Forced Magic (29 page)

She was looking at me with those blue eyes and before I
could stop myself I blurted out.

“It looked like a cool rock, so I picked it up for a lucky
charm.”

I could feel my face get red as soon as I said it. Samantha
looked at me and shook her head slightly.

“You really are an idiot. I can’t believe that you are the
key to getting to the bottom of all of this. Fetch I can understand, but you?”

I heard Fetch snicker and I made a promise to myself to make
him pay for that later, if we survived all of this.

“Could you just explain what happened please?” I said
through gritted teeth, “Just tell me why you lured me out into the
street."

”I didn’t lure you anywhere, you stupid flap," she
shouted, “You just walked out there when I was trying to tell you that you had
a dragon egg in your pocket. It was like you were in some kind of trance. I was
just trying to warn you so I could get it from you. I was trying to save your
life.”

When I thought back to that day, I remembered how shocked I
was at her appearance. It did make sense now, that I could have just walked out
into the street out of shock from her appearance, but I wasn’t about to let her
know that.

“If dragon eggs are hidden from magic, how did you know that
I had one in my pocket?"

Smith interrupted then, “Samantha is very skilled in
detecting the magic that surrounds all living things. She has a sensitivity
that has not been seen in a millennium. It was the simple fact that she could
not sense magic around an egg that allowed her to tell where a dragon egg is
located.”

Samantha looked at Smith in surprise. “Yeah,” she said with
some hesitation, “that is the best way to describe it.”

This was a little confusing to me, but I wanted Samantha to
go on so I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to know more.

“Ok. So you were just warning me, wanting to get Fetch's egg
away from me. But why did you disappear when I was almost hit by the truck? Why
didn’t you reappear and help me out?”

Samantha sighed and looked down at the ground. She was
trying to figure something out.

“I don’t know,” she finally said, "I saw you walking
out into the street, and then I saw the truck bearing down on you, but then
something happened. It felt like I was yanked away from the area. I found
myself in Marana, unable to use any magic. By the time I could use it again and
return, you were gone. I saw the damage at the store and figured that you had
been destroyed by then.  My presence and being seen by you triggered the
hatching. I searched the area, trying to find Fetch before he disappeared like
the other dragons. I couldn’t find anything. Not one sign. So I pulsed a spell
making sure no one would miss you and left. It wasn’t till Molly had shown the
YouTube video to me, that we found out you were even alive."

“Wait," I interrupted, "You were the one that cast
the spell that made my brother forget me?"

There was a silence that could be felt in the air. Samantha
had looked up in defiance and stared me in the eye. This time I felt nothing in
the pit of my stomach. She saw the look of angry hurt on my face. Slowly the
tears started to run down her face.

“I didn’t know,” she said softly, “I thought I was keeping
those who knew you from going through the pain of your loss. I didn’t know you
were still alive.”

I felt betrayed, even though I had only known her for a
short time. Even though we spent more time telling each other off, here was the
one person that had changed my life, even more than Fetch had. I stared at her.
My hands clenched. Ever since this whole, wild, messed up adventure had
started, the one thing that had continued to upset me the most was the fact
that my brother had no idea who I was anymore. With all the fantastic gifts I
now had, I would have traded it all just so he could remember me.

“You took my life, Samantha,” I said.

I didn’t have to say anything else. The tears were running
down her face. I knew it wasn’t her fault, that she was only doing what she had
thought was best, but I didn’t care.

“It wasn’t much of a life, but it was mine!”

Samantha turned and slowly walked away. Fetch had walked up
to me and was standing at my side. Before I knew what he was up to, he had
whipped his tail around and smacked me in the back of the head. Before I could
even react to the stinging blow, Molly had flown up to me and got in my face.

“Samantha was right. You are a flap. You have no idea what
she went through when she found out you were alive. She searched for you for
days after the video had come out, and, if you hadn’t been hiding yourself from
us, you would have found out what she had done for you. She even went against
her father’s wishes and pled with the council to spare you from having your
memory erased. There were those that wanted you dead, Jack, and she was the
only one that said you were worth sparing, both you and Fetch. I’m sorry about
your brother, Jack, but for you to be mad at Samantha for all that has happened
to you, makes you a world class idiot.”

She had said this all in one breath. The blue glow around
her lighted up as she spoke and was flashing in my eyes like a strobe light. I
felt like a jerk. I know I had crossed a line and had to talk to her. Pete had
gone over and was having a discussion with Smith and Pek. The conversation
looked pretty serious. I figured it had something to do with me. But I had to
deal with one problem at a time.

I walked in the direction that Samantha had gone. I realized
that she wasn’t hovering. She had been walking and staying on the ground ever
since the attack. She was looking out at the desert. Off in the distance I
could see the lights of a football field. You could hear a crowd of people
cheering some event that was going on. I realized that I wasn’t too far from a
ranch where I had spent a summer working. I probably would never do anything
like that again. Samantha had stopped on a small hill looking in the direction
of the lights. She was beautiful. There was a faint glow that made her visible.
Her delicate looking wings were folded neatly across her back. I could see now
how easy it had been for me to believe she could cast a spell that lured me out
into the street. I stood next to her. I could tell that she had been crying.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, “I know, I end up sounding like a
broken record most of the time. All of this is so new to me. Every time I find
out something new about what has happened, it just seems like everyone is out
to get me. I understand that you were just doing what you thought was right.
What I said to you was unfair. Can we start over?”

“Starting over,” said Samantha, “what a typical human thing
to say. We fairies see things a little differently. We move on. It is the
strongest argument against erasing people’s lives after magic has affected
them. We are a proud race, Jack, a proud race that, for too long, has held
ourselves above others. When we discovered that you were alive, I realized what
a terrible mistake I had made in erasing your existence. Until then I was a firm
believer in keeping our true existence from non-magic people. Why should we
expect others to live in ignorance and in a haze of forgetfulness? We need to
find a way for people to accept that there is magic in this world. We need to
stop referring to it as two different worlds, Jack, you helped me realize that.
I am truly sorry that your life has been erased. I would feel anger if the ones
I loved couldn’t remember me. The solution to a mistake like that is usually
more memory manipulation. You seem to be immune to such magic, Jack, but there
are so many more out there who are not. Michelle should not remember anything
that happened. Johnathen has cast some sort of spell that protected her from
this form of magic, and, from what I understand, she has come into her own
magic. I feel that she should be allowed. Most on the council would agree, but
not enough."

We stood there in silence for a while.  She had spoken with
so much passion that my heart was pounding. I was sure that Samantha could hear
it. So much was going on around me. I was part of a game I never asked to play.
I was a piece of a puzzle that did not quite fit. I had to play a part. After a
while I spoke.

“Ok. I understand that there is more to all of this than I
thought. This shadow guy needs to be stopped. I am still going to do things my
way. I will not allow this council everyone keeps talking about to control me.
Fetch and I will remain free, and if you don’t agree, tell me now.”

Samantha turned and looked at me. Her blue eyes had that
same fire they had when she first met me.

“If I had planned to turn you over to the council, I would
have already done so. “

She looked toward the lights again, keeping silent. There
didn’t seem to be anything left to say. A thought popped into my head.

“Can I ask you a question?” I queried.

“Yes, Jack you can. I might not answer, but you can ask.”

I looked at her trying to determine if this was a joke or
not.  Finally I asked.

“If it was a random thing that I found Fetch's egg, and you
were not watching me before this, then why were you at the scene of my accident
a few years ago?"

Samantha turned to me with a puzzled look on her face. “What
are you talking about? I never saw you before that day. What accident?”

I couldn’t figure out why she would not admit that she was
there. I remembered it so clearly. Her face was the last face I saw before I
passed out, after breaking my hip. I was positive it was her. I could never
forget a face like hers. Why would she lie?

“The day I broke my hip two years ago, you were there. I saw
you."

She looked at me narrowing her eyes. Speaking slowly, like I
was an idiot who didn’t understand what she was saying, she said, “No. I never
saw you before that day, Jack. What accident? What are you talking about?”

“Oh!" I responded, "Ok. You must not have realized
it was me, but two years ago I was hit by a truck and broke my hip. You were
there looking at me. It was one of the reasons I thought you were out to get
me. You must not have realized that it was me.”

Samantha just stared at me, her mouth slightly open and her
head shaking. Fetch, who had been quiet this whole time, let out a soft 'huh'
sound as a warning to me that I was treading on dangerous ground again.

“Let me get this straight, " she said, “You seem to
think that I was there, at the scene of some accident you were involved with
two years ago? Did you think I caused that accident?"

“Well, yeah, at first.”

Fetch let out a grumble and began to walk away. He smacked
me on the side of my head as he moved away from this scene, letting me know I
was on my own. Turning back to Samantha, I tried to better explain my
situation.

“Look, I know now that you didn’t cause the accident. I was
just wondering why you were there.”

A familiar ball of light knocked me to the ground.

“I was never there. I was not there! Why do you keep saying
I was?"

She stormed off, leaving me more confused than ever. Could I
have been wrong? All this time I had seen Samantha's face in my dreams. I had
seen her at the accident, but why was she denying it? Could it have been
someone else, and my mind just placed her face there, after seeing her across
the street that day? There were similarities to that meeting and my accident
two years ago, so it was possible that I could have imagined it was her, when
it was someone else all this time. But I was sure it was her. I had dreams
about her so many times after that moment that I know it was her. She had stormed
off down the hill, calling me a 'fat flap' and other names that I couldn’t even
begin to pronounce. I stayed there on the top of the hill just looking up at
the stars. Slowly Fetch's face came into view. He was looking down at me with a
big smile on his face.

“How come every time I seem to get close to her liking me, I
have to put my foot in my mouth and ruin it?” I asked him.

Fetch just shrugged his shoulders. Looking at him, I rubbed
the spot where her ball had hit me.

“You sure it’s too late to eat me?"

Fetch just laughed.

We walked back to the trailer and saw everyone gathered in a
tight circle. They were talking in low voices, and, as soon as they saw Fetch
and I walking up, they stopped. They were all looking at us in an uncomfortable
way. They seemed to have come to a conclusion, and I could tell from their body
language that I wasn’t going to like what they had to say.

Pete was holding his sword in his hands, and Pek was looking
everywhere except in mine and Fetch's direction. Smith had a determined look on
his face, and I had the feeling that he had been arguing with everyone else.
Samantha was glaring at Pete, obviously not happy he had his sword out, and
Molly had a protective hand on Pek's narrow shoulder.

“What’s up?” I asked, in what I hoped was a calm sounding
voice.

Smith spoke up, “We all agree that it is not a good idea to
try to rescue Michelle, Jack.”

Fetch stepped in front of me and sat on his curled up tail.
It wasn’t a threatening move, just one that showed everyone that he didn’t agree
with them.

“Fetch thinks I should,” I said in a calm controlled tone.

“Please Jack, you need to understand,” said Smith, “You have
a great power and we just want to protect you. Pete has volunteered to go and
rescue Michelle if he can. We need to get you some place safe and figure out
what our next move is.”

“Our next move?” I interrupted, “what do you mean by
that?"

I looked around at the small group. No one seemed to want to
look at me or Fetch.

“You want to take me before this council, don’t you?“

They all stayed silent for a minute.

“We all understand now that some kind of conflict is
definitely coming, Jack,” said Molly. "We need to know whose side you are
on.”