I had always known my life was strange. I knew not of my family but for my father, who only came to visit me one day out of the year for as long as I could remember. I lived somewhere in South America, in a small village tucked away in the humid, colorful jungle. I was not allowed to leave the house for any reason, and interacted only with Marta, a native woman who prepared my meals sometimes and kept me company when I begged her to. I was completely secluded, cut off from society and I had no idea why.

It was when I was thirteen that I knew I was strange. I woke up in the middle of the night, screaming from a nightmare, and all the windows in the house shattered as I began to glow with a light-green color. I was scared and began to cry when suddenly there was a loud crack, which usually signaled the arrival of my father. But he had just been here the month before, and I was not expecting him for another eleven months.

"Eliana! Where are you?" He shouted.

"In my bedroom!" I yelled back.

He burst into the room, looking uncharacteristically angry and worried. His pale skin was darkened by his countenance as it matched his typically black clothes and hair. "What happened? Are you hurt? Was anyone here?" he demanded.

I told him what had occurred. I also admitted that lately whenever I felt emotional, things seemed to break around me, and that if I wished for something from another room, it would come to me without me physically retrieving it.

He stared at me thoughtfully, looking a little calmer. "Can you show me?"

I nodded, surprised, before wishing I had a class of water from the kitchen. Almost immediately, one appeared in the room, on my bedside table.

He quirked an eyebrow, "Can you get emotional as well?"

By then I was feeling self-conscious and snapped, "No, I'm not just emotional for without a reason."

He smirked cruelly. "Aren't you ever angry that I've shut you up here, and that you know nothing of my life, and nothing of who you are?"

A lump rose in my throat. Truthfully, I was angry about that. And for him to be so callous as to ask me like that was insulting! "Yes, I am angry about that." I gritted out.

"But not angry enough to do anything about it, obviously. Not even angry enough to ever ask me why, I have you so well trained." He kept going.

How dare he insinuate that I blindly obeyed him! I didn't ask him why because I respected him and I thought he must have excellent reasons, little as I knew of him. "How dare you. Do you think it is easy for me, living like this? I'm virtually a shut-in, with no one but Marta around, and you only come once a year! There must be more to life, and no, I don't understand why you keep me here. So you're damn right I'm angry!" I yelled at him.

My hands were shaking as the room started vibrating and my breathing grew faster. I stared at him, this man who was supposedly my father, this man who dressed in black and had an enormous nose, this man who should love me…but then why was he so ashamed of me as to keep me away in a jungle? I started crying as the air seemed to crackle with electricity.

His face softened as he put his hand on my arm. "Elieana, calm down. I said those things on purpose to provoke you, not because I wanted to hurt you, or because I intended to be cruel. Take some deep breaths."

I did as he said, and the room settled as I calmed down. But I was still upset, and so I waited, silent, for him to explain.

He shut his eyes and sighed ever so slightly, before looking at me again. "Elie," he began, for the first time using a nickname for me, "There is so much I can't tell you, because I am desperate to keep you safe. There are people who would torture or kill you, just because you are my daughter. However, it is unfair and unwise of me to keep you completely ignorant as I have been."

He paused as I waited eagerly. Finally, I would know something, anything, of who I was.

"I am a wizard, Elieana, and you are a witch. That…force you are exerting when upset, or when you want something, is magic. Normally, a wizard or witch must channel their magic through a wand, and they learn how to use it and control their magic in school. However…you cannot go to school, and I cannot provide you with a wand just yet. Therefore your magic is manifesting without control. You must learn to control it, though, or else it will become very dangerous."

I gaped at him. "Why didn't you tell me any of that before? And why can't I go to school? What is the rest of story that you obviously aren't telling me?" I asked, annoyed. If he was going to tell me that much information, he'd better explain why, too.

He looked annoyed as well, as if he didn't expect me to persist for more answers. "There are currently forces of light and dark vying for power in the wizarding world, and I am spy for the Light. That is why I must keep you here, where no one knows of your existence, because they would use you to break me. I will not send you to school as long as you are safe here, unknown to the rest of the world."

I glared at him, silent, until he continued.

"However, you must learn some things. I'll arrange for books to be delivered so you can study and have some control over your magic in the meantime." He said, as if that would make me happy, before he stood up, saying, "I must go."

Overwhelmed, I asked, "Will you come back soon?"

His mouth tightened before he replied, "No, I will not. I'll be back at the usual time, next year".

Tears threatened to overtake me again as he suddenly leaned down, kissed me on the forehead, and walked into the other room. I heard a loud crack, and knew he was gone.

It took a long time for me to fall back asleep that night.