"No grouping together or covens. No witch gatherings or events. No witch ceremonies. No using magic! What kind of law are these?! Who made these," I ask Ben in outrage.
"These are the laws for witches in Berlin. The Kammergericht, the highest state court for Berlin, has enforced these laws for a couple of years now. I think I was 17 when they first established these laws. We've been living under these laws for six years," Ben informs me.
Six year? I don't remember there being a court in Berlin with any super naturals on the board. I remember hearing that witches didn't have to live under laws in Germany because they made sure to keep their identity secret from the humans, unlike in the U.S. , where witches live among humans, vampires, and werewolves so there is a need for everyone to live under laws.
"But there are only humans in the Kammergericht court. You mean to tell me that humans have witches under law here in Berlin? How would that even be possible?"
Lina, Ben's mother, walks in with a tray of freshly made pretzel bread and sets it on the table.
"All the covens in Berlin signed contracts to hide their magic from humans for this very reason. No one used harmful magic and we lived freely in hiding, blending in with the humans. It only takes one person to break a more than 100 century contrast and expose magic and now everything has been taken away from us," Lina says, offering me a pretzel. I take it and eat a bite.
"This tastes amazing, but this will not distract me from the topic we are speaking about. How come you guys use magic? Ben knocked me out with magic in an alley and Lina used magic to keep me in the house. The law says no magic."
"Great. Ben brought another stray home. You going to teach her undetectable magic too?" We all turned to look at a little girl standing at the front door of the apartment. She glares at me and throws her bookbag on the floor. The little girl has long, straight blond hair and blue eyes like Ben.
She looks about 14 years old and has a lot of sass. She stands in her school uniform with her hands on her hips. Her little freckles on her face scrunch up while she glares at me. I can already tell she's a storm just like Lina.
"She's not a stray, Emilia. Don't be rude." The girl comes over and takes a pretzel, then takes a seat on the couch in front of me.
"Did he tell you the story yet," the girl asks me and I look at her confused. "About why the humans have us under law or are you just here to learn undetectable magic? Benny just loves helping strangers."
I look over at Ben with an awkward smile, not knowing how to answer. He rolls his eyes.
"Go on and tell her, since you want to so badly," Ben tells her and she claps excitedly. Wasn't this girl just glaring at me? Now she's excited to tell me a story? I don't even know what say.
Lina gets up and leave.
"There was this witch named Sybil. She was a part of this powerful witch coven here in Berlin. She grew up spoiled and stuck up-."
"Emi, just get to the point. The girl doesn't need a whole back story," Lina interrupts her from the other room.
"Fine. She was a selfish, power hungry bitch. She tried to control one of the humans on the board of kammergericht so that she could get on it, but got caught and exposed all the witches in Berlin. The humans weren't as clueless as we thought they were about magic. They hold very powerful dark objects and they use them to keep us in check. So, we're now all under law and no one knows where the bitch is."
"Language, Emi. Your only 14," Ben checks her, but she just rolls her eyes.
"What about the undetectable magic," I ask her. It seems that I'll be getting more information out of her than anyone else.
"It's a little harder to learn, but the humans can't track our magic if it's undetectable. They can track regular magic with their dark objects and that's how Ben found you. I'm sure he could sniff you using magic from the moment you landed. Alright, I have to go do homework." She skips away to her room and I'm left alone with Ben.
"Is she always like that," I ask, laughing a little.
"Ever since my sister was taken, her mother, she's been off her hinges," Ben answers, rubbing his headache away.
"What happened?" Ben looks over at Emilia's room door and hesitates, but he moves over to sit next to me and whispers.
"When they first introduced the laws, we didn't take them seriously. We didn't know how much power they really had. So, we kept using our magic in protest. They tracked our magic and sent a swat team for us. We were on the run, but we didn't get far. Davina used herself as a magic beacon to draw them away from us. They took her and my father ran after her. They were both taken and we haven't seen them since. We don't know what happened to them."
"How old was Emilia when this happened," I ask him, feeling my throat clog up. I don't cry like my body wants me to, but I feel for that little girl inside that room.
I've been off my hinges since my mom died too and that was a much longer time ago than Emilia has been without her mother. I don't want her to have to hurt as long as I did. Parents are everything for a child, and once one is gone, maybe both, it hurts a lot.
"She was eight when it happened and it was six years ago. Davina's would be thirty now if she's still alive."
"What about Emi's father?"
"Davina was 16 when she had Emi. Emi's father was human, but he didn't know Davina was a witch. He was very supportive and involved with Emi, but when he found out that Davina was a witch after the laws were established, he sold us all out. He didn't even care if they killed his own daughter along the way."
"So, where is he now?"
"I killed him after they took my dad and Davina."