The Witch Born to Ignite

by Tanya Milne

  I snatched his water bottle and drank quickly.

  ‘Easy, tiger,’ he said, a laugh in his voice.

  I passed him back his near-empty bottle. ‘Thanks.’

  ‘Don’t mention it.’ Jet took off his jacket and tried to pass it to me.

  ‘I’m okay,’ I said.

  ‘Really?’

  I realised that my heat had seeped from my body into the cool air, leaving me cold, so cold. I wrapped my arms around myself, but couldn’t stop shaking.

  Jet came closer and I moved backwards.

  ‘I don’t bite,’ he said, stepping forward quickly and placing his leather jacket around me, instantly warming me.

  ‘Thanks,’ I said, unable to keep the waver from my voice. ‘Quite the gentleman.’

  ‘Don’t push your luck, missy,’ he said, taking my hand. ‘Come on, I know these woods like the back of my hand. Let me take you home.’

  His hand felt large and coarse in mine, and I could tell he was someone who worked with his hands. Part of me wanted to pull away, make sure he didn’t get the wrong idea. But another part, a bigger part, felt comforted in a way I didn’t expect to feel, and so I left my hand where it was and stopped thinking and worrying and let myself be led into the woods.

  The lights from the town were faint at first, but slowly they grew brighter until we were near the edge of the clearing.

  We’d walked silently, closely and strangely in sync through the woods. But as we came closer to the lights, my thoughts turned from being lost and alone to who else may have seen my witch’s mark – and who may be waiting for us when we arrived back in town.

  We were out past our curfew and by now, my parents would be worried and may have even reported me missing. The police may be out, looking for me – looking for the witch who’d raised the witch’s mark.

  Suddenly Jet stopped and took hold of my other hand so that we were close, too close. I tried to pull away, but he held me tighter.

  ‘Let me go, Jet,’ I said. ‘I need to get home.’

  ‘Just give me a minute, please.’

  There was something in his voice that I’d only glimpsed before, and it took me a moment to realise what it was. This was the real Jet – the exposed, raw Jet.

  ‘A minute,’ I said quietly, wishing my traitorous heart hadn’t started to beat like a drum in my chest.

  ‘I wanted to ask you, will you save a dance for me on Friday?’

  I had to stop myself from laughing, but I couldn’t quite hide my grin.

  ‘What’s so funny?’ he said, hurt edging his voice.

  ‘Sorry, I was…’ I started to laugh. ‘I just…’

  He waited until I’d stopped laughing. ‘Finished now?’

  I giggled again.

  ‘Eva,’ he said as though talking to a small child. ‘You really are infuriating, you know.’

  ‘Sorry, sorry, I’m just trying to picture us dancing.’

  He raised his eyebrow and a smile spread across his face, making him look younger and completely different.

  ‘Yes, okay, I’ll dance with you,’ I said.

  He jolted forward as though something completely unexpected had happened to him.

  ‘I wouldn’t miss the chance to see you dance,’ I said.

  ‘I can live with that,’ he said. ‘There’s just one condition.’

  I groaned. ‘What?’

  ‘I choose the dance, and you need to stop whatever you’re doing and dance with me, and only with me.’

  My eyebrows pulled together. ‘You should know that I don’t really dance, but okay.’

  ‘Good, that’s settled. Now, we need to get you home without anyone seeing you,’ he said, tapping his chin. ‘Come with me.’

  He let go of one of my hands and gently pulled me forward again, leading me slowly towards the light of the small town whose heart was shadowed with darkness.

  When we came out of the clearing, I looked around, not recognising where we were.

  ‘Stop your gawking, Eva, and move it,’ said Jet quietly from beside me.

  ‘Where are we?’

  ‘There’s more than one way to get in and out of the woods. Less eyes out here.’

  I started walking, quickly now, looking around at the wide empty space, suddenly wishing for the cover of trees.

  ‘What is this place?’ I whispered.

  ‘It was supposed to be a housing estate, but the money ran out and now it’s just–’

  ‘A sad and creepy part of the world.’

  ‘Correct, but luckily for us, no one ever comes here.’

  We continued on in the silence, which now felt heavy somehow, as though there was a sadness in this place that had once been promised life, but got its heart broken instead.

  After a while we neared the town, where the lights seemed so bright after the darkness and the few cars that drove around sounded loud in my ears.

  ‘I think you should go in the back way,’ said Jet. ‘The police are probably still out front.’

  ‘Quite the expert on my house, aren’t you?’ I said, harsher than intended.

  ‘Someone has to keep an eye on you, missy. Hate to think of what might have happened to you in there with some witch on the loose.’

  Every muscle in my body tensed. ‘You really think there’s a witch?’

  ‘No question about that. The only question is who.’

  My face burned, and I was glad to be under the cover of darkness.

  We finally reached the edge of a street that I was familiar with, not far from my place. ‘You should go,’ I whispered. ‘I can make it from here.’

  Jet rolled his eyes. ‘And miss walking you to your door? Not a chance.’

  ‘Back door,’ I said, clutching his hand a little tighter as we started down the street.

  A few automatic lights from nearby houses came on as we passed, but we made it most of the way down the street before a car – a black police car – the special police car – pulled in. We dived behind the nearest tree, our bodies pressed together. It sped towards us, its spotlight on, lighting up everything in its path.

  My heart thumped and Jet put his arms around me, pulled me close as the car approached. Then, as it was upon us, we moved around the tree and the spotlight missed us by a sliver. We were left breathless in the dark.

  Jet gazed down at me, and rather than looking petrified as I knew I did, he was alive and there was something else too, something raw and primal and before I knew it, his lips were on mine.

  His lips were like fire, and they melted away all my inhibitions. His hands reached for the small of my back and pulled me even closer. I felt disconnected from all sense of time and space, and the only things left were him and me. His lips were coarse and demanding. I responded, and I kissed him in a way that was not tender or sweet, but hungry and wanting.

  He pulled back to look at me, his eyes glistening in the darkness. That’s when I came back into my body.

  What. Have. I. Done.

  I pulled away, took a step backwards.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.

  ‘That, that was wrong.’

  ‘What?’ he said, spitting out the word. ‘That was not wrong.’

  ‘I have to go,’ I said. ‘I’ll see you later.’

  I turned and started to walk away, but he placed his hand on my arm. ‘That’s it?’

  ‘That’s it.’

  ‘Are you for real?’

  Turning around, I threw his jacket at him. ‘How many times do I have to say it? That should never have happened. You and I – we are not a thing, will never be a thing.’

  His mouth fell open, but no words came out.

  ‘Look, I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. That was never my intention. It just…happened. It won’t happen again.’

  The mask that had slipped from his face in the woods reappeared. ‘Whatever.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Jet. I didn’t mean to lead you on.’

  Jet narrowed his eyes. ‘Like I care.’


  I let out a low groan. ‘Just forget the whole thing. I have to go.’

  ‘Forgotten. But, Eva, I will be holding you to your promise.’

  My heart did a jump-start as I imagined being held in his arms again at the dance while everything else in the world faded away. I took one last look at Jet, whose hands were on his head, before I turned and walked away.

  Guilt stabbed me. There was no doubt there was something between us – fire to fire. And yes, I had to admit that he’d been kind to me all night and without him, I’d probably still be lost out there in the woods, huddled against a tree, battling the darkness, the cold and my imagination.

  But there was also something else inside him, threads of something that was dark and dangerous – something I knew would pull me in and never let me go. I had an insight into the witch I would become with him by my side. I would be powerful and strong;

  nothing would stop me – nothing would get in my way. I would make sure of it.

  Part of me wanted that, no doubt about it. I didn’t know yet how big that part was, and whether I’d be able to stop it, but it was not the witch my heart wanted to be and certainly not the witch my family wanted me to be. I had to do everything in my power to steer clear of him.

  A dog barked from a house I was passing, and a light flicked on. I jogged ahead, but hadn’t quite got past before someone opened the door and caught sight of me. I pulled the hood of my tracksuit over my head and kept my head low as I walked towards the back entrance of my house, where I would have to face the music. My mind scrambled to think of an excuse as to why I was out so late. Perhaps I could say I was out collecting flowers for a science assignment.

  Crap! The flowers! My satchel! Elijah’s knife!

  I’d left them all there, on the altar where I’d placed my hands.

  My throat went dry and my hands clammy. What if someone finds them? How long would it take for them to realise the satchel was mine? I took it everywhere.

  I swallowed as I realised I’d have to go back and get it, and soon. Back into the woods. Alone.

  I stood for a moment at my back door and strained to listen. I heard my parents talking, their voices quiet, yet there was an urgency to their words. I took a few moments to spin together my story and opened the door.

  My parents turned immediately towards me, their eyes wide.

  ‘Eva,’ said Mum, rushing towards me. She hugged me, then pulled back and looked me over, her eyebrows drawing close.

  ‘What happened to you?’ she said.

  I looked down at my clothes and saw myself as she saw me. I was covered in dust, leaves and mud, my hair wild and my clothes torn from where I’d fallen. Clearly these things didn’t happen in the library.

  ‘Are you all right?’ said Elijah, who walked in from the kitchen, his lips pulled into a tight line.

  I nodded. Another lie.

  Dad walked forward, pulled me into a bear hug and spoke in my ear. ‘We’ve been beside ourselves.’

  I pulled back and tried to keep my voice even. ‘Did you call the police?’

  My parents exchanged glances.

  ‘No, we did not call the police,’ said Mum, her voice tight and tense.

  I let out the long breath I’d been holding.

  ‘Normally, we would, of course. We would have been driving the streets, but not here. Not now.’

  ‘Not when I’m already on the wanted list,’ I said quietly.

  Mum’s face paled even further, and I placed my hands over my eyes. The knife of guilt twisted inside me.

  ‘Where were you?’ Mum asked.

  I detested lying, hated it with all my being. But if I told them the truth, they would do everything in their power to stop me, and that was no longer an option.

  I dropped my hands and looked at the freckle right between Mum’s eyes. ‘After the library, I went for a walk. I kind of got lost.’

  Not a total lie, I reminded myself, trying to shake off the feeling that I was a horrible, horrible person.

  ‘What? Where?’ asked Elijah, his eyes hard.

  He didn’t fall for it. Crap!

  ‘I’m not really sure. I had a bad day at school and wasn’t really concentrating on where I was going.’

  ‘Did you go into the woods?’ asked Elijah.

  Keep breathing, Eva.

  ‘Somewhere down on the headland.’

  ‘Where Orpheus lives?’ asked Dad, his face heavily lined.

  ‘Where Ezra lives,’ said Elijah, deadpan.

  My parents stared at me until I felt small.

  ‘I didn’t go near their house and I wasn’t with Ezra, so you don’t have to worry. Nice to see you all, too.’

  My dad let out a long sigh. ‘Sorry, Eva, we’ve just been so worried. Your phone kept going through to message bank.’

  ‘I must have been out of range,’ I said, every part of me tired and aching. ‘Can we finish with the Spanish Inquisition tomorrow? I need to lie down.’

  For a few moments, all I could hear was the sound of the ticking clock from the hall. We were in unchartered territory and we all knew it.

  ‘Of course, so long as you’re okay,’ said Mum, sparking into action. ‘Why don’t you go and have a shower, and I’ll bring you some dinner in bed.’

  ‘Thanks, Mum,’ I said quietly, starting to walk up at the stairs, which felt like the side of a mountain.

  I opened my eyes to the soft green dawn light filling my room and listened to the kookaburras sing their joyful chorus to the world. For a few moments, I felt at one with the perfect stillness of the morning. Then my brain clicked into gear and everything came crashing down. I groaned and rolled over, but my thoughts were still there, waiting for me, louder than ever.

  I pushed my doona back and saw that I was still in my tracksuit. I’d never made it into the shower, and I hadn’t been awake when Mum brought in my dinner. The last thing I remembered was taking my shoes off and lying down in bed.

  My stomach grumbled and all of a sudden, I was ravenous. I pulled on my dressing gown and headed downstairs. I had my head in the fridge when Elijah spoke to me.

  ‘Morning,’ he said.

  I spun around and there he was, sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of steaming tea between his hands.

  ‘How did I not see you?’ I said.

  ‘You never do see anything but the fridge when you’re hungry,’ he said, a smile turning up the corners of his mouth.

  ‘Cup of tea?’ he said.

  ‘Love one,’ I said, and he stood and put on the kettle.

  I made myself some cereal and sat down in front of a cup of tea.

  ‘Thanks,’ I said, tucking into my food.

  He sat back and watched me, his eyes not leaving mine.

  ‘No more questions,’ I said between mouthfuls.

  His eyes hardened for a second, before they softened.

  He put his hands up in front of himself.

  ‘Just know that I am here for you,’ he said.

  I stopped eating and watched my brother. He’d been by my side, every single day of my life.

  ‘No matter what,’ he said, his gaze flitting all over my face.

  I nodded and continued eating. The words about my decision to learn witchcraft and where I was the night before sat inside my mouth.

  Would he understand?

  Would he support me?

  Or would he try and talk me out of it? Tell our parents? Make it impossible for me to learn?

  The questions swilled around inside of me, and it took a few moments to realise Elijah was standing, putting on toast.

  ‘What are you doing up at this hour anyhow?’ I said before taking a sip of tea.

  He turned and raised an eyebrow. I knew exactly what he was thinking. We were always in sync. If I was awake, he was awake and vice versa. We’d been like that all our lives. It was one of the many unexplainable things about being a twin.

  ‘Sorry about that,’ I said as he placed my toast with raspberry jam down on the
table before turning to make his own.

  ‘You still coming to the dance?’ he asked.

  I rolled my eyes, but somehow managed to hold onto my groan.

  ‘No need to get so excited, sis,’ he said before laughing – a generous laugh that always made me feel better.

  ‘I said I would, didn’t I?’

  That’s when I remembered – Jet. Our kiss. That kiss. My promise to dance with him. My face flushed and I picked up my toast, made myself eat.

  ‘You know, you might even enjoy yourself,’ said Elijah, sitting down opposite me.

  I grunted, not trusting my voice.

  ‘You all right?’ he said.

  I nodded. ‘Just planning my outfit.’

  Elijah started to laugh. ‘Really? Well, wonders never cease.’

  I smiled – I couldn’t help it. Clothes had never been my thing, and I hadn’t the foggiest idea what I would pull together. I didn’t even own a formal dress.

  ‘Promise me you won’t be mad,’ he said, sitting back in his chair.

  That was what he always said when he was going to make me mad.

  ‘What have you done this time?’ I said, narrowing my eyes.

  ‘Well, knowing how much you love clothes and all, I asked Anna if she would come and give you a hand, maybe even lend you a dress.’

  ‘You did what?’

  ‘Let’s face it, you don’t even own a nice dress.’

  ‘I don’t do dresses,’ I said, taking another bite of toast.

  ‘Come on, you know that Anna doesn’t care. She wants to help. And who knows, it may even be fun.’

  I tried to hold onto the giggle that was growing inside me, but it burst out anyhow.

  ‘I’ll take that as a yes,’ he said, laughing along with me.

  I groaned, but the battle was over. Like it or not, I needed a dress and some help. For once in my life, jeans and a jacket wouldn’t cut it.

  ‘She’s coming around Friday, after school. Said not to worry about a thing.’

  ‘She’s got her work cut out for her,’ I said, picking up one of Elijah’s pieces of toast.

  ‘Hopefully you’ll at least be showered and changed by then,’ he said, grinning as he leaned forward and pulled a leaf from my curly hair. ‘Must have been some walk.’