Wicked Fate (The Wicked Trilogy) (18 page)

I begin begging for death while my body boils over high heat. I
hear
Sire whimpering from afar
.
Finally, the heat inside me starts to descend.  I take a deep breath when the inferno leaves my throat. I begin to hyperventilate as the flames gather in my stomach and continue
to fry me from the inside.

“Oh
,
please, make it go away!” I hear
myself cry.

Suddenly, the fire explodes
from my center and sho
o
t
s
up to my ceiling.
The blue rays of light engulf the ceiling as they leave
my body.
I continue to scream even though my insides are beginning to cool.

My room is on fire, b
lue flames sprea
d around the area
making a loud poppi
ng and cracking
noise.
I know I need to get up. I need to get my grandfather and Sire out of the house before it burns down. But I’m too weak as if my soul is leaving with the flames until finally…I pass out.

I wake
t
o
Sire
licking my face. I open my eyes and then slam
them shut
when the sun blinds me. Rolling over, I
put my back to the
bright window and slowly open my eyes. My room looks
com
pletely normal, not one thing’
s out of place.

This room was
in flames last night and I know it wasn’t a
nightmare. It was real! Standing, I walk to the center of the room. I turn in circles to get a better view of everything. Sire si
t
s
up on the bed with h
is tongue hanging out staring back at me. Everything’
s
perfect, nothing’s burned
.

I look
down at m
y hands and legs and then I turn to stare into the mirror. I’m fine! There isn’t
a burn mark on me!

Dressing
as fast as humanly
possible, I throw on whatever and then run downstairs. I search
through the house for m
y grandmother. I need answers and I need them now. Things are getting too crazy. This is
n
o way to live and something has to be done.

“Grandma!”
I yell
through the house. “I ne
ed answers! Please, tell me what’
s happening
to me
!”

There’s a loud knock on the front door. I grab the door handle hoping
it’s
Adam and I swing the door
op
en. A little bald mail man stands
there smiling back at me.

“Got a letter for a Mage McPherson…that you?”

“Yes. Tha
nk you, but you could’
ve just p
ut it in the mailbox,” I reach
out for the letter.

“Oh
,
no ma’am, this letter
’
s been at the post of
fice
waitin
’ to be delivered for
goin
’
on five years. Me and the boys at the offi
ce picked straws to see who’
d get to
deliver it—m
ust be som
ething important
.”

“Five years?”

“Yes Ma’am
. Some
fella
’
came in the post office and said it was real important that we deliver this here letter to this here house on this
here
day.
It must be pretty special. We don’t usually hold letters for that long, but the old postmaster kept it in a lockbox over the years.”

“Isn’t the post office closed for the holidays?”

“Yes ma’am! It’s my day off, but the postmaster promised, and he never goes back on his word,” he said proudly.

“Well, I appreciate your dedication to the mail,” I smile politely. “Thank you, so much,” the old letter warms my hand.

The little postman stands there like he’s waiting for me to read it out loud to him.

“Thank you, again,” I say as I shut the door in his face.

What a weird little man.

In the front living room, I sit on the old blue settee—my grandmother’s favorite.

There’s
no retur
n address on the letter. I stick
my fin
ger into the envelope and rip it open. My eyes go
to
the top of the letter and I know instantly who it’s from—my grandfather.

My Dearest Granddaughter,

By now I’m sure that my mind has gone
completely and for that I’
m sorry. I decided a few weeks ago that I would write this letter for you and send it so that when you needed a
ll the answers that I know you’
re searching for; I could be the one to g
ive them to you.
I know things have been changing for you. I can on
ly imagine the things that you’
re capable of now, but please don’t let this thing break you.

When your mother began doing strange things
,
I had no idea what to think of it. Her mind got the best of her in the end and she couldn’t mentally take it anymore. I hope and pray every day that the same does not happen to you. I wish I could explain all this in better detail, but I can’t. I only know what your mother told me and honestly at that moment I thought she was out of her mind. Technically, she was out of her mind.

Your mother did amazing things. I only saw a few of the things she could accomplish with
her hands and eyes, but I can
only imagine what she did behind closed doors. I think she hid a lot of what she could do from me because I was always afraid for her. Afraid that something horrible would happen to her or that someone would find out about these things she could do and take her away from me. In the end
,
she was taken away from me, but not the way I always pictured it. She went away from herself, she could no longer control the things she could do and to be honest, she became dangerous to the people around her.

When you were born, your mother called me and begged me to take you. I went immediately and the first time I saw your sweet baby face I knew I had to take you and raise you. Your mother was always afraid for your life and before your grandmother and I took you away she put some kind of spell on me and
you. She made me your blocker
and she said that as long as you were with me no harm would ever come to you. Looking back, you never so much as had a scraped knee when you were a little girl.

Your mother told us that on your sixteenth birthday you would receive powers. I thought we had until then to make you understand what could possibly happen to you. I wa
s never more wrong. You started
doing things at a very young age and I
knew there was no denying it—y
ou would be just like your mother. I wish that we would have handled it better. I wish that we could have prepared
you better for the things you’
re about to experience.

You’re a strong girl
,
Mage, always have been. I know that you can steer yourself in the opposite direction of your mother. I know that when you finally receive the bulk of your powers you wi
ll ac
cept and learn to control them.  I’m
sorry.
I wish I understood more so I could tell you mor
e. Just know that as long as I’
m around you will always be safe. Sadly, I won’t live forever
,
and there will come a time when you will have
to
fend for yourself. When that time comes I know you will do the right things in life. You always have.  Take care of yourself girl and be happy. You were always a happy child and I would never want to see you lose the light you have in your eyes.

            
              Pop

I’m in shock as I stare at this letter. I read it three more times to make sure I’m reading it correctly.

All these years and they’ve
known! All these years I’ve been completely lost! I’ve never fit in anywhere! I’ve always wondered what was wrong with me and why I’ve always been able to do these things, but I never asked questions. I never questioned why I saw people who weren’t there or why I was capable of doing things that others couldn’t.

I spent most of my life
afraid of being put in a mental institution and all this time my grandparents knew a
nd never said a thing. My grandmother didn’t even acknowledge the things I could do until after she died.

I’m so pissed off! How could they
not have mentioned this to me until now? Why hadn’t my grandmother said something to me about all this?

Half of me wants
to go to them and s
cream at them;
d
emand they tell me everything—every detail. Then there’s the other half of me that’
s a little relieved. Now I know exactly what it was that happened to me last night at midnight. I had received powers.

The letter said that on my sixteenth birthday I would receive these powers. I already had some powers before t
oday, but the real question is…w
hat am I capable of now?

I still have a ton of questions—q
uestions that only one
person could answer and that’s my mother. I have
to take a trip
to Jersey and pray that I can see her spirit. I need
to know ev
erything, especially if there’s something I need
to protect my
self against.

I knock lightly on my grandfather’s
bedroom door.

“Yes?”

Cracking the door open a bit, I peek my head in.

He’s in the
middle of his bedroom staring
back at me.
Even though he probably has no clue
who
I am, I need to spend time with him. I’ve lived with my grandfather my entire life and I see him every day, yet I still miss him. We never even talk anymore and I need
him so much right now.
Plus, I need answers about my mother—even if it means pretending to be her for a while.

Clutching his letter in my fist I walk to stand in front of him.

I’d give anything to hear him say everything’s going to be okay.
I wish more than anything that he could explain everything to me.
At the very least, it would be nice to find out
more information on the
institution my mother was in. It would be a lot easier to find her if I knew more.

There are certain things a person should know about their family. I don’t even know how my mother died. I’ve asked many times, but it obviously makes my grandparents sad so I never push it.

He stands there staring back at me like I’m a stranger. Then his eyes smile and I know immediately that he recognizes
me.

“Happy Birthday
,
Mage.”

His smiling eyes become sad as he reaches out to brush the hair out of my eyes. It’s then that he
n
otices the paper in my
hand.

“I see
ya’ got my letter. I sure hope it’s helpful for ya’
.”

“Why didn’t
you tell me before now?” I ask
.

“I think a
part of me still hoped that ya’
wouldn’t get it”

“Get what? What is it exactly?”

“I wish I knew,
sweetie. I think
,
though, and this may
sound crazy,” he laughs
a little to himse
lf. “What am I
sayin
’? Nothing’s crazy
to you anymore
,
huh?”

I smile awkwardly at him. Nothing surprises
me anymore. He could tell me that
I’m
an alie
n from another planet and I’
d believe him at this point.

“Your momma
was some kind of wit
ch.
She’d walk around
sayin
’ and
doin
’
strange things.
At first
, I just thought she was
playin
’ around, but soon things
start
ed
to happen. It’s the
only way I can explain it
.”

“So
,
let
me get this straight,” I stop and pinch the bridge of my nose
. “You’re telling me I’m a witch?”