Chapter 5: Home

Seeing Beth's house is overwhelming, I don't know how to feel. It's the only place I've ever considered home, even the house I live in now doesn't feel like home. I take a deep breath and Jayden reaches over and grabs my hand.

"Are you okay?"

I nod my head, "yeah, it's just... it's been a long time."

He gave me an understanding nod, "we can go whenever you're ready, I won't rush you."

"Do they know we're coming?"

"Celeste does, I'm sure she told Beth too."

"Celeste? How do you know them?"

"There's another part to my story. If you want, I can tell you the rest tonight."

I nod, "I miss Celeste, and I miss Beth. I think I'm ready now."

He gives me a reassuring nod and gets out of the car while I grab our backpacks from the back seat. He walks around the car to open the door for me, and then he grabs the backpacks and puts them around one of his shoulders while holding the other hand out for me. I take his hand and get out, and then he shuts the car door.

He looks over at me, "Are you okay Olivia?"

"Yeah... it's been a long couple of days, I'm just ready to figure out what's going on."

"I know you are, and you will. You will figure a lot of things out during the next couple of days. You ready?"

I give him a nod as he squeezes my hand, and then we start walking up to the house. We get up to the door and I look up at Jayden, he rubs the back of my hand with his thumb and nods.

I knock a couple of times and a few seconds later, the door swings open. She had the same purple hair that she did 16 years ago, she looked good for her age.

She pulls me into a hug, "Oh my goodness, look at you! You're so beautiful! I missed you so much!"

My heart fills with warmth, "Celeste! I missed you too!"

"Mom and dad don't know you're here yet, it's a surprise. Come with me and we'll sneak into the living room and then I'll go get them."

I followed her into the living room and sat down. Seeing the house filled me with a lot of nostalgia. Celeste walked into the kitchen while Jayden and I sat on the couch, waiting. A few minutes later they walked in and Beth bursted into tears, and so did I.

"Olivia! Jayden!"

I got up and ran toward her, "Mom!"

She wrapped her arms around me the second I reached her, and I cried in my moms arms for the first time in 16 years. She let go and backed up, "Look at you Olivia! You've grown into a beautiful woman." I hugged her again before going to hug Conner.

"I missed you dad"

"I missed you too sweetheart, I never got to say goodbye. I think about you every day hoping that you're living your best life, and I'm glad I get to see you again."

"I'm glad I get to see you too."

I look over and Beth is hugging Jayden, and then he goes to hug Conner too.

"What brings you here, loves?" Beth asks, but she looks like she already knows.

Jayden looks at me, "her visions are starting, and the fallen angels know she's alive. At work this morning, a man came in and told her that Azael was coming for her. I don't know if I can protect her alone, and she needs to figure out who she is so that she can find Arcadia."

"Nothing bad will happen to you here dear, we will protect you and then we will help you when you're ready."

"We will start trying to help you find yourself, but for now, you guys should get some rest," Celeste says. "I will show you to your room."

Jayden and I follow Celeste to my old bedroom, but it's decorated differently now. The wall has a leaf prints all over it and the bed is huge with a green bedspread that matches the color of the leaves on the wall, and theres also a rug to match it, too. There's a big TV on the wall and 2 chairs with a little table. The bedroom connected to a big bathroom with a double sink and a nice jacuzzi bathtub and a huge shower. Everything was beautiful and light, and it all flowed together.

"I hope you're okay with sharing a room, mom has a full house." She smiles, "if you guys need anything, let me know."

"That's alright, and thank you Celeste I will."

She smiles as she leaves the room and shuts the door.

Jayden and I start unpacking our things and then he goes in the bathroom to change. He comes out wearing gray sweatpants and a shirt that clings to his body, he looks good.

I go to the bathroom to change and get ready for bed, I clean my face and brush my teeth, and then I brush my hair and put it into a braid. I slide into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and then head back into the bedroom, where Jayden is already laying in the bed.

"Hey what if I wanted that side?" I asked.

"Too bad, I was here first."

I roll my eyes and hop in the bed. I had never slept in the same bed as a man before, or even in the same room. For some reason it made me kind of nervous.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"Yes why?"

"You just seem nervous."

"I've... just never really slept in the same room as another guy..." I say, embarrassed.

"I understand that, I'll try to stay as far as I can on my side of the bed."

"No it's okay, I'm not gonna make you sleep on the edge of the bed, it's just different I guess."

He nods his head, "are you tired."

"Not really."

"Yeah me neither."

"Can I hear the rest of your story now?"

"Yes, one second." He turns on the lamp by the bed and gets up to turn off the light, before getting back into the bed.

He turns onto his side to face me so I lay on my side to face him too.

"I was in the hospital for 6 months, he punctured one of my lungs when he stabbed me. When I got out of the hospital, my social worker already had another home lined up for me. She brought me here. When I got here, I heard Celeste telling Nevada that she missed you. I didn't know if they were talking about you or another Olivia, so I started asking questions and realized that they were talking about you. I was relieved to find out that you came to a good home like this after leaving the last one, but I was sad that you were gone. For some reason, I felt like I needed to protect you and then I finally figured out why. It was because that's my destiny, but it's not just angels that have a destiny. After I lived here for a little while, Celeste pulled me aside one day. She told me that I needed to know something about myself but she couldn't tell me, she had to help me figure it out. One day, nobody was home except for Celeste and I. She pulled me outside and had candles set up, she told me to sit in the grass and do everything she told me to do, so I listened. She told me to close my eyes and clear my mind, and then she had me say certain words and hold my hands a certain way, and then had me open my eyes. When I opened them, there was fire coming out of my hands, but it didn't hurt. She told me to slowly close my hands and then the fire slowly died. She then had me stand above the garden and say something else, and I made all of the plants grow. I'm a witch, and Celeste is too."

My eyes widen, "a witch?"

"Yes, and that is why I have a destiny to protect you."

"When did you know?"

"Celeste helped me realize it. When I turned 18 I moved closer to you so that I could watch over you and make sure you were safe."

"But why me?"

"Because you're an angel, a very important angel. Witches and angels work together."

I nod my head.

"Let's get some sleep Olivia, it's been a long day" he says as he turns off the lamp.

I don't feel tired but I close my eyes anyways, and I feel a vision starting.

———————

I'm in the bedroom with Arcadia, where the last vision left off.

"Back so soon?"

"How did you know it was me?" I ask.

"It takes a bit for Rose to come back after you're here. It has only been a couple of minutes since you left."

"I don't really know why I'm back,"

"You have questions, they will start coming to you. Don't push your questions back, ask them. There may be some that I cannot give you the answer to, but I will try."

"Is there a chance of me not finding him?"

"There is a chance, but I know that you are getting closer. You will find him."

"How did you and Rose keep the fallen angels away?"

"You will have help. Your friend, Jayden will help you. As will your family that you are staying with, they are all powerful. Once you find Arcadia, he will be able to help you too."

"Will they ever stop trying to kill me?"

"Everyone has a destiny, theirs is to kill you. However, you can keep yourself protected with the help of witches, and there are ways to protect your home and the area around it. Rose and I have ran into our fair share of problems, but we didn't have many people to help us, you do. I can sense that there is a question you are trying to push back, go ahead and ask."

"Were you ever in love? Before you fell in love with Rose?"

"Yes. Rose and I were both in love with other people, that is why I distanced myself from Rose when I started feeling things for her. Eventually my relationship ended and so did hers, and our hearts found our way to each other. Not everybody with your bond falls in love. Charlotte did not fall in love with Arcadia after he came back. They became close friends and worked together, but they did not fall in love. You will remember everything soon. It is okay for you to feel for someone else, or even to fall in love with somebody. You can let yourself feel for Jayden, Olivia."

"How did you know?"

"I have known your soul for a very long time, I can tell. Follow your heart, it is the key."

As my vision ends, I think about what Arcadia had told me.

———————

I open my eyes and look over to see Jayden laying on his back, staring at the ceiling.

"Are you okay? I don't think I've asked you that yet." I ask him.

He turns his head toward me and smiles, "I'm okay, I'm just worried."

"Me too," I say as I close my eyes and sigh.

He turns back onto his side and tucks my hair behind my ear, "I know you are, I promise you I will do everything I can."

I nod, "I believe you."

We lay there in silence for a minute, I move closer to him and he wraps his arm around me as I snuggle into his chest. I listen to the sound of his heartbeat and he runs his fingers through my hair.

"How does Beth know about me?" I ask.

"That's one of the things that you'll have to figure out for yourself, but I will try my best to help you."

I nuzzle myself deeper into his chest and he holds me tighter, being in his arms makes me feel safe. I start to drift off to sleep.

———————

"Please don't feel guilty Olivia."

I'm standing in the same woods where I heard him talk to me last time, "what do you mean?"

"I can tell you feel guilty for how you feel, but you should not feel guilty. Sometimes we are not destined to fall in love, but we will not know until we meet each other. You will see when you remember, we do not fall in love every time we meet. Our souls are bound to find each other, sometimes we fall in love, sometimes we become best friends, and sometimes we have no emotional connection to each other. We stay close and we fight together, we are stronger when we are near each other, that is what is most important in our destiny."

"What if one of us loves each other and the other doesn't?"

"The beauty in our bond is that we will both feel the same way when we see each other. We will either both fall in love, or neither of us will. The universe will decide."

"Have you ever fallen in love before?"

"Do not feel guilty, my love. You are not doing anything wrong by falling for him. I have fallen in love. We will not know for sure what we feel until we can meet, everything will change and whatever feelings we are meant to have, will fall into place."

I nod and stand there for a second.

"I know you are worried that he will hurt you, and he will not. You are his destiny, he is telling you the truth, and he will never let anything happen to you."

"I can't let myself fall in love with him if I'm going to fall in love with you when we meet."

"Do not worry about that dear, he will understand if you fall in love with me. He has seen our history and knows that you and I may fall in love. If he is still willing to let you into his heart despite that, that means he truly loves you. Do not push away your feelings or be afraid of them, they are part of your destiny."

"Do you know your destiny? Or mine?"

"I do not yet know my destiny. When we meet, we will have to spend a few days together in a safe house and we will have to find our destinies together. For now, focus on remembering. Find me."

———————

I wake up and look out the window, it's still dark but I'm not tired. I get out of bed and put on my slippers, before making my way downstairs to the living room. I start looking at the books on the shelf and I notice a big book, I pull it out and it has a symbol on it but no words on the cover. I open one book up and I see Latin words, I think I'm holding a witchcraft book. I sit down and look through the book, and then I hear footsteps and Celeste walks in the room.

"You found my book, has Jayden told you his story?"

I nod my head and she smiles, "Good, would you like to hear mine?"

"Yes, of course."

"Alright great! Let me go get something that will help open your mind." She walks away and comes back a few minutes with a jar of something and something big and made of glass, but I couldn't tell what it was.

She sits down next to me and opens the jar, and then puts some of the herb into a glass bong.

"Are you getting me high??" I ask. I have seen marijuana before but have never smoked it.

"Yes love, it is a mix of herbs that will lighten your body and your mind. It will help to open your mind, I promise you that it's safe," she lights the bong and takes a big puff, before passing it to me.

"I've never done this before," I say.

"It's okay, just hold the lighter to the herb and inhale through the mouth piece, and then you will lift this piece so you can inhale it all. Are you ready?"

I nod my head and take a puff out of the bong, I cough a few times but I can already feel my head getting lighter. We pass the bong back and forth a few times and then she begins.

"When I was young I lived in a very strict household, and I was balled up in my room by myself most of the time. My parents told me it was to protect me. I had no friends and no siblings, so I spent a lot of time alone, and I started learning my power. Most of the time, witches so not develop their powers until they are in their teen years, but I was 5 when I started learning my powers. When my powers developed, so did my visions. I kept having a vision of a woman with black hair, Beth. My visions started getting extreme, and I had no clue what they meant. My parents were witches too, but they wouldn't help me because I was too young. It's was getting unbearable for me, so I packed a backpack of clothes one night, and I left. I was young and terrified, I didn't know what I was doing. I decided I'd turn back before it was too late, but my body wouldn't let me, my feet just took me wherever they wanted to go. I had a few dollars, so I got on a bus. Surprisingly, people didn't even really question a little girl on the bus alone at night, one person did but I told her I was on my way home to my mom and the woman believed me. The bus reached a stop in the middle of nowhere, and for some reason I got off of the bus. I started walking through fields and woods, terrified, but my heart was telling me I was doing the right thing. The sun started coming up and I wasn't even tired, I just kept walking. I seen a house in the distance and started running toward it, finally somewhere safe, hopefully. As I got closer to the house, I saw a woman gardening, it was a woman with black hair. I started walking toward her when she turned her head and saw me, she was shocked. She had so many questions as to where I came from and how I got all the way there by myself. I told her everything, my powers, my visions, my family. She asked for my parents phone number so I gave it to her, and then she called them. She somehow convinced them to let me stay with her, they even agreed to sign over their parental rights and let her adopt me. I asked her how, and she told me that my parents knew that I would be safer with her, she said my parents didn't use their powers and would not be able to help me as much. I asked her if she was a witch, too and she told me no, but she wouldn't tell me what she was. For a while, things went good. She helped me learn my magic and bought me these spell books, she gave me things to practice with in the back yard. One day dad came out to watch me practice my witchcraft, I knew that he had known about it but that was the first time he came to watch me practice. There was a spell that I had been trying to do, but couldn't ever quite do it. He walked up next to me and moved my arm so that I was holding it differently, and then he stood next to me and started chanting the spell with me, and it worked, he was a witch. From that day on, dad and I practiced magic together every single day, and my powers grew stronger. When I was 14, a social worker came and brought Nevada to us, I had been the only child up until that point but mom said we needed to help her. I asked mom if Nevada was a witch too but she told me no. One day mom asked me and Nevada to come out to the back yard with her, and she had Nevada go and stand by her. She whispered something to Nevada, and then Nevada closed her eyes and held her arms out. A few seconds later, wings appeared. Mom closed her eyes and held her arms out too, and her wings appeared. She started flapping her wings and they lifted her off the ground, she flew around for a few minutes above us and then came back down, me and Nevada looked at her in shock. She told us that her and Nevada were angels. Nevada stayed with us and we learned our powers together, with the help of mom and dad. It was just us 4 until Cade and Jonah showed up. I had sensed power in them but I couldn't tell what they were, and they didn't know about their powers yet. They were only here a few days before you showed up. Everyone in the house felt drawn to you, we all felt like we needed to keep you safe, but none of us knew why. Once Cade and Jonah left, the every in the house seemed to fade for a little while, but when you left it was like the house was empty. Everyone mostly stayed in their rooms and mom changed a lot, she seemed like a completely different person for a long time. And then Jayden showed up, I'm sure he told you about the part where I helped him learn his powers. Every time your name came up, Jayden would change. He would get sad and worried, and I realized that he was the person that helped you get away from your last foster home, we didn't realize it was deeper than that until he turned 18. Nobody wanted him to leave, and he didn't want to leave but he said that he had to protect you. Nevada went with him too, she felt the need to protect you too. They kept an eye out for you and anytime they seen you, they would let Beth know you were safe. Nevada found a man that she fell in love with, another angel. She will be here tomorrow to tell you her story. When Jayden told me he was bringing you here, I was so excited. I have missed you, our house feels like a home again."

I looked at her shocked, "so Beth is an angel and Conner is a witch?"

"Yes, and I'm sure they will all tell you their stories tomorrow, you should go try to rest. Hit this bong a few more times and it will help you sleep."

I hit it a few more times and then got up to go back to my room, "Thank you Celeste, goodnight."