The Spell's Effect

Under a starlit sky is where I found myself as I stood in the center of a circle marked with crushed gem powder. The witches stood on either side of me, just outside of the spare they had created. Was this some sort of demon ritual!? Was I about to be sent to the underworld or something!? There was no clear answer, for I wasn't allowed to talk. They started chanting as I swallowed my fear and closed my eyes.

That's when it happened.

The entire forest scenery vanished into pastel light, mixing with heavy pressure covering my body. I couldn't breathe and I watched the light above slowly drift away. I sat up once it was gone, gasping for air! There I was again, sitting in the middle of the forest. Aqua, showing some concern for once, floated over to me.

"Lily, I told you it wouldn't hurt that bad," she sighed. "Stop acting like a fish out of water."

"What just happened!?" I shrieked. It had gone worse than I expected. "Did I die in the ocean or something?"

"Here step out of the circle," Lune extended a hand, and I took it. "I'm pretty sure its time to get you back home."

Internally slapping myself, I groaned. I had completely forgotten about mom and how she would react to me getting home so late.

Ms. Silvenda held a hadn over her chest. "Your reaction scared me. I thought I had did something wrong."

"So, your saying I could have died just now?!" I panicked.

"Well... swallowed by the Ocean of Forget, maybe," she vaguely replied, not helping my confidence in magic the slightest bit.

"But that isn't important," Aqua interjected, rushed to get me home. "Hurry back, you have the key right?"

"Right," I took out the orange portal key, turning it in the air, and stepping through into the ally way.

Kai was at the house when I got home, and would have to stay until he had someone to stay with. If he slept in the school dorms, mom wouldn't know where he was. No one at school really questioned where he was during the night. Everyone schedules conflict sometimes.

"Where did you go? I was so worried!" he popped off the couch. "I couldn't find and had to use Ms. Silvenda's portal key.

"Don't you remember?" They found out I was human and-" I cut myself off. This was the effects of the spell, wasn't it? The boy looked at me, confused.

"I didn't hear about that," he replied to my sudden silence. "I would think everyone would have known.

"You know what, it's not important! It didn't really happen," I shook it off. He was dense enough not to question it. "Where's my mom?"

"She went to bed early because she came home early from work," he informed. "I don't think she is awake."

"Alright, then," I placed my bag on the couch as he watched TV. "I'll just make some sandwiches."

It was almost 3am when I woke up. Breathing fresh air into my lungs, I looked around the moonlit room. In the dream I had just had, I was drowning. It was the spell all over again. Looking over at my nightstand next to me, I spotted a cool blue glow. The Nickeler stone was flashing just like Aqua said. What did it mean?

Holding it in my hand struck me as a bad idea the moment I touched it. I couldn't breath!! How would I possibly wear it to school the next day? It felt unsafe to touch and even worse to hold. But there was no choise but to adress it in the morning.

I tried to sleep, but the flash of blue wouldn't let me drift away. Was it trying to torcher me?

Flash.Flash. Flash.

That was the last straw! If magic didn't let me sleep in peace, how was I supposed to use it at all!?

In a fit of sleep-deprived rage, I shoved it in my pocket, holding my breath as I slipped downstairs. I unlocked the silver sprayed door and headed out for the unknown. I had had enough of it all: the magic, the necklace, the secrets. I hadn't seen my old friends in what felt like years.

Was this really the high school adventure I prayed for? Everyone said it would be better back in middle school, but everyone seemed to exclude me. Everyone left me out. I wasn't a part of that world anymore. Would I ever be?

Thoughts rushed through my head as I ran down the street. I didn't know where I was going. That's when I came across a lowed area near the old train station just outside of my neighborhood. It was pitch black inside the large hole under the hill. It was a sewer entrance. Even though I couldn't see two feet inside, I nearly saw the edge of the water. It smelled of sewage, as all sewers should, and held the glowing blue gem up to my face.

If I just let it drift away, everything would be over. No more lying and living in fear of being an outcast in both worlds. It was my chance to finally set myself free. It sounded like heaven, compelling me to come over and stand on the edge.

The edge of my feuture was suddenly in front of me as I climbed down the stained steps of old concreat and hopped over the train track, down into the...

It didn't feel like a sewer, but a thresh-hold, deciding my entire life. It all came down to the feeling of floating away, the feeling of drowning.

I couldn't hold my breath anymore and placed the rock, the small ,small rock on the edge of my fate. Gasping for air, I crouched down to meet it's level. My finger pushed it closer and closer, centimeter by centimeter, to bring forth the rest of my life. Even someone as self-centered as I knew my life would never be the same. It would be as it never happened.

But that's just what I was; self-centered. The flashing stopped.

An image of Kai flashed through my mind. He counted on my all the time. There was no way I would just abandon him. Kayhari and Lance too. We were all friends by the oddity of circumstance, but it could never be an accident.

Ms. Silvenda flooded my memories, her ocean-colored hair wavy like ripples in a pond near the forest. She had done so much, but I never gave her a real thank you. I was busy trying to navigate myself.

Back in my bed, I pondered how I could change. I wanted to be the best version of myself. That's when it occurred to me. "I could start with giving a top-tier performance."