#hmacey

Kendall was in Crowned Cay. She got ahold of Floo powder for herself, that way her dad wouldn’t notice any missing from the stash. It was perfect. And the weather was so nice, she almost wanted to stay outside for the entire day and forget about her plan.

Almost. Finding Holland was much more important than sunbathing. Now all Ken needed was something to go to the hospital for. Ken was distracted as she crossed the road, but then there was a frantic dinging noise and she was almost hit by a bicyclist. Ken jumped out of the way, falling awkwardly on her wrist. She groaned in pain, taking a moment to wallow in self-pity before realization dawned on her. 

Thankfully she was in a wizarding community and she could simply apparate to Cliodne’s. Kendall approached the receptionist, playing up the wrist injury.

“Uh, hi. I got into a bike accident and I messed up my wrist.”  Kendall held her wrist gingerly. 

“Uh, yes. Take a seat in the waiting room and fill out this paperwork. Someone will be with you shortly.” The woman said as she handed Kendall the chart.

Kendall wrote her first name, then middle, but stopped at her last name. Malone. She wrote with a shaking hand. The rest of the papers were easy to fill out, just a few signatures and Kendall was returning the clipboard. It took another few minutes before a red-haired nurse lead her into an exam room. 

“Healer Macey will be with you shortly.” The nurse smiled before closing the door.

Macey. Kendall, despite her throbbing wrist, couldn’t help but be disappointed. She wanted to meet Holland, but maybe this other healer would be able to help her. The wait was short and soon enough a young blonde was entering the room. Ken just stayed quiet.

Kendall barely ate her dinner. She spent the whole night giving one worded answers and picking at the food that she had on her plate, too nervous for what she was about to do to trust her stomach. Once it seemed like Ian, Bailey, and Braxley were done, she stood up.

“I have an announcement,” Kendall said. She took a shaky breath and stared at the food on the table. “Back in the summer, I went looking for my mother. Only I didn’t find her. Well-- I did. I know who she is, I know where she is. I just haven’t gone to see her yet because....” She felt like the world was gonna end. She just needed to get it over with. 

“I found my sister.” Kendall looked up to see the reactions of her family. “And, uh, she’s a witch. A healer, actually.” Silence. “I snuck off during the summer once I discovered her all the way to Crowned Cay to meet her and yeah. I, uh. I still want to find my mom because I just want to let her know that I still made it even if she gave up on the two best things she could’ve had and...” Kendall furiously wiped a tear from her face. She was scared. “Yeah. I’m gonna go to my room now because I think I’m about to die so I’ll see y’all later.” 

Kendall made sure to push her chair in before walking out of the dining room. She went upstairs to her bedroom, leaving the door open just a crack, before falling face first into her bed. She let herself cry freely, finally feeling all of the things she didn’t allow herself to feel before-- relief, fear, regret...

After about five minutes of wallowing in her soup of emotions, she pulled out her phone. She sent a text to Holland before turning it back off. And then she packed to go back to school, because she had nothing else to do.

It wasn’t often that Kendall could sneak away on her own, especially to New York City. But she found the paperwork in her dad’s office, and finally had some semblance of an answer. Fire Department of New York City number 37, with the safe haven sign tucked neatly into the facade. That’s where her mother abandoned her seventeen years ago, and where she could hopefully find an answer. But as Kendall stood in front of the glass doors, she was taken over by fear.

This was it. No one knew that Kendall had been trying to find her biological mother, not even Amethyst, and it just suddenly became too much for Ken to handle. Numbly, she walked to the bench in front of the station and sat. She sat there for a good hour until one of the firefighters came to see what she was doing there.

“Ma’am, are you okay?” She asked, looking over at Kendall with concern. 

“I, uh...I need to go inside.” Ken looked up from her fingers. She hated the ball of fire that was in her gut.

“Do you want me to walk you in?” The firefighter asked with concern. She reached a hand out to touch Ken’s shoulder, giving the young girl a reassuring smile.

“That would...that would be nice. Please.” Kendall stood up and followed the woman into the station. 

The rest of the day was almost painfully slow. She had to dig through piles of paperwork to even find her own. Ken eventually found the right last name, but when she pulled the file...it wasn’t her birthday. And not her name. Holland Malone. She had a sister. Well, another sister. This wasn’t something she even expected to find. She just wanted to find her mother, but instead she found Holland.

The room around Kendall started spinning, and there was a burning in her stomach that made it impossible to breathe. She clung to her sister’s birth certificate, her entire mind consumed. Burning tears forced their way past Ken’s stony exterior and she knew she had to find Holland.

Kendall was fully aware of how lucky she was with Ian and her family. She didn’t know if Holland found that same kind of love...the same support...

Kendall needed to be there for her. She forefully wipes away the tears on her face before pushing herself to her feet. Their mother could wait, the only person the girl cared about finding was her sister. She carefully folded the birth certificate and put it in her pocket before leaving the file room. She didn’t even care that she didn’t get her own, her dad had a copy somewhere that Ken had never been able to find.

“Thank you for letting me look.” Ken said to the woman who let her in before ducking out of the station. She had a lot of work to do.

—

It had been thirty-eight hours since Kendall began the search for Holland Malone. Without knowing whether or not the magic gene was passed onto her sister, she found it impossible to narrow down her search. On Facebook, there were about a dozen blonde Holland Malone’s who looked to be in their 20’s. Twitter and Instagram were of no help either. There wasn’t much else Kendall could do without asking her father for help, and she was determined to do this on her own.

Maybe if she went back to the firestation she could find more clues. Ken waited until her dad had been gone for work for an hour before apparating to the city, landing a few blocks up the street from the building. She knew it was a long shot that they would know anything about her sister, but she could at least try. This time Kendall marched into the fire station and found the nearest firefighter.

“Uh, hi. I was here yesterday and I just want to know if you know anyone named Holland Malone. She would be 23, maybe she’s blonde?” Ken asked, her voice trembling slightly.

“Why do you want to know?” He asked, his brows lowering in suspicion.

“I, uh...I think she’s my sister. We have the same name and same mom.” She offered, regret instantly engulfing her. He didn’t know Holland, and now she looked suspicious.

“Your sister? Well damn, I think I might know who you’re talking about it.” The man looked Kendall up and down. “Seeing you here, you kinda look like her. You can find her in California, she works at some hospital with a weird name. Clyde’s or Cordelia’s or something like that.”

“California?” Kendall’s heart sank. New York City she could manage, but apparating to the complete opposite side of the country was damn near impossible for someone who’d been doing it for such a short time. “Thank you, sir. I know where that is.” Ken smiled meekly at the man before turning and leaving.

Her sister was a healer. The pieces of this messed up, complicated, and ugly puzzle were finally coming together to create something good. Now all she needed to do was get to California and find Holland. Then she would be fine.

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