Aurelia ran ahead and took a good look at the shed. Her bicycle was gone! She had locked it securely. How did it vanish? She squeezed her forehead. Anything could happen. She should have put on the Locking Chaem before going in. Science has its disadvantages, so does magic. She sighed. Just then, laughter erupted from somewhere near.
Aurelia turned on her heels. Her brows puckered. The rotten brains were here! Tony, Brian and Chen were the three of them. They never failed to get on her nerves in the twelve years of her school life. She found it hard to regard them as her classmates. Tony, their leader was juggling something between his right palm. Aurelia squinted. When he caught her eyes, he stopped juggling and waved the thing at her. A key chain- with her bicycle on it! He had put the shrinking charm on it! Aurelia clenched her fists. Her breath quickened as she walked up to them.
"Look who's here," Brian, the blond, crossed his arms and hooted, "Chicken Fairy!" His pale blue eyes glinted with mockery.
"Ah!" Tony tossed the key chain into the air as he swiftly caught it back, "Come to see the show?" His pale face featured evilness and cruelty. His black eyes matched his hair and looked on with mockery. Chen, the spikey-haired boy, with green eyes had a serpentine feature. He snickered.
"You! You foul, loathsome, evil, little cockroach!" Aurelia charged ahead as a small pocket knife glinted in her right palm. It stopped in front of Tony's nose.
"Woah! Woah!" he raised his hands in mock surrender, "Do you still want your bicycle or not?"
Aurelia backed away and Tony straightened. He snickered, "You see? Everything is fair in love, war and magic. Right?"
Aurelia was furious. Her shoulders were shaking furiously.
'He's not worth it,' she thought.
"Will you give it back or not?" she growled. The rotten brains exchanged looks. Then, Tony said mockingly, "Not anytime soon?" Laughter erupted from them. Aurelia glared. She took a deep breath and said, "Fine."
She turned around on her heels and left. The rotten brains frowned with disappointment. They saw Aurelia walk up to a distance before she raised her fist and then disappeared.
"Woah!" Brian exclaimed, "What... what was that?"
"She teleported," Chen said calmly, "Fool!" Then, he cleared his throat and looked at Tony, "If she teleports to her home, then it's a brilliant feat that she achieved."
Tony frowned hard. He said, "She couldn't have gone that far." Just then, he felt the air whistle near his ears and the bicycle turned keychain was suddenly knocked out of his palm. Brian and Chen gasped as Tony turned around. A swift kick landed on his chin and he fell flat on his back. The rotten brains felt their eyes widen as the keychain was hanging in midair. But then the attacker became visible. Aurelia stood tall in front of them with the keychain. A nasty smirk appeared on her face as she crouched down on a knee. She tilted her head, "Everything is fair in love, war and magic. Right?"
Aurelia stood up and shot daggers at them. Then, she stomped away. Tony was so shocked that it took some time for him to realize that he was lying on the ground.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Aurelia placed the keychain on the ground. She snapped her fingers and a wand made of mahogany wood appeared in her palm. She sighed and twisted her wand into an ovular movement, "Vṛddhify!" One second, two seconds, three seconds passed. But nothing happened. She sighed again. Grandpa always said, "If you want your wand to cooperate with you, you must always take care of it, nurture it and keep it clean."
Lately, she had not been taking care of her wand. It was a gift from Grandpa. She closed her eyes and muttered under her breath, "Little one, please help me this once. I will take care of you. I promise." Saying so, she twisted her palm again, "Vrddhify!" A spark lighted on the tip of the wand and then it dashed itself at the bicycle turned keychain. The light grew in size and after a few seconds, the light disappeared. Aurelia's bicycle was standing straight in its full glory. She turned back to the rotten brains. Chen and Brian were helping Tony up. She smirked when he met her eyes. He was fuming as his shoulders were shaking. Aurelia snorted as she jumped on her bicycle and paddled down the street. She paddled only a few metres when her bicycle halted to a stop.
Chuckles erupted from behind her. She took a deep breath to keep her anger in check. After all, anger ruined everything. She let go of the handles and straightened her back. Without a word, her mahogany wood wand appeared in her hand. Taking a deep breath, she twisted in her seat and yelled and twisted her wand, "Harshalicious!"
The Rotten Brains widened their eyes as the trees nearby began to hurl their fruits at them. Chen and Brian were focussed on dodging the fruits. But Tony had other plans. He took his time to dodge, then glared at Aurelia and then took a hit. Aurelia sneered and crouched down next to the rear wheel. She sighed and frowned at the flattened tyre. If there was a spell for puncturing a tyre, there should be a counterspell, right?
Then, she remembered and her wand once again appeared in her hand. She muttered under her breath, "Dhmaatify!" She saw the tyre slowly inflate into its full shape. She heaved a sigh of relief. She failed to hear the screech of tyres in the distance. The trees were still hurling fruits at the Rotten Brains like cannonballs. But their intensity has somewhat slowed down. After all, there was a limit to how long a spell would work.
"Care to explain what's going on?" a calm and composed voice spoke from above her. Aurelia saw a pair of shoes stop in front of her bicycle. She looked up and surprise was evident in her coffee-coloured eyes.
It was Madam Angabhut from her old school. Aurelia abruptly stood up. She would never forget the first impression she had on her on the first day of her school.