A Witches Destiny

Birthday surprise

Can you imagine being the quietest person in the room and having so much to say? I’ve never been much of a talker, but there’s a lot I’d like to say to Cody Langston. His smile lights up the entire room, I could sit and stare at him for hours. “Pay attention, and stop staring at Cody,” Lauren whispers. “You’re being so loud”, I whisper even quieter. I know Lauren thinks she’s being quiet, but she’s got a booming voice even when she is being as quiet as possible. I had zoned out staring at Cody not even realizing the homework assignment sitting on my desk. It should be a rule not to be assigned homework on your birthday. Ugh. I don’t even like celebrating my birthday.

“What are we doing tonight? Anything special?” Lauren knows I hate birthdays, but the past year has been tough and I know she wants to cheer me up. “I’m not sure what my aunt has planned”, I reply. Lauren looks at me with bored eyes. The final bell rings to signify that our suffering is over, at least for the rest of the weekend. “Listen, I don’t want you making a big deal about my birthday. I didn’t like them before and I really don’t like them now.” Lauren gives me a stern look before nodding slightly in agreement.

My aunt likes to go all out for holidays, and especially birthdays. I’m terrified to go home and see what she has planned. I’m officially 15 years old, I don’t want to be treated like a child anymore and have childish birthday celebrations. The bus ride home is filled with Lauren exploring all the ideas of what my birthday dinner may look like. “There will be cake, balloons, a piñata, and maybe even Cody!” She says out of excitement. I laugh at the thought. I couldn’t imagine Cody showing up for MY birthday, I haven’t even said more than 3 words to him. The closer we get to my house the more anxious I become. Usually the feeling of arriving home is relief, but not today. Whatever happens, I know it’s out of love, my aunt is an amazing woman but she doesn’t understand what I’ve been through.

I can finally breathe when we pull up to my house and there’s not a single car in the driveway. Peace and quiet.... except for Lauren. “Ooooooh home alone I see?” She said that like it’s a good thing, but I know my aunts not home because she’s cooking something up. I walk in and the house looks and sounds normal, no sign of a surprise party in sight, maybe she took me seriously when I said no party. I get a text message from an unknown phone number, “Happy Birthday, Celeste! I didn’t get to tell you at school today.” There’s three things I wanted to know in that moment: who, what, and why. I showed Lauren and of course she went on and on about it being Cody, but there’s no way. He doesn’t even know I exist... right? I had Lauren type the number into her phone to see if a name popped up but no luck. I felt a moment of hope in my chest that it was Cody; the feeling fled within seconds.

“You have to say something back! There’s a mystery to be solved here Celeste!” Thats when it hit me, a pounding migraine. Images flashed through my mind like a horrible 4-D movie. It was my mother, she was crying out begging for her life and for mine. It only lasted a few seconds but it felt like hours. I snapped out of it and Lauren was staring at me like I had just killed someone. “Ar- are you okay? What just happened?” A look of concern flooded her face like a tidal wave. “Nothing, my head just hurt for a second, I have a migraine.” A single tear fell from my face, after seeing my mom like that, I couldn’t hold it all in. The front door opened quietly and my aunt “snuck” in, or so she thought. I saw the bags in her hands and knew what was about to happen.

“It’s time for some fun girls” Jenny yelled from the living room. Her real name is Jennifer, but as a child all I could get out was Jenny so that’s what I’ve stuck with. I let out a loud sigh as Lauren grabbed my hand and pulled me off the couch. “I bought everything for mani’s and pedis, also ice cream and a little bit of cake!” Honestly, the thought of a little bit of pampering didn’t seem so bad after all.

Jenny gave both me and Lauren mani’s and pedi’s that were quite enjoyable. She also bought me the entire collection of my favorite saga. It was a nice relaxing night to say the least. Lauren and I were headed for bed when Jenny stopped me and told me she had one last surprise. “I kept this gift from you all day because it’s special, I would like to watch you open it if that’s okay?” I took the gift from her hands, it was a little white box with pale pink bow. I opened the box and inside was the last thing left of my mother: her opal necklace. A small gold chain with floral accents holding the opal in place. It was beautiful, it reminded me so much of her, all the memories it held. “Can I put it on you,” Lauren asked. I nodded my head in reply, this was the best present I had ever received. She placed the necklace in front of me and began to latch it in the back, and that’s when I felt it again. It was like a shock wave being sent through my entire body. Electricity lighting up every cell in my body, the moon flashed before my eyes in a blood red color. What was happening to me? Everything went black.

I woke up on the couch, the smell of bacon and eggs filled the room. My stomach rumbled as the events of last night ran through my mind, my hand went straight for the necklace. “Oh good! You’re finally awake, I was so worried about you.” I turned around to look at Jenny and she looked weirdly happy. “What even happened last night?” I didn’t know if I actually wanted the answer to that question. “I will talk to you in private about that much later,” she winked at me like it was some kind of inside joke. The rest of the morning went normally, after a large breakfast Lauren said her goodbye and went home. I went to my room to read, but I couldn’t get my mind off last night. I sat my book on my nightstand and stared off into the empty space of my ceiling. The door opened and Jenny swiftly sat at the end of my bed. “There’s something we need to talk about, and I just need you to listen to me very carefully.” I look at her with a straight face waiting for her to continue. “Listen, there’s a lot that your mom didn’t get to tell you before she passed. Celeste, we come from a long line of witches and warlocks.” I couldn’t even believe what was coming out of her mouth; witches and warlocks don’t exist. “I know this is a lot, but that necklace I gave you of your mothers holds her energy from when she was a witch, as well as your own. When you come from a bloodline like ours, you turn into a witch on your 15th birthday. The witch who destroyed your mother didn’t know her powers would be absorbed into the opal, and neither did I until I held it for the first time after the incident.” Jenny wasn’t making any sense, they told me my mother died in a car accident and now I’m finding out she was killed by a witch? I stopped Jenny in the middle of her talking, “you lied to me? I’ve been mourning my mother for a year and you’re just knkw telling me the truth AFTER you forced me to become a witch.” Jenny quickly formed her rebuttal, “Your mother sacrificed herself for you. The witch who took her life was here to take yours. The council found out that your father was human and doesn’t allow such a thing so your mother gave her life to spare yours.” Tears filled my eyes and spilled down my face, there was nothing more to say. I don’t know how Jenny expected this conversation to go but by the look on her face she expected a different outcome. “Celeste, I- I- wanted to tell you the truth... but I promised your mother I would wait until it was time.”

“Get. Out.” I’d never talked to my aunt this way, but right now I didn’t care how she felt. “Sweetie, I’m sorry I made a promise. I lost her just like you did. I’m so..” Rage fled my body like a flame, “I said GET OUT!” The windows in my room shattered all at once as glass shards flew through the air. The pieces stopped mid air as if time had froze. The glass pieced back together into the shape of my window like it never even happened. Jenny stood up and quietly walked out of my room. I don’t know what the future holds for me, or my aunt but right now I didn’t care.