Dancing in the Rain (The TUSH Duology-Book 2)

Week 13

Sunday, November 15

After that little incident on Friday the 13th, we found that Cetera wasn't as untrustworthy as we were making her out to be. It kind of sucked that the one spell that would let us disperse George's excess dark magic was behind the paywall of being a dark spell by itself, but we'd find other ways.

Two days later, we still hadn't let out the excess that had been made since then, and our only solution had been banned from coming back. There wasn't anything more efficient that we had come up with. I had to talk to Anne.

After Mom, Dad, Anne, and George had gotten back from church and eaten lunch, Anne immediately retreated to her room. That was strange. Usually, she'd stick around and watch TV or play with George, but today, it seemed like she had something on her mind.

It would be rude to walk in on her when she clearly wanted some alone, but perhaps there was a way I could help her.

I approached the door. All I needed to do was knock. Then she'd either say, "Come in," or, "Go away, Mom. I want to be alone."

Then I'd correct her, "Actually, it's Willow."

And she'd say, "Oh. Well, go away, Willow. I want to be alone."

I closed my eyes, lifted my fist, and knocked on the door. I heard Anne's voice from the other side. "Who is it?" She didn't sound depressed or forlorn in any way. It just sounded like the chipper Anne that we all knew and loved.

I answered, "It's Willow. Do you mind if I come in?"

"Oh. Uh, sure."

So I was allowed in but reluctantly. What was that supposed to mean? I opened the door and walked in. Anne was sitting before a canvas painting on it fervently with her fingers. At least, she was before I came in. Now she was looking up at me, her hands frozen against the canvas.

"You know not to interrupt me while I'm working," she giggled.

"I didn't realize you were working," I admitted. "You went to your room so quickly. I was worried something had happened to you."

"You want to know what happened to me?" Anne gazed into my eyes. "Inspiration struck."

"Did you have another vision?"

Anne smirked. "You can call it that."

"Anne, I'm being serious." I crossed my arms. "Your last vision came true after you made a painting of it. If this is a vision you're basing your next painting off of, I have to know what it's of so we can prepare for it."

"One of my paintings came true?"

"Yeah. You painted a picture of Circe doing the half-and-half deal, and now she's been split in two."

Anne looked at the painting of Circe leaning against the wall. "Is that so?"

"Kai told me magic powers can manifest in all sorts of way. His strength is mind magic. Mine is inherently knowing spells. You must be able to see the future."

"That's cool. How can I make it stop?"

"What?"

"I might have used my powers a few times, but it feels wrong. I am a woman of God. Each spell I cast feels like another sin."

I sighed and sat down on the bed next to her. "I'd hate to tell you to get over it because I know how much your faith means to you, but it's extremely difficult. I think Kai's the only person I've seen take away someone's magic powers."

"Could you have him do that to me?"

I chuckled as I looked down at my lap. "He'll be hard to convince. He--all of us sorcerers, really--believe magic is a beautiful thing that shouldn't be taken away. He commanded the spirits to take away Brianna's powers, but that was only because she was a threat to the campus. He'll only say yes if your having powers is a danger to yourself or someone else."