The Kuthun (20 page)

Sweat is gently trickling down my face, my heart is pounding, and the bed sheets are sticking to my skin. I throw them off and sit on the side of the bed with my head in my hands. I feel like a part of me is still back there.

I hear the tread of Magi’s paws coming towards me and can smell her before she reaches my side. She has always smelt like a combination of geranium and juniper, mixed with a pleasant musky hair aroma. She buries her head into my lap and sits there patiently, waiting for me to respond. Eventually I do, and I exhale—envisioning all the stale air leaving my lungs. My head starts to clear.

I wash up and head downstairs, making myself a tea and taking it into the living room. I snuggle up on the lounge, throw the blanket over my legs and look around at all the photos that adorn the room. Smiling faces of family past and present, all throwing off similar genetic traits of the Cole gene pool, stare back at me. I notice for the umpteenth time that Aunt Lily doesn’t have any pictures of her biological family up here. We have something in common. We are both orphans.

‘Good morning.’ Uncle Jo enters the room.

‘Morning,’ I mumble.

He comes and sits beside me. ‘Did you sleep well?’

‘Not really,’ I say, taking a sip of the warm chai tea.

‘Do you want to talk about it? I’ve been known to listen pretty well.’

I smile lightly. ‘I know. Thanks, but I’m okay.’ I think about needing to let off some steam this morning. ‘Do you think it would be alright if I went for a ride this morning? I won’t go too far but I could really use some alone time and clear my head.’ I wait for the we-can’t-risk-it speech.

Instead he says, ‘I think that would be a good idea. Take Billie for a spin, but Magi is going with you.’ His eyes turn serious. ‘If you feel that you are in danger in any way then use the kuthun to get yourself out of there. No questions, Ellie. I mean it.’

I know he’s right, but there is a part of me that wants to tell him to stop lecturing me, I’m not a child. Instead I just nod. He gets up to move and as he enters the kitchen I see him glance back at me briefly. I finish off my tea in silence and head upstairs to get dressed. I hear my phone ringing and run to answer it.

‘Hi, Phoebs,’ I say.

‘Hey girlfriend, how was your Sunday? Did you do anything…special?’ she asks, with the purposeful tone of finding out if I did anything that involved magic.

‘Nope. All normal here,’ I respond blandly.

‘Oh.’ She sounds disappointed. ‘Well, are you picking me up this morning?’

I forgot about picking her up. ‘Ugh, sorry. I’m not coming to school today. I’m having a sickie.’ There is no response on the other end of the phone. ‘Phoebs?’

‘Still here. What are you up to Cole?’ she asks suspiciously. ‘And don’t tell me nothing, because that’s a lie. You’re never sick, so you can’t use that excuse either.’

She knows me too well. ‘Uh, well Uncle Jo and I are practising something at the moment. I can’t really talk about it.’

‘Right! That’s it! I’m coming over.’ I hear her hang up the phone.

I try to ring her back to tell her that I don’t think it’s a good idea but she doesn’t answer. She is so bloody stubborn. I quickly get dressed and just as I’m pulling on my Vans I hear the phone ring downstairs.
Phoebe
. I run down to the kitchen to answer it and pick it up on the fifth ring.

‘Phoebs?’ I answer. All I can hear is the sound of someone breathing on the other end. My skin prickles and my Cole blood surges. ‘What do you want?’ I ask angrily, knowing who it is.

At first I hear nothing. Then in a deep voice he says, ‘You may have bought yourself some more time, Miss Cole, but it won’t be for very long.’ I hear the sound of the line going dead.

I drop the phone. White hot anger finds its way to the surface and I can’t contain it. The chair legs start to knock against the floor, slowly at first and then quickly, building in tempo. The cupboards start to open and close. I can hear the clinking of cutlery being thrown around inside the drawers. A symphony of chaotic sound is playing out all around me and I see nothing but the erratic sound waves bouncing around the room.

‘Jo!’ I hear Aunt Lily yell. ‘Jo, quickly!’

I can’t move. My body has given itself over to the power within.

Uncle Jo runs through the back door. He braces himself against the onslaught of sound and the unstable vibration beneath his feet. I turn my head towards him slowly, as if in a dream, and see him holding onto the side of the bench. Behind him a dark shape looms large and is headed toward me fast. I don’t have time to respond. It hits me at full speed and I go down in a tumble of limbs, my head cracking against the floor as darkness sweeps over me.

I feel someone wiping my brow. ‘Jo, she’s coming around.’ I hear Aunt Lily’s voice in the distance. Magi licks my cheek and my eyes flutter open, causing me to wince in pain.

‘What happened?’ I ask confused.

‘You had an episode earlier and cracked your head against the kitchen floor. You took a bit of a hit,’ Aunt Lily says, while still keeping the wet cloth against my forehead.

‘Do you remember what happened?’ Uncle Jo asks.

I try to remember. I’m able to push through the pain inside my head to start forming a picture.
The phone call
. I try and sit up and Aunt Lily pushes the cushions up behind my back to support me. ‘There was a phone call,’ I say quietly.

Uncle Jo straightens. ‘Who was it?’ he demands.

‘It was…
him
.’

Aunt Lily puts her hand to her mouth in shock. I can sense Uncle Jo’s anger. ‘What did he say?’ he growls.

I try and recall his exact words. It hurts to remember. ‘He said that I may have bought some more time for myself but that it wouldn’t be for long.’ I grimace at the pounding inside my head.

Uncle Jo storms out and I hear him pick up the phone. He is grumbling to himself, and by the sound of it he is using some very colourful language.

‘I’ll just go and freshen up the washcloth.’ Aunt Lily stands up and moves towards the kitchen.

‘How did I hit my head, Mags?’

She shows me. I see her running hard towards the back door, sensing I was in danger. She flies through it and rushes towards me. My eyes are blazing red and my hair is swirling around my body, as if a strong wind was blowing through. The kitchen around me is shaking uncontrollably and my feet have levitated off the floor. Magi doesn’t stop running. She hits me with full force. We both go tumbling down and that’s when I crack my head.

My body feels heavy with disbelief. Who was that girl? I didn’t recognise her. Tears start to form in my eyes, the image of who I became repeating itself over and over like a bad record.

Magi nuzzles my cheek. ‘It’s okay, Mags. I know you were trying to help me.’ I feel her hot breath against my skin and I close my eyes.

Outside I hear a car pull up. ‘Oh no! Phoebe.’

Uncle Jo gives me a hard stare before opening the front door. I hear him walk towards the car and the sound of voices echoes back to me. A few minutes later I hear the car pull away and the sound of Phoebe talking to Uncle Jo travels into the house.

‘Right where is she?’ I hear her call out as she crosses the threshold.

I put my hand up and she turns and sees me sitting on the lounge, propped up by cushions, holding my head.

She walks quickly towards me. ‘What happened?’ She sits down on the end of the couch and lifts my feet onto her legs. Uncle Jo leaves us, not looking in my direction.

‘I just cracked my head that’s all. No big deal.’ I shrug.

‘You are such a bad liar, Elena Wisteria Moonheart Cole,’ she says in response.

‘How did you…?’

‘Yeah that’s right, I know your real name missy. I asked your uncle. I have to say it’s pretty cool. I mean mine is just plain old Phoebe Ann Campbell, not much can be said for that, but yours…well…why wouldn’t it suit your witchiness,’ she says.

‘Are you having the day off too?’ I ask her, trying to change the subject.

‘Yep. I told Mum you weren’t well and convinced her to let me take the day off with you, so I could look after you. Which just so happens is the truth now isn’t it?’ She pats my feet and grins wickedly.

‘You seem to be getting some pleasure out of this, Phoebs.’

‘Well, it is sort of ironic. I mean the Venator can’t even get close enough to hurt you, but a knock on the head takes you out. Pretty funny really.’ Her smile widens.

I gently kick her leg.

‘So, what are we going to do today?’ she asks looking around the room, as if she’s already bored.

Before I decide whether I should tell her or not Uncle Jo walks in.

‘Right, so are we still on for today?’ He claps his hands together and the sound reverberates through my skull. I wince. ‘Ooh, sorry, Ellie,’ he says through clenched teeth.

‘It’s okay. I’ll get over it. Just give me a second.’ I sit up further and place my feet on the floor firmly. ‘Balatha helenta gar.’ The healing spell flows in and around my body, mending my aches and pains.

Phoebe watches the bump on my head shrink back to normal size with wide-eyed wonder.

‘Whoa! That was so awesome! Can you teach me how to do that?’

I laugh softly. ‘Sorry, it’s a Cole thing.’

‘Typical!’ she says sarcastically.

Uncle Jo is still standing there, waiting for an answer.

‘Am I able to tell her?’ I ask him.

He nods. ‘May as well. She’ll find a way to be part of it anyway.’

‘Uh, are you talking about me? I’m right here you know, no need for covert ops.’ Her hands wave madly around in the air.

He glances at me and rolls his eyes. ‘See you outside in ten then,’ he says.

I nod my head and explain to Phoebe what the plan for today is. I fill her in on the teleporting practise, and the answers that we seek being found in Egypt, but I keep quiet about Isis and anything else that she doesn’t need to know about.

‘Man. This is all so surreal.’ She pauses for a moment. ‘I’m in! What do I do?’

‘Well first I have to eat and then we can go outside and begin training.’ I get up to move.

‘Oh goody,’ she says, visibly pumped.

I fix myself a cheese sandwich and grab us each a bottle of water from the fridge before walking towards the barn.

The sky is overcast with the appearance of rain clouds off in the distance. The pungent scent of gardenia drifts out from the garden. I search the perimeter of the property, remembering the Venator’s warning. Is he out there right now watching me? My instincts tell me no, but I stay alert nevertheless.

‘Okay, so the same as yesterday, Ellie. Really focus. Are you feeling alright to do this now?’ Uncle Jo asks.

‘Yep. I’m all good to go,’ I respond.

‘Good. Alright then. Phoebe, you may want to stand back a little.’ Phoebe takes a few steps back, her eyes shining with enthusiasm.

I relax and let myself feel the flow of nature around me. When the area I want to teleport to is clear in my mind I reach for the kuthun.

I open my eyes and smile. Looking back towards the barn I see Uncle Jo pointing in my direction. Phoebe’s eyes follow his finger and I hear her shouting at the top of her lungs. I repeat the same action and am back in front of them again.

Phoebe grabs me by the shoulders and shakes me violently. ‘OMG, E! I can’t believe how unbelievable that was. Woohoo!’ She does a little dance on the spot— resembling a monkey trying to do the
Macarena
.

We can’t help but laugh at her antics. She is the funniest person I know.

It takes a few minutes for her to calm down, her feet unable to stay still. ‘Can we do it again? This time can you take me?’ she asks excitedly.

Uncle Jo puts his hands up. ‘Now wait a minute, we don’t know if that can be done safely or not yet. Ellie has never done this before, so we need to be cautious.’

I feel my belly stir with anticipation. ‘I can do this.’ He gives me a sharp stare. ‘I can. Just let me try okay?’

Phoebe is nodding her head vigorously in agreement.

He takes his time before responding. ‘Alright. But do not overexert yourself. If it becomes too much, then stop.’

Phoebe and I smile wickedly at one another.

‘Girls, focus!’ he says.

I touch his arm. ‘It’s fine, Uncle Jo. I feel like I know what I’m doing.’

‘Like in the kitchen?’ he says bluntly.

His words hit a nerve. ‘That was different. I was protecting myself and my emotions took over. That won’t happen here, I promise.’

‘What happened in the kitchen? I thought you just hit your head,’ Phoebe enquires.

‘It was nothing. Let’s do this.’ I walk to my spot of focus and start to breathe deeply. ‘Phoebe, take my hand.’ She walks towards me and we clasp hands. ‘Now try and calm your nerves, and clear your mind.’ I hear her breathe deeply and when I sense her body is relaxed I reach for the kuthun.

This time isn’t as quick. This time it takes a lot more of my power to carry us through space to reach the destination on the other side of the property. I’m straining a little under the pressure. When I feel that we are there I release the kuthun and open my eyes. My head is fuzzy and my legs feel slightly wonky. I can see that we missed the spot by about fifteen metres. I squat down, feeling a little light-headed.