Seven Year Witch

by Samantha Silver

  “We have a bigger issue than figuring out how Tina managed to cast a spell from inside a magic-free zone,” Ellie said, her mouth a grim line. The two of us looked up at her, and she motioned toward one of the television sets. My heart sunk. The TV cameras had captured the spell I cast and then focused in on my face.

  The face I had been trying to hide from the paranormal world as much as possible for fear that my biological father Titan might see it.

  And here it was, splashed on virtually every single TV screen in the paranormal world.

  “Well, that’s not good,” I said quietly.

  The three of us sat in silence for a while as we watched the television set. Eventually, the shot cut back to the present. Eli was making an announcement, that due to the nature of the threat, the ceremony announcing the winner of the overall competition would be moved to a date in the future, and that for safety reasons everyone was being asked to evacuate the stadium.

  I sat down in one of the chairs and buried my head in my hands. There was no way to avoid it. My face had been on every screen in the paranormal world tonight. If my biological father was still out there, there was no way he would continue to be in the dark about my existence. After all, I looked almost exactly like his other daughter. Anyone who had seen Karen would be able to see the resemblance.

  Ellie sat down next to me and placed a hand on my leg.

  “Hey, it’s going to be ok.”

  I looked up at her. “It’s not. It’s not going to be ok. The prophecy is true, isn’t it? My father is going to come back and find me now. I did my best to hide, but it wasn’t enough.”

  “You never know,” Ellie said. “The prophecy might still be bunk. It’s very possible your father died all those years ago. It might just be a coincidence that your face ended up everywhere. Everyone might move on in a few days, and you’ll continue to live your life the way you always have.”

  “And even if that doesn’t happen, if by casting that spell and having your face plastered everywhere you do invite Titan into your life: do you regret doing it?” Amy asked. I thought about the question for a moment. I had cast the spell to save Sara’s life. Was there something else I could have done, something that wouldn’t have cast so much attention on me? No, I didn’t think there was.

  “I don’t regret it,” I answered. “I’m pretty sure Michael was going to kill Sara.”

  “He definitely was,” Ellie said. “You could see it written all over him. And it wouldn’t surprise me if he was the one who killed Diane, and Rosa.”

  I turned to Ellie. “Why do you say that?”

  “They’re all redheads,” she replied simply. “Why on earth he was killing redheads, I have no idea. I’m sure the authorities will get answers out of him sooner rather than later, though. Chief Enforcer King is probably already on her way over here to question him.”

  “He wasn’t on the list of people with access to the gym, though,” Amy said.

  “That’s because he worked there,” I said with a slow nod, understanding dawning upon me. “It was an employee of the gym, just not one that we had an eye on. And when I saw Diane’s body, she was dressed like she had been working out. I assumed that she had gone for a run along the trail when she was attacked, but she could have just as easily been killed at the gym, then Michael could have cast an invisibility spell to move her body to the woods and detract suspicion from himself.”

  Ellie shook her head slowly. “If he did kill all of those people, why? I mean, I met him a couple of times when he was dating Sara, and he didn’t seem like a bad guy.”

  “That’s the thing about killers, they often don’t,” I replied with a shrug. “I guess we’ll find out eventually why he did it.”

  I glanced over at the TV screen. They were now showing everybody leaving; the people in the friends and family section outside were all streaming past us as well.

  “I’m going to text Sara that we’re up here,” Ellie said. “I think we should wait until everyone leaves before we do, and as soon as we get outside, we need to cast an invisibility spell on Tina just in case.”

  Just as she sent the text, the door to the friends and family box opened, and Lita walked in. She made her way toward us, and my heart beat faster in my chest. Was I going to get in trouble for having used magic to save Sara in a place where magic wasn’t supposed to work? Had she figured out what coven I was from? Was she going to kick me out of the coven of Jupiter if she knew I was from the coven of Titan? I had no idea, and I couldn’t read the expression on her face at all.

  Finally, she spoke. “If your father is out there, he knows about you now.”

  The three of us stared at Lita, agape. “How do you know about Tina’s family?” Ellie asked, and Lita gave her a small smile.

  “I’m not an idiot. Here we have a member of the paranormal world who grew up in the human world and had no idea she was a witch, born right about the time the famous prophesized daughter of Titan should have been born, who’s from a coven of water and bears a suspicious resemblance to Karen Voda, Titan’s other daughter. Not to mention, the score that Tina received on the witches’ examination was that of a naturally very powerful witch. Although I am curious how long the four of you have known.”

  “Not very long, just a couple of months,” Amy admitted. “I’m really sorry we didn’t tell you. We felt that the fewer people knew, the lower the odds that Titan would find out about her. After all, she needs to grow as strong as she can if he’s going to come after her.”

  I groaned. “I made the prophecy come true by saving Sara, didn’t I? He wouldn’t have known I exist if I hadn’t cast that spell. But if I didn’t do it, Sara would have died.”

  “That’s right,” Lita said. “As far as I’m concerned, you absolutely made the right decision. I am curious as to how you managed to use magic inside the stadium when it’s not allowed.”

  “I don’t know,” I answered. “I really don’t.”

  “Alright. It must be the powerful magic that flows in your veins. We knew it was strong, but I don’t think any of us knew how strong.”

  “So what happens now?” I asked. “Am I kicked out of the coven? Do I have to leave Western Woods so I don’t draw Titan to the town?”

  “Goodness, of course not,” Lita said. “What on earth could have given you that idea? As far as I’m concerned, you’re a part of the coven of Jupiter for as long as you wish to be. You are one of us.”

  Tears of gratefulness sprang to my eyes, and I felt like a giant weight had just been lifted from my shoulders. “You have no idea how much that means to me,” I said.

  “However, we will be taking some precautions, because I think it is likely that at some point in the future, Titan will attempt to find you. I will speak with Chief Enforcer King and make sure that security is beefed up at all of the portals, and we will add some more wards in town to prevent him from entering the city. I don’t want to drive you to panic, but I think at some point, it is likely that he will arrive.”

  I swallowed hard and nodded. Any chance I had of hiding my existence from my biological father was gone now. The only hope I had was that he had actually died all of those years ago, and that the prophecy was bunk. But the more events happened, the less and less likely I thought that was. After all, I had tried my absolute hardest to stay out of the limelight, and the universe had still resulted in my face being splashed on every single screen in the paranormal world. What if this really was what I was fated for?

  A moment later, Sara rushed into the room. She immediately made her way over to me and took me into a huge hug.

  “I’m so glad you’re ok,” she said into my ear. “Thank you for saving my life.”

  “I’m glad you’re ok, champ,” I said, pulling away and grinning at her. “You absolutely destroyed the competition.”

  “Well, I did my best. When I saw the lava, I knew what spell to use, and I just willed it to work, and it did.”

  “And what a great effect it had,” Am
y said with a grin. “Congratulations. You’re officially the best broom rider in the paranormal world.”

  Sara did an exaggerated bow but when she came back up, her face was serious. “You guys have to tell me everything, though,” she said. “Why did Michael try to kill me? How did Tina manage to use the magic? Why is Lita here? What’s going on?”

  “They will tell you everything, but now I think it’s time for all of you to head home,” Lita said. “I will be meeting with the heads of some other covens, and as soon as I have any news for you, I will tell you.”

  The four of us did as Lita ordered, with Amy casting an invisibility spell on me the instant we left the stadium, and she didn’t undo it until we got home. I had a feeling my life was about to be very, very different.

  Chapter 22

  “If you don’t want to come to work today, I’ll understand,” Ellie said the next morning.

  “I can always pitch in, now that I don’t have a job,” Sara said with a grin, but I shook my head.

  “Thanks, guys, but I think trying to keep everything as normal as possible is the best way for me to go at this point. I definitely want to go to work and pretend none of this is happening.”

  “Denial is definitely a good way to go,” Ellie said with a nod. “That said, if your father comes into the bakery, I’m running out the back door. No way I want to end up near the most dangerous wizard to have ever lived.”

  “Well, thanks for the support,” I laughed. “Good to know you have my back.”

  “I’m going to come in and help with what I can anyway,” Sara said. “Even if it’s just sitting in a corner signing autographs, if it brings people into the bakery, well, that’s a plus.”

  “Now that Michael’s been arrested, hopefully people will start coming back of their own volition,” I said. “I know we haven’t heard anything official yet, but I still think he probably killed Rosa as well.”

  “I’ll be working today, so I’ll let you know tonight if I hear anything,” Amy said, passing around a potion. None of us had really gotten much sleep the night before, which was why we were all awake and eating breakfast even though it was just after four in the morning. Ellie was going to have to go to the bakery soon and put all the dough she had made the day before in the oven so the goods would be ready to sell in a few hours. Luckily, Amy seemed to have a constant supply of energy potion, so the four of us were surviving on that, and a few minutes later we left—Amy to go work at coven headquarters, and the rest of us to the bakery so we could help Ellie set up.

  Ellie got me to roll out the dough and cut out sugar cookie shapes and put them in the oven—I learned that frozen dough kept its shape better than room-temperature dough, so the best way to have a cookie keep its shape was to use a cooling spell on it right before baking—and before I knew it, seven o’clock rolled around and it was time to open.

  Sara had been invited by Lucy to sit next to her where there was plenty of counter space for her to sign autographs, and the two witches were happily chatting away as the first customers came into the store.

  The topic on everyone’s tongues was obviously the previous night’s events. Every single person who came in stopped by Lucy’s table to congratulate Sara and shake her hand, and she happily signed autographs for anyone who wanted one, answering questions and just generally being an all-around fantastic witch.

  When they came to the counter, everyone wanted to know how I had managed to cast the spell.

  “I don’t know,” I would always answer with a shrug. “I just knew that Sara was in danger, and I tried to channel all of my energy into saving her.”

  “I always knew that Michael was a bad egg,” one person would say.

  “Who would have thought that a wizard like that could be a murderer?”

  “And to think he’s the one who taught me how to do deadlifts.”

  Throughout the morning, I learned almost everybody’s opinion of Sara, my magic skills, and Michael. We had quite a few more customers than before, and there was a bit of a morning rush, but I had a sneaking suspicion it had more to do with the fact that the local celebrity was in the building signing autographs than the fact that Michael had been arrested. After all, as far as anybody knew so far, he was only being held for the attempted murder of Sara and had nothing to do with Rosa’s death.

  Just after noon, however, I got confirmation of what I had suspected: Michael had killed Diane and Rosa.

  The day’s early rush had lulled when Lily Lynn came into the bakery.

  “Can I talk to you outside, in private?” she asked me. I nodded, poked my head into the kitchen at the back asking Ellie to cover for me for a few minutes, and made my way out into the street with Lily. The two of us began walking through the park, with Lily looking at the ground.

  “I wanted to say thank you,” she said. “Chief Enforcer King came to see me a couple of hours ago. It turns out Michael has admitted that he was the one who killed my sister. He poisoned her cinnamon bun while she was working out. He’s going to spend the rest of his life in prison.”

  “I’m glad you’re getting some closure,” I said earnestly. “I know it won’t bring your sister back, but I hope that knowing who did it will help you move forward.”

  “It will,” Lily said. “I also came to give you the reward for finding the killer.”

  “But I didn’t find him,” I said. “I had no idea it was Michael. He wasn’t even on my list of suspects. The only reason I managed to stop him was because he tried to kill Sara.”

  “And that’s good enough for me,” Lily said, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket. She handed it to me: it was a check, made out in my name, for the sum of two million abras. My jaw dropped. I had never seen this much money in my life, and I couldn’t imagine having it.

  “I can’t take this,” I said, handing the check back to Lily. “I didn’t find your sister’s killer. He revealed himself to everybody at once.”

  “But you’re the one who stopped him,” Lily said. “If it wasn’t for you, he probably would have managed to grab a broom and escape. It’s thanks to you that he’s in jail, so as far as I’m concerned, you’re the one who caught him and you deserve every last abra. Please, take it. It will make me feel better, knowing that the person who helped bring my sister’s killer to justice has it. And now, with my sister dead, I have a lot more than that. I really want you to have it.”

  I stared at the check. “Thank you,” I said. “I still don’t feel like I deserve it, but if it’s what you want, I’ll take it.”

  “Hopefully it will help you get settled in the paranormal world a little bit better as well. I’ve heard that you recently passed your witch’s exam. I suppose you’ll be trying to start a career soon. Hopefully this can keep you going while you choose what you’re going to study to make that career happen.”

  “I was thinking I want to become a Healer, but for animals,” I said to Lily. She tilted her head sideways and smiled.

  “That’s a good idea. It’s new; I’ve never heard of anything like that existing before. But I have a familiar, a little white cat, and I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to him. I know that Healers can help animals, but only as an afterthought. Yes, I think your plan is a good one, and I think you should try to do it. Lita will help you. If you ever need any help starting it, please come to me as well. Now that I’m in charge of the family fortune, I need to find things to invest in, and I think I want to invest in businesses and ideas that I truly believe in. I don’t know the details, but I very much believe in what you want to do.”

  “Thank you,” I said again, kind of taken aback by Lily’s words. She seemed to have a very good head on her shoulders, and I had a sneaking suspicion that the rather negative reputation of the Lynn family was going to disappear over time with her in charge of the fortune.

  “Now, I should let you get back to work. Assuming you’re going to go back, of course,” she said with a smile. “After all, I can imagine that you m
ight want to simply quit your job and live off that for a while.”

  I laughed. “Well, Ellie might pay terribly—I mostly get paid in cinnamon buns and cookies - but she’s one of my best friends and she’s helped support me through all this time that I’ve been in Western Woods, so the very least I can do is my best to help make her business a success.”

  “Good,” Lily said with a smile. “I’m sure it will be. Those cinnamon buns are something else, and with a support structure like Ellie obviously has from you and your friends, I’m sure she’s going to be successful.”

  I already knew one thing that I wanted to spend some of my newfound money on. I tucked the check into my pocket, thanked Lily again, and made my way back to The Witching Flour.

  Chapter 23

  That afternoon, Amy came in just after we closed, saying a quick hello to Lucy, who was on her way out, before grabbing a cinnamon bun and digging into it.

  “The information I have is totally worth a free one of these,” Amy said, and Ellie laughed.

  “Go for it,” she said. “Especially since they’re going to be sold at a discount tomorrow for being day-olds.”

  “I was at city hall today, and you won’t believe what I heard.”

  “Wait, why were you at city hall?” Ellie asked. “Didn’t you have to work today?”

  “Oh, yeah, I had something to do there,” Amy said, waving her hand away. “Anyway, back to the gossip.”

  “Hold on a second,” Sara said. “What’s going on with you lately? Is everything alright? I’ve seen you walking through town when you told us you were working as well. Something’s going on, and we need to know that you’re ok.”

  “I’m fine, you’re just imagining things,” Amy said, her face turning a little bit red.

  “No, she isn’t,” I added. “I went to coven headquarters one morning when you told us that was where you were going to be, and Estelle was working instead. And then another day you said you slept in, and you’ve never slept in a single day of your life. I agree with the others: what’s going on? Are you ok? You can tell us what it is, I promise.”