Bewitched

Chapter 12

It may have sounded like I had a plan. However, I did not. Not at all.

It was moronic of me to not have had a plan before I said anything to anybody. I assume it was just the emotion building up inside of me over everything that was happening. Everything from Jesse to my mother . . .

I just could take it no longer.

And I snapped.

I realized soon enough that I could not do this alone. I needed someone's help.

Not Father Dominic. Not Jesse. Not any of my family members, or even CeeCee and Adam.

Paul. I had to go to Paul.

I remembered him saying that there are things that he and I can do that I could not even begin to dream of. Meaning . . . magic.

Or something along those lines.

Something that I needed to get my mother out stealthily and unscathed.

Something that I did not even know how to do, or even knew what it was.

That was why I needed to go to Paul. So he could show me these things so I could get my mother out. I needed this. If she . . .

Do not even go there, Suze. She will not. You will not let that happen to her.

When I told Andy I was going out to the market (a lie, of course, since I was really going to Paul's), he was all worried. He asked me if I wanted someone to go with me, but I assured him I was fine and I would be back in time to for supper (Andy was making it because my mom was not around to, and he said he wanted to give me a break from everything, which was very nice of him, I have to admit).

It took me about a half an hour to get to Paul's house. I had never been there before, but I remembered that he told me it was near the woods — the only house near the woods. Everyone else's houses were all on plantations. Paul's didn't need to be, since he lived with his grandfather and he was barely lucid enough to even engage in a conversation, let alone trying to manage crops.

Needless to say, when I got to Paul's house and knocked on the front door — which I noticed was a very rare looking wood from not around here — he was very shocked to see who was actually standing on his doorstep.

"Suze," he said, still shocked from seeing me at his house, "what a pleasant surprise." He opened the door wider and gestured for me to come in.

I noticed, as soon as I entered his house, that it was very big. His grandfather must have been a very wealthy merchant or something to have been able to afford something like this. Because certainly a man like him could not have built something like this, and I highly doubt Paul did.

"You can sit, you know," he said with a hint of amusement in his tone. He gestured to the bench in the room we had just walked into.

I sat gratefully down on the bench. And he sat next to me.

Nothing really happened between us after he kissed me. Sure, we talked a little more, I guess. But he did not kiss me again.

That is not to say that he did not try. Oh, he did, but I refused. I guess I was still caught up over Jesse. I did not mean to be, but I just could not kiss a guy I that did not love.

I know I kissed him before, and I am kind of starting to regret it, now. I mean, he took advantage of the fact that I happened to like that kiss.

But the guilt I felt over it was more than I could bare. For some reason, I still felt obligated to be true to Jesse even if he did not, in fact, love me.

"Suze?"

I looked up and noticed Paul was looking at me curiously.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded quickly. Physically, yes, I was. Mentally? Not so much. "Yes. I'm fine."

He narrowed his eyes, like he did not believe me. But he shook it off and asked, "Why are you here, Suze?"

I sighed. Why was I here? Did I really think he would help me?

Yes. I did. No, actually. I hoped he would help me.

"I need your help," I said, almost inaudible.

He raised an eyebrow. "With what?"

"I — I'm sure you've heard about what happened to my mother." When he nodded I continued. "And I remember what you said about us doing th—"

"Suze," he interrupted me. "Are you trying to say that you want me to teach you how to shift to get your mother out of prison?"

I nodded, a little uneasy now. "Well...yes."

He sighed. "It's not something that you can just learn in one day and do it perfectly. It takes time to learn it properly, time you don't have, Suze..." By then he had stood up from the bench, towering over me as I was still seated.

"Well, can't you just try? If I don't learn fast enough, then it's my fault, not yours." I was getting frustrated now. I needed to do this and he was delaying me even more.

"Suze, you really do not understand. This takes a lot—"

"Please," I begged. "I will do anything, Paul. Anything."

He cocked an eyebrow. "You're willing to do anything for me if I just teach you how to shift?"

I nodded, suddenly nervous. What was he implying...?

"Okay, then." He fixed his eyes on mine and said, in the most sincere voice I had ever heard him use, "Marry me, Suze."

I blinked. Wait...no. He could not be asking me to do this. He couldn't.

But he was. And I had said I would do anything. Was I willing to marry him?

Would it really be bad, though? He was nice and all, maybe a little bossy at times, but nice. He was very handsome, too. I knew Kelly Prescott and her crowd would be extremely jealous.

But I didn't love him.

I knew that much. It wouldn't feel right, being married to a man I did not love.

...but even if Jesse did love me, nothing could happen. We wouldn't be able to get married, have children, and live happily ever after.

That realization was what made me do what I did next.

"Okay," I said.

He looked a little shocked, like he simply could not believe that I had agreed to this.

It's not like I really had much of a choice anyway. I had to do this.

The shock on his face soon faded to sheer joy. He was happy.

Well, at least one of us was.

Paul sat down next to me again, taking my hands in his. "Suze...are you...are you sure?"

I turned my head to face him, tears suddenly welling in my eyes. "Yes, Paul. I...I am sure."

And then he grabbed my arms and pulled me into a kiss. He kissed me with such...passion, that I thought I would crumble right there in his arms.

I did not pull away that time. I had to make him believe that I was willing to marry him if he did this for me, even if it was something that I did not want to be doing.

So I kissed him back.

And let's just say he believed me after we each pulled away.

- § -

"Suze, just watch me. It really is not that hard."

So I watched him and tried to mimick what he was doing. And I failed, yet again.

He sighed and came back over to me. "You have to concentrate, Suze. You have to really want this for it to work. That's why your emotions play a big part in shifting. If you don't control them, they will control you."

I nodded. Again, I tried what he was telling me to do.

And when I opened my eyes again, I was in the corner of the room, instead of the center.

"Hmm," he said, "you're getting better. Now, try shifting out of the house, okay?"

I nodded, fully aware that he was jeering at me. But what could I do? I had to go along with him and not fight about it.

I closed my eyes again and focused. I pictured the outside of his house in my mind. The sounds, the smell, the sight...

When I opened my eyes again, I was still in the room.

I groaned, frustrated. Why couldn't I do this? I did want this! I wanted it more than anything.

So why could I not do it?

Paul came over and put a hand on my shoulder, steadying me. "Suze, its natural to not get it the first few times. You will get used to it. It takes time."

I looked into his icy blue eyes and said, "Time is something I do not have, Paul."

He looked away from me. "All right. Well, let's try something different."

He led me over to the kitchen, where I saw something spoons lying on the counter. "I figured it would be safer to use spoons, instead of forks and knives," he said in a sort of joking tone.

I smiled, trying to look like I was at least a little happy. Although, I was sincerely not.

"We're going to try and move these," he said, "with your mind."

He focused his eyes on one of the spoons. I soon saw the spoon floating in midair. I felt my eyes widen and my mouth open in shock.

Paul laughed at the look I was giving him. "We can do many things as shifters, Suze. All you have to do is learn them."

"But...but isn't this just like being a witch?"

"No," he said, "it's not. Witches and shifters are not the same thing. They are not even close to being the same thing, Suze."

I was shocked at the sudden hardness that appeared in his voice.

"So," he said, his tone changing back to content, "let's have you try it."

I nodded and copied what he did. I concentrated on the spoon, for several minutes it seemed.

And I was very shocked to see it start floating.

Paul smiled. "This will have to do," he said. "You really don't have much time left."