Chapter 16 pt. 2

Nursing my new bruises, I sat up and looked around. Concrete floor, concrete block walls, exposed beams holding up the roof, shelves on the walls holding plastic storage containers, a push mower in a dark corner looking fairly neglected.

Logical conclusion; a garage at someone’s house.

“There was no need to be rough with her,” scolded what sounded like an elderly British woman. “I wanted her brought here, not kidnapped.”

I couldn’t see her behind the two men until she moved around them. With a wave of her hand toward them, I saw how they relaxed and became confused.

“Go home boys. You’ll feel better after you sleep it off,” she ordered, now looking me over carefully.

I was still on the floor, trying to figure out what was going on. The two men filed out, rubbing their arms as if they were cold, leaving the old lady and me alone in the space that suddenly didn’t feel big enough. She wore powder blue that would have matched the table from the first time I saw her. Her jeans were old and worn but there wasn’t much of them showing around the black rubber boots that reached her knees. Clearly, they didn’t belong to her but she had no problem wearing them. On top of her head she had a handkerchief tied to cover her curly cotton white hair, but her piercing blue eyes were what held my attention.

“You must take after your father,” she began, holding out a wrinkled hand to help me to my feet.

I got to my feet on my own, realizing that I towered over her by maybe a whole foot. “Are you Alizya then?” I asked, ignoring the fact that she may know my family.
She nodded. “I am and I apologize if they have hurt you. It was important that we speak in a secure place.”

“I have questions,” I blurted, not knowing what else to say. I was nervous.

“Of course dear. Come, we’ll talk over a good hot cup of tea,” she chimed, motioning for me to pass through the door that the men had. I went hesitantly.

Through the door the hall was brightly lit in comparison to both the garage with its one hanging fluorescent tube fixture and the market made for people with extraordinary senses. I had to blink against the brightness and trail my fingers along the wall to be able to move at all.

“The kitchen is to the right dear. The kettle is already on and the light should be easier on you.”

I followed her instructions and turned the corner, breathing a sigh of relief when the light finally changed. The kitchen was small but cozy, hosting a small wooden table with two chairs along with the normal appliances with the addition of a washing machine. On the table an electric kettle was bubbling. Two china teacups with saucers had been laid out at each place with a plate of cookies in the middle. Alizya motioned for me to sit in the corner of the room with my back to the wall. It wasn’t an ideal situation but it was safe enough. At least no one would come up behind me. I sat and she poured tea before sitting across from me and picked up her cup.
“Go ahead and ask your questions. I’ll answer what I can.”

Where did I start? I had so many questions. I bit my lip trying to come up with a starting point but I was having trouble. The silence between us stretched and I didn’t break it.

“Or I could just start with why I brought you here,” she suggested kindly.

I nodded silently, still chewing my lip.

“You are my granddaughter, Raven. I brought you here so that we might talk about your magical abilities. You may have noticed them starting to show.”

I stared at her in disbelief. Grandma? I was guessing she was my mom’s mother because dad’s family was in New York. Why had my mom never told me about her though? Why had she never come to visit?

“I understand that this is confusing, but it doesn’t have to be. That’s why I brought you here, you see. So that you can learn to control the power within you.”
Finally, I shook my head, not believing what she was saying. “You’re not making any sense. I don’t have magic or powers or anything. Maybe you have the wrong person.”

She smiled as if she had known I would make this argument. “No, I know you are the right person, Raven Elise Hart. Your mother is Annaliese and your great grandmother, whom you are named for, my mother, was Raven.”

I didn’t know I was named for someone but she did know mom’s name. Could she really be my family?

“I’m still not magical,” I squeaked, uncertain.

She sipped at her tea. “Actually, you managed to pause time without any training. That’s why I had to bring you here the way I did, after Mariella couldn’t convince you. Things are a bit tricky because of what you’ve become, but we can come to an arrangement, I’m sure.”

“I can’t stay here if that’s what you intend. I’m part of the Guard. I have a job to do.” Courage was finally making its way into my mind. How could I be a witch when I just found out I was a vampire?

“I do understand that. If Warren was to find out that you have power I’m not sure what he’d do. He is a very short-tempered sort. So please send Leo a message before things move out of hand.”

“What?” I blinked, taken aback by her request.

“Your lover. He is waiting for you to message him that you are okay.”

“How did you know that?” I asked nervously.

“Relax Raven. I have not been watching you long, or very much, in fact. I only wished to understand what you were like,” she explained after another calm sip of tea. Her tone and calm demeanor put me on edge.

“You’ve been watching me?” I accused, anger wanting to rise.

She didn’t answer me, she just watched me as she held her cup near her lips.

“Are you the reason I am missing three years of my memory?” I continued darkly, in almost a snarl.

Now she looked confused but I wasn’t going to take it.

“Don’t give me that. If you were watching then you should have seen that part too. Unless you did it and didn’t need to watch. Either way you would have already known that I’m missing three years of my memory and that I need it back,” I growled, hands clenched into fists.

Her expression went sad as if she pitied me. “Raven, I had no idea,” she said softly.

“You can bring them back though. With your magic or whatever.”

“Maybe. I will have to look for the right spell, but Raven, you have to understand that there has never been anyone like you. No witch has ever survived to become a vampire. Memory loss may be a side effect that no one could know about.”

I sighed, giving up on my anger and slouching back in the chair. “It’s not like I asked to be turned. I didn’t even know I was a witch.”

She watched me pull the new phone from my pocket and give it a sad look. I had landed on it when the great muscle mass threw me to the concrete floor. Mariella’s phone, on the other hand, was perfectly fine. I sat both on the table and sighed again.

“Drink your tea, dear. It will help you calm down,” she told me as she tapped a finger on my phone and suddenly all traces of the damage were erased.