Chapter 6: Cassie's Birthday

The days went on and I tried my best to give Cassie space. I watched her from a distance, paying attention to anything suspicious. Nick hadn’t specified what may come after her. Maybe he didn’t know? Either way, I was on high alert, ready to step in and protect her if anything happened.

She still hadn’t texted me, and when I saw her in school, she made no attempt to talk to me. Most of the time she sat on the other side of the classroom. Why was she avoiding me?

I kept away from Mark as much as I could. The bullying got on my nerves. Why couldn’t he just leave me alone? Every time I saw him, he would slag me off or slam me into the lockers. It pissed me off. What did he have against me? When my anger boiled over, I clenched my fists and took a few deep breaths, reminding myself why I couldn’t stoop to his level and retaliate.

When I woke up on Friday, my stomach felt empty. Cassie hadn’t texted me and I didn’t know how to proceed. I paced the room. Cassie would be seventeen today. Nick’s powers first presented themselves when he turned seventeen, so the chances of it happening to Cassie was high.

If I went to school as a student, I would struggle to keep an eye on her.. It would be better to stay in crow form. I teleported to school early, before any students arrived, and made a quick stop at Cassie’s locker. I got her a present. In my hand was a small black box with a silver bow, that I carefully placed inside her locker. The box contained a talisman for protection, several knots surrounded by a circle in the form of a necklace. I hoped she would like it enough to wear it. Freya had given it to me when I first ventured to the human realm. It would dampen her magical energy and make it harder for anyone to realise what she was. It would also help her control her abilities. In my case it had made it easier to suppress the demon inside. I hadn’t needed it in a long time, and even though it held sentimental value to me, Cassie needed it more.

After I placed the box in her locker, I transformed into a crow and made my way to our first lesson. I perched on one of the window sills overlooking the classroom while I waited for the students to arrive. It would be easier to keep an eye on her this way and I could teleport myself to her side in less than a second, should I need to.

The first part of the day went smoothly, but halfway through Cassie stared down at the table in front of her and rubbed her temples. A student moved over and said something to her. She jumped, her eyes struggling to focus on her fellow student. A moment later she put her head in her hands. I considered changing back into my human form so I could walk up to her to ask what was bothering her, but our last encounter had not gone well. She didn’t trust me, so why would she tell me anything?

When class finished, I wanted to follow Cassie, but I couldn’t exactly fly around inside the school without looking suspicious. Instead, I made my way to where our next class would be. As the students trickled in, a chill went through me. Something wasn’t right. My chest became heavy, and I struggled to breath. I located Cassie and teleported to her side.

She lay unconscious in an empty hallway. My heart tightened in my chest. I put my hand through my hair and attentively scanned the corridor for any threats. My mind sharp and ready to fight whatever being that may have hurt her, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Still, I wasn’t taking any chances.

I scooped her up in my arms and teleported us to my house. When I touched her, another shock coursed through me as well as some flashbacks. It happened too fast for me to see anything; I felt a moment of belonging. But it disappeared so quickly that I questioned if it had even happened.

When I got to the house, I placed Cassie carefully on my bed and extended the energy in my mind to double-check that all the protection spells were working, just in case someone was after her. I even added a few more protections just to be safe. She could likely use all her powers and blow the whole house up, and no one would be able to feel her energy.

With a racing heart, I examined her rigorously with my eyes. My heart slowed down when I couldn’t detect any injuries. As far as I could tell, nothing was wrong with her. There must be another explanation to why she had ended up unconscious.

I positioned myself next to the bed. Determined to wait for as long as it took for Cassie to wake up. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long. After a moment, she stirred. She clutched her head and mumbled something. I couldn’t make out what she said before she started shouting for something to shut up. A second later she passed out again.

I looked around for anything that may have caused it, nothing should be able to get into the house without my knowledge. Despite this, I sent out my energy to be certain, but I couldn’t sense anything unusual.

What was going on? I had never felt this helpless, not even when I was trapped in a hell dimension. I thought back to when Nick had got his abilities. Could this be related?

Nick had the ability to read minds. His voice echoed in my head, ‘If these voices won't stop screaming and shut up, I’ll burn them all to the ground’, luckily, he learned to control them before he carried out his threat. Maybe Cassie had voices screaming in her head, but the necklace should have protected her against it.

I looked down at Cassie and brushed some hair away from her face. My attention went to her neckline. She wasn’t wearing the necklace I gave her. I conjured it up and placed it around her neck. The second I did, the tension fled her body and her muscles relaxed. A few minutes later, Cassie opened her eyes and jumped out of the bed and made her way to the opposite side of the room from where I stood. "What did you do to me?" She crossed her arms and followed my every move with wide eyes.

I froze, scared that any movement I made would cause her to run. I tried to send her calming energy, but it didn’t work. No surprise there really. My abilities didn’t work on Nick, so why should his daughter be any different. I asked Freya about it once, why my mind influence didn’t work on Nick. She told me something about being descendants and that the fates had made it that way to equal out the battlefield. As usual I had no idea what she was talking about.

I took a seat on the bed and patted the area next to me, but Cassie didn’t move. I looked up at her and took a deep breath. “You passed out at school, so I brought you here to look after you?”

Her stance shifted and her eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you just bring me home?”

“I wanted to make sure that you were safe first.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her head. “Safe from what?”

I glanced around the room before taking a deep breath. Nick hadn’t specified what might be after her. “Safe from any creature that may want to harm you.”

She bit her lip. “Why would they want to harm me?”

I met her eyes. “Because of your dad.”

“My dad’s dead. He died in a car crash when I was young. It’s how me and Leah ended up with Abigail.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Your father is very much alive. He hid you away in the human realm to protect you.“

She placed her hand on her hip and bit her lip. “Why should I believe you? How do I know you’re not the one trying to hurt me?”

I shook my head. “You’ve been unconscious. If I wanted to hurt you, I would have had plenty of opportunities.”

“So I’m free to go?”

I nodded.

Cassie’s hands moved up to the necklace around her neck. She inspected it with fidgeting fingers before reaching her hands over her back to remove it.

“I wouldn’t,” I said to stop her.

“Why?”

 “The necklace will protect you. It will keep other supernatural beings from sensing your energy when you use your powers. It will also help with controlling them.”

Her hands dropped to the side. “So the voices in my head will come back if I remove it?”

I nodded.

“How did you know it would happen today?”

I let out a sigh. “Nick, your biological father, came into his powers when he turned seventeen, so I assumed you would too. That's what I’ve been trying to talk to you about.”

She studied me for a while. “Why isn’t my father here? And what about my mum?

I didn’t know what to say. How was she not freaking out?

I gave her a pained look. "Your mother’s dead, she died protecting you, which is why your dad, even though he loves you very much, decided to send you away."

She raised her eyebrows. "Can I meet him?"

How do I tell her he’s in another realm and that she can’t go there before she gets her full powers? And that he couldn’t come here, as every supernatural within 50 miles would know about it. Sure, he could likely fight them all at the same time and win, but he wouldn’t risk it, even if there was a slight chance someone would find out about Cassie.

"Your dad loves you very much, but he can’t risk anyone finding out that you’re his daughter, so you can’t see him for now."

There was a second of hurt in her eyes, but then she collected herself and started looking around for something. A moment later she reached for her bag and got her phone out.

"I really need to get back home before they start worrying about me. I'm not sure how I got here but would you mind getting me home?"

I debated whether I should teleport her home, but she seemed to finally trust me. Well maybe she didn’t trust me yet, but at least she didn’t seem afraid to be around me anymore.

"Sure, I’ll drive you home," I said, while leading her to the garage where my new car had just appeared.