Page 20 of When Storms Awaken

“Diana!” Tess exclaimed, slapping my knee and pointing upwards.

There, floating above us in the rafters of the vaulted ceiling, was the lone black feather.

“No. No way. Absolutely not,” I exclaimed, rushing to stand. The feather slowly descended, floating down until it lay motionless at my feet.

“Nope.” I shook my head in disbelief. “I don’t believe it.”

“Dude…I don’t know what to tell you other than youneedto try again. You did that!” Tess exclaimed pulling my arm down until I was seated across from her again. “You did that. Do it one more time,” she pressed.

I brought my legs back underneath me and rested my palms face up. I would not close my eyes this time, I needed to see this clearly. I focused again on the feather and what it would look like floating in the air between us. Ever so slowly the feather softly lifted off the ground, stopping at our eye level. I focused on holding it there, thinking about how it looked suspended between us.

I caught Tess’ eyes across from me, wide with anticipation. As I glanced away and my concentration broke the feather went up in flames, falling back to the carpet with a sizzle. Tess yelped and jumped up to get out of the way, the feather still on fire on the padded carpet between us. I jumped up to stomp on it, hoping that would suffice and put the fire out. The feather lay in a charred pile, leaving behind a rather large soot stain.

“Uh…” I started, “I don’t think that was supposed to happen.”

“No babe, I don’t think so.” Tess grabbed my arm and pulled me close, hugging me tight. “But this proveseverythingthat’s been happening. You. Are. Magic. You are a witch, and that means that the wolf was somethingothertoo.” She held me tight for another minute before letting go, a look of sympathy in her eyes as she gave my arm a gentle squeeze.

I could feel a single hot tear rolling down my cheek and I moved to swipe it away. I wasn’t crazy. I wasn’t making it up. I wasn’t imagining it.I was magic.

How had I not known? Why was this only manifesting now? Did it have something to do with the wolf, or with Nik coming to town? I had so many unanswered questions, and nobody to turn to for answers.

“I’m not crazy.” I sighed, throwing my head back and wiping my face with relief.

“You’re not crazy,” Tess repeated as she rubbed my back in small circles.

“But I have no control over any of it, look what I just did to that poor feather,” I pointed out. “And what I did to the glass…this could be dangerous.”

“I know,” Tess admitted, casting her eyes towards the floor where the burned remains of the feather lay. “Maybe with a bit of practice...”

“Yeah, maybe,” I acknowledged. “Maybe I just need to practice. Somewhere without carpets, preferably,” I said with a soft laugh.

“You have to admit, even though you lit that feather on fire without meaning to, it’s still pretty cool.” Tess grinned.

“Yeah, maybe a little,” I conceded, nudging her in the side.

“Maybe we practice the easy stuff?” she offered. “You had no problem opening things, right?”

“You’re right.” I cast my eyes towards the front door. “Open,” I whispered, picturing the door opening under my command. A second passed, and the door opened, suddenly slamming against the opposite wall with a bang. It was much more forceful than I had intended.

“See, easy.” I laughed, realizing it had likely scratched the drywall or left a hole where the door handle had hit the wall. Tess and I couldn’t stop laughing, bursting into a fit and collapsing onto the couch. If I ruined the house every time I tried to practice this magic, my mom would surely kill me. Or kick me out.

“Your mom is going to kill you when she sees this stain on the carpet,” Tess wheezed, still clutching her stomach.

“She sure is.” I grinned. “Apparently, my magic is good for one thing at least. Destroying things.”

“Now can you close the door? It’s freaking cold outside,” Tess said, sitting back up on the couch and rubbing her hands together against the chill in the night air.

I turned my eyes back towards the door and as I was about to close it, I could see the dark silhouette of a hunched figure outside the doorway.

“What isthat?” I asked, pointing a shaky finger.

Tess leaned forwards to get a better look, and her mouth fell open as she saw what it was that I had seen in the open doorway. I could hear the wet snapping sounds of snarling and licking as my hand dropped back to my side, my skin growing cold.

Just outside the open doorway were three enormous black wolves.

“Closethedamndoor!”Tess yelled, jumping up to stand on the couch. “Close itnow!”

“Close!” I yelled as I pointed towards the door and leaped up from the couch, ready to slam the door shut with my body weight if necessary. The door began to swing shut under my command, but before it caught the latch it burst back open, slamming into the wall again with a thunderous crack.

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