Awakening

Chapter 1 - Recap

To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction, or at least that is what Newton thought; and go figure, he’s right. Let’s take a moment for me to recap, I thought sarcastically as I lay there, my face buried in the pillow trying to suffocate myself. I moved to Klamath Falls which is Hell on earth, without the fire, since it rains too much for there to be fire. It even has its own devil. Yep that’s right, one sure fire devil without the horns. Or I just call him Ben, aka, Ezekiel my new stepfather who is really my biological father.

Yep, my life is like the newest soap opera with me as the lead actress and Ben as the evil counterpart. You would think that the devil would be red with horns but in Ben’s case he is tall and good looking with dark hair and pale skin. My mother, whom I had trusted more than anyone in my life, has lied to me from the moment I was born regarding who I am and who my father is. Most people get to live one life and then they die. Yeah, well not so much in my case. Whatever happened to fate deciding what happens in someone’s life? Obviously they haven’t met my mom and Ben who think they can control me and dictate the path that my life is taking.

It’s been over a month since Prom and yet the wound in my heart is still throbbing. Like someone ripped out my heart, stomped on it and put it back in my body. I have managed to stay off the radar of everyone since the last month we were in school. Ignoring phone calls and refusing to see anyone until I learned to control the power that I have been so graciously given.

Being around people is not such a good thing right now especially since I blasted Ethan half way across the lawn. To be fair, I was aiming for Caleb and my aim was a little off. Okay, it was way off. I could have killed Ethan I thought and then shuttered trying to get the vision of Ethan laying there unmoving on the ground out of my head. For this latest ‘oops’, I shouldn’t be forgiven. Lucky for Ethan, Ben managed to erase his memory of that night so Ethan doesn’t remember what I did to him. But on the negative side, Ben sent Ethan packing and I haven’t seen him since. Ben might have erased Ethan’s memory but he hasn’t erased mine. The night of Prom and the night that I hurt Ethan will be branded in my mind and soul for the rest of my life.

Now to the present where for the most part I have managed to keep myself locked in my room for the past month except for school which had just ended. I refused to even look or speak to my mom or Ben. Since that night when they destroyed what little life I had here, my mom has tried to talk to me over and over. However being lied to for the past 16, almost 17 years, well let’s just say it’s going to take me a little time to get over this one. Ethan had not been in school for the last month nor had Caleb and the other boys. I wasn’t sure that I believed Ben that other than wiping Ethan’s memory he hadn’t harmed Ethan. But what could I do? Ben and my mom were watching me like a hawk. Ben had promised that Ethan would be fine and he wouldn’t remember anything.

Translation: not remember me, but when you love someone is it that easy to forget them? This Mage thing isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. The only thing that I was able to do was hurt the one person that I am in love with. The one person I could share myself with; the one person who knew all of me and loved me more because of it. Since then not a glimmer of magic, not even a spark, and don’t think I haven’t tried. So much for what Ben said about me being very powerful.

“Mage!” I scoffed out loud. Aren’t these teenage years sucky enough with just the normal teenager hormone problems? Now this! I took a deep breath and thought give me a break! I took another deep breath and then rolled over so that I was lying on my back looking at the canopy over my bed. It was the middle of the night and I couldn’t sleep. Maybe fate was paying me back for turning my back on Ethan; for turning my back on my second chance at love with my one true soul mate.

Yeah, I am one of those people that think that there is only one person, one true soul mate for another. By sending him away, I deserve any wrath the fates might deliver to me. I turned on to my side and grabbed the pillow from underneath me. I hit it a couple of times to fluff it out to try to make it more comfortable and then placed it over my face and let out one good scream. I would have pictured the pillow as my mom or Ben but I had a feeling that the pillow might not have survived.

Giving up on sleep, I sat up. I grumbled a few curse words that would have made the Pope blush, kicked off the covers and wandered over to the thick curtains that were closed. I used both hands to grip the red velvet curtains and pulled them open. For a moment I was blinded by the light coming from the moon. It was so bright you would have thought it was the sun but it wasn’t the warmth that would soothe the soul. It just made me feel cold like this freaking manor. It was then I heard a small knock on the door and I must have jumped a mile. Then I decided that it was the middle of the night and I still wasn’t up to talking to anyone. I folded my arms and just stood looking out the window deciding not to answer the door. Then the knock came again a little louder with the door starting to creak open.

“Abby, can I come in?” I heard my mother’s voice. Rage surged through my body; just hearing her voice set my nerves on edge and fury running through my veins.

“Abby, please,” my mom begged, “we really need to talk”.

Give me a break, I thought. It’s late and obviously her guilt was making it hard for her to sleep.

Good! I thought. If I can’t sleep and I am made to suffer, at least she is down in hell with me. I turned to glare at her as she crept through the door and then I turned back to look out the window pretending that it was a breeze that opened the door.

“Alright,” she said, “if you won’t talk to me then at least listen.” I could still hear the pleading in her voice but I was too angry to even acknowledge her.

“Abby from the time you were born, we have done everything in our power to keep you safe.” I huffed at that one.

“Really Abby, your dad and I love you.” That was all she had to say and in one second my fury mounted and consumed me.

I exploded, “You love me!” I said with a wicked laugh. “When someone loves you mother,” I said with acid, “they don’t lie to that person.” You and Ben have been lying to me from the first breath I have ever taken.

“To keep you safe,” she started to interrupt; I held one hand up, palm out to silence her.

“You will let me speak!” I yelled.

She sauntered over and sat on the edge of the bed and shut her mouth preparing to listen to me. It took me another second to calm my nerves so that I could speak in my calm voice so I wasn’t waking up the whole house. I took a deep breath, and then began to speak.

“I realize that you are my mother and I realize that you think you did the right thing by keeping the truth from me. But you were very wrong and families don’t keep secrets; they don’t lie to one another. And right now I have to decide if I can forgive you or if I am going to avoid you until the day I get the hell out of this place!”

“Abby, I am so sorry I lied to you,” she said with a look of compassion on her face. I could see that she truly believed that she had done the right thing but she couldn’t turn back the hands of time and fix things. She couldn’t make my life normal again and she couldn’t give me back Ethan.