Chapter Eight

We were all in the dining room eating when all the mess with me started. Not a word was being said since Zirc's blow-up and Taylor running after her. A few minutes after they left a young girl introduced as Rose entered the dining room. I started to get this tired, confusing, and sickening feeling, so I left to go to my room to lie down. The only word I heard as I left the room was a 'hi' from Rose. When I hit the bed I tried to take a short nap.

It turns out that my short nap turned out to last well into the next day. During my sleep, I had a bunch of disturbing dreams. But only one of them stuck out in my mind. It started where I saw myself, as I am now. Then a stream of lightening came out of nowhere and hit me. From the spot where the lightening shot from came myself as I looked when I was part of Medwin's gang. I had longer hair than it is now and it had electric blue streaks through it. My eyes were total black, and when I got mad people said you could almost see lightening in them. Lastly, I had a very dark and scary look to me.

Well, the blast knocked the wind out of the good one. As he slowly perished at the hands of the evil one; he released a tornado-like blast that absorbed into the evil one. Then the good one vanished.

When I woke up I saw Lana cowering in the corner of the room staring at me. So I turned and looked in the mirror. I saw the one thing I never wanted to see again. The evil side of myself. I got up and ran outside, where I released my power. I turns out I had the power of lightening, my power from when I was evil. After I released it I heard a noise behind me. It was Zirc. She just stared at me. Then she said, "Is there anything I can do to help you?" "Just keep those three brothers out of my way and I should be fine. You don't know what I might do when I look like this," I warned her.

A couple of hours later... "Eli, there is nothing we can do. You are stuck like that. Also, you still have your wind power alongside your lightening one. You are going to have to get rid of the wind or it will kill you," Maeve said seriously. "I know who I will give it to," I stated. I turned to Isaac and shot the same wind that The Good Eli shot at the Evil One before he vanished forever. Isaac was the new wind sorcerer now.

As I watched Eli sleep, he slowly transformed into the evil Eli. He scared me so badly that I cowered into the nearest corner. I was afraid to move, and my thoughts went completely blank. Eli hurt anything and everything in his way when he was evil, and I was afraid it had returned.

Rose had this aura around her. I couldn't quite make out what color it was, but it seemed to be a mix of the good and the bad. Her very presence seemed to make flowers wilt, but her name was Rose. I couldn't help wonder if she, too, once had a dark past.

As Eli gave his power of wind up, his face had a look of happiness and sadness at the same time. I didn't think he would like giving up a power that had made him good again.

Well, as Isaac's power started to grow on him, Taylor and Zac started to whine about not having a power themselves. So, one night, Maeve took us sorcerers (Eli, Zirc, and I. Isaac wasn't a total sorcerer yet) into a room, the magic room, we called it, and unleashed the powers of water and earth. Zirc and I had a quick discussion, and it was decided that Taylor would have the gift of earth, and Zac, my best friend, would have the gift of water.

The next morning, I took Zac up to the hill, near where my body is buried. I told him everything I knew about the power of water, for I had a special place in my mind where the gift of water was stored. Finally, that night, I gathered up all my energy and slowly unleashed the power of water. Zac closed his eyes as the gift slowly entered him and slowly left me.

When I was finished, we both opened our eyes to find that around an hour had past. Zac looked excited to try out his new power, and I allowed him to, but asked him to aim at me. All at once, I felt the coolness of the sea water splashing over my shoulders with such force to break every bone in a human's body. I stood still, though. It seemed odd to not be hurt when something like that could kill you, but I also felt like the light had been restored into my heart.

Zac had an Uh-oh-I-did-something-wrong-and-I-know-it look on his face, but I just smiled and calmly said, "Great job for your first try!!" His face lit up like the dawning of a new morning. Me, being me, took advantage of this moment and snapped my fingers, and thought, 'PINK!'. The next thing I knew, Zac's hair was pink. This was turning out to be quit a cool day!!

"Turn it back..." you know who growled. *snap* Back to the same boring old blond...

As we started the journey back towards home, Zac took my hand into his. He started to lean towards me, as if to kiss me. Then, in my mind, I heard a slight giggle, and knew that it didn't belong to my sister. Then, it hit me.

"Hey Zac? What is Rose's gift again?" I asked as calmly as I could. "The gift of love." Zac answered. Uh oh.. I thought. I needed to get out of this. But how? I wished with all my might that I could be somewhere else besides this.

I heard thunder all around me. My first thought was, uh oh, thunder storm! But then, I heard a laugh so evil it shook my very soul. Eli. How did I get here? Then I remembered. I'm dead. DUH, I said to myself. I could vanish in and out of places. Hmm... I wanted to go back to Zac, but I also wanted to kill Rose for playing with my best friend's heart like that. I chose Rose first.

"Rose...." I stepped towards her. "Lana! Where... How.... Uh, why are you here?" She stuttered nervously. "Take that spell you put on Zac and out it on a pig, will ya?" I ordered. "Fine.... sheesh... You try to have a little fun..." Then I wished back to Zac. "Hey, where did ya go?" he asked. "To the depths of time and back..." I answered, and, for the first time, without a smile on my face.

Zirconia paced back and forth across the floor of my room, her white eyes full of worry. "Why are you so tense?" I asked her, my eyes following her every move. She stopped and stared at me for a moment before resuming pacing the carpet. "Eli. Why is he evil again? It doesn't make sense. And what's up with this Rose chick? She just showed up here one day. And it seems like she hasn't left since." I shook my head, then stood up. Walking over to where she was standing, gazing out my window, I gently slid my arms around her waist and rested my chin on her shoulder.

"It is weird," I agreed with a sigh. "But what do you mean, evil again?" Zirc's muscles tightened, and she turned to face me. "Tay, Eli was evil before. He looked the same as he does now, not how he used to look. He had his lightening power instead of his wind power. But he was also part of Medwin's gang." "Medwin? He's that evil guy, right?" I questioned. Zirc nodded her head solemnly.

"Medwin. . . I'm not supposed to know this, but Medwin has been pressuring Eli recently. Medwin wants Eli to rejoin his evil side, for what reason I have no clue. But Eli has been refusing, so I'm afraid Medwin is out to get him, somehow." I gave Zirconia a comforting hug, then whispered into her ear. "If you can find all that out by reading him, read him now and see what's up." Her ears perked up a little at my suggestion. "Good idea!" she exclaimed, escaping my arms. She stood in the center of the room and closed her eyes, concentrating on her task.

"This is so weird... he has all his evil traits back. Except even he doesn't know why. He spends his time wandering around, trying to be alone so he can avoid accidentally on purpose hurting one of us. He's afraid that if he tries to let one of us help him, he may slip and do something he'd regret." Zirc's eyes opened, and I could see they were bright yellow. "Zirc, calm down. There has to be a reason he's acting like this!" I did my best to comfort her, but it was obvious nothing was helping.

'Zirconia, Taylor, please join us in the dining room.' Maeve's message reached us, and we instantly turned to leave. I took her hand in mine as we descended the stairs, and she gave me a grateful smile.

I allowed Taylor to slip my hand in his as we walked downstairs, and gave him a grateful smile. He was always so supportive; I don't know what I'd do right now without him. Everyone in the house was sitting around the dining room table when we entered, chattering lively. Eli sat by himself, away from the others. Tay and I sat down in our chairs, and everyone grew quiet when Maeve entered the room.

"Lana, why are you soaking wet?" Maeve inquired. Zac turned crimson, and Lana's laugh floated through the room. "Zac was testing his power," she replied simply, squeezing her hair. Maeve nodded knowingly, then a smile spread across her face. "As you all know, Caly has left us. With the vacant space in the house, I decided it couldn't hurt to take in someone new. I'm sure you've all met Rose, who has been hanging around the house for the past few days. As it turns out, Rose's mother is an old friend of mine, and I took it upon myself to offer to take her in. She has moved her belongings into Caly's old room, and I expect everyone here to treat her with respect and kindness, as you do each other."

Taylor and I stared at each other, looks of shock spreading across our faces. He spoke to me telepathically. 'After dinner, read her. Something's up.' I nodded to him, and focused my attention back to Maeve.

"She's what?!" Taylor exclaimed. His blue eyes grew wide, and I walked to where he was standing. "I can't believe I didn't pick up on it before. Or why Lana hasn't said anything. That's part of her power; she should know!" My thoughts were pouring out of my mouth before I could stop them. Taylor took a deep breath and nodded his head. "We should tell Maeve," he began. "Do you think she'd believe us if we did?" I interrupted, giving him a strange look. "This is something we're going to have to take care of on our own. But first, you need your power." It was only then I realized Taylor was the only Hanson left without power, so I walked over to where he was standing.

"As the Sorcerer of Earth, you need to be aware of what your powers can do before you receive them." Taylor listened carefully. "As the Sorceress of Fire, you've seen what I can do. Earth is just about the same, as is Wind and Water. You can create earth." Taylor's face fell. "So, while Zac gets to create floods, and Ike can create hurricanes and tornados, and you can create huge fires that destroy anything and everything, I'm stuck with dirt?" I couldn't help but laugh at his explanation. "That's about right, Tay. So along with your earth power, Maeve agreed to let me give you an additional specialty."

Now he seemed interested. "This power is one only great sorcerers and sorceresses may possess, but Maeve thinks you can handle it. The bearer of this power must be strong-willed and have faith in themselves, along with their family and friends, among other things." Taylor's blue eyes crinkled. "What exactly is it?" he asked, growing unsure. I raised my arms. "Taylor, shut up. Don't speak, move, or do anything until I say to." Making sure he obeyed, I closed my eyes and chanted in a slow monotone. The power Maeve had given me earlier that day was slowly released to Taylor, and I felt a small weight being lifted from my shoulders. Carrying that power made me nervous, it was so strong.

"Ok. Relax. You are now the holder of extreme magic. This power gives you the ability to overcome any obstacle another sorcerer may give to you. If I were to shoot you with flame, all you would have to do is concentrate. Your concentration enables you to create a stronger, larger flame back at me. Along with this power, I have given you your earth, so please don't get them mixed up when you start to experiment." Taylor sighed as he stood. I knew we both felt totally drained.

"But how is this going to help us with Rose?" he asked me. I buried my face in my hands, shrugging my shoulders. "Now that earth, fire, wind, and water are all possessed, the four of us can raise hell if we want. And, if she's as evil as I think, it may become necessary."

Everyone has been wondering why I am here. Maeve has given them a perfectly logical explanation, but I still think that they are curious to find out more. I made a big mistake by letting Taylor know that I knew his name right when I met him. I wish I would have thought more clearly. I have the slightest feeling that Zirconia and Taylor don't like me, but that's just a feeling so I can't be sure. I just better make sure that I don't get myself in even deeper trouble with them. I'm glad that my mother was good friends with Maeve. But I'd rather not say anything about my mother because she died from the bubonic plague.

I was just sitting up in my room when Maeve knocked on my door. "Oh, hi Maeve," I said. "Hi Rose," she replied "I was just checking on how you are adjusting to your life here." "Well I think it's ok so far but....well....I just don't think anyone likes me yet, and I really like them! They are the nicest bunch of people I've ever met!" I said, trying to suck up to Maeve. "Well, they'll like you, just give them time. It takes a while to get used to people. Try your hardest to get along with them and I'm sure they'll like you," Maeve replied, trying to make me feel better. I got up and walked out of my room and into the bathroom. It was the only place where I could telepathically talk to Medwin with out anyone picking up on the conversation. "Hi, Medwin this is Rose. Um...I haven't found very much out yet but.. um....I will so just hang on and I will, just give me a few days. Well I better go before anyone wonders where I’ve gone". Then I heard a soft knock on the bathroom door.

"Rose, you have to come out, I need to show you something," Maeve said softly. How did she know I was in here? I thought. "What do you want to show me?" I asked with tears in my eyes. It was just then that I started thinking about my mother again. “I wanted to show you this gold necklace that your mother gave me when we were children," Maeve said, handing it to me. I took a good look at it. It had a small heart on it, and there was a little inscription that said, "I will always be with you".

I handed it back to Maeve and ran to my room and locked my door. I started crying my eyes out and repeating "I will always be with you". The thing about my mother's death was that she had only died about 3 weeks ago.

About an hour later I emerged from my room. I went to Maeve and asked if I could have the gold necklace that my mother had given her. She said to me "I'd love to give it to you but......" "But what?" I asked. "But, well, I guess I'll give it to you, it was just a memento of our childhood, I'll get it shined up and then give it to you," Maeve said, sounding disappointed.

I walked down the staircase and heard Taylor and Zirconia talking. Then he reached over and gave her a long kiss on the lips. I went up to them and made gagging noises, mainly because of jealousy. "Someone, quick, come here help me pry them apart, I think they crazy glued their lips shut!" I said giggling. Zirconia gave me a dirty look. Everyone except Maeve ran in the room and looked puzzled. "What's going on in here?!" Lana said. "Is there a problem?" Maeveasked, hurrying into the room.

"No, Maeve, there’s nothing wrong. Except ROSE IS INVADING OUR PRIVACY!!" Taylor put a little more emphasis on those last words than was needed. As I ran out of the room in tears I said, "I'm packing up and leaving on a boat to my Aunt Jennifer's house right now!" I got up to my room and slammed the door. My only picture of my mom and I came crashing down off my wall. "I hate this life, I hate Medwin, I hate Maeve, I hate everyone here, they don't care about me at all!!!" I said out loud to myself hoping that everyone would be able to hear me. Then I unlocked the door and called Maeve to my room. She said to me, "Honey, don't worry I like you, and like I told you before just give them their time and space and soon you'll be like best buds. Ok?"

"You don't understand! No one here loves me or cares about me, I'll stay, but only for a few days. I'll stay forever if people learn to treat me like a friend," I said trying to make myself loud and clear. Maeve left the room in search of all of the others. I knew that I was Medwin's spy but I couldn't help feeling the slightest twinge of regret. I could have come here just to have someone to look after me and to learn how to use my powers more wisely, but instead I came here trying to find out these people's weak spots and slightest flaws. I put on my night clothes and went to the desk beside my bed. There's something I do every night before I go to sleep. I write down anything I want to remember or anything that I have on my mind. Today I wrote down:
1) Remember to spy better
2) Remember to quit my spying job
3) Try to become friend's with EVERYONE!! Especially Lana and Zac.
4) Buy more quill pens.

As soon as I was satisfied with my list, I convinced myself that someday and somehow I would quit working for Medwin. I picked up my picture and climbed into bed. I set the picture on my desk, gently kissed it and said, "I will always be with you". When I fell asleep the only thing that was on mind was the reason I turned to Medwin. He and my mother were secret lovers when they were younger, and he vowed to take care of me.

Contents
Home