Part Wolf

She was tensed as she watched the bird diligently place twig by twig on top of each other. It was the last day of school. Her brother promised her that he"d come pick her up. She was eager to meet Alex after five long years, but she didn"t want to go home.

The place reminded her of her mother and she was no more. Ever since that fated day, everyone seemed to blame her for the accident. She didn"t remember much from that day except the shock on her mother"s face when she showed her the mark on her hand.

Elize looked down at her hands. What looked like the tattoo of a small five pointed star marked itself clearly on the palm of her right hand. She knew that it was a sigil now. That"s what grandma Aileen said in her last letter. It meant that magic had claimed Elize as its own- the mark of a witch.

It took her years to get the courage to write to her great grandma"s best friend. It was not easy. To write a letter to the Island was a difficult thing, given that it had no postal address. She had to search through all her mother"s belongings to find how to send a fire message. She knew that this was magic and she was scared. But Aileen was the only one who could answer her questions.

Since then she has been sending fire messages regularly to Aileen, updating her on her growing powers. The girls in the hostel were scared of her. They have seen things when Elize unintentionally slipped, failing to conceal her magic. Thankfully such gossips didn"t reach the nuns who ran the convent school.

Elize sighed. She had written to Aileen about her school getting over. She couldn"t go home. Her father is sure to send her away to some nunnery if her saw her healing another bird. She didn"t know how it worked- her magic. She had no control over it. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it went wrong, like that one time she accidently killed her grandmother"s cat.

It was not really her fault.The cat was badly injured already. Street dogs were tearing on its flesh when Elize chanced upon it. She quickly shooed the dogs away and called for help. It was nearing sun down, she didn"t understand why the street was deserted. The cat"s eyes were thawed out. The hollow s.p.a.ce which was its eyes was bleeding.

There was n.o.body around. So she thought she"d will it to heal. She just wanted to heal it. But that day she crushed the cat"s spirit by the force of her will. Its body sagged as it drew its last breath.

That was the last time she tried controlling her magic. Somehow it was getting worse as she was drawing close to her 18th birthday.

Sometimes magic slipped out of her body without her realizing it, like yesterday. She was taking a bath in the hostel washroom. She heard giggles from outside and knew that the girls were at it again, pulling pranks on her.

She was scared every time. But she didn"t dare show. She was scared for them. Not for her.

Something was slipped under the washroom"s door as she heard the giggles increase. Noticing that it was a plastic snake, Elize kicked it back in frustration. The next thing she heard was screams. Quickly putting on her clothes she rushed outside.

She saw the snake come alive with her very own eyes and it was slithering fast towards the bunch of girls who were pranking her. She quickly caught it with her hands and willed it to submit. It turned to plastic again.

But it did the damage. The girls were scared of her.

"Witch!" "Evil!" she could hear them say as they quickly walked back to the corridor leading to their rooms from the washroom.

Elize was tired of this. She couldn"t make one friend throughout school. Everyone was scared of her and steered clear whenever she walked past them. She was the school freak.

A long howl brought her back to the present. She knew that howl. She clearly remembered those blue eyes. But n.o.body believed her when she cried wolf. She didn"t blame them. They were only human.

She was not scared of it. She got used to the sound by now. From the last seven years, the howl diligently sounded at daybreak and sundown. Sometimes she missed it when on certain days she couldn"t hear it. She missed the wolf who kept her company even when she knew that only she could hear it. The howling stopped. She went back to her room to pack her things.

Being in a convent school was not easy. Her grandmother was the one who put her there when she was six years old. She felt that Elize was possessed just like her own daughter Marium- although Elize couldn"t remember her mother ever wielding magic.

Elize hated her grandmother. Her phone flashed. There was a message from Alex.

I"m waiting! Come out!

The drive home was great. She missed Alex a lot. He grew quite tall in his years apart from her. His features grew sharper and his jaw could cut a paper- Elize thought to herself smiling. He was quite handsome, and looked more like their mother than Elize ever will. He had the same pale skin and the honey brown eyes of Marium.

"You know you look quite good now." Elize smiled while complimenting her brother.

Her brother laughed awkwardly. He couldn"t take compliments.

He turned to his sister with a concerned look on his face and asked "How are you nowadays?"

He knew about the magic. He was the only person at home that she could confide in. Yet unlike her father, he didn"t blame her for her mother"s death.

"Barely holding on." Elize said in a sad tone.

Her brother took her hands in his with his one free hand and squeezed it. "It"s going to be okay kiddo" He said.

"Hmm.." Elize sighed

"A fire message came for you from Aileen." Alex continued "Dad was going to throw it away when I chanced upon it."

Elize looked up at her brother, surprised.

"It"s in the dashboard. You can have it." He said with a smile on his face.

Elize was quick to retrieve it. She needed this. She looked a the envelope and found the seal broken. She looked at Alex accusingly.

Alex shrugged "Dad." he said.

That clears it. Alex respected her privacy but her dad didn"t.

She opened the letter.

Dearest little Elize,

Hope this letter reaches you in good condition. Fire messages can often go wrong and I"m quite old. I"m sorry that I accidently sent it to your home instead of directly sending it to you. I"m sure that your schooling is over, praise heavens. I"m writing on behalf of lawyer Lang. He has summoned you to the Island to take care of some small affairs that Anna left undone.

Your great grandma had p.r.o.nounced you as the sole inheritor of her house in the will she left when she pa.s.sed away. The rights to this, you will receive as soon as you turn 18. Since it"s only a month away I would like you to come prepare for some ceremonies that should be completed in the meantime. Please don"t get fl.u.s.tered. Treat this as your mini vacation. Whenever you"re ready, immerse this invite in a bowl of water and draw a circle around you. Trust me. This will be fun.

Yours

Aileen.

Relief flooded Elize"s body. Finally! An invitation to the Island!

"So?" Alex asked.

"You want to come with me to great gran Anna"s house on the Island?" Elize asked her brother.

"You got an invite?! I heard you can"t pa.s.s the barriers without an invite!" Alex was excited.

"Yes!! Got a bowl of water?" She laughed, mischief in her sparkling eyes.