The tingling sensation that had been running through my veins since I opened the pendant stopped the moment I lowered my arm. All of the energy that had been coursing through my veins only moments ago had somehow seeped out, leaving me exhausted and in need of a good nap. Without the Magic flowing through me, the ice blast that had vanished the moment I opened the pendant began to return, starting at my fingertips and spreading up through up my hand. It progressed faster than it had before and without any form of Magic to fight it off, it spread like wildfire. I felt everything inside me starting to turn to ice, my fingers my toes, everything became impossible to move.

I watched the ice spread up my forearm, pausing just shy of my elbow before continuing to make its way up my arm. The speed in which it was travelling was alarming, seeing as before it had taken several minutes to make it as far as my wrist. Whatever had stopped it from travelling through my system was long gone and I was at risk of turning into a Kenz-cicle. Nothing I did could stop the ice from spreading up my arm and disappearing under my rolled-up sleeve. The more I tried to flex my fingers the stiffer they became until I was unable to move them at all. I felt the ice spread up to my shoulder and start to creep across my collarbone. If it reached my heart, that would have been it and I didn't like how fast it had been spreading.

"Woah, Kenzie! What's happening?" Niska asked, tearing her eyes away from Papa to note my ice-covered fingers and arms. The ice slowly winding its way up my neck.

"I-I don't know," I stuttered out.

"I thought it had stopped," Joel said.

"Don't touch her," Papa said, as Joel reached out to grab my arm. "If you touch her it'll travel and although it's affecting Mackenzie at a rapid rate, it will affect you faster. Just be ready to catch her. She's in for a Magic overload that could knock her unconscious for a couple of seconds and we don't want her to hit her head. The ice blast could have already done its damage and the head injury will only add to our worries. Be ready."

"Right, sure. Magical overload sounds plausible."

"Nothin' about this is plausible, Nisk."

"Everything will be explained in due course, but for now, humour me."

"H-Have you f-finished your chat?" I stuttered, my teeth chattering together as the cold swept over me.

Papa didn't reply. Instead, he turned his head back towards Jack and I watched as he was encased in what could only be described as a twister. The wind whipped around him at an uncontrollable force, spinning faster and faster as it gained momentum with its movements. As the twister continued, gaining more traction the longer it spun. I started getting dizzy just by watching it, but a dizzy spell was the least of my worries as my neck started to grow stiff from the ice that was creeping its way up, edging closer and closer towards my chin. I hoped what Papa was doing wasn't just for show and that it actually served a purpose, but I had yet to find out what that was, and I was getting a little concerned about my fate.

After several seconds of controlling the twister surrounding Jack, Papa shifted his position slightly and I watched as the twister not only grew in size but that there was something special in it. The twister, though a product of Magic, was sparkling, gleaming with the power it held. Papa was taking back the Magic from Jack and it was becoming part of the twister. Through the mess of wind and Magic, I could see Jack trying to fight back but failing. His face was twisted and contorted in anger as he watched the thing he had worked so hard to gain slip through his fingers and be whipped up into the twister that surrounded him.

I watched, ignoring the ice as it crept up my neck, as Papa contorted his hand slightly, pulling the Magic from the twister. It was the first time I had ever seen Magic in its purest form, the small particles of what looked to be glitter moving through the air in a cluster. A giant sparkly cluster of stars. It was almost like a cartoon or a TV show, showing the Magic to be glitter or some colourful lightning bolt. Magic is impossible to see when used. No one can see Magic. This was the first time I had ever been shown Magic in its true form and it made me appreciate it a lot more then I did.

Using his hands, Papa manipulated the cloud of Magic, moving it across the sky as though he was some kind of superhero. As he moved it, he slowly pivoted on his foot, so he was facing me and away from Jack who was still battling the twister. "Ready, Mackenzie?"

"P-possibly," I replied.

"Good. You two better be ready"

"Yup, ready and questioning my existence," Niska joked, though I don't think Papa found it too funny.

"On the count of three," Papa said. "One, two, three."

Papa wiggled his fingers slightly and moved the cloud of Magic closer and closer towards me. I wished I could grab something behind me, hold on to a cupboard door or door handle, something to steady myself, but I couldn't. I just watched the cloud moved closer until it was right in front of my chest. Papa paused for a second, flexing his fingers slightly before he did the exact same movement I had done only moments before. He stretched his hand out flat and surged his arm forward, causing the cloud to come flying directly at me, hitting me square in the chest just as Jack's ice blast had done.

This sensation was different. Jack's ice blast felt as it sounded, like being hit square in the chest by nothing but pure ice, which was exactly what it was. This time, the blast of Magic was like an instant wave of energy, causing my arms and legs to tingle whilst the energy coursed through my veins. It felt as though I was vibrating. Papa was right about the energy being too much, it almost felt as though my entire body was on fire. The tingling sensation transformed into burning, spreading through my limbs and up and down my fingers. I stumbled back into the cupboard behind me, knocking my back against the handle.

The ice appeared to melt off my body, freeing up my limbs and meaning that Joel and Niska could steady me without the risk of being icicles themselves. I don't know whether my skin was hot to the touch, but to me, it felt as though it was burning. As though fire had replaced the blood in my veins. The rush of energy was overwhelming, but I refused to collapse as Papa said I would. Maybe I was being stubborn, which was more likely, or maybe it just wasn't as powerful as Papa suggested it was, I don't know. All I knew was that Niska and Joel were working more to steady me then to stop me from getting a concussion.

After several minutes of feeling as though I was being burnt from the inside out, the sensation passed, taking the ice along with it. With my fingers well and truly unfrozen, I flexed them out in front of me to make sure they hadn't stopped working. It may have been impossible, but a lot of impossible things had happened within a short space of time, so I wasn't going to risk it. Having movement back in my limbs was something I didn't realise I missed, as strange as that may sound.

"You good?" Niska asked.

"Yup, little tingly, but that's not a new sensation," I said, stretching my neck out.

"But that is a weird thing to say."

"Shut it."

"Perhaps you should test your Magic, Mackenzie, rather than have a conversation with your friends. Once we know it is working, I'll get rid of this one," Papa said, gesturing to Jack who was still caught up in the twister.

"Right, yeah, sure."

"Today would be nice."

"Keep your beard on."

Shaking my head, I flexed my fingers out in front of me. It was strange to use Magic on purpose since I had spent so long not using it as a promise to Granny. I turned to my left, facing the chairs and tables that had been left at jaunty angles across the side of the room. Closing my eye, I moved my fingers slightly and felt the familiar tingling sensation travel up through my arm and through my fingers. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes and was glad to see that the disjointed collection of tables and chairs had rearranged themselves back into their original positions, just as I had asked them too.

"Okay, that was the coolest thing I've seen all day!" Niska exclaimed.

"Cleanin' your room must be so easy, Kenz," Joel said.

"I wish. I'm not allowed to use Magic to clean my room, I have to do it manually."

"Tha' sucks."

"If you could focus for longer than two seconds, that would be great. I know this is new to you two, but I'm going to need you to be quiet whilst I deal with Jack. Any distraction could mean this going horribly wrong and even a Magicless Jack is dangerous."

Papa turned away from us and focused on Jack, his attention no longer being towards me since the ice no longer posed a threat to my life. One thing at a time I suppose. I didn't know what he was going to do with Jack since keeping him locked up in a cage didn't exactly work well the last time and there wasn't much else he could do to stop him causing trouble. Papa thought that keeping him locked up in the Magical version of a prison would be enough to control him, but he was wrong. It wasn't as though he could banish him because Jack always found his way back. As far as I saw it, there was nothing he could have done to stop Jack from coming back an attempting to freeze the world again. Jack was like a cockroach, he just kept coming back.

As the twister calmed down and eventually vanished completely, Jack continued to fight it, as though batting it with his hands would be enough to destroy it. When it fell away to nothing, Jack turned and looked at Papa, teeth bared as though he was about to attack; he didn't get the chance. With a flick of his wrist, Papa froze him place. Magic glue at its finest It didn't matter how much he fought against it, twister and turned in an attempt to break free, he remained in place. I had no idea what Papa was planning on doing with Jack, but I couldn't wait to find out. Anything would have been better than keeping him a birdcage.

"How you managed to escape your prison and take my daughters Magic is a mystery to me and I can assure that I really don't care to know. By coming here today you have exposed us and the law regarding Magical secrecy, not only that but you have frozen a large portion of the country and that is an unforgivable crime as you well know. It seems my last punishment was not enough to deter you from committing the same offences," Papa said.

"What are you going to do, Nicolas? Send me to the naughty corner?" Jack mocked, raising what I assumed to be an eyebrow. It was hard to tell since his face was mostly made of ice.

"No. Since you cannot be trusted in confinement out in the middle of nowhere, your punishment for attempting to freeze the world, again, will be confinement at the North Pole. You will be locked up and monitored by people I trust and if you try to escape, I will know. If I have to treat you like one of my children that is exactly what I shall do."

"Oo, harsh! I'm shaking in my shoes!"

"You're not wearing shoes," Niska pointed out.

Papa shook his head at Niska's comment and I couldn't help but wonder whether Papa had smiled slightly in response. It was not every day he took down an ice-wielding villain with the help of three teenagers, and if I'm honest, we were only making sarcastic comments. Our part was done, and we had become the funny sidekicks you see in a Disney film. Well, sidekicks more than funny sidekicks, our humour was more of pointing out the obvious or making a mockery of events. British humour at its finest.

With a flick of his wrist, Papa silenced Jack the moment he was about to make some stupid comment back. I suppose he had just gotten bored of listening to Jack make sarcastic comments after every little thing, and I couldn't agree with him more. Jack was getting tedious and I couldn't wait for Papa to take him back to the North Pole and get him out of our way. I had seen enough of Jack to last a lifetime and if I saw him again it would be ten years too soon. Papa turned to us, my mind instantly assuming that we were going to get into some sort of trouble for what he did, but to my shock and enjoyment for something I never expected to leave his mouth.

"Well done for today. Not many teenagers would have the guts to take on someone like Jack, especially two who had never met Jack before and didn't know what he was capable of. For your actions today, I commend you. Not many people would step up the way you did, especially against someone like Jack."

"Kenz has helped us out of some sticky situations in the past, it only seemed right that we returned the favour," Niska said, jabbing in the side with her elbow.

"So, what exactly happens next?" I asked.

"For now, you're to return to your position before Jack came barging into the room. The moment I leave with him, everything will return to the way it was before the storm broke through the window and other than you three, no one will remember it or know what happened. When you're released from the class, I want you two to go back with Mackenzie, so we can talk about this further. Neither of you is to say anything to anyone."

"Like they would believe us even if we did," Niska said, rolling her eyes.

"Them coming back with me was the plan anyway. We were arranging it with Mr Eaker when Jack burst in."

"Good, I suggest you return to your original positions in the room whilst I put the tables back. The moment we leave, Mr Eaker will continue speaking. Do not act surprised or startled, as difficult as that may be. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah," Niska and Joel chorused, though both looked surprised and startled.

"Good."

Papa turned away from us and waved his hand across the classroom, the tables and chairs returning themselves to their original position in the room. The only thing that was different was the ice that still covered them and the people who were scattered across the room in various poses. None of whom would remember the events of the morning, not the ice smashing through the window or being icicles for half an hour. They wouldn't even know they had lost time. The only people who would remember what had happened would be me, Niska, Joel and Papa. It was a strange secret to have, but it was one I hoped Niska and Joel would keep. Then again, they had known about my true identity for who knows how long and neither of them had mentioned it to myself or to anyone else.

With the tables back to their usual position, Niska, Joel and I shuffled to our seats, standing behind them as we had done when we were talking to Mr Eaker. It felt strange returning to some kind of normalcy after everything we had just experienced, but at least everything was returning to normal. There were moments when I didn't think normal would even be an option so even standing behind a desk was a welcomed relief. Normal wasn't exactly my speciality, but I was glad to see it for once. There is only so much Magic a person could take before normalcy was needed and I had reached my tether the moment Jack had come through that window.

I watched as Papa turned away from us, to Jack. Waving a hand, Jack's arms became bound to his side, his hands flailing and waving as he attempted to free himself from the bind Papa had put him in. Grabbing him by the arm, Papa turned to us and nodded, expecting us to be ready the moment he took Jack back home. I nodded in response and turned to the others to make sure they were ready. Neither of them spoke, just raised an eyebrow as if they were waiting for the next shocking event to happen and, I couldn't blame them. It had been a difficult day for all of us, especially those two. Papa snapped his fingers and disappeared amongst a shower of sparks, leaving us alone.

The moment he had vanished, the ice that covered the room started to recede at a rapid rate, the students becoming unstuck from their positions in the classroom. I glanced at Niska and Joel who were watching the ice receded with shocked but impressed looks on their faces. Of all the Magic they had seen, it was funny to me that the thing that amazed them the most was the site of ice doing the one thing it was known for, melting. I suppose I couldn't blame them, it was always the little things about Magic that fascinated me as a child so for first timers it would only make sense that the things they see so often would be the things that enchant them the most.

Once the ice had officially receded, leaving no trace of its existence, the noise of the classroom rose as though someone had turned up the dial on a radio. The eerie silence that had descended on the room since Jack had come bursting through the room was over within a matter of seconds and it was a little disorientating to me. Despite that, I had other things to worry about, like Mr Eaker finishing that sentence.

"-out so that the office knows you left together. If I don't sign you out, I'll have the receptionists on my back and they are a scary bunch of ladies." Mr Eaker shook his head and glanced down at a piece of paper in front of him. He scribbled down something on the page and then looked back up. "You have been released. Go, be free!"

Glancing at the others, the three of us shuffled past the rows of tables and chairs, not a word exchanged between the three of us. I hadn't expected Niska or Joel to speak after everything we had witnessed, but it must have looked weird to everyone else who was so used to the three of us talking as though our lives depended on it. For once, none of us knew what to say about the situation we had just faced and for once, I liked the silence. The silence gave me a chance to think as we walked back to mine. It gave me a chance to figure out what I was going to do next since I had never planned for Jack to come flying in and disturb everything I worked so hard for.

I was so close to making my mind, to deciding whether I went home or stayed where I was and then Jack had to come in and ruin, he had to come in and change everything. It wasn't fair.

"What d'you think is going to happen to us? Ya know since we're not exactly supposed to know any of this?" Joel asked, snapping me out of my own thoughts as we approached the house.

"Possible annihilation? In all honesty, I don't actually know. Only a select few people know our family, know who we are and what we do, and they have every reason to know, you don't. Whatever happens, it'll be me who takes the full force of it all since you had to have found out because I made a mistake. I'm not looking forward to opening this can of worms."

"Us finding out was a complete fluke, trust me on that one. None of it was your fault."

"Yeah well, my dad isn't going to see it that way. I'll get the blame for it no matter what really happened. It was my secret to keep and I couldn't even do that right, Papa is never going to let me forget this one."

"He steps out of line, I'll take him down. This wasn't your fault Kenzie and if I have to slap Santa Claus across the face for him to realise that, I will."

"Thanks, I think," I said, pushing open the door to the house. I wasn't too keen on Niska's threat to slap Papa across the face, but it wasn't as though I could stop her. When she got an idea into her head, it was impossible to talk her out of it, even if the idea was extreme violence.

Entering the house, I wasn't looking forward to facing the wrath of Papa since I knew he didn't like me and exposing our secret wasn't going to help that. Then again, we had stepped up to the plate and helped save the world, so I hoped that would counteract whatever I had done before. Though I doubted it. I could single-handedly save the world whilst doing the dishes and I still wouldn't get any praise for it. The difficulty one faces after being born a girl to a family that is run by men. It's a pain, seriously.

When we entered the living room, the three of us were met with a rather serious looking meeting involving Granny, Grandpa and Papa. Papa was sat on the sofa whilst Granny and Grandpa had positioned themselves in their armchairs, but they weren't relaxing. All three of them were leaning forward, their elbows resting on their knees, they didn't even notice us enter the room despite the noise Joel made when he tripped over the step. Whatever they were talking about, it couldn't have been good, and I knew that it involved me and the serious of events that had unfolded since I left home. Since they didn't hear Joel when he tripped over the step, I decided to clear my throat in the doorway, since it was the only way I could think of.

"Ah! Mackenzie, come in and sit down. You, your friends and I need to have a little chat about today's events, don't you think?" Papa said, turning around to face us before gesturing to the chair he had just left.

"Nicholas, watch what you say," Grandpa said, rubbing his hands over his face.

"Yes, I know. Now sit."

Looking to Niska and Joel, we all abandoned our backs in the doorway and walked as slowly as humanly possible to the sofa. None of us were looking forward to the lecture, but I didn't think walking at a snail's pace was going to solve any of our problems. I just hoped Grandpa could diffuse the situation before Papa got out of hand. It paid to have a grandparent on side when facing a parent, they could always tell them off or send them to their room for being naughty. That had only happened once, but it was hilarious and would have made a bad day a whole lot better, but I knew it wasn't going to happen any time soon.

"I'm going to cut straight to it seeing as I don't see any point in beating around the Christmas tree given the current circumstances. How did you two know about Mackenzie? You were not frozen by Jack's Magic because you knew who she was, who we are. How did you find out and how long have you known?"

"I guess I'll go first since I found out first. It was back in October when we came 'ere to rehearse for the Drama showcase. Kenz suggested we look for the china doll we're usin' in the attic, she searched one end, I searched the other. Durin' the search, I found a box full of letters, datin' back for, well, a while. All of them were written to Santa Claus so I just put two and two together. Thought it would be weird if someone with a similar name was keepin' all these letters. It was pure coincidence that I found out, no one else's other than whoever put the letters in the attic rather than locked up somewhere safe," Joel said.

"Wait, you've known for that long? Seriously?" I replied, furrowing my eyebrows at him in confusion. It was a pretty big secret to keep and for two months, he kept it remarkably well.

"Yeah, that's why I was so off with you, didn't know wha' your motive was. Once I figured out tha' you were jus' a normal kid I cooled down."

"That makes so much sense. Nisk? How'd you find out?"

"I'd love to say it was as fascinating as that, but it wasn't. I caught you doing your Maths homework with Magic in the Library when you thought we weren't looking. I always knew there was something was strange about you and seeing you answer Maths questions without even picking up the pen was the tip of the iceberg. Like Joel, I looked at your last name and put two and two together. I've known since the start of November. Figured if you wanted people to know you would have mentioned it."

Both of them told their stories as though it was nothing, as though the things they had seen were completely normal and not the slightest bit strange. Joel had seen letters dating back who knows how long address to Santa Claus himself whilst Niska had witnessed me doing Magic and never said anything. At least I had an answer as to why Joel acted so off with me, but they changed his mind not too long after. He probably thought I was going to take over the world or something but calmed down when he realised I posed no threat to him in the long run. Niska just thought I was strange, logical, but rude.

"Well, I can say that I was not expecting either of those answers, but it's better than being informed you told them what had happened, Mackenzie. If it were a simple case of accidental discovery, then we can deal with it easily."

"How? What exactly are you going to do?"

"A simple memory wipe of their information regarding our family heritage. Nothing to it other than that, they won't remember today or ever finding out who you are."

"Woah, you ain't coming anywhere near my memories, not if I have anything to do with it," Niska said, jumping off the sofa and backing away from Papa.

"I'm with Niska on this one, Papa. They've kept the secret for this long, why ruin it now?"

"Why do you propose then, Mackenzie? If you trust them so much, how do we handle this situation?"

"I have until the end of the week to decide whether I stay or return home with you. In that time, you let Niska and Joel keep their memories of today and of me. If I decide to stay, they keep them indefinitely, if I go home, you clear any trace of who we are. Ivy has friends who know her identity so if I stay, it only makes sense that I get the same courtesy."

"She has a point, Nicholas. Your mother and I have gotten to know these two over the past few months and they are trustworthy, as they have already confirmed. Why not let them keep their memories until Kenzie makes up her mind?"

"If you can vouch for these two then I will agree to the deal, but you have until the end of the week to decide, Mackenzie. Any longer and I will step in. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand."

I had a week to finalise my decision and the weight of the outcome had become a lot worse then it had been two months before. 

~~~

A/N - I don't know why the length of these chapters has increased so much recently, but hey, I'm not complaining! We are two chapters from the end and I don't know how to feel, we shall see when the book is over how I feel.

Aren't Niska and Joel good friends? They knew about Kenzie for months and didn't say anything, I wish I had friends like that, or friends xD. What did you think about Kenzie's plan? Was she right to talk back to her Papa?

Comment below and don't forget to vote!

Dedication - This chapter is dedicated to Oueriadarling who is writing an amazing book called 'The Blood Donor' that you should all check out!

First Published - May 10th, 2018