Atticus found me outside, but he was the only one looking for me.

"What are you doing out here? Everyone is already inside, " he asked, pulling me from the cart.

"I don't want to go in there; I don't want to face this." I kept turning my face so he couldn't get a good look at me.

"We always knew that you would be weak; there is no need to be embarrassed," he grabbed my hand and dragged me inside. I tried to tell him he didn't understand, but I was already inside the house. "Mom, I found her; she was sitting outside." I heard the muffled footsteps as they all got up, probably to tell me.

"It is about time; we were about to celebrate Prideux's future," Mother, Father, and Prideux swept into the foyer from the kitchen. "I don't think it would..." Mom stopped dead Prideux, and Dad froze in the doorway. Atticus noticed them and then turned to me. I guess I didn't remove as much as I thought.

"Oh my," Prideux gasped

"What lie is this?" Mom demanded.

"Lie? Imelda isn't the one who puts on the mark that can't be a lie," Dad responded.

"So you have lied all your life, acting weak to what? Throw us off. Did you think it would be easier to kill your sister that way," Mom asked.

"Never, I'm no killer; I'm a healer," I whispered

"Not anymore!" She shouted, "You are a liar and a cheat."

"I didn't know. I have never seen this magic I'm supposed to have; you have to believe me," I pleaded to them, focusing on Atticus. "I would never hurt anyone."

"You expect us to believe that!" Mother shouted, "Six lines. Are you planning on ripping the island in half to kill everyone"

"I can't do that. I have never had magic," I responded

"More lies you can't just suddenly have it."

"Please let me explain."

"Let you lie to our faces."

"I have never lied."

"No prideux has never lied"

"I can explain."

"So you have already come up with it."

"Stop,"

"I'm sure it will be a great story, but how about you explain how you hid this"

"Stop"

"From me, your father, your siblings, your teachers."

"Stop"

"Stop what!"

"I said stop!" A white wave of energy ripped out of me. It knocked them all off their feet, Sending Atticus flying backward away from me. All the glass in the house shattered. The silence was deafening after the wave passed.

"I'm so sorry." I tried to reach for Atticus, but Mom beat me there and shielded him from me.

"What have you done," she asked. But I just ran out of the house.

"Imelda!" It was Atticus. "Stop, please. I'm okay. I know it was an accident." But I didn't stop. I just ran where he couldn't follow. I turned out of sight down a tiny path to the creek so he wouldn't know where I was going. I had to get the marks off, but my hands were still sparking with energy, so I stuck them in the water as if I could put them out like fire.

"Now, that is something I never thought I would see." Mr Luis walked down the path that I had come down. "And I imagine that your family didn't like that. Prideux told me you scared your mother."

"Prideux, was the one who called you?" I asked, now able to pull my hands out of the water.

"She was concerned when you ran off. She thought I could help you."

"Can you make it stop?"

"No, you need to do that, but you should know that you have always had this magic in you. I could see it from the moment I met you. You have been under control for years; you can do it again."

"I don't understand. I didn't have magic well, strong magic."

"I have only ever seen one other person who can read the sick like you, and even then, you are scoring above and beyond what they can do. So yes, I know that you have strong magic. You are just gentle."

"And now I have this thing in me."

"The process can unsettle the magic within you, but that means you need to learn to control it so you don't repeat the same mistakes as your predecessor and instead complete his goals."

"The madman that tried to rip the island apart and killed people on the main island."

"That is one version of events. Would you like to hear another version?"

"How do you know a different one?"

"My great-grandmother was married to one of the four survivors of the year of blood and glory."

"4 survivors?"