Chapter 14

Camila's

      

       I found West sitting in the sand by a rocky outcropping near the docks.  His back was to me, but I could tell he heard me coming, his head tilted ever so slightly when I got closer.

       "Tide's coming in," I told him, standing next to him and kicking off my shoes to put my feet in the path of the water.  I dug my toes into the sand closing my eyes against the spray of water as it came in.  West kept staring off into the sea, silent as the rocks to his side but giving off the same stoic strength.

       "West," I said, touching his shoulder to get his attention.  "Brooding isn't going to make it better, and analyzing it makes it worse.  I'm here, and for some reason I'm still functioning, so let it go."  I tested out something I had been wanting to do, and ran my fingers through his coppery hair.  It was soft and bushy at the same time, untamed in the wind and mist from the ocean.

       "Let it go," he echoed, like he was tasting out how it fell from his lips.  Shaking his head he stood up, facing me.  "I don't know if that's possible at this point, I've always been a brooder," he said, a wry smile on his lips.

       "You are a mind mage, it's a hazard of the occupation.  But if you spend too much time in there you'll miss out on other things," I said, knowing it was struggle for me as well.

       "What would I miss out on?" he asked, reaching out to cup my face.  It reacted to his touch by heating from the inside, my blood rising up to meet his own.

       "You miss out on the whole point West, magic is meant to be used, explored, tested, enjoyed, magic is meant to free you.  Not keep you locked in your own head, reliving things you cannot change.  Free your magic Weston MacKinnon, and it will give you all that in return."  He made no noise, or moved so much as an inch, and we stood facing each other until I made him sit with me in the sand.

       "Free it West, you can do that here.  That school teaches you complete control, which I can understand, but they miss the importance of feeding the magic.  It is as alive as you are, trapped in your body and at your mercy, waiting for nourishment.  Open it up," I commanded as I placed my hand over his eyes to close them, cupping my other hand around the back of his neck.  I let the magic run through my arms and into his face, surrounding his head and searching for the control he held so close to his source.  West moved his head, an attempt to shake off my hands but I held tighter. 

       "I can get you there if you let me, just let go and I can unlock it all for you!" I said, almost yelling at him for fighting me on this.  I was giving him a gift in doing this with him.  He pulled free of my grip, staggering up to his feet and backpedaling in the sand towards the house.

       "I told you not to do that Brienne, it's not right," he said looking angry.  I didn't understand it, I was only trying to help him out.  "You have to learn to respect boundaries, you of all people should know about that!"

       "You are using so little of what you’re capable of, why are you scared of your magic?" I asked, tilting my head and fighting the urge to jump his mind to find out.

       "I'm not scared of it, I know what it can do.  Do you think everyone wants to be like you, capable of doing things that are so..." he trailed off, not knowing the right word, or knowing what he wanted to say but not willing to hurt me.

       "Wrong?  Unnatural?" I said feeling my own anger rise.  It was always a struggle with him, to get him to understand me, and I had a feeling it didn't bode well for a future as friends.

       "Destructive," he said, choosing an interesting word.

       "Destructive to the carefully constructed world you hold so dear.  That's a rarity West, your story is nice and safe, and my story blows your theories about life to pieces.  You should protect it, but not from me.  I'm a walking example of so many lessons, but they are the hard ones West.  I paid the price to learn them, and all you have to do is be around me to get the same.  That's unfair, but that is life!" I screamed, my own careful control starting to slip.

       "I don't want your lessons, that's not what friends do.  We don't spend our time lecturing and delivering speeches that only serve to remind us of how different we are, mind raping others into manipulating magic.  That's not right, it's so not right it's beyond wrong."  He said it to me with a look I knew well, I saw it on JP's face the same night in the woods, and the same feeling of despair rang through my bones again.  "Remy taught you to control by force, if someone doesn't understand or is unwilling to listen, he used manipulation to force them, which is what you just did to me, again!  You have no boundaries, not everything is yours to touch, especially not me.  Not anymore," he said, and I was unable to contain the wince he said at my words

       "That's not what I did to you!" I yelled, seeing out of the corner of my eye that Mave and Logan were sitting on the steps of the house, probably listening to the whole conversation.  "I was trying to get you to see what you could be, to know the power that you restrain instead of let fly free.  You are almost as strong as me West, did you know that?  I have thousands of years of magical lineage, I was born from the lines of the greatest mage kings this world has ever seen, and you are almost as powerful.  I had to fight for every f*****g scrap of power I could hold onto while my own father beat it out of me, using me for his own personal guinea pig.  You have had it all handed to you, just sitting and waiting for you patiently while you have friends and family to support you.   Now you are going to use none of it because you think you will end up like me?" I asked, laughing at the absurdity of it all.  "It all comes back to my family, you're right, they are all right, I am just like them.  But I fought to be better, and that's all I can do.  I didn't ask to be born, to be handed a curse of having Moreau blood beating through my heart, but I sure as hell am going to make the best of it.  I didn't go through hell to be ordinary, that's the real tragedy here, and you’re going through hell to stay ordinary.  It's a waste, you are better than that, or so I thought," I said walking right past West and into the house, heading straight for the basement, where I belonged.

       ***

    

       I stayed down there the rest of the day, only emerging when I needed to use the bathroom later that night.  My bladder had been screaming at me for so long I finally gave in.  It was dark out now, I didn't look at the clock but I had a feeling I had been drinking down there for quite a while.  Yep, it was almost morning.

         I guess I had done it so well, that at some point I passed out completely, leading me to where I was now, skulking around the house in an attempt to avoid West.  I heard a stillness in the room, the only kind of quiet that comes from an empty house.  The bags that had rested in the living room were gone, as was their power signatures.  By the looks of it, they never even unpacked, leaving shortly after my confrontation with West.

       When I reached the kitchen island, it was impossible to miss the note that was sitting in the middle, stark white and almost glowing in the moonlight.  I stared at it some, trying to read the scrawled handwriting from here, and knowing somewhere deep down that it would only disappoint me further.  Reluctantly I stepped forward, refusing to be scared of a piece of paper.

       We decided to leave at sunset, I think it is better this way.  See you when you get back.

       West

       I took a deep breath in, knowing that was probably what it was going to say the second I saw it.  I had spent some time downstairs in contemplation of what he said to me outside, and if it was possible he was right.  I understood the basic feelings, the undercurrents of how he felt, but I just couldn't grasp that he couldn't get past that to see my intentions.  My childhood was so messed up, so far from what it should have been, that I often got confused about what was the right course to take.  I told myself long ago I would go with my gut, and trust what it told me to do, regardless of what people said.  Now I had to consider that I couldn't really trust myself that perhaps what had been done to my brain basically clouded things to the point I couldn't make that call anymore. 

       It wasn't an easy dissection, but if it took me all week out here, I was going to turn myself inside out to figure it out.  I wasn't like them, I wasn't scared to dig deep, dust off the cabinets that I rarely opened and inspect them.  I didn't come this far to have a few hurt feelings get in the way of living.

       I went out to the water, watching the moonlight bounce off the little crests in front of me.  I was drawn to the ocean because of its power, its relentlessness, the persistent need to keep steady and true.  How simple would it be to have a life like that, always coming out the other side, regardless of what was thrown at me?  The trouble was, the ocean knew what it was, and I still wasn't sure.

       "You know what you are, it's just that you don't fit nicely into the boxes most people put themselves in," I heard a voice behind me say.  I whirled around and found Remy staring back, a look of adoration and longing on his face.

       ***

      

       "Did Miguel tell you I was here?" I asked, trying to distract my mind from the panic that was quickly rising.  If I let it overtake me I was in trouble, I could outsmart him, I had done it before.

       "Did you think I wouldn't be able to find you here, or were you just sending a message with Carolina," he asked, icily running his gaze over me.  I couldn't be gladder I had thrown on sweatpants and an old t-shirt instead of standing here in my bikini.

       "Carolina asked for it, and I know you weren't too fond of her if you placed her in harm’s way by sending her in my direction.  As for you finding me, it was just a matter of time.  I didn't think you would try now, so why are you here?  I don't see the usual backup," I said, looking around to see around him, crossing my fingers Ren wasn't here anywhere.  I didn't get the sense anyone else was out there, but concealment spells came in handy in times like these.

       "I've come to take you home with me," he said, an interesting expression taking over his face.  I had to laugh at it, the ridiculousness of what he was trying to reason with me I couldn't handle with a straight face.

       "I'm not going anywhere with you Remy, those days are over," I told him defiantly, knowing it wasn't a smart move to make but I couldn't help it.  I was done with people messing with me, especially him.

       "It won't be like before sweetheart, I have a whole legion of followers with me now.  I'm going to take back control, and with you at my side we will be able to do it with little effort, you might even save lives.  It's time for a Moreau to take the throne," he said, a twinge of lunacy hitting his eyes as he said it.  There was a storm rising at a rapid pace above us, the clouds rolling in a twice the natural speed, barreling down on us.  Remy was the most powerful element user in the history of magic, a perfect example of his abilities was playing out before us.

       "There is no throne left to take father, we have entered the modern age.  They have the governance, and I don't see anyone storming the gates of the complex to overthrow them.  If you have plenty of followers just stay with them, and leave the rest of us the hell alone.  Stay the king of them, if they are happy following your lead than count your blessings."  I was panting, trying to pull all the energy I could to me in preparation for the inevitable fight that was going to take place.  It was starting to rain on us now, the thunder claps were so loud they rang almost painfully in my ears.

       "That is not enough, I thought I taught you before that anything less than the best was beneath us.  It's beneath our blood Ellie, we are incapable of being ordinary, and to pretend we are is doing a disservice to our community.  We have gifts that were meant to be shared, revered.  It's time for the natural order to take over once more."  It was like what he said slapped me in the face, the earlier confrontation with West was echoing in my head.  I was just as bad, if not worse than my father, because I should have known better.  Maybe I was crazy.

       "What about what I want?" I asked, the rain soaking me entirely.  I could feel my hair sagging in the bun on top of my head, small tendrils of curls were plastered to my face and I shoved them back so I could focus on his form.

       "I know what you want, you just don't want to admit it.  You want be powerful, and the governance will never allow that to happen.  The only way to be exactly what you are capable of is to come with me, rule with me.  Anything you want changed we can do, whatever you desire I can get for you."  A string of lightening came down close to the beach house, far too close for my comfort.  I had no desire to be on the receiving end of that bolt.

       "I desire for you to leave me alone," I said through gritted teeth.  Remy's eyes flashed a violent blue, just as a bolt of lightning hit the corner of the stairs going up to the house.  It wasn't more than twenty feet from me, and I had a flashback to the night be burned my face.  I let out a little of my own magic, sending a wave of energy at my father that cut open a line of blood on his cheek.

       "That wasn't nice Ellie, I don't want to have you bring you in the way I used to.  It would be so much better if you agreed to this, agreed to be at my side, not under my hand."  It was a warning as much as it was a promise, I looked around me, at the storm that was pelting me with its viscious contents.  I wasn't sure I could fend him off here alone, I had never fully sparred with him before, and I had never tested what I could do against his best.  The events of the last week were coming down on me as hard as the rain, the indecision and distrust of my abilities were going to kill me if I didn't settle my head.

       "Don't do this father, let me go!" I screamed out to him.  He sent two bolts over the beach house, they ignited and sent the roof on fire.  It would be gone come morning, just another ash filled pile of memories that Remy had taken.  It shouldn't have made me as furious as it was, I knew it didn't mean anything to me, it was just a shell that represented something to my childish brain.  The sky was unrelenting, rain coming down so hard I could barely see anything.

       "You are coming one way or another, I love you too much to let you waste away.  You will not disgrace our bloodline," he told me, eyes glowing pure blue through his speech.

       "Then come and get me!" I screamed out, getting into a fighting stance.  I had my hands extended in front of me, anticipating his strike.

       We danced for what seemed like an eternity, both of us striking and shielding across the sand.  The rain was coming in a torrential downpour, but when I caught him with a strike the rain would abate for a minute.  The lightening was occupying most of my attention, I had to keep constantly moving throughout just to avoid getting hit.

       "Why won't you just come with me?" he asked, getting far more impatient that his usual tricks weren't seeming to work on me any longer.  It left me wondering if I could really best him.  He was trying to back me into a corner, I had almost backed up to where the water line was.  In a moment or two I was going to be fully in the water, and with what he could manipulate of that element I was in trouble.

       "Why won't you let me go?" I yelled back, struggling to keep my hair out of my eyes.  The temperature had dropped a bit, and I was shaking from being soaked and cold.

       "I cannot allow it, you are my muse, my child, my future.  You must succeed me on the throne, we are Moreau's, Ennie, and I will not leave you.  Ever!"  He screamed, and the noise sent a large wave to crash in my direction.  I somehow managed to get my shields up, only able to keep it from sweeping me away but I was left stumbling to regain my feet.  I reached deep, turning the same energy back on him, and sending him into the water instead.

       "I will die before I let that happen father, this is it for me.  I am free or I choose death," I said, panting from exertion and staring at him prone on the ground.  I could feel the heat from the burning house behind me, the rain having no effect on his particular brand of fire.  It was burning bright, permeating the air with sticky smoke.  I didn't know what time it was, or how long I could fend him off for.  All I knew was that I needed to make it to the portal if I had any hope of surviving this. 

       "You cannot choose if I decide for you," Remy said flying to his feet and striking my face with a jolt of his power.  I could feel my cheek start to swell, but I couldn't fix it fast enough will all the other shields I had popped up.  I felt like I was doing the job of five people, a juggler with too many balls in the air.  He landed another hit, pushing me off my feet and throwing me into the cold waters behind me.  I had little choice now.

       Opening up my eye, I could feel the magic gathering within.  I was treading water, shielding the attacks that were coming from the beach and barely keeping my head up.  I let the eye go completely, never really allowing the full power to surge upwards before.  I could feel it heat up as I zoned in on where Remy was standing on the beach.  I had to hide under the water from him if I wanted to accomplish this.  Every last scrap of my energy was going to get thrown into this, and I wouldn't be able to swat a fly for a good long while.  

       I stuck my head up a little to determine his location, catching another blow to my head.  I ignored the pain ringing in my skull, diving down and trying to float suspended while I said the chants in my head.  I let my eye go, its precision sight honing in on the exact spot I needed.  My lungs were starting to burn, but I had a bad feeling about what would happen if I came up for air again.  After another agonizing thirty seconds I finished the job, floating only my face above the water to drink in the fresh air.  I got in enough air to swim back down, wading in towards the beach and hoping like hell this was going to work.

       "Alright," I said standing up and holding my hands up in surrender.  I got closer to him, not wanting him to move to far from where he was then.   When I got within range, he sent another whip of pain my way and bringing me to my knees.  I knew my leg was broken, and the fact was I couldn't even heal myself yet.  I couldn't waste the magic.

       "I'm glad you came to your senses, but there will be punishment for this little engagement," he said, looking like he would enjoy returning to our old routine for too much. 

       "Let's go, can you give me a hand up?" I asked, using the most innocent face I could put on.  He held his arm out for me, and I pushed him back, throwing my arm into the portal I had created directly behind him.  It blazed bright blue, the edges already closing in on his frame.  He looked stunned for a moment, realizing I had locked him it, and when he fell back into the darkness he threw one last blow my way.  It sent me flying back, a good fifty feet or so, and I fell back into a group of rocks.  The wet heat was seeping into the nape of my neck and mixing with the rain, the blackness was creeping into my vision from the sides. 

       I fought against the blackness, crawling up on my hands and knees to see all the drinks I downed earlier make a reappearance.  I noticed I could see better out here, and a survey of the horizon said it was close to dawn.   I had to make it to that portal, if I passed out here I was as good as dead.  Dragging myself to my feet, and trying to ignore the fact that ground was coming at me with an angle, I took a few steps in the direction I needed to go in.  I collapsed under the weight of my broken leg, and I sank to the ground with wracking sobs.  This was how I was going to die, I realized closing my eyes and waiting for the pain to end.

       "You need to get up honey," I heard an echoing voice say sometime later, and I snapped my eyes open to find a ghost staring down at me.  I had passed out for most of the day, and I missed both the sunrise and sunset portals. 

       "Where did you come from?" I asked, trying to scramble back awkwardly, unable to move more than six inches back without horrible pain.  I had no clue what she wanted, and my brain was far too jumbled to realize who it was.

       "He burned down my house, he brought that evil magic to my island!" she said, staring at the now smoky pile of ash, with a look of pure hatred in her eyes.

       "Camila?" I asked, dumbfounded.

       "Miguel likes to visit me here, plus I get to stay and haunt that b***h for eternity, so I reside here," she said, rising in the air and looking proud.  "Now that awful man has come here, and burned down my house!"  I think her eyes burned red for an instant but I was probably seeing things.

       "You fought him, I will help you," she continued in her broken English.  I felt a laugh escape, I couldn't help it, and hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.  Ghost or not.