Aliya's Shoes-Chapter 575: School again

The breakfast was uneventful after that. The girls, Shelby, Alicia, Ava and Suzie, had a sit-down after that. Shelby had reached the point where she no longer needed to call either Ava or Suzie, and they could somehow sense her presence.

The small family had fun for a few days after that, while Ian spent the bulk of that time talking with the visitors from the Fae land, till they concluded a sort.

Fad, the funny Fae, whose human form was just below four feet in height, was permanently assigned to Gabriel along with Mike.

***

A couple of weeks passed in a flash. Molly’s funeral was quickly attended to during that time, and soon, everyday life resumed.

Samantha and her siblings were due to return to school on this day. Their leave of absence had finally come to an end. At this time, they were easily considered the most popular kids on the whole island.

"Do you have to go?" Ian lamented that morning because he had tried to convince Shelby to stay, but she was adamant.

"I have not been here for a while, so let me do this for them.... Besides, Alicia is going with me...."

Ian was locked out of the conversation and could only watch helplessly as he was also barred from the trip.

’You can’t always be there with me! You need to go about your tasks. I have enough protection with me, and I am fairly capable too...’ she used their mind link, whispering an ’I love you and will be right back’ via their mind link.

Murray was the driver today, and with Isolde also going to ’enrol’ in school, Ian was assured and let them go.

It was no surprise that Shelby raked up another sensation upon arrival. Most had heard of her return, though weeks had passed, but with her very pregnant body, the comments from the parents were through the roof, but none had any malice in them.

Gabriel was now rocking his new glasses that Brad had given him that morning, and he was eager to show them off, as was typical of him. Shelby thought back to the conversation:

"Uncle Brad, you remembered!"

"Of course! I remember whatever I promise!" Then he handed Gabriel another set of non-medicated glasses in different colours, similar to Ingrid’s. Gabriel had jumped around with his enthusiasm all morning and was still doing so at school. At this time, he had started regular classes and had classmates whom he could show them to.

Shelby and Alicia, though greeted by the headmaster, declined his invitation to go to his office. At this time, both Shelby and Alicia were two of the most influential women on the island, so Murray and the other guards assigned to them had their hands full, keeping parents at bay.

Shelby had already ensured that Isolde’s signup was done, and she was ushered into what they called a specialised class, where she could learn whatever she wished. One thing that only became clear later on was that many people now started putting themselves in a favourable light, so that they could also have the potential to be adopted by Ian and Shelby!

In the hallways, Samantha had her headsets on, but listened to the stream of conversations. Most, upon their parents’ direction, were trying to be amiable and strike up a friendship with her, but Samantha had already seen all of them for what they were in the past and gave no one the benefit of the doubt. It was funny that when she needed a friend, not a single person had been there for her, but now, they all wanted to be and were scrambling around her.

She had changed so much .... from that meek, docile shadow they once mocked, to someone who now strode through the school hallway with a quiet, unnerving confidence. Her presence was heavy, unsettling, like a formidable force the Thornstons were known for.

They wanted to approach her, but something in her eyes kept them back.

Except one boy. He grinned, swaggering as if to prove she was still the same girl beneath him and them all. His friends cheered him on, while others shook their heads in disbelief. Raye had touched Samantha, and his whole family had been annihilated, and so had Natasha. So, who in their right mind would attempt to approach any of the Thornston adopted children with ill intent? Only a fool!

"Oh, so I hear that you finally dropped that name?" He stared as a means of conversation, and Samantha looked at him like he was mad. Yes, all the siblings had dropped Aliya’s name from theirs, and they were known as just Thornston, instead of Maybach-Thornston, but what did it have to do with that non-body?

"And what business is that for you?"

"You! It should be your privilege that I am willing to talk to you...."

He reached for her arm, light, careless, almost mocking, with a hidden intention to ’put her in her place’ when Samantha did not give him any time.

What happened next was too fast for anyone to stop. Her hand shot up, seizing his wrist with a snap of precision. Before he could laugh it off, she twisted, slammed him against the lockers, and drove her knee up into his stomach. He crumpled, breath leaving him in a broken wheeze. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

The hallway froze.

But she wasn’t finished. She leaned down, her voice low and razor-edged,

"stay away from me, if you know what is good for you...."

before shoving him aside so hard he slid down the floor tiles, clutching himself in humiliation and pain.

No one laughed nor dared whisper. They just stared, because whatever the old Samantha had been, this one was terrifying.

And the boy’s bruised pride would forever be a lesson to all the others: touch her at your own peril. This was how Samantha’s school days became. At least that gave her the time to concentrate on her studies and bring up her grades.

Samantha never gave any male the time of day. After the people she had seen around her father and Ian himself, her bar for choosing a boyfriend or any such relationship rose so high that it became a wonder who could traverse that bar safely, given that no man could even get into her personal space at all, thanks to her daily training that had increased because she was a Resonant.

One thing that Samantha did not know was that there had been other witches after them, but none could get close at all...

***

Though everyone forgot, a new station started publishing that Shelby had intruded on a perfectly fine marriage.... Again!

As the story unfolded, Erik reported it to Brad, but he just dismissed it. The channel was new and had few subscribers, but Brad was sure it would not take long before it was annihilated, and he was right. Brad remembered the host of this show, though. It was this person who had been dripping with disdain when Shelby had initially disappeared.

"As we have been reporting for the past few days, the current Mrs Thornston is fake and the baby she is carrying is for her assistant. The smallish man, who goes everywhere with her..... S-"

Many of their listeners thought them crazy because, like a collective amnesia, no one remembered Aliya or how she was related to the Thornstons, except her children and the fact that they had been adopted.

As was becoming the norm, Shelby opted to visit those imbeciles herself. She and Murray teleported directly to the studio during one of the recording sessions.

Two assistants manning the cameras talked harshly among themselves,

"I could not complete my task!"

"Why?"

"The kids have the ancient Witch’s aura around them. You know what that means, right?"

"Oh no! Is that why the people we sent never came back?"

"It could be. I-"

Then there was a sudden hum as if static electricity had been triggered...

"I did what with my mistress?" Murray boomed, his rare anger bubbling up. They were positive that anyone who had survived the mass memory wipe and implant was non-human, so they didn’t bother hiding themselves, and the two appeared right in front of their cameras.

It turns out that they were Aliya’s helpers; the very same ones that the intruder, who had been killed in the estate, had talked about.

One turned to snap at Shelby, hands stretched and spell ready, but they all stopped simultaneously!

They started to tremble so much.

"I- "

The recording feed was stopped as they all fell to their knees for two reasons. They could feel the ancient power of the timeless Witch from Shelby, as well as a well-known power that they could not place. Whatever it was, it scared them shitless. Shelby couldn’t care less what they thought, because she was angry!

"My husband never married before me, and we love our adopted children equally, so you have no right to be posting such misinformation!"

Then she added, just for their ears.

"I know what you are, and believe me, you may think that you are avenging Aliya; however, take a second to ask yourself, of what happened to your supposed all-powerful master in our hands, then rethink if you want to try this again!"

That was the last time any such attack was launched, and even if Shelby had not threatened them that day, the new aura from the Isolde, combined with the budding power of her unborn, kept most creatures away.

Almost all of them never understood why the most ancient of witches would stay around Shelby. But the thing was that none had ever seen the witch and could not identify her. The most significant mark on the back of her hand was not visible to all, as Isolde had embarked on a signature look that involved wearing gloves around the clock.

Leon and his niche team, who were among the few people still aware of the real proceedings of events surrounding Aliya and the Thornston family, sighed in relief. The task that they were about to embark on was dealt with. They cleaned up, wiping off the website and any digital presence of the newscasters, while another team from Ian’s side ensured that nothing would come up again.

Leon was truly fulfilled, and he cherished the day that Ian had given him a second chance by letting him arrest James Wendover, for that had been the start of his smooth sailing life and career, as did Evans, who had joined somewhere along the lines.

*********

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