by Cassandra
The imp swayed on the spot as if he had been hypnotized. “I am a cat,” he murmured.
Jessica stared at him and held her breath.
A few seconds later, Frank the imp dropped onto all fours. “Meow!” he called and rubbed against Jessica’s leg.
It had worked. She couldn’t believe it had actually worked. This magic stuff was easier than she thought.
Somewhat, anyway. He still looked like an imp, even if he acted like a cat. Still, it was her first attempt at a convincing spell. She was pretty damned impressed with herself.
I probably should have said, “Turn into a cat,” she thought.
Frank licked his hand and then spun around in circles. It suddenly occurred to Jessica that she hadn’t taken any photos of the pages that explained how to reverse the spell. She hadn’t even thought about that until now. There she was with an imp curled at the foot of her bed who thought he was a cat.
How long do convincing spells last? she wondered. She now felt a little disappointed. Once again, she had been shortsighted and hadn’t fully thought things through.
Maybe magic wasn’t so easy after all.
“Uhm, Frank?” She poked him gently.
He hissed at her, leapt off the bed, and landed far clumsier than a real cat ever would. He began to walk circles around the carpet until he found a suitable spot, lay down, and prepared to go to sleep.
Jessica stood and locked her bedroom door. The last thing she wanted was for her grandmother to enter her room and find an imp sleeping on the floor. She didn’t know what else to do, so she got back into bed. Maybe Frank would sleep the spell off. Hopefully, in the morning, he would remember that he was an imp and not a cat.
Chapter Eleven
As she knew it would, the morning came entirely too fast for Jessica. She opened her eyes and groaned. Without a doubt, she hated that particular Monday morning more than every demon she had ever encountered.
It took every ounce of her strength to sit and swing her legs out of bed. After rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she blinked until her vision cleared. She gasped and clutched her chest as she focused on the imp. Once again, she had forgotten about him. When she saw him curled in the middle of the carpet, sleeping peacefully, last night came rushing back to her in its entirety.
Frank, still thought he was a cat. The spell clearly hadn’t worn off overnight, if she could judge by the position he was currently in.
Jessica swore internally. She needed to find a way to reverse the spell the first chance she got. She didn’t look forward to hearing his complaints once he realized what she had done to him and really couldn’t blame him. If he truly was her familiar, she really had to start treating him better.
Perhaps sensing her looking at him, he opened his eyes slowly and stretched as luxuriously as any real cat. He gave her a good and hearty meow, which Jessica could only assume was a good-morning greeting.
“Shh!” she hissed, not wanting to be overheard. She immediately realized that was absurd. There were so many cats crawling around the house that one misplaced meow would hardly raise any eyebrows.
Unless, as an imp, his “meow” sounded a little off. Would the other cats notice? Would Grandma Ethel notice?
The clock was ticking. There was nothing she could do about Frank now. With a sigh, she moved carefully around him and headed to the bathroom for a shower. She remembered to shut the door behind her and wondered when she would be able to get hold of her grandma’s spell book again. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take too long for the opportunity to present itself.
In the meantime, Frank would have to stay in her room.
“Morning, Grandma,” Jessica said cheerfully as she entered the kitchen dressed and ready for school.
The old lady looked up from the stove where she cooked breakfast. “Good morning, doll. It looks like you slept in a bit today. Do you still have time for breakfast?”
She breathed in the delicious aroma of potatoes, eggs, and bacon that her grandmother was whipping up. Her stomach growled. “There’s always time for breakfast when you’re cooking it, Grandma.”
She pulled a glass from the cabinet and poured herself some orange juice. Idly, she watched her grandmother do a little dance as she flipped the eggs. For one reason or another, Ethel was clearly in good spirits. She wondered if that would equate to a talkative mood.
Even though she had plenty to worry about—including, but not limited to, her imp predicament, Kacey, joining the church as a demon hunter, going to a witch academy, and how she felt about being a witch, to begin with—another thing had bounced around in her head all morning.
Ever since she’d met Maximus and heard the stories from the other old ladies, Jessica had wondered why her grandmother had left the coven. The old lady was clearly a valued member of the community and someone who still garnered great respect. So what happened? She took a seat at the kitchen table when Ethel set down a plate for her.
“Grandma?” she said tentatively as she tried to figure out the best way to raise the subject.
“Uh oh. The tone of your voice sounds like trouble. And here I was, waking up on the good side of the bed. What is it, child?” Ethel asked while she rummaged through the cabinets for cat food.
“It’s not trouble. I wondered about something, that’s all.”
“Wondering about something you probably have no business wondering about, I take it.”
Jessica took a bite of bacon. She recognized her grandma’s feisty mood and knew that if she didn’t go ahead and say what she wanted to say, she would chicken out and never say it.
“Grandma, why did you leave the coven?”
“Because I had other things to do.”
“Other things to do? Or do you mean people you wanted to get away from?” Jessica asked tentatively. “Like Maximus?”
Grandma Ethel dropped the cat food and put her hands on her hips. “You think I let a man run me away from something I love?”
Jessica swallowed nervously. “I’m sorry. But why, Grandma? I don’t understand. The coven thinks so highly of you. And if it was something you loved, why leave?”
Ethel’s fiery expression melted. She put the cat food away and dusted her hands off. Cats filed into the kitchen for their breakfast but she walked around them and sat across the table from her granddaughter. She removed her glasses carefully and cleaned them on her blouse. “You really want to know, huh?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I’m trying to understand you better, Grandma. Everyone has told me how amazing and talented you were.”
“I still am, dear.”
“I know. But that’s not an answer. Sometimes, I’d like the truth from you.”
“I left the coven,” Ethel divulged, “because your mother didn’t want to be a witch.”
Her words hung heavily in the air. Jessica looked across the table at her grandmother in silence and let the words sink in.
What had happened was because of her mother? Somehow, she hadn’t expected that. The idea made her suddenly very sad.
“You gave up the coven for my mother?” She frowned. There she was, having the struggle of her life trying to determine how involved she wanted to be in the magical world, while her mother had seemingly given it up so easily. “I don’t get it. What does she have against being a witch? Why does she think it’s so bad?”
“Your mother has her reasons, Jessica. I’m sure she will tell you if you ask.”
Jessica thought about trying to have a heart-to-heart like this with her mother. The simple thoughts of “mother” and “heart-to-heart” clashed in her mind, but she supposed it was something she would have to do someday if she wanted answers.
“Can you tell me one thing? Why did her reasons become your reasons? What did my mother not wanting to be a witch have to do with you leaving the coven?”
Grandma Ethel smiled, although there was still an air of sadness about her. “It’s probably hard for you to understand at your age. But when you’re older—and if you hav
e children of your own someday—you’ll understand. Parents will do anything for their children. There’s really no other way to put it.”
The old lady stared off into the distance, lost in the past. At that moment, Jessica could see as plain as day how much her grandma had loved being in the coven. Whatever the issue with her mother was, it had obviously been something serious. Grandma Ethel was never the type to let others dictate her actions. The fact that Theresa had altered her life so drastically spoke volumes.
“Why don’t you go back?” she asked. “I mean, how long has it been since my mom gave up being a witch? Surely whatever the problem was then isn’t an issue now.”
Grandma Ethel laughed and sounded a little more like her regular self. “Oh, honey. I’m an old woman now. I’d rather they remember me in my glory days. Back when I was young and beautiful and fearless—before I became an old crazy cat lady.”
Jessica smiled. Although she hadn’t known her grandmother in those days, she could imagine how vivacious she must have been. “What kind of things did you do in those days, Grandma?”
“Things you don’t have time to hear about.” Grandma Ethel laughed again. “Girl, me and Max? Those demons never stood a chance against us, like my knitting buddies told you. I don’t like to toot my own horn, but nothing they said was an exaggeration.”
She turned back to her breakfast, which was rapidly getting cold. For the first time, she wondered if demon hunting skills were hereditary. Was it possible that there was more to her than sheer dumb luck? Maybe, just maybe, demons constantly wound up dead at her feet because she had the blood of Ethel Libbons running through her veins. Perhaps Pastor Norman had a point when he mentioned how good she could be if she had some formal training under her belt.
“Will you teach me?” she blurted.
“Teach you what?”
“How to be a demon hunter. How to be as good as you were.”
“You’ve already exceeded expectations in that area,” Ethel replied. “Besides, you need basic witch training before you dive into demon hunting. And before you get basic witch training?” The old woman twisted to look at the clock on the wall. “You need to get your butt to school, or it’ll be your mother hunting you, and me too.”
Jessica looked at the clock and her heart skipped a beat as she groaned. She’d been so engrossed talking to her grandmother that time had skated by. “I’ll be late. Just how good of a witch are you, Grandma? Can you turn back time?”
“Now that is a question I’m not even going to entertain, young lady.” She stood from her chair. “Get a move on, girly,” she ordered as she left the kitchen.
She shoveled the rest of her food into her mouth and finished her breakfast so quickly that she was sure to get indigestion. When she was about to head out, the sight of various cats hanging about the dining room reminded her of Frank. The imp still in her room and he thought he was a cat. He was bound to get hungry sooner or later, and the last thing she needed was for him to venture out in search of food.
Quickly, she glanced around. Grandma Ethel was nowhere in sight. She pulled a can of cat food hastily from the cabinet, filled an empty bowl with water, and rushed upstairs.
“Frank?” she whispered and closed the door quietly behind her.
The imp looked at her from where he rested at the foot of her bed.
“Here you go.” She set out the food and water.
He leapt off the bed, gave what she assumed was an appreciative meow, and momentarily rubbed his skinny body against her ankles.
Jessica stared at him awkwardly. For a brief moment, she felt compelled to scratch him behind the ears. Then she reminded herself that he was an imp, not a cat.
As she watched him lap the water like a cat would do, she vowed to somehow get her hands on her grandmother’s book once she got home. She couldn’t hide a confused imp in her room forever, especially not right under Grandma Ethel’s nose.
For now, she was late for school. Everything else would have to wait.
Chapter Twelve
Jessica dashed down the halls of Bishop Fenwick High School. As luck would have it, all class schedules had been changed for the day due to some vague faculty issue, so Ms. Mitchell’s class was now first for her instead of last. The woman wasn’t the teacher she wanted to see first thing in the morning. She was the teacher who had issued the detention Jessica had skipped and now, she would be late to her class.
She groaned when she saw the door to the classroom was already closed. Class had already begun. That meant there was no way she could sneak inside unnoticed.
Desperation reminded her of how the convincing spell had worked on the imp. Now was her chance to see whether she actually knew what she was doing or whether she had simply been lucky.
After a moment to catch her breath, she opened the door to the classroom. Immediately, all eyes turned toward her. Her face burned red, but she kept her gaze firmly fixed on the front of the room and on Ms. Mitchell. She was determined not to lose her nerve.
Jessica Palmers is not late to class. Jessica Palmers is not late to class. Jessica Palmers is not late to class. She let the chant fill her brain as she looked her teacher right in the eyes.
“Ms. Palmers, so nice of you to finally join us,” Ms. Mitchell reprimanded. She pushed her glasses up on her nose in an agitated gesture. “I guess it’s asking too much for you to actually be here when class starts—”
Her voice cut off abruptly as Jessica whispered the chant out loud. She was somewhat surprised to see her teacher’s expression cloud over in mid-rant.
Jessica froze for a moment, trying to determine whether the spell had worked. Then, she was keenly aware of the rest of the class. They all stared at her and obviously tried to figure out what was going on. She backed away from Ms. Mitchell slowly but maintained eye contact with her.
Finally, she broke eye contact and hurried to her seat. She was intensely aware that Ms. Mitchell still stared at her, as did everyone else in the class but tried to ignore them as best she could. Chad was not there, she noted with some disappointment. Out of everyone she knew in the magical world, she had decided he would be the most receptive to her imp predicament. Unfortunately, as he was absent, that wouldn’t be an option.
On the bright side, Debbie, Patricia, and Marie weren’t in class either. Jessica hadn’t been too keen to see them after the way they had looked at her and Kacey at the movie theater. Plus, there was no doubt in her mind that if they had witnessed the transaction between her and Ms. Mitchell, they would have known precisely what Jessica was up to.
Honestly, any day that Jessica didn’t have to put up with those three witches was a win in her book.
“Jessica,” Ms. Mitchell began in a low voice.
she looked up, startled.
“Where were you on Saturday? You missed your detention.”
Jessica’s mouth dropped open. Was the woman really going to have this conversation right here, right now, in front of everyone?
“I… I… Something…” she stammered. She had no idea how to respond.
“Save your excuses, especially since you seem to have such a hard time coming up with one in the first place. But know that you will now have detention every day after school for the next two weeks. I really don’t know what’s gotten into you, Jessica. You’ve always been a model student. And now this? You’ve picked the absolute worst time to slack off. Do you have any idea how important this year is? It determines your future, Jessica. It determines what colleges you can go to. What career you can have. Do you want to mess all of that up?”
Jessica wanted to sink into her seat. Forget convincing spells, what she needed right now was a disappearing spell. An invisibility spell. Perhaps there was something in Grandma Ethel’s book about that. It was now at the top of the list of things she wanted to learn as soon as possible.
“Jessica! Are you even paying attention? Do you hear me talking to you?” Ms. Mitchell snapped.
She sighed and wondere
d what the heck had gotten into her teacher. Surely she could have told her off in private rather than wasting her so-called precious class time. Unless she enjoyed some kind of twisted pleasure in embarrassing Jessica in front of the whole class, which might very well have been the case. Teachers certainly could be demented sometimes.
“I said, do you hear me?”
“Yes, Ms. Mitchell,” Jessica answered once she realized the crazed woman was actually waiting for a response.
“Good. Because there’s nothing but hard work ahead from here on out. And that goes for all of you.”
At this, the entire class groaned.
Jessica slumped in her seat. She knew all too well how accurate Ms. Mitchell’s words were. For her in particular, things were about to become exceptionally hard. Not only did she need to earn back her 3.9 GPA, but she also needed to maintain it alongside mastering the art of witchcraft. All while spending every afternoon in detention.
With a heavy sigh, she pulled her book out and looked at the student next to her. “What page are we on?”
The school day went by with excruciating slowness. To make matters worse, the slow drag of time was accompanied by a healthy dose of confusion due to the altered schedules. The day seemed like it would never end, and Jessica had constantly shown up to the wrong class.
The one bright spot of the day came after lunch when she saw that multiple physics classes had been joined together for group experiments. They met in one of the larger, rarely used classrooms. She stepped in to find Ashley and Sara grinning and eagerly waving her over. Eric sat beside them, smiling but not looking quite as eager as the girls. She was simply happy to see some friendly faces, made her way to them, and pulled up a chair.
“Hey, Jess,” Eric greeted her.
“Tell us everything,” Sara shouted without giving Jessica a chance to return his greeting.