Witches and Cats

The photo

I woke up with a start, staring at the wall in front of me. I could feel a drop of sweat rolling down my forehead and down the side of my face as I was breathing heavily. The nightmare was slipping through my mind and faded away quicker than I had expected. I took a deep, shaky breath and slowly pushed myself up before getting out of bed. The door suddenly opened as put on my dark purple robe.

"Melissa" Johanna, my aunt, said and walked up to me. "Are you alright? I heard you scream"

"I'm fine" I nodded. "Bad dream....What time is it?"

She looked at her watch with a sigh. "4:30, honey, so I'm going back to bed"

"Yeah, we don't wanna fall asleep during the engagement party" I said and Johanna smiled, closing the door behind her as she left the room.

I couldn't go back to sleep though and instead ran myself a bath, throwing my night clothes and robe in a pile on the floor. I didn't know why, but I always felt safe when I was taking baths even though I was more vulnerable than usual. There was something about being embraced by the warm water that made me calm. I closed my eyes, clearing my head of all thoughts and stayed in the bathtub for hours until the water got uncomfortably cold.

As I stepped out of the bath I heard the others talking in the kitchen and dried myself off before getting dressed in some high waisted jeans and a black crop top. After I had put my makeup on and had pulled my dark brown, wavy hair into a messy bun on top of my head I quickly ran downstairs. Breakfast was already on the table and my cousins Freya and Ingrid were sitting there, eating, while my aunt Johanna was drinking coffee.

"Morning" I said as I sat down next to Freya, nudging her with my elbow. "You nervous?"

"Why would I be nervous?" She rolled her eyes and continued eating while I got myself some breakfast.

"Mel, do you wanna come with me to the library today?" Ingrid smiled and I looked up at her.

"Nah, I'm good" I said. "Another time"

"Okay, well I'm going now" She stood up and grabbed her bag, opening the front door. "See you later"

"Bye Ingrid" Johanna said and Freya raised her hand slightly as a lazy wave before the door closed behind Ingrid.

I quickly finished my breakfast without another word and hurried upstairs as I heard Johanna leave the house and Freya disappeared into her room. I sat down in my armchair and looked at my dress that was on it's hanger on the wardrobe handle. The dress was a dark blue colour and ended just above my knees.

I spent the whole day in my room, not even stepping outside it to get lunch. It slowly got darker outside my window and it grew colder in my room so I looked at my hand with a sigh, whispering; "Incendio acciri" and a small flame appeared.

I smiled to myself, looking closer at the fire and threw small sparks into the air. After a short while I got bored and blew at my hand, the flame disappearing and only leaving a trail of smoke behind. Just as I had, I heard the door open downstairs and Johanna walked upstairs. She came into my room with a frown and looked at me before closing the door.

"Hi" I sighed.

"Have you been using magic?" The woman asked.

"Yeah" I replied and Johanna opened her mouth to say something but I was faster. "Yes, I was careful, and no, no one saw me"

"You can't be sure of that, Melissa" She sighed and I rolled my eyes.

"Well I'm gonna get ready for the party now" I said. "So I'll see you downstairs"

Johanna hesitated and pursed her lips slightly before leaving the room. Me and Ingrid was waiting downstairs an hour later, ready to go. My aunt was outside and Freya was still in her room.

"I'm gonna go get her" Ingrid sighed and hurried upstairs. "Freya!" She shouted. "Come on, let's go, we're gonna be late!"

Just as the two of them came running down the stairs I decided to go and wait in the car. I walked past Johanna who walked back to the house and I sighed. We arrived at the party half an hour late because of Freya's endless changing of dresses and as we walked inside she immediately went to find her fiancé Dash. Johanna left me and Ingrid by ourselves so she could go and talk to the other guests. My cousin led me to the food table and grabbed a drink and some snacks.

"This looks so good" She smiled and I nodded in agreement, taking something to eat myself.

I was leaning against a wall and looked the men and women around me, studying their clothes and jewellery, noticing the effort they had put into looking as good as possible this night. Ingrid was talking to some people that I didn't know, but still recognized from town. Freya walked up to us after a while, saying she made Dash's mum choke with her mind before dragging her sister with her through the room.

I rolled my eyes at her and decided to look around for a while, leaving the crowded rooms and making my way through a corridor, opening the door to a smaller room. All the walls in there were covered with old photos and I studied them slowly.

"Hi" Ingrid suddenly said from behind me and I jumped slightly. "Sorry, did I startle you?"

"No" I shrugged and my cousin stood next to me.

We just stood there in silence for a minute before a certain photo caught both our attentions and we stared at it. There were two women standing next to each other, the one to the left looking exactly like Ingrid. My cousin's eyes widened even more as she slowly took the photo from the wall and we took a closer look.

"That is......" Ingrid trailed off.

"Creepy" I said and just as I did, the frame broke and the glass shattered as it hit the floor.

My cousin's jaw dropped and she was staring even more intensely at what looked like herself now. I had never seen her look so shocked before and it didn't get better as the photo suddenly crumbled into fine dust right in front of our eyes.

"What?" Ingrid breathed and we exchanged confused looks.