Chapter 9- Wicked Forest

Jeanette was livid. Crystal had sneaked out of the house and was doing God knew what. She just hoped the two goons she had sent looking for her found her and brought her back. What would the Carmichael’s think if news of what had happened reached them?
They would think that she was unable to control her daughter. What if they called off the wedding? She couldn’t let Crystal continue with her reckless behaviour. Why out of all her children did it have to be her? It was a question she asked herself every day. If it was Ruby, she would have no worry, the stress she felt now would be nonexistent. Instead, it had to be the one that was nothing but trouble. From the day she was born, Jeanette had seen it. The girl was more than she could handle.
Jeanette paced the hallway, thinking about how she was going to deal with Crystal. Yelling didn’t seem to work. Punishments didn’t do the trick, what was she going to do?
“She is a teenager, and this is what they do. They become independent and want space. She needs this time to find out who she is. Let her make the mistakes she needs too. Give her rules and boundaries but be prepared for her to break them.”
Jeanette spun around so fast she caused herself to get a head rush. “Are you insane or only plain stupid? Our daughter will be marrying one of the highest and most powerful witches there is, and you think she needs to make her own mistakes!”
“I think you are taking this too far. She is a child. Why can’t you leave her be? You want her to marry the man right after her eighteenth birthday. What happened to twenty-one? I don’t think she is ready.”
“Leave the thinking to me. The quicker we get this over with the better. We can move on, be who we were born to be. Instead, right now we are hiding away in our own little villages!”
Henry didn’t respond he leaned against the kitchen door and watched Jeanette pace. She was worried now. Henry was challenging her, something he had never done before. She was losing him.

***
By the time Crystal reached the white stone building that she called home, she was more than angry, she was embarrassed. All she wanted was to scream and shout and let all her pent-up emotions run wild. With each step she took towards the front door the ground shook and cracked. She was losing control and her powers were leaking out. If she didn’t calm down, she would cause an earthquake, or worse. She tried taking slow breaths and counting to ten. But her mind ran over all the things she hated and fuelled her anger. She couldn’t stop the racing thoughts or the pent-up emotions that were threatening to burst out of her.
As she stepped through the front door and marched through the hallway, the black and white tiles cracked, pictures shook on the wall, and some lost their grip and crashed to the floor. All around her anger showed. She’d had enough. There was only so much one person could take and she’d taken her limit.
“Crystal, you need to calm down,” Ruby, one of her older sisters said as she entered the living room. She looked stunning with straight blond hair and a slim figure. She wore a red top, and tight jeans that complemented her figure.
“No!” Crystal yelled, although she wasn’t angry at Ruby, she couldn’t help snapping at her.
Her mother walked into the room and Crystal’s emotions took on an all-new level. The entire foundations of the building shook. All that could be heard was the crashing and banging of objects falling over.
Before she had the chance to vent her anger, her body became weak as darkness clouded her vision and everything went black. As her vision blurred and gave way, she knew it was her mother’s doing, sending her into unconsciousness.
Rather than face her daughter, she had put her to sleep. Crystal felt the last of her anger evaporate as she fell into a deep slumber.
When she woke, her anger had turned to something else. Self-pity.
Crystal lay in her bed feeling sorry for herself. She asked over and over again what she had done to deserve such a life. From an early age Crystal felt she didn’t belong with her family. All the rules she had to follow, she hated them. She hated herself, the people around her. But it was her own mind that she loathed the most. The thoughts that passed felt like they belonged to someone else. Like she was a stranger in her own body, and trapped in a world she didn’t want to be in.
She got that every family had rules but to Crystal, hers were just not normal. Nothing about them made sense. It was all about power. Not love.
She hated the coven and what they stood for. Her mother was nothing but a control freak. The things she did, it made Crystal’s head spin with the one question. Why? It was one she knew would never become known.
Her sisters happily did what they were told, but Crystal rebelled and challenged her mother whenever she felt necessary. She wanted to be in control of her life, making her own choices. Instead, she felt like a puppet with her mother pulling the strings.
A soft knock brought her out of her thoughts. She gazed at the door but didn’t speak. It creaked open and Ruby’s blond hair spilled into the room. Giving Crystal a soft smile, she closed the door and padded across the plush carpet.
Ruby switched on the lamp beside her bed and the room flooded with light. Gently she perched on the end of the bed and pulled Crystal into a motherly hug. Using her finger, she wiped Crystal’s tears. She hadn’t realized that she had been crying. Ruby was what she needed. She had a way of just letting Crystal grieve and being there without having to say anything.
With her head laid against her sister’s chest she felt safe. The comfort she gave, Crystal wished it was her mother. It was a silly thought as Jeannette had never been the loving type. She treated her children like she did the rest of the coven. Like one of her people, she could order and boss around.
“I know it is scary, and right now you want to lash out, run away. But it does get better. Those feelings won’t last for long,” Ruby whispered. Lifting her head up Crystal looked into the green eyes that mirrored her own. The eyes that only those born from a witch’s line had, it made them who they were, told others of their kind the power they held.
“Were you scared?”
“Of course, I was.” Ruby let out a small laugh and ran her hands down Crystal’s hair. “Like you, I knew my day would come when, I would marry my chosen match. Greg was a nerd, weird in every way. But in time I grew to love him. Each day I love him more.”
“Why a Carmichael?”
“I know there are so many bad rumours, but what if those are wrong? Crystal, not everything you hear is right. Look at you, what do people say about you?”
“That I am a snob, freak, weirdo….”
“And do you feel that those things are true?”
“No, I don’t want friends. What is the point, mother wants to control every aspect of my life, even who I can make friends with? Having no friends is better than having them chosen for you.”
“See, maybe what you have heard about the Carmichael’s is nothing but hearsay? At least meet him first.”
Crystal thought about her sister’s words for a moment and gathered she was right. She would make up her mind once she had met the guy. Everyone deserved a chance, right? Somehow, she still thought he was a monster, and always would.
“Ruby, how do I show my face at school? Darren and Derek completely embarrassed me,” placing her head in her hands she peaked up at her older sister.
“You hold your head high. You are a Hudson, better than them,” with a kiss to her forehead Ruby stood up.
“Just remember, being a witch doesn’t stop you from being you. You’re the one doing that. Letting people get close to you isn’t a bad thing. You over think and by doing so, you’re stopping yourself from being happy,”
Crystal thought about what Ruby had said hours after she had left. Was she really the one stopping herself from being happy? Could she really lie, and be okay about it? Liars were people who she never wanted in her life. How could she bring herself to be the very thing she hated? Her mind was a muddled mess. Everything was getting on top of her.
“Am I causing myself to be unhappy,” she repeated over and over again, like a mouse caught in never-ending wheel.
That thought, still lingered with her the whole night, and was still dancing in her thoughts as she walked up the stone steps leading to Salem’s Academy. Pushing the doors open, she walked by the teens that huddled together whispering and snickering as she passed by.