Free Blood To Blood by Ifè Oshun Page A

mortal year, the same amount of time it takes for your powers to fully
solidify. During this time, we are faced with tremendous temptation to make bad
choices. It is very important to be aware of this and make your decision as
soon as possible.”
    I thought about what he was
saying and noticed the way everyone's attention was on me. It was almost as if
Cici was holding her breath mentally.
    Why was there a question as
to what side I would choose? Did it bother me that they had to ask, or did it
bother me that I had to think about it?
    Dad was still talking. “Your
premature blood drinking may have been triggered by your strong connections
with your colleagues. If so, your bloodlust might go into overdrive and make
your chosen career impossible. You might even kill your entire audience because
you feel a connection to them. You have to decide if performing is what you
want to do.”
    Stunned, I sat in silence and
contemplated what he said.
    “Angel,” Mom said gently,
“perhaps you should forget the singing career.”
    I felt it before I saw it.
Red. It covered the trees, the ground, the sky, my family. The sun boiled red
and every living thing for miles became one big heartbeat that pounded in my
skull.  It felt like fire raced in my veins. Recalling the horrible vision
of a life without music, I opened my mouth and screamed. Angry red sound
buckled trees and cracked boulders around us. Birds fell from the sky and snow
melted in all directions.
    Cici sat still, eyes wide
with terror as Mom and Dad looked at each other in the same wide-eyed alarm. A
protective field glowed around them; Dad was shielding my own family from me.
My heart felt like it was breaking. It occurred to me that I’d killed the
second bear with the sound of my voice, and now my voice was destroying
everything within earshot. I shut my mouth immediately and only opened it again
when I regained some control.
    My voice, the only thing I
had, was now a weapon. “I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. What you just
saw is nothing compared to what I could do. I saw it. Saw what my life would be
if I didn't sing.” Feeling hysterical, I looked to Mom. “Death and destruction
all around me. I have to sing. I have to sing in order to be good. I want to be
good!”
    But how could I sing if my
voice was a force of destruction? Devastation. I was broken. Blood red tears
dropped on the stonewashed Walmart jeans. Mom emerged from the protective field
and held me close. We sat in those woods for I don't know how long, and the
sound of my weeping filled the spaces between the patches of green moss my
outburst had uncovered when the snow melted. Mom stroked my hair while Dad
paced back and forth. Cici floated inches above the rocks.
    “We can keep the mind lock in
place for the next mortal year, until she's completely matured,” Cici said.
    “We will be in damage control
the entire time,” Dad replied. “We cannot have more incidents like the boy in
the studio.”
    I wailed at the image of
Heist on the floor. “Shhh, no tears, sweetheart,” Mom said. “We will work this
out.”
    “Angel,” Dad said. “What
other abilities do you have? Show us here and now.
    Remembering the bear's claws,
I said, “Throw something at me. Anything.”
    Cici tossed one of the dead
bushes. It went right through me.
    “There is one other thing,
but I don't have a mirror.” I explained Reflection.
    “You're telling me Reflection
took on a life of her own?” Cici exclaimed. She was the only one who knew about
my “alternate personality.”
    Mom’s face was stern. “Why
did you girls not tell us about this before?”
    “I don't know,” I answered.
“It just seemed silly.”
    Mom and Dad were silent for a
moment before Dad turned to me again.
    “Angel, you are vulnerable
now, but only in that you, like all newborns, may not be aware of the limits of
your powers or adept at using them. We get stronger and more in control with
time. Even so, it looks like you have a