2 Chapter 2

TJ felt as if a rug was pulled from under her. Were her parents speaking the truth? Supernatural powers? Is that even real?

“TJ?” Her mother called out her name worriedly. She wasn’t responding to the information they just gave her.

“Sweetie, are you alright?” Her father tried, but it was all in vain.

“TJ, please talk to us!” Her mother pleaded. Then something struck her, and she tried again, “Tiffany Josephine,” She called her by her full name, and it did the trick. TJ scowled.

“It’s TJ, Mom,” She reminded. Her mother sighed in relief. “What do you want me to say?” TJ asked.

“Anything, just talk to us,” Her father said, and she sighed.

“Did you see him?” She asked again, and her parents shook their heads.

“We did not, but we do believe that you saw him. Maybe you have the powers like we used to have,” Her father told her.

“Then please explain why am I not crazy like others think,” TJ wanted to know.

“Let me start from the beginning,” Her father started, TJ nodded. “Aldcoast High is a school for people with supernatural powers called Enchanters. Your mother and I were a part of it. I used to manipulate the energy around me, and your mother could control the weather. We spent most of our lives there. You see Aldcoast isn’t just a school, it has a community of people like us who live there. More like a town,” Her father explained, and TJ nodded at the information.

“What do you mean by ‘used to’? Why are you referring to your powers in the past tense? Why don’t we live there?” TJ asked some of the many questions clouding her mind.

“Because we don’t have our powers anymore,” Her mother answered. There was a pain in her eyes, but TJ couldn't relate to her mother.

“What happened?” She asked carefully, not to hurt her parents.

“Seventeen years ago, there was a blast of dark magic and absorbed us off of our powers. Everyone present there was deprived of their powers, which were most of us. Aldcoast suffered a lot and even after trying everything, no one could get back. We decided to leave and settle like normal humans. The ones who didn’t lose their powers tried to re-establish the school,” Her father told her and TJ could see that her parents still missed those days, how couldn’t they.

“If you don’t have powers, then how come I have them?” TJ asked.

“Your mother was conceiving you when the blast happened, we thought that maybe you were a normal child too. The blast did affect your powers, though. Your powers are appearing at a much slower rate than most of the Enchanter kids. That’s why we want you to go to Aldcoast, so you can learn and know what you can do,” Her father smiled.

“What can I do? See ghosts?” TJ asked, confused by what she heard.

“I don’t know about that TJ, maybe you have more powers. We have to go there and find out,” Her mother replied with uncertainty.

“Alright, I need to process all of it, so I’ll be in my baby sister’s room if you need me,” TJ quipped standing up. Her parents smiled at TJ as her mother caressed her stomach lovingly.

___

TJ was sitting on her bed scrolling through Aldcoast High's website. She found the website was up to date and wondered who operated it. She learned that the present headmistress was named Calista Thorton, and she looked awfully familiar.

Suddenly there was a knock on her door. “It’s open!” She called out loudly and saw her father entering her room.

“What’s up?” She asked and kept her laptop aside.

“I wanted to talk to you, TJ,” Her father told her, she nodded and turned to face him as he sat on her bed.

“What’s bothering you?” She asked.

TJ always knew when something bothered her father, his forehead would wrinkle and his mouth would turn in a frown.

“Nothing in particular,” He murmured looking at her. TJ felt that her father wanted to tell her something.

“You ate all the cookies Mom made, didn’t you?” TJ tried to lighten the mood. She succeeded when her father gave TJ a sheepish smile. “I won’t tell her,” TJ said crossing her two fingers over her heart, and her father laughed.

“You’re a good kid, TJ. I am really sorry all this is happening to you. First the accident and then we revealed that you might be an Enchanter. I can't imagine how hard this would be for you,” Her father said, the worry was clear in his voice and she understood what bothered him.

“I’m not bottling up, Dad, if that’s what you are afraid of, " TJ tried to reassure him, "Yes, the past year had been difficult for me, and it felt like I am losing my mind when I think I see him, but this Enchanter thing is making sense. I know what your reunions were now, and why you didn’t take me there. I don’t blame you both, neither I am mad at you. You were not telling me something I didn’t need to know, it's fine. Don’t beat up yourself because I am screwed--up in the head,” TJ tried to joke but failed miserably.

“You’re not screwed-up in the head, TJ. We’ll figure out everything soon,” Her father said with a warm smile. “Can you tell me something?” He asked her. “Is it only him you see? No one else other than him?” He asked her, and TJ stiffened.

She never thought about that “I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t realize that I could see ghosts until him. I don’t know if I can tell who is a ghost and who is real. He looked pretty much like he used to,” Her father frowned hearing this.

“TJ…don't tell your mother, but I don’t think you can see ghosts. Just be careful alright?” He requested, patting her head.

“Okay…You have confused me a hell lot. What do you mean by not seeing ghosts? Am I hallucinating?” TJ asked worriedly, and her father shook his head.

“No, nothing is wrong with your head, sweetie. Can you explain the accident again?” He asked her. TJ shook her head.

It was not that she forgot about it, she simply couldn’t. She just wasn’t ready to talk about it. She hadn’t since the past year.

“It’s okay, you should get some sleep. And I want you to do something for me,” Her father told her.

“What?” She asked her father.

“Have fun, spend your 2 weeks with your friends. Make the most out of this. You don’t know when you’ll meet them again,” He said, and TJ nodded.

“Thanks, Dad. Good night,” She smiled as her father got up.

“Good night, sweetie,” He said and kissed his daughter’s forehead. Theodore was well aware that his daughter was still grieving and might never stop. She thought that she was responsible for what happened a year ago.

As he closed her bedroom door, Theodore realized that maybe TJ was something that he and Arabella couldn’t imagine. Maybe she was their only hope, or maybe not. Right now, even the seventeen-year-old tomboy wasn’t even aware of what was coming for her.