Chapter 11: Training and Getting Stronger

New Year’s Eve came faster than I expected. I was excited since we were going to have dinner all together in my grandparents’ house, including David and Chris. I hadn’t seen the two of them since we came back from our little trip.

Everything seemed perfect; the huge decorated Christmas tree, lighted with numerous colorful lights, the scorching fireplace, the jazz that filled the living room when our laughs weren’t heard.

Grandma Eve and mom had made all the dinner preparations, except desserts which David had insisted on making. We praised the ladies for their cooking skills, and I was sure the desserts wouldn’t disappoint either. The conversation kept flowing; we talked about everything and anything. We laughed and made a toast to many more dinners and happy moments like this one.

Everything was perfect, until my mom spoke, “Ophelia, could you please pass me the salt?” she asked with a sweet voice.

I glanced at the saltshaker in front of me, and I made a slight move to grab it and give it to her. Instead, I watched it slide on the table and stop in front of my mom, without me even touch it. Okay, I could telepathically move objects around. That was awesome!

I glanced at my mom, and she had a surprised look on her face, just like my grandma. Papa Peter was looking at me with a raised eyebrow. David was looking at his plate, while Chris was glancing between me and the saltshaker with opened mouth.

“Thank you, angel,” my mom muttered, pretending nothing abnormal had taken place.

“D-did you just move that thing without even touching it?” Chris stammered.

I didn’t mean for this to happen, but I couldn’t control it. “No, I just push it to my mom. I apologize, it wasn’t very appropriate for a formal dinner,” I said, and I did something that wasn’t allowed to; I manipulated to believe what I had explained, by altering his memories of what had just occurred.

“Oh, I see! You were very quick at it,” Chris said, and I sighed in relief; it worked.

The Keepers were capable to play with someone’s memories, but that only applied when that someone was a supernatural. I knew for a fact that neither David nor Chris were supernaturals, so I shouldn’t be able to do that. My grandpa had a frown on his face; he clearly understood the trick I pulled off and was going to scold me later.

My mom looked at me suspiciously, and thankfully my grandma changed the conversation, the moment David was about to ask what happened. The rest of the evening went by uneventfully, in the same festive mood.

Later that night, I was alone with Papa Peter. For the first time, I felt slightly intimated by his presence.

“Care to explain to me what was this all about, Ophelia?” he said, with a stern look.

“I don’t know what happened; I thought about moving the saltshaker, and that was what happened,” I explained, my eyes cast on my intertwined fingers.

“How did you manage to alter his memories?”

“I just thought of a logical explanation, I focused on his eyes, and let what I wanted him to believe play on my mind. I can see his memories, too; it was good ones with him and his mother,” I responded.

“Did something like that happen before?”

I thought his words for a few moments, and then I told him about the snowball that busted into snowflakes when we were snowboarding with Chris. He looked at me with a frown, like he was trying to solve a difficult puzzle.

“I promise I’ll handle it and I won’t let anything like this happen again,” I stated.

“You’re just a kid, angel. Don’t try to act like a grown-up. We have to train you, and that way you’ll learn to keep your powers under control,” Papa Peter told me and patted my back.

“The powers I have are different from the ones that Keepers usually have, aren’t they?”

“You may be stronger than us, angel. And that’s exactly why you need to train. If we lose control of our powers, then the result will be catastrophic,” he warned me, and a chill run down my spine.

That meant that I was dangerous for all the people around me, including myself. I only nodded in agreement, incapable to utter a single word.

“You’ve learned a lot about supernatural creatures, so now we have to train your body and your battle techniques. Be prepared, it won’t be an easy task…”

Grandpa was right; my training wasn’t anywhere near simple. Even if I had some experience in martial arts, when I had to face a highly trained Keeper or a werewolf, I miserably lost. Besides my damaged ego, I gained a blue eye, a cut on my lips, and lots of scratches and bruises. I was lucky makeup did some wonders with my beaten face.

Slowly a new routine formed; I woke up and run four miles, took a shower, and rushed to school. I was trying my best as usual, and my teachers were very satisfied with my progress. Of course, that required lots of reading and studying in the afternoons. After I did my homework, I went straight for practice. I learned to fight an enemy with my bare hands, fire a gun, shoot a bow, fight with silver knives, or a sword.

Despite all the hours I’ve spent on boxing rinks, my powers became even stronger, and I was having a hard way to contain them. I could easily read people’s minds or thoughts; I could move things around with a look or a move of my hand. Only when my body was completely exhausted all this subsided. That’s why I tried my best to keep my program full, my mind occupied, and my body active.

When the summer came, I was able to kill a beta werewolf with bare hands, make an alpha wolf submit, break a vampire’s neck without blinking. I managed to keep at check my mind-controlling techniques and stop playing with people’s mind uncontrollably. Also, I stopped moving things around when other humans were present. I used to telepathically move my brushes and create more than one painting at the same time; that took my passion for painting to a whole new level.

At the same time, my relationship with Chris and David grew stronger. Mom was spending more time with David since we all knew about her relationship. We had plenty of meals with them, we went on small trips, and visited a few museums or the zoo. We were bonding as a family, and that made all of us happy.

Mom and David seemed to be perfect for each other. They mentioned or talked about weddings from time to time. In the beginning, I believed it was some kind of a joke, not that I’d mind it otherwise. Things got serious when David finally proposed to my mother, and she happily accepted to be his wife.

That means Christopher would be indeed my stepbrother and David my stepfather. I felt blessed that these two men became part of my life, that I could consider them as my family. I couldn’t be more relieved that I hadn’t kissed David that night on the winter resort. We were friends like I told him, and he was perfectly fine with that.

Well, I may have played matchmaker a bit, since Chris and Izzie were now dating, too. I have to admit they were a very cute couple. The bubbly and sweet Izzie would be all blushing and shy when Chris was around or when we just mentioned him. Chris put his arrogant and playboy image aside and became a romantic and devoted boyfriend.

I was very happy for the two of them, although sometimes it was a bit awkward for me. Especially when we went for a movie or at a restaurant, they were in their cute little bubble, and I was the third wheel. They both kind of pity me, as I didn’t have a boyfriend, and that’s why they tried a lot of times to hook me up with one of Chris’ friends. Their attempts went all in vain, as I didn’t want a boyfriend, although it was very funny to see them trying.

Time passed by quickly. Now that I think of these times, I wish things we that simple now, too; I wish I could stay a teenager forever and never grow up…