Chapter Thirty
“I will be here for you until I can’t be here anymore.”
—a mom to her daughter
“Good, because I’m going to need you for a long time.”
—a daughter to her mom.
Tensanne
“MOM?” I CALL. Blinking my eyes to make sure I’m haven’t created a hallucination formed from my grief.
“Tennie Girl, I remember,” she sobs with her arms open and tears in her streaming down her cheeks.
“Y-you remember?” I wail collapsing in her arms. Feeling safe for the first time since I lost the safety of Kohl’s embrace.
Holding me in a tight hug, her familiar strawberry scent fills me with warmth and memories, “Yes, my baby girl. I remember everything.”
Tears streaming down my face, “H-how?”
“Come, come,” Ronnie says, “Let’s not do this in the hallway.”
I don’t want to let go. If this is a dream, I never want to wake up. Gripping her hand, we move into our room.
“Let me see you, my gorgeous girl. You’re so grown up, so radiant. I’ve missed so much,” my mom cries.
“How, Mom? When? Does Dad know?”
“It started slowly with flashes here and there. Mental snapshots of you when you were a little girl. Tucking you in, playing in the park, laughing at dinner. Just bits and pieces. I didn’t want to come to you until I was sure they were going to stay. I couldn’t put you through the pain of me forgetting again. Then, yesterday, it all flooded into my brain. Everything, from the time I found out I was having you, up to the day of the accident,” she explains wringing her hands in her lap. “I rushed to the doctor in a full anxiety attack. He had told me there was a chance that it would all come back someday but I was too bitter to have hope. I’m so, so sorry that I pushed you away; that I was hateful and cold.”
“Mom, no. Stop,” I beg grabbing her trembling hands.
Sorrow fills her eyes. She sighs, “I was so angry that I couldn’t remember you or your dad. You were strangers. I was afraid and wanted a normal life. I know that’s not good enough. That my excuses are not a reason. I hope you will forgive me. I don’t think I could live without you in my life, not anymore,” she sobs.
“Oh, Mom,” I cry, embracing her when a knock sounds at the door.
My eyes zero in on the door with a scowl.
Ronnie moves to see who’s knocking, “I got it,” she calls. “Don’t give me that look, Tensanne. I know you don’t want to see anyone but we can’t just sit here and let them keep knocking.”
Not being able to see, I hear Ronnie. “Hello, may I help you?”
“I think we may be able to help you if you will let us,” a female voice says.
“I’m sorry, but do I know you?” Ronnie responds.
“Esmeralda asked us to stop by. She requested that we talk to Tensanne Craig. Is she available?” another feminine voice asks.
Hands on her hips, head swaying side to side Ronnie rages, “Esmeralda? You mean that crazy Gypsy lady that started all this bullshit? No, no way. You need to—”
Feeling a small breeze across my skin and hearing chimes in my ears, “Let them in, Ron,” I interrupt. A small seed of hope blooming in my stomach. Esmeralda sent them maybe that means she has a way to give me back what was broken.
Turning her head to me, her eyes wide, “Are you sure?”
“What’s going on, Tennie Girl?” Mom questions.
“Fine, come in,” Ronnie huffs.
A pretty, younger girl, around my age, enters first, followed by a pregnant woman.
“Thank you,” the young girl nods to me.
Walking to me, the pregnant lady says, “Hello, Tensanne. My name is Shayden Reigh and this is my daughter, Bryenna. I was in the shop when you came in earlier. I’m sorry but I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. Esmeralda is a good friend of mine. She explained what’s going on and I think with the help of a special friend and a little bit of magic, I can help you.”
“How, exactly, can you help?” I ask. “Can you make everything that has happened disappear?”
Her face scrunches up, she places one hand on her bulging belly one hand to her lower back, “May I sit, please? This baby is using my kidneys as a punching bag and my bladder as a trampoline.”
“Oh, God. Yes, please. Ronnie grabs her a chair,” I say signaling to Ronnie.
Plopping down in the chair, she sighs, “Ahhh, thank you. Now, Esmeralda said she gave you two potions. One to help you love and one to help you see the truth, correct?”
“Yes, but she said the love potion was nothing.”
Smiling sweetly, she says, “Yes, she likes to be a little cryptic sometimes and when the Mulo speaks to her she listens. Though you are suffering right now, Esmeralda’s intentions were pure. You believed. Using the potion, you believed in love, magic and, eventually, in yourself, right?”
Throwing my hands in the air with a huff, “Yes. I also found Kohl, who turned out to be an asshole, because of that potion. I should have never trusted a woman that snowballs her family into believing that she can’t speak. Damn Gypsy woman.”
“Tensanne Marie, what the hell is going on?” my mom demands.
“I’ve had a rough few months, Mom,” I reply, staring at my hands in my lap letting the verbal vomit spill from my lips, I tell her everything that has happened. The viral photo I sent to Chase, the visit to the Gypsy shop, the potion, the friendship with Kohl, the love I thought we shared and the ending viral video of me in bed.
With her hand to her mouth, she gasps, “Oh, Ten. Oh, my sweet girl,” she cries holding me tightly. “I’m so sorry you have had to handle this on your own.”
“It hurts, Mommy. My chest hurts, my eyes hurt from crying. I can’t go to class. I can’t leave the room. I wanted his love so badly, I wanted to believe his beautiful words but they were all lies. He never loved me, he never wanted me and now everything is ruined,” I wail, burying my head into her hair. I feel the ache in every molecule of my body while I take comfort in her embrace.
Pulling away I wipe the tears from my face, taking a deep breath in, I plop down on my bed feeling defeat consume my soul. Turning to Shayden, “Can you make it go away?” I ask, hoping she has the ability to reverse time.
The daughter, Bryenna, kneels in front of me. “We can’t turn back time. Changing the past is never the answer. If you erase the past then you could make the same mistakes again. What we can offer you is a little piece of solace. I have a friend that can ease your pain, take away some of this heartache.”
“How?” I whimper.
Shayden stands, waddles toward the window. She waves her hand creating a blinding white light. From the light flutters a sparkling, shining pink glow that glides through the air, and lands on Bryenna’s shoulder. I’m astonished and in awe that real magic exists. The potion may not have been what I believed it to be but Shayden has shown me I was not a complete fool to put faith in magic.
“Tensanne,” Bry says motioning to the light on her shoulder, “This is Brooke. She’s a fairy.”
“What the hell?” I ask blinking as the light fades away leaving a little woman. She’s sitting with her legs crossed in jeans and a t-shirt, she’s a cute little bug like thing with large wings, long dark hair, and a sweet smile.
Ronnie and my mom stare with their mouths agape when the little fairy gives us a wave. The moment is surreal and a tad bit nuts but I’m willing to sell my soul to get rid of this pain.
“Brooke can take away some of your hurt. She can heal your mind and take away the breath stealing ache breaking you right now,” Bryenna explains. “It comes with a price, though. All magic comes with a toll that must be paid.”
“I don’t know about this, honey. Maybe you should come home with me and finish school. Eventually, you will heal. Our hearts will mend on their own if we give them enough time,” my mom says glancing from the fairy to me.
“I agree, Ten,” Ronnie says. “Magic is what got us into this mess.”
“No, there was no real magic. Esmeralda said that. The real magic was in the truth potion that I never used. I can’t live with this pain any longer. If magic can get me out of it, then tell me what is the price of the fairy magic?” I ask determined to get rid of this pain.
“When Brooke takes your pain, she takes the part that loved. To heal emotions, the part affected must be shut away. Meaning you will still be able to love, but it will be a different kind of love. You will never again experience the earth moving, soul-shattering love you feel for this boy. I need to caution that if he was your soul mate and we do this then you may never find another. Is this a price you are willing to pay?”
Feeling the agony splitting open my heart, I consider their offer. Do I really want to wish away any possibility to find true love again, to give up at such a young age? I can’t trust my choices anymore. I don’t know what my future holds but I’m certain I never want to again experience this soul shattering pain. “Y-yes, I never want to feel this way again,” I stutter.
The fairy flutters off Bryenna’s shoulder, hovering in front of my face. She’s a cute little fairy with her blue tipped hair and a tiny nose ring. “Are you sure?” she asks in a light voice with sadness in her eyes. Nodding my consent, Ronnie shouts, “No, wait,” while Brooke blows a handful of glittering dust in my face.
Euphoria over takes me. My head and shoulders drop with the release of the tension that has built up over the past few days. The never-ending stabbing pain in my heart and my brain float away from my body in a dark cloud I can see with my eyes. A peace settles in my mind while I feel a shell harden around my heart.
“Thank you,” I say to Brooke. Sadly, with tears trickling down her little cheeks, she nods her head and flies back over to Bryenna’s shoulder.
Grabbing my hands, Shayden says, “If you ever need to contact us, Esmeralda knows how to find us. Bless’ed Be, Tensanne. May your future be everything you need it to be.” Smiling with sadness hidden underneath, they leave.
“How do you feel?” Ronnie asks nervously, fluttering her hands over my body searching for a sign of damage.
“I feel like the weight of the world has been removed from me. I feel free. Now help me pack, I’m going home with my mom,” I insist smiling, shooing away her hands, feeling better than I have in days.