ZION
Our house was located in a very secluded area of town. From the outside it had a scary appearance due to the black and grey exterior. Large black gates stood firm at the entrance of the cobblestone driveway to stop unwanted guests from trespassing. There were tall trees all over the yard that had a lack of leaves on them since it was autumn.
The back yard was basically a huge field with dry, brownish grass. There was no way anyone could see anything that happened in our massive backyard because of how high the stone fencing was. It was why my father bought this particular house in the first place.
The more secluded the better. That way we could practice magic without the possibility of being seen. Every house I had ever lived in had the same dark, mystic demeanor as this house. It almost looked as if it was haunted and with the black storm clouds that were rolling in, the house looked gloomy and petrifying.
There was a loud crack and a thunderbolt lit up the greyish black sky as it hit the ground just an inch from where I stood. I didn't flinch or jolt back. I was rather fascinated when another electrifying bolt zapped the ground a few inches behind me. The same thing happened another three times leaving me standing in the middle of five points.
Another lightening bolt hit the ground but this time my father whispered something under his breath as he guided the bolt to join the five points. He was careful not to touch me with the bolt, manoeuvring very slowly around me. He manoeuvred the electric bolt without even touching it which amazed me. His mind moved the bolt in the direction his hand guided it. This was the first time I saw my father actually use magic and it proved exactly what my mother had taught me about the mind being your strongest weapon.
I noticed that my father's eyes had turned a complete shade of black. There wasn't even a spec of white left and his irises completely vanished. He was still in his mortal form and yet the dark magic he oozed was so concentrated. His broad shoulders and tall physic held a firm ground.
I remember my mother telling me that I needed to hold my ground and find my centre so that magic, be it light or dark, could flow through me effortlessly. Finding my centre would make me powerful and indestructible. Looking at the way energy moved through my dad, I could finally see what my mother meant by that.
Slowly but gradually I turned around and took in the sight around me. I was standing directly in the middle of a five pointed star. The five points of the star also joined into a circle. I felt a bizarre feeling flowing through my body before a lightening bolt struck me dead centre of my chest.
The monstrous scream that escaped the depths of my lungs was masked by the roaring sound of thunder that erupted in the dark sky. I felt a serge of power flow through me. It pained so much as I felt dark magic course through my veins, awakening every fibre of my being.
But it was a pleasurable pain that I couldn't get enough of. I could feel the light energy and dark energy in me fighting. They couldn't coexist in harmony for either one wanted to rule over it's wielder.
I felt myself being raised into the air. The battled within me only growing more unbearable. I had to find a balance between dark and light energy. I knew I could because of the creature I was but I didn't know how too and it wasn't something my parent's could teach me. It was unfortunate for me that figuring out how to balance the two didn't come naturally.
I shut my eyes and just let all the power serge through me, letting the pain consume me and clearing my mind. An idea came to me. I didn't know if it would work but it was worth trying. If I was any lucky my idea would work just the way my bright idea from last night did.
"I can do this," I whispered under my breath. Clenching my fists and jaw, I took a deep breath in and concentrated on what exactly I was feeling. I closed my eyes and instead of seeing darkness I could see a vivid vision of me. Two glowing cords where tugging at my heart. One, a bright yellowish gold and the other a purplish black.
Immediately, I could distinguish wish cord belonged to which magic. It didn't take a genius to figure out. In some strange way, the vision felt so real as if it were an out of body experience. I could feel my heart rate increase as beads of sweat began to coat my skin.
How could I get those strings to stop trying to control me?
Releasing a breath, I inhaled deeply as I brought my hands to my chest. The vivid image in my vision did the same, fists wrapping around each cord as I yanked them out of me with has much force as I could. A gut-wrenching scream tumbled out of me as white, hot pain captured my body. The purplish black cord twirled around my right arm whilst the yellowish gold cord formed a spiral, settling on my left bicep.
A sudden warmth came over me. The moment I opened my eyes all I saw was white. My eyes didn't take to long to adjust to its new setting as I noticed that a harsh golden glow exude from me and the an explosion of a mixture of purple and yellow lit up the sky as I plummeted to the ground.
I landed steadily on my two feet, feeling more powerful than I had ever felt before. Picking my head up to the sky, I watched as the mixture of purple and yellow faded away leaving a dull grey sky overhead once more. It was a beautiful sight, watching the purple and yellow light disperse across the small town and then fade away as if it never happened.
My mother ran up to me but slowed down when she reached the engraving of the five point star on the dry ground. Her eyes flickered to me and then back to the ground, "You silly boy, I can't cross this point. Dark magic doesn't flow through me like it does you." A ghost smile played on her lips as she looked at both my arms.
That was my queue to vacate the area of ground the symbol had been burnt into, "Remind me again why you can't wield dark magic mom?"
"Because Zion, I'd have to give up on wielding one kind of magic for the other. My body won't be able to handle the continuous fight between light and dark energy within me because..."
"Because unlike me you aren't half demon half angel," I completed for her. Noticing her continuous glare on my arms I decided to investigate what she was looking at. On my right arm was what looked to be a tattoo of a viper twirling itself around it. Its fangs on display as its head laid on the crook of my elbow and its scaly tale laying in my palm.
On my left bicep was a tattoo of what I could only describe as a rope or lasso. It was curled into a spiral, almost looking like a sleeping serpent. Underneath it was a saying in Latin that roughly translated to 'Thread of love, light, and truth'.
"Yes and I would never find a balance which means I would probably fall prey to the darkness if I tried," my mother's voice broke my reverie. She offered my father a sympathetic look, knowing that he did fall prey to the darkness and she didn't want the burden of dark magic within her, "You, my handsome son, was born to be able to wield both light and dark magic. You were born to be the most powerful being in the entire universe."
I thought for a bit. Something was troubling me for a long time which I had to ask my parent's eventually, "Mom, dad?"
My father slung his hand around my mother's shoulder. His eyes returned back to normalcy. My mother settled into his touch as she let out a shaky breath. It was unbelievable the effect my father had on my mother even after all these years.
"If the creator created every being then he must have created me too. Then how is it that you say he doesn't know of my existence?" I asked, clearly confused.
"You are made of forces of dark and light. You were not made by the creator. Even we have the power of creation," My mother smiled as she and my dad shared a knowing look.
"There are many things you have yet to learn," my dad placed a hand on my shoulder in a reassuring manner. "You might also want to know how we've kept you hidden all these years without them coming to know. You see, you mother uses her abilities to blanket yours. No Angel, if you come across one would be able to sense your energy. Its also why we prefer you to stay around us at all times. Its like a shield that protects you and us."
"I can't say I understand how it all works," I admitted with a ghost smile, "but in a way it makes sense and I 'm not about to argue about it. Plus, you guys never allowed me to get tattoos but seems like I've managed to get them naturally. Not exactly what I would have went for but its something," I shrugged, looking at my tattoos once again.
"They aren't ordinary tattoos, they represent good versus evil," my mother's face turned sour when she muttered the last word, "Now, Phoenix darling, clean up this mess and cover that dreadful thing because if the neighbours do see it we don't want rumors around tone that we are satinic when that's simply not true." The appalled expression on her face caused not only myself but my father to snicker as well.
"As you wish my beautiful wife," he kissed her on her lips before continuing, "still as beautiful as the day I met you. Young too!"
"We don't age silly, part of being immortal and all that."
That's when I decided to intecede once again, "If you guys don't age, how come I do?" It was a good question to ask. My mother and father looked to be in their early thirties. They just barely passed to be my parents but in a couple of years we all would probably look to be the same age.
Freaky as fuck right?
"My son, we were just formed from a ball of light to be fully fledged adults. We started of as babies and worked our way up, learning as we went. We stop aging when we are mature enough to handle our duties so around the age of twenty-five to thirty-five." Mom clarified, "You too will stop aging. Your father was unlucky, he already began sprouting salt and pepper hair before he could stop."
"Ciana," my father playfully warned, "I'm going down to the shop right now to buy a box of dye. Let's see how you taunt me about my salt and pepper hair then."
Before he could stomp away, she grabbed him by the collar of his black tee, "And who's going to clean this up mister? Get to work, chop chop."
My father grumbled under his breath, "Fine, fine. But once I'm done I'm going to the nearest shop to get that dye and no once can stop me."
"Drama Queen," my mother chimed, leaving a chaste kiss on dad's cheek.
The cold wind whipped around me and I could feel droplets of rain fall on my bare skin. I had almost forgotten that the lightening bolt that hit me burned of my favorite shit. I turned to my dad, "Dad, next time you try that on me, give me a heads up because shirts don't grow on a tree in my backyard."
His tongue darted out of his mouth, his teeth biting onto the pink flesh, "Sorry."
I shook my head with a smile on my face. Not because of his sheepish response but because of his actions. The way he bit his tongue was the same way I bit mine whenever I got caught doing something I wasn't suppose to do.
"You," my mother hissed, pointing her finger in my face, "Now that this is over, get to your room and don't come out till your homework is done."
With that, I marched inside the house, my final destination being my room.
ZIONFlinging my school bag over my shoulder, I entered the school building for another daunting day at the miserable place. Just like yesterday, everybody stopped what they were doing to stare at me with their undying attention. I refrained from the urge to roll my eyes. It was as if they had never seen a teenage boy before.Alina was already at her locker when I arrived at the mine, a blonde girl kneeling against the lockers next to her and laughing. The girl was shorter than Alina and much curvier. She had deep blue eyes and plump pink lips to match. Her hair was cropped short, to her shoulders and wavy which matched her outfit of black high waist jeans and a black tube top. A leather jacket and boots finished her look.I took my time walking to my locker as I shifted my gaze to Alina who was having an animated conversation with her friend. Her hands moved everywhere, almost hitting a poor boy who was w
ZIONShe did her best to avoid me for the rest of the day. If she found me taking a seat beside her then she would trade seats with someone to get away from me. Most, if not all of the girls she traded seats with were thrilled by her offer, grabbing the sliver of a chance to talk to me. I hated it, every minute of it. She could see how much I despised it and she took pleasure in watching my annoyance grow.And yet I still wanted to be near her, to speak to her. I was clearly losing my shit.The only class we didn't share was economics. I couldn't help but wonder what elective she chose in its place. My economics teacher was young for her age and I was certain every boy in the class chose this elective just so they could drool over her like pathetic dogs. Ms. Fielding ignored the whistles, flirtatious looks and constant ogling from the students as best she could. It surprised me that the attention
ZION I sat outside the principles office as I waited for my parents to show up. Kendra sat silently beside me. Her friends sitting opposite us. It surprised me that she hadn't gone with them, she chose to sit with me although we just met not even an hour ago. The boy I punched held an ice pack to his swelling eye. A purple bruise beginning to form."I didn't peg you for the guy who had problems controlling his anger," Kendra decided to open her mouth and I was suddenly wishing that she decided to sit with the group instead of with me, "The guy you punched, his name is Brady Hampshire. His father is the richest man in town and the biggest dick if you asked me. They're going to do anything to make your life hell now just because of that."I scoffed at the thought of someone making my life worse than it was already, "He probably won't have the chance because I may not be returning tomorrow." This school was
ZIONI sat with my father in the lounge as he looked over the plans for the house. He planned to tear the entire house down and build it from scratch, making it look like a mansion. If it were up to my father, he would build a huge home making it look like something the grim reaper would live in but thanks to my mother, there was going to be color in the house. She already began clearing all dead trees in the front yard, hiring a landscaper to decorate the place to make it look more inviting.My father tossed a book toward me, not even looking up from the sheet of blue paper displayed on the coffee table, "After what you did today, I'm not entirely sure I want to help you anymore but, it doesn't seem like I have a choice. Go through the book. Some of the things in there may or may not help you."The book had no name, just a leathery brown plain cover, and the brown pages inside where tatted and torn from m
ZION"You're evil," I croaked, sucking in a sharp breath before shoving my head into the toilet and regurgitating the contents of my stomach. Whatever was in that mac and cheese clearly was lethal and I should have figured that out the moment I saw no one else eating it. Today, of all days, today was the day Kendra chose to initiate our bet and I finally understood why."Look, I expected you to eat one bite and spit it out. No one asked you to be a macho man and eat the entire serving," Kendra taunted, standing outside the stall and laughing at me.I honestly felt as if I was dying! I just didn't want to seem weak and spit out the horrid shit the moment I put it in my mouth so I took it like a man, and completed the entire serving. Not even two minutes after eating the mac and cheese, I had to race into the restroom to throw up. Kendra allowed herself to follow behind, slipping h
ZION"I'll wack you over the head with this textbook and maybe, just maybe, some sense would get knocked into you," Alina threatened, her words holding so much conviction that it actually scared me slightly.I pulled the textbook out of her hand with my free one and with the arm I had on her shoulders, I led her toward the lunch tables outside. The textbook read 'The Science behind Psychology' and I nearly scoffed at that, "Psychology isn't a science, it's allowing any nosey son of a bitch to make a quick buck by listening to other people's depressing lives. I bet the only reason they do it is to make themselves feel better about themselves like if he's life is crappier than mine then all's good with the world."When she quirked her brow at me I couldn't help but stare in awe. She made the simple action look like an art, that's how perfectly raised her one brow was compared to the other. I held th
ZION"Zion, for fucks sakes. Can't you keep your hands to yourself," Kendra fumed as she swatted my fingers away from her, "Didn't your mama teach you not to mess with a black girl's weave!" The scowl on her face amused me as well the red weave she decided to get during the weekend."No one asked you to pick fire engine red for your hair. It's not my fault you look like a stoplight with sparkling skin," I taunted, watching how her caramel skin glittered under the soft glow of the sun. It was a dull day but the sun decided to show itself now and then.Shooting me the bird, she tossed her straight as a pin hair over her shoulders, "Bitch, you know I'm gorgeous. Now I'm gorgeous and I stand out." With those words, she shot me a playful wink that had me rolling my eyes.We were standing outside the school building, both of us kneeling against my car and facing the sun to take in its warmth. Th
ALINAI felt strange. There was this weird feeling that I couldn't shake off no matter how much I tried. The feeling only calmed and faded away when he was around me, looking at me, talking to me and I hated it. That soft glow of light that emanated off him was still visible to my eyes, however, most of the time it remained a soft yellow. I couldn't help but notice that each time Brady was around, that glow turned into a bright flame of red. Something was up with them, but I didn't know what. It was unlike me to poke my nose in other people's business but then again, I wasn't acting much like me since school began.We were already at lunch, the day sped by so fast. It seemed like the older I got, the faster time flew by. I knew that was unrealistic but it sure did feel that way. Zion and Kendra decided to sit with Max, Sophia, and me during lunch. Max and Sophia were more than welcoming, easily making friends with them whi