Dark Light (The Dark Light Series)(9)
Thankful for no classes on Fridays, I stretch and trudge out of bed, and prepare to face my next challenge: my mom, Donna. She’s got some serious explaining to do and I’ve got a shitload of questions. She had to have known all along about where I came from. Why didn’t she tell me? She must suspect that I’m in here, confused, hurt and angry with her and my dad. I have half a mind to stall and torture her with my silence. But that passive aggressive crap has never been my style. I put my big girl panties on and head to the kitchen where I know she’ll be and decide to face this head on. My birth mother, Natalia, wasn’t a punk, and neither am I. I guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree in that respect.
I make my way down the hall, passing my dad’s empty study. He won’t be home until later tonight and I’m interested to get his take on my sudden revelation. He always seemed so up front with me, never treating me like a child and letting me make my own decisions. However in this case, information was withheld so I couldn’t form an opinion. I frown in disappointment.
The kitchen is immaculately clean, as is the rest of the house, aside from my room, of course. Donna is at the sink, washing the blender she used to make my smoothie, which is sitting on the breakfast table. Suddenly our morning ritual seems tainted- a lie, like my entire life. I sit down and wait for her to acknowledge my presence. Seems like I’m not the only one who’s stalling.
“Good morning, sweetheart,” my mom greets me sullenly as she dries her perfectly manicured hands on a dish towel. She grabs her cup of tea and sits down across from me, eyeing me thoughtfully. Maybe she’s expecting me to flip out and yell at her. Maybe I should. She fingers her blonde bob in expectation of my response.
“Morning, Mom.” No matter what, this woman is still my mother. She raised me and deserves my respect.
Donna instantly relaxes and gives me a rueful half-smile. “So… I’m sure you have questions. Let me start by saying that we never meant to keep secrets from you. You have to understand. We had to wait for the right time,” she explains. She takes a sip of her tea, opening the platform to me.
“The right time? How could you determine that? I’ve been lost my whole life, not knowing where I fit in! And you could’ve rectified that! And you wait all this time to tell me I’m some kind of supernatural freak?!” I feel my blood starting to boil and remember the mystical auburn glow. I instantly will myself to calm down in fear that it will happen again and scare the living shit out of my mom. “Look, I don’t know what to think about all this. I don’t even know if it’s real. I’m just confused.”
“Well, let’s start slowly. How much have you read?” she asks.
“A lot,” I answer. “But not all of it. I got to the part where, um, my mom, I mean, Natalia finds out that the Shadow are after her. She goes into hiding in the woods, trying to prepare herself. You know, um uh, restoring her power. Getting stronger,” I say, clearly uneasy just uttering the words out loud. This seriously sounds like a load of bull but if I want to get some answers, I have to speak up. I take a large slug of my smoothie to wash away the reluctance.
Donna takes a deep breath. I can tell she’s nervous. “Ok, so what do you want to know?”
“Did you know my mother?” I ask meekly. I feel bad, referring to Natalia as my mother but that’s what she is. Or was.
“Yes. Natalia was a great friend.” Donna takes a deep breath and looks me in the eye. “She saved my life.”
“How?” I asked. Ok, I didn’t see that coming. I couldn’t imagine Donna ever being in any danger. She seems so…safe.
“I am what people would refer to as Wiccan. What little power I do have, I was not born with. It is more of a spiritual connection to nature. I don’t practice it much now because I wanted to keep it from you. I needed to. I couldn’t draw any undue attention to you,” she explains.
“Wait, what? So what… you’re a witch or something?” What the hell? Have I been walking around blind for the past 20 years? What else have they kept from me?
“No, we don’t like to say witch. It’s more of a religion.” She sips her tea and looks at me. I nod for her to continue. “I was alone one night, in the woods, practicing a spell. A Dark One approached me. I had no idea who or what he was, but he was gorgeous and alluring. I was mesmerized, almost hypnotized by him. I’ll never forget his cold, menacing eyes. Sometimes they still haunt me at night.”
Donna visibly shivers, clutching her teacup tightly in her petite hands. “I don’t remember much of what happened but the next thing I knew, I was waking up on a wet pile of leaves with Natalia crouched over me. She told me that I was momentarily entranced by the Dark One and his will was to kill me and gain my tiny measure of power. That’s what they do, you know.”