Changeling: The Daughter of Fire (GxBxNB)

Changeling 7

Everything felt like a cruel twisted dream, but no matter how much I wished to wake up, I didn't.

Liam was gone, and my messages had gone unanswered...

It was all my fault. I'd killed his mother, I'd failed to keep the universe in balance and now this was all happening to me... Every night, I woke up screaming covered in cold sweat...

I could tell mom and dad were getting worried...

I couldn't let it happen again.

***

I kept as vigilant as I could, reordering the house as discreetly as possible, I was fixing up the kitchen when Mom called.

"Nadia there's mail for you!"

She came in early from work, it was her turn to make dinner. She went into the kitchen and looked at me. "Nadia, what are you doing?"

"Fixing the kitchen up, it's too chaotic, I can't stand the negative energy."

She sighed and kissed my head, giving me the envelope. I opened it — as neatly as possible, didn't want to rip it unevenly — and found that scholarship letter Tiana had promised.

"What's that?" Mom asked, washing her motor oil-stained hands.

"I got an art scholarship," I said with a shrug. Right now, it wasn't important. "Can I move my room downstairs?"

"What's wrong with your room?"

"The stairs, they're wrong."

She caressed my hair, a worried smile on her face. "Nadia... Don't you think you're being a tiny bit irrational right now?"

"No. Liam's mom is dead and it's my fault."

People never understood, called it magical thinking or delusions. But I knew it was real, bad energies brought bad things, and that day I'd been too careless...

"Nadia, you can't blame yourself for that!" She pulled me into a hug. "You tried to save her..."

I didn't answer. She would never understand.

"You can move your room downstairs where the den is, we'll move it to the basement."

"Thank you." I kissed her cheek.

I tried to step away but she held my arm. "Nadia, maybe we should go see Dr. Young?"

Dr. Young was my psychiatrist.

"I don't think he can help me right now."

"Please?"

"I'll think about it."

She hugged me tightly. "You know we love and care for you, Nadia. You can talk to us about anything."

"I know..."

She patted my head. "Alright, help me make dinner, no buts."

"Yes, Mom."

I helped her make biryani and kofta for dinner, a family favorite. I was a very clean person, but this time I took extra care not to let anything be out of place or filthy a second more than it needed to.

***

A storm broke in the night. Storms were good, they cleansed the world of lingering energies. In the morning, Dad and Ghali helped move my things downstairs, which meant losing direct bathroom access but it was worth the peace of mind.

I couldn't really go upstairs, but the suggestion of destroying the stairs and building new ones had gotten me some looks. My parents loved me, but eight grand worth of remodeling was a little too much accommodation.

With Mom's permission, I was allowed to light the fireplace, stuffing some old junk inside and set it all ablaze under her watchful eye.

Being a pyro is hard to explain to others... It was like this pressure building inside of me, an itch growing itchier by the moment and then when I indulged it was the sweetest of rush and release, much like an orgasm...

As the day wound down, I sat in the living room with coffee, feeling a burden lifted off my back.

Ghali sat lazily with us, looking bored out of his skull, meanwhile Aisha sat on the floor, half-under the coffee table with her pencil case, sketching away some anime characters I didn't know off while Sailor Moon played in the background for the ten-thousandth time. Ever since a friend had introduced her to it, she'd fallen in love with manga, anime, and Japan in general, so much the walls of her room were plastered with posters and art—

Artwork...

Tiana's words resonated in my mind; All changelings, even before their powers came through were deeply artistic people... Could Aisha also be one?

The thought reignited the anxiety inside of me.

I was cursed with being a jinni... I closed my eyes and prayed to both Jesus and Allah that she be spared...

"This suuuucks!" Ghali interrupted my prayers. "I'm missing football practice."

"Football's boring, watching anime is so much better. I promised I'd go to Sarah's place for dinner, can you drive me Ghali?"

"No way."

"Pretty please!"

I would have gladly driven Aisha except for the fact that I'd failed my driving exam three times... The theory I'd rocked, but the moment I was behind the wheel I was a ball of nerves panicking at everything and nothing...

"It's like five minutes away, get an umbrella and walk!"

She looked morosely out at the thunderstorm raging outside.

"I wish it would stop raining..." She whined.

WISH

The word hit me like a punch to the guts.

My chest burned up, I gasped for air but couldn't find my breath.

No... Not again...

My limbs were shaking.

My brain burst with pressure.

And my lips moved without my consent.

"Granted," I whispered.

The storm broke in a moment, a rainbow soon forming. My head exploded with pain and I screamed...

Everything went black for a moment and when I came to everyone had gathered around me, worry on their faces.

"Nadia?" Dad asked.

I tried to speak but all that came out were heavy sobs.

This couldn't be real... I'd tried, I'd kept all the negativity away, why was it happening again?