Page 45 of Calling Quarters

She pointed to an amateur drawing of four figures sketched in black with a compass scribbled in the middle. Each one had a corresponding red figure standing beside it, and the compass was missing its center, as if that part had been erased or scratched off the paper.

“The Quarters were each given counterparts. These were entities that they had to share their power with. Their abilities flowed fluidly through the Quarter and the Counter, so that the burden didn't exhaust the Quarter.”

“I don't understand. Why was Rayner saying they wanted to hunt their Counters then?”

“Because the Quarters became greedy over time. They didn't understand why their powers had to be shared at all, and they began looking for ways to cut their Counter off from receiving anything.”

“So, they want to have their powers to themselves. That's why they hunt and kill Counters,” I deduced.

Tabitha moved her head in an irritated negative shake. “You're getting mixed up with the fables that Blaire told you and the propaganda Rayner spreads around. Listen to me and ignore what you heard before.”

“Okay.” I was so confused.

“You have to remember, Quarters and Counters have been around for centuries. There has been a lot of time for corruption, and nature doesn't like corruption. Nature likes balance. That's why the Counters were created in the first place, right?”

I nodded.

“The Counter issue has been balanced. That was sorted out ages ago. The current issue is generational, but they don't want you to know that. They want to distract you with old problems, so you don't focus on what they're doing.”

None of that made any sense.

“Are you telling me this because I'm a Counter?” I finally asked, exasperated with her talking in circles and confusing code.

Tabitha's singular nod sent my heart dropping into my stomach. This was the first time I've spoken those words out loud. I kept these suspicions to myself for so long, they felt wrong to say. I've wanted someone to confirm them since I first heard Blaire talk about it but now that Tabitha had, I didn't feel any relief.

She pointed to the picture and circled her finger around the figures on the west side of the compass.

“All you need to know is that our current Quarters are not the ones who truly hold the power. They're being taken advantage of and villainized in front of the rest of the coven. I know you've been hanging around with the Wildes one. You need to stay away. It isn't safe for you.”

“Remy would never hurt me.” I was speaking to both her and myself. Maybe if I said the words enough, I could feel confident that they were true.

But Tabitha wasn't convinced. “Those boys have been fed lies by men who want nothing more than to retain their power. They've been raised since birth to hunt you. If he knew what you were to him, he wouldn't think twice about killing you. So long as Counter blood runs through your veins, they will consider you a threat to their position.”

Her tone didn't leave room for argument. Honestly, there wasn't anything I could say in his defense. She knew more about everything in this town than I could even fathom as a newcomer. Sure, my family may have helped build it from nothing, but they left before I ever had a chance to learn anything about them. She was the closest thing I had to a family at this point.

All the Grangers were, so why shouldn't I trust her?

“Why did my family leave? Not just my parents and Aunt Ash, but the rest of the Graves. Surely, there were more living here before I came along.”

“I've already given you the answer to that. Don't waste our time with silly questions. None of that matters anymore. What matters is that you and the other Counters stay alive, so that our Quarters can fulfill their duties and their fathers stay far away from power. Don't distract that boy any more than you have and don't put your life at risk.”

This conversation was reminiscent of the one I had with Aunt Ash after Rayner visited our home and she began her downward spiral.

“This is bigger than you and me, Storie. Don't put your life at risk,”she'd said when I fought against dropping out of my dream college to switch to an online one.

It was the final step we took before leaving our home. The one that took the most convincing on her end and the biggest compromise between us. I hadn't wanted to end up like her—a lonely spinster with hardly any career to fall back on besides a small homeopathy and massage therapy business that hardly paid the bills. And I didn’t understand the risk she was speaking about.

Hearing Tabitha say the same words triggered emotions in me that I wanted to keep repressed. Negative emotions that I'd felt toward Aunt Ash for stripping my freedoms over something I could have never understood at the time.

But now, I understand. I know why she was so terrified. I know what Rayner was demanding when he threatened her that day. I know the sacrifice she made by not obeying. And I know that she was so much more than I ever gave her credit for.

I wasn't willing to give up my free will to this cause again, though. I wasn't going to continue to hide from a faceless enemy. I came to Beacon Grove to find answers, and now that I had some, I was going to fight for myself.

“Do you understand?” Tabitha pushed when I never responded.

I simply nodded. If she knew my thoughts, she would only try to convince me to change my mind, and that wasn't happening. Now that I'd finally been given some answers, I was only hungrier for more, and I knew just where to find them.

Tabitha didn't look convinced, but she still accepted my nod as an answer and slammed the dusty book shut. I watched her slide it on the shelf and tried to read some of the spines beside it but could only make out one of them. It read: Beacon Grove Birth Records 1997. Just as I began making out the title, Tabitha's plump figure stepped into view.

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