Night Witch (Book 1) ✔️

2 - The Lie heard across the World

I pull up to the front entrance of the brick building, it's walls covered in graffiti and roof green with mold and mildew, and park in front of the doors even though it's not technically a parking spot. Striding out and over to the entrance, I fling open the door and stomp over to the secretary that sits at a desk just to the left of the doors who's job is supposed to be stopping people from entering the building.

She sees me and shrinks down, pointing to the principal's waiting room. I push through the door to see Kit hunched in a chair to my right while a new secretary, this one a man, sits at a desk in front of the principal's actual office.

There are two other offices off this waiting area, one for a vice principal and another for a school councilor but that one had long been hijacked for storage - no need to help Downwind kids decide on a future since there was no way they'd ever make it to a different district and the job opportunities here aren't that diverse.

Striding to the desk, I glance down at the man sitting before me as if bored.

"Hello, you must be Ms. Sullivan." His voice does an admirable job of not shaking, but his hands give him away with their tremble. Clearly he read the notes in Kit's file after he talked to me on the phone, not before.

"I am. I'll be speaking with Kit now." I offer him one glance, just to be safe, then walk casually over to Kit who sits hunched over in a corner chair.

Her long brown hair falls loosely around her face but she can't hide the trembling of her shoulders. I stand directly in front of her, hands on hips, and wait.

She looks up, tears falling from her blue eyes, and says the words sure to disarm me every time. "I'm so sorry, Cassie."

I crouch down, balancing on the balls of my feet so we're eye to eye. "Kit, what's going on? Three fights in two weeks? This isn't you." I hope my voice carries the full weight of my concern.

She sniffs and fresh tears roll down her face. Breathing hard, she gulps in air and then let's it out. "I lied."

My brow furrows. "About what?"

She pauses, watching me uncertainly. "About when the aptitude tests were scheduled. I said they were next month but really..." She trails off.

"Shit." The word slips out.

The aptitude test could set the course for the rest of a young magician's life. Those with little power could learn only a few spells while those who had access to more could do more with their magic. The aptitude test was a way of measuring the physical manifestation of a mage's power; the flare.

Most witches, when they forced a physical manifestation of their power, did so in two ways. The first being a color, from weak blue to blazing red to blinding white, the color indicated how much power they could channel. A weak magician and a strong one could cast the same spell with vastly different results if they used all of their power.

The second was an aura, which could be as simple as the color appearing around the head or as consuming as a full halo, where the power surrounded the entire body. The aura demonstrated the range of abilities and spells one would be able to learn. A red halo could arguably have the same power as a white flare with a small aura, it was really all in the way you used your magic, though people hated to admit that.

In my periphery, I note as the secretary's pointed ears twitch as aI curse. Storming to my feet, I round his desk and place my left hand just outside of his, leaning over him to snarl in his ear. "There is the expectation of privacy when I talk to my child, Demon, so if you don't turn those ears off I'll make sure you won't have a problem not hearing me."

Now, some people may think me harsh. I just think I had a bad day. And I've a reputation to uphold and all that.

Other people would accuse me of blaming it on the demon because he was a likely scapegoat, though hardly anyone would bother to worry about demons to begin with. They'd be wrong, too. I would have threatened any fae, elf, or shifter that had dared to listen when they shouldn't have just as harshly. We had rules about this in polite society - If a human couldn't hear a conversation at that distance there was an expectation of privacy. That meant those eavesdropping races kept their ears out of our business.

And seeing as I really didn't want to have to cast any spells on school property or in front of people I didn't know, intimidation had to do the work for me.

The half-demon sputtered and nodded frantically. I backed away and strode back to kneel in front of Kit. "Am I to understand that you followed in mom's footsteps in regards to the aptitude test?" I try to keep my voice calm.

She nods and a fresh waves of tears pours out. "I'm so sorry, Cassie. I didn't think it would be like this. It was a month ago and it was fine at first so I didn't see why you wanted to talk to me about it." She hiccuped at the end. "I just wanted to do it myself. And you made it seem like such a big deal but everyone said it wasn't..."

Sighing, I stand. "Alright, grab your things and let's go. We can talk about this at home but you'll have to sit at the station while I finish my shift."

She sniffles and nods.

As she slings her backpack over her shoulder and walks with me towards the exit, the secretary clears his throat. "Umm, Ms. Sullivan?" He squeaks.

He flinches when I stop to glare at him. "Yes?" I bark out after a sizable pause when he still hasn't gotten on to saying whatever he needs to say.

"Kit has been suspended for fighting and a note has been made in her record. She can't come back for at least a week." He watches me nervously as I grit my teeth.

I nod my acceptance and then toss an arm around Kit's shoulder to guide her out. The woman who's supposed to be in charge of letting people in and out of the building, the first secretary I'd passed earlier, doesn't move but watches wide eyed as we pass.

We keep silent until we make it to the car and Kit slides in the passenger seat, tossing her backpack into the back. I turn to face her before buckling. "Okay Kit, you've got to turn off the emotions before we go anywhere. You're spilling them out to anyone who's near."

She gasps and instantly the pressure of her emotions - a mix of fear, sorrow, and loss - drops. Letting out a breath, I put on my seat belt and drive away from the school.

***

Kit needs a bit of a pick-me up so do her a favor and press the vote button, comment or share. She's pretty sure that's the only thing that'll cheer her up...

~M