Experimental Magic ✔

Payback

Meadow was so relieved the semester was over and done with. No more prissy mean girls or judging stares. Just her, a cup of hot chocolate, and a good book. She had never been so excited to put on a pair of fluffy socks and her favorite, slouchy hoodie. Finally, she could relax.

 She let herself sink deep into the couch with her feet kicked up on the coffee table. Before too long, she was fully immersed in a reality much better than her own. She was so lost to the world, that she hadn't noticed Misty sauntering into the room. Then out of nowhere, there was a loud Thwap!  as Misty slammed their spell book on the coffee table, causing Meadow to jump.

"Hey!" Meadow said.

"You need to study," Misty said sternly with her hands on her hips. 

"Yeah right," Meadow scoffed as she kicked her feet back up on the coffee table and returned her attention to her book. "School's over."

"For now,"Misty said. "But you'll be back before you know it. And you're already falling behind. You should really use this time to catch up."

"Get a grip, Misty," Meadow said as she rolled her eyes. "It's been one day. My brain's not going to rot over night." 

Misty gritted her teeth as her sister completely dismissed her once again. Why couldn't she just listen to her for once? When it came to academics, Misty knew what she was talking about. Her methods were tried and true. They had worked for her, they had worked for Millie, and she knew if Meadow just kept her head down and her nose to the grind stone, they'd work for her too. 

As frustrating as it was for Misty, she refused to let Meadow get under her skin. She had to maintain her composure. So, she un-clenched her jaw, closed her eyes, counted to ten and then switched up her approach. 

"Thirty minutes," Misty said, trying not to let her annoyance show. "That's all I'm asking. Can you please do that for me?"

Meadow peaked over the top of her book and raised one eyebrow. Please? Meadow thought to herself. Now that's a word I haven't heard in awhile. Meadow was without a doubt suspicious. And with good reason. Misty didn't bargain. She demanded. 

"Then you'll leave me alone?" Meadow said cautiously.

"Yes," Misty said, her exasperation poking through. "Then I'll leave you alone."

Meadow made a big show of thinking over Misty's offer just to annoy her. It worked just as she had intended. Meadow couldn't hide the satisfaction she felt seeing Misty clench her fists in frustration.

"Make it twenty," Meadow threw out, just for a little extra kick.

"Whatever," Misty huffed rolling her eyes before walking out. 

***

It was a beautiful day out, so Meadow took it one step further and brought their spell book and her study materials outside to enjoy the sunshine. She knew good and well that Misty disapproved of studying outside since it was so easy to get distracted, but Meadow didn't care. After all, Misty didn't specify where she needed to study. Just that she needed to study. So technically, she wasn't in the wrong.

"Omg," Misty said as she watched Meadow from the kitchen window.  Of course, she would find some loophole just to push her limits. It was such a Markos thing to do. And that annoyed her more than anything. "That girl is really testing my patience."

"What patience?" Millie joked as she joined her sister by the window.

"True," Misty chuckled, taking the dig in jest as they exchanged smiles.

"What's she doing now?" Millie asked.

Millie hopped up on the window sill and grabbed a bag of barbecue chips from the counter. She casually dug her way through the bag, looking for those rare chips that were extra coated with flavor. Meadow testing Misty's patience was such a regular occurrence that she didn't even think twice about it.

"Not listening, being a brat, you know, the usual," Misty said.

"Mmm," Millie nodded as she licked barbecue dust from her fingers. "You know, I'm still kinda pissed at her for making us think she was dead. That was seriously messed up."

Misty kept a watchful eye on Meadow. She stood in silence as she observed her sister's every movement from afar. The wheels in her head were turning, and there was no stopping them once they were in motion. A smile spread across Misty's face as she turned to face Millie.

"Don't worry," Misty said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I have a plan."

***

Meadow sat cross-legged in the rock garden with their spell book to her left and her notepads to the right. She set a timer on her phone for exactly 20 minutes so she didn't accidentally exert more effort than she needed to. Misty asked for 20 minutes and 20 minutes was all she was gonna get. 

Meadow flipped through the pages of the spell book until she found the easiest one she could find. She landed on a low-level transformation spell, one that she had all but mastered at least a year ago. But, she hadn't memorized it. So, it wasn't like she was perfect at it. Meadow was well aware that she was maybe being a little lazy, but she had been studying non-stop for the last three months. She had earned the right to be a little lazy.

She scanned the pile of rocks in front of her, looking for the roundest one. Her plan was to turn one of the rocks into a frog and for whatever reason it worked best with smoother rocks. Misty probably knew way too much about the reason it worked better that way, but Meadow sure as hell wasn't going to ask her. 

They were all pretty jagged, but Meadow just shrugged and grabbed one at random. Ah, well. This'll work. She grabbed their spell book and read over the spell twice before putting it aside. She repeated the spell over and over again in her head, hoping it would help her remember. 

"Okay," she said out loud to herself. "I think I've got it."

Meadow cupped her hands around the rock and began the incantation. She got through the first two lines, but then her mind went completely blank. Shit, she thought. What was it again? When she turned to consult the spell book, she noticed a scraggly, little crow looking right at her with it's beady eyes. 

Okay, weird, Meadow thought in passing before returning to the spell book. She looked over the spell once more and was sure she had it this time. She turned back to the rock and right there in front of her was another crow, glaring at her like she had killed it's baby. It let out a blood curdling squawk while it stared her right in the eyes. An eerie chill went through Meadow's body. It was almost as if it was trying to speak to her. Like it was some sort of warning or signal or something.

Before Meadow could study the bird further, it flapped it's shiny black wings and flew off. Meadow's eyes followed him and they widened when she saw what was coming for her. What seemed like hundreds of crows were circling the sky above and heading straight towards her. Her heart racing, Meadow grabbed the spell book and started to run. But she was too late. The birds had descended upon her. They flew around her haphazardly, nipping at her hair and body as she tried to run. They pinched at her skin, drawing blood and ripped holes in her clothes. There was so many of them she could barely see two feet in front of her. They let out angry caws, letting her know that they were the ones in control. She became so disoriented, she fell to her knees, leaving her vulnerable to the biting beaks of the crows.

Then just like that, as if in a second, the crows flew off and disappeared behind the clouds. From her knees, Meadow lifted her head slowly. The first thing she saw when she looked up turned her stomach with anger. There, staring out the kitchen window, was Misty with a wicked smirk on her face.