Well, I hope this chapter was anticipated! Slight spoiler, you get an insight on Vanessa so I hope you like it! R&R! And if you're going to be like, real critical, feel welcome just please put it in nice wording so I'll feel betterXD ok, here ya go!
Vanessa P.O.V.
Saturday went by quickly. I didn't see much of Charlie or Olivia, but I didn't mind. I had been walking around the garden with Asa all day. I was sad when Charlie and Olivia ran into the garden telling me it was time to go. I sighed. Charlie's eyes practically bulged out of his head when he saw my hand in Asa's. Olivia's mouth dropped. "How long has this been going on?" she asked as she and Charlie followed me and Asa into the main hall. I smiled. "Yesterday." Asa said.
When we got to the staircase leading to the west wing, I looked at Charlie and Olivia apologetically. "Sorry, you guys can't come up here." I said. Charlie frowned. "And he can?" he asked, pointing at Asa. Asa smirked. "Yeah, I can. I just happen to be a friend of the Bloors." He said. Then he frowned. "Now beat it." he ordered.
Olivia stuck her tongue out and left with Charlie behind her. I looked at Asa and raised an eyebrow. He rolled his eyes. I laughed and lead him up the staircase, down the muggy hallway, and into my room where I began to pack. I started to worry then. "What if she doesn't like me?" I cried as I started throwing stuff in my duffle bag. Asa lay on my bed and sighed. "She'll like you; she's your mother for God's sake." He muttered. I frowned and threw a pair of socks at his face. He wiped them off and laughed.
I had just finished packing when Manfred came in with something wrapped in brown paper. "Give this to Grizelda." He ordered. I nodded and put it in my duffle bag, on top of my sketch pad. He smiled warily at me. "Have a good weekend." And with that he left. Then I heard my Uncle Bloor calling me from down the hall. Asa picked up my duffle bag and left the room. I smiled and followed him.
We descended the steps and went through the main hall towards the gates. I stopped dead in my tracks. Next to Charlie was a woman a few inches taller than him with thick, chestnut brown hair that went a little below her shoulders. She had green eyes, just like mine, and was right in between being tan and pale. Asa gasped. "She's a spitting image of you Vanessa." He whispered. I swallowed the lump in my throat and walked forward some.
"Mom?" I whispered. She gasped. "Vanessa? Is that really you?" she cried. I nodded, tears of joy running down my cheeks. "It is!" I cried. We ran towards each other and embraced. I was crying in her arms and her in mine. I stepped back, sniffing. "I can't believe you're alive." My mother said. I nodded. "My Uncle has taken good care of me." I said, looking at my Uncle Bloor. He smiled and looked at my mother. "I am sorry Mrs. Bone but you're going to need to leave now, my family and I have business to attend to." He said, looking at Asa. Asa nodded and set my bag down gently on the ground.
He hesitated then strode to my side and extended his hand to my mother. "Hello, Mrs. Bone. I'm Asa Pike, Vanessa's boyfriend." He looked at me, his face a little worried. "Right?" he said. I grinned and nodded. Charlie's mouth dropped and my mother smiled and shook his hand. "Pleasure to meet you Asa, are you endowed like Charlie?" she asked. He hesitated and then nodded. I smiled. "I'm endowed too, mom." I said. She smiled. "Tell me about it in the car dear, we must be going now." She said.
I turned to Asa and hugged him. He hugged me back. "I'm going to miss you." He whispered. I nodded. "I'll miss you too." He put a finger beneath my chin and tilted my face up and gave me a chaste kiss. I kissed him back happily. Then he broke our kiss and smiled. "See you Monday." He said. I smiled. "Yea, see ya then." I replied. He handed me my duffle bag and escorted me to the taxi waiting for us out front and then we left.
When I arrived home I smiled. I have a family, a home. I walked inside and was immediately fussed over by my mother's mother, Maisie. An old woman came down the staircase, yelling. "What on earth is going on in here?" she screeched. I looked at her and frowned. She seemed familiar… "Are you Matron's sister?" I asked her. She looked at me.
"Yes I am. And who are you?" she snapped. I smiled. "My name is Vanessa Bloor, I mean Bone." I corrected myself. She smiled. "Ah, Manfred's young cousin. What a pretty girl you are." She said, staring slightly distastefully at my lip piercing. I smiled. Everyone in the room seemed to be surprised "Thank you." She looked me over. "I am your grandma Bone." She said. I quickly made a mental connection with her. The unendowed were easy.
You wouldn't happen to be Grizelda would you? I thought. She smiled at me. "Oh lovely. You are endowed! A mind reader?" she inquired. I shook my head. "Not exactly." I said. She looked interested. "Not exactly? What do you do then?" she pressed. I smiled to myself. Even when I wasn't at Bloors, Ezekiel was still watching me.
"Well, as you know, I can make mental connections with others. I can also control shadows." I told her. I knew that Ezekiel had already told this to her, but something flashed in her eyes when I told her about the shadows. She looked slightly annoyed. "Well, I've been told by my sister that you have a special connection with the Red King." She said. Maisie, Charlie, and my mother seemed to be growing fidgety.
"Yes, I do, is there something you're trying to ask? Don't be nervous, go ahead." I said. She looked agitated now. "Well, do you have any other endowments? Do you think you could possibly get more through this connection?" Ah, so that's what the old man wants. I smiled at her.
"I'm afraid I have nothing to say about that. And tell Ezekiel to quit bugging me about it or I'll do something so horrible, that not even his faulty magic can help him." I said with a wide smile on my face. Her face drained of color and she grimaced, turned, and walked up the stairs and into her room, slamming the door behind her.
Charlie and Maisie broke into laughter. I laughed along with them. Then Maisie rushed Charlie and me into the kitchen and fixed us a big meal. My mouth watered as the sweet aroma filled my nose. Charlie laughed at me. I frowned. "What?" I asked. He grinned. "You act as though this is your first home meal." He said as Maisie set two plates of mash potatoes with gravy, a delicious looking steak, and broccoli smothered in cheese. I looked at Charlie. "Not like this." I said. Then we both dug in and stuffed our faces.
We had just finished eating when the doorbell rang. Charlie got up and quickly ran to the door. "Charlie!" a boy's voice cried. I heard a dog barking. Charlie laughed. "Hey Benjamin, hi Runner." He said merrily. Charlie let him in, closed the door, and began to have a whispered conversation with the boy. The boy gasped and ran into the kitchen where I was helping Maisie with the dishes. I turned around to see a small boy with straw colored hair gaping at me. Then his dog came in and started sniffing me.
I laughed and petted him and he started wagging his tail. "What's your name?" I asked the dog. "Runner Bean." the boy said automatically. I looked at him and smiled. "You must be Benjamin." I said. He nodded. "I'm Vanessa." I told him. He nodded again. I laughed. "You have a quirky friend Charlie." I said. Benjamin stopped gaping and laughed. "I live right across the street at number 9." He told me. I smiled. "Cool."
My mother came down then, dressed in a grocer's uniform. I frowned. "You're a grocer?" I asked curiously. She nodded. "I don't mind though, we get a lot of fruits and vegetables from there, quite delicious." She commented. I smiled. "Oh, I almost forgot, where am I staying?" I asked her sheepishly. She frowned. "I really don't know." She murmured.
She looked a little embarrassed. I suddenly felt a brief surge of power. I looked to the source. It came from a closed door upstairs. I pointed at it. "May I stay in there?" I asked her. She sighed. "I don't know…you'd have to ask your Uncle Paton if it's okay with him, but right now I have to go." She gave me and Charlie quick kisses on our cheeks and left.
I picked up my duffle bag and threw it on Charlie's shadow. Suddenly, Runner Bean started growling. I ignored him. "Can you pop that into my Uncle Paton's room? The one where that surge came from?" I asked. Charlie looked confused but then my bag sank into the shadow and landed inside my Uncle's room with a thud. There was a sudden cry of surprise and then the door flew open.
A tall man with black hair and dark eyes appeared on the landing with my neon green and black polka-dotted duffle bag. "How the hell did this get into my room and whose is it?" he snarled. I smiled up at him. "I had my friends pop it in." I said. His mouth dropped when he looked at me and a light exploded. I grinned. "Oh you must be endowed!" I cried happily. He shook his head slowly. "Vanessa? Is that you?" he asked. I nodded.
He ran down the stairs and pulled me into a hug. I hugged him back and then a light bulb exploded. I snapped my fingers and shadows covered all the lights. Uncle Paton let me go and gazed at the lights before he looked down at me. "How did you do that?" he demanded. I smiled. "It's my endowment." He frowned. "No it's not. How did you do that?" my smile fell. I took my bag and walked into his room, taking my shadows with me, Paton trailing behind me. Charlie tried to go in but Paton shook his head. "Your sister and I need to talk privately." He said. Charlie frowned and walked away with Benjamin and Runner Bean.
Paton's room was messy. Not with clothes or shoes or anything, but with books and papers and spilled ink. His room smelled of old books. I inhaled deeply and sighed, I suddenly felt homesick for Bloor's Academy. Paton went to his bed and neatly stacked the papers to the side so that I'd have a place to sit. I sat my bag down on the floor and sat on the bed while Paton sat on his chair at his desk which was littered with pens, papers, and books. He stared at me long and hard.
"What is your endowment?" he asked me. I hesitated and began. "Well, I can make mental connections with others minds and control shadows." I paused. "Go on." He said. I nodded. "Well, I was born just like my father, Lyell." I said, using my father's name. It made me feel better to speak it. Paton looked confused. I laughed softly. "I know it sounds crazy but I was." I said. He frowned. "Go on." He repeated. I nodded.
"Well, I have always had a strong connection to the Red King." I said. "I used to play with the Flames in the ruins shortly after my father died." I said. He nodded. "Because the Bloor's kidnapped you." He said. I shook my head. "No, they took me in. Manfred didn't really have anyone and they had figured out about my connection with the King and figured that I'd be of some use." I said.
Silence.
"They were right." I whispered. Paton's eyes narrowed. "So you're with my sister, Grizelda." I shook my head. "No, she only does things for Ezekiel Bloor; no one knows what my endowment is. Only me, the Flames, the Red King, and…" I trailed off. "And who?" he pressed. I looked him in the eyes. "Count Harken the Enchanter." I whispered. The candles in Paton's room flickered and the shadows twitched. Paton's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. "But he's been dead for over 500 years!" he exclaimed softly. I smiled.
"That's where my connection comes in." I told him. I held up a finger and quietly opened the door. I turned to my uncle. "Where's Grizelda's room?" I whispered. "The door on the left." he replied. I opened her door and found her snoring on her bed. I shut the door carefully and went back into Paton's room, closing the door behind me.
I sat back down and told him the rest of my story. "Well, one day I was playing on the tomb in the center of the ruins when a spirit came to me, the Red King. He told me to take his hand and that he'd show me things, as long as I promised not to tell anyone I didn't trust with my life." I paused.
"I agreed and took his hand. He took me back in time with the Flames, Aries, Sagittarius, and Leo. I was then in the Red King's castle. He showed me all the rooms and a secret room. I've looked for it in my time, but it wasn't as…lively." I said with a smile. Paton laughed softly. "Well, it was sunset and the Red King took me out of his secret room and left me with a servant to clean me up. By the time he came to get me, I looked like a princess. He took me by the hand and took me down to the dining hall where I met his children." I said. Paton's mouth dropped.
"I sat by my ancestor Amoret and the eldest son, Borlath. He was quite mean to me. Every time I would try to eat my dessert, he'd scorch it." I said with a frown. Paton rolled his eyes. "I spoke to them all except his tenth child, for Queen Bernice was still carrying them in her womb." He nodded.
"Well, I stayed that night and for most of the next day, playing with my new best friends, Amoret and Borlath. Then the Red King took me away to his secret room and told me to go to sleep. I did and when I woke up, he was there smiling at me. He told me that he had deemed me worthy of endowment and had great, amazing things planned for me, I felt loved." I said, looking at my hands. I looked back up at Paton.
"Well, what was your endowment?" he asked me. I smiled. "I was the first, the one and only absorber." I said. He frowned. "Elaborate please." I nodded. "Well, since I didn't have an endowment and it seemed that everyone around me did, he gave me the ability to absorb their endowment without actually taking it from them." I explained. He was silent.
"So how does the Enchanter come into this?" he asked me. I nodded. "The Red King took me home a while later. Ezekiel demanded that I tell him where I had been, but I refused, I had made a promise to the King. All I told Ezekiel was that when I came back, I first went into the ruins and swore to the King I wouldn't tell. Ezekiel became angry and locked me in the King's room in the Academy and in the room, there's a portrait of the Red King hanging on a wall. I looked at it and asked him what to do. Then, I felt a surge of power and I was frightened, it wasn't like the glorious magic of the King I felt, but horrible dark magic." I said. Paton urged me to go on.
"Well, in the portrait, was a shadow I had never noticed before. I felt like it was pulling me towards it. I placed my hands on the shadow and felt like I was being sucked in, but all of a sudden, there was a hissing and I was thrown across the room by an unseen force. Dr. Bloor heard my screaming and ran into the room and saw me lying on the ground opposite the painting. He picked me up and hurriedly brought me to Ezekiel. It was scary. The moment he set me down in Ezekiel's dark room, the shadows came alive. Ezekiel was pleased with me so he kept me there and that brings us up to today I guess." I said.
Paton looked thoughtful. "So you figured out that it was the Enchanter's shadow all on your own?" he asked. I shook my head. "Ezekiel had said, "Oh joy! Maybe she'll be just like her great ancestor, Count Harken the Enchanter." I said. He frowned. "Well, how did you get the mental connection?" he asked. I shrugged. "I don't know. Manfred was practicing his hypnotism on me when suddenly I could hear him talking to himself in his mind." I said. Paton laughed. I frowned. "I still don't know how I do it though…" I murmured to myself.
Paton shrugged. "You'll figure I out sometime." He said. I smiled. He grinned at me. "Are those the only endowments you've absorbed?" he asked me. I grinned. "Nope." I replied. He laughed and I laughed too. "What else can you do?" he asked. I laughed a fake evil laugh. "I'm a magician! I absorbed it from Ezekiel!" I whispered.
He roared in laughter and I joined in until Grizelda started pounding Paton's door. "What's that racket Paton?" she shrieked. "Just a joke Grizelda." He said. She stopped pounding and walked into her room, slamming the door. I frowned. "She likes to slam things, doesn't she?" I asked.
He rolled his eyes and looked at his watch. He stood up, stretched and pulled on a long overcoat. "I'm going for a walk, would you like to tag along my young niece?" he asked. I grinned. "Sure." I replied, jumping off his bed. Using my stolen magic, I opened my bag and retrieved my leather jacket. Then I pulled it on and opened the door.
As soon as I got to the corner of Filbert Street, I heard a wolf howling at the moon and smiled. When Paton asked me about it, I just shook my head, still smiling.