ONE
"Where can I turn in my resignation for adulthood?" The question was out of my mouth before I could stop it. Yes, I know that was not a particularly smart thing to ask on my first day of work. Frankly, I didn't care. I had spent eighteen years of my life desperately wishing I could age faster, only to reach the threshold and ache to go back.
"I don't think life really works like that, Faraday." Tesla, my older sister, was already out in the world. She was two years older than me and we were as thick as thieves. Of course, Tesla was special. Two years ago, at the age of eighteen, she got a letter in the mail from some school up north. Naturally my parents threw a fit when they read it; I mean, who wouldn't, if a letter came to their house saying their daughter was a witch. If you couldn't tell from our names, my parents are science nerds. My mother has a doctorate in electrical engineering and my father has his PhD in physics and is a highly respected professor at a prolific university. Naturally, the letter seemed like a joke to them.
Little did any of us know it was incredibly serious. Tesla had no sooner ignored the letter when an odd man knocked on our front door and proceeded to wave a wand about. When his initial show was deemed scientifically explainable by my parents, he then turned one of them into a bowl of petunias and back again. After that, my parents were so shocked and curious that they immediately agreed to allow my sister to attend, just to research the scientific possibilities. She, of course, being the perfect person that she is, followed orders and began school when it began that August.
Ever since that day, I had secretly been hoping that I too would receive a letter. As the days got nearer to my birthday, I would quietly check the mailbox for a letter. Every time, there was never anything there for me. I began to despair and realized that a reality check was probably in store. I was not the perfect sister, nor was I the special sister. I was the nerdy, computer whiz sister who loved nothing more than sneaking into other peoples' computers and stealing their music. I had inherited my parents' mathematical genius, but I honestly found the pursuit boring. I wasn't interested in solving the problems of the world, I just wanted a really awesome music library.
Therefore, I spent my days playing massive multi-player online games and hoping that perhaps life wouldn't be too terrible. I could be normal. Well, slightly more normal than my sister. I was still far from the definition of normal. My pursuit of trying to be content with my situation led me to accepting a job at a bookstore near the university I was supposed to attend. I wasn't particularly enthused about working but I did need the money for school. As successful as my parents were, they thought that I should pay for my own education. Therefore, I was to attend my father's university on partial scholarship that January. I had decided to start school in the spring, just so that by that time, my bank account would be a bit fuller.
"Well, we all can't be special like you. I just have no desire to get stuck in the drudgery of a daily routine. Wake up, go to work, go to school, go back home, study, sleep. Start it all over again. I have better things to do with my time."
"It might not be that bad, you know. I miss the days when I could dream about going to school and getting a job." Tesla murmured quietly.
"Ugh! Tesla! You're the lucky one! You get to go off to your magic school and learn how to blow stuff up with your mind and what not!"
"We don't really learn that sort of stuff at Van Tassel-"
"While I get stuck doing shelving duty! I really don't know why you'd ever want to switch places."
Tesla smiled at me then. "Well it is your eighteenth birthday today. I wouldn't mind being eighteen again."
Sighing, I finished the last of my cereal and kicked out my chair. "Yeah, Mom forgot. Again. Big surprise."
"Happy birthday, Farry!" Cringing, I turned to face my other sisters, who were cheerily coming down the stairs. It's not that they were bad people, they were just a bit...daft. And boy crazy. And annoying.
"Thanks, guys." I reluctantly accepted a deluge of kisses from my younger siblings before attempting to escape.
"You're old now!" Kinsey exclaimed while Fermi and Bethe howled with laughter.
"Yeah. Um. I, uh, really need to, um, go to work now. See you guys later." With that I rushed out the door and jumped into my dad's car, praying he'd be out soon. At that moment, Tesla texted me and I reached for my phone.
Sorry about that. Hope we get to spend some time together before I have to go back to school. XO
I felt badly about just running out on her like that, but honestly, my younger sisters scared me. Still, that wasn't an excuse. She had gotten special permission to come visit me on my birthday. Technically students at Van Tassel were only allowed home during the summer and winter breaks and I greatly appreciated her coming down to see me, even though it was only for a few days.
"Happy birthday, Quark!" I smiled as my dad threw his stuff in the back. "How does it feel to be eighteen?"
"Not any different than seventeen. Except now the Spice Girls are calling me old."
Dad laughed then, his mouth smiling as he pulled out of the driveway. "I always wondered if they knew that you called them that."
"Oh yes, they're rather proud of it, too. Kinsey wants me to call her Baby, which I personally find to be disturbing."
"I can understand that. I'm really not fond of the idea of you working on your birthday, it's supposed to be a time spent with your family."
"Believe me, I would much rather work than be the butt of aging jokes. I wish that just you, Tesla, and I could do something..." I trailed off as I began to think of Mom forgetting my birthday for the third year in a row. "Mom forgot again."
"Well," My dad began quietly, "Your mother has been a bit, preoccupied lately."
"Yes, I know. Trying to ensure that all of her daughters make honor roll in college. Wait, that's not what she does. It's the other thing. The thing where she tries to marry us off." For the life of me, I never understood why a woman of higher learning, like my mother, was so consumed with the idea of all her children getting married.
"She just wants to make sure you're all taken care of. Seeing how our work can be dangerous. If something happened to us..."
"Dad, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but you're a professor. Your job isn't exactly what I would call hazardous."
"Yes, but your mother is only thinking of her profession. She's rather fond of running experiments. Nearly killed herself before."
I sighed wearily as we pulled up to the bookstore. "Well, I think it's nonsensical. Bye, Dad. Have fun at work." We pecked on the cheek before I got out of the car, a scowl already making its way across my face.
"Hey, Quark!" I stopped walking and looked through the open window. "It's your birthday, try to enjoy it a bit." His face appeared forlorn, but I didn't understand why. I merely nodded my head in acknowledgment and resumed my walk to the store. I knocked on the locked doors and waited for someone to let me in.
"Ah! Faraday! You're here! Come in, come in!" I examined Earl, the manager. I had decided in the interview that he was a complete idiot, but at least he was a lovable one.
"Thanks, Earl. What do you need me to do?"
"See these carts? I need you to pick one and start shelving them. If there's not room, take this scanner and check to see if any need to be sent back to the publisher. Easy, right?"
"Easy." I confirmed. Earl waddled back to his office and I began my work. The time seemed to move at a crawl and I began to imagine that I was going to school with Tesla in New Hampshire. Instead of saying goodbye at the bus stop, I would actually get in the bus with her. I would have gotten further if it weren't for the insufferable tapping at the window nearest me. Peeved, I glared at the man doing the tapping. He was tall and pale, with shoulder length black hair and a long, thin nose. His eyes were sunken and dark, making him handsome in a creepy, misunderstood kind of way. "We're closed! Come back in an hour!" I shouted to him.
The man just smiled, exposing gleaming white teeth, and remained where he was. I rolled my eyes and tried to go back to work, yet he continued tapping. Irked, I finally strode to the door, unlocked it, and stuck my head out. "What, pray tell, do you want? We don't open until ten."
"I can assure you that I have no interest in anything your establishment has available."
Who talks like that? "Er, alright. So why are you bugging me?"
He laughed, a menacing cackle. The sound made the hairs on my arms stand on end and a chill run down my spine. "Why, I was merely wanting an audience with my daughter, of course."
"What's your daughter's name? I think I'm the only one here right now, but I'd be happy to leave a message for her." This guy gives me the creeps.
"That won't be necessary." His eerie smile remained on his lips.
"Well then, er, have a nice day." I attempted to close the door but he slammed his arm into it.
"Faraday Magnusson, where are your manners?"
My heart froze in my chest and I looked at the strange man with the stranger eyes. They were a deep green, with seemingly black electric bolts flashing through them. "How did you know my name?" I asked breathlessly.
That unnerving cackle escaped his throat again and he forced his way into the store. "Why wouldn't a father know his daughter?"
"You- you're not my father-"
"Surely, you can see the resemblance. Mind you, you have inherited your mother's lovely red hair." He raised a thin, bony finger and twirled one of my loose curls around it.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I whispered fearfully. "But you are not my father. Now, I would appreciate it if you would leave." I tried pushing him but he was solid.
"You really never wondered why your parents never told you the story of your birth?"
"Well, I never wanted to know. A girl doesn't like to think of those things." I was easing my way to the fire alarm at the wall behind me.
"I wouldn't pull that, if I were you." He gestured at the alarm.
I could feel my frantic heart beating in my throat. "And why wouldn't I?" I asked hoarsely.
"Because it will do you no good. Notice that your boss has yet to come out of his office?"
"What have you done to him?!" I had the sneaking suspicion this man was capable of anything.
"He's not harmed, if that's what you're wondering. I've just merely frozen him. Much like have everyone else. It is just you and I in this moment of time." He smiled again and I noticed that he was enjoying this. "Now, I do believe that you and I have a lot to discuss. Shall we go visit your mother?"
"I'm not going anywhere with you."
"Oh yes, you are Faraday. Because as of ten minutes ago, you're mine to do with as I please."
"Ten minutes-"
"Faraday Magnusson, born the twenty-ninth of October at 8:49 a.m. in New Orleans. I was rather offended that you weren't given your proper last name, but I suppose I can always change that-"
"Okay, that's it! You leave, now!" With great intent, I yanked the fire alarm down. I was expecting the high pitched alarm, but no sound rang.
"Tsk-tsk-tsk!" The man grabbed my arm and yanked me towards the door. "I told you it would do no good. Now, be a good girl and stop fighting me."
"Let me go!"
"Haven't I already told you? You're mine, daughter. And I want to see your mother again, it has been eighteen years."
Before I could say anything, a dark green fog filled the bookstore and all went black. When I could see once more, we were standing in the middle of my mom's office, the sunlight streaming through the windows. "How did you-"
"Faraday! What are you doing-" My mother stopped short when she looked at the man still holding my arm.
"Hello, Astrid. It's been a long time." He loosed my arm and sauntered over to my mother. "I'm so glad to see that you're doing well."
My mother's face went white as a sheet and she fumbled her words. "Well, I never thought...You. Here...Came to think maybe you weren't real-"
"Yes, yes. I fully expect that you know the reason I'm here. This girl is promised to me."
I saw the look of horror on my mother's face and I knew; I knew I would never see her again. "Loki, please-"
"Loki? As in the Norse-"
"Faraday, stop talking, dear. Mummy and I are speaking." His eyes flared and my mouth closed unwillingly. Surely this couldn't be the same Loki. Then again, how else had we gotten to my mother's office so quickly?
"We raised her. Chris and I, we-"
"You made a mistake. You can hardly blame me for your indiscretion, Astrid."
"I know. And there isn't a day that has gone by that I don't regret what I did. But please, we never told her anything. She doesn't know. At least give her a chance to say goodbye-"
"I will do what I want to do, woman! And you, a powerless human can do nothing to stop me nor can you change my mind!"
"At least let me explain. Please." Her face was pleading. Loki's rage seemed to vanish instantly. He took one glance at me before looking back at her.
"You have ten minutes. Do not go one minute over." With those words, he vanished in a cloud of green smoke, leaving me finally able to speak.
"What. Was. That?" I choked.
"It's a long story. I-I am so sorry that this has happened. I wish-" Tears filled her eyes as she spoke. "I wish I had never been so foolish."
"Mom, what are you talking about?"
"After I had Tesla, I was so bored. I was very unhappy with how my life had turned out. I had planned on traveling and exploring the world and instead I was stuck with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt and a newborn baby. Your father was working all the time and I was just...naive." She sighed heavily.
"Mom, please. What is going on?"
"I met a man. A handsome man. He was everything I thought I wanted: young, gifted, intelligent. He was mature and charming. Most importantly, he never stayed in the same place for any length of time. I did something I shouldn't have. He was gone the next day, having left me a note saying that he had urgent business in Norway and that he had to leave immediately. It wasn't six weeks later that I found out I was pregnant."
I could tell my mouth had fallen open and I had to close it shut again. "You-you cheated on Dad?"
"I was young! And stupid!" Her hands were shaking and I could see the panic in her eyes. "The day you were born, the very moment, he returned. Froze time so that he could talk to only me. No one else ever even knew he was there. He told me of what you were, how at eighteen you belonged to him, according to some ancient creed. I was in such disbelief, I just sat there, completely speechless. He left and everyone resumed."
"So, Dad..."
"I had to tell him everything, of course. He didn't believe me. And for years we convinced ourselves into believing it was all a dream. But when your sister's letter came, it reminded us of this. And we've been dreading it ever since."
"That's why Dad looked so sad this morning."
"Faraday, I am so, so sorry. You don't deserve any of this. Never have. I wish I could have-"
I was so furious. How could she ever do such a thing to my father? Did she not think of how it would make him feel? All the years that I had grown before them, did he ever look at me with disdain? What did he think when he saw me? Another man's child? I couldn't look at her. Thankfully, Loki returned at that moment and I was distracted from my thoughts.
"Time's up, Astrid! Say goodbye."
"Fara-"
"Tell Tesla and Dad I love them." I resigned myself to my fate and looked at Loki expectantly. "Let's just go."
He grinned and I was surrounded by green smoke yet again. Just when I was becoming acclimated to the blackness, we were suddenly standing on a sidewalk in the middle of a busy street. I had never done much traveling, despite my wishes to always do so, but even I knew we weren't in the United States anymore. "So, um, Loki...where are we, exactly?"
"My family and I make our residence in London." He scowled as he said the words.
"Your family?"
"Father, brothers, sisters. Not that it's important." I watched as his tall frame ascended the stairs leading to an opulent looking town home directly in front of us. "Well, come on then!"
I must be dreaming. I probably fell asleep during that boring job...Nervously, I followed him through the black wooden door and into the parlor. When I arrived inside, there was no one to be seen, Loki himself seemingly having vanished into thin air. Of course, he might have done just that. I found myself examining my surroundings. The house was of a dark interior, with a rich ebony spiral stair to my right. The only light to be seen came through the windows, giving the whole place a sense of emerging from sleep. It was more modern than I would have expected, with sparse furnishings and cold concrete floors. I felt there was a disconnect from the traditional, fanciful exterior.
I had never been out on my own before and it was at this moment I realized how alone I was. I would likely never see my family again and my heart ached at never getting to speak to my beloved sister or father again. Tears filled my eyes and I began to uncontrollably weep, sobs wracking my body as I slid to the floor. Who was this man? Why did he want me? All I wanted was to go home. But home was far away, never to be found again.