Chapter I.

A Secret Past

"Danny, I don't understand," said Mrs. Sinclair as the entire Sinclair family entered their house in Pensacola.

"What's there to understand?" Danny asked, annoyed. His parents had been pestering him with questions all the way from New Orleans on the train. Not even Alyson asked so many questions.

"Danny," said his father, "your mother and I know that something is up. Something that you're not telling us. What happened back there?"

"What the hell do you mean what happened back there?" Danny asked impatiently.

This startled Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair. It wasn't like their son to use that kind of language. Something was definitely wrong. Danny sighed. "I'm sorry. I know I've been a dick lately, but something not so great happened at the Magic Mansion."

"What is it then?" Danny's father asked.

"It's nothing," Danny replied. "At least, nothing that you need to know about."

"We're your parents, Danny!" Mrs. Sinclair burst out. "Whatever is wrong, we need to know. What is it? Did you have sex with Alyson? Is she pregnant? Are you two in a relationship? Danny, that's perfectly normal."

"What? No mom, I did not sleep with Alyson. It's something far more serious than that."

"We're listening," Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair both said almost in unison.

Danny sighed. It appeared that there was no way to hide the truth any longer. If Alyson knew all of his secrets, then it was only fair that his own parents should know as well. He took a deep breath. "Ok, but first you have to understand that what I'm about to tell you is pretty crazy. You have to believe me though."

"Try us."

Again Danny sighed. "All right. Well, you know all those magic stunts that Max and I were performing on the stage? You know, the lead weight, the box that Alyson was in with the knives, and the flying in the air? Well, those were not stunts. Those were real."

His parents wore puzzled looks on their faces. "What exactly do you mean by real, Danny?" his father asked.

"What I mean is that real magic was used. I'm telling you, it was the real deal there. There were no illusions. Everything you saw was really happening."

But his parents were still confused. "What are you saying?"

"What I'm saying is that I'm not the ordinary son you thought you had," Danny replied. "I have magical powers. Don't you get it? I'm a sorcerer. A fucking freak of nature!"

Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair didn't know what to say. For one thing, they could hardly believe the way their son was talking after the reality show at the Magic Mansion, and for another, they were beginning to wonder if he was suffering from some mental illness. After all, everyone knows that there is no such thing as sorcery or real magic, right?

"Danny," said Mr. Sinclair after a few moments. "Is there anything you need? Are you just tired after the show? Perhaps everything would be better if you took a little nap, just to rest up a bit?"

"NO Dad!" Danny burst out. "I'm telling you the truth. I know that it sounds a bit farfetched, but you have to believe me!"

"A bit farfetched?" asked Danny's mother. "Saying that your dog ate your homework for like the fifteenth time is a bit farfetched, but claiming to be a sorcerer and having magical powers is a little too much."

"Well, then how the hell do you explain what happened during the final performance?" Danny asked. "I mean, do you honestly believe that it's because I'm such an impressive trickster, as the skeptics said?"

"Danny, you're mother and I both know that you are a very talented magician. I know that whatever happened on the stage was like nothing I had ever seen before, but I'm sure you pulled it off somehow without using real magic, because that would have just been impossible."

"Nothing is impossible," Danny muttered to himself. He now knew that far better than anyone else after what he had experienced.

"This isn't what we're confused about though," Mrs. Sinclair said, trying to use a more gentle tone to sooth her son. "What we want to know is why you insisted on leaving New Orleans so quickly. It was almost as if you were fleeing the country to escape a pursuer."

"So you want to know that?!" Danny asked. "Well, I'll tell you. It's Max. You met him, right? Yah, well that man is a psychotic maniac. He tried to kill me! You don't believe me, just ask Alyson. She'll tell you that I'm telling the truth about all of this."

"What do you mean he tried to kill you?" Mr. Sinclair asked, bewildered. He was beginning to feel that much more had happened to his son at the Magic Mansion that he had previously thought.

"Well for one thing there was that damn lead weight that almost crushed my scull. That was no act; that was Max trying to fucking kill me! He has powers too, you see? He wanted mine because supposedly I'm the great young sorcerer of my generation or something. Any more questions?!"

Danny's parents didn't say anything. They just stared at him with sad confused faces. They knew that something had happened to their son during this whole experience, but they did not know what it could be, for they were not completely sure of whether or not he was telling the truth or if he was just tired and delusional.

"No more questions? Good! I'm going to my room to pack!"

"Don't you mean to unpack?" Mrs. Sinclair asked as he stormed up the stairs. "You just got back home."

"No mom, I mean to pack. I have to flee the country before Max finds me."

"Knock, knock."

"Come in," Danny replied.

Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair paused for a minute on the other side of Danny's bedroom door before opening it and walking in. Danny looked up at them briefly from what he was doing before sighing. "Hey mom, hey dad. What do you want?"

His parents looked at each other for a few moments as if they were not completely sure of themselves. Then they turned to Danny and took turns bursting out little things.

"Well you see Danny," said Mrs. Sinclair, "whether or not your father and I believe that you are totally sane or not, we do appreciate that you told us what you think is the truth."

Danny sighed. "Mom, I'm telling the truth! Trust me on this! I'm not delusional; I know what happened at the Magic Mansion. Besides, why would I make all of that up? What would I gain from such a damn bizarre lie?"

But his parents ignored him and continued. "Since you've told us your side of the story, it's time we told you ours. There is something important that your father and I have been keeping from you, and it's time that you knew the truth."

Danny raised his eyebrows. They had his attention now that was for sure. "Well, what is it?" he asked.

"Danny," his mother said, pausing to take a deep breath. Hmm…this must be pretty important! They never acted this way. "We're not your real parents. Not by blood that is. You're…you're adopted!"

At that, Danny's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets. "What?! Are you fucking kidding me? You can't be serious!"

But Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair just nodded their heads. "We're completely serious."

"But how…and why! There is so much that I don't understand anymore."

"It's a long story my dear boy," Mr. Sinclair said gently to his adoptive son. "If you'll just sit down and relax we'll tell you."

Danny sighed deeply and took a deep breath. "Ok, shoot."

"It was long ago," Mrs. Sinclair said, recalling the memories.

"Mom, I'm seventeen. It can't have been that long ago. It's not like I'm a dinosaur or something."

"Seventeen is a long time when you're a mother, even if it is not by blood," she said, already sensing what Danny was about to say. "You're father and I desperately wanted to have a child, preferably a boy. But well, let's just say that we couldn't have one."

"You couldn't get pregnant? What, were you two sterile or something?"

His mother sighed. "Why do you have to make it sound so vulgar? Yes, I suppose that's what it was. The point is, we couldn't have a baby."

"That's when we began to consider adoption," Danny's father took over. "We looked into adoption agencies all over Pensacola, all over Florida, hell! All over the South! We saw many children and babies who needed good homes, but we simply could not find the perfect child. Finally, we came to Louisiana and our search brought us to New Orleans."

"Wait a minute," Danny asked. "Are you telling me that I'm from New Orleans?"

His parents nodded.

"Not Florida?"

His parents shook their heads.

How ironic, Danny thought to himself. If I'm from New Orleans, and that's where the Magic Mansion is, then could this be a possible link to my past?

But Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair continued. "Ironically enough, we did not find you through an orphanage or an adoption agency."

"You didn't?"

They shook their heads.

"Then how did you find me?"

"We didn't," Mrs. Sinclair answered. "We found your parents instead."

"Which brings us to the fact that your real last name is not Sinclair," said is father. "It's Versagio."

"So I'm Italian?"

Once again his parents nodded. He was beginning to become used to those solemn shakes of the head.

"So how did you find my parents?" Danny asked. His curiosity was burning now.

"Well," said Mrs. Sinclair, "we were in New Orleans. We had searched almost all the states in the South, and we were beginning to lose hope. New Orleans was our last hope."

"Go on."

"Well, we were strolling in a park in the afternoon, your father and I, discussing all of these matters. Now that I remember it, we were not very far from the part of the city that the Magic Mansion is located. Hmmm…that thought never crossed my mind until now. Anyways-"

"Wait a minute!" Danny interrupted. "Do you suppose that that has anything to do with what happened to me at the Magic Mansion?"

Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair sighed.

"I don't know Danny. They were strange times, you see. I suppose that there could be some strange link in your past with the Magic Mansion if what you've been telling us is the truth."

Danny nodded, pretending for now to be satisfied with that answer. But it still seemed that they were leaving something out, that there was more to this story than they were willing to reveal. "Please continue."

"Well, as I said, your father and I were in the park, you know, just aimlessly wandering and chatting about…things."

"What sort of things?"

Mrs. Sinclair let out another exasperated sigh. "Must you know everything?"

Danny nodded.

"Very well," she replied, a half amused, half annoyed smile slowly creeping across her lips. "You always were a curious one. But no, in all honesty I don't remember what sort of things we were talking about."

"Anyways," Mr. Sinclair took over the storytelling, "we were just wandering through the park when two mysterious looking figures began to rush towards us. When they got closer we could see that they were about the same age as us, which was about mid twenties at the time. There was a man, and a woman. But they were not your average couple. For one thing, they looked and smelled like they had been living in garbage cans for the past century. And they had complete looks of desperation on their faces. It was clear that they were in some sort of trouble."

"I remember them very distinctly though," Mrs. Sinclair recalled. "The woman, despite her filthy appearance, was beautiful. She had your same rich brown hair. And the man had the same flashing blue eyes that you have. They were carrying a bundle in their arms, which we soon found out was you."

"They wouldn't tell us who they were, only that their last name was Versagio, a common Italian last name that would most likely not give them away. And then out of the blue, they wanted to give you to us. They wouldn't tell us why, just said that you were not safe living with them and that you needed a good home. Now, you can imagine how I reacted to this. I mean, what the fuck, right?"

"What did you do?" Danny asked.

"Well, we didn't have much of a choice. We hesitated for a few moments, but these people kept insisting that we take you. The man even offered to pay us to take you."

"And we still wanted a child," Danny's mother chimed in. "You were perfect. We just couldn't say no. It took a little while, but we decided to take you in."

"So that's how I came to be adopted?" Danny asked.

His parents nodded. "As soon as we had taken you from their arms, they raced away as fast as they could. It seemed almost as though they were being hunted," Mr. Sinclair said.

"Who were they being hunted by?" Danny asked.

Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair shrugged. "We have no idea."

Danny sighed. "So is that the whole story? Is there anybody else who knows that I'm adopted?"

"Not that we know of," his father replied. "Although whoever was pursuing your parents must have soon found out that you were not with them, if he knew that you existed in the first place."

"What about Grandma and Grandpa? Do they know?"

"No. We faked a pregnancy to make them think that you were our real blood offspring."

"Why? Why not just tell them that you got me from some psychotic New Orleans maniacs!?"

"We feared that if word got out that you were somebody else's child, it would attract the attention of whoever it was that was trying to get their hands on you back in New Orleans."

"So this is why I'm such a freak," Danny muttered to himself. "It must run in my family."

"Danny, you're not a freak. I never knew about these powers of yours, but they don't make you a freak."

Danny just sighed again. "I have to find my real parents."

"What!?"

"I have to find them," Danny repeated. "They are a part of me. They make me who I am, and they are the only ones who can help me to understand my powers."

"Danny," his mother said timidly, "we're not even sure if your parents are still around. After they gave you to us, we never saw or heard from them ever again. And besides just that, it wouldn't be safe! There is a reason that they didn't feel you should be with them, and that still applies today. You have to stay with us."

"But you're not my real parents!" Danny objected. "How can you help me with the biggest struggles of my life?"

"Blood isn't everything Danny," his mother said. "Love is more important. Your father and I aren't your parents because we brought you into the world. We're your parents because we love you."

"I know that," Danny assured them, "and I love you both too. But there is a part of me that has to know where I've come from. Maybe even to find a way to defeat Max."

"I knew this would happen one day," Danny's mother said to herself, sighing.

"Danny," his father said, "we never in a million years would have guessed that the son we adopted in New Orleans was a wizard, but we care about you all the same and don't want you to put yourself into danger. Although we don't know everything about your past, we know that your life was at risk."

"I understand that," Danny replied, "but I'm already in danger with Max on my tail. Maybe my real parents know something about Max, or a way to keep me safe from him. They can help me to hone my skills for the time I need them. And besides, it's not like I'm going to do this alone. There is one other person who can help me."

"Really, who is that?"

"Alyson."

Finally I was able to post this! Ok, well hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my first M rated story. Due to the annoying fact that school is so hectic, I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update, but I'll try to make it at least every one or two weeks. School and marching band are just so busy lately! Please review! Rock on! -Rainforest Treefrog