I'm Fine in the Fire, Don't Try and Fix Me

The dinner last night was interesting to say the least. Now, you must all understand what it is like to get two families of crazy people together. And, if you don't, it certainly is a sight and I suggest you go to an event like that once in your life. But, only once. Too much crazy is bad for the brain. I knew that from experience.

Adena was there, so of course, she started something. I remember it very clearly. She was sitting next to me at the table, and I accidently bumped her arm. When this happens to reasonable people, they would just leave it be. But, oh no, this was Adena. She threw a fit. She screamed and hollered. I don't want that thing touching me. He's a monster.

It didn't bother me all that much. Really, it didn't. Okay, fine. It got to me a tad, but come on, she screamed I was a monster to my face. She was my family. She was supposed to love and protect me no matter what. Hyde did that. Thane did that. Blake did that. My uncles did that. My parents did that. Why didn't she? Did she not get the family memo or something?

Anyways, back to the story, Max soon kicked her out. Saying that if she didn't want to be in a house with her own flesh and blood, she didn't have to be. He was sure another family wanted her attention equally as much as we did, and he was sure that they would just love to hear her rants about how terrible my mother and I were, especially when all we were doing was eating dinner. She was flabbergasted to say the least, but she deserved it. I think so, at least. And, you are listening to my story, so you think so, too.

We have dealt with too much of her shit lately. She wasn't always like this. She used to be the cool fertile I used to look up to. When you live with more doms than fertiles, and your mom isn't really the typical fertile, it can be hard. She was a great mentor though, for a while. I didn't know what happened until I met her mate. He brainwashed her. It was sad, but it was life. I couldn't change it all that much.

Before she stormed out, though, she said something that confused me. Through the screaming between her and Max, I could make out one thing. Midnight. That was too many times I have heard that to be a coincidence. I would ask my mother about this person. I would. I just didn't to get some nerve first.

But, before I could do that, I had to get through the rest of my day. I was at the training school for witches that my mother ran at the moment, already going through another torturous day at school. It was a plain building on the outside, and mostly plain on the inside as well. When you entered, you came into one giant room that had had dark blue paint running down the walls. That was the main room, where most of the teaching was done. There were two other rooms for learning. One that didn't have any windows and was all white. That was for emergencies.

You see, witches powers can control them as much as we can control us. Some of us felt other people's emotions. They felt their pain and their anger and everything in between. Some of us could see things that had happened before our time or that were going to happen. But, there was one thing in common between every witch's powers. They were overwhelming at times. There is no such thing as perfect control. There was what worked, and what didn't. My mother had figured out what had worked, and so did I. It was different for every person.

There were some times when the magic flowing through our veins became too much for us. We couldn't handle everything at once, and we went into what my mother would call an episode. It was basically when your emotions were controlling you, and your powers were out of control. If you were in the school, they would put you in the white room until you calmed down. If you were home, we suggested you go into a room with the least amount of valuables.

My mother was always there to help. She calmed people better than anyone I had ever seen. it was a gift, I suppose, or just practice. When the word episode came out of anyone's mouth, she would be right in that room with you. She knew enough about this that she could help, and she wanted too as well. This wasn't just a onetime ordeal.

The other room was red. It was smaller than both rooms. Occasionally, it was used for the smaller children that came into the school. But mostly, it was for one on one training, hand to hand combat, target practice, things like that.

Last but certainly not least, there was my mother's office. It was directly in front of you when you walked in. It was all glass so she could see the class when she was working. The walls were a pale green, and pictures were on her black desk. The glass was shatter proof, of course. You would have to replace it every other day if it wasn't. My favorite thing about it though was the family photos she had on her desk to remind her why she was doing this. There was one of her, my father, and my uncles when they were fresh out of high school. One of my little brothers when they were too young to even walk yet with Hyde and Adena. The last one was of me. I was on my own. I don't even remember the picture being taken, but that wouldn't surprise me. I didn't enjoy it when my face would forever be captured behind of piece of glass to be looked at by others. I was smiling in the picture, and we were in the mountains. If I remember correctly, my mother and I went up there together right after the first sign of my magic. She told me that if I was ever too angry for my own good to think of the feeling I got right when I looked at the horizon over the mountains for the first time, that moment of pure joy.

"Thank you for the help today." One of the teachers here, Lucy, said. She was not a vampire, but she did not fear us. I liked that, but sometimes she still looked at me like the others, like when I had to drink blood.

One of the main reasons I liked helping with the kids was because they didn't say anything. They didn't care. They only hated one thing. Naps. That was it. They were purely innocent. I missed that sometimes, but you couldn't dwell on the past too long.

"It was no trouble, Lucy." I replied.

"Well, I'll see you next week then." She said before quickly leaving.

I sighed and walked out to my car. The ride to my home was a short one. When I saw the familiar sight, I smiled. I loved my home. It was beautiful and perfect. My father told me the story of how it took years to find one that suited my grandmother's tastes, but when they found it, it was so worth it.

"I'm home." I called into the house. There was a range of replies that would be possible. My father would not be home for another hour, so he wouldn't say hello. Occasionally, my brothers would come to say hello, if they weren't already in the living room. Today was not one of those days. But, there was one reply that was constant.

My mother walked in from the kitchen. "Hey, honey. How was your day?"

"Fine, and yours?" I asked in return.

She shrugged. "The usual, I suppose."

"Can I ask you a question? Besides this one, I mean." I said.

"Sure." She answered.

I took a deep breath. Here I go. "Who is Midnight?" I asked cautiously.

She looked over at me and then blinked once, twice, three times. You could hear a pin drop if one did. "Liam, what brought this question upon?" She asked. I knew she was trying to keep her tone in check. Whoever that was, was not making her happy, never did.

"Well," I said. "I hear their name a lot in school. People whisper it when I walk past, but no one will tell me who it is."

"I do not think it is the right time for me to be having this discussion with you. I will tell you. I swear, but it will not be now. Midnight is none of your concern." She said.

I sighed. That was the end of that discussion. Another one of my trails, dead. Dead and buried. "Alright." I said.

That night I remember hearing her tell my father that she didn't think I would ever heart that name. That I would ever need to. She tried to keep it a secret, but she couldn't control what other people knew. My father said that maybe it was about time they told me. Mother said that she didn't know how I would react. This wasn't a piece of news that someone wanted to hear.

After hearing that, I only had one question. What the hell weren't they telling me?