Wicked Fate (The Wicked Trilogy) (19 page)

It makes sense, but do
witches really exist?

Obviously I have the ability to do things, I have
the power to make th
ings happen. Apparently, I’m a witch!  These powers are a curse from my mother, but where did she get her powers?
My grand
parents don’t do and see the things that I can do and see. So where did it come from?

I sense my grandmother standing
behind me.
I turn to look at her—she looks apologetic. It’
s always strange being in a room with the tw
o of them. It so rarely happens
anymore. Not to mention
, the fact that my grandfather doesn’t even know she’s there
.

  I’m
about
to excuse myself and leave the room, when I notice that my grandfather seems
to be staring
straight at my grandmother. She’s looking back and smiling at him as if he can
see her.

“Hi, honey,” he says
.

He looks back down at me and smiles
again.

“I can’t see her, but I know she’s there sometimes. I can feel her when she’s near. It’s because we’re
soul mates. She’s here now
ain’t
she?”

“Yes,” my voice sounds strained
.

“I knew she was. Our love is so strong not
even death can keep us apart.
Ain’t
I right
, Mary?” he says
to the air around him.

“He’s
right,” my grandmother whispers
. 

I turn
back towards her and sh
e’
s gone. 

It’s amazing how some things work
out. One minute your life is somewhat normal and the next minute things get turned all around.

I turn back to
my
grandfather and I take his hand
.
It won’t be long before he’s gone away again and I still have questions.

“I need you to tell me more about my mother. Can yo
u tell me the name of the
institution she was in? Can
you tell me anything?” I blurt
it all out.

“Rose
, you’ve got to stop
writin
’
in those books of yo
urs. Every time you do
somethin
’
bad happens.”

It’s too late—it’s always too late.

The only thing I managed to find out is that my mother was a witch who
wrote in books. At least I know where my journal addiction came from.

Hugging my grandfather, I feel a little happy
. He knew who I was f
or about ten minutes and that’
s
such a rare occurrence. I leave his room, shutting the door behind me.

I find myself in the library slamming things around. I’m angry!
All t
his time and no one said a thing! Everyone’s out of their minds and I can’t understand a thing anyone’s s
aying.

“Maybe
I’m the one going crazy!” I say
out loud to no one.

I hear his pocket watch chain before I hear him speak.

“Trust me
darlin
’ you
ain’t
goin
’
crazy,”
Thaddeus hums
in my ear.

“I’m not so sure about that. Things are really getting insane Thaddeus. I wish someone could tell me what is going on!”

I sit down at the desk and slam my face into my hands. This is too much! It’
s entirely too much! I’m a witch! What am I suppose
d
to do with that information? Should I let everyone at school who thi
nks I’m strange know they’
re right about me?

I can’t sit still, so I jump
up
and start roaming the room. I reach out, touching random books unconsciously as I try to make sense of all the
thoughts running through my mind.

It’s too dark in here—all the sunlight i
s blocked out by t
he heavy golden drapes that hang
from
the windows.  I quickly point to them; the drapes slam
open
on their own
allowing all the light from outside into the room.

“Very nice, Mage…figure
out what
else you can do?” Thaddeus asks.
“And by-the-
way
, happy birthday,
sweetheart.
I hope it wasn’t too painful
for ya’
.”

His words ring through my head. I swing around and glare at him.

“What do you mean y
ou hope it wasn’t too painful?
Thaddeus I haven’t said anything to you about what happened last night! Tell me! How do you know anything about the pain?”

Although I’m
practically screaming at him he never so
much as flinches. His calm cool never shakes as he leans against the desk with his usual charming smile.

“I believe it was eighteen sixty-four when I finally received mine. Dreadfully painful it was. Well worth it I’ll say.”

“What?” I squeak.

No way is this happening! Not Thaddeus, too!

I’ve always assumed that
the
reason he takes everything I do so lightly i
s
because I can see him and talk to him even though he’s dead.
Now
I find out that the reason he’
s so
understanding is because he’s like me. He’s already been through everything I’m going through and could possibly do everything that I can.

“I wasn’t like you though. I never had any powers until my birthday. You’ve always been able to do some things. That’s kind of strange
now that I think about it,” he shakes
his head in confusion.

“Who are you
,
Thaddeus? Really! Who are you and why are y
ou in this house?
And why don’t
you ever leave this room?” I scream my questions
.

“All the answers you seek are within these wall
s, love,” he slowly disappears without answering my questions.

I need to get out of this room before I lose it!

T
he fresh air fro
m the hallway gushes into the library as I swing the door open.

Out of this house, that’s where I need to be right now. I have to take a minute to gather my thoughts before I start rummaging through the library. Thaddeus says the answers I want are
within th
e library walls. I’m assuming he’s talking about the books—the same books that I’ve never touched.

If I had
just picked up one of those stupid books an
d started reading it, I could’
ve saved myself a whole lot of time and confusion.

I have a lot of work to do if I’m
goin
g to find all the answers I
s
eek. First things first, I have
to find a nice quiet spot somewhere deep in the woods and see exactly wha
t it is I’m capable of.

Throwing on my
hoodie
, I pull open the front door and I run straight into Adam.

“I
was about to knock,” he steadies me before I fall over.
“Happy birthday!
I would’
ve gotten here sooner, but I had to work a little this mor
ning. Where
are
you going?”

“I’m going for a
walk.”

“A walk
,
huh? Well, can I come wi
th you on this walk?” he flashes a flirty
smile.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“What? Why would I get hurt going for a walk?”

I tell him about my morning and about my human combustion of the night before.
I let him read the letter from my grandfather and I explain about the books in the library.

When I’m done with my explanations, I see that we’ve already walked far away from the house and we’re standing in the middle of one of the gardens. It’s the oldest of the six gardens on Azalea Plantation, which means it’s in the worst condition.

“So, you got powers?
But
I thought you
’ve
always had powers?”

“Well
,
I guess I
got more last night,” I shrug
. “I don’t really know what’s going on. You probably really think I’m a freak now.”’

“I don’t think you’re a freak—I promise. Trust me, I know a freaky girl when I see one,” he winks. “Let’s see what you got?”

“No.
Absolutely not.
What if I lose control of it or som
ething and you get hurt? No. I’m not doing it.
”

“Oh com
e on I trust you, Mage,” he says as he backs
away from me
.

He sits on an old bench across the garden from me.

“Look! I
’
ll stay right here out of your way. I won’t move a m
uscle I swear! Come on please!
”
he sticks out his bottom lip like a little boy.

It has the opposite affect and he looks totally kissable and hot.

He makes it so hard for me to say no to him. It can’t hurt to do a few small things; I was going to start small anyway. I can wait until later when I’m alone to try the big stuff.

“Fine.
Don’t move from that spot!” I warn playfully.

Chapter
12

The Butterflies Emerge

I walk further into the garden
trying to think
of something to do. Sire stands beside Adam waiting for the
show to begin. An old crumbling fountain of a goddess
holding a water pitcher catches my eye—it’s not flowing. It probably hasn’t
seen water, other than rain, in many years.

“Ok
ay, the fountain!” I call
out to Adam.

I focus on
the
water f
ountain, pointing
my
index finger at it as I picture water flowing from
it.
In my mind, I can hear the water already. I close my eyes and angle
my face towards the sun. Soon
, the sound of water becomes real. I open my eyes and see the water flowing freely from the old cracked fountain.

Proudly, I brush
my hands together a
s if they’re dirty from a hard day’s work. I smile
, put
my hands on my hips, and look
over at Adam.

“Oh come on
, Mage.
I’ve seen you do better than that!”

“Fine,” I sigh
. “I’ll try something else”

I look
the garden over again, but there
’
s n
othing. The whole garden is a mess. Weeds are growing
from every crack in the brick and concrete patio under
the fountain. All the flowers are
dead
from winter and dead branches hang
from every bush or small tree in the garden.

A
dogwo
od tree across the patio from me catches my attention. It’s hanging
ther
e like a rotten stick. I focus
my ey
es on it and point my finger. I picture the tree
in its m
ost beautiful state. I imagine it in the middle of spring
with fresh white blooms on t
he ends of each branch. I close my eyes and picture a breeze coming. It blows
little white flowers all around my face.

When I open my eyes the tree looks
healthy and v
ibrant. Little white petals blow
all aroun
d me as a light breeze captures them and tosses them around. I laugh loudly turning in
circles with my arms out
capturing
little white flowers in my hands.

“How was that?” I turn and say to Adam
.

Instead of sittin
g on the bench across the garden, he’s
standing r
ight in front of me. His face is serious as he reaches up and picks
white flowers from my hair.

“You look
like a
dark angel dancing in the snow, my dark angel,” he whispers.