The Gate

28. Valentine's

Lena Matthews

A small green tendril broke from the dirt and crawled towards the rising sun. Three distinct white petals unfolded gently, like angel's wings. I smiled in satisfaction, but my concentration was slipping. The petals of my newly created trillium started to curl and wither before shriveling back into the ground.

"No..." I muttered, frustrated. I walked back to my tree and traced the small Forbidden brand that was ingrained there. Despite coming here to practice every morning, my powers weren't improving. I sat down in the dirt and stared at the giant stump where Flora's tree used to be. Its circumference was probably three times the size of my tree. She must have been alive for a while.

At least now she didn't have to outlive her family.

That was the lamest silver lining in the world, and I knew it. Slowly, I picked myself up and returned to my tree. I threw my consciousness back into the tree's network until all of my senses concentrated and solidified in a new place. I dropped to the ground, almost hitting my head on the root of an oak. I brushed myself off and caught my breath.

Now that I was in my backyard, I looked around to make sure that the coast was clear. When I didn't see anyone, I walked back inside the house.

"Good morning!" Aurelie shouted at me excitedly from the kitchen. Just like Finn, she was comfortably settled in the kitchen to enjoy the show.

The show in question was Dad struggling to make french toast. He was trying his hardest for Valentine's Day, and Mom found it so funny that she hadn't bothered to fix her fallen scarf. I could still see two pink marks on her neck from where she had been attacked all those years ago.

The pan sizzled dramatically as Dad attempted to flip the toast. It landed successfully, with only a little bit of egg outside of the pan. The whole family cheered triumphantly, but I stayed silent. I felt like I wasn't really present. Right now, it seemed like I was watching a movie of what a family was supposed to act like.

Since I wasn't being followed by the Forbidden anymore, I allowed myself to walk with Aurelie and Finn to school. Aurelie was excited for Valentine's, and I had helped put pink hair clips in her hair for the occasion. Meanwhile, I had stacked six layers of foundation on my wrist. Despite that, I had no idea how long it would last. I couldn't stop rubbing my Forbidden brand for some reason.

"Any plans for today?" I asked Finn playfully.

"No." said Finn flatly.

"Are you sure about that?" I asked, still teasing.

"We have a job to do." Finn reminded me. "This whole town is supposed to be temporary, remember?" Per usual, Aurelie was skipping ahead of us and out of earshot.

"Have you and Dad figured out anything about these deaths?" I asked.

"No, but that's not the plan." said Finn.

"What do you mean?" I asked. When Finn didn't answer, I demanded again. "You need to tell me. I'm an agent now, so I'm going to find out one way or another."

"Remember the source?" Finn asked.

"Yep." I answered.

"Dad is still working with it." said Finn.

"Why?" I asked. I tried to ignore the small frustration I felt from one of the Forbidden being referred to as "it".

"I don't know. But he hasn't made any big moves yet. This whole mission rests on a Forbidden and it's making me nervous." Finn explained.

"I trust Dad." I said. "He's been doing this longer than both of us combined, so he probably knows what he's doing." I heard a faint hissing sound, and realized that the grass around me was starting to shrivel and brown. Saying something I so vehemently disagreed with while outside clearly had its consequences. In order to keep myself from rubbing my Forbidden brand again, I sunk my fingernails into my arm until the sting blurred my vision.