Chapter 19

The cat meowed, a cry that would drone out even the heavy steed of traffic. “What is it Midnight?” Donna asked rising from her seat. Jenna backed up, but she had nowhere to go, the wall blocked her path.
The cat hissed and growled. Its head still hanging low, and its green eyes boring into hers. Jenna knew she would be caught. Donna was only a couple of steps away. She stood up and Donna jumped back, holding her hand on her heart.
“Jenna?” She gasped.
Jenna’s body was experiencing an overload of feelings. They were coming in waves, one would wash over her then a new one would come, stronger than before. Seeing Donna seated in the old house like she owned the place was the breaking point for Jenna. Her mind was ready to explode, and anger filled every pore in her body, it overrode all her other emotions. She could feel the heat in her cheeks and her body started to shake.
“Jenna?” Donna’s voice was soft, low, and calm. It was like she was talking to a wild animal, trying to show them she wasn’t a threat.
Jenna crossed her arms; she was afraid of what she would do if she let them hang at her sides.
“I think it is time Jenna,” Donna took a small step closer.
“Time for what Donna?” Jenna clenched her teeth together and spat “Donna” out with venom.
“It is time you knew the truth,” Donna turned away and walked into the hall. Jenna’s feet were rooted to the ground for a moment. Then curiosity got the better of her. She followed Donna into the hallway and up the spiral staircase. The stairs creaked and groaned with each step. Although they were battered and hanging on to life by a thread, they still held beauty. The markings on the handrail were like nothing she had ever seen before. Roses joined together by vines and thorns, they all interlaced.
At the top, the stairs split into two and Donna took the right. She stopped in the middle of the hall and gazed up at a frame. The frame looked expensive, with its shinny gold outline. It looked brand new. Unlike the rest of the house. Then Jenna gasped. Her hand shot up to her mouth when she saw what Donna was staring at.
The painting was a time machine. Their Donna was dressed in a beautiful ball gown, the purple dress was amazing. Donna smiled at the painter while she was in a field of blossoms. The only difference was Donna’s outdated clothes.
Then Donna moved to the next painting. A woman that looked almost like Donna, accept she had longer hair, which was almost black, and a slightly darker skin tone stood next to a tall man.
Donna was seated in an elegant chair while the couple stood behind her.
She was younger in the painting. Maybe just a toddler. Yet Jenna could easily tell it was Donna. The man had the same shade of hair as Donna. But his eyes held an inner struggle. One that Jenna herself was getting used to feeling and mirrored her own.
“This is my mother and father, Reece Moore and Cora De’Mar,” Jenna gasped and took a step back. The legend of the forest. The evil witch that was cursed to sleep for an eternity was Cora De’Mar.
“I was born almost three thousand years ago. We were one of the first to cross over from De’Mar. A world where witches were free. My mother was the rightful princess when her father died. My mother became queen. But her husband would stop at nothing to rule the land. My mother betrayed her people and was banished here. Along with many of her followers,”
“At the time we arrived, humans were nothing but Barbarian’s. Uncivilized. The land was barren. Mostly covered by sand and sea. We taught the humans to grow life, harvest. We taught them to love and socialize. But there was a curse put on all the royals. If we left the land of De’Mar then we would grow crazy.
My mother, the queen. She started to kill all the humans. But many survived. She wanted power. She wanted everyone to follow her. She turned into someone I didn’t know,”
“She cursed us, all of us that crossed over with immortality. We can never die. We have no escape. To some of us it is a blessing, to others it is a curse. As my mother grew more out of control, so did her powers.
They were one girl. She was young, hair as red as a fox and her skin as white as snow. She was created by the Sharman’s infused with power from the banished.
She was known as the protector. She was given the power to lock my mother away. No amount of magic would ever kill her,” Donna moved to the next photo and her legs became like jelly. There staring at her was herself. She wore a black dress and her hair as wild as ever.
“The protector locked my mother in a cave, she cannot be freed unless an innocent with a pure soul crosses the thresh hold. If that happens the innocent will die and my mother will rise,” Donna stared at a pale faced Jenna then.
“You see, some of the others of my kind, they want my mother freed. They want the humans to pay.” Tears trickled over her chin.
“I made a mistake, this used to be our home, back when we lived in harmony. I wanted to live that life again. Just feel at peace. I put a spell on you and the town. I wanted to fit in. When I used that magic, it was like a beacon. Now my people are here, and they want revenge,”
“The Sherman’s come from my land. When they created the protector, they became what we know as the council. Many of my people were cursed to shift into animals. But the animal within them is hard to control. The council will hunt down any who break the rules. I broke one of them rules,” Jenna’s head was beginning to spin, she felt a little dizzy, so she moved to the stairs and sat down.
“It was no accident Jenna, The Sharman’s and the banished, they can feel it too. The Sherman’s are the ones responsible for the man attacking you. They are the ones that manipulated the man. They made him chase you into the lab. They had to awaken your skills. But things went wrong. You are now infused with the blood of a tiger and whatever the chemical was that soaked your skin trigged something inside you. I am worried Jenna, that blood may suppress the powers you have as a protector,”
“Donna, as interesting as your story is, I just don’t believe it,” Jenna whispered.
“Oh, but you do. The Sherman’s just needed to trigger your senses. Get you to see past the veil. You have Jenna, you can sense it too, that something is wrong,”
Jenna shook her head. Maybe Donna had hit her head at some point. Yet Jenna couldn’t deny that she felt truth in her words a calm that she just couldn’t explain.
“Look around Jenna, what do you see?”
“A house that is ready to crash down any minute,” Jenna muttered.
"No, look closer; it's just an enchantment." "Just believe," Jenna reflected on everything that had occurred. The attack, and the strange events that followed. Maybe Donna was correct.
The floor changed right in front of her eyes. They transformed into pure white marble that glistened like ice. The walls turned a pale cream with gold accents.

Jenna stood there, watching the stairs transform into a scene from a storybook. They were made of white marble with a grey swirly pattern on the inside. It was painted and decorated like a castle, with posh and comfortable furnishings.