Family Magic (25 page)

I bit the bullet and told her everything.

Mom took it better than I expected. In fact,
after she paled and sank into a chair, she was quiet from beginning
to end. I’m not sure from her expression if she was more worried
there was alcohol at the party, how Alison was treated by the other
girls or the fact I used my magic to punish them all for it. I
finished by telling her about trick or treating. I held out the
candy to show her where I was the last few hours.

She sat there in silence after I finished. I
glanced at Uncle Frank who took a seat at the table across from
her. His expression remained warm and steady. I took a lot of
comfort from the fact Mom didn’t burst into a tirade and turned me
into something unpleasant.

The silence stretched, heavy and oppressive,
between us. Tears rose in her eyes. I reached out, feeling crappy.
I made her cry despite my decision to not do that to her anymore. I
noticed she didn’t seem sad, exactly. Her body shook, mouth opened,
lips curling upward.

My mom was laughing so hard she couldn’t make
a sound. She rocked, the tears spilling over to run down her face.
She gasped in a breath and started howling out loud. Uncle Frank
grinned at her.

“Yeah,” he said. “I know. That was my
reaction, too.”

She turned to him, unable to speak. He
started laughing with her. They went on like that for a bit while I
tried to figure out what to do.

Mom managed to get a hold of herself. She
wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her shirt.

“Mom,” I said, feeling a little indignant and
embarrassed by what I did. “It’s not funny.”

“No, honey,” she giggled, “it isn’t.”

“I lost control,” I said. “I’m sorry, I
really am.”

She continued to clean herself up as the
occasional snort escaped her.

“I know, Syd,” she said around snickers. “I
know. And we need to do something about it. You…” She broke off as
laughter took her over again, “you can’t go around… leaking power.”
One glance at Uncle Frank and she was off.

I rolled my eyes at the two of them. How
could they make so light of what I did? I should be punished for
breaking the rules. She should be yelling at me right now. I did
the right thing and confessed and she had the nerve to think it was
funny?

“I’m going to my room,” I grumbled. “Let me
know when you’re ready to talk.”

She waved me off, still in a fit. I stomped
out of the kitchen, knowing I should have been relieved to dodge
that particular bullet but feeling cheated at the same time.

I made it upstairs and to my room.

“Syd,” I heard Meira call. I went to her door
and peeked in. She lay tucked in her frilly pink bed, but her eyes
were wide open. I could tell she was upset.

I went in and dumped the candy on her bed,
spreading it around so she could see the haul.

“Happy Halloween,” I said.

She started to cry. I made a hole in the pile
of treats and hugged my little sister.

“What’s wrong, Meems?” I said, stroking her
hair. “Didn’t you have fun tonight? Did someone pick on you?”

She shook her head, sniffling. I leaned back
enough to see her.

“Then what’s up?” I pushed away some of her
tears and offered her a small chocolate bar. “Look, your
favorite.”

She cried harder and clung to me.

“Sassy’s favorite!” She wailed.

And then I understood. I was still working on
the assumption, because I insisted on it, somehow Sassafras was
okay and we would figure out what happened to him. Meira, on the
other hand, was not. To her, Sass was gone which meant he was never
coming back. And while I had to admit to myself there was a chance
it was true, I wasn’t going to let my sister suffer if I had
anything to do about it.

“We’ll save it for him,” I said.

“He’s gone,” she cried, face crumpling.

“We’ll find him,” I told her.

“But, I can’t feel him,” she said, so much
sorrow in her little face I wanted to cry, too. “I’ve been trying
and trying all night but he’s nowhere, Syd.”

“I know,” I said. “I can’t either. But there
has to be a reason. Like, maybe he’s hiding.”

She stopped crying. I wiped her face with the
corner of her pretty pink comforter.

“Why would he hide from me?” She asked,
losing the desperate grief clinging to her.

“I don’t know, Meems,” I said. “But if Sassy
is hiding, he has a good reason.”

“What if he isn’t?” She was very frail and
fragile laying there, her little body nestled in all that pink
frill and froth, so much she was almost lost in it. “What if he’s…
he’s…”

I hugged her again, but the tension had left
her. I knew I did my big sister job.

“If, and I stress
if
he is gone for
real,” I said, “we’ll find out who hurt him and do something about
it.”

“Yeah,” she said. “We will, won’t we?”

Anger replaced her sadness. “We will find
them, won’t we, Syd?”

“You bet,” I answered. “But, I still think
he’s okay. We have to figure out where he is, that’s all.”

Meira snuggled into her fluffy pillows and
managed a smile.

“Thanks,” she said. I knew she’d be okay.

“You’re welcome,” I said. I tucked her in and
kissed her forehead before getting up and heading for the door.

“Syd,” she whispered.

“Yeah?” I said.

“Thanks for the treats,” she said.

I grinned at her and closed her door.

In my own room I collapsed on my bed and
cried for my missing friend until my pillow was soaked with
tears.

***

I guess the coven had more serious things to
worry about than my indiscretion because I slept through the entire
night without being hauled from bed to be burned on a pyre for
breaking the rules.

They really didn’t do that kind of thing
anymore, but I worried they might resurrect it just for me.

In fact, when I went downstairs for
breakfast, I could feel the house was empty. Aside from a note on
the fridge from Mom that instructed me to practice my shields,
there was nothing. I had my bowl of cereal in privacy and silence
on the porch as I slowly and carefully practiced over and over, so
into it by the time I took a bite my crispy bits were soggy. I
returned for a fresh bowl and instead used the time to let what
happened the day before sink in.

No, I hadn’t done anyone permanent damage or
anything. Not this time. I shuddered as I considered what my demon
may have done if I told them all to drop dead. Not a nice thing to
consider. I was pretty sure nothing would have happened, but not
positive. Which worried me more than a little. It was time to grow
up and take it like a woman. My power was permanent, and I was
becoming a danger to myself and others. No matter how much I wanted
to shed this life, it didn’t want to let me go. I still hated the
thought of being trapped, but I knew I had to get my demon under
control and keep her there before someone was seriously hurt.

Now that I officially made my decision, I
tried to ignore the imaginary sounds of slamming bars and the
rattle of chains. Knowing I would have to someday lead all those
witches terrified me. A fate worse than death. I crossed my fingers
my mother would live forever. A healthy forever, I added to myself
as I thought of poor broken Gram.

Amen to that.

I went back inside and put my bowl in the
dishwasher. I leaned against the counter, looking out the window. I
half expected to feel the weight of a fat cat body wind its way
around my legs, searching for food. The sadness returned. I cried
enough the night before I didn’t feel the need for fresh tears on
the subject, but my throat was tight. I had to push myself away
from it before it went so far again.

A knock on the front door was a nice
distraction. I made my way through the house to answer it.

Imagine my surprise when I saw Brad standing
on my front step.

He was pale. I winced, realizing he was
caught in the spell with everyone else. A spark of anger surfaced.
Served him right for not helping Alison. I was at war with myself
as I stood there with the door wide open.

Brad broke the silence.

“I’m sorry, Syd,” he said, and the war was
over. How could I stay mad at that?

“It’s okay,” I said. “Alison is all right, by
the way.”

He shuffled his feet. “Yeah, I know, I’ve
already been to her house.”

I thought better of him for checking on
her.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

Probably not the best idea. I stepped outside
and closed the door.

“Rather go for a walk?” I asked. Not that I
didn’t want Brad in my house, but with all the weird stuff going on
lately I figured it was better to keep him away from my family who
could arrive home at any time.

“Sure,” he agreed.

We headed down the street at a stroll. He
didn’t look like he was up for much more. A block from my place, I
took a seat on a bench. He sat next to me, squinting into the
sun.

“You don’t look very good,” I said. “Are you
okay?”

His embarrassment was obvious. “Yeah, only…
after you left, everybody got… sick. Really sick. I think it was
the punch or something. It was pretty awful.”

I had to know, like digging at a scab even
though it hurt to get rid of it.

“Really?” I said, trying to be sympathetic
while hiding my own embarrassment. “Everybody?”

“Yeah, wow, you’re lucky you left when you
did. I’ve never seen anything like it, kids puking everywhere. The
house… some kids ended up in the front yard and the neighbors
called 9-1-1. The ambulance came and Suzanne’s parents were called.
They were pretty mad at her, but she was so sick at the time I
don’t think she cared.”

Part of me thrilled at the revenge but the
rest of me wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

“Sounds awful,” I said.

“You have no idea,” he said. “They didn’t
know she was having a party and when they found the punch… they
called all the parents. Most of the kids are grounded and the
football team’s been benched for two weeks.”

Oops. He didn’t seem upset about it, though,
so I tried not to beat myself up.

“Sorry,” I said.

“It wasn’t your fault,” he answered. “I’m
glad you and Alison are okay.”

He was just so sweet I wasn’t sure if he was
real. I wanted to tell him it
was
my fault but knew no
matter how I felt about it, confessing I was a witch was a terrible
idea all the way around.

Besides, in a way, I was getting my
punishment after all, worse than I could have ever gotten from my
mother.

“Anyway,” he said, “I wanted to apologize for
yesterday.”

“It wasn’t your fault, either,” I said.

He wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I didn’t do
anything to stop it, Syd. That makes me as guilty as the ones who
did it.”

I didn’t want to tell him I agreed with him.
Too cruel.

“Hopefully no one else will ever have to go
through that,” I said.

“Don’t hold your breath,” he said. I saw, for
the first time, a tightness in his face, a loss of innocence. Not
that I’m the most worldly, mind you, but Brad was so naive when I
first met him. I was sad that changed.

“I won’t,” I answered.

“I didn’t realize,” he said softly, “what
they were like. Really like. The whole bunch of them. Even the guys
knew, Syd, what Suzanne and the squad had planned.”

“But you didn’t?” I asked, kind of relieved
to hear it.

“No way,” he said. “I would never have let
them if I had known.”

He was so earnest, I believed him.

“That’s why they didn’t tell you,” I said,
touching his arm. “They knew you would stop it or warn her.”

“I guess,” he said. “I had no idea they were
such jerks.”

“It’s high school,” I shrugged. “Eat or be
eaten.”

I might as well have hit him.

“It shouldn’t be that way,” he said.

“Tell
them
,” I answered. We both knew
exactly who I meant.

“Well,” he said, straightening up a little,
“I’m not doing it anymore.”

“Sorry?” I said.

He squared his shoulders. “I’m quitting the
football team. And all of them, too.”

The very fact Brad Peters dumped the pops
blew my mind.

“But, you’re a Senior, captain of the team.
Aren’t you up for a football scholarship or something?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I told my dad. He wasn’t
very happy. But I don’t want…”

“What?” He couldn’t throw away a chance at a
great school over this. Talk about a sudden awakening. Part of me
wanted to put him back to sleep until high school was all over.

“I don’t want to turn into them,” he
whispered.

Was my internal conflict spilling over onto
other people or something? This was the second person in two days
who came to me—
me
—for life-altering advice. Talk about
overwhelming.

“Brad,” I said firmly, wanting no
misunderstanding between us, “you will never, can never, be one of
them. Ever. End of discussion.”

“Really?” He seemed like he wanted to
believe.

“Never ever,” I told him. “Trust me, I have
been to more junior and senior highs in the last five years than I
care to admit and I have never met anyone like you who has
ever
turned into one of them.”

Couldn’t say it any clearer than that. I was
pretty sure it worked because his whole body relaxed. He leaned
back on the bench.

“Bet you’re going to be a psychiatrist when
you get older,” he said.

If he only knew.

“Guess we’ll wait and see,” I mumbled.
“Please don’t give up your chance for a scholarship.”

He thought about it. “Maybe you’re right,” he
said. “Maybe I should play, to spite them.”

“They aren’t worth it,” I said. “And from
what I hear, college is way different.”