Funny Tragic Crazy Magic (Tragic Magic Book 1) (21 page)

I
was a Grandmother. I may have been the shortest seated Grandmother in history,
but let’s not dwell on that. My first act as Grandmother was finding a healer
to take care of Meg, and reluctantly, also Shizuka’s injuries.

As
soon as Shizuka healed, she left the library, a few Witches followed behind
her. I didn’t mind their absence, even though it felt like an insult. Really, I
was glad they were gone. I wish I could be gone too.

Meg
came to me when she was healed, followed by an eleven-year-old Instinct named
Kaylie. She was a small little thing, with freckles and braces. It felt good to
see Meg looking so clean and healthy. Kaylie was the healer who helped her.

“Welcome,”
Kaylie said with a shy smile. “I’m glad to have you here. I mean we all are, of
course, what with everything going on. But I, especially, am glad for you to be
here, cause now at least I’m not the only Grandmother younger that eighteen.”
She smiled at me, and I had to laugh. This little girl was a Grandmother?

Meg
and I exchanged a look.

“Kaylie,
right?” I asked.

She
nodded.

“I
thought…” I thought Helena and Tiffany were the Instinct Grandmothers… was that
rude to ask? “Have you been a Grandmother long?”

“What...
is my gray hair showing?” She had this gentle giggle, this light and pleasant
laugh. “Three months, actually. They really needed a healer, so Tiffany stepped
down.”

I
nodded. Meg and Kaylie started talking, a conversation involving magic, runes,
and Justin Bieber. I looked around; most of the Witches had left, but a few
stayed around talking in whispered conversations. Only one Witch looked at me.
Giara. She glared at me until she noticed I was looking at her, and then she
winked once and looked away.

That
was when I took the opportunity I had been waiting a whole year for. I opened
my mother’s notebook. The inside binding of the notebook tore when I opened it,
and a letter fell down to the ground. I looked around, but no one seemed to
notice. I bent down and picked it up, and then smoothed the binding of the notebook
back in place. I took a quick look around again, held the notebook close to my
chest, and then began to read.

    
To my beautiful girls,

      It
breaks my heart that one day you might need to read this. If you’re reading
this, then something bad has happened to me, probably something involving the
Grandfathers. I’m so sorry to leave you. I never want to leave you; you girls
are the best thing in my life. I love you with my entire heart.

     
Larissa, you’re strong, and not just in magic. Although you are so strong in
magic that without trying, you should be able to take my place as a
Grandmother. If you choose to. I know you don’t care that much about magic, but
I hope one day you change your mind. I hope you know you are capable of so much
more than just being looked at. And it’s a beautiful thing, our history, our
responsibility. If you have any questions, ask Giara. You can trust her.
Please, no matter what you choose to do with magic, I want you to watch out for
your sister. You can handle it. You can handle life on your own. I don’t think
you’ve needed me, not really, since you were five. But your sister will need
you. She’ll need your strength. I love you, Lara baby.

      Phoebe,
my sweet baby girl, how can I possibly leave you? Be good to your sister; be
happy; grow strong. Oh, I love you.

      Pheobe,
I want you to have the notebook, when you are old enough. My girls taking on
the world together.

      Both of
you, don’t be afraid to trust, don’t be afraid to love, and don’t be afraid to
jump. There is always a choice. Love yourselves. Forgive yourselves. Just do
your best. No matter what happens, know I am so proud of you.

      Love,

      Mom.

I
leaned back in my chair. My face felt warm from my close proximity to the fire.
Giara watched me, her eyes following my movement as I put the note back in the
notebook and wiped my cheeks dry.

Meg
looked over at me. She wanted to go home. I nodded my head, and we both stood
up. Kaylie was startled by our sudden and synchronized movement.

“Can
I show you around?” she asked.

Her
eyes looked pleadingly up at me, and for a moment, I felt like an older sister,
not wanting the younger sister to come with her. I would have left then, I
would have saved my own life and just left with Meg, but that guilt… It felt
too much like leaving Fee. Besides, if I couldn’t trust Kaylie, then who could
I trust?

I
smiled as I made the decision that brought me here, “Of course, Kaylie.”

I
watched her, from the corner of my eye, as we stood. Meg looked afraid, but we’d
take a quick look around and then we would find a way to go home. I was a
Grandmother now. I could do anything.

Right?

    
I glanced once more at Giara, and then we went to meet our doom.

The
ballroom was my favorite place in the building. It was perfection in the middle
of sludge, the only room in the dilapidated part that held the original glory
of the building. The walls were pristine and covered with classic murals, tiny
runes painted into the landscaping. The ceiling went twenty-four feet up, and
at the top were intricate gilded carvings of cherubs and ivy, runes hidden in
the carvings again. On one side, long russet curtains ran the entire length of
the wall. The windows on the top story opened to the street outside, and I could
see the stars through them. The windows closer to the floor were blocked by
cinderblocks, the only marring of the elegant room.

It
felt empty, but while I was in there I swear I could feel my mom with me. Maybe
it was just because the last time I had been there she stood so close and held
my hand. It was just… I could feel her there next to me. I could feel how proud
she was of me, joining her… other family, really.

After
taking in the room, I left it without looking back. The rest of the dilapidated
side wasn’t that remarkable, and you could tell the moment the face of the
building side met the hidden part. The woodwork alone looked like it cost more
than the rest of the building I had seen. The passageway through the garden was
as beautiful as the ballroom, but its beauty was in its simplicity. Small gray
pebbles lined the walkway.

One
wall, sparkling white, held portraits of woman with little plaques underneath
saying their names. The first painting was of Camilla Fortuna, and the last was
a portrait of my mother. My bisabuela was in the line as well.

On
the other side, in equal rectangles of rich stained wood, perfectly polished
glass looked out onto a garden. A stone fountain was in the exact center of the
garden, and delicate iron benches surrounded plants and flowers, trees
artistically shaped. Shizuka and her group stood in a rune-closed circle near
the edge of the garden. They glared at me when we passed by them.

“Why
do they hate me?” I whispered.

Kaylie
answered, “Shizuka is the one you replaced. She doesn’t hate you, not really, I
mean, she doesn’t know you, so how can you hate someone you don’t know, but she
resents the loss of power. That’s all. It gets better.”

I
glanced at her, and she smiled back at me, her eyes not really taking my eyes
in, but held elsewhere. She spoke from experience, that much was clear. I
pulled my mom’s notebook closer to my side. No way was I going to let go of
that.

The
rest of the building was much nicer and better lit. Thick, ornately carved oak
doors dotted along thin hallways. Almost every door was locked, some with a
rune, some with keys. I could have opened them, but Meg seemed impatient to
leave, and Kaylie barely glanced at them.

There
was one door along the back of the building that locked with three interlocking
runes for
stay
, and three different locks. Kaylie pointedly refused to
look at the door, so, of course, I was curious. I walked down the hallway, and
Kaylie protested.

“I…
Uh…” she started.

We
really needed to be friends; she clearly was as eloquent as I was.

I
ignored her, and then drew the rune for
eavesdropping
on the door. There
was only silence, then the sound of a chair scraping. Kaylie seemed hesitant to
walk close to me, but she reached her hand closer to me and pulled on my
hoodie’s sleeve.

She
shook her head, but wouldn’t say anything. She only mouthed the word, “Please.”

I
followed her, and she sighed and relaxed her shoulders. When we were far enough
away, she stopped.

“It’s
best to leave that alone.” Kaylie whispered.

“What
is it?”

She
sighed. “It’s a who, actually, not a what. I don’t know if you know who killed
your mom…”

“An
Instinct named Michael.”

Kaylie
sniffed, and scratched behind her neck. She pointed once to the door.

Behind
that door, behind those runes and those locks was the person who killed my
family. Meg looked confused.

“Should
we go?” Meg whispered.

I
glanced at the door, and then nodded. As I turned away, I saw movement from the
corner of my eye. Someone just walked between walls and then through the locked
door.

Not
just someone. Joe. My Joe. Just walked into a locked room with the Instinct
that killed my family.

“Is
there someplace safe we can put Meg?” I asked Kaylie. She started to point
behind us, but Meg interrupted.

“Put
Meg, like I’m some kind of doll?” Meg muttered.

“Meg,
I’m not trying to be mean,” I said. “You just don’t have anything to defend
yourself with.”

“Yeah,
except for Kaylie here who could heal me,” she said. “If you leave me by
myself, something worse could happen, and you guys wouldn’t know in time to
help me. Besides, no one is going to pay any attention to me. I’m just a
normal.”

“Okay,
fine.”

“And
I am tougher than I look,” Meg said.

“Um…
Maybe we all should leave,” Kaylie suggested.

“I
can’t.” I said.

“Okay.”
Kaylie whispered.

Joe
phased out of the door, propping a young Asian boy up by his shoulder. The kid
was probably twelve, and he was filthy. Dried blood covered his left leg, his
dark brown eyes looked weakly about the hallway, and rested on me. He looked so
innocent, so much like Fee, that I had to swallow the protective feelings that
took me over, that wanted to save him.

To
save this boy who killed my family.

Kaylie
walked forward, and Joe turned at the movement. Our eyes met for a moment, and
then he looked away, his face in agony. What had he been up to, I wondered. In
fact, I still wonder, because I never got the chance to ask him.

Kaylie
reached Joe and the boy. She had a hesitant smile on her face, and she spoke
quietly. A look of recognition passed through Michael’s face. He let go of Joe
and gave Kaylie a hug. I think she healed him when he wasn’t looking, because
after meeting Kaylie, he looked much happier.

Joe
still wouldn’t look at me. I walked toward him, and Meg followed close behind.
I was wary of Michael, and kept a short distance.

Behind
me, from the shadows, two people stepped out. One was Shizuka, and the other
was … me.

The
transformed version of me winked. It was Giara. She wore my exact same clothes,
so exactly the same I knew they transformed with Instinct magic. That red silk
dress was totally one of a kind. Giara had transformed into a version of me, I
think to fool, or distract Joe. But Meg was by my side. How stupid did she
think he was? He knew which of us I was. I hoped.

Still,
all of us went silent as the two approached. Meg leaned into me, as the two
walked closer to her. My eyes were on the version of me, Giara, and I didn’t
really notice what was happening to Meg until the runelight started, a
brilliant ripple of light over her face. As Meg grew taller, I turned to her,
searching for a rune someone put on her. Then I felt the burning feeling of an
Instinct’s look.

Meg
wasn’t really Meg. Behind the ripple of runelight, a tall woman with gray hair,
pearls, and a peach cardigan appeared. She looked like the kind of woman who
would bake cookies and ruffle your hair while you did homework.

It
was Helena. The Instinct Grandmother, Helena.

Well,
thank goodness Meg hadn’t been hurt. She was probably safe at home. They had
fooled me. I glanced at Kaylie. She looked away quickly. Was everyone ashamed
of how they behaved toward me today? Well if they weren’t, they should be.

I
glanced at Joe, and he still wouldn’t look at me, his eyes were on Giara, and I
felt this overwhelming wave of jealousy at how he looked at her.

I
was me. Why didn’t he know that?

Maybe
I should have said something, but Giara spoke before I got the chance. She
pushed Shizuka to the ground, and drew the rune for stay on the back of her
head, and the woman fell to the ground in an exaggerated way. She wasn’t a very
good actress. Giara looked over at him.

“Joe,
we need to go now,” she said. “Come with me.”

“Don’t
Joe, that’s not me.” I said. “If you go with them, they will kill you.”

Joe
glanced at me finally. I tried to communicate with my eyes all our history, but
I think he couldn’t notice, because soon after he glanced at me, his eyes
shifted toward the Helena who used to be Meg. She was transforming too, and
turning into me.

Oh,
you have to be kidding, three me’s?

Kaylie
spoke quietly to Michael.

I
sighed, “Joe, you idiot. Put Michael back where he belongs, and let’s go.”

Joe
looked at me quickly when I called him an idiot, and a quick smile passed
through his eyes. Well, at least now he knew who I was.

“Can’t
do it, Riz,” he whispered, “I’m expected.”

He
draped Michael’s arm around his shoulder and then they both ran through a
series of walls. When he turned, I saw a
compulsion
rune drawn on the
back of his neck. I ran forward to wipe away the runelight that had betrayed
me, but I was too late, and Joe was too fast.

Two
versions of myself walked toward me. Helena glanced at Kaylie, “What was that
about, that chumminess between you and a lethal weapon?”

She
whispered, “I felt bad, him being alone for so long, so I started visiting him
a couple of months ago. He’s not that bad. We’re kind of friends.”

Giara
forced out a quick laugh. Was that really how I sounded?

“That’s
the problem with making Grandmothers out of hormonal teenagers,” she said in my
voice. “It makes them soft. Makes them traitors.” She said the last bit looking
directly at me, and I knew she was calling me a traitor.

“What
did I do,” I whispered, “Honestly. What did I do to make you all hate me so
much?”

“What
did you do?” Giara said, again laughing. “How about aiding in the escape of the
prisoner who killed your family? How about bringing a collection of
Grandfathers into the Grandmothers’ Study, and then upsetting the natural
balance the Grandmothers had ordered. We were fine without you. I was doing
fine. I didn’t need some poorly trained teenager to take over without knowing
anything about the world we live in.”

Giara
sniffed once and raised her chin, refusing to look at Kaylie or Helena.

“Not
to mention,” she continued, her voice weaker in passion, “you tried to hide an
Instinct who can do runes.”

“What
about you, Giara?” I said. “You put a
compulsion
rune on a normal in
order to kill the Instinct Carol just because she might put someone ahead of
you.” I took a step toward Giara. My face looked scared on her. “You abandoned
me out there on my own the day after my entire family was stolen.” I
transformed myself, so I grew taller. “You have been so consumed with your own
power that you’ve lead our people into a full out war with the Grandfathers.”
Helena turned in horror to Giara. “My mom trusted you, Giara.”

“Your
mother never trusted you,” Giara said. “Helena, Carol died in a very sad
accident that I had nothing to do with. This girl has no proof, and a shaky
history of lies. She came here with the Grandfathers, tried to kill Ana, and
knocked out Sarah without provocation. I hope you will give these accusations
of hers the despicable lack of merit they deserve.”

“Of
course, Giara.” Helena said with a smile.

When
Giara turned her back to them, I caught a shared look between Helena and
Kaylie. Helena transformed back into her own self.

“This
girl is a traitor to everything her mother and I created. I hate to do this,”
she said in my voice, “but really you have left me no choice.

“There’s
always a choice,” I said, and for a second Giara paused.

That
one pause was enough for me to do something. I threw
stay
on both the
women. Kaylie stepped back. She couldn’t do anything to harm me, but by now, I
knew better than to trust any Grandmother. I used
stay
on her too. With
the women frozen, I took a deep breath, opened my mother’s notebook, and
glanced through it. I was stalling, in truth. I knew I only had a moment or two
to figure out a way to save my own life. And Joe’s, wherever he was. There had
to be something I could do to save us. I memorized as many of the runes as I
could. They just didn’t get it. They didn’t understand me. I flipped the page,
and the answer was right there, written in my abuela’s handwriting.
Perception
.
It was a two-step rune.

First,
I had to erase Giara’s memories. I drew the
erase
rune on Giara’s
forehead. As I drew, I stared at my own face, right in front of me. Giara
looked strange. Because usually when I looked at myself, it was in a mirror, so
the reflection was backward. But this was the way people actually saw me. My
hair actually parted this way. This was backwards me.

I
turned away from backwards me and glanced back to the notebook.
Perception
was a surgical rune, similar to the ones used for major healings. I didn’t have
much experience with
healing
runes, but it couldn’t be that hard, right?
Then I overlapped a reverse version of erase to put in new memories. It seemed
appropriate, doing a reverse rune on backwards me. I followed the rune exactly
as written, except I added all of the details of my
transformation
runes
that meant me in order to share my perspective. I finished the rune with a
circle that closed all the way, until there was no beginning and no ending.

When
I finished the rune, I felt like I had been punched in the face. My memories of
the last several months poured out of my head, and through my fingers… kind of
like I’m doing now, writing this book. But instead of the computer, they poured
into Giara.

When
I lifted my fingers away from Giara’s forehead, the runelight faded into her
skin. I felt so weak, as the memories kept tugging their way out of me. This
better work, I thought. Otherwise, I had just served myself up to them on a
platter, and Joe was still in trouble.

And
that’s when I blacked out.