Follow the Lady

I woke up this morning to our maid, Natalie, softly shaking my shoulder. The shaking wasn't really what woke me up though. The shaking woke the cat, who tightened her claws into my leg, which woke me up.

I felt the claws, then the shaking, then Natalie's soft voice. I rolled onto my back and stretched a little and as I did, the shaking stopped. Natalie was still talking but I was too sleepy to hear what she was saying. Slowly but surely my brain fired up. I remembered that I need to call Jason and ask what time he wants me to meet him at the river. I remembered that I have to go take graduation photos at 11am. Holy crap. Pictures. Today. I must have overslept if Natalie is waking me up. Shit. My eyes finally opened.

Sunlight streamed in through my bay window. Natalie still stood by my bed. The cat jumped off, annoyed at all my fidgeting.

I looked over at the clock, 8am. My alarm is set for 8:30am, Nat's jumping the gun by a bit. I love her but that's irritating

"Hey Natalie thanks for waking me up but my alarm goes off in another 30 minutes, I have plenty of time to get ready," I said, rubbing my eyes and yawning. I was so ready for another 30 minutes of sleep.

"Samantha. Your father got back last night. He wants to see you as soon as you're awake," Natalie said, quietly. She sounded sad. And hoarse. Like I sound after I cry.

I looked at Natalie. Really looked at her for the first time this morning. Natalie was red-eyed. Tears filled her eyes and I sat straight up. No longer drunk with sleep. Natalie was never upset. I had never seen her cry. She was so cool and collected. Always my rock. The thought of anything being bad enough to upset her was instantly sobering.

"Natalie what happened? What's wrong? Did somebody die?"

"No baby, everyone's okay. Your dad just wants to talk to you, and you're not going to like it. Get up and I'll let him know you're coming," she said, her voice cracking towards the end.

I was stunned into silence. If Natalie wasn't so upset, maybe I would've fought with her about it. I would've guilted her into telling me what he wanted. But her sadness made me unable to think.

I didn't answer her. I just got out of bed, and put on my slippers. Natalie left to go tell my father I was awake. I grabbed my robe and went to the bathroom to brush my hair and teeth. I was really scared by this point, so I moved fast. Adrenaline pumped through me. In no time at all I was out of my room, down the stairs and through the sitting room, to my father's study.

He was sitting in his desk. He asked me to sit down. He put down his pen, looked up at me, and folded his hands on his desk. His expression was the same as always, grave and serious. Except his eyes were red and swollen like Natalie. He had been crying.

I cannot express to you how scared I was in that moment.

Then, he started to explain. How my mother was like me in more than just looks. She had powers like me.

I have telekinesis. I can move things with my mind. Though, since I've been hiding it and working on suppressing it most of my life, I don't think I'm capable of doing it on purpose. It only happens now when I lose control of my emotions. Which hasn't happened in years.

So, I'm sitting there, and my dad is telling me about my mom. How she was telekinetic too, and she wasn't the only one. There are tons of people out there in the world that have powers. People that are immortal, that change into animals, that can manipulate fire, water, air, earth, energy, and the minds of others.

He tells me that there is a whole world that's parallel to ours that is completely populated with these beings. He starts calling them "beings" or "otherworlders". Not people. So, I infer that they're not exactly human. My mother wasn't exactly human. I'm not exactly human. I'm fucking E.T. It is then that I realize my dad must be taking drugs. Or has finally lost his mind. I hope it's not genetic. Basically my options are, that I'm half alien, or half crazy jackass. Not good options.

Finally, as he gets to the part about my mother running out on this guy she was supposed to marry and becoming a fugitive from this world and being hunted, I cannot possibly hold in my laughter. I know it's not nice to laugh at crazy people, but I can't help it. I'm so going to hell.

"I really don't know what's so funny Samantha Mae," he says.

"Dad, do you seriously hear what you're saying right now? I'm really sorry but I think I'm going to have to go. I have graduation pictures today. And as much as I would really love to hear all about your delusions-uh I mean... Your...story. I'm going to be late if I stay in here any longer."

I start getting up but my father sighs and sits back in his chair, wiping his forehead and tells me,
"You're not going to take graduation pictures today Samantha," he says. I sit back down.

"What?" I say sharply.

"You aren't going to be going to that school next year. I've been trying to work up to the news but since you don't believe all the back story there's no point in trying to tell you all that. So, I'll skip ahead. You're moving to New York. To live with the Ashford family. Your mother owed them a debt, and unfortunately you are the payment to square it away," he said calmly, as if he wasn't saying anything of importance.

I argued of course. Telling him how crazy he sounded. I worked up to screaming at him. I threatened to call the police and have him commited. Natalie came in though and calmed me down. She told me that he's telling the truth and he's not crazy. She showed me my plane ticket, and told me that she just finished packing me a bag. My clothes would be sent in a few days, but I would already have a full closet there. I would have my own room. They would be throwing me a birthday/welcome party once I was settled and it was closer to my birthday. My dad showed me all the paperwork, and then, once I realized it's all real, he sent me to my room to get changed out of my pajamas. I put on a cute little sundress and strappy sandals, put some mousse in my hair to make it curly, and the next thing I know I was in my driveway. Natalie was saying goodbye. She cried. Then I was in my dad's car. Then we were in the airport. Then we were in the plane. And then another car, in New York. The state, not the city. The Ashford family lived outside of NYC apparently.

When I finally came out of my shock-coma, on the way to the Ashford house, I got angry.

"What did I ever do to you? I get good grades, I never get in trouble, I'm popular, I have lots of friends, I'm happy, I don't spend too much money, I don't throw parties while you're gone or make a mess. All I have ever done is look like Mom. And that isn't exactly my fault. Yet you're sending me away to live with some people I've never met. As a PAYMENT on some debt my mom owed them?! Are you fucking kidding me?! What kind of parent does that to their child? Did you even try to stop any of this?!" I was so angry, I was shaking, I was seriously on the verge of losing control. I felt the power rising in me. The thought of my powers surfacing scared me back down though. I closed my eyes and took slow, deep breaths.

"Of course I tried to stop it. You don't know how powerful these people are Sam. You wouldn't listen when I tried to explain any of it to you," he said, still calm. Always calm.

"Fine. Tell me. I'm listening now."

He started again. He told me that the guy my mom ran out on was an Ashford. They are the royal family of this other world. My mother would've been a princess, and then a queen. She didn't love the guy though. So she ran away the night before the wedding. She met my dad a couple years later and they fell in love. She told him the truth about her origins a few weeks before they got married. They had me a couple years later. And then, when I was 3, the car accident killed her.

Shortly after we buried her, the Ashfords found my dad and me. They told him that my mother's death was regrettable but that now, according to the laws of their world, it was my job to square away her debt to them. My father, as a human, was not bound, but I was. He had a few options to choose from, either, I was stripped of my inherited powers, through a procedure which had a 50% chance of killing me, or I could do what my mother couldn't. I could marry into their family. My father pleaded with them. But their laws aren't like ours. They are absolute. (Whatever that means.)

They did make the concession that I could choose who to marry when the time came and that they would wait until my 18th birthday to take me.

Basically, it was this or possible death. Great.

So, now you're all caught up.

I have powers, and unbeknownst to me so does a whole parallel place of people.
My mom had powers too and because some crazy rich people were forcing her to marry, she ran away, but oh damn, I get to pay the price for her.
By being forced to either die or marry some prince of said parallel place where people have powers.

"You are so fucking kidding me right now..."