Chapter Nineteen

For the first time since she got to Marsha's house three days ago Emily decides to leave the house. Emily was ready for the first time in thousands of years to get to explore the streets and stores. Marsha gave her some money to buy a few things. Emily starts to look around dazed and confused at the large buildings. She walks up to a man at a bus stop to ask him a question or two.

"Can you possibly point me to the market?" asks Emily.

"New around here?" asks the man.

"More than you know." says Emily with a giggle and a smile.

"There is a grocery store right around this corner." says the man.

"No I mean the market, that has all the merchants." says Emily.

"A flea market?" asks the man. 

"No I'm not interested in bugs sir. I just want to see the various shops." says Emily.

"I don't know what your looking for then, but have a good day" says the man as he gets on the bus.

Emily continues walking down the street. She gets pulled into an alley by her hair and thrown on the ground next to a dumpster. She looks at the man. He is very tall, the longest legs Emily has ever seen. He covers his face with a wrapping. 

"Who are you?" asks Emily scared and almost crying.

"Who I am is not important to you. I know what you are though. I know who you all are. Now relay this message to that Demon. Tell her that she is welcome, and that her sister is trying to recruit the Pagans against them. Get that girl to Adelmar The Grand Psychic. He is waiting for them." says the tall masked man as he disappears almost as fast as he appears. Emily stands up and grabs her satchel and runs as fast as she can to Marsha's house. She gets in the house and hugs Raven. Emily tells Raven and Marsha what the man said.

"That's the man that saved me, I'm sure of it. I just don't know who he is, or how he knows all of this." says Raven.

"Well what could he be?" says Marsha.

"Pagan? Demon? Angel? The options are almost limitless." says Emily.

"I'll look more into Adelmar. Last I knew he was only legend." says Raven as she goes into her room.

"I was scared Marsha."says Emily.

"I would be too." says Marsha nodding.

Raven is in her room looking through her books of legends and myths that she pulled from her bookshelf. One by one she is finding books that tell her nothing. Her frustration builds and builds until she throws a book across the room hitting the her chest. The chest starts to shake. Raven remembers the Ouija board she uses to communicate with her father. Raven drops to her knees and opens the chest. She pulls out the Ouija board. She looks for something so her father can use to tell letters to her.

"Raven." says April as she enters the room.

"April what are you doing up here? I told you guys not to come in my room." says Raven sternly.

"Your dad wanted to talk to you." says April.

"Did you talk to my dad?" asks Raven 

"Just a few minutes ago, he said that the Ouija board isn't safe anymore. He said bad spirits are trying to use it." says April.

"Tell him I understand, and that the board will be gone tonight." says Raven.

As Raven shows April out of her room and closes the door she notices a book on the shelf sticking out. She grabs the book and it opens to a page about Adelmar The Grand Psychic. As she reads it says that he lives in the forgotten world of the Psychics. Since the Psychics died out he remained as a gift from the Titans to train the Five Forgotten Psychics. Raven closes the book and sighs. She walks back downstairs to join Emily and Marsha in the kitchen. 

"April has to go to Adelmar. I don't know how, but it's the only option." says Raven.

"No. You aren't hurting my daughter anymore than you already have. She almost died Raven." says Marsha.

"If I have April on my side, trained at that, people will rise with me again. I'm losing my army everyday. People are scared to speak against the Dark Emperors." pleads Raven.

"She is but just a girl Raven." says Marsha beginning to cry.

"This isn't my place I know, but I think April should do what she wants. Maybe she isn't ready for the pressure and wants to stay home and train a bit more before meeting Adelmar. Maybe she is ready to fight and help as much as she can for the worlds to come together as one, just like they used to in lore." says Emily.

"She's right." says April as she walks in the room.

"I should be allowed to pick my own destiny. Not everyone else." says April.

"My baby girl is growing up." says Marsha with a smile.

"I wanna go,I wanna fight, I wanna win/" says April looking at Raven.

"How long will she be gone?" asks Marsha who has now begun sobbing. 

"Until she is ready." says Raven.

"Could be as long as ten years." says Raven when Marsha put her head on the table sobbing.

"Were marked Raven. Were all in danger." says Marsha still sobbing. 

A faint knock at the door interrupts the conversation. Shelly comes from her bedroom and answers the door.

"Grandma!" exclaims Shelly as she hugs her grandmother.

"Mom?" asks Marsha as she stands from the table.

"What are you doing here? I haven't heard from you in a long time! How's daddy? He was supposed to visit last week and never showed up or called." says Marsha.

"Calm down sweetie. Your getting yourself worked up. Here, take this." says the short elderly woman of seventy-three years as she pulls a tissue from her purse.

"What do you have one of those in the house for?" says Marsha's mother.

"One of what?" asks Marsha.

"She means me." says Raven emerging from the kitchen.

"She was a friend of Jonathan's." says Marsha.

"My name is Raven." says Raven.

"Claudia." says Marsha's mother.

"Well I came here for a reason." says Claudia.

"What is it grandma?" asks Shelly.

"I am pissed off for two reasons. One your father finally died and I still haven't got that life insurance policy, I told you that geezer took me off of it." says Claudia in a rage.

"Wait, Daddy died?" asks Marsha.

"Three days ago he had a heart attack while driving. That's what he gets for making me wreck my car back in '02." says Claudia.

"Wish we could have known him." says April looking at Shelly since they never got to meet him.

"He was an a*s." says Claudia.

"You married him mom." says Marsha.

We married long enough for you to move out." says Claudia.

"Anyways, I'm also pissed off because I had to hear from Elder Sarah that my granddaughter was the first of the Forgotten Five, and then she told me Shelly still hasn't been trained." says Claudia even angrier.

"What powers?" asks Shelly.

"You've never told her?" asks Claudia.

"I wanted them to have normal lives. I stopped practicing your witchcraft after I moved out." says Marsha.

"Your depriving Shelly of so much, while all the story is on Shelly. I was knew you favored her." says Claudia.

"Mom! Enough!" says Marsha sternly.

"Mom, your a Pagan? And that means I am too?" asks Shelly

"The first born of a Pagan always is. After that the odds are really low." says Claudia.

"I wanted to be normal. I didn't want to make things levitate and all that weird stuff." says Marsha.

"You were far from normal Marsha. You wanted to be a snake charmer when you grew up." says Claudia.

"My brother was a snake charmer" whispers Emily to April as April just looks at her and then back.

"So, if your gonna send April off to training for her powers, then Shelly should get a fair shake at hers back at the Coven." says Claudia.

"I couldn't leave my mom alone like that Grandma. I really appreciate your offer but to me family means something. It means sticking together as much as you can. Even when life gets tough. April isn't leaving because she wants to. April is leaving because she knows it will be the best for not just our families but every family in every world for maybe the rest of time." says Shelly as she hugs her younger sister and kisses her on the head when she finishes speaking.

"Whenever you're ready Shelly. I'll leave my number. Give me a call." says Claudia as she leaves a card on the end table and walks out.