Chapter 22: Rumor Has It…

*Thelma*
The extraordinarily dense clouds of smoke approach like pillars, ready to flatten anything that lies in their way. Any sliver of daylight seems to be completely consumed by the fast-approaching darkness. All of my control is gone, replaced by a deep urge to hurt something or someone.
The water in the creek begins bubbling and rising in angry waves. I feel a burning ache inside my veins, and a sharp stabbing pain in my temple, but I can’t stop. All the frustration I feel seems to be pouring right into the water.
“Thelma, calm down! Remember to breathe, honey. Breathe,” Rhia’s voice pleads from somewhere in my head.
I take a deep breath and exhale.
Huge waves are thrown around and explode like lava from a furious volcano as a result of the ruthless winds that have gathered beneath me. I don’t have to look down to know that I am no longer on the ground but hovering somewhere in the air.
I feel one with the raging water as it divides like a ferocious wild beast. With all of their might, the waves batter the nearby rocks, and wind gusts slice through the tree branches that encircle me.
I look up as I feel the wind taking me higher and higher. A white raven floats above me with its wings spread wide; the image reminds me of a paper kite blowing in the breeze.
“Breathe, Thelma!” Rhia’s voice pleads.
The raven floats down until it’s level with my chest. I can feel a warmth radiate from it to me.
Suddenly, I can see the dark clouds clear as I descend lower and lower. I feel the hard surface of the earth beneath my feet and everything goes quiet.
I wobble a little as a dizzy sensation engulfs me; arms hold me in an embrace.
“Breathe, honey,” Rhia’s voice says softly.
When she finally lets me go she searches my face.
“What just happened?” I ask.
A look of puzzlement flashes over her delicate features.
“We were doing a relaxing exercise, but I guess it didn’t go as planned. Did something upset you by any chance?” Rhia asks.
The vision of Yasmeen and Kyle floods my mind. I feel the burning sensation gnawing from inside my chest begging to be released.
“I…I want to go home,” I stutter.
“For now, this is home, honey. Remember you have to be strong for your family.”
I nod. I feel so tired like I have just run a marathon and have no strength to argue.
“Sit. Drink this,” Rhia says gently as she hands me a small plastic flask with black liquid inside it.
I eye the beverage suspiciously. Seeing my hesitation, she nods in encouragement. “It will help you.”
I take a sip of the charcoal-colored liquid and cringe. Although the drink doesn’t have much of a taste to it, something about the slimy feel of it on my tongue is unsettling.
“What the hell is that?” I ask with my face scrunched.
“Black halo tea. After releasing all that energy, it will help you to avoid burnout,” Rhia explains.
She sits on the grass and pats the ground next to her. I join her and she takes my hand in hers.
“I have never seen such an explosion of power. You are a fiery one. It seems that you aren’t merely blessed with siren abilities. I noticed your raven spirit coming to aid you. Ravens are rare for our kind; they belong only to a select few witches. The last time I witnessed a magical being with so much power as you was decades ago. Tell me about your parents, Thelma.”
I bring my knees up to my chest and look with a blank expression into the water.
“Pa died when I was eleven. Ma told me he died in a freak accident at the factory he used to work at. Ma is a nursing aide at a local hospital,” I explain.
Rhia is quiet for a while, lost in thought, as if contemplating what else to say.
“I met your mother, Thelma. She is neither a witch nor of magic kind from what I sensed. If she is, she hides it very well. I am not sure about your father, though. You are a pure-blooded witch. The raven tells me that you aren’t an ordinary witch either…And that power…I have never seen such power residing in a single witch. Do you know if perhaps your father was a wizard?”
My father, a wizard? What, from the wizarding world of Harry Potter? I shake my head at the thought. Although my father died when I was young, the memories of him are still very vivid in my mind. I don’t remember him chanting and mixing herbs or dancing in circles singing ‘kumbaya.’
“People say Pa was a hunter…although Ma says he was just a factory worker. I just discovered this world of magic and still don’t know much. I’m just taking everything in stride as the days pass. At one point, I thought Kwaad was just a myth, merely a tale used to scare little kids into behaving. Now, I know he is very real,” I say.
Well, he is definitely not a myth. Not when I can still feel the sensation of his rod pulsating deep inside me. Not when the memory of our night together is still so fresh in my head.
“So, what’s upsetting you then?” Rhia asks.
I turn and regard her. At least she is an adult and might be able to tell me a thing or two about this complicated tumble-in-the-sheets game. Some advice, perhaps.
“I finally…you know…with Alpha Kyle,” I start with a shy voice.
Rhia nods her head and continues to hold my hand reassuringly.
“I know, honey. The two of you fucked. I felt a shift in your aura,” she says.
Alright. No filters with this one, hey. I do hope she is the only one who sensed that, though. I know most people around here are aware of the arrangement, but walking around with a billboard post that announces whenever we sleep together would be embarrassing.
“After it happened, he shut down. He was so cold immediately after and threw me out of his room. Also, he was very aggressive. It was my first time and I kind of hoped that he would at least be gentle with me, you know?”
Rhia frowns. “Did he hurt you?”
I shake my head. “Not in the way I assume you mean, but mentally, he crushed me. If he wasn’t happy with me, couldn’t he have told me? Also, after he threw me out, he seemed to have sought the company of someone else. After everything, I assumed he did that because I didn’t satisfy him.”
Rhia seems to be locked in a pensive state again until words finally flow out. “Listen, don’t fret, okay? It’s alright. Sometimes men can act like jerks, but that isn’t a reflection on your self-worth. You say he sought someone else’s company….Who?”
I pause. I don’t want to seem like a gossiper, so I shrug. “I guess it doesn’t matter. I’m just hurt, that’s all. He made it clear to me that all he aims to do is sow a seed inside me, while I’m here searching for softness and all that gentlemanly nonsense from a man who regards me as nothing but a living, breathing incubator.”
“I see. I understand why you were angry earlier. Anger is good to strengthen a spell or magic in general, but when you let it flow blindly, it could backfire. So, be careful. Channel the energy, whether it’s joy or anger, exactly where you need it to work the most. Don’t allow it to spill freely, unchanneled. We will practice directing your emotions into power tomorrow. I think it’s enough exercise for today.”
I nod in agreement.
***
I feel like a thief as I tip-toe up the spiral staircase to my room. I am in no mood to run into Kyle or his girlfriend. I keep peering behind me to make sure there is no one around. When I finally close the door of my room behind me, I breathe a sigh of relief. I feel like Evelyn Salt right now.
As I lean my back against the cool-to-the-touch oak wood door, my eyes are drawn to the floor. A white envelope lies on the hardwood. My name is printed on it in black bold letters.
I pick up the envelope and scan it. I feel my brows coming together as I wonder who sneaked this letter in here. Ma has no idea where I am, so she couldn’t have written the letter.
I pry the seal open and retrieve a lime-colored folded piece of paper from inside the envelope. I sit on one of the chairs and unfold the letter.
‘Want to know how your father died? Surely you know he wasn’t killed in some made-up accident. Your father was a hunter. His last mission was to hunt and kill Kyle ‘Kwaad’ Logan, the demon no hunter has ever been able to kill. The last time he was seen before his death was at the Blue Creek with Kyle Logan. Who do you think won that fight between the two?
P.S. Oh, and how does it feel sleeping with the enemy, Thelma?’
-Anonymous