Ch. 77: I'm A Warlock

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN:
Sean~
Today was the day. Last day of the semester. I couldn’t see her everyday like I had been. With the mutt out there somewhere, I needed to lock her down further. Before he tries anything. I’m expecting him to. I need to lock her down before then. Today will be the first step. The next, when she returns.
“Hey there Sunshine,” I greet Rachel as she walks over to me.
For being December, the area is chilly, but we’re babies out here in California compared to the winters other areas of the world have.
“Let’s get going,” I rush over to the passenger side of the car and help her in.
I can’t read the look on her face. Suspicion? Unsurity? I can’t pinpoint it.
She’s silent as we drive, and I put on some music, keeping it low. I may just sweat so much from nerves that I’ll slide down the seat of my car.
“You’re awfully quiet today,” I prod.
She looks over at me, and back to the window, before breathing out and looking at me inquisitively.
“I’m okay,” she finally hums out.
She appears content. Although with the spell she’s under that’s as low as she can feel around me. So who knows?
We continue on and I head down to where we had our first beach picnic. I’m recreating some of it - just staying in the car. It’s too cold out to sit near the waves right now. Pulling into one of the last parking spaces available, I turn off the engine and turn to her with a smile.
“The beach?” she asks me, one eyebrow raised in question.
“Well, it’s a little cold for that, but I thought we could do a little picnic inside the car? I’ve got some things..” I explained while getting out of the car.
I walk around to the back and pop the trunk, grabbing the little basket I brought specifically for this, and walking back. Sitting back down I hand her the basket and she peruses it a bit, smiling at the container of strawberries.
“Thought you might like that,” I noted.
I spread a few things out with her assistance and we started snacking for a few moments.
I took a big breath - this is the moment. I do this right and she’ll be mine. I could feel my power shudder in anticipation.
“So I’ve been wanting to talk with you. About us. Well about me, and about us,” I began explaining, her face turning to face me.
I waited a moment and continued when she didn’t say anything, “I know you like reading books - fantasies and stuff like that. And you seem pretty open to… things that can’t be explained by science?”
Now she was really looking confused.
“Can I share something very personal with you?” I said after a second.
Rachel nodded, the motion causing her hair to move out from behind her ear.
“I’m not human,” I said quickly.
“I’m sorry, what?” she said smiling, on the verge of laughter.
I waited a minute and kept a serious, straight face until her smile faltered.
“I’d like to show you something…” I started to elaborate, I decided somewhere during my many rehearsals of this speech, that she would need some sort of proof.
I focused for a moment and called a ball of light to my hand. I would start with something pretty and easy.
Her jaw dropped and she looked at the light from different angles.
“Go ahead, you can touch it, it’s pure light - it won’t hurt you,” I assured her.
And it wouldn’t hurt her. Unless I wanted it to.
She tentatively reached forward and put her hand through it, and I waited a second before I changed the color of the light a few times. I could do this forever if she wanted me to. With her around I was continuously charged, never exhausting my magic. She didn’t need to know that though. This beautiful, beautiful battery in front of me let out a small gasp in awe.
“I - I don’t understand…” she began to say, thoroughly confused.
I then brought a rose to life in my hand, it grew from seed to flower in my palm before I gave it to her. I gestured to the window and urged the waves to rise higher and higher and she seemed to understand a bit more.
“I’m a warlock. A magic user,” I explained at last, turning to her with a smile on. “And you are my soulmate.”

Rachel~
I was supposed to finish packing for our trip tomorrow but all I could do was look out the window at the eucalyptus trees and relive Sean’s confession over and over again.
Warlocks. Witches. Elves. Fae. They were all real.
How could I go on acting like everything was normal right now? How could I go on to this trip and pretend the world didn’t just change entirely for me.
I still have so many questions, so many that I didn’t even know where to start. Earlier at the beach I had started asking Sean the weirdest, most out-of-order questions.
And this soulmate stuff. It was just crazy. I mean didn’t everyone feel zaps and sizzles when they touched some person they had a crush on? Someone tall and large with electrifying skin flashed across my mind before I could picture who they were. I felt a migraine coming again. This was just - just so much.
Could there be other things? Ghosts? Monsters? Heck, was the Loch Ness Monster real? The Easter Bunny? Santa Claus?
I held on to the window frame and felt really dizzy. My mind was spinning and I needed to just sit down. I sat and balled my fists against my temples. Ugh, this freaking migraine. The daylight was fading but it was still way too much light, it hurt. I stumbled into the bathroom and grabbed some pain relievers, making a quick mental note to pack some. I had been getting so many migraines lately, I’d likely need them some time during our trip.
I made my way back to my bed with the lavender stuffie my mom keeps in the closet for her own migraines. The scent brought me some peace, though I felt like it was missing something. I crawled under the covers to snuggle in my blankets and be able to cover the light from my face. I breathed out, in and out. And noticed I was starting to hyperventilatie. This was just too much. How could he just unload all this on me?
My mind went back to earlier - “Soulmates. Warlocks and other magical beings have soulmates, people who just click with them perfectly, people our gods have paired with our souls perfectly. You are mine. I knew it when I first saw you. There was this pull, this need to talk to you, to be near you, and when we brushed arms - that electricity? That was when I knew it for sure… Even when soulmates aren’t usually humans,” he’d said while looking at me with so much… expectation.
What was I supposed to say back? I’d been so stunned. I had so many questions. Why me? Was he really sure? How was I supposed to know? I had thought he was attractive, sure. Magnetic, sure. But was the electricity he talked about supposed to… hurt? Like sometimes I had to break apart because it was just too much. That couldn’t be right, could it? A flash of a figure came across my memory again, I felt longing and sadness. But it was gone before I could grasp it. Ugh, that was so frustrating. What is going on?
I fell asleep for a few hours and woke up feeling at peace. I still had the image of a big house against the moonlight in my retinas as I readjusted to reality.
“Oh good, you’re up,” Meg said next to me from her bed, “Mom! She’s up!”
I stretched and began to stand when my mom appeared in the doorway.
“Ah, bien. You’re awake. Are you feeling okay?” my mom walked over and put a hand on my forehead feeling for a temperature.
After a few seconds she put her hand down, dissatisfied.
“Yeah I just had a migraine, I’m feeling better now though,” I explained, stretching my arms above my head.
“Mija, another one?” her face scrunched in concern.
I waved her away, “Really it’s fine.”
“Did you finish packing?” my mom expertly changed the subject.
I nodded.
“Good,” she said defunctly. “Oh,” she added as she walked back out of our room, “can you go to the garage and grab me the suitcase with the wheels? My feet are killing me… I brought up the wrong one…”
She didn’t wait to hear if I would, she knew I would.
“No I won’t go down with you,” Meg informed me in a bored tone.
I wasted no time getting my thickest coat on and slipping on some shoes before walking down the flights of stairs.
It was dark out and you could hear the leaves rustling in the trees as I walked down. The wind seemed to be picking up and I wanted to run in and get what I needed as fast as possible. The garage, especially the back storage, gave me the creeps even in the daylight. Down and down I went, passing the window of the old racist lady who lived below us, and down the side of the building by our cars.
I turned once more around the corner towards the garage doors and typed in the code. The door started to lift up and I could almost feel the warmth of the kitchen upstairs when a cold clammy hand reached out and grabbed me fiercely by the wrist.
It couldn’t be. I turned and there he was. Vance.