Chapter 30: Vines

Kelly glares at me with eyes of fury but with a calm demeanour. This is when she gets really angry, I have only seen her this enraged twice before. The first was when she was younger and a teacher called her an unsuitable guardian that could never be a mother. The second was when she dated for a few months and found out he was married with children. We do not speak of him anymore unless it is to ridicule him.

“I have a lot to tell you,” I say shyly and sit by the edge of the bed. The nighttime breeze gently swooshes through the open window and strokes my skin. “No shit, sherlock. Start talking.”

I told her everything, her expression morphed from fury to shock to worry and then to a gentle affectionate that I could not place. A face she makes every day when I leave the house every day, during my birthday, when she used to read me bed-time stories. “I see,” she added after my fantasy quest-like tale of Danann, Max, Carol, magic swords and monsters and of course, how things stand now. “You should have told me the earlier, Angy,” she says. “I did not want to worry you nor did I want to put you in harm's way, Kelly.” Her mood shifts again to irritated and authoritative, parental. “it is my job to watch you not the other way around.” Kelly’s eyes drill into me and I find myself apologising, “I’m sorry, I should have told you earlier but-.” Kelly interrupts sternly, “No buts, Angy. You could have died, you could have been stuck in that other dimension thing or worse you could have been possessed. I can’t lose you too.”

I look into her eyes, “You won’t lose me, Kelly.” She continues, “You remind me a lot of your parents, my brother especially. Those bright purple eyes always beaming with adventure and wanting to take on everything alone even when he was in pain. I couldn’t stop him, he always wanted to protect me and then he met her, one of my best friends. Her bright red hair was always conspicuous. She was gentle but she was also as tough as nails. They brought me here to Ireland to babysit and to finish school for better opportunities. Then they just…died. They were happy together,” she begins to cry and adds on. “You were alone, no one wanted you except me, best of both worlds. You are their legacy and you are my Angy too. You have your whole life ahead of you and I can’t lose you.”

She rarely talks about mom and dad. I take her in a hug and she shudders, she cries. She has been carrying so much. She does everything for me and more, always smiling. She is my hero. I begin to cry too. I will never make her cry again. I will be there for my family and friends. I am nothing without them.

Kelly and I finish the conversation and agree to a few terms. I will keep up with my studies, not die and tell her everything. She may not have powers and can’t help much when it comes to the fantasy shit but she’s still the adult here. I agree with her. I can now move more fluidly around.

I knock on Max’s window once, twice, four times before she slips it open suddenly. She was sleeping, her eyes droopy with bags underneath and a frustrated sigh escapes her lips. “It is two a.m in the morning! What the fuck do you want?” I step in and close the window behind me. I tell her everything that happened with Carol and Elana. She takes out the scroll and hands it to me. “I am sorry, Sam. I never liked her much. The bitch.” Everything makes sense now. Maybe that’s why they were fighting earlier. “You dodged a bullet. But she might be a problem if she finds out what you are doing. Are you sure about this?” I nod my head and push the scroll up my sleeve.

A day passes by in a flash. I slept throughout the day to rest up. Tonight is the night. eleven p.m, Elana should be here in an hour. There’s no going back now. I spot a familiar figure gliding above me and lands gracefully about ten paces away. Her blue eyes and her white hair tied in a long ponytail slightly raised. Carol. She scans me up and down and a moment passes before she begins. “So it is true,” she laughs. “You are working with them now?!”

“What does that have to do with anything?” I try to play it off. “Don’t toy with me, I can read minds. I know what you are doing. I went to see Max earlier today and she couldn’t stop thinking about what you were going to do, what you are doing right now. I guess she doesn’t know about my little ability. You were so close too.” She steps closer and I instinctively take a step back in response. ‘I can sense her blood lust, careful. She is hostile,’ abhartach warns. “Hello, Abhartach,” Carol says as she walks closer. I feel Abhartach exert more effort than usual and finally locks her out once more. She is different. This is not the Carol I know. “What happened to you?” I ask. “Danann happened. I a not letting some ancient soul kill me. I will live. I have goals and a life to live.”

“We can do that together. I love you!” I shout. “Shut up about that. When will you understand? I never loved you, I never loved anyone really. I do not understand it. Before I could have lived pretending but after you got a Danann too, there was no hope for us. I don’t share.” She lunges at me with her staff sliding off her back into her hands. I duck and a swoosh swings by where my head was a moment ago. I brandish my daggers and with my left, I slash and redirect the stick to the ground and with my right, I twist and aim for her shoulder but strike thick vines that sprout and shield her from the blow. I cut around and launch myself back off the ground with my left, flipping three times before landing in a crouched position a few metres away with both blades clutched in my arm. “Have we not done this before, Angy? Give me the scroll and I won’t hurt you. I will let you walk away and live in peace. I will even treat you the same if you want. Just give me the damn scroll.”