Unfamiliar (Unfamiliar Series #1)

Chapter 13

It takes several, long moments for her words to reach my ears.

It takes even longer for me to process them.

"What?" I croak, my voice weak as the air leaves my lungs. "Indigo, you...you knew that I was an Unfamiliar?"

She sighs at this and nods as she pulls out her phone and texts on it, "Yes, now we need to get home to mom and dad, maybe they'll know what to do about this mess that you've made."

"But-, but the curfew!" I hiss in a soft voice as she turns and walks away from me.

"Doesn't matter," she replies, "we're sneaking out."

"You know how to sneak out?" I ask incredulously as I feel a rush of shock.

She smirks over her shoulder at me, "Of course I do, now come on, my illusion spell won't last long."

I realize then that the air feels cooler and as I move, it ripples slightly like water. We're invisible, I conclude as I jog after her. The moon is our only source of light as we run on silent feet, my eyes just barely being able to focus on Indigo's rapidly disappearing form as her dark jacket billows behind her like a cape.

Fear grips me tightly like a vise, every beat of my heart making it feel like it's going to burst as it hammers uncomfortably in my chest. I can feel that the frost on the lawn is beginning to soak through the canvas material of my sneakers as it leeches through to my socks and numbs my toes as I run.

At last, Indigo comes to a stop a few paces away from a wrought iron fence and motions for me to stay behind her. She makes a quick hand motion and the bars begin to glow a light blue before the light flickers out and she gestures for me to follow her.

I don't know if she's expecting me to climb the fence or what, but I get my answer as she simply walks through the fence, the bars rippling in the process. I follow her more slowly, suddenly anxious as a flush of warmth crawls across my skin, like a summer breeze has blown through when I pass through the bars. I revel in the warmth for a moment before it is replaced with the autumn-like chill and disappointment gnaws at me.

Indigo is standing a few feet away as she watches me impatiently, "Come on," she rasps.

I pick up the pace to a light jog and follow her through the winding, creeping undergrowth. Brambles snag at my pant legs while low bearing branches claw at my face as I trip through the brush after her in the near darkness. I pull my phone out of my pocket after nearly falling and turn on its flashlight setting, only to have Indigo stop and spin around to face me.

"Shut it off," she hisses, her face looking ghostly in the watery light of my flashlight.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes as I comply and keep trudging after her, trusting that she knows the way. There's a sudden flash of headlights through the brush as Indigo breaks out of the tree line and jogs toward the road where a taxi is already waiting for us.

She gets in without a word and I clamber in after her before I shut the door behind me. The driver doesn't say anything, instead, the taxi jolts into motion onto the deserted road. Indigo makes no indication to start a conversation and with the driver in the front-seat, I'm sure that it's best to keep quiet about my powers anyways as I settle into my seat. I don't mind though, since I've rarely been out and about in the Boston area this early in the morning and the abandoned, quiet streets gives me something to marvel at.

Living in this city has always consisted of predicting traffic patterns and knowing the best time to move around to go grocery shopping on the weekends or to visit the malls on Friday. But not now, right now, the world is empty and it feels like Indigo and I are the last people here in this strange, empty world that consists of traffic lights that signal for no one.

With the roads being free of traffic, it doesn't take us long to get to our house, which already feels foreign and alien to me as the driver pulls up to the curb. Indigo thanks him and passes him the fare over the console before she nods at me to get out and I obey as I step out onto the sidewalk.

A nearby streetlamp casts a golden puddle of light on the pavement as I step out and stand underneath it. A few moths are fluttering around the lamp as I gaze up at them, suddenly wanting to stand here until the sun rises. I want to do most anything to avoid my parents right now.

I had let them down without knowing it and now I have to face them and hope that they can fix this.

The door to the townhouse opens and my mother stands in the threshold wearing business casual to my surprise, but then again, she's never been one to hang out in her bathrobe if she knows that she's going to have guests soon. The sight of her makes my stomach twist as Indigo walks up the sidewalk and I follow behind her at a distance, already feeling like a stranger here.

My mother waits until we're both inside before she shuts and locks the door behind us. I open my mouth to say something, maybe an apology of some sort, but she gestures for me to stay quiet. I remember then that Connor is upstairs and probably hasn't been informed about our family's history of Unfamiliarness.

We walk through the entryway in silence before my mother opens the door to the basement and motions for us to head downstairs, which is dimly lit by a single light that casts long shadows. I step down onto the stairs and turn to watch my mother close the door as she draws a silencing sigil on it with her wand and it glows a bright shade of blue and fades.

I turn and descend the stairs after my sister, who has paused at the bottom of the steps to wait for me. The wooden boards that make up the staircase creak underneath me before I turn the sharp corner at the bottom and step into the next room.

Most families have a game room in their basement, we have a scattered alchemy lab.

The modern, townhouse exterior easily hides the medieval looking lab within, the concrete walls and floor not helping it look any less intimidating as I breathe in the damp air. Mom and dad are the only ones who really come down here, since my other siblings and myself have always been creeped out by it.

Tonight is no exception to the fact as I glance at the ancient grimoires lining the bookshelves, their cracked and weathered spines gleaming in the silver light cast by a crystal ball that is sitting in the center of the room on a table. I've rarely seen the ball lit up before and the change doesn't bring me any comfort.

My father is sitting at the table that the ball is perched on, his eyes looking hollow and wide in the light cast by it as he nods and gestures for me to take the seat across from him. I obey and quietly sit on the chair, which is Victorian styled and has a red velvet cushion that I sink into.

My mother sits on one side while Indigo takes the other. My face begins to burn, I'm not used to having all of the attention on me since I'm the middle child, but I bite my lip and focus on the subject at hand. Indigo had made it sound like I was in danger before we had snuck out.

"I am an Unfamiliar," my mother admits in a soft voice, breaking the intense silence.

"What about you?" I ask my father as I look to him expectantly over the crystal ball.

"I'm not," he admits as he gives me a sheepish smile, "no special powers either."

Some witches have special affinities, like my mother being a Seer, but some witches don't and I've always wondered what my father's was.

"Being an Unfamiliar is dangerous, even within the witch community," my mother warns me as she pulls the attention back to my Unfamiliarness, "I had hoped to hide you."

"Why's that?" I inquire, wanting to know what had gotten Indigo all worked up.

"We're powerful, very powerful, we can turn the tides of wars, level whole countries, we've shaped mortal and witch history alike," my mother's eyes dim, like she's somewhere else entirely, "and it's made us quite the target for hatred," she nods to the crystal ball, "see for yourself."

I eye her curiously before I lean forward and stare into the depths of the crystal ball, which looks like it has clouds trapped within it as the clouds roil and change.

One moment, I'm looking into the ball, a reflection of my eyes looking back at me.

The next, I'm falling.