Violet Blood

by Sophia Stafford

  “Yes, powers. You see, normally, a magical holder’s powers would show up between the ages of two and five. No later.”

  “Right.” Jaycen had suddenly lost the urge to smile. Instead, she was staring into the face of a completely serious man. A serious man who was talking about powers, and how she was a late bloomer. What on earth was happening?

  “It took me a while to find you, and in that time I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I did wonder if my school wouldn’t necessarily be the right place for you. You’d be far behind all of your classmates. Practically unable to catch up in the years you have left. Luckily, you will have the option of our college where you could carry on your studies. We’re willing to give it a go as long as you are. I’ll create a space for you to practice your magic, to learn what you’re capable of.”

  “You sound like a mad person. Talking about magic, and... magic holders.” She shook her head, staring down at her lap. Surely this was all some kind of joke? Most likely her mother’s idea. She stared at one of the cupboard doors, just waiting for her mother to jump out and scream, “Got you!” It didn’t happen.

  “In other words, witches and warlocks. You are, obviously, a witch.”

  Again, he spoke so matter-of-factly that Jaycen couldn’t bring herself to laugh, even as the situation became more and more ridiculous. A witch? Her mind automatically filled with green women with crooked noses and big, pointy hats. It was all so ridiculous that she still couldn’t really comprehend it.

  “I get that this is confusing, and that I may not be explaining this right. For that, I am sorry. Believe it or not, I’ve never had to do this before. Becoming a magic holder isn’t by luck; it’s by blood. Passed down through the generations. The pupils who come to my school have always known about their powers.”

  “My mom isn’t a... a witch.” The words didn’t seem right to say out loud.

  “No.” His smile was wide and genuine. “I’ve spoken to your mother; she has no magical abilities.”

  Jaycen’s back straightened. “When did you speak to my mom?” The words had come out much harsher than she had expected, but she still didn’t change her posture or the scowl on her face. This had suddenly become anything but a joke.

  “I went to see her before coming here to see you.” His eyes narrowed, watching her closely. “I realised she wasn’t a magic holder instantly. But you, you are. So, I told your mother you had been offered a scholarship to a private school; she was all for you transferring and was even excited about you moving to New York State.”

  “Look, I get that you’ve come a long way, but I’m not just going to get up and move away from my family just because a stranger said it could be good for me. Even if said stranger does have a kickass beard. I don’t even know your name. Sorry.”

  He reached into one of the files to his left, pulling out an A4 picture. “My name’s Benedict Ravensmith. Your family, you say? By that, I take it you mean your mother? Because there has never been a mention of any father; from what I can see, it’s always just been the two of you.” He twirled the picture in his hand so she could see.

  The picture had been taken years ago. Her mother looked so young as she smiled at the camera, her light brown hair hanging just above her shoulders. Her eyes were big and bright, still full of wonder. Nothing like now; now they were full of desperation and need. The need for a man she had met once eighteen-years-ago and had never gotten over. None of it made sense, not even to Jaycen, and she had been brought up around it.

  “We’re going to find your dad, and when we do, we’re going to live like one big, happy family,” had been her mother’s mantra for years, her still childlike hope that it could actually happen. Once upon a time, Jaycen had believed her, not minding as they travelled the world looking for him. A man she wasn’t sure her mother really remembered. Hopping from one school to another. The constant moving as they followed her mother’s hunches from one continent to the next. To Jaycen, the moving had become an annoying but expected way of life; to her mother, it was all just one big adventure.

  “Can I keep this?” She held up the picture, as Benedict frowned but nodded. She slipped it into her bag before he started talking again.

  “Look, you have two choices: You could come with me, learn more about yourself and your powers. Or you could stay with your mom, moving from one place to the next. It really is that simple.”

  “Powers?” She shook her head and smiled. “This is crazy. You’re crazy.” She stood up, taking her bag with her.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Home. Away from you and your crazy.”

  “Jaycen?”

  She turned just as Benedict raised his hand, his face completely neutral. Gently, her body lifted off the floor, floating in the air. Her hair floated around her face, everything was in slow motion as her brain registered just what was happening. Her bag fell to the floor with a soft thud, the sound pulling her from her shock as she screamed and kicked.

  “Oh my God, oh my God.” No matter how hard she kicked, how much she swung her arms in the air, she didn’t move. Panic started to set it.

  “Relax, Jaycen. You’re completely fin…”

  Before he had chance to finish, Jaycen’s body moved instinctively, her hands flying out, making Benedict shoot backwards until he crashed into a large, wooden bookshelf.

  Jaycen dropped the floor immediately, her body still shaking. “Wha… what? What?”

  The door behind Jaycen swung open and a wide-eyed, pale Mr Green stood in the doorway. “What on earth just happened? Are you both okay?”

  “We’re fine.” Benedict coughed from the floor, books still dropping from the shelves above him. “I will need Jaycen’s transfer papers to be raised immediately. She’s transferring to the Cure Academy.”

  Chapter 3

  “I’ve stocked the cupboards; there should be enough food in there for at least two weeks. The pasta will last longer.” Jaycen picked up her bag, her stomach knotting at the thought of leaving. Her mother, Lindsey, sat on the floor, her legs crossed, and her dark brown hair tied into a messy bun at the top of her head. Her mother didn’t look her thirty-seven-years; in fact, most people thought she was Jaycen’s older sister. She was a little taller than Jaycen’s five-foot-five frame, but they both shared the same long, straight, thick dark brown hair that hung to just above their waist. Their hazel eyes were almost identical, both in colour and shape, but while Jaycen’s eyes held a guarded look, built with years of being the outsider, her mother’s were full of wonder and at the same time desperation. It was an odd combination, Jaycen found as she grew up, one that shouldn’t really exist, but it did in her mother. The only real difference between the two was their skin tone; Jaycen was more olive-skinned where her mother was very pale. Apart from that, they were identical. In looks anyway because her mother also had, also, always carried an air of wonder and amazement with her everywhere, as if everything was new, even if she had seen it a thousand times before. But then there would be an edge, a need that never seemed to go away, no matter where they went or what they did. Jaycen had learnt long ago that no matter what she did, she would never be able to take her mother’s edge away.

  “You think of everything.” Her mother smiled as she stood. “What am I going to do without you?”

  It was like a dagger to her heart. “I don’t have to go. I could stay here; I wouldn’t mind,” Jaycen said, reaching for her handbag. The rest of her belongings were all boxed up and in the back of Benedict’s car. For the last three days, she had been weighing up the pros and cons of leaving, the con being that her mother was going to be left alone. Alone. She shuddered at the thought. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. Could you learn how to be a witch online? She pondered for just a minute.

  Her mother linked her arm through her daughter’s and pulled her towards the door. “Stay? No, you need to go. It’s a scholarship, for goodness sake! An adventure of your very own.”

  “Oh, it’s going to
be an adventure all right.” Benedict had left it up to her if she told her mother about her powers. But how could she explain something she didn’t fully understand herself? So, she decided to leave it, for now at least. Just until she settled into the school and really got an understanding of magic.

  They both walked outside to find Benedict leaning against his car. Again, dressed all in black. She had to admit it, he looked cool as hell.

  “I still can’t believe he’s a teacher,” her mother tutted, eyeing Benedict with a small smile. “Trust me, my love, if teachers looked like that when I was in school, I would have stayed in school.”

  Jaycen pulled her arm free and turned, pulling her mother into a tight hug. “Oh God, I’m going to miss you. I’ll text you as much as I can.”

  Her mother’s musical laugh trickled out as she pulled her daughter closer. “I want to know everything you’re doing. I want to know about every class you’re taking, all the people you’re meeting. I want to feel like I’m there.”

  Her throat tightened as she pulled back. She could almost hear Benedict tapping his foot from where she was standing. “Okay. I’ll call you when we get there.” With a quick kiss to her mother’s cheek, Jaycen turned and got in the car. She waved as Benedict got in the driver’s side.

  “Are you okay?” he asked as he turned the key and the car purred to life.

  She nodded, her throat too tight to speak. Without another word they pulled out, leaving her mother waving on the sidewalk.

  **********

  Jaycen stared out of the car window, the silence becoming almost too much to bear. They’d been in the car for three hours, and he still hadn’t reached for the radio. Who didn’t listen to music when they drove? She looked over at Benedict as he concentrated on the road; he looked perfectly content with the silence. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

  “Your car could connect with my phone. Want me to put some music on?” Pleeeeease? she silently prayed as he turned to look at her briefly. She had already mapped out their journey; they had another three hours of driving at the very least. She couldn’t handle this silence for much longer.

  Instead of answering right away he reached into the back seat, bringing forward a black leather binder. “Instead of listening to music, why don’t you read up on your classes? Now would be a good time to ask me any questions you may have. We haven’t had much time to speak and there are certain things you need to know, certain rules.”

  “Oh yeah? Like what?” she asked, flicking through the folder.

  “Like the fact that until you’re eighteen, you can’t use magic outside of school grounds. School or the Cure, our government. That’s a big rule. You also can’t use it against other students.”

  “This is very fascinating,” she muttered, only half interested. But she was thinking about the other part he had said. They hadn’t spoken at all really. After “the episode,” as she had decided to call what happened in the principal’s office, they’d hardly spoken at all. Well, not about magic at least. Most of the past few days had been spent with her mom, easing her nervousness about Jaycen moving away so suddenly. It had been great, but it had also given her time to think, too much time. So now, she had thousands of questions that she had amassed over the past few days—deciding which one to ask first was the issue.

  She flicked open the binder and scanned her schedule while she thought of the right one to ask.

  “Do I get a wand and broom?”

  She jumped a little when he laughed.

  He shook his head, still smiling. “No. No wand, or broom. No flying.”

  “Oh.” She really didn’t know how to feel about that. She’d kind of become fond of the whole wand and pointy hat look. “I’m kind of disappointed.”

  “Yeah, I can tell.” He grinned, rubbing his chin as he turned back to the road. “Magic comes from within you. Your blood, your DNA, your soul. Not some twig.”

  Wand, not twig, she wanted to correct but decided against it. Instead, she read her schedule and tried to piece together what this school was going to look like.

  “What kind of school has meditation as a class?” She snorted, not bothering to hide her smirk, a little confused at all the normal classes she saw: American literature, Biology, History. Where were all the magic classes? Potions? The Dark Arts? Anything?

  “You can control magic with your emotions,” he said simply, giving a little shrug, as if that explained everything.

  “Still though, meditation? Really?”

  He sighed, as if she had been the only person ever to question this class. Surely someone else must have found the class odd at some point.

  “Magic is controlled through your emotions. The easiest way to control your emotions is through your actions.”

  “Okie dokie then.” She scanned through the rest of the list. Meditation, gym, martial arts. She pointed to the last one. “I’m looking forward to this one. I can fight. I’m good at it too.”

  Benedict leant over to look at which class she was pointing to.

  “You’re not taking that one. It shouldn’t be on your schedule.” Gone was his big smile from earlier, now his face was blank, not giving anything away. How did he do that? Change so quickly?

  “What? This would be the one class I would actually enjoy.” This was actually a lie; Jaycen excelled in most of her subjects; Benedict would have already known that if he had looked at her file, which he clearly had not.

  “The martial arts classes are only available for the older students, and all of them will be far too advanced for you. It would be unwise to put you in the same class as them.”

  Unwise? Jaycen squinted at him, wondering just how much Benedict actually knew about her. Surely he’d read her files? Surely he knew that fighting was something she could actually do? She decided not to push that point just yet, but she wasn’t going to let this go.

  They sat in silence for a few more minutes, when a ringing sound filled the car.

  Jaycen looked around, not finding a phone.

  “Your car’s ringing,” she muttered, watching Benedict pat down his trousers pockets.

  “The car’s a rental and it’s somehow linked to my phone.” Benedict gave up looking for the phone and started to press some button on the steering wheel. “This is ridiculous.”

  “It really isn’t that difficult.” She leant over and pressed one of the buttons; a new man’s voice now filled the car.

  “Hello? Benedict?”

  “Yes, I’m here.” He flashed a quick grateful smile her way before turning back to the road. “What’s wrong?”

  “We’ve got another one. Very messy and very public. We need help clearing up this one.”

  The sound of traffic and people shouting flooded in over the speakers. Jaycen leant forward, trying to catch what any of them were saying, but she couldn’t. Their voices were all muffled by the sound of traffic.

  Benedict cursed, his features now strained. “Have you cordoned off the area? Covered the body?”

  Jaycen straightened in her seat. Body? What the hell were they talking about?

  “It’s cordoned off as much as possible. Homicide is already here, asking way too many questions for my liking. I’ve tried getting in touch with Azrael but he’s not answering.”

  Homicide. They were talking about a murder. Jaycen looked over at Benedict, her face scrunched up in confusion. Why would anyone call a school principal about a murder? What could Benedict possibly do to help?

  “Jesus, why wasn’t I called sooner?” Benedict barked, his hands tightening on the wheel.

  “Azrael normally deals…”

  “It doesn’t matter. Where are you? I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

  The man over the phone told them his location, and Jaycen typed it into her phone. “We’re two hours away.” She held up her screen for him to see.

  “Did you hear that?” Benedict said louder, already driving the car into another lane as he changed their direction. />
  “Yeah, yeah, I heard it.”

  “Good. You’re lucky we’re this close.” He then turned to Jaycen. “Disconnect the phone.”

  She leant over and pressed the same button again as Benedict put his foot down and they sped off.

  “Why are they calling you?” Jaycen leant forward and programmed the new destination into the cars sat-nav.

  “You shouldn’t have heard that conversation.” He shook his head, shooting her a stern sideways glance. “So, no questions. No nothing. When we get there, you will stay in the car. Furthermore, we won’t talk about this again. Do you understand?”

  She refrained from saying anything, silently weighing her options. How could he expect her not to be interested after what she had just heard?

  “I’m serious, Jaycen. This is confidential, and dangerous. You must promise not to repeat anything of this to anyone at the school.”

  “I don’t even know anyone at the school. Who the hell would I tell?” What exactly would she tell them anyway? She didn’t know anything yet.

  “I need you to promise,” he repeated.

  Jaycen sighed. “Fine. I promise. I won’t tell anyone.”

  That seemed to be enough for Benedict as he concentrated back on the road.

  They barely spoke for the rest of the drive. The only noise in the car was the Sat-Nav directing them.

  That was until Jaycen’s bladder was full. “We really need to stop soon. I’m going to burst.” She squirmed in her seat, and started pressing buttons on the car’s screen, trying to figure out how long they had left.

  “We’re nearly there. Can’t you wait?”

  They were in a city now, and Benedict was concentrating on the traffic-filled roads in front of them. Benedict was now completely ignoring the directions in the Sat-Nav and taking his own route, clearly knowing the city well.

  “No. I can’t wait. Honestly, I can’t.” She bounced now, her eyes widening as she saw police lights ahead. “Is this it? Please tell me this is it.”

  Benedict pulled the car onto the side of the road, a policeman already walking over to them. “This is it alright. There’s a fast food restaurant that way; go straight there and come straight back. Okay?”