Thirst

A WITCH

"What the fuck...?" she whispered, the toothbrush slipping from her fingers and clattering into the sink.

The girl looking back at her wasn't entirely herself. Her normally tight, beautifully styled 4C afro hair was visibly longer, cascading around her shoulders in thick, wild coils that hadn't been there the night before. But it was her eyes that made her blood run cold. The dark brown of her irises was gone, replaced by a striking, deep kaleidoscope swirling with dull, glowing golden flecks.

And on her neck…what was that?

Panicking, Juanita yanked at the collar of her nightgown, pulling it down over her shoulders. She let out a sharp gasp.

Tracing across her collarbones, down her arms, and swirling over her ribs were faint, transparent patterns woven directly into her skin. They looked like ancient, mystical tattoos, shimmering with a microscopic, luminescent glow.

"No, no, no, no, no," Juanita muttered, her breathing turning shallow as she backed away from the mirror, mortified. "What is happening to me? What is this?"

Knock. Knock.

"Nita?" Cherry’s voice echoed from the other side of the bathroom door. "Are you okay in there? Breakfast is almost ready."

"I am!" Juanita answered far too quickly, her voice cracking in a high-pitched, frantic squeak.

A beat of silence passed.

"Uh... you definitely don't sound okay, girl. I'm coming in."

"No, don't!"

Terrified of Cherry seeing her skin and her glowing eyes, Juanita forcefully threw her hand out toward the door. It was a pure, primal instinct.

A sudden, blinding burst of violet light erupted directly from her palm. The raw energy slammed into the heavy wooden door, and with a metallic click, the lock spun into place, a translucent, shimmering barrier of purple light sealing the frame.

Juanita let out a terrified whimper, her eyes widening to the size of saucers as she stared at her hands.

On the outside, the door handle jiggled violently.

"Girl, open the door. What is wrong with you? You know damn well we've seen our junks. We literally compared bushes last week, girl!" Cherry yelled, trying to force the handle down.

Juanita clamped both hands over her mouth to muffle a terrified sob, her chest heaving as she hyperventilated against the tiled wall.

When no sound came from the bathroom, Cherry’s tone shifted from playful to deeply concerned.

"Juanita…seriously, what's going on? Let me in."

Desperate, Juanita squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force her breathing to calm down.

"Cherry, I…I'm fine, I swear! I'm…my period just came. And it's…uh, really messy. I just need a minute."

A brief pause.

"Oh. Do you want me to make you some herbal tea? I'm making breakfast anyway."

"Yeah, sure! Thank you, you're the best," Juanita called out, her voice trembling.

Outside, Cherry hummed softly. She turned away from the bathroom door, but as she walked through the living area, her eyes drifted through the open door of Juanita’s bedroom. She paused. The light pink sheets on Juanita's bed were perfectly neat, completely devoid of any blood.

Cherry looked back at the locked bathroom door, letting out a heavy, solemn sigh. She knew damn well something was wrong with her best friend. And she was going to find out what it was.

***

The next two weeks became a living hell.

Juanita’s powers were tearing through her life like an untamed hurricane. It was maddening. she felt herself going crazy.

It was completely out of her control. Random power bursts erupted from her hands at the slightest spike of emotion, sending pens flying across rooms or shattering coffee mugs.

The transparent patterns on her skin would suddenly flare into vibrant shades of gold, red, or violet without warning, forcing her to wear thick, suffocating turtlenecks and gloves even indoors.

Each day was worse than the last. She felt like she was losing her goddamn mind.

Terrified of hurting someone or exposing her monstrous reality, Juanita completely isolated herself. She blew off her history friends, flaked on her Acapella practices, skipped her debate and activism clubs, and stopped going to lectures entirely.

She spent her days locked inside her single bedroom, wrapping herself in blankets and crying herself to sleep out of sheer exhaustion.

Her room became a manifestation of her untamed magic. Thick green vines and wild, exotic flowers had begun growing directly out of the cracks in her bedroom walls, sprouting instantly whenever she had a panic attack. The room was a complete mess, everything scattered, some things floating.

It felt like a cage of its own. Juanita felt like she was losing her mind.

Through it all, Cherry was relentless. She knocked on the bedroom door morning and night, begging, pleading, and demanding Juanita open up and talk to her. But Juanita just buried her face in her pillows, listening to her best friend’s voice until the tears ran dry.

She was a jumbled, broken mess of fear, confusion, and overwhelming anger.

She screamed into her pillow.

On the fourteenth night, the containment failed.

An intense nightmare pulled Juanita into a spiral of raw panic. As she woke up screaming, a massive, destructive burst of kinetic magic detonated from her body. The windows of her room shattered outward, books flew off her shelves in a violent whirlwind, and the heavy wardrobe overturned, smashing into the floor with a deafening, earth-shaking crash.

The vines grew more.

Frightened to her very core by her own destructiveness, Juanita crawled into the corner of her room, curling into a tight ball beneath the creeping vines on the wall. She buried her face in her knees and sobbed, her entire body shaking as the magic crackled violently across her skin.

“Stop! Just stop! Please!"

And then the heavy wooden door broke down, shattering into absolute splinters, wood raining down onto the carpet.

"Juanita!"

Cherry stood in the empty doorframe, panting heavily, a fierce, protective light burning in her eyes. But as she took in the state of the room—the shattered glass, the overturned furniture, the creeping vines, and Juanita curled into a weeping ball in the corner—the question died entirely in her throat.

"Oh my gods," Cherry whispered.

She dropped to her knees, scrambling through the debris, and immediately enveloped Juanita’s sobbing, trembling form into a warm, fierce hug. She pulled Juanita close to her chest, ignoring the faint sparks of magic still leaping from Juanita's skin.

"It's okay. You're okay. I'm here, Nita. I've got you," Cherry murmured, rocking her gently.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," Juanita choked out, her voice cracking as she melted entirely into Cherry’s warmth, gripping her sweater like a lifeline. "I don't know what's wrong with me, Cher..."

"Shh. It's okay. You're gonna be okay."

They sat on the floor for a long time, the silence of the night only broken by Juanita’s fading sobs.

They sat on the floor for a long time, the silence of the night only broken by Juanita’s fading sobs. Cherry stayed entirely still, holding her tightly, stroking her wild hair until Juanita's breathing finally leveled out.

Slowly, Juanita pulled back, meeting Cherry’s soft, comforting eyes.

"Still got any more tears left in there?" Cherry teased gently, a small, warm smile breaking through her worry. She reached out, tenderly wiping the damp tear tracks from Juanita's cheeks before leaning in to press a soft peck to her lips.

Juanita let out a weak, watery chuckle, wiping her nose with her sleeve. "God, I hope not."

The room grew quiet again, the gravity of the destruction surrounding them settling into the air. Cherry didn't look afraid of the mess. She just looked solid. Grounded.

"What happened, Nita?" Cherry asked softly, her voice leaving no room for lies.

The dam broke. Juanita didn't have the strength to carry the suffocating heaviness inside her anymore. Sitting amidst the wreckage of her room, the words spilled out of her in a frantic, desperate rush. She told Cherry every single thing. She started with the intense, passionate kiss she had shared with Samil on the roof, to the blinding violet light of her locket, and the horrific vision of the 1995 m******e. She confessed everything she had experienced over the last two weeks, pulling down her sleeve to show Cherry the intricate, glowing patterns woven into her skin.

Juanita watched her friend closely, expecting horror, expecting her to scream and run away. But to her utter bewilderment, Cherry listened with absolute patience. She didn't interrupt a single time, her expression completely calm and chill. The only time she even batted an eye was at the very beginning.

"He kissed you?!" Cherry gasped, her eyes widening.

"I kissed him back, Cherry!" Juanita exclaimed, throwing her hands up. "That's not the point! The point is my hands shoot purple lasers, vines are growing out of my walls, and I think my dad murdered his family! I don't even know how or why this is happening. Is this even real? I feel like the past two weeks have been a terrible, f****d-up dream. What is wrong with me?" Juanita was hyperventilating again, her voice rising in a panic. "And why are you so calm? The one time I actually need you to freak out with me, you're just sitting there!"

Cherry let out a long, slow sigh. She reached out, gently but firmly grasping both of Juanita’s trembling hands in her own.

"Okay," Cherry said, her voice steady and grounded. "So, this may be a hard one to process, but um…I'm a witch."

Juanita blinked, a dry, incredulous laugh escaping her throat. "Cherry, please. This is serious. I'm having a literal existential crisis here, this isn't the time for jokes."

"There is always time for a joke, Juanita. But I am not joking," Cherry said, her dark eyes locking onto Juanita’s with a fierce, undeniable truth.

Juanita froze, staring at her best friend, the room suddenly feeling incredibly still. "What...?"

"How do you think I got in here, Juanita?" Cherry asked softly, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know, I thought I…or you might have... pushed..." Juanita trailed off, her eyes drifting toward the entrance of her bedroom. Except there was no door. The heavy, solid wood was lying in a hundred shattered, smoking smithereens across the threshold. A human could never have done that.

Juanita snapped her head back to Cherry, her jaw dropping, her amber-and-gold eyes wide with a sudden realization.

"I'm a witch, Juanita," Cherry said, a small, comforting smile playing on her lips as she squeezed her hands. "And by the looks of it... you might be one too