CHAPTER 17
PASSING
As Ian stood at his bedroom window looking out at the front garden his eyes locked onto a beautiful red rose bush. There was a knocking at the door, he did not answer; he had grown tired of telling everyone to leave him in peace. Why was it so hard for them to just leave him alone? He had gone the entire week barely speaking a word to anyone, except to tell them he wanted to be alone, but they apparently thought that he was lying because no one paid any attention to his request.
Marcus and Isabella would take it in turns to come up and check on him, he often heard them in the hallway deliberating who would be the one to knock. They had postponed their wedding until the following summer, a fact that Marcus mentioned when he was on duty babysitting Ian, who for some reason everyone thought they should keep an eye on.
Ian had figured that as he only spoke to them in one-word sentences and most times not at all, that they would have given up and left him alone, but the knocking still continued.
Lena had also dropped by a few times that week and took it upon herself to check up on him as well. Her latest visit was the one time in the entire week that he actually managed to have a conversation with anyone. Something in Lena’s expression had jogged something in his memory and her words came flooding back to him. “The final choice is hers alone.”
“The prophecy,” Ian had whispered to himself.
“What?” Lena asked, not sure if she’d imagined Ian’s voice, being so accustom to him not speaking to her.
“The prophecy, it wasn’t about Jo and Mia! It was about Jo and me!”
“What do you mean?” Lena had asked.
“She borrowed my darkness, rid me of evil and then she changed places with me. It was about us all along.”
“Ian,” Lena began.
“Yes it fits perfectly. I was a terrible person Lena, I didn’t care about anyone; I was evil. Jo came along and changed all of that. She changed me. She taught me that I could care about people and she loved me, she loved me so much that she changed places with me, and that was her choice. It had to be her choice because I would never have let her do it. She injected her light into me and freed everyone of my evil and then she left; she left me here all alone.”
“She didn’t leave you alone, she left you surrounded with the people who love you, don’t let her have died in vane Ian. We’re still here, your brother, Isabella, me; we all love you. Jo would not want you to forget that.”
“Why does everyone assume that I will forget, I’ll never forget. I would rather have had her here for a short time and know how it feels to be loved so completely and unconditionally, than never to have known her at all. I know where I stand and I know the people who love me. I promise you Lena, I will never forget.”
As Ian stood looking out of the window he fingered the ring on his left hand, although this was not the original band that had been placed there. When Jo had died the bands that had magically bound them together had disintegrated, leaving a sort of scorch mark on each of their fingers. Ian had felt the burning but did not realize until the next morning, when he was rocking her body in his arms, that the bands were gone. He replaced his with the band that Jo had given him on the morning of her death, his birthday present.
The only two women who had ever truly loved Ian, had both died on that day, his birthday, both giving their lives for him. As far as he was concerned it was a day he would dread for all eternity. ‘God help the person who dares to ever wish me a happy birthday again.’
“Ian?”
Ian turned abruptly at the sound of her voice. His eyes widened in disbelief and every muscle in his body tensed.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Clair said, as she stepped into the room and closed the door softly behind her.
“I forgot how much you look like her,” Ian said, as he watched her push her sunglasses up properly onto her face.
“I’ll be leaving back to my aunt’s house soon, but I needed to talk to you before I left.”
“Your aunt’s? You’re not staying with your dad?” Ian asked puzzled.
“They’ve agreed that it would be better for me to be with my mother’s family, for now anyway,” her voice trailed off.
“And how do you feel about that?”
“I’m not feeling much of anything right now,” Clair said, as tears began to roll down from behind her sunglasses.
Ian indicated a chair next to the bed, “Please, sit down.”
“I’m sorry,” Clair said taking a seat, “I promised myself that I wouldn’t cry.”
“It’s okay to cry, you’ve just lost your mother,” Ian said, taking a seat on the bed across from her.
“You didn’t have to hide at the funeral, you know? You had every right to be there.”
“I wasn’t hiding,” Ian said. “I just didn’t feel like socializing.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean; I’m getting really tired of everyone taking me down memory lane. I have enough memories of my own to last me a life time.”
Ian looked directly at Clair; he was astounded by her resemblance to her mother, and was extremely grateful that she was wearing her sunglasses. He didn’t know if he could look Clair in the eyes, not only because she was even more identical to Jo now than he had ever seen her, but because he was the reason that she had lost her mother.
Jo gave her life to save him and he wondered how Clair would feel if she knew the truth. Would she hate him? Would she understand that if he had had the choice he would never have let her do it? He would never have let her end her beautiful life; never have let the world be without her. She was the most wonderful person he had ever known and for her to be gone was sickening to him.
“I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you this but your mother loved you so much,” Ian said leaning towards her.
“I know, and I also know how much she loved you,” Clair said, as if she were contemplating something.
Ian studied her for a minute, “There was something that your mother wanted to tell you but she didn’t feel that it was the right time. I’m not really sure if I should be the one to tell you, but I think that you should know.”
Clair stared back at Ian through her glasses, she too seemed unsure of what she should say or not say for that matter. She slowly raised her hands to her sunglasses and slid them off of her face, “I already know,” she said, keeping her gaze on the floor.
“What do you know?” Ian asked, turning his head in curiosity.
Clair lifted her eyes and looked closely at Ian, who was still leaning in her direction.
“Your eyes!” He gasped, as he stared at her in disbelief, trying hard to swallow the lump that had stuck in his throat.
Clair’s eyes had changed color and were now identical to her mother’s. The Kaleidoscope of brown and green burned into Ian as he tried to catch his breath.
“They changed the night my mother died,” she paused for a fraction of a second, “the night she gave her life to save you.”
Ian struggled to find his voice, “How do you…?”
“I saw,” Clair stated plainly.
“You saw? Saw what?”
“I saw her die,” Clair did not take her eyes off of Ian, “I saw her pull the stake from your chest. I felt her make the decision to trade places with you.” Clair’s tears were now crashing so furiously to the floor that Ian was sure he could hear each individual splash. “I yelled, I yelled so loud, I wanted her to hear me. Then she leaned over you and told you that she loved you. She kissed you, and then, and then she was gone.”
“Oh Clair, if I knew…”
“You couldn’t have known, no one could have, except,” her voice trailed off once again.
“Except another witch,” Ian finished her sentence for her.
“Yes,” Clair said softly.
“When exactly did you find out?”
“It started when you gave me this necklace,” Clair said touching the Lapis Lazuli amulet that hung around her neck. “I started
picking up on my mother’s moods, I could tell when she was upset mostly. Then I started getting flashes of things, I felt like she was trying to tell me something. I would see her with different people, talking, laughing,” she paused for a second and then continued, “I saw her with you, you got married.”
Although it wasn’t a question Ian answered anyway, “Yes we did,” he said as he thumbed at the band on his finger.
“So are you like my step father now?”
“No, your mother and I were bound by magic, the spell broke when she…” he stopped speaking.
“But you have a wedding band.”
“This is not the band, this was a birthday present from your mother.”
They each sat quietly in their own thoughts until Clair’s resolute voice finally broke the silence.
“I want you to help me find Mia, when I’m ready that is.”
Ian sat dumbstruck. Clair had just found out that she was a witch and she was ready to pack up and chase after Mia, what was she thinking?
“What do you mean, when you’re ready?”
“Well I still have a lot to learn before I do anything, but when I’m ready I want you to help me.”
“I don’t know Clair. Do you even know what you’re getting into?”
“Yes!” She was absolute. “Mia is the reason that I lost my mother! Do you even know why Mia stabbed you instead of her? She did it because she knew my mother would save your life. She knew she couldn’t touch my mom on her own so she used you instead. That’s the reason she’s gone. Don’t flatter yourself thinking that Mia thought of you as a threat.”
“How do you know all of this?” Ian asked, leaning close to Clair.
“It’s not important how I know, what’s important is that I do know and that I can count on you. My mother loved the two of us more than anyone else and it’s up to us to make sure that Mia pays for what she’s done.”
Ian saw the familiar flame flare in Clair’s eyes as angry tears fell from them. Then it came to him. The final choice was Jo’s to make and in making that choice she left Clair to take her place. Clair her only daughter, who now had eyes of the fertile land, the fertile land reflected in a sea of blue, it was now left to the two of them to get rid of Mia.
“I will help you Clair,” Ian said in defeat, “whatever you need I will do,” and he buried his face into his hands.
Clair stood and started for the door, then she stopped and turned back to Ian, “I have your word?” She asked, “You will be ready when I come for you?”
Ian did not look up, “Yes, I’ll be ready.”
He heard her steps continue to the door and the soft click as it shut behind her. Her footsteps echoed in the hallway and trailed down the stairs to the front door, and then like all of his hopes, she was gone.
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