"Mom, come on, I'll be late for school," Katherine exclaimed as she hurried down the stairs, her backpack slung over one shoulder, a mix of excitement and urgency in her voice.
It had been sixteen years since I brought Katherine home from the hospital, her arrival marking the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. She bore Dean's long black curly hair, each strand dancing with the morning light, and had my dark green eyes, resembling the color of grass after a refreshing rain.
"I'm coming, dear," I replied, rushing down the stairs. The old wooden steps creaked beneath my hurried footsteps. "Okay, let's go, Katherine."
Grabbing the car keys, I opened the front door, the crisp morning air greeting us as we stepped onto the porch. The sunlight filtered through the trees, casting a warm glow on the neighborhood.
"So when will you be home?" I asked as we got into the car, the engine purring to life.
"Five o'clock," Katherine replied, engrossed in her phone as I drove out of the driveway. The gentle hum of the car created a rhythmic soundtrack to our morning routine.
"Okay, dinner will be done at seven."
"Okay, Mom," Katherine replied, still absorbed in her phone, her fingers dancing across the screen.
As we passed the fork in the road, an Asian man in a tannish brown suit caught my eye, a peculiar sight that unsettled the usual calm of the suburban morning.
"Darn it."
"What's the matter, Mom?" Katherine looked up from her phone, her brow furrowed with curiosity.
"I just forgot about some papers, that's all, nothing to worry about, okay."
"Okay, whatever you say," Katherine said, returning her attention to her phone, her curiosity giving way to the allure of the digital world.
After thirty minutes, we arrived at the school. I hoped the Suits weren't around, and fortunately, there were none. I scanned the school's front again as Katherine looked up, her friends already gathered by the flagpole.
"Mom, what the hell are you doing?" Katherine finished putting her phone in her pocket, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"Nothing, just looking around, that's all, I promise," I reassured her, confirming the absence of men or women in tannish brown suits. "Have a nice day, honey."
"Okay, Mom, bye," Katherine said, shutting the car door and joining her friends by the flagpole as the bell rang.
Driving out of the school parking lot and stopping in an alleyway beside a thrift store, I turned off the car and checked the back seat.
"Okay, where is it, that damn book." I looked around, frustration evident. "Found it."
Now, where is the page I'm looking for? Flipping through the book, I focused on 'POISONS AND ELIXIRS.' Found it—'SUITS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM.'
Before I could read, a Hispanic girl knocked on the car window. Rolling it down, I found myself facing Bay, one of the Bay twins, her hazel eyes holding a mix of mischief and malice.
"So, Tierney Duke," Bay said with a smile, her brownish-blond hair cascading in a ponytail. "What are you doing?"
Bay, dressed in a tannish brown suit, exuded an air of arrogance that clashed with the mundane surroundings.
"So, come on out of the car, Mrs. Duke, and I promise I won't hurt you," Bay insisted, opening the car door with an unwarranted confidence.
"So, Bay, when will you ever change and toss those tannish brown ugly suits?"
"When you die, also when we get your daughter, and we will take all of her ascents out of her," Bay replied with a sinister smile. "That's when."
Out of nowhere, a blade with flames all around it sliced Bay's throat, and a hooded man, with an Irish accent that resonated through the alley, jumped down from the building, his sudden appearance casting an air of mystique.
"So, Tierney, it's been a while since I've seen you," the man said, his voice carrying a familiar warmth beneath the hood.
"Who are you?" I was confused, but his voice sounded oddly reassuring.
"Let's see, when Mom died, you ran from home, met a boy named Dean, had a baby girl, and now she is fifteen years old in high school," the hooded man reminisced. "Is that you, Thomas."
"Yes, it is me, sister," Thomas said, revealing his red hair and bright green eyes as he removed the hood. The familiarity of his features brought forth a flood of memories, both joyous and painful. "I have been looking for you everywhere."
"I have been here the whole time, Thomas," I said with tears, embracing him. The weight of emotions lingered in the alley, echoing the passage of time.
"Thanks for saving me, brother."
"Who was that, Tierney?" Thomas asked, releasing me from the embrace, his eyes searching for answers.
"It was a Suit named Ariel Bay. She is one of the Bay twins," I murmured, looking behind me to the fallen Bay, flames still flickering around her lifeless form.
"And how do you know her?" Thomas walked over to the car door, the alleyway's shadows playing on his features.
"I worked with her. She was on my team when I was a Suit," I said, getting into the driver's seat, the car becoming a cocoon of familiarity and shared history. "Also, we need to get Katherine before the others; go after her."
"What about the other chosen ones? Have you found them?" Thomas opened his bag, revealing a book titled 'TO UNLOCK SOMEONE'S POWERS.' "Have you looked into her friends?"
"I don't understand, Thomas. How can her friends be the chosen ones? They are normal people," I said, pulling up to the back of the school and stopping, the hum of the engine fading into the background.
"No, they are not normal like they used to be. When Katherine made friends, her powers connected them with her," Thomas explained, grabbing the book with a sense of purpose. "Her powers look for others that are faithful to her. That gives them special powers like craft, vampire skills, etc."
"No, Thomas, I will not do that to Katherine and her friends," I murmured, fear in my eyes, the weight of responsibility settling in my chest.
"You have to, Tierney. There is a darkness coming, and they are the ones that can stop it; you have to," Thomas insisted, flipping through the book with a mix of urgency and conviction. "Call Katherine, tell her to get her friends and sneak out the back of the school and into the vehicle."
"Fine," I said, grabbing the cell phone as Thomas continued with the book.
"Mom, what's wrong now?" Katherine answered the phone, her voice a blend of concern and curiosity.
"Get your friends, sneak out the back," I said through the phone, my gaze meeting Thomas's. "And into the vehicle."
"But Mom, you told me never to skip school," Katherine protested, the weight of authority and rebellion tugging at her.
"Now you can," I said sternly, hoping she would listen, the air in the car thick with unspoken urgency. "So do it."
"Okay, Mom, we are coming now," Katherine said, hanging up her phone to share the plan with her friends, the web of fate weaving its intricate patterns around their lives.