Witches in Training (#2 in the Witches Trilogy) [rewrites ongoing]

Chapter Forty-Five: That Vampire Ain't Sparkling

VINNI

I probably should have gotten used to Vera abruptly disappearing by now. It's not that I'm worried for her safety; with Kieran, she's probably more safe than she would be with anyone else. I don't doubt her, or Kieran. It's just... where did my little sister go? A few weeks ago she was still rather lost in this whole world of magic. Now... 

Well, the little scene just a minute ago should have given you a rough idea.

"Uh, Vin? Not to pressurise you, or anything, but if you're going to keep up that storm it'd better be quick..."

"Damn it." I completely forgot about the storm. "Any ideas?" 

Louis sighs and leans against the wall. "Vinni, I'm going to tell you something straight. You're depending too much on other people." He hasn't finished but I don't give him a chance to.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demand. "I don't depend on people."

He bites his lip. "Yeah, you kind of do." He says apologetically, and holds up a hand to silence me before I interrupt again. "Okay, look. Since you got into this whole business you've been with your friends, right? Jessica and Deanne and all that. That's fine. But it means you've gotten used to having a whole big group around you that you can look to for ideas and solutions. Maybe you haven't noticed, but you've honestly got a tendency to ask people what to do, or try and get help from someone."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"No, it's not a bad thing." He says hastily. "It's just... you're not trusting yourself to your full potential. You're not letting yourself react instinctively."

"That's not true. People keep saying I act too instinctively." And it's true. I do things of my own accord; why is Louis telling me otherwise? I survived perfectly fine without anyone's help in the Community for almost three years. I'm totally independent.

"I mean magically." Louis says, almost as if he read my thoughts. "You're never completely sure about your abilities. About your position as a witch. It means something. You're one of the most powerful creatures out there. You just won't let yourself rise to that level." He holds up three fingers. "One. Raelynn. I'm not saying you should turn evil and try to kill people and stuff, but Raelynn really knows how to use her power to its full potential. Two. Kieran. That kid can do things with water I've never seen anyone else do. And three. Vera."

"Vera?"

"Maybe she's still going along with Kieran right now, but she's more open to using her powers than you are. That time I got my wings cut off? She managed to teleport to me without even really knowing where I was. That's magical independence."

I throw up my hands in frustration. "Okay, this whole conversation makes absolutely no sense. I don't have time for this right now. Do you have any idea of what I can do?"

Louis points at me. "There you go. That's exactly what I was talking about. Vin, you have ninety per cent of the powers out there. Do you know how insanely much that is? It's insanely much. You can do basically anything. It's just yourself holding you back."

"I'm not asking for a pep talk, Lou."

Louis sighs again. "Raelynn's making it dark, right? Try making it light."

"I can't counteract Raelynn."

"Holding yourself back." Louis sings.

"Shut up! I'll try!" Louis gestures for me to go ahead. I roll my eyes, pull out my wand, stare out the window. The storm has all but disappeared and it's almost pitch black again. I've never been a terribly visual person but it's too late to fix that. I try and imagine light streaming in. Rays of golden sun. I think anything bright: fire, light, sun, lasers... everything that could illuminate this stubborn darkness. I can feel Raelynn's energy fighting mine as we strive to manipulate the sky. Random bursts of light sprout from the clouds hopefully-not as impressive as Kieran and Vera's lightning storm, but it's getting there.