The Darkside

Powerless

"Aunt Cassie, what are you doing here?" I asked, surprised. "Why? Do I need to take permission to visit my favourite niece?" she asked, hugging me. "No, course not," I replied. Her tight hug reminded me of my mom. I felt my eyes tear, but I held it from pouring down. "So, what's happening here? Why did you arrive in a police car?" she inquired.

"It's a long story; I will tell you everything, but first, tell me why you are here all of a sudden?" I asked, fighting to hold back the tears. "Honey, are you crying? What's wrong?" asked Aunt Cassie, Touching my face. "Your hug reminded me of Mom," I answered. "She used to hold me just like you did," I said, feeling overwhelmed. "Oh, honey, I am sorry," she said, hugging me again. We sat down to speak and she joked about Jared's dimples, making him blush.

After a while, I inquired again as to why she arrived suddenly. "Your mom came into my dreams three days in a row. If I recall, the last time that happened you had got drunk and wrapped your car around a lamppost," she replied. "What? This is the first time I am hearing of this," said Jared. "Well, she managed to get out unscathed; that's why you never heard of it," said Aunt Cassie. "Oh, I remember; it was my first birthday without my mom and I felt so alone," I said.

"So you tried to bury your feelings with alcohol, and almost killed yourself. Did you think for a moment about me? If anything happened to you, I would have lost my sister and niece, both," she said, annoyed. "I'm sorry, but it was my mum," I said. "And she was my sister, plus your mom and I lost our mom when we were younger than you. So I know how it feels," she said.

"Oh, yes. Mom said that Nana died when you two were very young. But you at least had Mom, who do I have?" I asked, looking at Aunt Cassie. "Me, you have me," she answered, annoyed. "I'm sorry; of course you were always there for me," I apologised. "It's OK, I understand. I was just worried that you had done something stupid again as your birthday was nearing," she said. "Well, now you know the truth," I said, forcing a smile in order to get out of this painful conversation.

"So, about this witch; have you tried to locate her?" Aunt Cassie inquired. "Oh yes, we did," I said. I then told her about the spell I used to track the dark witch and the cyclone brought by it. "Wow, that must be one powerful witch," she said. "That's not the only thing," I said. "What do you mean?" Aunt Cassie asked. "Let me show you," I said as I turned to Jared and asked Charlie's phone. I then scrolled down to Charlie's ex's photo, which I showed her.

"This is the witch," I said. "Gosh Oct, she's the spitting image of Katia," said Aunt Cassie, mystified. "Yes, she is more like Mom than I am," I said with resentment. "Oh, you're like your mother in more ways than you realise," said Aunt Cassie, "Now stop overanalysing everything. We have work to do; we need to find a way to undo the spell brought on by that witch, but we need to be cautious."

"Will you help me, Aunt Cassie?" I asked hopefully. "Of course, but first, let's find out what we can about her," Aunt Cassie replied. "What do you know about her?" she asked. "Nothing much, except for that she worked in the United Nations army with Charlie, and that Charlie broke it off with her when he found out she was a witch," I said. "Is she still working for the UN?" Aunt Cassie asked, "Do you at least know her name?"

"Her name is Anastasia," Jared answered. "We should combine our powers," she said as we walked into the room where the grimoire was lying. Standing in front of the grimoire, she put her hand out, which I held on to. We started chanting the location spell, and it started again; the cyclone that occurred the last time I used the location spell. The winds lasted for hours, but we held on tight, determined to locate her. All of a sudden I heard Jared scream and when I turned, I saw him hanging from the ceiling with his hands wrapped around his neck, gasping for air. I pulled away and rushed to his rescue. I could hear my aunt shout out, "What are you doing, Oct?"

I chanted, "relez muz relez goz," the release spell, and he fell down landing just a foot away from me. I then helped him stand up, and he hugged me in relief, saying "Octavia, thanks again for saving me."

"You're welcome," I said, turning to Aunt Cassie who was lying on the floor, grabbing on to the phone with one hand and the grimoire stand with the other. "I'm sorry, Aunt Cassie. I had to let go in order to save Jared," I said as the winds came to a standstill. "It's OK, we can try again later," she said, tapping me on the shoulder. "I should get out a print of her photo instead of using the phone," I said, taking the phone to my computer.

A few minutes later, Jared's phone rang. He picked it up and, after a few minutes of chatting, said he was asked to swing by the police station. "Who was it?" I asked. "It was the chief," he replied. "Wait, you shouldn't go alone; I'll call my advisor," I said, and called out, "Christen." He appeared within seconds, freaking out poor Jared.

"What? Who? What's going on?" Jared started babbling. "I'm sorry, Jared; I didn't mean to freak you out. This is my advisor, Christen," I said, trying to keep myself from laughing out loud. "Ha ha, it may seem funny to you, but it isn't for a mere mortal such as me," he said, "I'm still trying to wrap my head around all this witchcraft, and then you summon whatever it is from thin air."

"I'm sorry, but did you just summon me in the presence of someone without magical powers?" asked Christen, annoyed. "Sorry, Christen, but he's cool," I said, trying to calm him down. "Sorry, but I need to wipe his memory," he replied, reaching out to touch Jared's head. "No, you don't need to do that," I said. "Yes, I do," he said, laying his hand on Jared's head. "Octavia, help me," cried Jared. "No!" I said, swinging my hand and chanting, "paz mez zo paz mez." Christen disappeared.

"Octavia, did you just chant Christen away?" Aunt Cassie asked. "Yes, I'm sorry; I was just trying to buy time to get Jared out of here." I turned to Jared and said, "You need to leave. Go home and wait for my call." Once Jared was gone, I started chanting, but nothing happened. "Octavia, have you lost your powers?" Aunt Cassie asked, worried.

"Yes, she has," a voice came from behind us. We looked back and what stood there was something out of this world.