I slouched on the bleachers watching my teammates practice. While the other benchers cheered, I pretended to be fixated with my phone. It was practically useless but it served as a protective shield. I could not bare to look anyone in the eye after losing my cherished position.
Why could I not just take it back? I’m back from my random disappearance.
“Hey!” I froze in my seat and watched from the corner of my eye as the boys basketball team poured into the court.
Fuck! I need to get out here without being seen. This was so mortifying.
I rose up and began my descent down the bleachers. I bet they would barely know I left since everyone was too busy fooling around.
“Phoebe, where are you going?”
I cursed in my head. Who the fuck was that? Raising my head, I pulled a smile on as I faced the teams. “Bathroom. Why?”
“Hey.”
My façade almost crumbled when I saw Reed walking up to me. Is he coming to gloat?
“What?” I snapped.
His approach slowed as if wanting to savor the moment of torture. “I’m sorry.”
Taken back, I watched him warily. “For what?”
“Last week. The ball hitting your head.”
Recalling the events of the previous week that started it all, my blood began to boil. This was all his fault and that stupid ball. My only concern right now should be maintaining my spot in NCAA Division I, not learning about witching spells and otherworldly things.
“Save it.”
“Don’t be so mean, Phoebe,” Sam piped in. “He is apologizing.”
“Well, I’m the one he offended and it’s up to me to accept it or not. It’s his fault that I...” I bit my tongue before I could anything further about the new part of my life. They would think I have gone crazy.
“Fuck you and your apology, Reed.” With that, I stormed out of the court.
In the locker room, I slammed my hand against the wall in anger and hissed when pain snaked up my fisted palm.
“Phoebe!” Zoe hurried in. “Is everything okay?”
“Zoe, you are the last person I want to see right now. Just leave me alone.”
“Phoebe, no one could reach you so we thought maybe you pulled out of school or something. Coach chose me.”
“So did everyone else. Now, can you get out?”
“Stop being mean about this. Could you not just accept Reed’s apology? We don’t need a childish beef between the teams.”
“You know it’s more than just that, Zoe!”
“What? Your pride? Or the fact you are not in control anymore?”
I did not like this new Zoe. Zoe always stood by my side when things did not go right. So why was she making me out to be the bad guy?
“If I were you, I would shut my mouth.”
“Phoebe, I’m not a toy you can boss around. I’m your friend.”
“I don’t need a friend who takes what is mine the moment I turn my back.” I advanced on her, sick at the sight of her. If I could just get rid of her, I would have what is mine back.
When I took hold of her neck, she frowned with displeasure. “What are you doing?”
“I told you to shut up.” Her bright warm aura slowly became cold as darkness ate away the light.
Her brows creased as she held my hand and moaned in pain. “Why are you doing this? Stop it!”
It should hurt more. You should feel my humiliation and pain. You deserve this.
Blood began to pour from her nose as she cried, “Phoebe, please.”
Hurt her. Hurt her. Hurt her.
The darkness continued to swallow up the light until a flicker remained. An odd feeling of satisfaction filled me, watching it slowly go off.
“Phoebe Woods, what are you doing?” Coach screamed as she stepped in.
The darkness left as Zoe got yanked away from me. I frowned and shook my head as a searing pain split through my hand.
“Ow!” I flexed my fingers and shook it.
Suddenly, my teammates entered the locker room with shocked faces. I looked down to see Zoe lying in coach’s arms, her neck covered in reddish-pink blisters.
“Take her to the school nurse,” Coach barked at the others. As soon as they carried her out of the locker room, Coach turned to face me. “You are in big trouble, Phoebe Woods.”
I sat in front of the Principal’s office, waiting for my Dad and Zoe’s Mom to step out of the office.
Fuck! What was I thinking? I can’t afford to have a suspension. I wonder if Zoe was better. I did tell her to shut up and leave me alone. She brought this on herself.
Zoe’s mom stepped out first with a disapproving look aimed at me. My Dad followed after, a less concerned look on his face.
“When I told you to learn spells, I’m sure I told you to not use them on defenseless people.”
“You sure did not tell me a lot of things.”
“You are grounded. Be home by six.”
“I have to go to Mama Owen’s.”
“I will come pick you up when you are done. Just dial me.”
“Speaking of dial, what did you do to my phone? Don’t even think of lying like you always do.”
He pressed his lips together before answering, “It was just a simple spell not to distract you from learning, Phoebe. I would never lie to you.”
“Did you really tell Coach I would be absent last week?”
He toyed with his wristwatch, his jaw ticking. “I forgot but I was going to dial her.”
“Stop lying! Just stop lying. Did you really have to ruin this for me after everything? Don’t bother picking me up, I will walk myself home.” I turned to leave and then I remembered. Bringing out my phone, I showed it to him. He stared at it for a brief second and the phone lit up, blowing up with messages and notifications.
The rest of the school hours were spent trying to ignore the disgusted looks from everyone while my phone continued to buzz in my pocket. Great, everyone hates me now. Even Connor avoided me in Auto Mechanics class.
“You are suspended from all summer activities,” Coach said. “Please, cause no trouble if you really want to join NBA. Don’t waste your talent on childish antics.”
As soon as school ended, I walked down the busy street and ignored the insults thrown my way from kids riding bicycles or driving cars. My phone burned hot against my skin but the buzz was slower. I removed it from my pocket and kept it in my bag.
In a daze, I stumbled upon the empty basketball court in the public park. Dropping my bag on the floor, I picked up the dirty brown ball and tossed it from hand to hand. I dribbled around a bit then threw it into the basket. As I continued to play in the sweltering heat, I grew angrier and frustrated.
I was the best. It was not fair.
On hearing approaching feet and constant chatter, I stopped, letting the bounce away. I picked up my bag and walked away.
When I arrived Mama Owen’, I pushed open the door and stepped in. Mama Owen sat at the front desk, nursing a cactus.
A brown bag conjured out of the thin air and landed at my feet. “Go feed the babies. They’ve been starving all day.”
I said, bending to pick the bag up. At least, things will be much quieter here.
Hopefully.
“Aer sit mihi pontis. Mitte quod peto,” I chanted in a loud, clear voice keeping my focus on the spade.The tool shook violently then rose from the ground and flew straight into my outstretched hand. I can’t believe I did it.Finally!“Again,” Mama Owen barked behind me.Rolling my eyes, I repeated the spell and tools flew into my hand, quicker and fluidly with each repeated chant. When training was over for the day, I slumped against the wall, exhausted and sweaty.“Hurry along now, I need to close up shop.” She threw the nasty chocolate bar into my hand. She called it Protein Bars, I call it crap but its energy reviving benefits outweighed my disgust for it.“Exams start tomorrow and I have a lot to catch up on. Can you like teach me a spell to retain memory?”“There is a reason why we forget things, Phoe
“What are you making?” I asked when I found Mama Owen hunching over and pounding herbs in a bowl.“Potions.”“What for?”She stepped aside to reveal small lid bottles with labels. “Foresight, Memory Retention, Invisibility, Keen Smell, Love, Plant Growing, Protection and Truth.”“Huh. How do you make these from scratch?”“Go water the plants.”“You have to teach me how to make these potions. Don’t you want me out of your hair?”“Trying to rush magic will not help you.”“Well, I got that memory spell right. I used my earrings. When does it wear off? Do I have to incant the spell again? How do I stop it?”“You remove the earrings and cleanse them off all spells. Phoebe, the longer you use this spell, the more you would forget important things.”“Why did you not menti
“Phoebe!” He called again.“Go.” The wolf did not wait for another word as it trotted into the night.“Phoebe!”How far has it gone? Was it somewhere safe now?“Phoebe!” I spotted my father in a distance, carrying a torch. He looked in my direction, unsheathed fury in his eyes.“What?” I tried to sound as unfazed as possible and stood up, ignoring the protest in my left knee.“What are you doing out here?”“Just jogging. Wanted some peace and quiet to myself.”“This forest is not safe! Nowhere is safe for people like us and I would not like you putting yourself in danger because you learned some spells.”“It’s funny how you suddenly care. I’ll walk myself home. You can teleport or I don’t know, fly home.” I tried to push m
Morgan guffawed as I jerked her arm off. “Look at your face, dude. Don’t worry, I’ve got better taste,” she said to Reed who sported a stunned reaction.“I would love to listen to your insults more than anything in the world but,” I said, pulling him closer to me. “What the fuck are you doing here?”“Your father told me to get you.”“What are you, my bodyguard?”“Unfortunately.”Unfortunately? I scoffed and shook my head. Wait, what? What was my father up to this time? I grabbed Morgan by the arm and pulled her out of the school building with me.“Hey, easy with the grabbing,” She said when we reached the parking lot.“Get lost with you and,” I stuttered for a perfect word as I regarded her and her masculine appearance. “Whatever this is. Wait, are you male or female?”
You would think after days of Mama Owen’s relentless training, I would know what to do but I shrieked. Demon-Sam grabbed me by the neck, lifting me off the ground and slammed me into a tree. My back shuddered with pain at the impact. I fell limp in her hands as she lifted me again and threw me. I crashed to the ground and rolled until I collided with a tree bark.“Ugh!” I moaned. My face felt warm as blood trickled down my face. The ground trembled as I felt her advance on me again. Was this how it would end? Mama Owen’s potion mixing for demon banishment would be futile at this point. I struggled to remember the spell from my mother’s spell book.Demon-Sam picked me up again and licked her lips. Her fangs drew longer as the veins on her face grew bluish-purple.“Apage daemon. Ad infernum reverteris,” I sputtered and weakly gra
I shot Morgan a pleading look before answering my Dad. “I’m in bed!”Heavy feet approached my bedroom door and knocked. “I’m coming in.”“Good evening, sir.” Morgan’s stance changed as Dad entered the bedroom.“Morgan, you are still here.”“Yes.” He darted me a sharp look before looking away.The sheets bunched under my fisted palms as I prayed he says nothing about the Hastings or the demon. Tonight might be the last day I ever step out of my home. Besides, the idea of werewolves being the bad guys was just ridiculous. Connor protected me from Demon-Sam!“Is something wrong?” Dad inquired.Digging holes into his head, I remained tensed and hoped Dad would not notice or question further.I sighed inwardly when he answered, &l
“Guys, you need to go now.” My heart went erratic as I pushed them. “Go, please. I will explain everything later. Just go.”“Okay. We will be right around the corner.”“Just go!” Morgan snapped. He looked as terrified as I felt.As soon as the two bewildered boys were out of sight, I hurried inside with Morgan and tried to act normal. A portal appeared in the middle of the store and Dad stepped out. I did not need to check his aura to see a brewing storm. Even the atmosphere had dropped ten degrees colder.“Dad, what are you doing here?” I greeted with a waning smile.“What did you do?!”“Nothing. I’ve been here all day.”“The demon! Where is the demon? There was a demon activity right here in town and you were close by.&rdquo
“Why are we here?” I asked, fingering my bucket hat as I climbed out of the vehicle.The town’s shopping mall stood tall before me as people excitedly poured in and out of it. Tugging my jacket, I looked around the busy parking lot for anyone familiar.“We are going shopping,” Uncle Al said, hurrying into the building. Struggling to catch up with his fast strides, I could not help but raise a brow.Shopping?Earlier this morning, he shook me awake, muttering what little we have and something about a doorway, constantly checking his watch. From Dad's absent car, it looked like he already left for work which worked perfectly for me. I could not help feeling unbridled hate for him anytime we locked eyes or stayed in the same room.When I caught up to him, I asked, “Uncle Al, what is going on?”Breezing