by Ian Schrauth
Powers in a teenage witch
Ian Schrauth
Copyright © 2020 by Ian Schrauth All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author.
Revised edition: April 2020
This novel is a product of the author's imagination. The events described in this story never occurred. Though, Buildings and businesses may exist. This story is to only entertain readers.
PART I
1
“This concert is amazing!” I yelled as I raised my hands! I was at a Lindsey Stirling concert, and I was basically kissing her feet![I1]
While I was screaming at the top of my lungs due to being a huge Lindsey Stirling fan, I started to feel something. The world started to quiet up, and I started to feel dizzy…
I woke up to face reality.
Crap…
But I knew it was a special day, so I wasn’t going to ruin a single second just sleeping.
I got up from the warm spot on my bed and stretched. I was also super excited because this was the first day of summer! Finally! Wood Creek high school has closed its doors, and it’s for the best.
I headed downstairs to see my mother sitting on the couch, watching TV. She was watching Doctor Phil. She was wearing her usual PJs that had hearts on them, and a white T-shirt.
Vanessa Dixon is a young, independent worker who has a hobby for programming.
She looks very similar to me…
Her blonde hair, her green eyes, and the bags under her eyes...I have all that...[I2]
“Good morning, Selena[I3]!” Mom greeted. “Ready for summer?”
“Yup,” I replied.
“Now, do you want breakfast?” she asked, turned off the TV, and got up. She’s sort of a tall woman.
“What's for breakfast?” I asked as I follow her to the kitchen like a loyal dog following a new owner.
“I think we’ll have waffles and bacon,” Mom replied and entered the kitchen.
YAY!
When we entered, we were faced with Grandma cooking something.
There goes that…
Even though we have enough room to have her and grandma has enough money to live on her own, she can’t. Well, it's not that she can’t, it’s that she WON’T! I mean, she never leaves the house, and when she does, it’s with us.
We’re stuck with her...in the good way…
It’s weird…
It’s like she’s protecting mom...
“Ma? What are you doing?” Mom asked. Grandma looked like she was from the walking dead.
Not a good look.
She turned around to show her face covered in moisturizing cream and answered, “I’m making all of you some breakfast.”
“What type?” I asked, crossing my arms, doubting that this will be anything worthwhile.
“A British breakfast. I know how much you guys LOVE black pudding, so I made it,” she replied.
I just knew this was going to be bad [I4]
She then walked slowly to the fridge to pull out the black pudding. If you don't know already, black pudding is mainly frying pig fat. Did I say how disgusting it is? “Mom, you know how much we hate it.” Mom said
“I thought you guys loved it.”
“No!” I snapped.
“Well, I’ll just eat it alone,” She replied. “Why don’t you help me make this breakfast.”
We walked over to the front counter, so Mom and I could help Grandma Jessie with the waffles.
While we were making breakfast, I heard someone enter the kitchen. I turned around and saw Mason. Mason is like the best OCD brother in the world. He is nice, understanding, and he wants to be like his big sister. I take pride in the way he looks up to me.
Yeah. He really doesn’t...
Mason walked into the kitchen, grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and struggled to get it open.
“' Having a little trouble there?” I teased my younger brother.
“Shut up and open this!” he demanded.
I grabbed the water bottle from his tired hand, snapped it open, took a big gulp, and handed it back to him.
“Hey Selena, after breakfast, want to go to the galleria” Mom asked. “I need to get some stuff.”
“Sure!”
* * *
We had finally finished breakfast; now, Mom and I are getting into the car. “Want the radio on?”
“Sure,” I replied as I turned it on 92.2.
Normally, I love listening to music in the car but this time was off-putting. While the radio was playing, the music shut off, at least to me. It wasn’t an emergency broadcast or anything of the sorts. The new voice wasn’t recognizable.
“Solvah regema. Sete Aebo.” is what came out instead of some Britt Nicole song.
“What’s this song?” I asked.
“Oh, come on, you know this song.’” Mom replied.
“No. I hear someone talking,”
“Selena. There isn’t anyone talking.” My mom’s gaze leaves the road and matches my worried eyes.
I play it off like I was just hearing things. “Sorry, Mom. Must’ve not gotten enough sleep.” I turn off the radio to avoid the gibberish I can’t understand.
We arrived in our parking space a while later, and by the time we got out of the car and walked in, the place was crowded! I could tell this was going to be bad.
“Where are you going to be?” Mom asked. “I’ll be at CATO.”
“I will be at JCPennies,” I replied. “I have my phone on me.”
“OK. See 'ya,” She replied, and I walked out. There were many places I could have visited, but I had made up my mind with JCPennies.
When I arrived at the store, I walked up to the beauty section and looked at the clothes. There was a lot to choose from and it felt great to be shopping there. I haven’t been to a mall for the longest time because of school, and it felt good.
While I was looking, I turned around and noticed two men in aqua robes and a pocket-like holder for some stick-like-wand they had in there. Their heads were covered by a hood with the words, ‘Tumspuv Genimis vehum buhuc 1286’ on it.
What the hell?
Why were they in the girl's section?
I walked up to them, and asked, “Hey, you do know you're in the girl's section.”
Hey, just trying to help...
One of them looked at me and took off his hood. He had a surprised look on his face, and his eyes opened wide. He looked at me as if I was the chosen one of some insane story.
He looked at his partner and said something to him that sounded like Arabic. Or maybe it was German…
I don’t know...
But it sounded word for word like the radio broadcast from earlier! [u5]
His partner then looked at me and said, “Selena Dixon, come with us!”
Something was weird there. These two men asking me to come with them. I knew exactly what to do, but it was too late. One man grabbed my arm and the other swiped my left leg off of the ground. Their grasp on me was really rough as I was lifted from the ground.
“Let me go! Help me!” I screamed, but the other man covered my mouth with his dirty palm. As they dragged me away, I tried my best to make a scene, but nobody saw us. It was like we were invisible! I was doomed, but reflexively, words I didn’t know came out of my mouth. “Visabala!”[I6]
Everyone in the area around then saw us.
“Hey!”
“Help her!”
“What are you doing? Let her go!”
“Run!” The man holding my wrists said to the other as they dropped me. They split up and ran for their lives. One
woman decided to chase after them, but they escaped.
“Are you okay?” One man asked as he helped me up.
“Yeah.” I hugged myself. I have no idea what their intentions were, but they knew my name. I don’t want to know what else they knew.
“Where is your mother?” He asked, keeping eye contact with me, trying to comfort me.
“She is in CATO while I'm here,” I replied.
“Run to her.” His compassionate eyes leave mine. He doesn’t make eye contact anymore.
“What if they get me again? Can you walk me there?”
“Try and avoid them. It’s not my business.”
Even if his attitude completely switched, he was right, I had to get out of here! I ran out of JCPennies and all the way to CATO where I met up with my mother.
“What's wrong?!” My mom asked once she saw my worried expression.
“I almost got kidnapped!” I replied, out of breath. “Two men wearing robes with weird words written on the hood! They grabbed me and-”.
“Selena?” My mom interrupts me, “Do you mean them?” As she points towards the men behind me, her expression is probably mimicking mine.
“He wants you,” they said as they grabbed my arm.
Mom pulled her pepper spray from her purse as fast as they grabbed me, and sprayed it in their eyes. “Don't you touch my daughter!”
“Numol shall know!” The non-injured man said as he grabbed his pepper-sprayed friend and ran away again.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“C'mon! We have to get out of here!” Mom said. She dropped the stuff she was going to buy and hurried me out of the store.
Guess that’s why you stick to your parents when in public.
2
Now, I am not a runner, but I could tell that this was an emergency. I don’t understand why we had to leave in such a hurry if the men ran away. They must be leaving us alone now.
We ran into the car, and mom locked the doors and tinted the windows. My mom seems ready for this.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“Are they outside?” Mom asked.
I look outside and saw them behind our car. “They're behind us! Why are they behind us?!”
Mom put the car in reverse, and stepped on the gas, sending them flying. This B is cray-cray!
“Mom! Did you really have to hit them?” I asked.
“No time! Mom said. “We have to head home now!” And she drove off at the speed of light.
Oh my!
* * *
We finally reached the driveway of our house, and she parked the car but didn't get out. She had the weirdest look on her face like she was in shock. Her eyes were open and just staring at the house...
“Mom, what is going on?” I asked. “Who were those people? Why do they want me?”
There was a pause. The car grows silent and the tense thickens. [I7]“I didn’t want to tell you this news. I have been holding it back for as long as I can stand. I can’t withhold it any longer. Things are going to get much more difficult for you.”
What? I stay silent, assuming my mom will fill me in.
“They want you because we’re one of them.”
“What?”
There was another pause. “Selena, You are a witch.”
I couldn't believe what my mother was saying. Did the staring off into space affect her?
“Excuse me?!”
“Stop,” she holds her hand up to silence me, “Don’t be surprised, let me explain.”
“Please, I would enjoy[I8] that.”
As mom was explaining the history, I was in disbelief! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!
She was telling a lie about Christianity, and saying that magic is real? Magic is the work of the devil. Come on!
“You're joking. Right?” I asked.
“Nope.” My mom crosses her arms to stand her ground.
“Why isn’t it in the Bible?”
“Since day one, magic was supposed to be a secret. You can’t use it on Earth, until one special day.”
“And that is?”
“Can’t say. it’s a surprise.”
Oh...
“Then what am I? Not human?”
“You're half-witch and half-human. The witch or wizard marries a human to make an HMHH.”
“HMHH?”
“Half-magic-half-human.”
“Mom, did you take your medication today? How can I be anything but human? Are witches a different species?
“Explain why those men had those specific clothes on.”
I had to think about that for a moment. Come to think of it, other people didn’t see me until I said those words, and then they appeared at the back of our car out of thin air. Could magic be real?
“Come with me,” Mom replied, got out of the car, and gestured to me. “You seem like you need some proof.”
The left side of my mind told me not to, but the right told me to go. I got out of the car and followed mom inside until I found her standing in front of her office. “Wait, we're not allowed in your office.”
“Just this time,” she said, holding one finger up to me, and opened the door.
We walked into her office, and she went up to her safe that I and Mason tried to get into when we were younger. Back when we were very little, we would walk into mom's office, and try to see what was in there, with one person's ear on the safe door, and the other one turning the knob, like the movies.
She put in her code, opening the safe, which is the size of me (And I’m 5’9.) She pulls out an old yellow box that looked like it had been through a war. How doesn’t it collapse?
She opened the box and took out a piece of paper, a stick, and a hat. “The hat is something you receive your Finalmen year of school.”
“What school? It’s summer.”
“It’s called Tumnpsuv Genimis.”
“Tums-what?” I asked in confusion. “Never mind, where is it?”
“Just read this first,” Mom demanded in her mother's voice as she handed me an envelope.
The envelope was the color of the clouds. I took the envelope and felt its rough texture.
“Open it.” She insisted.
I open the envelope, and there was a letter.
Selena Dixon,
You are receiving this letter because you are invited to go to school on the faraway planet of Saturn.
At our school, we teach young witches and wizards ways to master their abilities like spells and magic. You will meet many different magically fluent students from Earth, and maybe lifelong relationships[I9]. It’s an incredible opportunity.
If so, you will be directed by train to Venus, and then you will turn back to go to Saturn. Please bring some money so you can convert it to Jhunas. £500 or more is enough for the British currency.
Please bring…
~ Money (desired amount)
~ Clothes to last you for at least a week
- Any hygiene supplies you’ll need
~ If you take any medication, bring it
~ A broom (one you can buy at Tesco, Wal-Mart, etc.)
Do not bring AT ALL:
~ any sort of weapons
~ drugs (Unless written with permission from the nurse)
~ More than one Phones/iPods/Tablets
~ ANY Laptops (Only applies to freshman)
You must be at the launchpad with your parent/guardian on June 1st.
“My first question is: how are we supposed to get to Venus and Saturn if we haven’t even been able to get to Mars?” I asked in irritation.
“Humans haven’t been able to explore space as far as the magically fluent have. They still haven’t even gotten to the deepest parts of the oceans.”
“So we use magic to get there?”
“No, we use a bus, Selena, keep up”
Well...
“You have to start packing. That’s tomorrow,” Mom replied as she put the stuff back in the safe.
; I walk myself to my room and begin to pack.
“Oh, by the way, you can’t tell anyone.” Om shouted from her room.
It’s not like I’m going to tell anyone anyway…[I10]
3
“Got everything?” Mom yelled up the stairs to my room.
“Yeah!” I yell back as I came down to the foyer.
“Toothbrush?”
“Yup,” I say as I set down my suitcase. “I’m all set.”
“Make sure, Selena!”
“I’ve double-checked! I have everything,” I counter. The day had gone by quickly, and it was already June 1st. The day I leave. I knew nobody that was going with me, and I was nervous. I wasn’t even sure if this was real. “Ready. Can I bring my phone?” I asked as I get into the car.
“No.”
Well, that’s stupid. “How do I contact you?”
“If you ever need to contact me, you will have to send something called a Feleth[I11], which is basically a modified phone.” She said as she started the car.
“So, where is the launchpad at, Mom?” I asked, wondering.
“It’s near Handwire Park. Just a couple turns till you leave the atmosphere.” Mom tries to hide some tears falling down her face.
I try to comfort as best as I can, but what do you say to someone who’s sending their daughter into outer space. “Oh, Mom.” I’m so young and already leaving the nest. This is probably why she’s hid the letter from me for so long.
* * *
We finally reached the Launchpad, and it was bigger than I had expected. There were many other kids there with their parents, but they looked like they were thirteen or fourteen-year-old. I'm sixteen, so that's a problem.
As we grabbed our stuff and got out of the car, this elf-like-man walked up to us. He sorta looked like the aliens you find on the Sims 2.
If you have lived in a cave all your life and never played the Sims 2, the alien character looks like..well...a green alien with huge eyes. I mean, those things are bigger than it’s stomach!
Google it. You’ll be surprised...
“Welcome! May I have a name?” he asked.
