The Magic In Me

Pin! pin!! pin!!!

The sharp sound of Isabel's alarm clock ravaged the room. Slowly she opened her blue eyes, while stretching her legs and hands like a hungry yawning lion.

Turned over to the buzzing alarm clock displaying 6:30 am on the nightstand next to her bed and turned it off.

She sighed and laid back down again, tired. Thoughts of the next day being her eighteenth birthday quickly invaded her mind, lightening up her mood as a smile sprouted out from her face.

Excitedly she jumped out of bed and walked over to her window. She parted her blue curtains, to see her regular boring neighborhood which instantly killed her smile.

It had been just four months since Isabel and her father, Mr Jacob Andrew moved to NOMAY. A beautiful town just along the coast of ocean road.

The reason for Isabel's sudden disappointment wasn't because the town was boring, it was because she was starting to love the town and her new school. She was starting to get acquainted with some of its students.

The town was starting to feel more like home, and that was the problem. That's how it always feels until her father, Mr. Andrew gets another transfer in his office and they would have to move again.

She always hated moving, the worst part about it for her was having to part with her friends every time, only to go to a new place just to do it all over again.

The longest they had stayed in a place was a year, others had been three months or even lesser.

She never knew the typical reason for them moving from one country or continent to another, only that it was business for Mr. Andrew. But finally, she will be completing eighteen.

Maybe Mr. Andrew wouldn't see her as a child anymore, he might listen to her and stay in one place for a change.

Little did she know that her whole life, and how she saw the world was about to change. She had noticed that as the days of her eighteenth birthday drew closer, Mr. Andrew became worried and distant.

It was almost as if he was afraid of her completing eighteen, but that did not change Isabel's happiness for the big day.

She exhaled, closed her curtains and prepared for school. Dressed in blue skinny jeans and a white T-shirt, she flipped her long blonde hair to the back and finally she was ready for school.

She walked downstairs to the kitchen to get her breakfast, there she saw her father looking so worried and tired.

"Good morning honey, how did you sleep?" At the sighting of Isabel, Mr. Andrew forced the biggest smile up his face.

He dropped two plates of fried eggs on the dining table and sat down on the dining chair.

"Good morning, dad." She replied, with a half smile on her face.

"I made fried eggs for us."

"Oh, that smells delicious!!" She excitedly walked over, and sat opposite her father. Mr. Andrew then pushed a plate of fried egg to her with a fork in it.

They both started to eat in total silence as awkwardness filled the air. It felt as if Mr. Andrew was hiding something, something very big.

"Dad, I will be completing eighteen tomorrow." She broke the silence, even though her father had never forgotten her birthday, she felt like saying it since he seemed to be avoiding all matters leading to that topic.

"Okay honey, that's good." He replied coldly and continued using his fork to cut the fried egg without eating it. Awkward silence once again engulfed the room.

"Just okay, I mean it's the big one and eight dad!"

"Isabel, and I am happy for you."

"Really! Cause it doesn't seem like that!"

"Fine, what did you want me to say?"

"Well for starters, 'oh my God, I'm so happy for you, it's the big eighteen!' Instead of you just ignoring it like it's nothing."

"Fine..." He sighed and smiled. "Oh my God, I'm so happy for you, it's the big eighteen."

"Dad, stop it. I'm serious!" She dropped her fork and focused her gaze on his face. "Will I be having you all to myself like our normal tradition? You know that would be really fun, given the little time you spend with me these days."

"You know I go to work every day because of you, it's not that I don't want to..." He paused, took a deep breath and exhaled hard. "Isabel, whatever happens by tomorrow, just know that I love you. I did everything for you."

"What are you talking about?" She was instantly thrown into confusion.

He turned away for a second and back to her again. "You won't understand now, but know that I tried." He stood up to go to work, even though he had barely touched his food.

"Understand what dad, what are you talking about?" She watched him pick his work bag which was on the floor beside him.

"I am already late for work, I'll be home by 6pm. we will discuss it then, honey. You will understand everything, for now I need to go to work. I love you." He placed a gentle kiss on Isabel's forehead and walked out through the front door.

"....Dad?" She sat there dumbfounded, staring at the door, wondering what Mr. Andrew wanted to say and if that was the reason why he had been so off.

But she knew Mr. Andrew wouldn't be back till when he said he would, so it was best to get her mind off it.

After staring at the door for what felt like an eternity, she knew she had to go to school. Perhaps being in school would help her forget about this whole thing.

So she took her bag, opened the door and walked out, just in time to catch the school bus before it left for school.

It was a long twenty minutes drive to school. One which Isabel took in total silence, while replaying the short confusing conversation she had with her father over, and over again till the bus arrived at her school.

Surely she wasn't going to allow her father's rather short conversation to spoil the day before her birthday.

She put on a big bright smile and stepped down from the bus, heading towards the main entrance of the school which had engraved in big letters "NOMAY HIGH" at the very top of the entrance post

"Isabel! Isabel! wait up."

She paused as she heard someone shouting her name, turned to see who it was and it was Julia.

Julia was the first person to make Isabel feel at home when they first moved to the town. She was a nice and warm person to be around, but despite those features, other students failed to see them, and wanted nothing to do with her.

Before Isabel, Julia had no friends, perhaps that was one of the catalysts that boosted their friendship. Even Mr. Andrew was surprised when he heard of Isabel's new friend, Julia.

He knew his daughter never easily made friends, because she never wanted to feel broken when they moved again.

"I can see you missed the bus." Isabel said, with a flashy smile as Julia finally ran up to her.

"Yeah...i...i did..." Julia was breathing heavily. "But then I got a ride from my dad to school, though he dropped me a few blocks away. I saw you on the bus and tried to catch up with you guys on foot."

"So you thought it best to catch up to a moving bus on foot?"

"Well when you put it that way it feels kinda weird." She chuckled but Isabel wasn't in the mode for humor, she had too much on her mind.

"Okay Isabel what's wrong?"

"What nothing!"

"Isabel, I can tell when something is wrong with you."

"I said there's nothing, leave at that!" She exclaimed and turned around. "I'm going to class!" She continued walking towards the entrance.

"Fine, I'm sorry for pushing...!" Julia apologized as they both walked through the halls to class.

*********

Isabel was a girl to never miss any class, or get low marks in classes no matter how difficult it was. But today she felt off, she had a lot on her mind.

Everything was fine, till chemistry class, when Isabel started feeling headaches and everything Mrs. Smith, their chemistry teacher, was saying felt like rubbish.

It was as if the whole class was spinning. Isabel started to breath heavily, the constant talking from Mrs. Smith seemed to be fueling this uneasy feeling.

She couldn't hold it any longer, she needed a quiet environment, one where she could get her head straightened up.

Amidst the teaching, she stood up, all eyes in the class instantly moved to her, "Isabel, do you want to ask a question?" Mrs Smith gestured to her.

"....." She tried excusing herself but she couldn't even hear herself with her head pounding, she quickly turned around and ran out of the class. "Isabel! Isabel!!!" Mrs. Smith called, walked over and stopped at the door. "Come back here!"

"I better go and find out what's wrong with her." Julia walked up to her. "I mean this isn't like Isabel, something is wrong with her! She was off just this morning."

Mr. Smith glanced back at her. "You are right, i am the adult I should go after her-"

"Don't worry about it." Julia cut her short. "You have a class to teach, she probably just needs a friend, not an adult."

"Okay, fine.." Mrs Smith sighed. "You may be right, she is a teenager after all. Go find out what's wrong with her."

"Thanks..." Julia ran out of the class to go after Isabel, only to find out that Isabel had locked herself in one of the toilets in the ladies room.

Knock! Knock!! She knocked on the door softly. "Isabel I know you're in there, talk to me. What's wrong?"

In that slight moment, Julia saw the water in the sink behind her, moving up like there was zero gravity in the room.

Her pace and energy increased, as she now banged on the door. "Isabel!!! We have to go now!!!"

Julia started feeling strong winds coming out from inside the toilet. "Isabel....?" She muttered softly, slowly taking a step back.

Suddenly the strong wind gushed out, pushing her to the floor. The floors and walls of the school started shaking.

It was an earthquake, the town of Nomay had never experienced any incident of quakes before, which scared Julia even more. She crawled underneath the sink closest to her, to protect herself from the quake. She was so scared her hands were shaking.

In the chaos, she saw a man walking into the ladies room. A man she couldn't see clearly, due to the shaking and strong winds coming out from the toilet Isabel had locked herself in.

She soon noticed the man had a familiar face the closer he got, till she realized it was Mr. Andrew. But what he was doing here, what was happening? so many thoughts ran through Julia's head.

"Julia!" Mr. Andrew rushed over to her thinking she was hurt. "Are you okay?" She glanced at her body. "I'm fine, but Mr. Andrew, what's happening?''

"Where's Isabel?'' He dodged the question. Julia pointed to the toilet. "She went in there disoriented. I followed her here to see what was going on with her and then...and then....this quake started."

Mr. Andrew stood up without saying any more words to Julia and faced the door of the toilet Julia had pointed to. "Aperta nunc!" He yelled, the door was instantly pulled outwards, like someone with really strong muscular powers had pulled it out from its very post.

It seemed impossible, it seemed like a dream to Julia. Of all her science classes and books nothing explains a door getting ripped out by mere words, or strong winds coming out of a toilet.

After the door was pulled out from the toilet, Julia saw Isabel. There was something wrong, her eyes were white like someone who had been possessed, staring up at the ceiling.

There were strong winds spinning around her like that of a tornado, while she was levitating in the middle a few feets above the floor.

"Dormi!" Mr. Andrew muttered underneath his breath, the winds and the earthquake all ceased as she gently fell to the ground.

"Oh Isabel, I'm so sorry for not preparing you for this." He walked into the toilet and carried her in his arms like a baby.

He proceeded to carry her out, but paused to glance at Julia. She was curled up in the corner under the sink, shivering with the vivid mixture of fear, surprise and amazement on her face.

"Speak of this to noone!" He moved on, using the chaos the quake had coursed to carry Isabel out of the school, without being seen. Got to his car, placed her in the back seat and then drove off.

As Mr. Andrew drove from Nomay high to their house, he saw that the town was in total chaos. The earthquake had caused massive damage to the town.

Its roads were cracked, houses were torn apart, ambulances moving to and fro with people running helter skelter. Trying to save others which buildings had collapsed on, or worse.

It seemed the school which was the site of the earthquake, had the lowest degree of damage. All through the town there was pain and Mr. Andrew couldn't help but blame himself, that he had somehow caused this by keeping Isabel in the dark about her powers.

Perhaps if she had known about her powers, this tragedy would have been avoided. He quickly knocked that thought off his head, as he realized keeping her in the dark was the only reason she survived this long.

Isabel was in the back seat of Mr. Andrew's car, sleeping so peacefully. Mr. Andrew wished he could take this toll off her, because he knows when she wakes up, she would never forgive herself for the chaos and death she had caused.

Finally they arrived home, their house had felt little of the earthquake, as it was in the outskirts of town. Houses in that area didn't subtain much damage, like those downtown.

Mr. Andrew parked his car on the driveway, just outside their house. He came out, then leaned back on the car. He sighed, dipped his hand in his pocket, brought out his phone and dialed a number.

The phone rang for a few seconds before it was answered. "Jacob, what do you want?" A feminine voice replied at the other end of the call.

"Wow? You saved my number?"

A heavy sigh could be heard through the phone. "What do you want Jacob!"

"Something bad happened. I know I promised to never call again, but please I need your help. I found the map."

"You did? When, where? I'm on my way, give me an hour."

"There's something else, it about Isabel, it happened sooner than you said it would. Please we need you, I need you."

"What do you mean sooner?"

"I mean today. I cannot tell you just how bad it is on the phone, you'd have to see it."

"Fine! Just keep her home, it'll be too dangerous letting her out of your sight. I'm on my way." She hung up the call.

Mr. Andrew sighed, turned around, to stare at Isabel through the car's window, peacefully sleeping.

"I just hope she's on time.." He opened the door and carried Isabel out into the house, straight upstairs to her bedroom.

***********

Isabel's room was on the uppermost floor of the house. The windows were locked but the curtains were slightly opened, from which the light from the setting sun could get in.

She could feel its warmth on her face, as she slowly opened her blue eyes. She turned away from the window and faced the ceiling. It soon dawned on her that she was in her bedroom.

She instantly jerked up from her bed. "How did I get here??" The last thing she could remember was going into the ladies room with an unbearable pain. Just then, she started voices coming from down stairs, in the living room.

"Dad!" She exclaimed, rushed out her room, down the stairs believing her father could explain why she woke up in her bedroom, even though she clearly remembered being in school.

"Dad! How did-" She paused, shocked to see Mr. Andrew and a fairly beautiful lady she didn't recognize talking, both seated on the couch.

The lady was dressed in a beautiful red dress, having long black hair. There were slight wrinkles on her face, and from her looks, she would be in her forties, just like her father.

Isabel had interrupted them and both their attention was now pulled to her. "Honey, you have woken up." Mr. Andrew stood up with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, I have. Who is she?" She gestured to the lady. "Is she the reason you have been distant? She's what you wanted to tell me when I got back from school!"

"Isabel, I'm sorry for how I've been. But-"

"You know what, nevermind!" She cut him short with both gesturing with both hands up in the air. "I don't care what you do or if you keep pushing me away just because of some woman! What I came here to ask is what happened to me, how did I get home?"

"Isabel what has gotten into you-"

"No, don't!" The lady cut Mr. Andrew short. "I got this..." She walked forward to Isabel and stretched her hand for a handshake. "My name is Sophia.''

Isabel glared at her, leaving her hand hanging in the air. "Sophia, I see, well I'm Isabella but everyone calls me Isabel for shorts. Now that we know both our names, tell me what are you doing here with my dad."

"This is hilarious." Mr. Andrew giggled and sat back down. He couldn't help but laugh at the idea that Isabel was angry because she thought he was seeing Sophia.

"Jacob!" Sophia glanced back at him. "This is serious."

"Oh yeah, you're right." The smile died out of his face just as quickly. "Isabel you can drop the attitude it's not what you think, we have more pressing matters to discuss like what happened today."

"What happened today?"

"Isabel, it's time you hear the truth because your life may depend on it."

"Dad! What are you talking about?"

"We need to finish the conversation we started in the morning. You might want to take a seat." He gestured to the chair opposite him.

"O..kay?" She slowly walked over and sat in the chair. "To understand what happened today, we must first go back to the beginning." He brought out a very old book from his work bag.

The words on the cover of the book were not written in English, but Mr. Andrew had no problem understanding it. "Within this book lies the true story of who you are Isabel, your heritage and the answers to what happened today!"