Chapter 3

“You‘re supposed to be dead!” Leah shouted as she collapsed into a kitchen chair, not believing what was happening.
    “Oh, silly!” her Grandmother said, waving her hand and rushing over to her “I told you!  It was just a little potion accident, I put a little bit too much crushed hollyhock in with my powdered…well, you get it, but yes,” she said matter-o-factly, “It had some…side effects, that just happened to make me appear dead!”
    She acted as if this kind of thing happened everyday.
    “Oh, yes!  That’s it!” Leah said in exasperation, throwing her hands in the air and resting her head on the table “Potions?  Hollyhock?  What are you talking about?  Grandma, are you okay?” she paused “Oh, what the hell, you’re supposed to be dead!”
    Leah’s mother and grandma exchanged glances.    “You didn’t tell her, did you?” her grandma questioned.
    “I tried!  She didn’t give me a chance.  She thought you were dead after all!” her mother said in haste, voice rising.
    “Then you should have told her that I wasn’t!”
    “Yes mother.  ‘Oh!  Leah!  By the way!  You’re Grandma isn’t really dead!  Oh!  I forgot.  You’re also a witch.” She breathed heavily, “That’d go over really well.”
    “That would have been how I would have done it,” he Grandmother said, moving to the cupboard “Leah, dear, do you want some hot cocoa?  Hmm, I do.”
    “No…what I want…is an explanation.  A witch?  Come on mom, you can’t seriously believe her!  She’s clearly gone senile.” 
    “Leah, it’s the truth.  You’re a witch.  It’s very…uhm, complicated.” Leah’s mother fumbled over her words “ I didn’t want to raise you as one, I was afraid that you wouldn’t be able to live a full childhood.  Always having to worry about some urgent mission.  So when you were born,” she paused and took a deep breath “I bound your powers, and I don’t regret it.  Not a single bit.”
    “Bound my powers?” Leah said, confused.  Her head was a mess.  What were her mother and grandmother going on about?  Witches weren’t real.  They belonged on television, in movies, and books.  Or they were the kind of freaks that hang out around occult shops and cemeteries.  She wasn’t a fictional character, nor was she some kind of freak.  Therefore there was no way in, for lack of a better word, hell, that she was a – a witch. 
    “Yes.  It means that I-” he mother started.
    “I’m pretty sure she knows what it means!” her grandmother said harshly, bringing Leah her hot cocoa.
    “Just stop!” said Leah, losing patience “How about we start from the beginning, and then I’ll see if I believe you.  Because of now, all of this witch stuff,” she laughed “Isn’t cutting it with me.  Tell it to me straight.  Tell me the truth.”
    Her grandmother looked over to Leah’s mother again for some reassurance, then back at Leah.  She took a deep breath and sat beside Leah, putting her arm around her. 
    “Okay,” she said “Here’s what is really going on,” her Grandmother inhaled, preparing herself to tell what was really happening, “It’s exactly as I told you.  You’re a witch.  I’m a witch.  You’re mother is a witch as well.  Well, some of us more than others,” her grandmother said, looking over at Leah’s mother “but we’re all still witches nonetheless.  Our family protects this town from threats.  Supernatural ones.  The kind of threats that mortals don’t see as real anymore, the kind of danger the policeman and fireman cannot protect you from.   You see, we, witches, used to be regarded as guardians, but as time wore on our kind were persecuted for evil.  The Christian church was jealous of us; they didn’t understand our gifts, so they condemned them as satanic.” She looked down now, looking remorseful “But in doing that, they also closed their eyes to all the unseen dangers in the world.  The ‘myths’ that you know of now, ‘old wife’s tales’ you may say.  But they’re real.  Heck.  Our family does more to protect this town then the Police department ever has.”
    “Oh…” said Leah, not quite understanding, “Witches.  Right.  Of course.”
    “I know it’s a lot to take in, but you’ll get used to it all pretty soon,” said Leah’s mother, resting her hand on Leah’s shoulder “But right now you should probably go upstairs and get some sleep.  There’s a lot ahead of you.  Like unbinding your powers.  And training.  You’re seventeen years behind on that - that’s my fault.  But, it’s better now than never, right?” her mother laughed.
 Leah didn’t. 
    “Here, take your hot cocoa with you honey,” her Grandmother urged, lifting her out of the chair and handing it to her “Go lie down; I’ll see you in the morning,” her Grandma said smiling at her, and Leah couldn’t help but smile back.  And to think that Leah had thought she would never see that smile again. 
Weakly Leah got up from the table and made her way up the stairs.

xXx

    Leah’s head was pounding.  She didn’t get a very complete sleep that night; actually, she wasn’t sure she truly slept at all.  It seemed to her that she spent the whole of the night staring into the blackness of the bedroom trying to make sense of anything she had been told. 
    Everything was probably just a dream.  Leah didn’t believe in any of it, no matter how much, or how many times she was told.
    Or maybe she just didn’t want to believe it.
    Perhaps everything she was told was cold hard fact.  All true, and not an ounce of it fiction.  Perhaps Leah just didn’t want to believe any of it because it went against everything she had ever learned in school and against everything that she had ever believed, except for when she was a child. 
    Leah knew it was true.  Every bit of it. 
She just couldn’t accept it. 
She mulled this revelation over in her mind as she made her way downstairs for breakfast.  She could smell eggs cooking and bread being toasted.  The spicy aroma of French toast filled Leah’s nostrils.  The scent was thick in the smoky air which was making its way up from the kitchen.  Leah’s grandmother was making breakfast, perhaps to calm Leah down and to try and make her feel better.  It was Leah’s favorite after all.
Making her way into the kitchen and sitting down at the table, Leah cheerfully greeted her previously thought-to-be-dead grandmother with a great big smile.   
“Here you go darling!” her grandmother said cheerfully, setting a huge plate in front of Leah, filled with eggs, sausage, bacon, and toast, “You’re going to need the energy!  We start your training today,” she paused, “It can be quite frustrating at first, so you’re going to have to remain patient.  Don’t get too upset if you can’t control your powers, it may take years before you have a good hold on them.”
“Years?” Leah asked a bit afraid, “It may take me years to get a hold on my powers?”
“Yes, that’s why ancestral witches normally would be trained young; so that they’ll be prepared to fight when they’re older…”
Leah sat looking at her plate.  It could take her years to actually control her powers?  What if she got in some kind of trouble?  What if she ever needed them?  Thinking about this she eagerly gobbled up her breakfast as fast as she could; she wanted all the energy she could muster.  She didn’t want to let her family down.  She didn’t want to let herself down.  She was going to try her hardest to be the best witch she could be – but what exactly that meant, she did not know.
Once Leah had finished her breakfast her grandmother took her into the living room, where her mother was sitting, reading a book. 
“Now, Leah, sweetie, I’m letting you know now that unbinding your powers may be dangerous…” her grandmother began to say, but trailed off.
    “Dangerous?” Leah questioned, “Then why are we doing this?  And why is it dangerous?  Maybe we shouldn’t do this!”
    “Leah…” her mother started, setting her book down, “We have to.  You grandmother and I can’t fight alone anymore, it’s a lot of hard work, and we’re getting old.  Plus,” she said, beaming “I know you’ll make a wonderful witch.”
    “But mom!” Leah said, throwing her hands up in exasperation, “Why is it so dangerous?  It sounds harmless.  What do you have to do?  Just read a spell or something, right?”
    “Well…” her mother replied, avoiding eye contact, “Mom…you tell her.”
      Leah’s grandmother rolled her eyes in annoyance, “You see honey…yes, we do read a spell, but it’s more than just that.  You have seventeen years of power stored up in your body, and it’s all been pent up for so long.  There is a chance that we all could get hurt, depending on how the energy releases itself…it could be harmless or it could even end up destroying you…”
    “Destroying me?” Leah shouted, “This…this spell could end up destroying me, but you still want to go through with it?!  I’m your granddaughter!” she said pointing at her grandmother, “And your daughter!” she said turning to her mom, “You can’t go through with this!”
    “Leah, look, I know it sounds bad, really it does.  Okay.  It actually sounds terrible…but once we unbind your powers…”
    “Mom!  There might not be anything left of me once you unbind my powers!  I’d be dead!  And if I learned anything from movies and books, there is no magic that can bring back the dead.”
    “No…not necessarily…” began her grandmother, but stopped once she caught the look from Leah’s mother.
    “You’re right Leah,” said her mother, “there is no magic that can bring back the dead…without devastating consequences.  The only magic that can bring back the deceased is a dark art called necromancy…and the people you bring back are not the same.  You’re right Leah; you could end up dying, but try not to think about that.  Part of controlling your magic is willpower, and if you will something hard enough it will happen.”
    “Do you know how many times I’ve willed you away?” Leah muttered under her breath.
    “I heard that!” her mother snapped, standing up.
    “Now both of you just calm down!” cut in Leah’s grandmother, “Both of you relax,” she said gesturing for them to sit, “Leah, if you remain calm, and will nothing to happen, the chances are slim that you’ll be hurt.  Your mother and I will be in more danger than you, but you best only concentrate on taking care of yourself.  We can handle ourselves dear.  Now let’s get going!  We have a lot of work to do!” Leah’s grandmother finished, motioning them into the kitchen.
    Leah’s grandmother made her way over to the cupboard and pulled down a black cauldron.  Leah’s grandma was fast at work in the kitchen, gathering ingredients from underneath the sink, in the pantry, and out of the refrigerator.  Leah knew her grandmother was very fast in the kitchen, but not this fast.
    Many ingredients went into the potion, some of which Leah had never seen before, and some if which she looked extremely odd and foreign, and some even grotesque.  One canister of ingredients in specific made her shutter at the site of it, and to Leah’s relief it was not added to the potion. 
    Though the creation of the potion she was going to have to drink was very interesting, she could not help let her attention drift.  She was going to become a witch – no, she had actually always been one.  And it described so much, and now Leah actually understood her mother a little bit more.  Her mother worked a full time job as an aid for mentally challenged children all day, and on top of that she was also protecting Franklinville from all sorts of supernatural threats.  What exactly these supernatural threats were, however, Leah did not know quite yet.  Though something told her she’d be finding out soon enough.
    There was a loud bang, which turned Leah’s attention immediately to her grandmother and the potion she was brewing, purple smoke lingering in the air above the cauldron.
    “Purple smoke?” Leah’s grandmother said, deep in thought “It must need more Lotus root-” she trailed off as she searched for an ingredient and plopped it into the sizzling cauldron. 
    There was a faint and satisfying “POOF!” and red-orange smoke spiraled and twisted out of the pot. 
    “Ah!” Leah’s grandmother exclaimed in triumph “The potion is ready!” she poured the concoction into a small glass vile and corked it “Now, let us go downstairs and begin the ritual.  Come on Leah, and remember, prepare yourself; will yourself safe, and be sure to remain calm.  Magic is controlled by your emotions, and if you let those get out of hand,” Leah’s grandmother laughed, “Well, let’s just leave it at that!  Now come along honey.  Your powers are about to be woken, and you, my dear, will officially be a witch and a true member of the Harding line.  Magic and all.”   
 

Reviews

[beefjerky]

this gives me alot of feelings! ilike how you stated that Leah thought her grandma was supposed to be dead at the beginning! this really made me fell like i was Leah for a moment, keep up the good work... =)