Faithless

Chapter Nine

Jasmina was in denial for at least another week or so, but with the help of Ruby she finally came round to the idea of being a witch. Ruby acted as her confidant and gave Jasmina a place to go when she needed to work through everything going on in her mind, and she offered reassurance when Jasmina needed convincing that she wasn't completely insane. Normally she would have gone to Candice, but when it came to magic, talking to Candice just wasn't an option. Once Jasmina was ready she was officially introduced to Maxine, the other witch in their school. Just like Jasmina, she had no idea she was a witch until Cam and his family had arrived in town. She too was looking to Ruby for support in her transition and Ruby was happy to help. Maxine was only fourteen and the youngest of the three of them, followed by Jasmina who was sixteen. Powers usually developed most during puberty, which was why Maxine still had no idea at all. For Jasmina, her powers were all in her mind anyway so it was less obvious for her.

Jasmina had been told the importance of keeping her identity a secret by both Ruby and Cam and as much as she hated keeping things from her best friend, she had decided it would be best not to mention a word of her newfound witchcraft to Candice. At the end of the day Jasmina could barely make any sense of it all anyway, so how would she even begin to explain it to someone else? Maybe one day she would be able to come clean, but Jasmina didn't have any expectations of such.

Candice knew that Jasmina was hiding something from her yet again, but she didn't mention it for now. Jasmina had already come clean about one of the biggest secrets she had and Candice just hoped Jasmina would find the courage to do the same again. She just hoped it wouldn't take as long as last time.

Jasmina was regretting ever coming clean to Candice about her past. She knew now that if she ever did decide to tell her about being a witch, it would be that much harder to convince her now that she knew Jasmina had a past of having mental health issues. She would probably drag Jasmina kicking and screaming to the school nurse and from there Jasmina didn't even want to think of what would happen next. She doubted her father would waste any time in sending her away somewhere. It was what he had done countless times before.

By week three, Jasmina had finally agreed to be trained by Cam, Aiden and their father Ewan. He had only been at the school for a week and as he was no longer Jasmina's school teacher, he insisted she stuck to calling him by his first name. Jasmina wasn't completely comfortable with it, but she did her best. Jasmina was still unsure about the idea of being in a coven and she wasn't ready to meet the rest of Cam and Aiden's coven just yet, so they agreed she wouldn't have to meet anyone else until she was ready to do so.

Every weekend they would pick Jasmina up from the school and they would take her to an abandoned barn house, on the outskirts of the town for her to train. They tried to teach her as much about her powers as they possibly could, but it wasn't easy. Jasmina's power's were so rare that even they didn't know that much about them. They told her the visions were something she would probably struggle to get control of but they were confident enough of her accuracy that they had moved house after her vision of Cam to make sure that he would not be in danger.

Jasmina's power was all in her mind. It meant that she was able to do a lot of different things and unlike Cam or Aiden, she wouldn't need to use her hands to do so. Ewan put great emphasis on this as it would make it harder for any attackers to predict her next move, unlike the boys whose arm movements would give them away. Jasmina was too nervous to think of using her powers in a fight, so for now she just concentrated on getting them under control. She would deal with anything else as and when she had to. The last thing she needed was to rush into this life.

So far they learned that Jasmina was able to have visions of the future, read minds and create shields. They also learned the hard way that she had the ability to blow things up if she was put under enough pressure. It was safe to say Ewan avoided doing that again after the first time. Jasmina was starting to gain control over all her powers except for her visions. Ewan promised her that it would just take time, but she was doubtful, to say the least. Ewan was well practiced in keeping witches like Jasmina out of her mind, but she could still tell there was something else he was refusing to come clean to her about.

It felt like the more Jasmina practiced, the more powerful she became, or at least the more powerful they all realised she actually was. Within just two weeks of training, she was able to read minds without any intention of doing so. She could hear them as clearly as she could hear people talking out loud directly next to her. In school she would find it torturous as everyone else's thoughts would bombard her, every second of the day. Ewan taught her a way to block everything out but she still struggled. He warned her that if she failed to block everyone else out, she would be hit by all their thoughts at once, and she could tell from what she had heard Cam thinking, that the pain would be unbearable. For now she would picture building a wall in her mind, brick by brick, keeping out all the thoughts from everyone else. It would help her block out everyone, but she still struggled when it came to trying to hear just one person at a time. For now Cam had told her to just avoid it until she was more accustomed to her powers. If she tried it in a busy place she could get hurt and it wasn't worth the risk.

Ewan wanted to concentrate on her ability to make shields first and foremost. They could be a great help to the coven with the threat of hunters constantly looming over their heads. While she was constantly trying to practice making the shields bigger, so far all she had managed was a shield big enough to protect a small animal before she started to lose her concentration. Ewan was convinced she would find it easier once she had the power of a coven behind her, but Jasmina did her best to ignore him. She had a strong feeling he was just trying to convince her to join up already.

Eventually, Cam decided Jasmina was ready to learn more about the hunters that were after Cam and his family. They were a much bigger threat that Jasmina had first realised and there was a whole group of them in town. So far Cam and the rest of the coven had managed to stay out of their way, but they weren't sure how much longer they could keep that up for. Either they needed to run, or they needed to fight and they needed to make their decision fast. There would be far more pressure on Jasmina to join up and leave with them if it wasn’t for the fact that they were still looking for one more witch, that so far they hadn't been able to locate. Ewan was hoping they could use Jasmina's power to find her instead, but it was becoming clear that she would need a lot more training before that would work and they didn't have the time.

For now, Cam and Aiden were leading the hunters all around town, making it near impossible for them to find the rest of the coven. Cam only told Jasmina about it in hopes that she would be able to give them a heads up if she saw anything go wrong. Hunters were able to sense witches and warlocks and they would stop at nothing to see all of them dead. They knew that Cam's family were trying to recruit members for their coven and the hunters wouldn't let them get away with it without a fight. Their hatred for all those with magic ran deep in their blood and once they had a witch or warlock in their sight, there was nothing they would be able to do to hide their identity.

Jasmina was also learning about everyone else's powers during her lessons as well. Ewan had a weak control over Earth, Fire, Air and Water, but his main power was his ability to camouflage people. He could blend them and himself into his surroundings. As well as his control over Earth, Cam was also able to control fire. He could even breathe fire as well but it was harder to control. He was going to work on it more one the coven was complete. Jasmina had caught Cam thinking about a third power of his as well but he refused to tell her what it was. She had let it go for now, but she vowed to herself that she would find it out eventually.

When it came to Aiden's powers, he loved nothing more than giving away free demonstrations. He controlled water and air, which allowed him to conjure minor storms. The more members the coven gained, the stronger his storms had gotten. He couldn't wait for the coven to be complete so he could see exactly what kind of damage he could do. He could also manipulate cold and ice which he tried to demonstrate more than once but Jasmina politely declined. The weather was cold enough as it was for her liking.

When the school finally broke up for Christmas, Jasmina was given a break from all her training, but stayed in close contact with Cam just in case she needed any help. She spent nearly the whole holiday with Candice's family, except for Christmas Day. As expected, Jasmina's family didn't care where she went and it was only her dad who wanted her around for Christmas Day. He didn't argue when Boxing Day came along and she asked to go back to Candice's for the rest of the holiday. She had a few visions over the holiday that she would tell Cam about and he would go ahead and fix it. It seemed the more she used her power, the more her visions grew, to the point where they were getting painful. Jasmina took comfort in the fact that at least she was helping in some way or another.

Once school started back up in January, Jasmina went home to her father one last time before being dropped off the next day at school. Her training sessions were going to resume straight away which she wasn't looking forward to. She didn't mind training, but it was the constant lying to her friends about where she was going that was starting to get to her. But Ewan insisted they needed to keep pushing. He was in a hurry to find the last witch and after over a month of searching they still didn't seem any closer.

By the time Easter was upon them, Jasmina was able to make a shield big enough to protect a person of around four feet tall, but she wasn't able to hold it. Ewan was trying to teach her to create the shield, then separate herself from it, so that the shield remained there permanently, but Jasmina just wasn't able to do it yet. His frustration was growing day by day, but there was nothing more Jasmina could do. She had only just discovered her powers. Unlike Cam and Aiden who had been practicing their whole lives, Jasmina had only been practicing for around five months.

The closer it got to the end of school, the more nervous Jasmina was starting to feel, and it wasn't just because of her exams looming over her. She was getting closer to the point where she would need to decide if she was going to join the coven or not. She couldn't explain why it was so hard for her to decide. It was a form of protection for her and her kind and it would both increase her power and maybe help her to control it. She would have six other people tied to her, willing to help her out. The main thing that held her back was the idea that she might have to give up parts of her life. If she was tied to six other people, how free would she really be to go wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted? And then there was the fact that she would have to give up her friendships with Candice and Logan. She couldn't tell them the truth and the chances were she would have to move around so much she would never be able to see them anyway.

Jasmina had her first round of mock exams today which didn't give her much time to talk to anyone, which she was glad of. Every time she spoke to Candice or Logan, she lied and she was enjoying having a day off from that right now. Candice was growing increasingly worried, but Jasmina still had no idea what to tell her. She almost wished that Candice would decide she didn't want to be friends anymore. Jasmina felt like she deserved it and at least it would mean she wouldn't have to lie anymore. The thought of losing Candice as her best friend filled Jasmina's mind for most of the day, so much so that she doubted she had done well in her exams at all. She just hoped no one wrote home to her father. The last thing she needed right now was for him to start questioning her too.