Witch in Hiding (#1 in the Witches Trilogy) (EDITING)

Fifteen: Knock, Knock

"GET BACK HERE, VANESSA!"

"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN."

"YOU CHEATING WEREWOLF!"

Van bursts through the door in full werewolf form. "Ah," Mom says, glancing at her, "no fur upstairs."

Mel appears a second later, unsustained as well. "You," she pants, "cheated."

"It's not my fault you didn't see it was full moon." Van-the-wolf growls. She morphs back into her human form. Her thirteenth birthday is over, I remember, she can change at will.

"Can you guys just call it a tie and get to eating?" I interrupt. "We're all hungry, and you guys took forever to get here."

They keep bickering on the way to the kitchen. "What're we eating?" Van takes a break from arguing to ask.

"Cheese, grease and milkshakes," I grin.

We get to the kitchen and Van stops. "Awesome," she breathes, taking in the health addict's nightmare. The table is groaning under the combined weight of two pepperoni pizzas, five milkshakes, cheesecake, eclairs, stuffed mushrooms, a pan of warm lasagna, a bowl of cheese fries and a dish of mac 'n cheese.

"I," Mel mutters, although she helps herself to a generous serving of lasagna, "have netball training tomorrow."

"I have softball tomorrow," Jess reminds us, "but that's not stopping me." Jess has a famously ridiculous metabolism. She's already made her way through two slices of pizza—she could probably eat the whole thing and still stay thin. I have a pretty decent metabolism myself. Which is a good thing, because I practically live on junk food.

"We think we should continue training tonight," De updates Mel and Van. "Vin's got invisibility down, but you guys could teach her shapeshifting and all."

"I can only turn into a bat," Mel reminds us.

"Same principle. And Van, maybe a fire tutorial?"

My right hand tingles uncomfortably. "Let's not," I say. "I don't want to burn the house down. De, could you show me your emotions thing?"

"No." The force of her word surprises me. She flushes. "I don't think that's a good idea. It can be... dangerous."

There's an awkward pause. I get the feeling Jess and De both know something the rest of us don't. Who's keeping secrets now? "All right, fine." I turn to Mel. "So how do I turn into a bat?"

"No shapeshifting at dinner!" Mom exclaims.

"Spoilsport!" I call back, but we finish our food before going to the living room to practice anyway.

"So shapeshifting isn't actually the hard part," Mel says, "the hard part is getting used to—well, whatever you transform into. When I was younger I spent an hour every day as a bat to get used to it and it still took me years to pass off believably as one."

"Okay, great. So how do I shapeshift?"

Mel frowns. "Well... I normally just... think about it."

"Real helpful."

She throws up her hands. "Sorry! It's natural for me!"

"Great. First Jess with the invisibility, then you. I don't have intrinsic powers, you know. At least you're not shooting paintballs at me."

"Vin, we're trying to help." Jess gives me Mom's don't be rude look. "Not all of us can do what you can."

Rae can, but I don't say so. "Fine. So, okay. Thinking about it. What should I change into?"

"Something you're familiar with," Van suggests. "A pet?"

"You know my mom's allergic to fur, right?"

"Vinni."

"Okay, okay." I picture a dog. I am furry, I tell myself. Furry, four-legged and bad-smelling. I focus and channel my energy into my imagination the way Rae taught me to. She's been drilling me ever since the paintball range, and it's gotten progressively easier. Now it takes me just over a minute before I feel myself change.

It's weird. Suddenly everything is washed in yellow and blue and purple, and I'm staring at my friends' waists. Everything smells: dinner is still ripe in the air, wafting in from the kitchen and off of all of us. I lick my lips unwittingly and find sharp teeth and fur. My body feels weird, contorted into weird ways, on fours, compressed and muscular. I take a step forward and don't move. Weird. Another step. I go off balance and fall on my haunches.

My friends are laughing. "Move your hands too," Van suggests.

"Shut up," I try to say, but all that comes out is a bark. YIPYIPYIP.

That sounds familiar.

YIPYIPYIPCRASH.

A jolt runs through me. Darkness flashes.

Shouts.

My mom's voice.

Blurred faces.

Then I'm me again, gasping, and my mom is pulling me up onto the couch. "Vinni—Vinni, are you all right?"

I'm shaking. "I'm fine." It comes out as a whisper and I swallow. "I'm fine," I say louder. "What's going on? What happened?"

"You collapsed and turned back." Mel is pale. "You okay?"

The dog...

Breathe in, breathe out. Rae had a whole meditation day for me to practice self-awareness techniques. Mindfulness, or something. I inhale and exhale a couple of times, focusing on the air flow in my nose, and then clear my mind. In, out. In, out.

"Maybe shapeshifting's not for me," I say, forcing a smile. "What about... your telepathy! You're telepathic! Why don't you show me—show me that."

Mel gazes at me. Her eyes widen slightly, but it's gone so quickly I'm sure I imagined it. "Maybe you should take a break first," she says, worriedly.

"I'm really fine, guys. What's next?"

Jess has her mom face on. "I really don't think you should—"

Someone knocks.

Everyone freezes. "Mom, are we expecting someone?"

She seems to pick up the tension in my voice. "Don't be overdramatic, I'm sure it's nothing. No magic while I answer that!" She disappears out to the hallway. I hear her go the short distance. The door opens.

Silence.

Then, "is Vinni here?"

I exchange looks with my friends. Van slips her arm under mine and helps me out into the hallway. It's Abby, looking awful, her hair a mess, her face dirty. She all but pushes my mom aside. "Guys," she gasps, sounding like she' s about to cry, "Esther just tried to kill me."