Hocus Pocus: Rising of a Little Witch

Chapter 5: Spells

"What art thou doing, Winifred?" Mary asked.

Winifred was flying around the cottage, collecting many different things for a potion. I knew that Sarah had angered her. I sat silent and watched as Winifred collected an arm-load of things, including her book. She set them all down in a line, and removed the caps. She muttered something to the book, and it flew open.
She threw the ingredients into the boiling cauldron. Whatever it was, it spit out a cloud of purple smoke. Mary and Sarah looked startled. I don't think they had ever seen Winifred act like that.

"Now," she hissed, picking up her book. She promptly walked to my side.
She opened the book, and practically threw it in my lap. I stared down at it.

"Thou thinks she is a witch, eh?" she asked me. She ran a fingernail down the back of my neck. It sent a strange feeling down my spine.
"We shall see. If you would recite the spell before you, please."

I began trembling. Why was Winifred asking me to read this spell? Without thinking about what I was doing, I gently picked up the book and read the spell silently. It didn't have a title or anything, it was a small spell, composed of four words.

Winifred poked me with a nail.
"Now!" she hissed.

I gulped, and began to read.

"Itchita Copita Malica Mystica."

Suddenly, before I could comprehend what I read, the cauldron made a poof sound, and spit up a huge cloud of smoke. The purple haze faded into a green color, and began to swirl around.

Winifred put her hands to her temples and screamed. Mary and Sarah screamed too. Winifred's book launched itself out of my hands, and landed on the floor. As I wriggled in my chair, I began to wonder what I had done wrong. Winifred ran to the cauldron and stared down into it.
"Purloin!" she hissed. She then ran over to Mary and Sarah. She pushed Mary away and grabbed onto Sarah's dress, pulling her close.
"Did the flying work?" she asked frantically.
Sarah trembled. I pulled my legs into the chair and hugged them.

"Answer me, you idiot!" Winifred shouted.

"No, Winnie," Sarah replied, her voice wavering.

Winifred released her grip, knocking Sarah over. She ran to the closet, put on her cloak and grabbed her broomstick. She flung her hand outward and the door blew open. She stopped before me, and glared into my eyes, her teeth bared. Finally, she bolted out the door and was gone.

I looked at Mary.
"What did I do." I asked. She was busy helping Sarah up.

"I don't know, dear," she said softly.
She began wiping dust off Sarah's shoulders and pushed her mouth to one side.
"Winnie can be very tempermental."

Sarah began arranging her hair the way she liked it.

What was I supposed to do? Should I run? Should I stand up to Winifred? Well, actually, standing up to Winifred would be stupid because she had so many ways that she could murder me.
  Something told me that she was going to kill me when she got back.
   I stood up from the chair, and gently picked Winifred's book up. I walked over to the stand, and set it down. It was true that it was a beautiful book, but in a creepy way. The eye remained closed- it only opens for Winifred, Sarah had told me.

"She cooes at it, as if it's a child," Mary said to me once when Winifred was out.

Sarah had been on the other side of the room, fiddling with her skirt, as she always did.
"She loves that book more than she loves us," Sarah had said.

"Sarah!" Mary hissed.

"Well, she does," argued Sarah in a childish tone. "I wish Mother had only kept us, and gotten rid of Winnie."

Mary growled like a dog. "Mother would be very angry to hear you say that! You know how much Winnie meant to her!"

I remembered this conversation. It sparked an interest in the Sanderson's past in me. Since Winifred wasn't there, I decided to ask Mary and Sarah about it.

"Mary? Sarah?" I asked.

"Yes?" Mary replied.

I wasn't really that close with Mary, but ever since she found out that she couldn't eat my life force, she got used to me real quick.

"Why did your mother prefer Winifred over you two?" I asked.

Sarah and Mary looked at one another wearily. Their faces made it look as if they were wondering why I was asking questions. Because of the connection I had established with Sarah, she spoke up.

"Well, ever since we were little, Mother always had put Winnie first," she explained.
"Right, Mary."

Mary nodded.
"Winnie knew magic before we did. She could strike lightning before we even knew we were witches," Mary explained. Sarah sat in the chair, and Mary stood behind it, leaning onto it.
"And of course, with Mother being Satan's mistress, Winnie became her one true beloved child. Truth be told, I had always known that if Winnie hadn't taught us magic, we'd be human, as you are."

I nodded in understanding. I knew what it was like being pushed away from your parents. It seemed that Mary and Sarah had grown up independent, as I had. I bet that they had doted on their independence, too, as I do.

Perhaps we aren't so different after all.