Chapter 39: Pandora

I could feel the power crawling inside me. It crept beneath my skin like small worms creeping and searching for an escape. I pictured my skin like an iron shell of armor keeping them in. It calmed the movement, but increased my squeamishness. I burst open through front door of our house. It was a small two bedroom rental that backed up to a large forest, a forest that just happened to include the biggest nexus point on land in the United States. That was not actually a coincidence as I was instantly reminded when my knees banged into the couch.

I went flipping forward over it and land square on my ass in the middle of the living room. I was getting tired of this new arrangement already. Mother insisted that everything line up with the ley line. I think in the grand scheme of things, a few households that weren't in line with feng shu was not going to make that much different with power flow, but when Mother insisted, I didn't argue. It wasn't worth the fight.

"Are you just getting in?" Her smoky voice drifted in from the kitchen.

"What do you mean? That was an epic battle! Irma turned on me and we fought. It wasn't easy, you know." I picked myself up off the floor then followed her voice into the kitchen.

She stood over a large island counter amidst millions of ingredients, bowls, cups, powders, and other strange items. Her grey eyes snapped up and watched me as I walked in. She had the most piercing eyes. I knew there was no hiding anything from her. She would see right through it. I wondered if it was auras she watched for or what, but she never had revealed her secret.

"You haven't bound it yet?"

I shook my head. My short ash blonde hair flopped across my eyes. I blew my bangs out of the way as I plopped down at the table. "I haven't had a chance."

"You know, you shouldn't wait." She shook a stalk of rhubarb at me.

I shrugged. "I didn't have time."

"Didn't Remi help?"

"What help is he? All he says is he can't interfere. What am I supposed to do with that?"

"He can't let anything happen to you. It is supposed to give you no fear. Dive in and give it your all. You should have finished Irma off in a few seconds, otherwise, what is your training all for? I've taught you better than that."

I ignored her nagging. Once you had heard one rant that you weren't good enough, you had heard them all. They weren't helpful. They didn't help to make we want to do better. They were simply noise that tore me down. I dropped my backpack on the ground then unzipped it. I pulled out several supplies, including the silver dagger. I unscrewed the hilt of the dagger which exposed a spherical set of extremely sharp needle points.

Mother stepped around the kitchen counter and set a short glass jar on the table. The black liquid sloshed up the sides, then drained down in thick streams. "Use this one. It's fresh."

"Fresh what?" I asked.

She turned, her grey eyes sharp as she eyed me. I knew she was contemplating telling me, which meant I wouldn't like the answer.

"Never mind," I said.

She continued back to her task. I wasn't sure whether it was cooking or spell-casting, but she seemed fairly busy with it.

I pulled my right sleeve back and exposed my inner forearm. I already had two other marks there, one a circle, the other a square with runes and other symbols in them. I cleaned a bare area with rubbing alcohol then applied a bit of ointment. I twisted off the lid to the ink. I could smell the musky metallic scent of it. It was some creature's blood mixed with metal to help the tattoo settle. I dipped the needles in the ink then stabbed myself in the arm repeatedly.

It hurt at first, but my mind took over. I really did love this part. My creative self finally got a chance to play. It wasn't a large tattoo, and it needed to contain all the right pieces to keep the power contained and calm under my skin, but other than that, the design was up to me. It was one of the first times I ever had a chance to express myself through a solid medium. Sure, I was creative when it came to fighting with my dipping and diving to make it seem like a dance, but this was pure art.

I lost myself in the process. Before long, Mother's smoky voice broke the silence. "Aren't you finished yet? Don't play with it. Just get it done."

"Almost." I finished up the edges of the tattoo. When I pulled the dagger away, I had a beautiful black cat looking back at me. The tail wrapped around my arm and the eyes held the symbol of its binding. The other runes were hidden in its fur. It truly was a work of art.

Mother scoffed behind me as she looked over the table. "That is such a waste of ink. Why can't you just make it simple? It's not like it will work any better."

I stayed silent as I admired my new tattoo. I didn't care what she thought. She controlled every other aspect of my life. But this, this was mine. This was my choice.

She set a bowl of steaming soup down in front of me. I tried not to look at it too closely, but I was pretty sure I was eating something with tentacles.

"Yes, it's octopus."

I frowned. "Do we really have to eat them? It's like eating people. They are so smart."

"That is exactly why. You are what you eat. And don't eat people. Their karma can flow into us. You never know if you are eating a good human or a bad one." She shook her finger at me. "And you never ever want to be on the bad side of Karma."

I wrinkled my nose then did as I was expected and dished the soup into my mouth. The rubbery octopus tentacles made me cringe, but I toughened up and swallowed it. That would just be another battle I would lose.

"Speaking of Karma, how is it that we never seem to hit a snag. Is there something that we eat that has good Karma? I've never seen a spell that does that."

Mother's gray eyes pierced my aura again. She tilted her head. "When you were young, I took all the bad parts of you and hid them safely away. That way, you would never be vulnerable. You are, and do not let this go to your head, the perfect daughter."

"So, you like, stuffed all the bad parts in a box. Like Pandora's box?"

She twisted her lips in thought. "Sure, that is one way to put it."

"What if someone opens it?"

"Then you both would have a very bad day."

"Do you think I could make a deal to get good karma?" I asked.

She shook her finger at me. "Don't go messing with Karma. She is very dangerous."

"But, if I have all the good parts and good karma, imagine how great that would be."

Mother's gray eyes narrowed. "I'm serious. Leave Karma alone."