Inherited Magic (9 page)

“None of this makes any sense.”

“All you need to know is that they
want you. The more powerful a person’s magic is, the stronger the gift, the
more desirable that person becomes. That is why they wanted Maria. Her inner
magic was stronger than anyone’s I have encountered, except maybe you.”

“I don’t have any magical gifts.
I’m not Harry Potter and this is not some fantasy world.”

“I can sense your magic. You may
not be aware of it, but you have very strong inner magic and they want it.”

Allison didn’t say anything else,
and she was relieved when she saw Vinnie and Ruby walking out of the little
house.

“Everything go okay?” Allison
asked.

“Of course,” Ruby said.

“Once they realized their options;
either I go with you or they have to put up with me for an entire week or two,
they were happy to say yes,” Vinnie said.

He made jokes, but Allison could
tell it really bothered him more than he would ever admit.

Allison sat silent, trying to
process the ridiculous information that Cain had just told her. Nothing made
any sense. It was all something she would read in a book, just a story, not her
life. Her father used to belong to a group who was responsible for the death of
her mother. Maybe he still belonged to that group. Maybe he was leading them
all to their death. How could she know? She bent over, digging through a bag,
locating her MP3 player and sticking the ear buds inside her ears. She could
not stand to hear anything else at the moment.

Vinnie must have had his own
questions, because Allison noticed that he was engaging Cain in conversation.
Allison tried to sleep. It took a while, but she drifted off. While she slept,
images filled her mind. She dreamed of men kicking the trailer door open and
rushing inside. The man from her dreams was leading the charge. They searched
the trailer, finding it empty. Adam was there and the man was yelling at him,
though she was not sure what language he was speaking. He was not happy with
Adam that much was clear, regardless of language barriers.

The RV hit a pothole or something
in the road, jarring Allison’s head. She jerked awake, noticing that it was now
dark outside. For a moment, she was startled, forgetting where she was. Allison
rubbed her eyes and looked around. Ruby was standing in the kitchen area,
heating some canned soup. Allison walked back to her grandmother.

“I had a dream about Adam and those
men. I think he may be in trouble.”

“It’s not a dream, it’s a vision.
When you first receive your abilities it is easier to have visions while your
conscious mind is resting.”

“They’re in the trailer and Adam
was there. The one man from my charcoal drawing was yelling at him.”

“His name is Jackson, and I would
assume that he was mad because Adam failed to lead them to us.”

That thought never occurred to her,
and she would not allow herself to believe it.

“How can you say that?” 

“He showed up out of nowhere and
Dru didn’t trust him. He’s also a skilled fighter, which is something they
teach at an early age. Also, they don’t just run around with people who don’t
belong to their group, it doesn’t work that way.”

Allison’s face was hot. “My cat
didn’t like him and he’s a transfer student who knows how to fight, that’s your
reasoning? That makes him evil?”

“Dru isn’t a regular cat, she’s a
familiar. She sought you out because she was drawn to your particular magic.
She can see people for who they really are, good or bad.”

By this point, Vinnie was looking
back at them, and listening.

“Is it so farfetched to think that
maybe, just maybe, he likes me?”

“Of course not, under different
circumstances.”

“After everything Ruby and Cain
told me, Adam does sound a little suspect,” Vinnie said from the living area.

“Really? Thank you for that
opinion, but what do you have to do with any of this? You’re just here because
you don’t have anywhere else to be,” she said.

“Allison!” Ruby said in a voice
that was thick with disappointment and reproach.

Before anyone could say another
word, there was a loud popping noise and the RV began to swerve. Cain struggled
to guide it off the road and onto the shoulder. It came to a halt after a few
seconds.

“It’s probably just a tire, I’ll go
check,” he said while opening the door.

“I’ll come with you,” Allison said.

She did not want to go for any
other reason than to escape the hurt expression on Vinnie’s face and the
piercing stare of her grandmother. Allison followed behind him, and as soon as
she stepped outside, she heard Cain mutter something.

He turned to Allison, “Go back in
the RV right now.”

He looked panicked, rushing her
back inside.

“They’re here,” Cain said, holding
up the remnants of a steel tipped arrow.

All the color drained from Ruby’s
face, and she began fumbling with her bag.

“Shut and lock all the doors and
windows,” she said.

Vinnie stood up and began locking
windows. Allison stood still for a minute, hoping Ruby was not doing what she
thought she was doing.

“Now,” Ruby demanded of Allison,
who was the only one who had yet to move.

Allison was not sure what this
would help, but she began checking windows just the same. Her insides squirmed,
and her heart quickened. Ruby pulled out that familiar bottle of milky liquid.
She began dabbing it on every window and every door.

“What’s that going to do?” Allison
asked.

Ruby ignored her question, and
instead began to repeat the words Allison had heard hundreds of times, “Protect
us, and keep us invisible to our enemies. Make this a barrier, a veil against
those who wish us harm.”

Allison was exasperated. How was a
little water going to do anything to stop a group of grown men from attacking
them? Her annoyance must have shown on her face, because Cain spoke to her in a
calm voice.

“Your grandmother, she knows what
she’s doing,” Cain said. “She may not possess the type of magic that you do and
your mother did, but no one understands this magic like she does. No one can
create spells and potions better than she can, and there is no better teacher
to show you how to use your gift.”

“This is very important. No one is
to even crack a window or open any door leading to the outside. If you do, it
will break the protection and they will be able to see us.”

“Are you sure this will work?”
Allison asked.

“It will for a little while, but we
are going to have to find some way out of here.”

“Can’t they just feel their way to
where they think the RV should be, even if they can’t see it?” Allison asked.

“No. This cloaking potion creates a
veil, which allows us to hide in something like a separate dimension of space.
They cannot feel or enter this area, they cannot hear us or see us, even though
we can see and hear them. This is one way I have kept you safe from The BC.
Everyone else can see us, the cloaking potion only protects from those who wish
us harm. ”

Everyone was silent, staring out
the windows. They watched for men to emerge from the shadows but no one ever
came into view.

Vinnie had not said a word since
Allison’s hateful comment. She knew she was wrong for the way she spoke to him.
Allison got up and sat beside Vinnie. He didn’t bother looking up at her.

“I’m sorry for talking to you that
way,” Allison said.

“No, it’s true, none of this
concerns me. Maybe I’ll just have Cain drop me off at the next town he comes
to. I should have enough money to find a way back to my mom’s house. You can go
on your little adventure and leave me out of it.”

“Look, I am sorry. All this
concerns you and I don’t want you out there alone. It’s more dangerous that
way.”

“Like you care.”

“You know I care. I was just mad.
You know I love you.”

Vinnie sighed, “I know you didn’t
mean it.”

“And?” Allison asked.

“I love you, too,” he said.

Soon everyone settled in to go to
sleep. Allison glanced out the window near her bed. She felt as though people
were watching, but so far, she had seen nothing. Things had been so different
just that morning. Now, she was being forced to believe in far-fetched things
like a sadistic group that had murdered her mother, and her own magical
abilities. It all seemed too much.

She would give anything to go back
to the time when her biggest concern was staying out of trouble at school and
deciding if she liked Adam or Josh. Right now, she was thinking Josh was the
better choice. She thought about Josh and the fact that she never replied,
never even read the last text message he sent her.

Allison was frustrated, realizing
that she had forgotten to grab her cell phone before leaving. She knew Ruby had
her phone; she had used it to call in to work earlier. She had told the
hospital there was a family emergency and that she would be out of town for a
while. She was using her vacation days. Ruby also called the school and let
them know Allison would be out for a week or so. This covered the bases, but
Allison still felt bad about leaving without saying anything to Josh.

Before she fell asleep, she thought
about Josh until thoughts of Adam popped into her head. Allison pictured Adam’s
face. Deep down she knew he had to be in on everything, and that was the worst
part of all.

By the time dawn approached,
Allison was less willing to believe there was anyone waiting on them. She
convinced herself that no one was hiding among the trees. It was daylight and
there were many cars on the road, potential witnesses. Besides, they had waited
all evening and never saw the first person.

“We should move now, while it’s
daylight,” Allison said. “We’ll change the tire and be moving before those guys
can do anything, if they’re even still out there.”

“They are. As soon as we step a
foot out of this camper they’ll see us,” Cain said.

“These are humans, right? Can’t we
just fight back? It’s not like they’re immortal.”

“No, they’re not immortal, but they
are trained, ruthless, and they possess many magical abilities.”

Allison sighed. There had to be
something to do, some way out of this situation. She stared at the trees,
looking for some sign of movement. Nothing.

“We can’t just sit here,” she said,
frustrated.

“I know,” Ruby said, “but we need a
good plan before we do anything.”

“What if we drive on the flat? Not
far, just to the next town, we could change the tire there and they would never
know we left.”

“That is a good idea, but we could
warp the rim and most garages don’t just have RV rims lying around. We would
have to order a new one and wait for it to arrive.”

“If Allison is magic, isn’t there
something she could do? Yesterday while she was asleep you said physical
manipulation is a gift some people with strong magic possess.”

“Right. Some do possess this
ability,” Cain said.

“What if she sealed the hole up
with her mind? That would fall into the realm of physical manipulation. Could
she do that?” Vinnie asked.

“I don’t think I have that type of
ability, do I?” Allison asked her grandmother, remembering how she willed the
pool ball to move last weekend.

“If I had trained you from the time
you were little, maybe you could have,” she said.

“So, why didn’t you train me?”

“The BC senses magic. If I had
nurtured those abilities at an early age, they would have found you sooner. I wanted
to keep you safe for as long as I could.”

“So how did they find me now?”

“The same reason you began having
visions, you turned sixteen. It is an old rite of passage in our family.
Sixteen is the age in which children become adults. Their physical and
spiritual maturation is supposed to be complete by this milestone. At this
time, all their magical powers come to the surface. You are supposed to learn
everything about your family history and magic during your adolescence. Your
childhood is the time set aside to learn about different herbs, potions and
incantations. It is when your family elders are supposed to prepare you, so
that you can receive and utilize your gifts at sixteen.”

Allison felt heat rise in her face.
She knew her grandmother wanted the best for her, but now she was in this
situation unprepared. If Ruby had done the right thing while she was growing
up, everything would be so much different. She opened her mouth to say
something when Dru released a vicious howl, followed by continuous growling.
Everyone looked out the windows to see the man, Jackson, approaching the RV.

Allison gasped. Until this point,
nothing had been 100 percent real to her. It was all abstract until she saw his
curious face in real life.

“Are you sure he can’t see us or
feel the RV?” Allison asked.

“Positive,” Ruby said.

He approached, walking with a
powerful and confident gait. His strange eyes were even more piercing in real
life. He stopped, close to where their RV rested.

“Miss Taylor, I was looking forward
to making your acquaintance,” he called out to Allison, who held her breath
while he addressed her. She could not take her eyes off him.

“I know you must be scared and
confused, but let me assure you, I mean you no harm.” He continued in an
English tenor that was both eloquent and musical.

No one spoke a word inside the RV.

“You see, you are something of a
marvel. Cain, your father, was not supposed to impregnate your mother or start
a life with her, but that is what he did. With the blood of the BC, it is amazing
you have any natural abilities at all; it is even more amazing how powerful
your magic is. I understand that you do not trust me, as I was the one who
killed your mother. However, you must realize that was Cain’s fault. He
abandoned our original plan. He fell victim to his own emotions and could not
finish his task, so I was forced to do it for him.”