“Well, I suppose that’s part of it.But a better example would be what happened last night,” Principal Saint’s tonehad softened. “You see all of the things that happened before, when your schoolflooded, or burned down, or you made a trashcan explode in the theater, oh yes,we know about that, those were all manifestations of your magic. Eden, you haverefused to use your powers, you continue to ignore their very existence.Because of that, the magic builds up inside of you and forces you to use it inless than ideal situations. Last night when you finally used your magic,instead of letting it explode meaninglessly, you saw what it could finally do;what you could finally do.”
“You’re saying all of the terriblethings I have caused could have been avoided if I had been using my magic allalong?” I cringed as I used the word “magic;” as if it were a real thing. “Allof this could have been avoided if we would have just had this conversation along time ago?” I was livid. I thought about the three schools I closed downbefore Kingsley and winced, knowing it could all have been prevented.
“You’re right, dear,” Aunt Sylrubbed my back gently, in an attempt to soothe my boiling anger. “We had noidea those things would happen though. And we certainly never expected them tokeep happening. You see, you are the first of your kind to ever be raisedapart. We knew the magic would manifest eventually, we planned to deal with itwhen the time came. When it did appear however, it was so much stronger then wecould ever have anticipated. We weren’t quite sure what to do, and wedefinitely weren’t sure if it was safe to integrate you into your kind. Finallywe made the decision to send you to Kingsley, but it was a last resort, andeven then you were in such strong denial. Magic was happening all around you,people were constantly reading your thoughts and you still refused to see thetruth about who you are. We were not sure how to approach the subject.”
“Why would you talk to me at all,when you could just send a group of dangerous men to try to kill me? Iunderstood that message loud and clear!” I said sarcastically. I knew that Ishould be asking other questions, more important questions, more realisticquestions, but I couldn’t get over the fact that all of this time I could haveavoided destroying everything I touched.
“Please don’t be angry Eden; we hadno idea that would happen,” Aunt Syl looked as if she was going to cry and Iinstantly regretted my outburst.
“She’s right, child,” PrincipalSaint glanced at the doorway and then back at me. “I don’t believe those menever meant you harm. And I would never have let you go on that trip had I knownthat you would be involved. We assume that they were after Kiran and Kiranalone; you, unfortunately for your attackers, were there to teach them alesson.” He half grunted a laugh and gave me a wink. “Eden, in my wildestdreams, I never imagined your magic would manifest so powerfully. At this pointI am unsure what you are even capable of; but I do know that you are very, verypowerful. It is time that you learned how to use your magic, not just for yoursake, but for Kingsley’s sake as well,” his grin had turned a bit mischievous.
“So what am I then, some sort of Witch?”I asked, still not losing my sarcastic edge, but softening my tone a little.
“Yes, I think that you are a Witch,”I almost laughed, but realized that Principal Saint was completely serious.“Moreover though, you are an Immortal,” he said the word with a deep reverence,and I knew instantly, that this word…. “Immortal” meant something greater thanI could comprehend.
“Immortal?” I asked in a whisperedbreath.
“Yes, an Immortal. We are yourpeople, you’re kind. You are not human as you have been raised, you are anImmortal,” every time he said the word an electric pulse surged through myveins and I was struck with the same reverence that Principal Saint spoke with.
“So I am a Witch that livesforever?” a small part of me began to believe him.
“Well, the real sense of the wordImmortal was taken from us a long time ago, but yes, you possess the attributesin which describe a Witch. The way you are able to control or create events andcircumstances with your thoughts, the powers that you possess, all point to Witch-likeattributes. Or as our people call your kind: the Lamia. It is just another termfor Witch though,” he gave me a genial smile. I found myself slightly out ofbreath, my head spinning. I could hardly understand his words, but the harderpart to understand was that I actually did believe him.
“The term Immortal today, reallydescribes a set of four distinct super-human races,” Principal Saint continued.“Immortal is a way of life set apart from ordinary human life. We have our ownjustice system, our own Monarchy, our own schools and our own belief system.You are a part of us, as much as we are a part of you. As a Witch you occupy aspecific purpose for our people and it is important that you investigate whoyou are and what you are capable of. It is also important that you no longeridentify yourself as a human, but learn our laws, and standards. I believe ifyou do, you will finally come to terms with who you are. You will finally findyour destiny,” something stirred inside of me and the electricity or magic orwhatever began to rush through my veins. For the first time in my entire life Irealized that I had just been told the truth.
Chapter Eighteen
“So last night was, um, normal forsomeone like me? I mean someone like us? I mean um…. an Immortal?” I gotconfused saying the word out loud. Principal Saint had basically just relayedthe impossible to me. If what he said was true, then I was not human, or likehe explained I was more than human, I was a Witch, or what he called an“Immortal.” The enormity of what that meant began to sink in as my blood pumpedcharged and furiously throughout my body.
“Yes, well kind of. The extraenergy or electricity as you call it you feel in your blood and unexplainablephenomena that you seem to be responsible for are parts of what it means to bean Immortal. When you move something just by thinking about it, or createsomething from nothing, these are all part of your….. powers. Each Immortal isdifferent and unique. We usually classify ourselves into four differentcategories, but your powers manifested a little stronger than what should benormal for someone your age, someone who did not even know what she was capableof.”
I was trying to take what PrincipalSaint said as truth, but it was difficult. Everything I held to be true aboutmy life, about me, about the world in general was not true. I was somethingdifferent; something I assumed only existed in comic books and action movies.My mind was having trouble wrapping itself around the enormity of PrincipalSaint’s story; yet at the same time my inner being seemed to believe himwithout any hesitation. I had a thousand questions that needed to be answered.
“How many Immortals are there? Whatelse can I do? Does this mean I’ll never die? Does this mean I’ll never age?Why are my powers so strong? Can I fly?” he cut me off with his hand and asmall chuckle.
“No, you can’t fly. Well, at leastI don’t think so,” his eyes twinkled, he was relieved to have gotten passed myanger. His smile softened his face and I saw him in a different light now,almost paternal. “Let’s see, there are thousands of us, living all over theworld. There used to be more, maybe millions, we equaled the humans, but overtime we have begun to die out,” his expression was suddenly full of sadness.“And you can die, eventually, and you will age. ‘Immortal’ was a term given tous a long, long time ago,” his smile had completely disappeared and he suddenlyseemed older… ancient. “Thousands of years ago we did live forever, or at leastit seemed as if we would live forever. We outnumbered the humans, although welived in peace with them. No one knows exactly how we came to be, we were borninto this world like everyone else, but we simply did not die. Our people wouldreach an age of maturity and we would age no longer; and we bore children thatwere like us, Immortals like ourselves. But eventually we began to die likehumans, although our lifespan is considerably longer and we have been able tohang on to our special attributes,” I took each word in, feeling as though myhead would soon explode. “I’m sorry to go over this so quickly but we don’thave much time.”