“Drained them of their magic? What are you talking about?” I asked, highly irritated. I thought I was the crazy one? My emotions were at a level I had never experienced before and I felt as if I were on the verge of a breakdown; maybe I’d been on the verge for a while and this was finally the breaking point I’d been waiting for.

“Yes Eden, magic. I am sure you are aware that you are different from other humans, that you possess a set of skills that appear…. super-human. We have all been a witness to your erratic and unexplainable behavior; and after last night you can no longer deny it to yourself. I had hoped that somehow through your experiences you would become aware of what your powers are capable of and see that others around you possess the same set of skills. However, I see now how stubborn and self-absorbed you can be and can wait no longer. If something were to happen like this again, you need to be aware of what you are capable of,” he was a stern man, and I didn’t know whether to feel offended, shocked, or like a fool. This had to be some type of joke.

“This is not a joke,” he said louder, and with more conviction. “Open your eyes, Eden,” he shook his head and I knew he was frustrated with me.

“Amory, please, she’s just a child,” my aunt entered the room again carrying a tray of hot tea. She handed me a steaming cup and I took it from her gratefully. “This is new to her, she’s never been around anything your people can do until now; of course she’s going to deny it, to her it doesn’t make sense,” she walked over to hand Principal Saint his cup of tea, but turned back to address me soothingly, “It didn’t make sense to me either the first time I saw what your people could do,” Aunt Syl sat back down with me on the bed and put an arm across my shoulders. I knew that I should feel comforted by her gesture, but my mind was still reeling.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, my head spinning.

“Eden, I am not your real aunt,” Aunt Syl began. And Principal Saint gave a small chuckle. “You were given to me at a very young age after your parents had disappeared, I never knew them; I have always told you that, and that has always been true. But you see, we’re different, you are extremely special and I am only human,” she smiled at me and something stirred deep inside my soul, something that told me I should listen closer.

“You keep saying that I’m special, that I’m different, that I’m not crazy, but what does that mean?” I demanded; it was my turn to become impatient.

“Like I said earlier, you possess a set of skills that make you more than human, that make you different,” Principal Saint rejoined the conversation.

“If you’re talking about how I am able to burn down school buildings, or create tidal waves, or make things explode, then yes, I suppose I do possess a certain set of skills; but the last thing I wanted was for any of that to happen,” I folded my arms across my chest and shook my head. I was relieved in a sense that someone would finally be able to tell me what had been happening to me; but even more, I was angry that they felt the need to wait this long.

“Well, I suppose that’s part of it. But a better example would be what happened last night,” Principal Saint’s tone had softened. “You see all of the things that happened before, when your school flooded, 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 have refused 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 in less 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 terrible things I have caused could have been avoided if I had been using my magic all along?” I cringed as I used the word “magic;” as if it were a real thing. “All of this could have been avoided if we would have just had this conversation a long time ago?” I was livid. I thought about the three schools I closed down before Kingsley and winced, knowing it could all have been prevented.

“You’re right, dear,” Aunt Syl rubbed my back gently, in an attempt to soothe my boiling anger. “We had no idea those things would happen though. And we certainly never expected them to keep happening. You see, you are the first of your kind to ever be raised apart. We knew the magic would manifest eventually, we planned to deal with it when the time came. When it did appear however, it was so much stronger then we could ever have anticipated. We weren’t quite sure what to do, and we definitely weren’t sure if it was safe to integrate you into your kind. Finally we made the decision to send you to Kingsley, but it was a last resort, and even 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 the truth 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? I understood that message loud and clear!” I said sarcastically. I knew that I should be asking other questions, more important questions, more realistic questions, but I couldn’t get over the fact that all of this time I could have avoided destroying everything I touched.

“Please don’t be angry Eden; we had no idea that would happen,” Aunt Syl looked as if she was going to cry and I instantly regretted my outburst.

“She’s right, child,” Principal Saint glanced at the doorway and then back at me. “I don’t believe those men ever meant you harm. And I would never have let you go on that trip had I known that you would be involved. We assume that they were after Kiran and Kiran alone; you, unfortunately for your attackers, were there to teach them a lesson.” He half grunted a laugh and gave me a wink. “Eden, in my wildest dreams, I never imagined your magic would manifest so powerfully. At this point I am unsure what you are even capable of; but I do know that you are very, very powerful. It is time that you learned how to use your magic, not just for your sake, 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 than I could comprehend.

“Immortal?” I asked in a whispered breath.

“Yes, an Immortal. We are your people, you’re kind. You are not human as you have been raised, you are an Immortal,” every time he said the word an electric pulse surged through my veins and I was struck with the same reverence that Principal Saint spoke with.

“So I am a Witch that lives forever?” a small part of me began to believe him.

“Well, the real sense of the word Immortal was taken from us a long time ago, but yes, you possess the attributes in which describe a Witch. The way you are able to control or create events and circumstances with your thoughts, the powers that you possess, all point to Witch-like attributes. Or as our people call your kind: the Lamia. It is just another term for Witch though,” he gave me a genial smile. I found myself slightly out of breath, my head spinning. I could hardly understand his words, but the harder part to understand was that I actually did believe him.

“The term Immortal today, really describes 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 own justice 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 a specific purpose for our people and it is important that you investigate who you are and what you are capable of. It is also important that you no longer identify yourself as a human, but learn our laws, and standards. I believe if you do, you will finally come to terms with who you are. You will finally find your destiny,” something stirred inside of me and the electricity or magic or whatever began to rush through my veins. For the first time in my entire life I realized that I had just been told the truth.

Chapter Eighteen

“So last night was, um, normal for someone like me? I mean someone like us? I mean um…. an Immortal?” I got confused saying the word out loud. Principal Saint had basically just relayed the impossible to me. If what he said was true, then I was not human, or like he 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 pumped charged and furiously throughout my body.

“Yes, well kind of. The extra energy or electricity as you call it you feel in your blood and unexplainable phenomena that you seem to be responsible for are parts of what it means to be an Immortal. When you move something just by thinking about it, or create something from nothing, these are all part of your….. powers. Each Immortal is different and unique. We usually classify ourselves into four different categories, but your powers manifested a little stronger than what should be normal for someone your age, someone who did not even know what she was capable of.”

I was trying to take what Principal Saint said as truth, but it was difficult. Everything I held to be true about my life, about me, about the world in general was not true. I was something different; something I assumed only existed in comic books and action movies. My mind was having trouble wrapping itself around the enormity of Principal Saint’s story; yet at the same time my inner being seemed to believe him without any hesitation. I had a thousand questions that needed to be answered.

“How many Immortals are there? What else 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 a small chuckle.

“No, you can’t fly. Well, at least I don’t think so,” his eyes twinkled, he was relieved to have gotten passed my anger. 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 the world. There used to be more, maybe millions, we equaled the humans, but over time 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 to us a long, long time ago,” his smile had completely disappeared and he suddenly seemed older… ancient. “Thousands of years ago we did live forever, or at least it seemed as if we would live forever. We outnumbered the humans, although we lived in peace with them. No one knows exactly how we came to be, we were born into this world like everyone else, but we simply did not die. Our people would reach an age of maturity and we would age no longer; and we bore children that were like us, Immortals like ourselves. But eventually we began to die like humans, although our lifespan is considerably longer and we have been able to hang on to our special attributes,” I took each word in, feeling as though my head would soon explode. “I’m sorry to go over this so quickly but we don’t have much time.”