The Witch

Sabrina's POV

"Fiem ku burn."

I waved my hand in the air and smiled as fire sprang forth in the air, dancing for a while before it went off.

"Incedia." I said under my breath but the fire lit up again.

Damn, that was good. I didn't have to shout before I cast spells. If only I was this good in high school, I could have saved myself from a whole lot of bullying from the older coven girls.

I rolled my eyes, doubting that I might have saved myself. It didn't help that I attended a school full of witches and wizards, and some of them got arrogant and tormented the younger kids because of the advanced spells they knew.

Well, they kept their bullying for the witches alone though. No one was allowed to use spells against the humans in school and risk the race getting exposed.

I wiped sweats off my face and attempted one last spell. I had read it in the advanced book of spells I had stolen from mum's room and had been attempting to try it out for the past two days without success. I hoped I succeeded this time.

"Culca ica burn."

The fire dancing in the air suddenly turned to ice shards and traveled in the air, staying afloat and obviously waiting for my next command.

I grinned to myself, swaying gently on my feet.

I had done it.

I had mastered the advanced spell. I only needed a target before me and their face would be impaled by dangerous and painful ice shards.

I really wished I had known this in high school.

"What are you doing?"

I went still as I heard the voice behind me.

"Shit," I cursed and watched as the ice shards in the air dropped to the ground, digging a huge hole in it.

I winced when I saw the gaping hole in the ground. If I was in trouble few minutes ago when mum caught me practising advanced magic, I was damned now that I had affected the earth with it.

Rule number one of witchcraft and spell binding: Never jeopardize Mother Nature with your magic.

I forced an innocent smile on my face and ignored the way my heart raced as I turned to face my mother. "Mum,"

She snorted, her eyes narrowed at me. "Don't mum me. What are you practising?"

I shrugged. "Learning magic. You told me to practice."

Yeah, Sabrina, what a good thing to do. Dump it all at your mother's feet.

If I had thought her eyes were narrowed then, they had become slits at the moment.

"I didn't tell you to master that. Where did you learn that anyway?"

I sighed, my mouth suddenly going dry. If she was mad at me for practising advanced magic, I didn't think I wanted to find out what she would do to me if she found out I had stolen from her.

Mum had once frozen my hands when I was six and had licked the chocolate icing off the cake she wanted to give to Aunt Mary after repeatedly warning me not to go near the cake.

My heart thudded in fear as I wondered what she was going to do to me.

"Who taught you how to cast the Ice Knife spell, Sabrina?" she asked. "I should call your master. You have no business learning those kinds of spells."

Oh no, she shouldn't do that. I would get punishment from my mother and my master if that happened.

She arched her eyebrows at me and I realized that I had reached out with my hand to stop her. "Is there something you want to tell me, young lady?"

I swallowed, feeling my throat stick to the roof of my mouth. "I... I..." Damn it, why was it so hard to blurt out the truth?

"I learnt the spell from the book you kept under your bed. I stole it." I blurted out, feeling my heart kick against my chest with the admission.

"Wow, our little girl is now a big one. Big enough to defy her mother and steal from her?" Freya, my elder sister, chuckled as she joined us. "Who would have thought of that?"

I groaned at her presence. I didn't need this much audience to witness my shame. How did they find me here anyway? I had thought I would be able to practise in peace.

Scratch peace. I was about to have all my pieces broken.

"I'm not a little girl." I scoffed at Freya. "You are only two years older than I am."

"Still a little girl to me."

"I'm about to be a college student." I reminded her, hating that it sounded like I was whining.

"I'm not so sure I am happy with you going to college anymore." Mum sighed.

My head snapped to her. "What do you mean by that, mum?"

She snorted. "What do you mean by what do I mean by that, little girl?" She asked, purposely using Freya's words to get back at me. "You are misbehaving right under my roof. How can I trust you to behave when you are miles away from me? I should have insisted that you picked the same college your sister is going to."

Uh! That would have killed me faster than having ice knives in my heart and that spell could kill a giant in seconds. I had intentionally picked a college far away from home because I wanted a different life. I wanted to explore and spread my wings, and I wouldn't get that by staying in a college full of witches and wizards.

After enduring middle school and high school, I didn't want my college life to be as miserable as the past few years I'd lived.

I wanted… normalcy.

I wanted a school full of lively humans and not witches whose only goal in life is to find out who among them was stronger and might be the next coven leader.

I wanted a normal life. Well, I didn't mind having my powers though which reminded me of the situation I was in.

"Come on, mum. I was only curious. You told me a curious witch is a powerful one."

Yeah, Sabrina, keep heaping all the blames on your mother.

She smiled. "I will forgive you for this but don't you ever try that again. You know you are moving far away from home and where you are going to is a different world from here. You won't be forgiven there if they find out what you are."

"Yes, mum." I sighed.

She had been telling me to be careful since I got the admission letter.

"Don't ever forget the rules, girl."

"Do not use magic to hurt someone else. Don't hex anyone no matter how annoying they are. Don't let your identity as a witch be known. Don't offer your magic for money. Don't befriend a vampire."

“Yes, mum.” I sighed, bored of the lessons I had heard almost a billion times.

"Don't ever be friends with a vampire." She repeated as if the other rules weren't important.

"Noted, mum. I won't be friends with a vampire." I repeated.

Anything to put her mind at ease and make her forget punishing me.

Where was I going to find a vampire anyway?

They avoided my race as much as we did.