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"What?" Liana and I whispered simultaneously.

My heart hammered in my chest, and my hands started shaking. A witch? A witch?

"You are both witches. And so am I. So is Aurelia. All our ancestors were witches, too," my mother said.

"You've got to be kidding me," I said.

My mother frowned. "This is no joke, Ivana. You wanted the truth, and now you have it."

"I didn't expect it to be this!" I yelled. "Witches are myths! They aren't real! Do you seriously expect me to believe this?"

"You don't have a choice," Aurelia said simply.

I looked at Liana. Shock crossed her face, again and again, her eyes wide and her lips slightly parted. She stared at the ground, frozen in a stupor of complete shock.

"Why did you decide to tell us now?" I asked. My mother and Aurelia glanced at each other quickly. "What? More secrets?" I snapped.

"We thought it was time for you to know. Typically, a witch should be told of her identity when she begins menstruating."

"So why did you tell me so late?" I shouted.

My mother walked over to me, and put her hand on my cheek. I flinched and took a step backwards.

"You weren't ready for the truth," she said.

"But Liana is?" I yelled. "Look at her! And what is that even supposed to mean?!"

My mother turned to look at the frozen Liana, and looked back at me. "There is still so much to tell you both -"

"I suggest you start explaining, then."

My mother sighed and rubbed her face with her palms. "As you probably know, witches possess powers. Depending on how powerful you are, you possess certain powers. There are nine powers that a witch can possess. Thirteen, actually, but the other four are extremely rare. I possess six of those powers, and Aurelia is the same. Your great great great grandmother possessed all thirteen powers, and she is the only witch in three hundred years to have them."

"And what are these powers?" I asked, trying to calm my frantic heartbeat.

"Let's get you back to the house," Aurelia interrupted, as my mother opened her mouth to speak. "You're both in shock. I'll make you some tea."

I glanced at my mother. She looked slightly angry for a moment, but then she nodded, and gestured with her hand for us to leave the room. I took Liana's hand, pulled her, and walked back down the long, dark hallway.

When we finally walked back outside, I blinked as the light hit my eyes. Liana and I walked back up to the house, Aurelia and my mother following closely behind us. When we walked inside, Aurelia walked into the kitchen and flicked the kettle on. I pulled a chair out and sat Liana on it. She was shivering, but not from the cold. I sat down next to her and watched my mother as she sat opposite to me.

"So are you going to tell me the powers now?" I asked her.

"They are hard to explain."

"I don't care," I said. "I need to know."

The kettle stopped boiling, and Aurelia started filling up two cups of tea. She handed one to me and put the other one on the table in front of Liana.

"So, as I said, there are thirteen powers, but four of them are incredibly rare. The nine, main ones, are telekinesis, concilium, pyrokinesis, divination, transmutation, vitalum vitalis, descensum, aerokinesis, and hydrokinesis."

"You know nothing you just said made sense," I said.

My mother nodded. "I know. It's confusing at first. Once you start practicing, we can see which powers you possess, and work from there."

"Wait, wait. Practice?"

"Yes," she said, her face frustratingly impassive as always.

"This has got to be some big joke," Liana suddenly said.

Aurelia walked over to her and put her hand on her shoulder. Liana winced at her touch.

"It's not, Liana. We are telling you the truth," Aurelia said softly.

Liana snapped her head up to look at her. "Prove it then," she hissed.

Aurelia looked at mother, who gave her a small nod. Aurelia turned her head to look at the tap, and raised her hand to it. She turned her wrist slowly, and the tap turned on. I shoved myself back from the table, my hands shaking uncontrollably. Aurelia lifted up her fingers and the water started moving toward her, floating in the air. She twirled it around her fingers; it curled around her wrist like thread. She dropped her hand and the water fell to the floor, creating a small puddle by her feet.

"That was the power of hydrokinesis," Aurelia said, the corner of her mouth pulled up slightly. "It's one of the easiest powers. The elements are the easiest to control. It gets complicated when you start to control the afterlife and the emotions of others."

I couldn't speak. My throat had closed up, preventing any words from leaving my lips. It was like there was a brick pressing against my chest, blocking my lungs from exerting breaths.

"Do you believe us now?" my mother whispered.

Liana gave a slow, hesitant nod.

"It's a lot to take in," Aurelia said. "I know that. Trust me. I had to go through it, and so did Mother. But the sooner you learn how to control your powers, the sooner your life will become easier."

"Do you seriously think my life will be easy now?" I whispered.

"Oh, yes," Aurelia said. "You may think that being a witch is a bad thing, but that isn't the case. Our powers make us invincible."

"Does anyone know that we are witches?" I asked.

"No," my mother snapped. "And it's going to stay that way. Nobody can know. Nobody."

I took a nervous, shaky sip of my tea.

"Why?" Liana asked.

"Because they'll slaughter us, like they did to our ancestors during the Salem Witch Trials," my mother shouted.

Liana recoiled into her seat.

I put my tea down, and looked at my older sister and mother. The whole thing seemed surreal. Witches were urban legends; they weren't meant to be real. It scared me that something that was meant to be a fairy tale were real.

And even scarier: I was one.

Witches are figments of imaginations, and nightmares, and dreams. The fact that I had magic flowing in my veins scared the hell out of me, and I truly didn't know how to react to the truth. I had always wanted the truth, but I regretted that desire now.

"So," I said, looking down at my hands with uncertainty, but with a strange sense of excitement, too. "When do we start?"

---

A/N

Helloooo again!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm loving writing this book.

Remember to vote if you enjoyed it!

Olivia J. Clarke

(Gif: Ivana Cain ~ Nina Dobrev)

© Olivia Clarke 2016

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