you insane?” I shouted over the headstone. “What did you do that for?”