the witch kids

two

It seemed like, from now on, the opposite of what I expected was bound to happen. 

For instance, I thought going outside would burn as witches stared holes in me, that I’d barely be able to get down the street without the attacker from that night finding me again. But when my mother pushed me to go outside, I was just another kid in the world. And if I made it to school without an assault on the subway, I thought Magnus would avoid me. But instead, she was sprinting across the field, calling my name. 

“Are you okay?” she gasped, “Are you safe?”

You’re not safe here. I remembered October’s words, the fear in her eyes before melting into shadows. Something told me I couldn’t tell her what happened, even if I tried. After all, I could barely explain it to my mother, who immediately lost all sense as soon as I told her.  

"What do you mean?" 

"There's a Shielded One on Salem."

My body tightened at the words, a wave of fear rushing through me. I tried to hide it, furrowing my brows. "Shielded One? Like Harry Potter?”

“Never say some dumb shit like that again,” her mouth twisted in worry, "All you need to know is that they're dangerous and powerful. And you should leave."

"Damn, you sound just like October."

Her face showed no amusement. "I can't explain to you the threat we're under, Ulrich. Come with me for a second."

I didn't really have a choice as she grabbed my arm, leading me across campus, kids casting spells and playing frisbee on the quad, reading books in the sunlight. Rushing under the arching trees and happy students reminded me of my mother, so excited to see her child go to college, rise above with a mix of private loans and government assistance. 

“Take a different way to school,” she spoke as she cleaned the small wound on my neck after the attack, face stern, serious, “You won’t be bothered if you mind your way. Don’t you dare fight again. Do you hear me?”

I was almost killed, and she still wanted me to go outside? To school? To places where October could be, or another invisible witch? She was acting like it was my fault for not wanting to get robbed, or for living on Salem. But something in her tone, how serious her face was, how prepared her response was, told me she knew something I didn’t. Something she wasn’t willing to tell me. 

When I finally stepped away from my thoughts, Magnus walked into a large, imitation-regal building - one I should have visited a long time ago. 

The library. 

The bookshelves sprawled upward towards the ornate ceiling. Each floor could be seen from the ground floor, other students browsing the shelves near the railing, windows and desks scattered in hidden corners, information desks and bored employees. I only had a moment to admire the sunlight peeking through the ceiling, a natural spotlight, as Magnus beckoned up the stairs to a hidden corner on the third floor.

"Where are we going?"

She glanced over her shoulder. "To someone who knows."

Zion stretched his long legs on a library desk, all of his dreadlocks in a ponytail except one, which hung down near his eyes, a cowrie shell at its end. His classwork hovered middair as he bopped to music in wireless earbuds. In the afternoon sunlight, his golden eyes seemed to glow, bright against his dark brown skin. He gave a nod. 

"Can you elaborate on Shielded Ones?" Magnus spoke.

His eyes went wide. "One-four?" 

I nodded, and the boy dropped the book onto the desk. He towered over Magnus and I like an excited Sequoia tree, holding out his hand to shake.

"I'm Zion, it's awesome to meet you. I don't get to meet a lot of one-fours. I love The Office, by the way, amazing work."

"Uh...thanks?"

He beamed, as though he'd been saving that line for the next time he met a human, before holding up a finger and typing on his laptop. Eventually, he turned it to show an image - a dark figure holding up a single hand. SHIELDED ONE, it read, with runes in a different language. 

"A Shielded One is a...former witch, sort of. To protect themselves, some powerful witches give up their power to cast spells, or offense, to repel magic completely, or defense."

"Like magnets." Magnus replied.

"Like magnets, like...Magnus." Zion repeated. She rolled her eyes in response.

"So what makes them so dangerous?" I stared at my reflection in the dark image.

"Well, the touch of the Shielded One is passed through bloodlines, and the longer the bloodline, the more powerful the individual. Magic runs through our blood naturally. So if a Shielded One wanted to-"

"They could kill every one of us," Magnus' face grew pale. 

He nodded. "Exactly. Some are trained to hunt witches down. The greater the spell, the greater the shielding power. So if a great witch fights a Shielded One, they could wipe out the borough in a day. If they're trained and powerful, which they'd have to be by now, they could start a killing spree. Another dead witch. You know police won't care."

It was always on the news, the killing of a witch in some town nearby, a witch kid murdered brutally in the suburbs, a two minute story, the shot of a crime scene, before news about the economy or something political. I couldn't remember a single time where they mentioned the suspect. Only the victim. 

"Is there...anything we can do?" The information swirled in my mind like a violent tornado, ripping memories of what happened, showing flashbacks, things familiar and unfamiliar. Was I a murderer? Was my mother a Shielded One? Was my father? Could I stay hidden? Would they know? 

Zion shrugged. "Only way to defeat a Shielded One is the end the bloodline. Kill the youngest. But witches don't mess with children, so if they're young, they'll be captured. After seventeen, they'll be taken out." 

To end the bloodline, the man spoke with a knife to my neck, head against the bars of my apartment window.

I could have told them, Magnus and Zion, that I was the One. That I had the power. The thought of dying flashed in my mind - a spell, my defense, and every witch in that library knowing who I am. I had to follow my mother's advice. If I wanted to survive, I had to stay hidden. Zion looked to both of us, both lost in our thoughts, before turning his laptop back towards him. 

"Is that all you wanted to know?" Zion reached for his wireless earbuds.

"Zion, a Shielded One lives on Salem," Magnus took a deep breath before looking at me, "And we wanted you to help us find them." 

Ice ran through my blood at the sound of her words.