BlackMoon Beginnings (7 page)

“Keep that thought in mind. I want you to
think about the voices, but don’t concentrate fully on them. I want
you to push them aside. Push them to the background—push them into
the corner and lock them there. You are the only one with a key.
Only you can unlock the thoughts.”

I try to follow everything that he said. It
is a little difficult to push them to the side. It’s like trying to
hold a wet bar of soap. Right when I think I have them in my grasp,
they slip away. However, after what feels like hours, though it is
probably only a couple minutes, I finally get a hold of them. I
push the key in and mentally lock them to the side. It is finally
quiet. I can think again.

I open my eyes and look around the room. I
don’t hear anything. I smile up at Colton with tears in my eyes.
“Thank you.” Colton stands up moves to the side, so his aunt can
sit back in front on me.

“It worked? You can’t hear our thoughts
anymore?”

My eyes widen, shocked at her question. “I
can hear your thoughts? That’s what those voices were?” I scoot
more towards the right, away from her. There’s no humanly way
possible that I can read minds.

“Yes, you have the power to read minds. The
change was supposed to be gradual. We aren’t sure why yours
appeared so fast.” She pauses and looks at the two guys in the
room, “If my intuition is correct, you are going to be able to do
many other things as well. You’re going to be very powerful.”

I stare at her in disbelief. Magic doesn’t
exist. It is not possible. “I think you have me mistaken for
someone else. It can’t be me.” I stand up and am about to leave,
but I’m overcome with dizziness again. I sway, but Colton stands up
and grabs my arms to steady me. When the room stops spinning, but
does not stop swaying, I decide that sitting is probably the best
option for me right now.

“It’s you, Ryanne. I know it. We also believe
that you have been causing the recent weather fluctuations.” The
weather? I can’t control…

Calm down. Your emotions are affecting the
weather.
I pick up the pendent hanging from my neck and study
it, confused. Was it all real?

“Claire, maybe you should start from the
beginning,” says the man standing in the doorway.

“You learned about the Salem witch trials in
school, right?” I nod, “Well, a long time ago, many people
performed witchcraft and wizardry, some of these were real and
others were faking. We are descended from a long line of magicians.
Not the kind that you are thinking of. We don’t pull rabbits out of
hats and perform parlor tricks. We are commonly referred to as
Mage. However, that is an ancient name.

“Mages have been around forever. We aren’t
sure when we came into existence or even how. The pyramids of
Egypt? Made by mages. Stonehenge? Mages. Maoi statues on Easter
Island? Mages. We have supernatural abilities. One of yours is
reading minds. I have a heightened sense of intuition. David,
Colton’s brother, is telekinetic. Colton hasn’t come into his power
yet. Mages get their gifts at different stages and different ages.
Usually it is a gradual change. Most get their gifts around the age
of eighteen, but some don’t show up until the mid-twenties.”

“So, you’re telling me that I can affect the
weather and read minds. Do you know how crazy that sounds?”

“When you were almost run over by the car,
you told us that you thought that you were lifted by the wind. You
were right. The wind did assist you then. You needed help, so your
magic took over and got you out of a dangerous situation. Think of
another time recently when you were upset or angry. Was it raining
or storming?”

I think back to when I was sitting under the
gazebo and thinking about mom. As I recall, it was raining.
Couldn’t that be just a coincidence? It was always raining when I
was upset lately.

How cliché.

“So you’re telling me that whenever I’m
upset, I have to worry about flooding the whole town?”

Everyone chuckles at me. David is the only
one to respond, “You’ll learn how to control it. We’ll help
you.”

Claire clears her throat, “There’s more.” She
pauses. I think the pause was just for dramatic effect. If I ever
deliver very important news, long pauses always increase the
importance. “You are an intricate piece to ending the supernatural
war.”

Shut the front door. What the heck have I
been thrown into? I glance between all three of them, waiting for
the laughter to start. They’re joking, right? When nothing happens,
I take a deep breath and decide to play along.

“A war?”

She continues, “Long ago, it was prophesized
that a girl, born into a non-mage family, would be gifted with
magical abilities that surpassed all mage’s. When this girl turned
eighteen, she would come into her magic. She’d be unlike anything
we’ve ever seen before. A beautiful warrior,” she stops talking and
smiles at me before continuing. “With her help, the war will be
ended. Granted, that is a very condensed and summarized version.
The original was written in Latin, but the point is still valid.
You are the girl we’ve been looking for, Ryanne.”

“How do you know that I’m that girl? It could
be referring to anyone.”

“My intuition tells me that it is you. I knew
something was different about you when we talked in my shop. You’re
special Ryanne.”

“You think I’m Harry Potter?” I ask her.

Claire smiles at me, but it is David that
speaks. “You’re a mage, Ryanne, not a wizard.”

I start violently shaking my head. What they
are saying doesn’t make any sense. “It’s not me you are looking
for. I’m not a beautiful warrior. Beautiful has never been used to
describe me and I’ve had a lot of adjectives used in reference to
me. And warrior? Do I look like a warrior?

“I’m not the one that can help end this war
going on. I’m a vegetarian. I can’t even eat meat without feeling
bad for the animals and you’re telling me that I’m supposed to
fight in a war and harm people? I can’t do that. I don’t have any
friends and blush every time I talk to a cute guy. I’d rather sit
in the back of a room, unnoticed, because I hate attention. That
kind of sounds like a lot of attention and responsibility. There’s
nothing special about me, Claire. I’m not that girl. I
can’t
be that girl.”

Claire, David, and Colton all just stare at
me. I understand that I just went on a rant, but what did they
expect? Did they think that I would just accept everything they say
and take it like a champ? Psh, no. I freak out. I don’t like
change. Everything they just told me would result in a giant
lifestyle change. They think that I’m this awesome girl that is
supposed to bring an end to this freakishly long war? Well, they’ve
got another thing coming. I’m not that person. I don’t want to be
responsible for their debacle.

“Ryanne,” Colton says, “fate rarely calls
upon us at a moment of our choosing.”

“That’s from Transformers, Colton. I’ve seen
the movie.”

Shrugging, “It still fits.” I probably would
have laughed at the movie reference had the voices not started up
again. It’s strange to know that these are actually someone’s
thoughts.
She’s taking this better than I thought she would. I
wonder if there is any food in the refrigerator. I haven’t eaten in
a while. She just needs some time. It’s a lot to take on.

“Oh no. Not again.” I close my eyes and
concentrate on pushing the thoughts back. Following Colton’s
instruction, I’m able to get a handle on them. When I feel them
lock in place, I open my eyes back up. Everyone is still staring at
me. I wish they would stop doing that. It is too much
attention.

I stifle a yawn, realizing for the first time
how tired I actually am. Exhaustion is finally setting in. My
eyelids feel like they weigh a ton and my body is starting to feel
very sluggish.

Claire speaks to everyone in the room,
“That’s enough for today. Why don’t we all get ready for bed?
Ryanne, you should probably stay here for the night. Tomorrow, we
can work on getting your gift under more control. Do you need to
contact anyone?”

“No, Jane is away for the week. I would have
been home alone anyways.”

“I’ll find some clothes for you to wear for
the night.” Turning towards Colton she says, “Can you show her to
the guest bedroom?”

“Yeah, follow me.”

I get up slowly, hoping that the dizziness
won’t make another appearance. “So, I probably should have asked
this earlier, but where exactly am I?”

“In our house. Well, Aunt Claire’s
house.”

“No, I know that, but where in town is this
exactly?”

“Oh, you know the large patch of woods a
little ways behind the bookstore?” He asks, still walking.

“Yeah.”

“We’re in there.”

I give him a sideways glance, wondering if he
is being serious. When he doesn’t say anything, I reply, “So, we
are in the woods, behind the bookstore?” He nods in confirmation.
“Far enough in, so that if you guys tried to kill me in my sleep,
no one would hear me scream?”

He smirks, “Yep.”

“May I ask why?”

“So no one will hear you when you scream,” He
nonchalantly states. I stop walking. I know that my mouth drops.
Shaking his head, he laughs, “It’s because sometimes our magic gets
out of hand and we don’t want everyone to find out about us. It
could cause a lot of problems, so we live in isolation.”

“I love the woods. I go and sit in the woods
behind Jane’s house all the time, just to think or draw. It’s
relaxing.”

He looks at me strangely, expression
unreadable. He stops walking and opens a door to the right, “This
is the guest bedroom.”

When the door swings open and I see the
expansive room, I immediately back away from the door. “I can’t
stay here. It’s too much. I can just sleep on the couch. I don’t
mind.”

Colton reaches out and grabs my arm, dragging
me into the room, barely putting any effort in though I was trying
really hard to remain outside of the room. “You’re going to sleep
here tonight. Claire wouldn’t let you sleep on the couch. It’s not
proper
for guests.” He did a perfect imitation of Claire’s
voice. It’s a little creepy how good it was.

“This room is twice the size of my actual
bedroom. I don’t need anything this extravagant.”

“I know. That’s why I gave you the smaller of
the guest bedrooms.” The smaller of the..? I can’t imagine what the
other rooms looked like. They must live in a mansion or something.
I haven’t seen anything but the living room since I’ve been here
and I didn’t really pay attention as we were walking.

Colton starts walking around the room, as if
he was looking for something. He walks over towards the large bed
in the middle of the room and flips the covers down. I watch as he
walks towards the window, checking to make sure they are locked. He
is wearing a tight black shirt again today that fits him like a
second skin. Biting my lip, I try to look away when it rises
slightly with his arm movements.

With the windows secure, he then walks into
the bathroom adjacent to the bed, on the left side of the room.
Wait, what? There’s a bathroom here too? I knew it. They are
definitely rich.

“Ok, it looks like everything is in order.
Claire should be up any minu…”

Claire strolls into the room, “Ryanne, well I
had a little trouble finding clothes to fit you. You’re a lot
smaller than me, but this will have to do.” She turns towards
Colton, “Sorry for interrupting you.”

He bats his hand towards her, but doesn’t
look away from me. “It’s fine.”

“Look Claire,” I turn and look at her, making
sure I have her attention. “I appreciate everything you’ve done,
but this is too much. I can just stay on the couch. I’m the one
intruding.”

“You are not intruding. And it is not proper
for guests to sleep on the couch. You’ll sleep in here.”

Colton reaches his arm behind his head and
looks across the room before mumbling an
I told you so.
I
glare at him, but don’t say anything. It doesn’t look like there is
any way I am going to win this battle.

“You look exhausted dear,” I try to hide my
yawn, but she sees it anyways. “Why don’t you get changed and go to
bed. In the morning, we can start working on controlling the
voices, as you call them, a little better.”

She and Colton both walk out of the room.
Claire is out of sight first, but Colton lingers in the doorway.
With a smile, he says quietly, “Goodnight Ryanne.” I stare at the
door for a few seconds after they’re both gone before I look back
at the room around me.

What just happened?

I grab the pile of clothes Claire gave me and
walk into the bathroom. The bathroom is also large. It is just
slightly smaller than my bedroom at Jane’s. A spacious shower
encompasses one whole wall of the bathroom. The toilet and marbled
sink are located across from it. A small chandelier hangs from the
center of the ceiling. A girl could get used to this. I quickly
change out of my clothing and into Claire’s. The shirt is too big,
reaching down to my thighs and the pants are too long. I have to
roll the waist band and the bottoms up to even walk.

I walk out of the bathroom and back into the
bedroom, heading towards the bed. At the rate I am walking towards
it, one might fear that it would come to life and eat me. The bed
is high. Too high. I have to jump a little to get into it, but it
is the softest and most comfortable bed I have ever been in. I get
under the large white duvet cover, pull the blanket up to my neck,
and snuggle into the pillow. The smell of lavender fabric softener
invades my senses. I smile and close my eyes. I am already falling
asleep, when I realize that I had forgotten to turn the bedroom
light off.

I love waking up from an excellent night’s
sleep to the sounds of birds chirping and the sun shining. Smiling,
I roll over and freeze. This movement should have knocked me off of
my twin bed and onto the floor. Where am I? I open my eyes slowly
and look around. I am in a large white bedroom. Suddenly,
realization dawns on me and the past night’s events come rushing
back. I’m a mage? The only person born of two non-magical parents
to ever possess powers. Do I actually believe that?