The Enforcer

As I sat in my spot at the table I couldn't help but notice the way my parents were looking at me. This was going to be a very mentally exhausting conversation. Watching their faces as I got ready to speak, my parents looked more confident than normal.

"Why was I kept in the dark for so long?" That was the biggest question I had. I hadn't thought my parents would ever hide anything from me, or lie to me. How could they do that to me?

"Son, you know we love you. We had to keep this hidden from you though. Putting you into this life too early would have been bad for everyone. The coven has been in hiding for years. We couldn't put you in danger. Everything we have done was for your protection." My dad spoke in a soft voice. He was starting to get emotional toward the end. Mom has a tear falling down her face. The people who loved me and raised me did everything to protect me. Now it was up to me to protect them and I would do it with my life if I had to.

"What do you mean we were in hiding?" I wanted to know how deep they were in and what happened for all this to take place for my family. The fact that people were after my parents did anger me but I had to know more. The more information the better.

"We know Hekate speaks to you, Derek. Tell us what you know and we can fill in the rest." My mom spoke to me. In her voice that always calmed me down.

"Be careful what you say. I know they are your parents and I don't believe they are traitors. But some things only the chosen know and are not meant to be known by others." When Hekate spoke in my mind I had to think about what to say to my parents. I couldn't tell the whole truth. At least not yet.

"Was she speaking to you just then?" I glanced at my mom as she said this. I wonder how she knew how that was happening. I must've had a confused look on my face at this thought.

"You seemed lost in thought and your eyes brightened up. They are still blue but had a small glow to them just then." That was a new thought. I guess I couldn't hide the fact that she was speaking to me.

"Yeah, it's kind of weird actually. Like having a voice in your head that speaks whenever it wants. Makes me feel insane with everything that's been put on me lately. Hell it's only been a few days since I graduated." I said that without thinking anything about it until my mom spoke.

"We did not raise you to use that kind of language. You may be a young adult but you know we raised you better than that." My parents weren't exactly strict but didn't like bad language. I just learned to hide it from them.

"Sorry mom. I just didn't think." I nervously spoke with my head down. Looking back up to face them I felt calm again. "I know about Alan and how he came into power. Also how magic was started for Hekate's followers. That's all I can really say right now." Hopefully that would be enough for them to tell me about their side of things.

"We were young when you were born and our family hadn't joined the cuthren and stayed true to the goddess. Everything was fine because our family kept each other hidden from them. After we had your sister is when everything changed. Alan found out about our family and coven and started making threats. We did our best to protect everyone but..." Mom burst out crying at that revelation. I had a sister and didn't even know it. Before I had a chance to say something Dad cut in.

"The more he threatened us, the better we tried to hide. Somehow he was able to turn one of the family but we don't know who. Your sister was taken and killed to force us to join. As bad as it hurt, we still had to protect you. There's not a day that goes by that we don't think of Stephanie." Tears were now falling down both their faces. Being in shock I couldn't say anything.

"We used to live in Boston, which is why we believe you may be drawn back there. We're sorry for hiding all of this from you but we couldn't tell you until you were ready and you still may not be ready." They were holding each other staring at me. The looks on their faces were tearing at my emotions but my anger was beginning to spike.

"I have a sister you never told me about, and there's a traitor in the family. I have to get out of here for awhile." I stood and rushed out to my car. I hadn't even been home for an hour and I was leaving again. It was getting close to dusk when I left.

I drove for a while trying to clear my head and think. This was beginning to be too much. Lighting up a cigarette as I stopped in an empty parking lot. It was time for more answers.

"I'm assuming you knew all of this and just kept me in the dark." Anyone could've known I was angry at how I spoke. And to a goddess no less. I didn't care at this point though. Family has always been first for me and I was betrayed by everyone and left clueless.

"Yes, I didn't think that would've been something you wanted to hear from me. I also hoped your anger wouldn't get the best of you when you found out. Now that you do, maybe it will help drive you to take down Alan." As angry as I was, she had a point. This was a family matter and my family needed to let me know.

Before I could respond my phone vibrated letting me know I had a text. I had forgotten to message Sarah back. "I enjoyed our date. I hope we can do it again soon." Could I trust her? I had just learned my family had betrayed me. Who could I trust right now?

"I didn't know it was a date. I'm glad it was though. Just wish it could have lasted longer. I will explain all of that to you later. I will be busy for a while so I may not message back for some time." I knew what I had to do.

Imagining the white training room, I materialized inside it. My car was left in the parking lot. I knew I could get it later. This time there were three test dummies there. It looked like they all had differences though. The first one looked like the dummy from earlier. It resembled a person with no protection. The next had a humanoid shape but was made from metal. The last had a blue hue around it. There was a spell of protection around it. This was going to be a long training session.

A full day I sat in the training room. Letting my anger loose the only way I knew how. By the time I finished the session I was controlling the magic and destroying the first dummy. The second I was able to bend in places and throw around. I couldn't break through the spell.

After the physical training I spent a few hours going through the library in my mind. The spells needed to break protections. Then I found what looked to be a book hundreds of years old. The spells in this book were borderline dark magic and more powerful than anything I had learned so far.

With a last hour of physical training I destroyed all three of the test dummies and felt relief. I could do this. The protection of my family is in my hands. Even though I had a long way to go to face Alan or his cuthren I felt this was a big step in the right direction.

Transporting back to my car and my anger gone I began to drive home. When I noticed my phone was dead. Plugging it into the charger, I thought about what I would say to my parents when I saw them. Without the anger clouding my mind I could understand why they did it. That didn't make it hurt any less though. I had to be able to trust them though and needed to know everything.

Walking back into the house my parents were in the living room sitting beside each other in their chairs. I felt guilty for just leaving the way I had now. "I'm sorry for leaving the way I did. It just became too much at one time." My parents turned towards me when I spoke. They hadn't seen or heard me yet. They both jumped up and came around and hugged me. It felt good to be with them.

"Have you eaten anything?" My mom being the concerned mom that she is. I smiled knowing that the love was there for me. Still torn from being upset and knowing the love that they had for me. I was torn but I knew I needed to get over it.

"No, I haven't even thought about food." I responded as my mom pulled me into the kitchen with dad following. Me and Dad sat at the table while mom fixed supper for us. Dad was the first to speak.

"Son, we're sorry for deceiving you like that. It was lying by omission but it was still lying. We are not sorry for everything we did to protect you though." It was hard to hear this. I knew he meant it and that it seemed like the best option at the time.

"Just no more. I want to know all of it." I said as my mom placed the sandwiches in front of us and took a seat with her own.

"That's the story. At least the main points. We haven't had any contact with anyone from the family or that coven since then." Mom spoke between bites. There was still tension between us but it was decreasing as we spoke.

"The coven she speaks of is down to just six people now but they are still together. The rest have either been killed or converted. Alan has left Boston but I don't know where he went. Before we can think about attacking the other coven's though we need to worry about this coven and the traitor that we have." That was the first place to start. I had to get this coven stronger and start bringing the power back and taking it away from Alan.

"When does the coven meet again?" I had to get involved with the coven and flush out the traitor. I just had to figure out who it was first.

"We normally only meet when we have to so we can stay hidden. With the protection spell you put on the church though at least we can be safe when we meet there now. If we had to call a meeting it would be in the evenings during the week or on the weekends. These people do have jobs they have to do and hold the appearance of normal people." That answered some of my questions but I looked at dad when he finished speaking.

"We need to hold a meeting soon but I will let you know when. There's something else I need to do right now." As I finished speaking I turned my phone on as I stood and walked toward my room.

My phone blew up with texts from Sarah. I tried to read them all but they were all pretty much the same. Wondering what was going on and when I would talk to her again. I sent her a text asking if we could meet up tomorrow for food at lunch.

"Tell me where and I will be there." The text popped up before I could sit my phone down. I told her she can choose just not the mall again. I didn't want to run into that group again.

"There's a local bar-b-q restaurant down from my high school. Do you know where it is?" I knew the place, I had been to her town quite a few times. Being in South Carolina there were bar-b-q places all around.

"I look forward to our second date." I was wondering what she would say to that. I disappeared for a day with no contact with anyone. I didn't know how she would take that.

"It may be a second date. Depending on your reason for not speaking to me or at least letting me know you were okay with everything going on." I hadn't even thought of that. That she would think it had something to do with the magic users or what had happened to me. I made a mental note to clarify more in the future. It would be understandable to be upset the way I just didn't respond.

As I made it to the restaurant I could see she was already there. Her truck was parked near the front. As I was parking the car I felt the presence of magic. Looking in the rear view mirror I saw a vehicle approach and park on the other side away from me. Getting out and rushing into the restaurant I quickly spotted Sarah. Sitting in the booth beside her as she slid over I quietly asked her who she told about us being here.

"Just my parents and Brad. Why?" There was concern showing in her voice. I looked up as the group entered. I pulled out my phone and sent a text to my parents. "Now is not a time to hide anything. Did you tell anyone where I was going?" As I sent the message and put my phone up I watched as the group sat down a few booth's away from us.

Looking back at Sarah seeing her hands shaking I was pretty sure she wasn't the one leaking information. "Don't worry. This isn't going to end badly." As I said it I hoped that it would be true. I didn't know if I could take on all of them. Not expecting them to do something in public though eased my mind.

"How do they know where we are? This is the third time that we've seen them now." I knew she was right. I tried to keep an eye on them to just watch and make sure that things wouldn't turn against us.

"That's what I'm trying to find out." The waitress showed up as I said this. After we both ordered the waitress went over to the other table with the group at it. There we're a few other booths filled but they already had their food. After taking their orders one of the group walked over to us.

He was a little over six foot and very athletic with brown hair cut short and brown eyes. As he walked up he smirked and just took a seat across from us. His arrogance was detestable. Sliding into the seat across the table from us he looked at Sara.

"Hey Sarah, who's your friend? And when are you going to join us?" As he said this he finally looked back at me. When he saw my eyes I could see the fear on his face.

"I suggest you leave. NOW! Let the rest of the group know it would be in their best interest to stay away from me." I growled but quietly enough that just we could hear it. As I said it another male from the group walked up and stood by the table. Why were all these people so athletic? It's kind of disheartening when I think about my body.

"I think we'll just eat our food here and learn about our new friends." As he said it the anger began to come forward. Under the table my left hand began to glow lightly. As I squeezed my hand together to make a fist the first guy that was in the seat began to struggle to breathe. I knew they couldn't do anything without making a big scene. I let him go after just a few seconds. Just to let him know what I was capable of.

"This isn't over asshole." He said as he stood and rubbed his neck. Both men glaring at me as they went back to their table. As they sat down everyone at the table was looking at me. I tried to make an intent look on my face to scare them. I guess it didn't work because they didn't leave.

After I paid the bill we sat and talked for awhile.Trying to explain why I didn't text her or anyone without letting her know about everything that was going on. By the end of the conversation she was back holding my hand and leaning on me. I felt like the greatest guy in the world at that moment.

The group was still there but didn't say or do anything else toward us. We were walking toward the door to leave when they began to follow us. As we walked out the door and turned right to go to our vehicles. The group turned left and headed toward theirs. As we made it beside her truck she turned to look at me.

"I really enjoyed our second date. Maybe there will be a third?" This had to be one of the most nerve wracking questions I've ever asked. Even with everything going on. I could feel the sweat begin to form on my forehead and hands. My hands moved down to her waist. My heart began to pound twice as hard it felt like.

"A third date sounds great. Just don't make me worry like I did. If you have to do something like that again, just let me know you're okay." As she finished she leaned up and her lips met mine. My first kiss with this beautiful girl. Letting instinct take over I pulled her closer to me and she put her hand behind my head. The kiss felt like electricity running through my body. As she pulled back she told me my eyes were glowing.

That's when the group started making comments and noises about us kissing. I leaned into her ear and whispered. "Get in your car and head home please. I'm going to stay here to make sure they don't leave." She looked at me and I could see in her eyes she didn't want to leave me like that with them here. "I'll be okay. I promise. Just let me know when you make it home." I gave her a quick kiss as I turned to walk away. Our hands trailed down each other's arms until our hands met and kissed. Our hands were palm to palm as I kept going. Looking back one more time as our fingers drifted apart from each other. Longing to hold each other again.

Looking back at the group and walking toward them. I heard her truck pull out and head in the direction of their house. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I had been so focused on everything going that I didn't realize my parents texted me back in a group message. Mom told me that they let the rest of the coven know so if anyone was close they could be alert in case something happened. I sighed at that. Dad's response was just saying they just wanted to protect me.

Now everyone in the coven knew where we were. Anyone could have passed that information on. The rest of the text we're just worried parents. I sent back that I was okay and would be home later and put my phone back in my pocket.

Looking up, the group was all staring at me. Walking up to them so they could hear me clearly. I knew my eyes were glowing by the expressions on their faces. "This ends here. You will not find me again. If you do, I won't be responsible for the consequences if you start something that you can't finish." As I said this I knew we wouldn't be able to do anything in public without somebody seeing. I had to scare them away though. "Do I make myself clear?" I looked across at all of them as they nodded. I began to turn and walk away when one of them, I don't know which one said something I could barely hear. It was almost a whisper.

"You better watch your back. You can't take on all of us." I couldn't determine who said it. Just a female in the group. I placed both hands in my pockets as my eyes began to glow again. Squeezing my hands into fist I saw the whole group reach for their throats. I was just trying to choke two of them. I didn't know that kind of power was coming from me so soon. I released them and watched the looks on their faces. The fear was evident.

"The next time we meet I hope there's no one around." I growled at them as I walked away. As I got into my car I sat and watched them for a few minutes. They looked stunned then they all scrambled to get inside their overly large SUV that could hold all of them. I drove off as I saw their reaction.

It took me about half an hour to get back home. When I walked into the house my dad was pacing and mom was on the phone. I became worried instantly at the scene in front of me. Both my parents looked extremely worried. I just heard my mom's side of the conversation.

"When did this happen?" Her hand went to her head to hold it as she stood. She began pacing with my dad after that. "Do you know who or how?" She stopped pacing and turned to look at me as the person on the other side said something. "We'll meet there as soon as we can. We're leaving now." Then she hung up the phone, still staring at me.

"When was the last time you saw Sarah?" As she asked it I felt like I was punched in the stomach. The physical pain was leading to anger and then my eyes began to glow. "Her parents just called and told us she's been kidnapped." The anger I felt at that point was greater than any I had felt before. I felt my mom wrap her hands around me in a hug as she sobbed. I could feel the tears falling onto my shirt.

"The last time someone was kidnapped that we know of was your sister, Stephanie." Then it clicked into place. Sarah was in serious trouble and may even be killed. Dad grabbed both of us and pulled us to his car.

On our way to the church I was shaking with anger. I looked at my phone and saw there were no new texts or calls. If she was kidnapped they wouldn't let her have her phone. I couldn't tell you how long we were in the car. Just that my anger was growing by the minute.

Before the car stopped I got out and rushed into the barn. It appeared everyone else was here. Walking into the main room I saw Sarah's parents crying on one couch with Brad by their side. As soon as I walked in Brad got up to challenge me.