The Calling

Chapter 6

Holly

It's been two days since I was in Clara's apartment. Two days since I lifted the concealment spell from my daughters. I needed them. Clara needs them. Tonight I will tell them what they really are. Tonight, we travel to the Shadow Realm. It's a full moon, and we need that to enhance their power to travel safely to the Shadow Realm. Clara can't wait another four weeks.

My house feels too quiet. I stand in the center of the living room, my hands clasped tightly in front of me, staring at my two daughters seated across from me.

Marissa leans back into the couch, arms crossed, sharp eyes narrowed. At 25, she has inherited my strength, but none of my secrets. Jenn sits beside her, restless fingers tapping against her knee, sensing the tension but not understanding it.

"I need you both to listen," I say softly. "And I need you not to interrupt until I'm done."

Marissa raises a brown. "That's never a good way to start a conversation."

Jenn gives a nervous laugh. "Mom, you're scaring me."

I exhale. The air in the room stirs slightly around me, almost unconsciously. "There's a place that exists alongside this world. Hidden from human eyes. It's called the Shadow Realm."

Marisa blinks. "Okay..."

"It's real," I continue. "And we're connected to it."

Jen snorts. "Is this about Clara? Because if this is some metaphor.."

"It's not a metaphor."

Silence stretched. I step closer. "You three were born into one of the most powerful covens in the Shadow Realm. I left it to protect you. To protect all of you."

Marissa stares at me. "Protect us from what?"

"The Shadows. Dark witches who feed on power. They've been hunting our bloodline for decades."

Jenn shakes her head, smiling like she's humoring me. "Mom...you've officially lost it."

My jaw tightens. "I have been masking your magic since you were kids. Hiding your abilities, so the Shadows can't feel you."

Marissa laughs outright now. "Our magic."

"Yes."

"So what, were witches?" Jenn says, sarcasm thick.

"Yes."

Marissa stands. "Okay, this is a joke. A weird one."

I close my eyes. The room was still. Too still. Then the air shifted. A low current begins to swirl around my feet, lifting the edges of the rug. Jenn's hair flutters back from her face. Marissa's blouse rips against her skin.

"What the..." Jen whispers.

The curtains snap upward as if caught in a sudden gust. Papers lift from the coffee table, spinning in a controlled spiral around me. The air condensed, visible, like a twisting column of wind contained within the room.

I raise one hand. The wind obeys. It coils around my arm, gentle but powerful, humming with restrained force. "I control air," I say steadily.

With a small motion of my fingers, the current stops. Everything drops at once. Silence crashes down.

Marissa stares, color drained from her face. "That was...a trick."

I walk to the kitchen door. Without touching it, I flick my wrist. The door slams shut. A framed photo lifts from the wall and hovers midair before settling softly back into place.

Jenn's breathing turns shallow. "That's not possible..."

"It is," I said. "And you've both felt it before. Moments when something strange happened around you. When you were emotional"

Marissa swallows. She remembered the time at the lake, how the water had surged unexpectedly when she screamed at her ex. How the surface had churned violently around her.

"You." I look directly at Marissa, "control water."

Marissa shakes her head slowly. "No."

"Yes. Oceans. Rain. Rivers. Even the water in the air."

I turn to Jenn.

"And you control earth. Stone. Soil. Metal in its rawest form."

Jenn's voice barely comes out. "That's insane."

Is it?" I ask gently. "How many times have plants grown faster around you? How many times has the ground trembled when you were furious?"

Jenn's mind flashed to cracked pavement beneath her feet during an argument last year. She had thought it was a coincidence.

My voice softens. "And Clara...controls fire."

Both girls snap their heads up. "What does Clara have to do with this?" Marissa demands.

My composure cracks for the first time.

"She's gone."

Jenn stands now too. "What are you saying?"

"She crossed into the Shadow Realm somehow."

The words hang heavy. Marissa's heart pounds. "You mean she's missing because of this fantasy world?"

"It's not fantasy!" My voice thundered, and a sharp gust burst outward, rattling the windows. I steady myself. Softer now. "She's there. And she's in danger."

Jenn's eyes fill with tears. "Danger how?"

"The Shadows want elemental power. Air. Water. Earth. Fire. Together, it's unmatched." My voice trembles. "Clara is fire. Raw and volatile. If they capture her..."

Marissa's expression hardens. "Then go get her."

"I can't do it alone."

Silence again.

"I've hidden your abilities your entire lives," I said. "But to enter the Shadow Realm safely, to survive it, we need balance. All four elements. I need you."

Jenn looks at her hands as if expecting them to start glowing.

"I don't know how to use...earth." she whispered.

"You will," I tell her.

Marissa walks towards the window, staring out into the darkening sky. Her reflection looks different now. Less ordinary.

"This is insane," she mutters.

But beneath her feet, faint condensation begins forming. Tiny droplets gathering without reason. I notice but say nothing.

Marissa turns back slowly. "If this is real...if Clara is actually trapped somewhere..."

"She is," I say firmly.

Jenn lifts her chin. Fear still there, but something else too. Resolve. "What do we have to do?"

I step forward, placing a hand over each of theirs. The air shifts again, but this time it feels alive. Waiting.

"We bring fire home."

The words linger in the air. We bring fire home. Marissa squeezes my hand once before pulling away. pacing now. Jenn stands still, trying to steady her breathing.

"This is instance," Marissa mutters again, but it lacks conviction this time. "Shadow realms. Elemental magic. Dark witches.

I hesitate. There is more. And it was the part I had buried even deeper than the magic. "Theres something else," I confess.

Jenn gives a shaky laugh. "of course there is."

My eyes flicker to the windows. The sun has dipped low, the sky painted in streaks of violet and amber. Dusk. I had always hated dusk.

"You're not just witches," I say.

Marissa stops pacing. "I swear, mom..."

"You're also part werewolf."

Silence. Then...Jenn bursts out laughing.

Marissa stares at me like shes finally snapped. "Okay. No. Absolutely not. Pick a supernatural creature and stick with it."

"I'm serious."

"Mom," Jenn says between laughs, "what, do we sprout fur under a full moon? Chase mailmen?"

I don't smile. "Your father was a werewolf."

Silence again.

Marissa blinks. "Was?"

"Yes."

Jenn stares. "Okay. Thats not funny."

"I'm not joking."

Marissa shakes her head. "You just made the curtains fly and the door slam. Fine. Magic is real. Shadow Realm is real. But now Dads a wolf?"

"Not a wolf," I correct gently. "A werewolf. An Alpha."

Jenn folds her arms. "So what does that make us? Puppies?"

My expression doesn't change. "It makes you part wolf by blood. You might not shift like he could. But the instinct, the strength, the heightened senses—it's in you."

Marissa studies me carefully. "Show us."

"I can't."

"Convenient," Marissa shoots back.

"My voice sharpens, "because I am not a werewolf." That stops them.

"I'm a witch," I say firmly. "Air is my element. That is all. Your father carried the wolf blood. It passed to you three."

Jenn frowns. "If you're not one...then how do you know?"

"Because I lived in their territory for years," I reply. "In the Shadow Realm, werewolf packs guard the borders not only between their packs but between worlds. They are warriors. Protectors. Your father led one of the strongest."

Marissa's sarcasm fades slightly. "You loved him."

"Yes. I never stopped." My words hold weight.

Jenn's voice softens. "And he knew about...all this? The witches? The Shadows?"

"He fought them," I say. "Alongside me."

A faint tremor runs through the house as if on cue. Jenn stifens.

"I didn't do that," she whispered.

"I know," I said calmly. "The wolf's blood responds to heightened emotion. Especially near the moon."

Marissa glances toward the window. The sky deepening into indigo. A pale glow beginning to crest over the rooftops.

"You're saying were like...enhanced?" she asks.

"Yes. Your magic is stronger because of it. Your reflexes faster. You're healing quicker. You'll feel it when something is hurting you."

Jenn swallows. "Clara."

I nod. "Fire paired with Alpha wolf blood is rare. Powerful. It burns hot and fast."

Marissa's throat tightens. "How did she end up there?"

"I honestly don't know. I felt powerful magic last night near her car. I thought maybe I had too much wine. But when she didn't respond to my calls or texts, I had to check. That's when I felt the Shadow Realm in her apartment."

Jenn's voice trembles. "So she's alone. With dark witches. And whatever else lives there."

"She's not alone," I say softly. "There are still allies in that realm. Packs that remember your father. The moment she passed through that realm, my concealment spell lifted. Her wolf will come out, and they will sense her when she does."

Marissa studies me again, searching for cracks in my story. She won't find any.

"Why didn't we ever...feel it?" Jenn asks. "The wolf part."

"You have," I reply. "Every time your instincts kicked in before your mind caught up. Every time you sensed someone watching you. Every time you reacted faster than you should have. The concealment ward I had you under is powerful, but it can only do so much."

Marissa thought about the night she'd nearly been hit by a car—how she'd moved before she'd consciously seen it.

Jenn remembers knowing someone was lying before they'd even finished speaking.

I step closer.

"I don't know if you will ever...sprout fur," I said gently, answering Jenn's earlier joke. "But under a full moon, your senses will heighten. Your strength will spike. And in the Shadow Realm, that edge could save your life."

Marissa lets out a slow breath. "So were elemental witches...with werewolf blood...going into another dimension to save our sister."

"Yes."

Jenn looks down at the hardwood floor. Without meaning to, she presses her palm lightly against it. A faint vibration answers her touch. Not violent. Not destructive. Just...responsive. Alive.

Marissa moves towards the sink again, staring at the still surface of water in a glass. It trembles slightly as her pulse quickens.

They both look at me. Fear was still there. But something else was rising now. Something sharper. Predatory.

"When do we go?" Marissa asks quietly.

I turn toward the window, where the first clear curve of the moon has emerged.

"Tonight," I say.

Because somewhere in the Shadow Realm, fire was burning too bright. And the daughters of air and wolf blood are finally awake.