The Devils Favored Child

The New Plan

    It was a more than awkward stare down going on between the 3 in front of me. I don't know how long it was before I finally cleared my throat to get everyone's attention. Maybe I should have thought of something better to say besides what came out of my mouth next.

    "So how are we going to not get me killed by an older brother I never knew I had until this morning?"the frustration rolling off me in waves. The elder lady just starts chuckling as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

    "That is more pressing than quarreling over that useless demon" she stated calmly. She began to walk off down  tunnel and I waited for her to say something more. As she disappeared into the darkness she finally called out "Are you coming children?"

    We all scrambled to catch up to her.We didn't have to walk far before we entered another cavern where a small cottage of a house was seated. It didn't look like much, just an old beat up cottage with old gray paint peeling off the walls and overgrown brush all the way up the walkway. The flower boxes beneath the windows looked all dried up and dead.

    Mom looked like she was fuming, you could almost see steam coming out of her ears. "What have you done?! I specifically left plants that would not need much care or magic to tend to and everything is dead!" Oh yeah, she is  pissed.

    She started walking up to the door on the small path you could barely see through the weeds, and you could just see the greenery all come back to it's former beauty. The brush all cut back to make small rose bushes lining the walkway. The sides of the house then had cherry blossom trees in full bloom, and the flower boxes had fresh pansy's in full bloom.

    The woman turned around smirking at my mother "there is my girl" she said with pride in her eyes. Mom huffed and walked past her making a v line into the kitchen I'm sure. Mom always did better when she was in a kitchen surrounded by herbs.

    I slowly made my way into the home,taking in the little details. This woman did seem to like things a bit more modern than I would have thought. She had a tv, a nice small tan couch with two matching arm chairs. The walls were painted a nice creamy white, and the walls were filled with pictures. Most of them looked like people that they used to know, but the pictures that stood out the most were ones of my mom.

    Their was one photo that I wanted to just stare at forever. My mom looked to be about 7 years old, and she was holding onto a huge dandelion. One of those ones you blow on to make a wish, not the yellow flowers. I was lost in the picture until her voice pulled me from my trance.

    "It was the first time I was able to use my power without any help." my mom looked at me a small sad smile on her face. I don't know why she would be sad over something like that, but I didn't want to ask her if it was going to upset her.

    "Come sit dear, we have much to go over" the older woman bellowed from the couch. We all came to sit down, I had noticed mom had indeed made tea and brought enough for everyone to drink. I graciously sipped the jasmine tea sweetened with honey.

    I looked to the older woman and asked what was on everyone's mind "so Adira, what is the next step?" She looked shocked at first then smiled lightly. "You may call me Granny White, and the next step is to give you a crash course here, at the Sacred Waters until your ceremony in 2 weeks upon your 18th birthday."

    My mom jumped in quickly "she will not be doing anything. She cannot use any powers until she turns 18." she was adamant about this point I guess. Granny White stared at her blankly before stating "who said she would use her powers? The poor girl doesn't have any knowledge of any of her history or even where magic comes from. Naturally she will have to have a solid foundation before we can even think of allowing her to try anything herself."

    Mom nodded subtly and all the while Zander has not made a single comment. Actually he hasn't made a single noise since he addressed Granny White. I looked over to see he was lost in his own world of thought, he didn't look like he had even heard a single word we said.

    I didn't know what to say or how to react at this point. I feel like I lost my sanity last night after I was attacked. I'm still  partially hoping I wake up and this was all a nightmare, sadly that has not been my luck lately.

    Zander's voice pulled me out of my second trance in the last hour now "I agree with your mother for once Susan. Anastazia needs to begin learning who she is, what she is, and what is to come if she is ever to be able to handle her powers or protect herself in the future."

    Granny White sits there with a smug grin as if she just won the damn lottery. "This demon may actually have some sense in him after all. It is getting late now all of you are welcome to the guest rooms and we can start Anastazias training in the morning."

    With that mom showed me to one room and right across the hall were her and Zander. God I hope that things will be better tomorrow. Maybe I can convince Granny White to let Gabriel in here, I could really use my best friend right about now.

    As I layed in bed dwelling on the events over the last 48 hours I was finally consumed by the darkness of sleep.