The Power of Witches

by Shay Bencosme

  Rain soaked into my clothes, hair, and skin quickly. The amaranth was providing warmth, but it didn't stop my thighs from chafing, or my clothes getting stuck to my skin. Feeling miserable, I knew that it was only temporary discomfort. Even without Lily or Cyrus's blessing, I was going to save our home.

  I stopped to rest against a tree, the heavy leaves near the top giving temporary shield from the harsh rain. I sighed. Was it worth it though?

  Yes, my brain told me. You just found a home. You can't lose it.

  Would I lose Cyrus and Lily?

  Yes. This was your last chance.

  I pushed off against the tree and continued to follow the magical path—a glowing trail of what looked like golden glitter, lighting up the forest and my steps so I didn't hurt myself.

  It took forty minutes for me to reach the mayor's home. It was very similar to Gardenside from the outside—same white paint and blue shutters. The house was dark, except for one room on the second floor with a dim light still on. Maybe this would be easy. Maybe the mayor would be in the first place I checked, and my spell would work.

  I jiggled the doorknob and found it opened easily. I slipped into the house, looking around for any signs of life. I closed the door as quiet as possible and started towards the stairs when I heard the refrigerator close from the kitchen.

  It felt like my heart jumped into my throat. I looked around quickly for a place to hide. Seeing nothing, I turned my head back to the kitchen, watching the shadow of whoever was inside come closer and closer to the entrance. I closed my eyes and pictured myself becoming invisible, hidden away with my own secrets.

  The smell of fresh pine alerted me to the fact that the intention had worked. It enveloped my nose, and I concentrated on quieting my breaths. The shadow came out of the kitchen, and for the second time in my life, I saw the mayor. He looked so different in this light, no longer a public display of power and regality. Tonight he seemed to be a completely different person. He held a glass in his hand—some sort of alcohol. He headed towards the stairs when he stopped and looked at the floor.

  I followed his gaze. I had left a trail of water from the front door to where I stood now. My breath hitched. I held up my concentration on my spell, and he got close enough to my face that I could smell the whiskey on his breath. "Fucking Madison," he grumbled, placing the glass on the flat surface at the edge of the stairs' handrail, walking back into the kitchen and returning with a dish towel.

  He dropped the towel onto the floor and placed his bare foot on top, using it to move the towel around and dry up the water I had left. When he was finished, he simply left the towel on the floor, grabbed his glass, and made his way upstairs. I followed him, stepping so carefully as to make sure the steps didn't creak.

  I made it upstairs with the mayor without a sound. I followed him into the room with the light on, which I realized quickly was his office. He sat down behind his desk, taking a big gulp out of his glass and setting it down. He started sifting through papers on the desk.

  I snuck up behind him, trying to see what he was looking at. Notice to Cut Government Funding From Gardenside County Home for Troubled Youth said the headline of one paper. The next, Notice of Eviction, with the address for Gardenside in smaller print. Both pages were dated for the end of the month, which meant that I had to make sure my spell worked tonight, or I wouldn't get another chance. I let myself become visible again, watching as the mayor grumbled in his drunken state.

  "Mayor Scott."

  He turned abruptly, paper scattering on the floor. Quickly, I held my hand in front of his face, I pushed as much intention into my words as much as I could, straining for my power to work. ”You will keep Gardenside open, no matter what."

  The mayor slapped my hand out of his face, diving forward to place his hands around my neck. "I will fucking kill you," he growled into my face, his grip on my neck tightening with his words. I clawed at his arms uselessly.

  He tightened his grip more, and I felt my vision start to blur at the edges. I threw my hands out, looking for something, anything to move with my mind, but nothing was happening. I couldn't find the concentration. My consciousness was fading, slowly but quicker and quicker. I closed my eyes.

  Suddenly, I could breathe again. I collapsed to the floor, sucking in as much air as possible while still coughing violently. I looked up to see Lily and Cyrus standing at the entrance of the door, Lily's arm held out in front of her as she held the mayor pinned against the wall across the room from me, a shattered picture frame on the floor next to him from the power of him slamming into it.

  Cyrus fell to my side, grabbing my face and pulling it up to his. "Are you okay?" he asked, looking at my neck, running his fingers around the smooth skin.

  "I'm fine," I choked out. "I'll be fine."

  "What the hell were you thinking, Noa?"

  "Cyrus, not the time," Lily scolded. "Noa, if you're going to do this, then you better do this right."

  I stood up shakily, my hand instinctively reaching for Cyrus's. We interlaced fingers, and I felt intense warmth come from the palms of our hands. I looked down. A bright light shone between our fingers, as our magic came together and flowed through each other. Cyrus looked curiously at our hands, but I knew what it meant. I was channeling him. If I couldn't do the spell by myself, I should be able to with Cyrus at my side.

  I held my hand up to the mayor again, and I spoke each word confidently: "You will listen to everything I say." Blue tendrils flowed out of my hand and reached towards the mayor. His mouth opened slightly, and the snake-like smoke flowed smoothly inside. I gasped, dropping my hand. I must've messed up.

  "I will listen to everything you say," the mayor spoke.

  "You fucking did it," Cyrus whispered.

  I ignored him for now, focusing my attention on the mayor and the entire reason I was here in the first place. "You will keep Gardenside open indefinitely. You will remove the eviction notice." I smiled slightly. "You will raise the funding for the county home when the next fiscal year begins."

  "I will keep Gardenside open indefinitely. I will remove the eviction notice. I will raise the funding," the mayor repeated slowly as if he was hypnotized.

  "And you will forget you ever saw us here," I continued. "You fell asleep after a long night of drinking."

  I reached my hand out again. The mayor slumped, falling to the floor asleep. I let my arm fall back to my side. "We should put him at the desk."

  The three of us each grabbed a part of his body, Cyrus throwing the mayor's arm around his neck, and Lily and I tag-teaming to get the other side of his body. We half-carried, half-dragged him to his chair, letting his upper body slump onto his desk.

  "I did it," I breathed.

  Gardenside would stay open. Forever.

  ◆◆◆

  The walk back to Gardenside was quiet, for the most part. It was when we entered the security of the trees that Lily stopped dead in her tracks. "Noa, what the fuck?"

  "I did it, didn't I? So we don't have to talk about it."

  "You can't just leave in the middle of the night to do shit like that."

  "It's already over, and we won!" I threw my hands up in exasperation. "You were such a badass, Lil. Your mom would've been proud."

  "Don't bring my fucking mom into this."

  Cyrus stepped in between the two of us. "Okay, chill." I smirked over at Lily, knowing full well that Cyrus was about to stand on my side. But he turned towards me, shaking his head. "That was crap, Noe."

  "I don't know why y'all are so damn upset," I argued. "We won, we get to stay at Gardenside."

  "Noa, that's not the point," Cyrus said, holding his hand up to a Lily that looked like she was about to explode. I noticed her clenched hands and the fact that her body was shaking.

  "Of course it is."

  "No, the point is you put yourself in danger tryna run with the big dogs. What if we hadn't come? You'd have been strangled to death."

  "I doubt it," I rubbed at my t
ender neck consciously. "He's the mayor, not a murderer."

  "Well then we don't really know, right?" Lily now stepped forward to stand next to Cyrus, folding her arms over her chest. "And you would've never been able to do the spell without Cy, either. So you put him in danger, too."

  "Of course I would've been able to!" I stomped my feet in frustration. The wind picked up around the group, and thunder crashed around us. "I am the fucking bloodborn. And you need to stop underestimating me."

  "You don't even know what that means!" With her final word, Lily threw her hands out towards me, wind pushing me back, causing me to stumble.

  I reacted with anger. I formed a ball of flames in my hands and shot it Lily's way, but Lily was quick, knocking it out of the path and sending it straight into the bark of the nearest tree.

  "Stop!" Cyrus insisted, throwing his hands out from his sides, sending both girls flying backward in the opposite direction. When my body hit the ground, the air flew out of my lungs and I laid there for a moment, taking deep breaths. When I finally sat up, I saw Lily already making her way towards me. I held out my hand palm up and pointed my concentration towards Lily's advancing body.

  Lily fell to the ground screaming, clutching her head. I clenched my fist, willing the blood vessels in Lily's brain to pop. I stood slowly, staring down at Lily's crippled body. Murder in my thoughts.

  And then my brain exploded in fire. I grabbed at my skull, a cry escaping my lips. I fell back to the ground on my knees, doubling over so my head touched the cool ground. The pain disappeared as quickly as it came, and I picked my head up gingerly. Cyrus looked down at me, holding a defeated Lily under his arm. They both looked down at me, shocked and completely terrified.

  "Who the hell even are you?" Cyrus said, shaking his head.

  The realization of what I had done hit me like a ton of bricks. I had hurt Lily... over what? Being wrong? "I-"

  "I don't want to hear any excuses from you," Cyrus whispered. "You're on your own now."

  They took off then, leaving me to sit in the rain and mud by myself. What was I turning into?

  I broke down into tears, making fists around the mud and leaves around me. My chest felt like the pressure of a pound of rocks had been placed over my heart. I couldn't seem to catch my breath as sobs racked my body.

  Had the Order been right this whole time? Not only was I too powerful for my own good, but I was also a maniac.

  CHAPTER 27

  one month later

  I, Noa Rembrandt, was as alone at Gardenside as I had been the first day I got there. With the twins too busy, and Tomás had had a birthday and successfully aged out of the system, I had no one to turn to. Lily and Cyrus were still upset with me.

  I was upset with myself too. I had no idea what had come over me the night of the hurricane, but it had scared me. As if there was a dark presence inside of my soul that I couldn't control.

  Gardenside had no threat of closing. In fact, the mayor made good on his promise and upped the funding by fifty percent the next day when October 1st hit. Mama was ecstatic, and there was a huge feast to celebrate, all the kids and adults that worked in the house getting together to have something similar to a Thanksgiving supper.

  I woke up to silence. I had my own room now. Lily had moved out a week or so after the hurricane at her request. We now both had our own rooms, with Lily down on the first floor, as far from me as she could get. I sometimes enjoyed the solitude, but I still missed having Lily as my roommate.

  I dressed slowly, pulling on jeans and a long sleeve shirt. I pulled a flannel on over that, and then a zip-up hoodie. I slipped on my Converse and grabbed my bag, going downstairs and heading to the library first.

  It wasn't empty today. Cyrus sat with Josie and Harry going over magic books. Josie waved when I came in, but Cyrus ignored me, as usual. I selected a book from the cabinet, slipping it into my backpack so no one would see. With one last look at Cyrus with his nose in a book, completely ignoring my presence, I left.

  I headed to the meadow where Lily, Cyrus, and I used to practice magic together. The meadow where I met Rhiannon for the first time. It was pretty dead now for the winter, but in the springtime, I was excited to see the blooming of the flowers. It was supposedly Lily's favorite time of year.

  I sat on the riverbank, taking out the magic book I had chosen. I stroked the cover gently, feeling its leather texture under my fingertips. Embossed on the cover was a lily. It was a book of light magic. Good magic. The kind Lily would've loved to teach.

  "How does it make you feel, child?"

  I jerked, then looked up startled. Rhiannon smiled down at me, then sat, taking the book from my hands. She opened the pages, running her fingers across the words. "I remember this," she spoke.

  "It was written by another witch I'd given my spirit to, like you my dear. Her name was Sylvia."

  I looked down at the book in Rhiannon's hands and suddenly felt a connection to it, felt a connection to a girl named Sylvia.

  "Why do I remember her?" I asked.

  "You're connected. All of the spirits are."

  "That's what we are, then? Just pieces of your spirit?"

  “The remains of the Handless Women that lived in my time. And eventually I'll run out of pieces and there'll be no more sacrifice."

  "You don't want a sacrifice anyway."

  "Smart girl."

  Silence. We stared at the river for a moment, watching the water flow downstream. I liked the sound; it brought me peace.

  "It will be your anger and aggressiveness that is your downfall, Noa Rembrandt."

  "I know," I responded.

  "And just know it is going to get much worse for you in the coming years. The sacrifice is not an easy life to live. Unfortunately, you were born into it."

  "How is it going to get harder?"

  "You will need friendship and humility," Rhiannon continued, eye contact never wavering from the river. "Your power has an end, but it will be those two traits that give you more."

  I turned my body to Rhiannon, opening my mouth to ask for more information but she was gone.

  What the hell is that supposed to mean?

  Having Rhiannon in my head was like an overbearing mother.

  No longer motivated to learn magic, I picked up the magic book. Rhiannon had left it open, on the first page of the book. In neat handwriting was written, Sylvia Thornton. 1863.

  I felt a tug of familiarity in the name. My interest was peaked, and I wanted to ask Lily about her. Oh. Lily wasn't speaking to me. Sometimes it was easy to forget in the moment, especially when I got excited.

  I trekked back towards the house, letting myself in the front door quietly. It was mid-morning now, and instead of the sleepy home I had left, it was now bustling with the eighteen kids and two adults that normally worked during the day here.

  "Noa!"

  I stopped just short of the stairs, peering over the banister to look at Mama. "Hey, what's up?"

  "Can I speak with you, please?"

  "Sure."

  I dropped my backpack at the landing, and then followed Mama to the back of the house where her office sat. Mama opened the door slowly, with me peering inside to see five bodies. Lily and Cyrus turned when the door opened to stare at me. What the hell?

  Behind Mama's desk were three other women, older than Mama. I recognized Sofie Aagard. My heart quickened and my cheeks burned. No way.

  "Noa Rembrandt," spoke the one in the middle, with the long nose and the dark brown eyes. Her grey hair was tied back in a bun. "My name is Claudia Vagle. I am the High Priestess."

  Welp.

  Acknowledgement

  This would not have been possible without the many, many people involved in the writing of The Power of Witches. First and foremost, I'd like to thank my husband. This man (bless his heart) sat through countless roadtrips from North Carolina to Beaufort, South Carolina listening to me talk over and over again about witch mythology, plot details, and more. He gave me so man
y ideas that ended up being in this final edition that you hold in your hands. Now he might not have read this book yet, but he'll get there eventually I'm sure. Secondly, I'd like to thank Celeste, my best friend. You also motivated me to put words to paper and get my ideas out there. You read the first few chapters and gave me so much praise that I just had to continue. To Kenzie, you've been so great about the artwork and I loved working with you. You really brought the first visualization of Noa Rembrandt to life and it really cemented the rest of the story in my head. This book could also not have been completed without myself. So I'm gonna just out and say it. Thanks to me. For getting off my ass (finally) and writing a book. Thanks for helping me to achieve a life-long dream of being a published author. Thanks for believing in me. Until next time.

  xo, Shay Bencosme

  About The Author

  Shay Bencosme

  When I was in first grade, I was reading Harry Potter. By third grade, I was reading Anne Frank's diary. And in seventh grade, I proclaimed to my family that I was going to be a writer.

  My journey first started with eight composition books that I painstakingly wrote an entire story about Greek mythology in. By high school, I had a laptop and a Wattpad account. I never finished anything, until December 2015, when I completed my first manuscript that would never see the light of day.

  Five years later, I decided to accomplish my own dream. I wrote an entire story and worked to publish it myself.

  Welcome to my dream.