A week ago, my life was normal, well, typical for a witch living in secrecy on Earth.
I'm the youngest daughter in a family of five and notably the least talented of all of them, where magic is concerned anyway. However, that had never bothered me before.
While my sisters had grown to master the magics, following in our parents' footsteps, I had decided to dive into the fascinating lifestyle that was human. In their world, I had more options than just failing to live up to the golden standard set by my siblings.
I could do anything and be anything if I only put in the effort and had the money. And of the latter, I had an unlimited amount. Perks of being a witch, even one as untalented as me, could do a simple conjuring spell to summon money.
I remember packing my bags, buying my plane ticket, and waiting until the last possible moment before telling my parents that I was leaving to pursue a humans dream. To say they hadn't agreed was putting it mildly, and we'd parted ways that day with hateful, bitter things said, left to rot in the space between us long after I had gone.
A week felt like a lifetime, and I hadn't spoken to them since, and I wouldn't speak to them again. But since arriving in Cambridge, where I would attend Harvard, my life had been nothing short of hell, and it all started and ended with a pretty girl who had a lovely smile.
After my flight landed, she'd waltzed right up to me, called herself Zenari, and announced that my family had been kidnapped and wouldn't be released until I agreed to work for her.
I remained skeptical up until she'd opened up a mirror portal so that I could see them. Beaten, bloodied, and tied in some dark place. Their mouths gagged, so I couldn't hear whatever muffled words they were trying to say to me. But she'd gotten her point across.
Now, you might be thinking that despite how my parents and I had left things, I still loved them and would drop everything to work with this stranger. To do whatever it took to save them.
I love them.
But for the first time in my life, I was free to put myself first and follow my dreams.
So for a week, I refused.
I pushed aside what worries that gnawed at me, about the tortures they would endure until I agreed. I focused on school, putting my best foot forward to gain my teachers' approval, and casting weak enchantment spells on various classmates to speed up friendships.
It was a headstart to a new life here. Made infuriating by the fact that Zenari, a petite and pretty pre-teen with dark curls and large brown eyes wouldn't allow me to forget that my new life could be so easily toppled. She had used her magic, far stronger than my own, to worm her way into my classes and my ring of friends.
A constant, smiling face staring at me from across the room or just on the other side of a table. Zenari was playing along like the perfect actress until the end of each day.
She'd walk me home, her lackeys, or whatever it was she wanted to call them, always close behind. They didn't bother making a secret of following me about during the day as if they were my own personal bodyguards. Only, I needed protecting from them more than any stranger I might encounter.
They'd leave me at my door with blank faces, and with the same warning and each morning when I opened the door, they would be there again.
She wasn't so pretty now. Her reflection was sneering back at me as I leaned heavily over the sink, hands gripping the sides of the porcelain in an attempt to keep them from curling around her neck.
Both of us crowded in a small public restroom, for a showdown between us that was long overdue.
"Did you think to hide from me here?" A pause. "Foolish. I have eyes on you at all times."
A week's worth of frustration and anger boiled in my chest and made my eyes and throat burn with the need to scream, cry, and to hurt her. At the same time, I was tired of the whirlwind of emotions that had been whipping me into a frenzy of fear and anxiety.
My shoulders sagged a little, and I bowed my head, unable to meet the condescending stare that met mine in the mirror.
There was guilt too. That I had let a week pass without doing anything to help my family.
"What did we ever do to you?"
I didn't think she'd answer, and honestly, I didn't want her to. Throughout all of this I hadn't once asked her why. So she surprised me when she answered.
"Nothing at all, but you're just weak enough to go unnoticed, and so you made the obvious choice to play a part in a job I need done. Simple as that. Nothing personal about it."
Well, it was personal to me, and It made it so much worse knowing that I was merely a matter of coincidence. Anger overshadowed the guilt I felt, and for a moment, I shivered, tears rolling down my face, and when I heard her suck in a breath as if to say more, I felt something give in me. Something powerful and I spun around, hand arching upward to make contact with her face.
It should have been satisfying, slapping the hell out of her, but instead of Zenari it was Marissa, one of my classmates and friends, that took the blow.
There was a long moment of silence after the fact, the two of us staring at each other with wide eyes, before I stumbled backwards. The sink blocking any chance of putting more distance between myself and the other girl, her hazel eyes tearing a bit at the corners.
Marissa had been the first of my classmates that I had enchanted, admiring her for her honesty and compassion. Her money hadn't corrupted her as it had many others of her station.
I didn't need to wonder how Zenari had vanished, teleportation was nothing for someone with her mastery of magic I was sure. She'd staged it well.
"I'm so sorry, Marissa," I blurred out fearfully, half reaching for her. "I thought... you startled me is all. Are you okay?"
She sniffed, wiping a hand across the red imprint I'd left there, and with the other she brushed back perfectly curled blonde ringlets.
"It's fine. You've been acting so strange I thought I'd come with you to the bathroom to make sure you were okay. Are you?"
In the past week I'd become an expert at lying about my behavior and today was no different. I smiled sheepishly and muttered something about family troubles, which seemed to apease her. I hated to lie to her, but there was no way a human could possibly understand what was happening in my life right now.
We met back up with our friends and lingered only an hour or so more at the shopping district before each of us went our separate ways.
The sun was setting over the tallest of the buildings now and my apartment wasn't far. The walk home was silent and quick, despite their presence looming over me.
Tonight would be different though. Standing in my doorway, I faced them.
"Your family is hurting, Tasha. We won't be patient much longer. Will you accept the job or not?"
"Yes."
It was clear in all their faces they hadn't expected my quick acceptance this time around, though Zenaris shock was quick to melt away into pleasure. But before she could speak I rose a hand to stop her.
"I want only one thing."
"You're not really in a position to negotiate," she laughed, the sound brittle.
"It isn't anything grand or time consuming, it will take only a moment more of your time," I assured her, feeling a calmness I hadn't felt in weeks stealing over me.
"Go ahead then."
With a sickly sweet smile I closed the distance between us and slapped the shit out of her.