Thanks again to EoF for creating such a great universe for us to play in and to EoF, Maggie, and Donjo as always for looking over my work and giving their input. Also a new picture for Kayla this time. :)

I awoke in my room at Roseberry Manor. I was confused as to how I had gotten there as sleep had not quite relinquished its hold on me. Then the events leading up to my blackout all came rushing back to me. "Sarah!” I shot up quickly into a sitting position, quickly enough to make myself a bit dizzy. I felt so weak and my hunger gnawed at me, insisting I feed soon. There was movement in the darkened room at my sudden waking as Genevieve moved from the chair she had been sitting in to my bedside.

“Are you alright Kayla? You’ve been unconscious for several hours.” My Maker asked, her expression filled with concern.

“What happened? Is Sarah alright?” I pushed my hunger aside with great difficulty to express my own concerns. “I am very thirsty Mother.” I admitted once my concerns had been aired.

“Sarah is fine,” she answered, “You saved her life. She’s sleeping in the next room, but seems otherwise fine. Natalie and Jason are staying here tonight; they were worried about you both. As for what happened, we believe you used some sort of magic to heal Sarah’s injuries and it took a lot out of you both.”

“What…” I began to ask before she quickly cut me off.

“No more questions, we’ll talk about it later, right now you need to feed.” She helped me to my feet and we made our way out of the room and downstairs to the foyer. I heard talking in the sitting room, but we instead went straight outside where a car with tinted windows was waiting for us. Genevieve ushered me into the back and as soon as I was seated she took the driver’s seat and started to drive into town.

Once we were in town Genevieve stopped outside ‘The Lighthouse’, one of the island’s two pubs. While we waited for someone to leave she explained that this pub was free game for us since only Norms went there. The other pub, ‘On the Rocks’, was where all the Unseen went to drink and so was off limits. After a few minutes a man who looked like he’d had a few too many stepped outside. Genevieve was quick to Mesmer him and escort him into the back seat with me. I drank as much as I dared from him before we sent him on his way but I found I still needed more.

Since my thirst wasn’t near as demanding as earlier Genevieve went inside to get a meal of her own while I waited in the car for someone else to leave the pub. I didn’t have to wait long before a tall man with dark hair, sunken eyes and a staggering step emerged. He was surly and very drunk but I didn’t much care as I stepped out of the car, took a cautious look around, and then Mesmered him. Soon he was with me in the back seat and I was able to drink my fill before sending him on his way with no memory of the encounter. It was another twenty minutes before Genevieve emerged with her intended meal, and I took to the front seat while she ate.

When we arrived back at Roseberry Manor we headed directly into the sitting room. All eyes turned toward us as we entered the room. Jason looked relieved to see me as did Rick, Gwen, Aunt Helen and my parents. I noticed Natalie was absent but there were four others out of the other six in the room that I recognized. Rick and Natalie’s parents were there, as was Jason’s father Tanner and a woman I assumed to be his wife the way she was holding his hand. Finally there was a man I didn’t know and the Coven’s inquisitor, Katherine Taylor.

The Inquisitor didn’t look at all like she did in the Coven meeting and I almost didn’t recognize her. Her hair was down and her eyes were red and blotchy. She didn’t seem near as cold now; in fact she looked very worried, as did the tall dark-haired man with Sarah’s intense green eyes beside her. Aunt Helen was talking to them softly, “See Katherine, Kayla is awake now. Whatever magic she used drained her but it was probably even more taxing on Sarah since she was injured. Even normal healing takes a toll on the body, especially with how much blood she lost.” She squeezed the Inquisitor’s hand, “I think Sarah will wake up soon. Natalie is keeping an eye on her and she’ll let us know when she wakes up.”

Genevieve took a seat on one of the couches and I went to stand behind her. Jason came over looking a bit worried, “You doing alright? When I got back you and Sarah were both out cold and Nat was in shock.”

I nodded, “I’m fine Jason, whatever happened just drained me. I just really needed to feed when I woke up.” I quickly looked to Aunt Helen, “I think it might be a good idea to have something ready for Sarah to eat, she’s probably going to be hungry if she wakes up feeling anything like I did.”

She smiled at me, “Good thinking Kayla. We had thought you might need to feed when you woke. That’s why Genevieve was watching you instead of someone else. We’ve had some sandwiches saved for Sarah for when she wakes up.”

I looked around at all the people and sighed. I hate waiting and this was like a hospital waiting room. Everybody was so damn quiet. “I think maybe we should take it up in case she wakes up soon. It would probably help Natalie to see that I’m up and around.” I paused, trying to give the Inquisitor a reassuring smile, “I think Sarah might want her parents there when she wakes up anyway.”

The two gave me a grateful look before turning to Aunt Helen who nodded, “Would you mind showing them the way Kayla? Jason, could you go get the platter from the kitchen and go with them?” Jason didn’t need to be asked twice and dashed off to the kitchen, returning a moment later with a large ceramic platter of various sandwiches covered with plastic wrap. With Jason on my heels I led the Taylors upstairs and to the bedroom beside my own. It wasn’t hard to figure out which one since Genevieve’s was on the other side.

I knocked lightly before opening the door. Sarah was lying in bed while Natalie was sitting in a chair next to her. She looked to the door when we entered and gave me a relieved smile as I opened the door fully to let Sarah’s parents and Jason in. “How is she? And how are you holding up?” I asked.

“She’s still asleep, but she’s a lot better than she was before. What did you do? I thought you were a Dud.” She tugged nervously at the right sleeve of her sweater getting out of the chair to let Mrs. Taylor have it as Jason put the tray on the bedside table.

I sighed, shaking my head in confusion, “I have absolutely no idea. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before. Genevieve said that I used some sort of magic. If it helped Sarah I don’t really care what it was.” Natalie nodded and there was an awkward silence in the room for a time, with nobody knowing quite what to say.

Sometime later the silence was broken by a soft sigh followed by the whispered rustling of the sheets as Sarah returned to consciousness. We all seemed to notice at the same time and as Sarah’s parents stood up at her bedside Natalie, Jason and I rushed to the foot of the bed to make certain we hadn’t imagined the sounds. Sarah looked around confused at all the concerned faces for a moment before finally speaking somewhat hoarsely. “What happened? Where am I?”

The Inquisitor, Katherine, took her hand looking as though she were ready to cry again. Seeing that his wife was having trouble getting the words out Sarah’s father spoke, “You’re at Roseberry Manor, you had a bit of a fall. You were brought here because you and Kayla were both unconscious and they weren’t sure what to do about her.”

Sarah looked around seeing us at the foot of the bed, “Are you okay Kayla? Did you fall too?”

I waved off her concerns, “Hey, don’t worry about me, you were the one that was hurt. I’ve fed and now I’m just fine.” Natalie frowned at me, looking like she was going to say something but I cut her off, “Can we talk about this later Natalie? There’s some water there if you need a drink Sarah, there’s sandwiches too. We thought you might be hungry.”

Sarah sat up in bed and after a good drink of water began to gratefully eat the sandwiches as her parents told her how glad they were she was okay and informed her of everyone waiting downstairs for her to wake up. After she had eaten her fill her father, Oliver Dennis, a doctor at the Sena Island clinic, looked her over to make sure she was really alright. Her mother spoke as he checked her over, “Your Grandmother couldn’t be reached as she was elsewhere on the Island or she would be here too. We were all so worried about you.”

Dr. Dennis smiled as she checked out alright, “You seem to be fine now honey, though you may be a bit tired for a while. We’re going to let you stay here tonight so you can get enough rest and talk to your friends. Kayla, how are you feeling?”

I pounded a fist on my chest, “I’m feeling fine since I fed Sir, though I did have to drink a bit more than I usually do.”

He nodded, “I’ll take your word for it, I’m afraid I don’t have much experience treating Vampires.” He chuckled at that before looking at me very seriously, “From what I’ve been told you saved Sarah’s life.” He looked briefly to his wife who nodded, “We are in your debt, if you ever need anything let us know.”

Mrs. Taylor nodded, “Thank you Kayla. We’ll go down and tell the others that Sarah is awake and seems to be fine so you can all talk. Just try to make sure you get enough rest Sarah.”

Once they left and closed the door Sarah looked to each of us who were now sitting on the bed with her. “Okay does someone want to tell me what exactly happened?”

“You slipped and fell down and hit your head,” I answered. “I tried to take care of the wound while Natalie tried to call for help and Jason ran to get help and medical supplies.”

Natalie gave me a withering glare. “What she isn’t telling you Sarah, is that you lost a lot of blood and she passed out after using some kind of healing magic to save your life. You had what looked like a broken ankle and a nasty gash on the back of your head and now there’s nothing but a small scar.”

“You used magic?” Sarah asked confused, “I thought you were a Dud.”

“I seem to be full of surprises, what’s the big deal anyway? It’s not like the two of you can’t use magic.” I snapped.

Jason put his hands out, “Okay ladies time out, let’s calm down here. Kayla saved Sarah’s life and I’m very grateful for that.”

Natalie took a deep breath, “Kayla look, I can never thank you enough for what you did and I’m sure Sarah feels the same.” Sarah nodded vigorously at this as Natalie continued, “I’m not trying to give you a hard time here but whatever you used was well beyond the abilities of a Novice Witch, I certainly couldn’t have done it or I would have. But I think you need to be warned.”

I narrowed my eyes at that, “Warned about what?”

“Several things,” she answered. “First, using that type of power attracts attention. There are other types of Unseen out there besides the ones in town and you might as well have set off fireworks to let them know where you are. This could put you in danger. Secondly, whatever you did looked like it was all power and no control so others could see you as a danger.”

Jason nodded grimly, “I overheard some talk while you were both still asleep. The Coven is going to want to test you and have you trained by one of your family members if it turns out you’re a Witch. I know how you feel about your mother and odds are she’d be the one to train you.”

“Damn,” I cursed, “Even when I’m dead my life sucks.” Then I sat silently clenching my fists.

Sarah reached out and took one of my hands after the silence had lasted a few minutes, “Kayla, are you okay?”

“Well let’s see, a few weeks ago I was a normal college guy who didn’t even know the Unseen existed. Since then I was turned into a Vampire, I found out I’ll be spending eternity shopping in the Junior Miss section, I’ve been attacked, I had someone close to me killed, I had to come back here, I had probably the worst welcome the town could roll out, I found out my parents have lied to me my whole life, you nearly died on us after I promised to keep you safe, and I apparently have some kind of magic that could possibly put me in danger from people and things I don’t even know. Does that sound like I’m okay?!” I growled, causing Sarah to pull back. “Damn, I’m sorry Sarah,” I quickly apologized.

Jason put a hand on my shoulder as Sarah and Natalie both took my hands this time. He looked right into my eyes when he said, “Well when it’s put like that your life really does suck, but you forgot one thing.”

I rolled my eyes, “What’s that? The happy magic bonding time I’ll be soon enjoying with my lying mother?”

He grinned at me, “Nope, you made three awesome friends who are going to stick by you no matter what.”

I’m ashamed to say things got a bit mushy at that point, but soon I managed to relax again as we talked about everything and anything until Sarah started to tire again and we all said our goodnights and retired to our rooms.

I hadn’t gone to sleep when we split up. Instead I changed into a black night gown and made my way quietly downstairs. As I had expected nearly everyone was gone or in bed for the night save for Aunt Helen and Genevieve. They were both sitting facing the door as they talked, it would seem I was expected. They both stopped talking as I appeared in the sitting room’s doorway and motioned for me to join them. “I had thought you’d come down here sooner or later,” Genevieve spoke, “How are you doing Kayla?”

I shrugged as I took a seat in one of the armchairs. “I would have come down sooner but I was worried about Sarah and all the people down here were making me nervous,” especially my parents I thought to myself. “I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed actually. So much has been happening in such a short time.”

Genevieve nodded, concern in her eyes, “I thought as much. We’ll set aside some time so we can talk about everything that’s been happening. You need to have a release for all this and having regular talks should help with that. You have a lot to adapt to and we’d be fools if we thought it would be easy for you.”

I braced myself for the questions I was about to ask and the answers I feared, “So what exactly did I do and what’s going to happen to me now?”

Aunt Helen gave me a reassuring smile, “Relax Kayla we’re not going to stake you for saving Sarah’s life. I have a few theories about what you did, but we’ll need to test you to be sure. Regardless you will need to learn control. The Coven would like you to train with one of our family until we can be sure whether you’re a Witch. It will mostly be meditation and control exercises until we’re sure what you’re capable of.”

I nodded, swallowing a lump in my throat, “Does it have to be my mother? I don’t think I’m ready to spend that much quality time with her yet.”

“We would prefer it if your mother trains you for the testing period, but if after a few days you discover that the two of you can’t work together and get along then Gwen or I would be willing to take over,” she responded. “I know that you and your mother still have a lot of issues to work out and I think this might help you both.”

Genevieve seemed to agree as she spoke up, “I think you should give her a chance Kayla, you can always change your mind later, and you might want to spend some time with your father too. The next few weeks are going to be busy for you so we’ll have our talks regularly to see how it’s going. You should spend some time with your new friends as well before school starts, to relax.” She paused and crossed the room to wrap me in a hug, “I know this has been a hard time for you Kayla, but I’m certain you can get through it.”

I sighed, one of those human habits I was glad I never lost, “I’ll give it two days, if we’re at each other’s throats before then I’ll ask Gwen to take over.”

The next morning I was awoken by giggling, I sat up to see Sarah and Natalie sitting on my bed but it wasn’t them giggling. Just great, I thought, now I’m having delusions too. Sarah was dressed in a white blouse and tan colored capris while much to my surprise Natalie was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. The jeans were no surprise, but I was used to her wearing long sleeved sweaters when we weren’t outside. Sarah smiled and said, “Good morning.”

I stretched and smiled back, “Good morning, how are you feeling this morning Sarah?”

She grinned at me, “All I needed was a good rest it seems, I feel great now. Thanks again for what you did.”

Natalie nibbled on her lower lip a bit and took a deep breath before cutting in, “Kalya, I owe you an apology.”

I blinked sleepily, a bit confused, “What for Nat?”

She looked down at the bed while Sarah squeezed her left hand. “I… wasn’t sure if we could trust you at first. Don’t get me wrong, I like you and I think we can be great friends but I’ve been through a lot the last few months and I have trouble trusting new people. Last night I realized that you’ve been through as much as I have and in a lot less time. I feel bad that I couldn’t trust you with the whole story, even after you told us everything about what you’ve been through. After what you did for Sarah I think you deserve to know.”

I tried to give her a reassuring smile without showing my fangs, “I probably wouldn’t trust me at first either if I just met me. I mean first I’m a Vampire and second, well you’ve seen how I dress.” I paused looking her over. She had a tendency to hide her right arm with sweaters and such and even now she was shielding it from my view with her body. I wondered what could possibly make her so self-conscious, was she horribly scarred or something? “What do you mean the whole story?” I asked.

“Well,” she began, “I only told you that I found a family heirloom and it changed me into who I am now. I left out a lot of details about how I found it and what exactly it is.” She raised her right hand and I was stunned to see that she not only wasn’t horribly scarred but appeared to be wearing a very elegant looking bronze chainmail wrist guard or something. “This is Titania’s Glove, it’s what changed me and I can’t take it off, it’s stuck to me until I die. It’s been in our family since we settled on the island and it had gone missing over sixty years ago. I had a little bit of help finding it.”

At this I heard more giggling and looked above me to see two twelve inch tall teenage girls with wings. One had bright yellow hair ironically shaped in a pixie cut and the other long pale blue hair. I just stared in shock at them, “Are those what I think they are?”

Natalie nodded, “Yup they’re pixies. Kayla meet Dandelion and Verbina, we call them Dani and Vina for short. They’re kind of my guardians and Dani was the one who first led me to the Glove.”

“Hi! I’m Dani!” said the one with the yellow pixie cut.

The blue haired one gave a friendly smile but didn’t seem quite as hyper as Dani, and she seemed to be assessing me even as I was doing the same with her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Kayla.”

“It’s nice to meet you both,” I replied before turning back to Natalie. “These are your guardians?”

She nodded, “Yeah, you see when I warned you last night about sudden displays of uncontrolled magic attracting unwanted attention; well I know that from experience. Queen Titania decided that if I was going to live long enough to be useful I should have some protection.”

“Okay well now you have two pixies, another witch, a Were-moose and whatever the hell I am for protection.” I looked at the pixies wondering what type of protection they could offer and why Natalie needed protection. Also the Queen Titania bit piqued my interest but I wasn’t about to push my luck. She’d tell me more when she was ready. “I’m curious though, why didn’t I see them before? I’d think they would attract attention.”

She looked guilty at that, “I asked them to keep their distance while we got to know you, you’ll probably see them hanging around now that we know you can be trusted. Most people can’t see them though, so don’t get in conversations with them in public places unless you want the Norms and even some of the other Unseen to think you have a screw loose.”

Sarah nodded, “And fair warning, Dani can be a bit… flighty. She may forget at times that we can’t talk so just try to gently remind her when you can get away with it.”

Dandelion looked confused at that, “Of course I’m flighty that’s why I have wings.”

I groaned at that, suddenly grateful that Dani wasn’t the only one protecting Natalie. After that we talked for a bit longer before the girls left to join Jason who had his dad’s truck and would be giving them rides home. All three of us had magic lessons with our respective mothers today and while Sarah and Natalie were used to it, I wasn’t sure what to expect or how I would handle that much alone time with my birth mother. With a sigh I headed for the shower to prepare myself for a long day.

I had decided to wear the jeans and baby tee that I had first borrowed from Carly the day we had gone shopping that day since I wasn’t sure what exactly I would be doing. It was the same kind of thing Carly used to wear when relaxing. I needed the confidence, and wearing something that used to be hers I could almost feel like Carly would be right there with me. I had expected my mother to pick me up in the late afternoon since Genevieve was making an offer on a house and Gwen was at the bookstore all day. Just after lunch though, Julie came to inform me that I had a visitor. When I reached the foyer I was slightly shocked when I found my father waiting somewhat nervously.

“Hi Kayla,” he began after clearing his throat, “I thought that since you’d be coming over later anyway I might see if you wanted to talk a bit beforehand. I took the afternoon off from the shop so we could catch up before your mother dominates your evening. We haven’t had much time to talk since you got here.” Dad owned the local auto shop, ‘Cairns Auto’ and he used to do things like this when I was a kid, taking time off so we could do some male bonding. It reminded me that my dad was never really the one I blamed for my situation. He’d always been a good father and tried to be there for me. He was against mom hiding everything from me and from what he said he even wanted me to become a Warden like him.

I nodded, ”Yeah, I guess we have a lot to talk about.” Then I grabbed my purse and jacket and we headed out to his beat up old jeep. First we went to Sally’s where he bought me a milkshake. It was one of the old style drive-in restaurants where you order through a speaker and the girls come and bring your order on roller-skates, though these days they used roller blades. As we sat there he told me about how things on the Island had been since I left and apologized for not being able to get my mother to change her mind earlier. I told him how University had been and how I was actually enjoying my life as a Vampire and a girl, other than being stuck as a kid.

Afterwards he took me to the house; it hadn’t really changed much except that the dark green paint looked a bit newer. Instead of taking me into the house though he took me to the garage just like when I was a kid. Usually on our bonding afternoons after going for a burger and milkshake at Sally’s we’d go to the garage. We’d spent so many hours in there working on the car. You see, my dad had a thing for classic muscle cars and when I was ten he’d bought an old 1965 Ford Mustang convertible. It was in rough shape and we’d put a lot of effort into trying to restore it. Any time dad found a part for the car we’d have one of those afternoons. By the time I had left it had been mostly restored.

We stepped into the garage and as he turned on the lights I was in for a surprise. He had replaced the old rag top with a new one that was in pristine condition, had re-upholstered the seats with black leather, and had re-painted the body cherry red. He’d always wanted it gunmetal blue, but I had always insisted a Mustang should be cherry red. I just stared at it for a long moment, remembering all the afternoons we’d put into working on it. “No way! You finished it?!”

He shook his head, “Nope it needs two things to make it ready to drive.” He motioned for me to get into a pair of overalls, like I did when we’d come here when I was young, as he went over to his work bench and took out a small box. Once I was in the overalls and zipped up he handed me the box. “I didn’t have the heart to put that on without you here.” I opened up the box to reveal a chrome mustang logo, and the sight brought tears to my eyes. I put my arms around him and hugged him for the first time in years. He didn’t seem to mind that I got his shirt and my overalls a bit bloody.

Once I was done crying, we carefully placed the mustang in its rightful place on the grill. I smiled up at him, “Thanks dad, I’m sorry about being so distant, it’s just you know how mom and I never really got along. Now that I’m back maybe we can do this more often. You said it needed two things to make it ready to drive, so I assume there’s one more. I think I’d like to do this again.”

He shook his head, “There’s no more work to be done on this car, but I’ve been eyeing a 69 Charger that we could work on. The only thing the Mustang needs to drive now is this.” With that he tossed me a set of keys. “She’s all yours once you get your driver’s license.”

I blinked at him and shook my head, not quite comprehending what he just said. “But this was your baby.”

“Nope,” he said as he smiled at me, “You’re my baby, that’s just a car we worked on together. You deserve it as much as I do. Now get out of those overalls while I change my shirt and we’ll take it for a test drive before your mother gets home from the office.”

“Kayla, remember to let it flow, don’t let it control you. You need to control it,” my mother said as she tried to explain to me how to control magic without actually using it. Right now she had me doing meditation and focussing exercises and picturing the magic like some sort of liquid in my mind. “Think of your power as powerful river. You don’t need that much water to water crops or for drinking and in fact too much could be harmful. So what do you do? You set up a dam. Hold it all back and when you need some turn on the faucet, and if you only need a little to do what you want, only turn it to a trickle. If you need more turn the faucet a little more.”

I sighed, “Why do I need to learn this type of control? You said I didn’t have to worry about burning through my life since I’m already dead.”

She thought for a moment before answering, “You don’t have life to burn through no, but magic of any sort still takes energy. If you just keep letting your magic consume you when you use it you’re going to use up a lot of energy you don’t need to. Think about when you healed Sarah, because you used so much power you were both exhausted afterward. And you needed to feed more to feel full didn’t you?”

“Yeah that’s true,” I grudgingly admitted.

“If you had just used a little power and focussed it on what needed to be done instead of letting it have its way, you wouldn’t have used up near as much energy. You were a physics major, think of it in terms of that. Each action has an equal and opposite reaction. Only this is in terms of magic use and energy.”

We had been at it for hours and my mother did seem to know what she was talking about and she seemed to really enjoy teaching me and answering my questions. She was actually a lot more patient than I gave her credit for, maybe I’d just never seen her in her element before. It was going to be a while before we ever had any sort of healthy mother and child relationship but this could be a start. Today we were just going over theory and how to properly use magic. Tomorrow we’d start the testing and if it turned out I was a Witch she would give me a spell book and start my training. For now she was trying to cram as much knowledge about magic theory into my head as she possibly could and I was suddenly grateful for my Vampire memory.

Most of the rest of my week was busy. Mornings consisted with one on one talks with Genevieve to make sure I was coping alright, then there was moving into the house she had bought, but that was mostly buying furniture and having it delivered. Since we’d both only come here with a large duffel bag and my laptop we needed to buy more clothes before I started school as well. Sarah was only too happy to help me with that, though out of the four clothing stores she took me to only a small store called ‘Oh My Goth’ had the type of clothes I preferred. They didn’t get much business and I think I made the owners day with all I bought there.

Afternoons were spent with my mother trying to use magic and then my father would teach me self-defense in case I ever needed it. I was quick to pick up what my dad was teaching but the attempts at magic were a dismal failure. We tried lighting candles, moving objects, even spells to constrict people or make them sleep. Nothing worked. The only luck I had was on Thursday when my dad cut his hand while preparing dinner; I was able to heal the cut without using enough power to make me pass out, though it did make me a little hungrier. Everything else though was a bust.

Friday I received news from Gwen that the Coven had gotten my legal documents arranged. We got a notice that I would soon be receiving copies of my new birth certificate, social insurance card, and medical card. There was also a legal document naming my ‘cousin’ Genevieve Dunn as my legal guardian. With those papers in hand I was able to test for my driver’s license and drive to my new home that evening in my new Mustang.

I was pretty happy as drove along the dirt road to the large white house that would be my new home. The house had four bedrooms and one bath on the top floor, the main floor had a bath, a living room, kitchen, dining room and a den that Genevieve planned to use for seeing patients. There was also a large unfinished basement and a large acreage of forest at the back. The best part though was that it was just on the edge of town and down the road from Jason, Sarah, and Natalie.

When I pulled into the driveway I was surprised to see Gwen’s car there, though it was a pleasant surprise. I stepped through the door to find both Gwen and Aunt Helen talking with Genevieve in the living room. Rather I heard Aunt Helen first before seeing her as I opened the door, “…Lena is certain. Between this and the Poole’s heirloom turning up again I have a feeling something big is going to happen on the island soon, I’ll inform the Coven that we need to prepare.” I closed the door and they all looked toward me all smiles. “Come have a seat Kayla,” Aunt Helen invited, “We were just talking about you.”

“Oh really,” I arched an eyebrow, “Nothing bad I hope.”

She shook her head, “No, we were just telling Genevieve that the testing has proven you are not a Witch. You have no magical aptitude.”

I looked at her confused, “I know I wasn’t having much success but no magical aptitude at all?”

“Well perhaps I shouldn’t have said no magical aptitude,” she chuckled, “It’s more like your aptitude is all focussed in one direction. Witches harness magic to do a variety of things and you can’t seem to do that. Our family has a long line of Witches Kayla, but once in a while our bloodline produces something else instead and we get a girl who when she should be coming into her powers as a Witch can’t use magic in that way. Instead those girls come into a different ability when they turn sixteen.”

“So I’m one of these girls then?” I asked.

Gwen nodded, “It appears so. These girls happen rarely in our family and while they can’t use magic like we Witches can they are absolutely amazing at channeling magic for healing. That’s why you were able to save Sarah. You’re a Healer Kayla.”

I just shook my head, wondering if I heard her right, “I’m a what?”

Genevieve gave me one of her reassuring smiles while Aunt Helen answered, “You’re a Healer Kayla, the first one in our family for over four generations. Healers are very rare, there’s never very many in the world at one time. I’ve heard rumors of one somewhere in Tibet but I couldn’t tell you if any others are out there right now.”

Talk about pressure, “So I guess this means I won’t have to learn magic then.”

Gwen shook her head, “No you’ll be on your own pretty much, nobody else can teach you how to use your ability. The exercises Aunt Lena taught you to focus your power should help but there’s not much else we can do other than to help you learn focus and control.”

Genevieve looked thoughtful for a moment, “I might suggest reading medical texts and learning more about biology and anatomy, it might help you to Heal people better if you know what the problem is in the first place. “

Gwen nodded, “I’ll see what I can dig up at the store, I should have some good books on it there.” After that we spent a few more minutes talking about my new ‘gift’ until Gwen and Aunt Helen left for home and Genevieve and I went to search for some dinner.