by Tanya Milne
The branch scratched the window again. I looked up at its twisted and gnarled silhouette against the darkness. Could I climb down the tree? I stepped forward and looked down at its thick limbs that plummeted towards the ground. My body started to shake and I went and sat down on my bed. The clock radio read 3.05 a.m. Beside my bed, I spotted my notebook that had the list of plants and flowers I needed for my spell. In my drawer was the chalice I’d need to put the plants in.
With everything that had been going on, I’d hardly had time to think about the memory-erasing potion, but it all flooded back to me and just like that, I knew that I could do it, or at the very least try.
I slipped on my runners and thick fitted jacket, and put my notebook, compass, chalice and phone in my bag and slipped it onto my back. The only problem was the crystal. I’d searched the house high and low, but couldn’t find one and hadn’t had the chance to buy one. The moon would be full tomorrow night, so it was the perfect time to leave a crystal on the altar for cleansing.
I was staring into space, and it took me a moment to realise that I was staring at the angel my mum had given me when I was a little girl to hang against my window. I remembered her words as though she had spoken them only yesterday. ‘A crystal angel to protect you, my darling.’
A CRYSTAL angel! Yes!
Of course, it made sense. It was a treasured gift from a mother witch to a daughter witch. I stood, and warmth flowed through me as I made my way towards the angel that I’d adored through my childhood, never quite managing to put it away, even as I edged towards adulthood.
I retrieved the angel and cradled it as I’d done a million times before. My hands, buzzing with magic, vibrated against the crystal. I unclipped her, wrapped her in one of my scarves and slipped her into my bag, then zipped it tight.
I stood before the window. I was ready. All of my thoughts and fears left me, creeping back into the cracks where they’d come from. Strength and power flowed through me like a current. I opened the window, and chilly air blew on my face. I lifted myself up onto the windowsill, and under the light of the moon, I climbed out onto the tree branch that had woken me, as though to tell me it was time – time for me to be a witch.
The moment I climbed onto the branch, all my bravado flew away on the breeze.
What the hell am I doing?
I glanced back to my window that I’d shut so confidently, thinking that I wouldn’t need to leave it open in case I changed my mind.
IDIOT! What was I thinking?
I sat down, my legs like jelly, and clung to the branch, which felt cool and rough. When I looked down through the giant tree, the ground seemed a million miles away. One false move and that would be it. I’d never liked heights, and my stomach dropped. For a few minutes, I was still, cursing under my breath.
The wind sprang up again, the cool air bracing against my searing skin and bringing me back into the moment. I forced myself forward and progressed a few inches, then a few more, until I was on the move. When I reached the first fork in the tree, I hugged it tight and kissed it. It was hard to get going again, but I took a deep breath and continued climbing down.
I was making slow progress when an owl hooted from a nearby branch. I looked up and lost my balance, my sweaty hands no longer able to grip the tree. I cried out as I slipped and plunged towards the ground.
Chapter Twenty-Five
A few metres below, my body hit a branch, which slowed my fall. I reached out and just managed to grab hold of a nearby branch to avoid spiralling to the ground. My heart thudded in my chest while I dangled in thin air.
Finally, I found my breath and moved my legs around until I located another branch to rest my feet against. With a quick intake of breath, I let go of the tree and crouched, balancing precariously on the branch that swayed under my movement. The moment the branch was still, I wrapped my hands around it and continued on down, not wanting to be in the tree for a second longer than necessary.
Finally, I made it down to the ground. I ran my hands over my left arm, which I’d hit on the tree, and noticed I’d punctured my pants and my knee was raw and bleeding, but otherwise I was okay. I shuddered just thinking of what could have happened.
I glanced back up the tree innocently doused in moonlight – the tree that had woken me, inspired this crazy decision, then saved me from my fall. I shook my head, pulled the straps of my backpack close and, wincing, walked back down my front path and out onto the sleeping street.
I took one final look around me before I slipped back into the woods. Ever since I’d left home, I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched. I’d stopped several times, but hadn’t seen a thing. The streets, already quiet in peak hour, had seemed as if they’d been asleep for a hundred years.
The moment I was inside the woods, the light from the bright moon was stolen by the trees that towered over me. I remembered back to the last time I’d been there, when Jet had found me, when he’d kissed me. And last night, I’d let him kiss me again – in front of my whole class and teachers. My body flushed with heat. I forced myself to admit that the kiss, well, the kiss…
Stop it, Eva!
It didn’t matter how he’d kissed me, how his hands felt on me… It didn’t matter, because he was bad, bad news and I should never have kissed him once, let alone twice, and certainly not publicly. Certainly never again!
I groaned and realised how quiet it was; it was as though the bushes were holding their breath.
Focus!
I thought back to the map showing the layout of the woods that I’d been studying since getting lost last time. I had a fairly good idea where the circle of trees was and where my satchel would still, hopefully, be. I walked on, trying to ignore how the shapes of the trees looked like grotesque monsters.
After a few minutes, I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched. I turned and looked around, but nothing and no one was there. The wind sprang up and weaved its way through the trees and bushes, making their leaves and branches all rub together as though whispering to each other.
I cleared my throat and resisted my desire to turn and run for my life. This was my chance to get my satchel and cleanse my crystal. I had to take it. I continued on and even though the same feeling of being watched returned over and over, I didn’t turn back around.
As morning approached, the light began changing colour. Slowly the black turned to the darkest shade of blue, indigo blue, and a few sleeping birds awoke. I finally emerged on the riverbank and saw steam rising from the water’s surface. Several slivers of orange-and-pink light were being painted on the canvas above me, and the night was fading fast. It was possibly one of the most beautiful landscapes I’d ever seen, and even though I knew I should keep moving, I was transfixed, held in the beauty of this special place.
I was so mesmerised that it took me several moments to realise someone was standing by my side.
‘Good morning, Eva,’ said a voice I knew only too well.
I nearly jumped out of my skin before I realised who it was and what trouble I was in.
‘What the hell, Elijah? What are you doing here?’ I shouted, sending a flock of birds into flight above the river.
I turned to Elijah, whose eyes looked as if they were made from stone. ‘I could ask you the same question.’
‘How dare you follow me, sneak up on me like that. You scared me half to death!’
Elijah replied, his voice edged with something I’d hardly ever heard before, something that made me take a step backwards. ‘Well, for a start, you woke me up when you screamed.’ He looked at my torn tracksuit, my bleeding leg. ‘When you slipped on the tree. Besides, how else am I to supposed to find out what you’re up to?’
‘Ever thought about respecting someone else’s privacy? I’m not five anymore.’
‘You call this privacy? Sneaking out, climbing down the tree where you could’ve broken your neck and coming out here, into the woods…on your own? Or maybe you’re not planning to be here on your
own? Who the hell would know? Certainly not me.’
A fire burst to life inside me. ‘Yes, I call this privacy. I call this none of your goddamned business.’
‘What’s going on with you, Eva? I don’t even know you anymore. I mean, last night, seriously…poor Noah. You should have seen his face when you kissed Jet and then ran after Ezra like that. You should have heard…’
His words cut me like a knife. ‘Heard what?’
Elijah’s face was red and there were small beads of sweat above his lip. ‘What people are saying about you.’
I laughed; I couldn’t help it. ‘So what, I’m the town hussy, is that it?’
He turned his face to the side, regarded me closely. ‘Is that what you want?’
I laughed again, in his face. ‘You really have to ask me that?’
He opened his mouth, closed it again.
I turned away from him and saw that the transformation from night to day was in full swing, and if I weren’t so pissed, I’d be transfixed by the pale-pink beauty before me.
‘I’m sorry. That was uncalled for,’ said Elijah, his voice returning to normal. ‘I’m just confused and worried…about you.’
The kookaburras started up their welcome, heralding the arrival of the new day. We stood silently and listened to their mighty chorus.
Eventually he spoke again. ‘I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve always known you like I know the sun will rise in the morning and set at night. But not anymore.’ His voice cracked, and I turned to look into his violet eyes, the same colour as mine. ‘Nothing is right anymore.’
The truth to his words struck me, and my eyes filled with tears. ‘I can’t tell you everything anymore, Elijah, because you wouldn’t understand. You would try and stop me, and that’s no longer possible.’
‘What are you talking about?’ he said, his eyes wide. ‘You can tell me anything. Anything.’
I looked into his eyes – the eyes I’d gazed into from the moment I was born. They had always been my compass to the world. My north. My south. My east. My west. I knew we were at a junction in our relationship. I’d moved forward while he had stayed where he was. Could he move with me? Could he continue to walk by my side?
‘Come,’ I said, taking his hand. ‘There’s something I want to show you.’
He looked at me warily before nodding. Together we left the river and started back into the woods, where the golden light now shone.
We walked in silence as the pink light faded until it disappeared, leaving the pale-blue autumn-morning sky behind.
‘Where are we going?’ asked Elijah.
‘You’ll see,’ I said, butterflies taking flight inside me. What I was about to do was a risk, no doubt about it. But in that split second I’d made my decision, and now there was no turning back. I blocked out what this could mean if things went wrong and focused on where we were, this time determined not to get lost.
We walked on silently, the chorus of birds chattering and screaming their delight. Before long, we reached the circle of trees.
‘Follow me,’ I said, my words a whisper. I made my way to the small gap between the bushes. ‘Keep an open mind,’ I said before stepping into the small gap and walking into the clearing. Elijah quickly followed, and then he stopped and turned around, taking it in.
‘This place…’ he said.
‘I know. It’s pretty amazing, huh?’
‘How did you find it?’
I walked over to the altar. There, sitting exactly where I’d left it, was my satchel. I let out the breath I was holding, and my whole body relaxed.
‘What’s that doing here?’ he said, walking over and picking up my satchel, then opening it up and finding the remains of the flowers, plants and herbs that I’d picked, along with his knife.
‘I left them here by accident,’ I said.
Elijah’s forehead creased into long lines. ‘I don’t understand. What were you doing with them? And what’s with the flowers?’
I put my hands on the altar and remembered the last time I’d done that, when I had created my witch’s symbol that had caused more trouble.
‘You ready for the truth, Elijah?’
He nodded, just once.
‘And you won’t tell me what to do, or tell Mum and Dad?’
He looked at me intently and nodded, eventually.
I tried to find the words, the words that would help me explain this right.
‘Spit it out, Eva. I’m getting hungry.’
I laughed at my brother, who didn’t even crack a smile.
‘Sorry, right, well, the simplest way to say this is that I’ve decided to learn how to become a witch.’
‘You what?’ he said, his voice raised. ‘Mum thought you might, but I said you wouldn’t, because you’d promised and you would never break a promise like that.’
‘Look, before you go nuts on me, you need to listen, really listen and not judge.’
Elijah clamped his mouth shut, but his face was full of all the words he wanted to say.
‘I know that I made my promise, and when I made it I had no intention of breaking it. But something changed for me, something that I could no longer ignore.’ I went on to tell Elijah about the day that I’d come home and seen the police harass Violet and how this made me realise I could no longer stand by and do nothing – that to do nothing was a crime.
Elijah’s face changed as I spoke, emotions rolling off him as though in waves. Finally, I was quiet, the only sound coming from the breeze that tousled the tree leaves.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ asked Elijah, his words sharp enough to puncture me.
‘Because you don’t understand.’
He opened his mouth to speak, but I spoke first. ‘Because you would rather do nothing, stay hidden and wish this whole situation will go away. But guess what, this whole situation is not going away. Orpheus Blackthorn is not going away. He’s going to continue to prey on poor, defenceless people like Violet, and he’s going to let his people continue to torment everyone.’
Elijah’s face paled, but I continued, raising my voice with every word.
‘When will it stop, Elijah? Huh? Don’t you see, it won’t. He won’t stop until someone stops him. And who do you think is going to do that if people – like you – hide away?’
‘But…’ he stammered out.
‘But what? Of course, it will be dangerous. But it’s more dangerous doing nothing.’ I lowered my head, but looked up into his eyes. ‘So I decided to fight fire with fire. We were given our birthright for a reason. I choose mine and no one, not you, not Mum or Dad and certainly not Orpheus, can ever take that decision from me. So that’s why I came here, that’s what I want to do. I am learning to be a witch.’
Elijah blinked quickly, his dark lashes brushing his face.
The heat had left my body, and my next words came out as a whisper. ‘If you don’t want any part of this, just go.’ I turned my back on him and closed my eyes, the pale sun on my face as I waited to hear his footsteps walking away from me.
‘Eva,’ he said, putting his hand on my arm. ‘Don’t turn your back on me.’
I opened my eyes and turned around, and there were his violet eyes – the mirror of mine – looking at me in a way he’d never looked before. I glimpsed a strength I’d never seen before.
‘Okay,’ he said.
My heart leapt.
‘Okay, I’ll learn with you.’
‘You will?’ I squealed like a five-year-old before launching myself at him, hugging his body, which felt as hard as a rock. ‘And since when did you get all buff?’
Elijah’s face turned pink, and he didn’t know where to look.
‘Seriously, bro, those muscles, where did they come from?’
‘I’m not sure. Dad said the same thing happened to him at the same age. Apparently it’s a male teen witch thing.’
I started laughing and flexed my arm up like a bodybuilder. ‘Gee, I wonder what I’ll get?’
; ‘A smart mouth and a knack for attracting the wrong attention.’
‘Ha ha, you’re hilarious.’ I slapped his ridiculous bicep, smiling widely. For the first time in a long time, the world seemed as though it were as it should be. ‘I’m so glad we’re doing this together.’
Elijah raised an eyebrow. ‘It’s not like I have much of a choice. If you can do it–’
‘I can do it better,’ I finished. I thought back through our childhood and all of the times he’d said those words to me and I felt an ache for what was, what never could be again. ‘That’s not a good enough reason, Elijah. This is too important. It’ll change your life forever.’
Elijah nodded and let out a long breath. ‘I know that, I do. And I didn’t make my decision for that reason.’
‘What then?’ I asked quietly.
‘Contrary to what you think, I feel it too. The urge to become who I’m supposed to be. It scares the life out of me, too, perhaps more than you, but when you said those things, you didn’t just beat me into submission – you made me face it, who I am. That’s the best way I can explain it.’
I nodded. ‘I know exactly what you mean. I feel it too.’
‘Seems like you’re feeling a lot of things these days. Care to talk about it?’
I knew exactly what he was referring to – my boy situation. I let out a long groan. ‘Not really and besides, there’s nothing to talk about. A false start, a bad decision and…’
How would I describe Ezra?
I knew my face was blazing.
‘That bad, huh?’
The pain returned to me, numbing everything but my heart, which burned with the knowledge that we could never be together.
‘Well, if you think that’s bad, wait until we tell Mum and Dad. They’re already beside themselves with worry,’ he said.
I felt the familiar knot tighten inside me, as it always did when I thought about the stress I was causing them. ‘I thought I could keep it a secret, to protect them, but clearly I was only fooling myself.’
