Chapter 1
Erin stood up; wiping the rubble from her Abercrombie jeans. She felt like she was in a daze,
everything was moving in slow-motion; and her mind seemed to be elsewhere…
"Oh my God!" A woman shouted, just loud enough to break Erin out of the daze. Suddenly she heard
the wailing police sirens crying out like helpless alarms. Moments later, Erin recognized the woman to be her mother, who was obviously upset. But she couldn't make out why. Never before has her mind drawn a complete blank.
Erin quickly scanned her surroundings. She noticed that she was below everyone; as if
someone had (as if like a crater) hallowed out a circle of the earth’s crust. Erin was inside that crater, watching New York's civilians’ line up around its edge. (Or at least she assumed; she was still too astonished to turn around.)
"Get her out of there!" She heard her mom scream, and then, every voice faded into a
mush of excitement almost like they had been intellectually silenced; except for one man’s voice she could just vaguely hear. It didn't sound like anyone she knew, but more like an unknown civilian. Still, his words made her spine tingle, his voice kept in repetition mode.
"What's that… that thing behind her?!?!" The man’s voice repeated.
The reoccurring voice finally provoked her enough. It took all her will to look back.
Once her eyes glanced upon the “thing” behind her, Erin recalled what had transpired
only a few minutes ago. She remembered crossing the road (in which she did every Wednesday) to get to her dance class; when out of nowhere an object was falling towards her. Erin had felt frozen, as if she was petrified to the middle of the road. When the thing had barely missed her she felt herself sigh in relief, but the force had still thrown her back and she stumbled to the ground. But she had never really looked at it. And she had never seen such a thing in her lifetime.
A hill of ashes and remnants stood proud and tall before her. It acted as a mini-mountain
with steam cascading off of its greatness.
What was that? She peered closer. From what Erin knew, there was a blanket of ice
behind the thick layer of debris (and how she knew that she didn’t know) which was now brushing up against her cheek. By looking closely at the thing that had obviously crashed from elsewhere, she could tell that behind its outer layer of debris was ice, rock, and heaven knows what else… but she had a hunch that there was something else in there… Erin didn’t know where these hunches were coming from, but when re-evaluating her situation, she came across a trace of light emerging from the innermost of the mound; angling directly into her eyes. Or was it just her imagination? The thing did crash nearly on top of her, maybe she was hallucinating… no. She was sure. Yet no one else seemed to notice this. What were they looking at now? Her, probably. Erin did manage to be the only one to be near the location of the catastrophe at the time; which was highly unusual for rush hour in New York City…
She mentally un-muted the crowd in which she had silenced before, and started to pay attention to what involuntary actions the police and firemen were making right now. She could see some of them climbing down a hand-woven rope ladder, making their way down twenty-five rungs each of them a foot-long.
The firemen were jogging towards her. One in fact looked particularly young, maybe
about fifteen, only a year older than Erin, with honey-gold eyes that melted into his soft and warm expression. He asked her if she was okay.
Erin glanced once more at the steaming mound (in which was fogging up her vision) and
said to the fireman's clear mask. "Yeah, I'll be alright."
More than alright if you reconsider, Erin. A shadowy voice whispered. Follow the connection,
remember what you gave up. Reconsider! The voice was coming from inside of her mind. Behind
her eyes came a prickly feeling, and worst of all, was the immense headache that now numbed her whole head. She felt violated and petrified once again.
And that was when Erin fainted.
Chapter 2
Erin gasped and sat up straight. She just had yet another deviant dream. Lately, (even
before the crashing object disaster) her dreams had been interrupted by bits and pieces of her childhood memories. Some good… others, not so much. This dream hadn’t just been interfered, no. This was the whole dream; all of it plagued with childhood memories she relived and re-evaluated. And it wasn’t even a dream; it was more like a nightmare.
Erin looked around, she was in a hospital bed, in a box-like room that was covered in floral patterns. Erin always hated feeling contained, especially in a small room like this. She wasn’t claustrophobic, she knew that, but she hated feeling like she wasn’t free. She couldn’t get up and walk around, because of the IVs injected into her wrists, and she knew that they weren’t going to let her go right away. Her worst nightmare was to be forced to do something she didn’t want to do or have, or not to have free will, or worst of all… be a slave.
“She’s awake!” A woman’s voice announced.
Erin winced. That voice reminded her of the one that had intruded her head at the scene of the crash. Of course it couldn’t be, Erin thought. This voice was higher-pitched and sounded sincerely happy that she was awake.
“Oh honey, are you alright?” This was definitely not the same voice as the last. The voice in her head had more of a sing-song-like tone to it, with a trace of sarcasm. She told herself to relax and forced a smile.
“Yeah, mom. I’m good.” Their eyes made contact.
“I thought that I was gonna lose you.” She paused. Her eyes welling up. “They wouldn’t let me through… I felt so helpless…”
Erin tried to be brave, but she wanted to cry herself. “Where’s dad?” She invited.
Her mom wiped her eyes. “He’s on his way back.”
“But what about his big interview in Florida?”
“Well,” Erin sensed a presence spying on them. “You’re more important than his interview Erin.”
Erin fell back onto her pillow. “I ruin everything.”
“Erin…” She sighed. A nurse approached her mom from behind.
“Mrs. Gerald?” The nurse asked.
“Yes?” Her mom said trying to sound pleasant.
The nurse’s weight shifted. “Um, could you step-er-wait in the hallway for a moment, we just need her alone for a second.”
My mom looked confused. “Sure…” She stood up. “I’ll be right back, sweetie.” Then turned for the door.
This was the nurse that had announced her awakening. The sincere one…Erin hoped.
“How are you feeling Miss Gerald?”
Yep, Erin thought. Definitely not the voice in my head. She once again forced a smile. “Um, a little tired.”
“Really? You were unconscious for quite a while.”
Alarm filled Erin. “How long?”
The nurse, or as her name-tag claimed, Melissa, looked a little nervous. “Oh, um, about a day, maybe.”
“A whole day?!?!” Erin yelled a little too loudly.
“Yeah. So,” Melissa quickly changed the subject. “Are you in any pain? Do you need any painkillers?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, when can I leave?” Erin said, feeling even more contained and trapped.
“Right now.” Melissa said.
“Don’t we need to check out?” Erin was confused.
“I’ll take care of it.” The nurse said, removing the IVs swiftly. “I’ll get your mom.”
Erin sat there in silence. She looked at her clothes at the end of the hospital bed, and then glanced at her gown.
Ew, She thought. I’d better go change.
She walked to the little bathroom that was next to the exit door. It smelled of cinnamon and toothpaste. Once she finished dressing herself, she stared at her reflection in the sink mirror. She looked like she hadn’t slept all night, and had under-eye circles of a deep-purple color. There was dirt on every strand of her honey-gold hair and dirt splattered on her face. She decided to wash her hands. She thought that if the rest of her body couldn’t be cleaned at the moment, her hands might as well be.
She turned the hot nozzle and cold water poured out.
What the- Erin thought.
She hurriedly tried to turn it off. When she turned it in the other direction, hot water poured out, burning her fingers. She pulled away. Steam flowed into the room at a rapid pace, enough to make her vision foggy. Only boiling air ventilated the tiny area, making it harder and harder to breathe. She fell to her knees, panting, and gasping for clear air. She struggled for the doorknob but it had become locked.
A woman’s figure materialized in the steam. Her hair was carefully placed into a tight bun at the back of her head, and a gown of steam flowed to her transparent ankles. Erin screamed, and knew exactly that this was the woman in her head.
“They cannot hear you little one.” The figure said expressionless.
Erin must’ve had a pretty good look on her face because the woman laughed. “Wh-Who are you?” She managed.
The lady seemed to be amused again. “No need to get into any details my young, you’ve heard me before.”
Erin’s eyes widened and she stood to her feet. “You’re that voice in my head!” Erin tried purposely to play dumb, knowing that smart-alecks end up murdered or something…thank goodness she watches so many CSI: Investigation shows!
Erin stood up, raising her chin; fury welling up inside her. Why was she messing with her, anyways? What had she done to deserve this? She wasn’t sure, but she was going to find out.
“Why me?” Erin spoke through her teeth. Erin thought she saw a hint of disbelief in her eyes, but the lady quickly hid it with a huge grin.
“Why you?!?!” She laughed. “Erin, my sweet, you have what I need.”
Erin cracked, she wasn’t the one to be tough, she never was. “No I don’t!” She shrieked. “Please, please, leave me alone. I, I don’t even know who you are!” Erin fell to her knees again… the tough act wasn’t working out too well.
Once again the lady looked amused. “How can you not?”
“I-I” Erin stuttered.
“It’s not who I am, it’s more of who you’re not.”
Silence filled the room. Erin was still dangerously confused.
The lady sighed. “Just call me Madam Lydia aka,” She paused, searching for the right words. “Your patron. Oh, and you might want to go out the back.”
“Wait why?” Erin asked, but Madam Lydia had already evaporated.
Erin then bolted for the door which was now unlocked, and ran back to her bed. She felt like throwing up. She’s seen and heard too much.
Why me, why me? She chanted in her head, breathing heavily.
Her mom casually walked in the door.
Did she hear me scream? Erin thought the second her mom walked in. How long was I in there? It felt so long, yet so short.
Something Madam Lydia said ran across her min. “They cannot hear you little one.”
Who was this lady that she could stop time and mute sound? A pretty powerful one, thought Erin.
“So are you ready to go?” Her mom asked eyeing her.
“Yes.” Erin said almost immediately.
“You sure?”
“Positive, I just wanna get back home.”
Erin’s mom didn’t look too sure, but went with it anyway. She started to walk towards the main exit before Erin caught her arm.
“Let’ go out the back.” Erin gestured to the back corner where above the door frame; a little sign glowed red in capital letters “EXIT”.
“Why?”
“Just trust me.” Erin smiled faintly and they headed for the exit.
“Just trust me.” Erin smiled faintly and they headed for the exit.
Chapter 3
Madam Lydia was right. She later found out that there had been a mob of paparazzi waiting for her in the lobby. One of them figured she was dead and wrote an article about it. Luckily it didn’t make the cover, so she was okay. But she was still glad that she did go out the back. She hated being the center of attention. She often wondered how she didn’t die of embarrassment the day of the crash.
It’s been three days since then and Madam Lydia was nowhere to be found. Erin thought that maybe she could contact madam Lydia herself, but was too scared to try. Lately she’s been thinking she could trust her. I mean, she didn’t have anything against Erin. Plus she told her to go out the back! That was good advice!
But at the same time she was torn. Every time she considered trusting her, a vision (which comes from nowhere) just… appears in her mind. Each and every time, she is compelled to observe its sparkly scenes. It showed Madam Lydia waving her weightless arms in a fluid rhythm, sparks encircling her perfectly curved body. It was abnormal and had a strange mystifying control to it, but at the same time she was fascinated. She had so many questions.
Today was Sunday. Erin was lying in bed, thinking of the sparkly vision, and trying to sort out the weird things that had happened to her… as well as some of her normal and worldly problems.
She was twisting her hair, (a habit she was trying to shake) still thinking, when the doorbell rang. She bounced off her bed, and clumsily walked down the wooden steps. She didn’t bother changing, she probably figured it was another reporter wanting to interview her, and quite frankly, she didn’t care what she looked like lately, or what people thought of her. She had way bigger problems to deal with.
Usually her mom told her not to answer the front door and let her handle it, but her mom wasn’t home at the moment. She had to make up a day at the office for missing work unexpectedly on Friday, when she stayed home with Erin while she recovered. So now she was alone.
Erin cautiously opened the door.
She opened it wider once she realized who it was.
It was the fireman who had caught her when she fainted; the boy with dreamy hazel-ish eyes and smooth and easy face. She suddenly felt self-conscious.
What is that smell? She thought. Did I not put on deodorant? Are my pajamas too girly?
He smiled at her. And she strained a weak smile back.
“Uh, hi.” He said looking into her eyes. “I’m Daniel.”
“Um hey, what’s up?” Was that the best she could do? What do other girls say? Normal girls that is.
“I just wanted to see if you were feeling better. You weren’t at school.”
“You go to my school?”
He glanced down nervously. “Um, yeah. I’m in the high-school part of it that is.”
She must’ve given him a pretty crazy expression because he looked more nervous than ever now. Erin felt bad.
She cleared her throat. “Um, do you wanna come in? Maybe we can talk for a little bit.”
“Sure.”
Erin gestured him to the kitchen table which was littered with her mom’s files. She scooped them up with her forearms and placed them on the island.
“Do you want anything? Juice, cookies…”
“No thanks.” As he looked down at his shoes his naturally highlighted hair swept over his face. She didn’t need to see his eyes to know that he was nervous about something.
Why did I invite him in? I’m not dressed, it’s a mess in here, and I barely know him!!! What’s wrong with me? She thought while walking back to the table. He checked on me though! One good thing came out of all of this…
She returned her attention to the gorgeous boy sitting at her kitchen table, and once again tried to smile.
“So you’re okay then?” He asked.
“Uh yeah, er, totally. Never better.” She stuttered. “I’m kind of glad I got a day off of school. That was fun.”
“Cool, I just didn’t know, you said you were all right before too…”
She blushed. “Yeah, but, um…” She quickly changed the subject before it could lead to Madam Lydia. She didn’t think she was strong enough to tell anyone without bursting into unwanted sobs. “So I didn’t know that you were a fireman, that’s cool.”
He sat up a little straighter. “Well, I’m only a junior firefighter, but I still like it. During the time of the accident I was on duty so I got to go. Usually juniors don’t get to go on missions like that, but I got lucky.”
She couldn’t help but stare at him. He was just too good-looking…
She shook her head. “I want to thank you for catching me. I appreciate it.”
“No problem.”
“Um… so I guess you catch a lot of falling girls, huh?” Why did she say that?
He chuckled like he couldn’t believe what she’d just said.
Erin cleared her throat. “Um…”
Silence hung in the air, making Erin feel uncomfortable. Daniel’s eyes seemed to look at anything but her.
He eventually stood up and saved her from everlasting silence. “I actually have to get home. Homework.”
“Oh,” Erin felt disappointed… yet relieved from more embarrassing awkwardness.
He noticed her sad face. “But hey, do you wanna hang out sometime?”
“I’d love to, I mean, that sounds really…” She paused trying to calm herself. “When were you thinking?”
“I’ll call you.” Daniel said already walking out the front door. He waved and mounted his bike, headed to the city with a dazzling grin among his face. Making Erin dizzy with excitement.
Chapter 4
“Mom, do I have to? Everyone’s gonna ask me questions,” Today was Monday, Erin’s first day back at school since the crash. She didn’t want to go back in case Madam Lydia happened to show up there…. but she obviously couldn’t explain that to her mom.
“Sweetie,” Mrs. Gerald explained. “You have tons of friends and they miss you. If anyone asks you what happened that means that they’re concerned for you. You should take it as a compliment, even though it won’t be directly spoken…”
Erin sighed. This was so like her mom.
Her mom was the elementary school counselor and over-explained every one of her life’s crisis’… like a bad hair day for example. And Erin wasn’t in the mood for her lesson on other people’s behaviors. She’s had to deal with practice run-through guidance lessons, piles of bully-report forms clogging the living room, and even two-hour lectures about how anger leads to danger. But she couldn’t take the counselor-talk now.
“I just…” Erin paused and glanced at her reflection in a nearby mirror. She looked awful again. Distressed, aged, and … were all words to describe her right now. She took a second to take a deep breath and calm her expression. “Mom, you know how I hate having attention on me. I get nervous…remember my solo in the fourth-grade concert?”
Her mom looked away, referring to that…messy disaster. “You’ll be okay, just walk home if you don’t feel good.”
Mrs. Gerald checked her watch. “We have to go now if we don’t wanna be late.” She started walking to the door, her heels clicking behind her.
Erin groaned and ran after her.
It was a beautiful day. Clouds were nowhere in sight and the sun was pouring rays of heat onto beautifully outstretched flowers. Birds chirped their reoccurring song in the distance, echoing a peaceful melody. The air was crisp, a scent of jasmine wafting in the silent breeze. Erin longed for her life to be this way, peaceful, serene and warmed with joy.
“Erin, we’re here.” Her mother’s voice shook her out of her thought.
Her mom dropped her off right on time. For that, Erin was glad. She didn’t want to be the last one in and have even more eyes on her… maybe if she kept quiet all day…
She stepped out of her mother’s silver Cadillac, hoping no one would catch sight of her…
“Hey Erin!” Erin turned around to see Creg, who’s had a crush on her since the day she transferred schools. She didn’t like him back though. I mean, sure, he was cute and all, but he was just too self-centered. And she was raised to like guys for their actions… not how cute they are.
“Hi.” She little more than whispered. She cleared her throat. “What’s up?”
“Just wonderin’ how you were. I saw you on TV the other day. You looked awful.”
Panic flew across Erin. Then took a breath and smiled wryly. “Why thank you…” She said with fake sincerity. “Bye.” She started to walk away.
Somehow Creg got lost in the crowd. Erin got lucky that time. Usually he wouldn’t stop bothering her.
She looked at the front entrance with the letters BYRON MIDDLE SCHOOL shining in the light of the sun. Everything seemed new to her, changed even.
Other people had said hi to Erin, but she had been tuning them out all the way to her first-period class. She knew that Madam Lydia was going to show today, but didn’t know when. How could she get away? If she didn’t, then people would think she was crazy and have her sent to a psychiatrist, or worse…her mom.
The school hires security guards to stop kids from ditching. Some got away…most didn’t. So she couldn’t run. Faking an illness is another way to go, but that would mean she’d have to actually throw up. And she can’t force herself to do that. She couldn’t just lock herself in a bathroom stall and pretend she didn’t even come to school at all because Creg and other kids already saw her today. She finally decided to just attend her classes. Maybe she’ll get lucky and find Madam Lydia sitting on her bed when she walks into her bedroom after school. But why did she sense something was wrong?
She forced her feet to her first-period class, which happened to be her least favorite subject, science.
Erin silently sat in the back of the room, next to the class lizard, Berkley. Who smelled of something Erin couldn’t make out…She crinkled her nose in disgust.
Rrrrring.
The final bell rang indicating that the day has begun.
Here we go, She thought.
Mrs. McGillis walked into the room, her frizzed hair bouncing to her mid-back, loosening its unnatural curls. Her face was plastered with make-up. She reminded Erin of a wax figurine found at a museum exhibit.
“Mornin’ class.” She sighed. “Get out your notes on Symbiosis we took last Friday.”
“Crap,” Erin muttered to herself. She forgot to ask her mom to pick up her homework and lessons for when she was gone.
“What was that Miss Gerald?” Mrs. Mcgillis asked with a questioning look. Erin was surprised. For a teacher that never paid attention, Mrs. Mcgillis had an excellent sense of hearing.
Erin cleared her throat. “Umm, well I wasn’t here when we took the notes…so…”
Mrs. Mcgillis seemed suddenly bored of the conversation. “And why is that?”
Uh, oh. Erin thought. This was the one thing that Erin didn’t want to happen, was for her to be questioned about why she wasn’t at school or what happened during the crash. Erin thought she was gonna pass out right here on the spot.
And then the bell rang, saving her.
Mrs. Mcgillis looked at the time, obviously confused. The class seemed to share her confusion and everyone looked simultaneously up at the clock. But there it was, 8:40, time for class to end.
Erin was the first to leave. She clumsily threw her bag over her shoulder and rushed out of the room.
Chapter 5
Once she got to the bathrooms she exhaled.
She closed the door lightly and locked it with a tiny click. She kicked open all of the stalls with her foot, checking to see if anyone was in there; luckily, no one was. She turned off the lights and stumbled back to one of the stalls. She sat down cautiously, hoping not to fall in, and took a deep breath. Putting her hands to her head, she sat there, concentrating.
She knew now that she had to summon Madam Lydia herself. She didn’t like it that Madam Lydia was tampering with time. It just wasn’t right…
Erin wasn’t exactly sure how she could summon Madam Lydia. But she did her best anyways.
The sparkly vision was the best connection she had to Lydia. She envisioned herself as Lydia, the feeling of power now coursing in her veins, and tried thinking like her. Maybe, if Erin could strengthen the connection between the two of them, she could easily call to Lydia with her mind. She remembered her say to “follow the connection”; maybe, this is what she meant.
Foreign memories of greatness came to mind, and Erin quickly fused them with her own feelings and memories of success. She knew the foreign memories were Lydia’s and knew the connection was growing stronger. She could feel it. It was working.
A rush of darkness started to flood the corners of her mind then, as searing pain shot to her head. She gripped her head harder, and took deeper and deeper breaths. Moments later, the pain died away and she felt the presence of Lydia. She dropped her hands from her head.
“So, Erin. I see you have learned how to summon me, that’s good.” A voice said through the darkness of the bathroom.
Erin rushed to switch the lights on, hoping that by the time she could see, that Madam Lydia would still be here.
She wrestled the lock on the stall until the door flew upon. She ran to switch the light.
“No need to hurry darling, I’m still here.” Lydia said, smiling; fog rolling down her dress like a waterfall. “So why did you summon me here?” She asked sincerely.
Erin took a breath. “Well, I need to know who you are, what you are, why you’re my ‘patron’, where you came from, why now, what is happening, what the thing that fell from the sky was, what you-”
“Erin, if I told these things, then what fun would it be? I told you to remember what you gave up, remember?” She interrupted. When Erin didn’t respond she sighed. “Okay. You want to know who I am?”
Erin nodded furiously.
“Well, technically,” She began, not hesitating into the conversation. “I am the magical side or part of you, and I have all the qualities you don’t have. Like opposites.”
“Huh?” Erin wasn’t sure she wanted to hear more. “What do you mean? I remember that you said to think of you as more of who I’m not… what does that have to do with you being a part of me?”
“Like I said, I am who you’re not. I am the exact opposite of you in every magically and humanly possible way. Does that make sense Erin?”
She shook her head. “What do you mean, magical?”
She laughed. What could possibly be funny about this? “You were possessed with magic when you
were a child. But your body and mind rejected it for some reason and it became separate. It was always
there, but still you didn’t notice it. You must have forgotten about it because you released it when you were
so young.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Erin said, trying to wrap her head around this. “That independent magic is-
is…you?”
“Yep,”
“Wait,”
“What?”
Erin started to pace the colored tile. “You said I was ‘possessed with magic’… by who?”
“You were possessed by the universe itself.”
“Huh?”
“Here,” Madam Lydia said, as if she were explaining it to a child. “Look at it this way,.. If
all the names in the universe were put into a giant hat for a drawing, whoever got chosen got to
have magic. Just trust me. The system works itself out.” Then added. “Magic is given to
someone when the last person who possessed it died. So only one person in the
universe can have magic at a time.”
“S-so I got chosen? When I was a kid? An-and I rejected it?” Erin said, having a hard
time saying everything out loud.
“Yep, but just because you rejected it, doesn’t mean that it rejects you. So it has to stay
with you until you die; and since it was a part of you, you lost a part of you. One half to be
exact.” Madam Lydia said matter-of-factly.
“But if we’re the same person,” Erin said, now wondering how long it will be before
someone wants to use the bathroom. “How come you said to think of you as my patron?”
“Because, I think that magic should be dominant, and the human part of the soul should
obey the demands of the magical part. It’s easy enough to control though, so if the human didn’t want to
use it at a certain time, they don’t have to.”
“Oh. So what does the dominant magic want? It said that I had something it didn’t…”
Erin said.
Madam Lydia decided to play along. “Well, actually it said that you have something it
needs...But anyways, it needs a body. I need a body.” She said gesturing to her ghost-like
appearance. “I need to rejoin with the other half of my soul.”
“Your soul?” Erin snapped. “You mean my soul! And what makes you think that I’ll let
magic back into my body? There must have been some reason why I didn’t want it when I was
younger!”
Madam Lydia’s eyes were twitching with hate but she quickly changed the expression to
plead. “But, you were so young Erin! How did you know what was best for yourself at one year
of age?”
“I’m not sure…” Erin admitted.
“You see?” Madam Lydia said. “You didn’t. How about you reconsider?”
“Let me think about it.” Erin compromised. “And if I need you, you’ll come?”
“Yes.” Madam Lydia agreed.
“Okay,” Erin said looking around. “Wait, how come whenever we talk, it’s in a
bathroom?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s private?” And with that, she disappeared in a cloud of
fog, leaving Erin by herself.
Chapter 6
The rest of the day went by in a blur. When Erin had unlocked the door of the bathroom, she ran
into the rush of students walking to their next classes. The time was 8:41. Madam Lydia had stopped time
again. Erin shuddered then, knowing it was her fault.
Erin continued on with her classes for the rest of the day, not paying attention to any the
lessons. Her heart didn’t even pound when she got in trouble for her lack of attention. Detentions didn’t
worry her now… nothing that was a part of her old life did. She knew she had to pursue the training of
magic, as she was destined to do… but did she want to? She wasn’t sure; and it’s not like she can ask her
mother for help! Erin, knowing that, lost hope. She needed help! Who could she even ask-
“Erin? Can I talk to you a sec?” A voice said from behind her.
Erin was walking down the hallway, it was study hall now and she decided that pacing was her best
bet to find answers. Plus, pacing did give her a sense of calm.
She turned around slowly, knowing who it was. “Daniel, um, I don’t know if now’s a good time-”
“Please,” He said interrupting her. “I’m sorry I haven’t called yet… but it’s pretty important.”
Erin, wondering curiously what his news could be, said yes. And planned to meet him right outside
the school when the final bell rang.
She couldn’t help but notice the worry lines upon his face, giving his expression a sense of panic.
Madam Lydia’s glowing features came to mind, and gave Erin a feeling that she was involved. Something
magical was up, which gave Erin a desperate plea for help. If Daniel got hurt because of her, she would
never forgive herself. Nothing was worse than the feeling of guilt and regret, a feeling that was always
there, always hiding in the shadows of your heart, waiting to be brought back. It made you feel useless
knowing there was nothing you could do to reverse it. Erin’s dad came to mind. He was on his way back
from a huge interview that he worked hard to get, and just blew it off because she ran into a little trouble.
She hated it, knowing that people would sacrifice things for her, when she was the one who could use her
magic wrong, and destroy something…or someone in a blink of an eye without proper training. But that
was if she even chose to have powers. If she didn’t choose to possess them…no, she couldn’t. Then Lydia
could use them for whatever. Throughout the day, Erin’s wondered why Lydia hadn’t used Erin’s power
before (besides the times when she stopped time…). Erin thought that maybe Lydia was trying to gain
Erin’s trust, by making her think that magic was easy to handle. But it couldn’t be! Having that much power,
without telling anyone had to be harder than Lydia wanted her to believe…
When Daniel left, all she did was stand there and think. She slumped against the lockers, her
pacing wasn’t working. This much thought could not be good for a fourteen-year old. Her head started to
hurt. After dismissing the thought of Lydia, she thought of the thing that had crashed nearly on top of her
only a few days ago.
How did that fit into the situation? She thought.
But it had to connect to Lydia or magic or something somehow. Erin remembered how her first
impression was how it seemed magical, because of the golden beam that had emerged from the top of the
sphere. A regular asteroid didn’t do that, did it? It couldn’t, a normal asteroid also would’ve landed on her,
or blown her up, or blasted her away… yet it didn’t. Coincidence? Erin didn’t think so.
Chapter 7
The bell rang, Erin decided to leave her backpack in her locker, not wanting to run back to her
locker to get it. She didn’t think she had homework, well, she didn’t know considering she didn’t pay any
attention in her classes…
She started walking to the main exit. Once outside, she started to look for Daniel. People pushed
past her, trying to get to the buses lined up along the sidewalk. She decided to move to the side. As she
weaved throughout the mob of people, she felt someone grab her wrist and pull her along towards the
grass. She couldn’t see who it was within the chaos, but she knew that it was Daniel who had found her.
Once they reached the side of the building, she looked into Daniel’s eyes. They were golden,
and again, the look of worry was within them.
“Erin, Erin what is going on?” He asked her, using his arms for exaggeration.
She shook her head. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” He said roughly. “Some ghost lady appeared in the hallway today!” He threw his hands
up in exasperation.
“Lydia,” Erin muttered under her breath. She cleared her throat. “Um, did she say anything?”
“You actually believe me? You think that it’s normal for a ghost to be in the hallway?” He was out of
breath, like he’d jogged his way here.
“Dan, Dan, calm down. Sh-she’s not a ghost.” Erin said as calmly as she could.
“Huh?” He stared at her with his sparkling gold eyes, his expression completely lost.
“She’s a-” She paused, searching for the right words. “She’s my magic. I decided I didn’t want
magic when I was a kid, so she follows me…everywhere.”
He stared at her for a long time, so long, that Erin wasn’t sure if he was going to say anything at all.
“You don’t have to make fun of me Erin. I know what I saw.” He started to walk away, turning his back on
Erin in obvious anger.
“Wait, Daniel! I do believe you! I was serious!” She yelled. But he was gone, and there was not
point in running after him; he had started to jog.
Erin’s eyes welled up with tears, her vision blurring. The one and only person she ever had a crush
on who actually liked her back, was now gone. He probably never wanted to talk to her again, and if she
did, he would end up thinking that she was crazy anyways. She knew that this was Lydia’s fault. She knew
that Lydia wouldn’t just randomly materialize in a hallway coincidentally where her crush was. She had a
motive, and Erin knew exactly what it was.
“Lydia!” She called to the sky. “Come out! I know you’re here!”
Madam Lydia appeared at that moment, smiling. She had an amused look on her face, almost like she heard her entire conversation with Daniel.
“What?” said Lydia in almost a bored tone.
“You know what, Lydia.” Erin spat.
“Fine, fine.” Lydia admitted. “So are you going to accept the magic now, Erin? Or are you going to make me threaten you again?”
“Again?” Erin yelled. “You didn’t threaten me! A threat means you have to warn me first, you didn’t! You just went right along and purposely make Dan think that he saw a ghost. What? Did you think that since he was mad at me, I now have almost nothing to tie me down so that I can travel and learn about magic with you? And if I did go after him, he would still be mad at me or think that I was crazy, so either way, you think that I’ll have to come back to you! Well, what makes you so sure that I’ll accept the magic?”
Lydia held up a hand as a sign for Erin to stop there. “Like I said Erin, I’ll just have to threaten you. You said you have almost nothing to tie you down here… would you like to have nothing?”
Erin thought of her parents.
She would really kill my parents just to get me to train in magic? Thought Erin.
That really made Erin think about how serious her gift was. Maybe she should take it. It’s probably the only way to keep her parents safe. And, since it would be inside of her, Madam Lydia wouldn’t exist. Madam Lydia was only created because the magic didn’t have a form, and nothing can exist without a form or a personality or whatever, right?
Erin spoke hesitantly. “Okay…I’m… I mean I think that…. I’m… ready to…accept my…magic now.”
Madam Lydia grinned. “Good. I’m glad to hear it finally.”
Chapter 8
Madam Lydia’s form swirled in a mixture of sparks and fog, funneling into a contained sphere of color. The sphere started to drift towards Erin. She thought it was going to bounce off of her, but instead went through her. Erin shrieked a little and watched in horror as it crept slowly through her. Suddenly, she felt a burst of energy rush through her, her mouth tasting a little of burnt metal. She glanced down at her hands, having the sudden urge to wave them in the air, like paintbrushes streaking a canvas. She felt, above all, more powerful, confident, like anything was possible. Actually, everything was possible now. Well, it will be after she trains…
After I train, Erin thought. But why do I have to train?
Erin realized, with her newly found confidence; that she could do whatever she wanted. No one else on Earth had magic, they can’t tell her how to use it, or how to train it or even to train it.
But in the back of her mind, she sensed a presence. A presence that seemed to be lurking back there in the shadows of her mind.
Be careful, Erin, Said the voice that had started this in the first place. Power chooses its owner and can also make its own decisions. It can only move on if the owner dies, and that can be arranged. Remember the asteroid, Erin. Remember to train. I’ll always be here, wherever you go.
Hope had left Erin by the end of Lydia’s reminder. She had to train. She wasn’t going to travel the world or anything, though. But she wasn’t going to go after Daniel either, she was too afraid of the power that could control her. Maybe that would be enough for Lydia, she sure hoped so. But one thing still got her, the asteroid. She had a feeling that her death, if she didn’t cooperate with Lydia’s demands, had something to do with the asteroid. Lydia had a plan, because she obviously hated Erin.
Erin felt completely contained again. And not because she was inside a small space, no. This time she was outside, and she felt completely enslaved to Lydia. She felt forced into this. Life wasn’t fair at all. She had lost her crush that could’ve been her boyfriend, and lost her free will to a sphere inside of her. She would continue on to protect her friends and family by training with spell books and whatnot, and if worse comes to worst, she would go to the asteroid, seeking death. That would be a relief though, at least in death you can’t be used…
