Chapter 2:

A mother’s memento

image [https://i.imgur.com/cqdC1hT.jpg]

“Please be safe, my son,” I looked up and saw a face I didn’t recognize, yet, for some reason, she felt familiar. She had black hair and blue eyes, and she had the kindest eyes I had ever seen.

“Wait!… Don’t….Go..”

I tried to reach out to her but she disappeared, turning everything to darkness. And in that darkness, there were two red eyes looking at me. Strangling me, they felt like they would swallow me at any moment.

“Some…one…h..elp”

I tried to say, closing my eyes, as those two red eyes engulfed my mind.

I felt cold and alone in that moment as those red eyes swallowed me and the darkness around me.

I awoke to find myself back in my room. How I got here, I didn’t know.

I could feel a single tear dripping down my face.

“What was that all about?” I thought, remembering that weird dream. I touched my throat, I could feel a slight pain on it, almost as if someone had tried to crush it.

“Those red eyes.”

Their color lingering in my mind, clouding it. I felt so confused.

“Just what the hell is going on. ”

“Does it have anything to do with my traumatic amnesia….no it couldn’t be, can it.” “Mom.”

I hated the fact that I couldn’t remember my childhood prior to coming here, frustrating me. Did my childhood have anything to do with what happened to me at school? No, that’s impossible, I was a normal teenage boy, wasn’t I?

“Just who am I? ”

I had so many questions in my mind, but for now I needed to think about what happened at school first, and not get ahead of myself, and run after some far-fetched possibility.

There was something more important right now that some cryptic dream of mine or the childhood I couldn’t remember.

I glanced around one more time to make sure it really was my room and not some other place with a certain someone. But the mess, the dirty clothes, and the scattered books on the floor reassure me that it indeed was my room.

I sat up on my bed and made sure I still had all my limbs, which I did. I noticed I wasn’t wearing my school uniform but instead a black shirt and jeans, wondering who had changed me, but for now, that didn’t matter. I paid close attention to my body, ensuring I wasn’t in any pain besides the dryness I felt in my throat. But other than that , I felt fine.

The weakness and dizziness I felt because of Ms. Serpin was gone….. Her name brought back everything like a wave, swallowing me.

I still couldn’t believe it. One moment I'm walking with her toward the school garden, and the next thing I know, I’m almost being eaten alive by her—if it wasn’t for Mikki.

“Mikki.”

She was the last thing I remember before I lost consciousness. She was so clear in my head, and how she came to my rescue wearing her school uniform but with a dark cape, a black witch-like hat, and a broom in her hand. Even though I had a lot of questions about what happened, there was one thing clear on my mind right now: and that was to thank her for saving me. If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t even be here right now.

I got up from my bed, ready to look for her when I heard a stranger’s voice.

“Don’t tell me—” I turned toward the door. The faint sound of the stranger’s voice was coming from downstairs. I could hear, just barely, a second voice as well. It belonged to Ms. Hexa, I was sure of it.

I opened the door as quietly as I could and walked into the hallway, ensuring that every step I took was quieter than the last one. I wasn’t sure why I was being sneaky. It’s not like I had done anything wrong. I was just an ordinary boy who almost got eaten by my teacher, who turned out to be some snake creature, but somehow, it felt like I wasn’t supposed to hear their conversation. I don’t know why I felt that, it was as if my body was trying to tell me something once more, a feeling that felt all too familiar now, like the feeling I had with Ms. Serpin.

Perhaps I wasn’t an ordinary boy like I thought I was.

“That’s crazy,” I told myself.

Things like that only happen in fantasy stories. This was the real world, but what I had seen was real too. I didn’t know what to make of everything that happened at school, as well as that dream, was there a connection? Or maybe I had dreamed it all. I’ll be honest, sometimes I did get lost in my fantasy stories and games but nothing like this. This was real, heck, it felt too real to be a dream.

“Just what is going on,” I thought, recognizing these kind of scenarios in all those novels, comics, and shows I love to watch.

Normal teenage boy finds out he’s not so normal after all.

“That’s silly,” I told myself, but what other explanation could there be that would explain the crazy thing that happened at school today.

I got within ear shot of them, obscure by the walls and the staircase of the second floor of this two floor suburban house, where an ordinary family called home, at least that’s what I thought, until Ms. Serpin.

“Do you know who she was or from what coven she belonged too?” the stranger’s voice asked.

“She…”

I could feel the a cold sweat in me.

Ms. Serpin’s snake face flashed before me, that grotesque snake face and those piercing fangs coming toward me.

“ I almost died,”

The realization of what almost happened came to me, making me lose my balance for a second. I leaned against the wall as the gravity of the incident took me. If it wasn’t for Mikki, I wouldn’t be here.

I owe her big time.

“I promise I’ll be the best childhood friend ever,” I said.

I owe her my life.

“No,” a third voice said.

This one sounded familiar too; it was Mikki’s voice, I was sure of it. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to get any information from her. I had to act fast.”

“I supposed that couldn’t be helped, considering the situation,” the stranger’s voice said.

There was a softness to it that felt familiar, which was weird.

I wanted to lean forward more, wanted to know more, to make sure I didn’t miss anything from their conversation, but any further, and it will have brought me in full view of them.

“A pity ,” the stranger’s voice said. I didn’t need to see the disappointment on her face. I could hear it.

“To think a witch would attack in plain view for it is very worrying news indeed.”

“Perhaps it was—”

I got closer to the edge of the wall, ensuring I wasn’t spotted.

“Perhaps it was what…” I was hanging on her words like some struggling mountain climber about to fall to his doom. I tried to get closer to them without being seen, unsure why I was hiding, but it was too late to go back now. Besides, I was on the edge of finding more information about what happened at school about Mr. Serpin, and about me; I couldn’t turn back now.

“Who was Ms. Serpin, and why did she attack me? And, who was I?”

I had so many questions running through my head. I wanted to know more. No, I needed to know everything.

That dream that I had seen flashed before me. What did it all mean, did it have anything to do with her.

“Mom,” I whispered.

“It appears we have a visitor,” the stranger’s voice said.

Her words sending a cold fear in me.

“A visitor?” I thought, had someone else entered the house? I didn’t hear anybody come in.

Could it be another one of those creatures has come to finish the job that my sweet and caring teacher failed to do?

“Why don’t we have him join us? I’m sure he has many questions.”

The stranger’s voice said.

“Him?”

Is a he…

‘Rey.”

Her words stopped me in my tracks. I felt my body freeze for a minute. And for a brief second, a sense of relieve washed over me, thawing my body. It wasn’t another creature coming to eat me.

They were talking about me. I felt silly; all this weird stuff—more like surreal—had made me paranoid.

I stepped out of the corner of the hallway, in plain view of the three of them, feeling like a child that has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” I said, bowing my head to them, the staircase separating them from me.

“It’s alright,” the unknown woman said. She was short, no taller that some middle school kid.

She was sitting on the couch that was in the middle of the other two couches, yet she had an aura of matureness around her that not even Ms. Hexa had. Despite her youthful face, I could tell she was very important and even wise.

She was dressed in a black robe that seemed to drown her. She had a silver neck collar with strange markings on it around her neck. Her hair was strange as well. She had white, spiky hair that swooped behind her like a porcupine’s mane and a pair of dark-colored eyes with a scar on her right side that passed through her eye. She was sitting in the center almost like a king hearing her council.

“Come and take a seat,” she said, extending her hand and inviting me. I glanced around the living room and found an empty spot by Mikki. She was wearing a pink tracksuit. I walked to her and took a seat. Ms. Hexa was sitting across from us, she didn’t have her apron on, yet she still looked like your typical housewife.

I looked at Mikki and smiled, but she averted her glance from me.

“Did I do something weird?” I thought.

“Or perhaps she was the one who changed my clothes.”

But it didn’t matter right now, I had other stuff on my mind, and so many questions that needed to be answered. And the person that had all the answers to the many questions running in my mind—I was sure of it-- was sitting in the center of the room, overlooking the two couches in the living room like some wise figure.

“This is Evara,” Ms. Hexa said, pointing to the strange middle school child that was sitting in a couch that seemed too big for her.

“The Great Witch Evara,” Evara interjected, smiling.

“Forgive me master,” Ms. Hexa nodded.

“I just didn’t want to scare him.”

“Scare me?” I thought, thinking about Ms. Serpin.

“It’s too late for that.”

I wanted to let out a small chuckle, but I figured right now was not the time for jokes.

“That’s understandable, but there’s no need to keep it a secret from him considering what he went through,” Evara said, looking at me. It almost felt like she was inspecting me.

“The Great Witch,” I thought.

I guess I didn’t dream Mikki falling from the sky like a witch after all. But I was surprised by how quickly they just told me , normally in these kind of scenarios, they would try to hide it by making up some silly excuse. I did not expect them to come out of the gates with the truth.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“You’ve grown quite a bit, Rey,” Evara said, smiling at me, almost as if she was reminiscing some distant memory.

“What did she meant by that?” I wondered, trying to inspect her, but all I could see was a middle schooler sitting on a couch that was too big for her.

“Had I met her before? Perhaps I wasn’t a normal sixteen year old boy after all, perhaps I was…”

I thought about the childhood I couldn’t remember, did it had anything to do with this, but I brushed those thoughts aside, I was going too fast, I needed to slow down.

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Evara,” I said, ignoring her words, for I was sure this was the first time I was meeting her.

“You hear that, I’m a Misses,” Evara said, chuckling.

“ You're definitely well-behaved,“ she added. “You did alright, Nanna.”

She looked at Ms. Hexa and gave her a thumbs up.

“Thank you, Master,” Ms. Hexa said, bowing her head toward her .

Which I found a little weird considering their physical looks, but we were past the point of weird now.

“You probably have a million questions running through your pretty little head, don’t you, child?” she said, her expression changing instantly. Her eyes were fierce, and there was a certain weight to them that I guess only someone with the name of the Great Witch could only have.

I swallowed my saliva, clearing my throat.

“Y-Yes,” I answered.

“But first,” I said, glancing at all three of them. Ms. Hexa smiled at me, giving me one of her many warm, motherly smiles.

“Are you guys?”

“Witches,” Evara said bluntly, her expression dead serious,

“Witches, like the type that wears hats, flies on brooms, and cooks using big pots, those kinds of witches?”

“Something like that, though not every witch cooks with giant pots,” Evara said, leaning back in her seat.

“Then again, I’ve used a big pot here and there. ”

She chuckled in her seat that if anyone was her, she would appear like a normal middle school kid, and not this wise witch figure she apparently was.

“Does that mean that Ms. Serpin was a witch as well?” I asked, knowing the answer to that question but wanting reassurance that it wasn’t just some bad dream I had.

“Yes,” Evara said, her black eyes looking at me.

“Why did…” I stopped, hesitating for a second. Feeling like once I asked the next question, my life would never be the same. Heck, it was already not going to be the same. I mean, how can it ever be the same when you find out witches are real. But knowing why your teacher, who was a witch as well, attacked you, well, that was bigger than anything. Like a hero about to learn his prophecy. Not that I considered myself a hero, far from it, but you don’t get attacked by a giant snake every day for nothing, do you?

“Why did she attack me?”

I could feel Evara’s black eyes looking at me. It felt like they were looking deep into my soul.

“Because of that,” she said, pointing at my neck. I looked down at my mother’s necklace laying against my black t-shirt, it’s clear, blue gem sparkling as the light that was coming through the window hit it, making it pop out against the dark color of my shirt like some treasure.

“My mother’s necklace?” I said, taking the necklace in my hand, the blue gem sparkling in my eyes. It felt warm, I noticed. Did it always feel like this, or was this something new?

“I don’t understand,”

“This is just a normal necklaces, isn’t it?”

I felt even more confused now.

“Not exactly,” Ms. Hexa said,

“ We call them Witches mementos, and they are imbued with strong magical powers,” Evara said.

I looked again at the gem, its translucent blue body was shining against the palm of my hand. It began to look magical in my eyes, or perhaps I was just being influenced with what I was learning, but whatever it was, it no longer felt the same.

“A witches memento.”

Her words echoing in my mind.

All I knew about the necklace was that it belonged to my mother, and it was the only thing I had from her.

The only thing I had from a childhood I had no recollection of, a childhood that now was giving me even more question. Why did she have it? Was she also a Witch? Was I?

Just exactly was I?

All I knew about her was what Ms. Hexa had told me. Did she not tell me everything ?

“Is okay Rey,” Evara said, her face no longer looking serious but instead it almost had a motherly touch to it. Which was crazy since she looked younger than me.

“I know this is a lot to take in , so let’s try one step at a time.“

“Okay,” I said,

“Witches mementos are artifacts created by witches and passed down from generation to generation,” Evara said, leaning against the couch.

“And sometimes witches get greedy and try to steal them from one another to increase their powers, very nasty stuff.”

“Does that mean this necklace is powerful,” I ask. It had to be, after all, Ms. Serpin almost killed for it.

“Not really, but sometimes certain witches that aren’t strong enough try and get witches mementos in a futile attempt to enhanced their powers. But most witches mementos don’t’ hold enough power to really influence a witches magic that much.”

“I see, then why did she try to attack me for it? ” I said, almost pitying Ms. Serpin, if she almost killed a normal kid for a necklace that wasn’t that strong, that meant she had to be really weak.

“But she did try to kill me, so I’m glad she wasn’t successful,” I thought.

“Sometimes witches grow desperate for any witches memento that they get blind by their own selfishness for power. If she had not been blind by her greed, she would have known that it wasn’t that powerful.”

“I see,” I said, almost wanting to laugh at the fact that I almost got killed for nothing.

“If my mother had this, does that mean that my mother was a witch?” I asked, trying to make sense of why she had this witches memento. I mean, if my mother was friends with Ms. Hexa, who was a witch, and she had this thing called” witches mementos” does that mean my mother was also a witch. What other reason could there be for her for having such a thing?

Bu if she was, why did Ms. Hexa not tell me. This was kind of a big deal.

“No,” Evara said.

Her face looking serious and stoic. Her words almost felt like a hammer shattering a mirror, and along with it crushing any fantasy hope in me.

“Then...” I said, feeling sort of disappointed. I mean, it’s not every day you find out witches are real and about magic.

“I’m just an ordinary boy.”

Of course, I was; why did I think I wasn’t?

“Yes,” Evara said.

Her answer felt kind of anti-climactic. Somehow, here I was expecting some big revelation about myself; turns out I was just unlucky.

“How did my mother get such a powerful thing,” I asked, hoping to know more about a mother I didn’t get to know.

“Once in a while, ordinary humans stumble upon treasures they shouldn’t have,” she said, leaning back against the couch.

“Though witches mementos are usually passed down from witch to witch, and sometimes absorbing magical essence in the process, there are times when they are lost, and ordinary people stumble upon them. Of course, they’re harmless in ordinary human hands.”

“So my mother just stumbled into it and passed it down to me without knowing what it was?”

“That’s right,” Evara said, resting her face on her hand.

“Angelica always liked to pass through obscure stores that seemed quite eccentric,” Ms. Hexa added. “She stumbled on it, and I figure it was harmless since humans can’t do anything with them. I’m sorry, Rey. It wasn’t my intention to put you in such a dangerous situation.”

“So it was just dumb luck, huh,” I thought, feeling disappointed in the outcome. Something in me had hoped I wasn’t just a normal, boring, teenage boy.

“It’s alright, Nanna,” I said, calling her by her first name, something I rarely did. I smiled at her, I couldn’t hold it against her, and I’m sure she had her reason for not telling me or taking it away from me. But now it was different, I knew.

“Did the necklace have anything to do with her death?” I asked, curious about her death, Something I rarely thought about, since I was told she was sick, but did this thing have anything to do with her sickness. Remembering that dream of mine, and those red eyes.

“No,” Ms. Hexa said, her eyes were serious, as serious as I have ever seen her.

“Angelica was unfortunately sick before you were born, Rey.”

“I see,” I said. Being glad that she didn’t get killed in some supernatural way. Ms. Serpin’s fangs lingering in my mind.

“Here,” I said, taking the necklace off, every fiber in my body was telling me not to do what I was about to do. This necklace was the only thing I had of my mother, the only thing that made me feel like she was still with me, and now I was willingly parting ways with it.

“Rey…” Ms. Hexa said, looking at me.

“It was—” Ms. Hexa stopped as Evara got up from her seat. She looked quite small. If I didn’t know that she was some witch or heard her, I would think she was nothing more than some middle school child. She looked at me. Despite the scar running down her right eye, she looked very normal, and not at all like a witch, well at least not like Ms. Serpin anyway.

“I guess some witches look very normal, and not like monsters.”

“Rey,” she said, placing her hand on top of mine, which I noticed had on a bracelet that looked like the silver one covering her neck. “You should treasure your things more,” she closed my hand, with my mother’s necklace inside.

“Especially when it holds such value to you.”

She smiled at me. Her smile was warm, almost motherly, I looked at her and for a second she looked older and bigger, it was as if I was seeing a great wise witch in front of me.

“Could witches change their appearances, they must be able too since Ms. Serpin changed herself to that hideous snake creature.”

“But wouldn’t it be safer with you?” I replied, hating myself for it. Here she was, telling me to keep it, yet I was throwing it away—throwing away the last thing I had from my mother.

“It’s alright, “ she said.

“That witches memento is not powerful, the fact that you were attacked for it was nothing more than dumb luck if you will.”

“Dumb luck,” I thought

“Quite the dumb luck indeed.”

“Besides, you have two very powerful witches with you,” she said, trying to reassure me.

I looked at Ms. Hexa and Mikki.

“I-I…”

I held the necklace in my chest for a few seconds, being glad I still had it with me. But I also had another question.

“Why are you guys telling me this so willingly, wouldn’t it be better to take the necklace and, I don’t know, erase my memory?”

“Stop Rey , they are already letting you keep the necklace,”

Yet I couldn’t help but feel like the necklace really was safer with them. I was just a normal boy and not a witch to protect it. Even if it wasn’t powerful, what if another weak witch tried to get it.

“What if I lost it? I couldn’t forgive myself.”

“HAHAHAHA!” Evara said, letting out a laugh as she went back to her seat.

“Well, is not that we try to hide the truth,” Ms. Hexa said,

“Humans just aren’t prepare for something that would destroy their world view just yet,” Evara said,

“Sometimes is easier to just hide, but I don’t think is necessary to hide it from you, after all knowing about witches is not dangerous for a normal person. Is not like you can use spells. And witches don’t really attack normal humans, we have laws against ”

“Laws,” I asked, curious to find more about this new world I was being let into.

“Yes , laws,” Evara said,

“But not all witches follow those laws it seems, especially for some magical items,” I said, not meaning to.

“Not necessarily. It’s much easier to just steal the item than to attack the person that has it, since attacking a normal human attracts certain witches, but some witches are just careless, that’s all. ”

“But you’re not in any danger,’ Ms. Hexa said,

“You’re safe. Most witches mementos aren’t that powerful enough to attract a witch’s attention, let alone battle other witches for it, they’re mostly sentimental artifacts for witches. ”

I looked at her, is not that I didn’t believe her, but I couldn’t help and think about Ms. Serpin and her snake head coming my way. What if another stronger witch decided to come for my necklace? For sentimental reason instead .

“All this talking sure has made me hungry,” Evara said, smiling at me. Her smile almost felt like she was telling me that everything was going to be fine.

“Mikki, dear, would you be so kind and go to the store and buy some ingredients? Mama has just the feast for Master,” Ms. Hexa said, smiling at us, as she put her hand on her cheek.

“Sure,” Mikki said, getting up from her seat.

“Rey, would you be so kind as to accompany such a beauty?” Evara said, winking at me.

“Y-Yea, of course,” I said as I got up from my seat, I felt like there was something they weren’t telling me, but I figured it was okay for now. I would know more sooner or later, considering I was carrying my mother’s necklace, or a witches memento as they were called.

***

The walk toward the store was filled with an awkward silenced that I didn’t like.

I looked at Mikki as we walked toward the store that was a few blocks from our house. She would glanced at me for a brief second then look away. There was something on her mind. I could feel it. I don’t think I did anything wrong, or did I? Was she angry at me for something I did ? Did I show her something I wasn’t supposed to? I mean, what else could it be?

“Is everything alright?” I asked, but knowing her, she probably wouldn’t tell me right away. Every time she had something on her mind, it took a struggle to get her to tell me. She had been like this since we were kids. Of course, whenever I did something she didn’t approve of, she wasn’t shy about letting me know.

“It’s fine,” she said, but I could see that it wasn’t. Our walk to the store was filled with a silence that seemed to occupy the distance between us in this moment.

“I’m sorry….”

‘We’re here,” she said, stopping my apology.

“Ah! Hello, Rey, Mikki,” the store owner said as we entered it. It was a small store, but surprisingly it had everything we needed.

“Hi, Mr. Dan,” I said, greeting him.

He had messy brown hair and a store clerk apron covering his big, round belly. He looked like some big teddy bear.

“I’ll get the stuff we need, “ Mikki said as she went by herself. I knew me going was futile. I guess she wanted to be alone.

“Is everything alright?” Mr. Dan asked.

“Yea,” I said. I couldn’t tell Mr. Dan about witches, though I did wonder what he would say if he knew about them.

“You know,” Mr. Dan said, no doubt sensing something going on between Mikki and I , perhaps it was the fact he had been married to his wife for almost twenty years now that he had a good sense when it came to women.

“When a woman has something on her mind is better to dig for it, or else it just hides away, and that’s no good,” he said, smiling at me.

“You got everything you need ?”

“Yes,” Mikki answered, her voice cold and distant.

“Having a party, aren’t we?” he said, smiling at us.

“Something like that,” I answered.

“Take care now,” Mr. Dan said, waving at us goodbye as we exit his store.

“You too,” I said.

As we walked back home, I couldn’t help but glance around at the people who passed us by, wondering if there were any witches. Now that I knew that my mother’s necklace was, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was another witch crazy enough to try to get it. I was beginning to be paranoid about everyone that passed us by. Which was fine, I guess; after all, I chose to keep it. And if I had to be a little bit on alert, so be it. As long as I still had her close to my heart, I could put up with it.

“There are no witches here,” Mikki said, no doubt sensing my paranoia. Perhaps it was a witch’s intuition or something.

“Are you sure?” I asked. It’s not that I didn’t trust her. I mean, she was a witch, so she had powers I couldn’t fathom. It’s just that…

“I was being silly,” I thought, she knew more about this world than me, so if she said that it was fine, it probably was fine.

“You know-“ she tried to say something but stopped herself and silence took its place again.

I couldn’t take any more of this. I had to do something,

“Mikki,” I said, grabbing her hand. Her being weird right now made me more worried than some witch hiding and waiting to snatch my necklace.

“R-Rey,” she said, taken aback by it.

“Look,” I said, pointing toward the park entrance of the park that was next to our house, and running toward it.

The park was mostly empty except for a few mothers walking their kids.

You remember how to swing, don’t you?” I said, spotting a pair of swing sets, which were all too familiar to me.

“Of course,” she answered.

“Loser has to do what the winner says.”

“You’re on.”

She put the bags on the side of the swings and sat on the black swing next to me.

“Whoever swings the highest wins,” I said, smiling at her.

“Deal,” she said, her green eyes had a determined look to it that felt all too familiar, which I was glad for, she was beginning to return back to the normal Mikki I knew.

“Ready set go,” I said as I began to pull and push my body back and forth, adding momentum to my swing. The higher I went, the more I felt like a bird soaring through the sky, which made me remember why I always liked to come here as a kid.

“You’re going to lose,” she said, swinging as high as possible.

“We’ll see,” I said as I let the momentum of my swings carry me higher and higher.

“Hey, no fair,” she said, laughing. And for a brief moment, we were back to when we were kids, swinging without a care in the world, just trying to get as close as possible to the blue sky before us.

“Remember when you found me here,” I said, looking up at the sky, as the swings began to slow down.

“It was the first time you came to our house. Mom was worried about you, and I went to look for you and found you here at this park, swinging like a madman,” she said, smiling at me. “You were a weird kid.”

“I guess I was,” I said, chuckling.

“How come you always liked to come here to this park when you were a kid?”

“I don’t know? “I said, glancing at the mom getting ready to leave with her kid.

“Something about swinging as high as I could kind of gave me a sense of freedom, I guess. Perhaps I just wanted to be free as a bird and search.”

“For home,” she said, finishing my sentence. There was sadness in her words I noticed.

“And I found it,” I said, smiling at her.

“Can you remember anything before you came to live with us?”

“Sadly no,” I said. “It’s like my mind has no recollection of that time. It almost feels like I didn’t even exist.

“Well you did,” she said, smiling at me,

“You were always together with your mom, you were a shy kid.”

“Was I,” I said, looking at the sky.

Yet, I couldn’t help but recall that strange dream. Did it have anything to do with my childhood. I childhood I hardly remembered.

I wondered, but for now, I brushed that thought aside. Perhaps me finding out about witches was fate or something.

“Well, regardless,” she said, looking at me, “I’m glad I met you eight years ago.”

“Me too,” I said. It had been eight years since I came to live with Mikki and Nanna, and I was glad I did. I felt at home with them. They were my family now.

“You know,” she said, looking at the bright blue sky. “Not all witches use their gifts to hurt people.”

She glanced at me, her green eyes had a seriousness in them that I had never seen from her before, I mean, she was always serious, but this was different.

“Is that what has been bothering you?”

“You might think it is silly, but it gets to me whenever a witch uses her power to hurt a normal person. Especially someone very… “

She looked at me, and in that moment, she had a certain vulnerability I had never seen before.

“I would never think of you as silly,” I said, looking at her.

“Prudish at times,” I teasingly added.

“But never silly.”

She glanced at her hands, almost as if she was waiting for something to come out of them.

“Is just that we have these gifts and to abuse them by causing harm to people is just wrong. Especially when those people can’t protect themselves from these gifts.”

I guess It made sense for her to feel that way. After all, it seemed that this whole magical power thing was something only a few people could do. So I could understand why she felt that way.

“So,” I said.

“What kind of spells can you do?”

I was curious to know what a witch could do. I’ve seen shows and read a few stories about witches, but nothing could prepare you for the real thing. And truthfully, it still felt surreal to think they were real. It wasn’t every day you got to see real magic.

“Just a few, ” she said, getting up from the swing.

“ Since you’ve always wanted to fly like a bird, why don’t I help you.”

“Please don’t turn me into a bird,” I said, half-jokingly and half series.

She looked at me and let out a chuckle.

“Don’t worry I won’t, yet.”

She brought her hands together and began to say some incantation in a language I didn’t understand, making her hands and body glow.

“I summon thee!” she said, and a magic circle appeared before her; it had strange writings like those in animation shows and games I had watched and played, but this was different. This was real and not fake.

“Come forth and here my words,” she said, and a black broom felt from the sky and right into her hand.

“Since you’ve always wanted to touch the sky as a kid, why don’t I bring you closer to it.”

She put the broom between her legs.

“Come, it’ll be fun,” she said.

I walked toward her. My curiosity was stronger than the hesitation I had of the broom. I put my legs over the broom, ready to ride it like you will a horse. A flying wooden horse.

“Hold on,” she said, and the broom began to levitate from the floor, and the next thing I knew, we were floating a few inches from the ground.

“W-Wait,” I said, closing my eyes and grabbing onto her as fast as possible.

“Soft,” I said, feeling something quite magical.

I heard a soft cry,

“R-Rey,” I opened my eyes.

“S-Sorry,” I said, letting go of them.

“Just put your arms around my waist,” she said.

“O-okay,” I said, doing what she told me. Her waist was slim and soft, yet it had a firmness to it, and if any of the boys from school saw us they will truly despise my very existence.

“Hold on,” she said, and we shot up into the air in the blink of an eye. I closed my eyes as the wind brushed against my hair, hitting my face.

“You can open your eyes,” she said, and I did.

“Beautiful,” I said, as I took in the scenery she had given me.

We were hovering over the city like some flying saucer, or in our case, a flying broom.

“Hold on,” she said, speeding up. And as we flew all around the city like a couple of birds, I couldn’t help but feel free.

“THIS IS AMAZING! “ I yelled, feeling like some little kid. My face had the biggest grin ever.

“Magic truly is awesome?” I yelled as we flew all around the city.

“Hopefully, that experience replaces the bad one,” she said.

“Definitely,” I said with a big smile.

And as we flew without a care in the world, I could feel all my worries leave my body as the wind embraced us.

“Can they see us?” I said as I looked down at the people, wishing they could experience such a magical thing.

“No, I put a spell on my broom that hides us,” she said.

“Look.”

She pointed toward the sun set in front of us.

“Isn’t it beautiful.”

“Yea it is,” I said as we both looked at the sunset, yet for me, there was another more beautiful sight that the sunset.

“We shall probably start heading back,” she added,

“Yea,” I said, not wanting to end this magical experience, and wishing I was able to use magic, but for now, this was good enough.

“Hold on.”

The broom sped at a speed that no human made craft could, and as we got closer to our house I could see two figures outside.

“Welcome back,” Ms.. Hexa said as she stood by the door, with Evara next to her, making her look even more like some middle school kid.

“I see you guys had quite the fun experience,” Ms. Hexa said, as we both got off from Mikki’s broom.

“I figure he should have a good experience with magic to replace the bad one at school,” Mikki said.

“That’s not a bad idea at all,” Evara added,

“Magic is quite beautiful. Unfortunately, I can’t stay for dinner, it was nice to see you, Rey. ”

“It was nice meeting you too,” I said.

I still had a feeling deep inside of me that was telling me that my mother’s necklace, or the witches’ memento like they were called, would be much safer in her hands. But for now, I was just glad I could keep it, regardless of how long.

“Well, I better get going,” Evara said, taking a bottle from her long sleeves and spilling a liquid on the floor. She walked on it, and her body began to turn to liquid

‘See you later,” she said, as her body disappeared as the wind blew it away.

“Magic sure is awesome,” I thought.

Still wishing I could use it, but unfortunately, I was just an ordinary boy with a treasure to guard, and I was going to guard it with everything I had, with or without magic. I was ready to put even my life on the line for it.