Blame it on September
I snapped back into focus when I reached the church, looking everywhere I could think of. I finally found the key in the most cliché place-underneath the floorboards. I snatched it and took off as fast as I could.
I didn’t even know I could run that fast.
When I reached where I had left my car it wasn’t there. Great. Without even thinking I took off up the hill, my bare feet slamming against the pavement. I just got to my aunts wedding when I started to feel woozy so I went to the bathroom and blacked out in a stall and awoke in a vision.
That was the vision that explained how I needed that necklace before I turned 16 and I figured that since my birthday was the next day that I should probably find that necklace. I unlatched my high heel shoes and started running toward the church. Those visions that I’d been having were getting more confusing, though, when I had my first one it was clear as day.
I was lying in a field of grass in a meadow somewhere and I heard voices. I looked up and saw my parents. They obviously couldn’t see me, because they didn’t even acknowledge me. My mother held a book with the title “Witch Craft and Wizardry” and was wearing the necklace of majestical power and a long robe. My dad looked completely normal, like he had nothing to do with magic. I tried to listen to their conversation, but all I got out of it was that there was going to be this big rivalry among the villagers and the magic folk.
As the visions came more frequently, I figured out what they meant by all this. The day my parents died there was a big war between the villagers and magic folk because the people thought it wasn’t fair that only some have powers and others don’t. My parents were killed by the leader Zavion. I saw the whole thing and went through the pain of watching Zavion kill my parents.
It felt like I was actually there. The worst part was there was nothing I could do to help. In the background all the little houses of straw were all set on fire and everyone was attacking each other with pitchforks and knives. The feud between them had been going on for many centuries and they figured the best way to end it was by war. But as time went on my visions grew more blurry and it was hard to figure them out, until I rarely had them anymore.
I was still running along when I came to another graveyard, but not just any graveyard; the one where my parents were buried. I knew my time was short, but I had to visit them. There they were, right in front, buried beside one another connected by one headstone. I started to get all teary eyed and wished I brought flowers or something.
At that exact moment I was sucked into another vision. There I was standing in a long hallway, with pictures covering every inch of every wall. I looked at this one particular painting calling out to me, but when I looked closer I realized it was a family tree. Then I moved even closer and saw Zavion was at the very top of the family tree. I began scanning the following faces until I got to the bottom until I reached the bottom. I was shocked to see the dark man who held a gun to my head before getting shot himself. Then I stopped when two older men walked down the hallway.
“He was so close! If he would’ve just killed her like we asked, we would have been witch-less,” one man said.
“Really? She’s the last witch?” The other man asked.
“Sure is! We just need to get her before she gets that necklace!” That’s when my vision went blurry and I snapped back into reality.
I kissed my palm and touched both of my parent’s gravestones before running again. I reached my house and I knew I was alone because my adopted parents were away on a business trip. So I ran inside and up the stairs into my room and slammed open the closet. I let out a huge sigh of relief, because for some reason I was expecting the chest to be gone.
I jabbed the key into the keyhole and turned it, I opened it slowly and there was the majestical power necklace that my mother had once worn. I immediately put it around my neck and felt instantly safe.
My attention left the chest and turned to the sound of a rock being thrown against my window. I grabbed the lamp off my desk to use as a weapon and slowly peered outside. To my surprise it was the man from the church who had saved my life; I think. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I opened my window anyway and before I could even get it half way opened he began to talk.
“Bridget, before you get too scared, I want you to know that I’m here to help you. My dad was best friends with your dad and he was killed the same day as your father. I found a letter in my dad’s old desk drawer written to me saying to protect you.” I had nothing to say to that. What was I supposed to say? Could I trust him? When I didn’t answer, he said as if reading my thoughts.
“You can trust me.”
“If you are who you say you are then I know I can trust you,” A big smile appeared on his face as I said this as if I’d just made his dreams come true. “Come to the front door and I’ll let you in.”
As soon as I opened the door he and gave me a huge hug. It scared me at first because I thought he was attacking me. Then he whispered in my ear.
“It feels like I’ve known you my whole life.” I had a lot of questions to ask him, like do I have any magical powers? Why are they coming after me? Do you have any magical powers? Do you have a girlfriend? I knew that last one was kind of off topic but it was always nice to know.
“So why are they coming after me?” I asked
“You’re the last witch on earth, at least that they know of, and they want to wipe your kind out once and for all; every last one. But as long as you’re with me and have that necklace on, you’re safe for now.” I was definitely okay with that. “When do your parents get home?”
“They come in on a flight at 2:00pm tomorrow.”
“Do you think you’ll be okay here until they get home?” I wanted to say no, but changed my mind at the last second.
“Yeah I should be fine,” I lied.
“Well here’s my cell phone number just in case.” He said as he handed me a slip of paper.
“Thanks!” Then he waved goodbye and walked out the door.
I was up all night tossing and turning. I didn’t even close my eyes in the chance that I might fall asleep, because I was scared of what I might wake up to. In only a couple of hours I could go pick up my parents at the airport.
As soon as the clock hit 12:00pm I was out the door. I ran out to my car, very aware of my surroundings, and started the engine. The drive was relaxing and I had time to think, and I don’t know why but I felt safer as soon as I saw the sign ‘Airport 10km ahead’. Maybe it was because there were more people around or maybe it was just the fact my parents would be here soon.
As I walked through the airport doors, I saw the guy that was apparently trying to help me. I realized that I didn’t even know his name yet. “How am I supposed to trust somebody when I don’t even know their name?”
He laughed and said, “Sorry, I guess I had too much on my mind yesterday and forgot to mention it.” I turned to the sound of my mother. No! They weren’t supposed to see me with him! Were they?
“Hello darling, I’ve missed you so much!” She gave me a hug, but all I could see was the death stare my dad gave the guy, whose name I still didn’t know, so I took this time to introduce them.
“Dad, this is-” I was cut off by the guy as he took my father’s hand.
“Brendon, it’s nice to meet you. I’m a friend of Bridget’s” He looks exactly like a Brendon, I thought. My dad smiled and replied,
“You can call me James.” Brendon and I helped carry some bags out to the car and as we were putting the bags in the trunk he whispered, “Can you I get a lift back to your place?”
“Yeah,” I replied a little too giddy, “sure!”
He smiled and we waved goodbye to my parents as we got into my car. It was about five minutes of silence before he said, “Hey Bridget, there’s this band playing at Michael’s pub tonight and I was wondering if maybe you might want to come with me?” I was staring straight ahead, my eyes totally focused on the road and I could tell he was looking right at me. I really wan
ted to go with him, but I was almost positive my parents would say no. Not just because they just met Brendon, but because Michael’s was not the safest place either.
“Yeah I would love to! But I still got to ask my parents.” A big smile widened across his face. I liked his smile because I could tell he was really happy and it was cute because he got these little dimples on his cheeks.
“Great,” he said. “Can’t wait!” When we arrived at my house, we helped my parents unpack and I think he caught me staring at his cheeks because he looked at me and smiled more. That was the last thing I saw before I slipped away into another vision.
Before I even opened my eyes I knew I was at the beach. It was windy and I felt the sand blow against my leg and see the mist off the water, hear the loud crash of the waves. But to my surprise it was dark and there was no light in sight other than the moon and stars. I could see the outline of a rocky ledge in the distance and the long flowing grass growing on top. I must be in this vision for some reason, I thought, so I decided to look around. I walked for what seems like miles, but I couldn’t find anything or anyone. Then I felt myself coming back to real life.
I opened my eyes to find Brendon leaning over top of me. “Bridget? Bridget can you hear me?” I started to sit up and Brendon had his arm around my back, “Do you know where you are?”
“Yes, I’m at home right?”
“Yes, you just kind of passed out or something, do you remember?”
“Not really, I just remember that we were helping unpack.”
“You’re right, I’ll call your parents.” My parents had to leave again to go and get groceries, and I liked being alone with Brendon.
“Eh... no I’m fine.” I said, “It was only a vision.”
“Oh? What was it about?” He leaned in closer.
“Well, I was at the beach and it was really dark, but nobody was there, so I walked and walked then after a while I slipped back into reality.”
“Maybe you’ll have another one that will explain it.”
He was exactly right because later that night when I was getting ready to go out with Brendon to Michael’s, I heard a knock on the door. I knew it was Brendon and went to answer it but blacked out right there in the hallway.
I opened my eyes. I stood at the exact same place I had been standing in my last vision, but this time I immediately saw someone. It looked like a girl about my age from the back so I started following her. I ran to catch up and realized that, that girl was me. What was I doing there? I watched as I saw myself walk to a hill of rocks. I moved a rock and underneath I saw was a button. I pressed it before covering the button back up with the rock.
I watched as a door composed of rocks closed behind me and that’s when I saw a man wearing all black lift up the same rock and push the button and walk in. I followed him and as we went further down the cave, he approached vision me with a knife.
Run! I tried to yell, but it was no use. She couldn’t hear me. I heard a scream and immediately looked away. I heard the man make a run for it back out of the cave. I ran up to the vision. She lay on the floor in pain. She pulled the knife out of her chest and threw it on the floor. I was crying, because I realized I was watching myself take my last breath and when her chest wasn’t moving anymore I knew it was all over.
***
I opened my eyes to find Brendon leaning over me once again, but with a lot more worry in his eyes. I was crying more than I think I ever have before and Brendon took me in his arms and I began to cry even more.
“What did you see?” He asked with a very soothing voice.
“I saw,” I began, but I could barely get it out, “my own death.” He squeezed me even tighter.
About a half an hour later I stopped crying, but I still couldn’t stop thinking about what I had seen.
“We don’t have to go to Michael’s tonight you know,” he said.
“I know, but I want too,”
“Yeah, I do to but there’s tons of other stuff that we can do here.”
“Okay,” I said, because I heard the worry in his voice. We chose to watch a movie make some popcorn; we settled on the couch and started the movie.
I had no idea what was going on in the movie because I had so much on my mind. I grabbed the remote and paused the movie. He looked at me.
“Yes?” He asked as if there was something he could do for me.
“I’m just wondering, but do you have any magical powers?” I could see the shock on his face.
“Well it’s a long story,” he said.
“Well I’ve got all night.”
Brendon explained to me that the people who killed my father wanted all of the magic folk dead, and I was the last one. But apparently they don’t count half blood types, because that’s exactly what Brendon was. Brendon’s dad was magic folk, but his mom wasn’t and she didn’t know his dad was a wizard until the day they died. He told me that if they ever found out that he was part wizard they would kill him too. We didn’t start the movie again, we were too busy talking, and after hours of talking Brendon had to leave because it was getting late. My parents had gone to bed hours ago.
“Well, I best be going now.” He said as he stood up.
“Yeah it’s getting pretty late,” I stood up too, “and I think we both need a good night sleep.”
“Bridget?” He asked in a nervous voice.
“Yeah,” I said. “What is it?”
He leaned in and kissed me. That moment was in fact magical. I had never been kissed like that before and I’m glad it was him. We broke apart and I began to talk.
“Where did you come from?”
He kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear, “Manitoba.” Then I laughed and he walked backward out the door with that amazing smile that I loved.
I actually fell asleep that night and had a dream Brendon and I were on the run, which I didn’t mind because we were together and they never did catch us.
When I woke up, I changed into a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and hair, and then I went down stairs. Mom was making breakfast like always and dad sat at the kitchen table reading the daily newspaper. I sat down next to him and he put down the newspaper and looked me right in the ey.
“So, what did you and Brendon do last night?” I should’ve known he was going to ask me about that, he was probably up all night thinking about it!
“We watched a movie and made popcorn.”
“So are you two like an official couple now or what?”
“I don’t know, why don’t you ask him?” I heard my mom give a little laugh from the kitchen.
“Don’t be smart with me!” Dad laughed.
Later that night, at around 1:00am, I got a call from the police saying that Brendon was attacked and was in the hospital with a lot of scratches and bruises. I drove down to the hospital as fast as I could. When I walked into the room I was shocked at how bad his face actually looked. I lay beside him on the bed.
“What happened?”
“I was walking back home last night and I thought I heard footsteps behind me so I turned around and there he was.”
“There who was?”
To my surprise he said, “Zavion.”
I gasped and he stopped talking because he saw the horror in my eyes. This meant Zavion knew Brendon was magic folk and that he was with me. We were no longer safe here and neither were my parents.
Brendon and I decided to just up and move to somewhere far away and we settled on a little island just off of Africa.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked as we stood in line to get on the plane, but really what choice did we have?
“Yeah, I’m sure.” When we were settled into our seats Brendon looked at me. “This will all be over soon.” I didn’t really know what he meant by that, and I guess he saw the troubled look on my face because he said, “We need to kill Zavion, and the feud will be over.” I was okay with that. After seeing him murder my parents I would
have no trouble killing him. I was just a little worried he might get to us first.
We settled into our cozy little home and as we were unpacking our stuff I began to cry. I think it just hit me I would never see my parents again. So Brendon picked me up and carried me to the bed and, to my surprise, I fell asleep. I dreamt that Brendon killed Zavion and we all lived happily ever after, but then I woke up.
I got up and walked to the living room. Everything was put away and it looked like we had been living here for weeks. Brendon sat on the couch watching T.V,
“How was your sleep?”
“Pretty good,” I said. “Thanks for putting everything away.”
“Oh it was no trouble.” He smiled and gestured his head toward the empty space beside him, so I walked over and sat down. He put his arm around my shoulder and pushed a button on the remote and the T.V turned on.
“Everybody better get out their rain jackets, there’s going to be a huge tropical storm coming tonight! No one should go outside in this condition. Any running around you have to do, get it done now.” The weatherman on the T.V was definitely not a local. He wasn’t tanned enough and didn’t have that same looks as everyone else.
“Looks like it’s going to be a big one,” Brendon said. “Is there anything we need in town?”
“Nope, nothing that I know of. Is there anything that you need?” He shook his head. It was getting dark and was terrible outside, the trees blowing so hard we thought they were going to fall on the house. It poured rain and was really cold. The power even went out. Brendon and I decided to play cards. I had a blanket wrapped around me and Brendon had a heavy sweater on.
“It looks like its stopping.” He looked out the window and he was right. The sun was starting to come out and the rain was stopping.
“Do you think you could drive into town and get something for supper?” He asked.
“Yeah, what do you want?”
I grabbed my raincoat and the keys and headed out the door. I was about to get in the car, when my necklace unlatched and flew across the beach onto the sand. No! I need that necklace or I’m not safe! I ran to get it when it caught on the wind again and flew another fifty feet ahead. When it landed on the sand once again, I bent down, picked it up and put it back on. When I stood up I had this strange feeling of familiarity. Then it hit me. I was at the exact same beach as in my vision and I started to panic.