Emberlight

2. The Usual Meeting From Hell

Kelsey

Kelsey cradled her phone like a powerful crystal that could rescue her from certain ignorance, if given the opportunity. She knew the video on her phone had the power to expel the neighbours currently invading her living room, and better yet, render her mother utterly speechless. It'd only take one button, one glimpse at the truth about magic.

But with great power came a best friend who always knew better.

"Listen, I know what you want to do," Feya said, diving in front of Kelsey and blocking her from the top of the staircase. They had made it to Kelsey's house with enough time to rush upstairs and change from their school uniforms, but now the guests were arriving. It was time to join the fun. "I know listening to the weekly magical whinge isn't ideal—"

"Weekly magical whinge? Nice one."

"—And I agree it's uncomfortable when your mother expresses her, erm, desires to burn people in the street..." Feya paused before shaking her head free of the thought. "But for one meeting, can you fight your natural instincts and not react?"

Kelsey held up her phone, smirking like a cat in a patch of sunlight. "Or, I show the infestation downstairs what we faced today. One look at this, and happy Aversion! No more meeting."

"I know you hope it will do more than that, but I don't think it will," Feya said, gutting out Kelsey's smug attitude and finding her soft spot. "I know you hope they'll see that magic isn't evil, that Embers are struggling too, but this will all go quicker if we just play along. Don't show them the video. Please?" She moved aside, handing the choice over to Kelsey.

"It's no fun if you give up like that," Kelsey said, her smile fading. She stalled at the foot of the staircase, not quite ready to spiral into hell. The April shower hammered against the rooftop, and a mixture of perfume and dampness wafted up to greet her, a scent she named 'eau-de-rain'. Mrs Smith's shrill tone rose above the general nattering, 'Trampled my flowerbeds!' bounding up the staircase and knocking her patience to the hardwood floor.

For a malicious moment, Kelsey wished she had the power to draw a few symbols and exorcize the neighbours from her house, but the thought writhed inside of her like the Bloodwitch's toxins. She'd seen magic, and she was glad she didn't have it. She'd seen it kill.

Kelsey hovered her toes over the first step. "My mother has no right talking about magic the way she does. You get that, right?"

"You know I do," Feya said. "But we both know what the Aversion does, Kelsey. They'll never get it, not anymore."

"True..."

"So there's no point fighting it every week."

Kelsey loosened a sigh and took the first step.

Every chair in the house had been crammed into her living room, and even with the window open, the stuffy air refused to thin. She led her friend into the pit of neighbours, storming past the fifteen or so attendees in a bid for the sofa tucked into the far corner.

A few newcomers smiled and held out their hands to greet her as she trudged across the shag rug. She let Feya handle the replies, mostly because she couldn't trust herself to say anything nice. So what if they thought she was a brat? At least she didn't want them tied to stakes and burned in the streets, which is what they wanted for the people they didn't like. They were all cowards, the lot of them—except her dad, of course. The Aversion worked so well in him he barely knew what the meetings were about.

As usual, her mother, Ester, was too concerned with counting the room to notice her daughter, but her dad gave her a goofy salute. She shook her head and cringed a little, but couldn't help smiling at him too. She wiped it away before anyone else could see.