Witches Beware

Chapter Two: An Intense Chill

I was late... too late.
Her blood was already dry on the hard wood, fingers stuck in a curl as if reaching out to the world for help... reaching for me. 'Momma." I whimpered, my chest caved in as my knees buckled.
Her eyes were wide open, mouth tapped shut, the door practically still held her to the chair. She tried to escape... to run out this door I'm holding on to, but it was too late. The knife was still in her back, meaning either the killer had to leave in a hurry or left the cops a souvenir.
'Momma!' I screamed, my throat instantly clenched as I struggled to yell for help. I ran... I could no longer be in the stench of her death, I could no longer see her agony. I should of been here... I should of saved her.

Cold sweat covered every inch of my skin, drenched the sheets and curled my toes. I laid upon my back completely still, my mouth clammed shut, arms flat by my side, and chest rising and falling at a normal rate- progress, I would say. The night terrors, on the other hand, still needed months of work. A soft sigh past my cracked lips as my dry tongue farted out to put moisture to them.

Crawling out of bed, I covered my feet with my Monster Inc slippers and rushed down three flight of stairs to get to the kitchen. Of course, I hurried through the gloomy halls as if one of my ancestors were to snatch me up in the mist of walking through the corridors; even when I were a little girl I had a few that they would take me in the middle of the night for actually getting out of bed. Considering that Athena scared me half to death with ghost stories.

I cleared through the halls fast until upon the second entry to the kitchen, the path was narrow and I had to walk by the basement door- which creeped me out as well. However, it was all worth it when I drunk down a cool glass of faucet water in one sitting.

"Oh, you're up." I sensed Athena walking into the kitchen before she could open her mouth. Just like before with Maxine, it was like a shiver down my spine that turned into a fuzzy feeling; it's like I can feel their powers. However, when I'm around Aunt May and mom, I feel nothing. Perhaps I can only do it with young witches, mom did say it takes years and experience to mask ones power. Anyway, Athena dragged herself to the fridge to grab a late night snack, the usual string cheese that she would sneak out the kitchen when we were kids. "Night terrors?"

It was quite obvious, I barely wiped away the sweat before I dragged myself down her to get a drink of water. I nod my head anyway and took a deep breath. "Is there some kind of spell to get rid of it?"

She could only scoff at the possibility. "Yeah, but you would have to do it continuously twice a month, if you don't then you'll literally live in your own hell."

"Believe it or not, I am." I mumbled to myself while looking down at my slippers, the blue and purple fur already collected some dust from the attic, and they were getting too small for my feet.

"Sorry." Athena whispered. "Even though we haven't been an actual family in years, I just can't imagine being here knowing Aunt Meadow is... is not around anymore. You two are our only family, we're broken without you."

You can say I was shocked, Athena wasn't the one to show any emotions; especially not to me. Years we grew up biting each other necks, a thin line away from being archenemies if it weren't for the fact we share blood. To hear her say this, to admit we fit like fire and ice, it warmed my heart.

"What are you two blabbing about?" The warm and fuzzy feeling in my body grew more intense, Maxine walked in with a fistful of innocence smothered all over her body. From the pink furry slippers to the metal head set attached to her mouth, she was a walking definition of a normal young teen.