This is the first entry in my Touch of Magic Series. I originally wrote this story with the intent of it being a one-off story but I had a lot of fun with writing this so I decided to turn this into a series. I will be incorporating a wide array of categories in this series and I'm looking forward to having my imagination run wild for a change.
I also spent a good amount of time drawing influences from languages like Greek, Persian, Arabic, German, Irish Gaelic, Welsh & Latin just to name a few. It was a bit challenging trying to more-or-less build a lexicon on my own for the spell book but I had a lot of fun doing so!
That said, this first part does contain some elements of bullying but it is essential to plot. It goes without saying that I don't condone any type of bullying behaviors. If you do so, you are scum. Simple as that.
Also, all participants in this story are 18 years or older.
That said, I hope you enjoy it!
- Alex
******
They say that high school can be a place of either fond memories or dire straits. For Penelope Forrester, it definitely fell into the latter. At 18 years old, she was ready to finish off the remaining 8 months of her senior year in one piece so she could start taking classes at the local community college.
Penelope walked down the hallway of Wayne Newton High School to her second period class wearing a black Nirvana t-shirt, black cargo pants and a brown Carhartt stocking cap which hid all of her short brunette colored hair.
To say that she wasn't popular would be a massive understatement. She was the textbook example of a lone wolf, not even having friends with the wildly "uncool" nerd clique. It also didn't help her confidence that she was extremely underdeveloped thanks to a growth hormone deficiency that arose thanks to complications caused by Carcinoma that plagued her as a kid.
Standing at just 5 feet tall, she could easily be mistaken for a middle schooler instead of an 18 year old woman when compared to her peers. The lack of self-confidence, paired with the cruel nature of teenagers, made her an easy target for bullying.
In fact, when she was younger, she was bullied so relentlessly that, when she was 14, her parents had tried to unsuccessfully persuade the school to intervene on her behalf. After the school refused to do anything, Penelope, her parents & brother moved the family to Las Vegas from their original home in Salt Lake City. The teasing and bullying was not as bad as it was back in SLC, but it was still enough to make Penelope dread going to school everyday.
As she sat down at her desk for her history class, one of the girls who would regularly tease her sat with her friends near the front row. When Penelope's eyes scanned the room, she spotted one of the girls who would regularly tease her: Harper Sarkisian.
She was one of the captains of the dance team and had the personality of a diva and the body of one; With her long black hair, slender frame and D-cup breasts. If the slang term "bitch" was in the dictionary, Harper's face would be listed as an example.
"Hey Mosquito Bite, looking pretty gloomy today! Did the Gymbroee finally kick you out for shoplifting one too many times?" She and her friends laughed among themselves.
Penelope huffed as she folded her arms "Fucking bitch..."
Before she knew it, Harper stormed up to her desk "What the fuck did you just say to me, Mosquito Bite?" She said to Penelope with a hateful look in her eyes.
She knew that Harper was bigger than her and could easily kick her ass in a fight. So she quickly backed down. "Oh uh...n-nothing Harper." Penelope stammered.
With a quick motion, Harper snatched the brown hat from her head, exposing Penelope's short brown hair that only came down to her ears, and held it above her head.
"Hey!" Penelope jumped up.
"Oh you want your hat back? Then apologize to me for what you said" Harper laughed in a mocking tone.
Penelope tried to jump up and grab the hat, but Harper was much taller than she. Finally she caved in "I-I'm sorry for calling you a fucking bitch...." She nervously spoke.
Harper looked down at her "Sorry, I can't hear you all the way down there, Mosquito Bite. Can you please say that a bit louder?"
With tears in her eyes and her fists balled, Penelope said loudly "I'm sorry for calling you a fucking bitch!"
She dropped the hat to the floor and, as Penelope went to pick it up, she was shoved to the floor by Harper, who yelled at her. "Good, next time, you better know your place."
With that, she turned back to her desk as their literature teacher, Mr. Sandoval walked in.
Penelope stood back up, put her cap back on her head and placed her face in her hands. She wanted nothing more than to smack the piss out of Harper but alas, she didn't want to risk expulsion so she fumed in her seat for the remainder of the class. Thankfully, this was the only class she had with Harper but it was still 50 minutes too long for her liking.
That night after finishing her homework, she decided to call it a night. As Penelope lay in her bed, she wished in her mind that things would get easier. It was only a month and a half into the school year but she just wanted to get it over with. With that she slowly drifted off to sleep.
-
Penelope awoke to the sound of light feminine humming. Turning to her side, she saw the table light on her desk was alight and sitting on her chair was a woman. Rubbing her eyes, she spoke.
"Mom, what are you doing here?"
"Ah, but I'm not your mother dear." The unfamiliar voice answered.
Penelope's eyes shot wide open as her eyes adjusted. The woman wore a flowing white tunic and a long red peasant skirt with metal adornments on the bottom that came down to her sandaled feet. Numerous rings adorned both of her hands and a long necklace with an orange gemstone came to rest just below her breasts.
"What the FUCK!" Penelope screamed.
Thinking quickly, she reached under her bed and grabbed a baseball bat that she used to play Softball with when she was younger. Grasping the handle with both hands, she charged at the figure. If she was going to be abducted, or even worse, she wouldn't go down without a fight.
As Penelope brought down her bat, the woman quickly chanted a phrase.
"Plaje Larao"
In an instant, Penelope found that she could no longer move. Her body remained in a frozen state, with her arms raised above her head holding the bat and petite frame locked in a forward running position.
"W-what the fuck...?" Penelope weakly cried out.
The woman stood up and walked around her, the fixtures on her skirt making a "clinking" sound as she moved about.
"Now, that is no way to treat a guest!" She laughed
Penelope was panicking "Look, whatever the fuck you're going to do, just get it over with. My life already sucks enough as is, so you'd be doing me a favor at this point."
"Oh dearie, you don't need to worry about me doing anything bad to you. In fact, your life is about to get so much better and dare I say......interesting?" The woman now stood in front of Penelope, her unnaturally green eyes looking into her's.
"Just let me go! This is so....uncomfortable!" Penelope breathlessly said.
The hippie woman clicked her tongue "Alright, but you have to promise that you won't try and attack me. Do we have a deal?"
"Yes yes, we have a deal!" Penelope said frantically.
"Very well" The woman put her hands in a locked position with her two pointer fingers pointed upwards
"Plaje Dimittus."
Suddenly Penelope's body fell as she landed on the beige carpet. She struggled to get to her feet as the impact caused her to almost have the wind knocked out of her. She eyed the baseball bat for a brief second but decided against it. As she stood upright, she noticed that the woman stood about 8 inches taller than her.
"Okay, so if you're not here to hurt me, what the fuck are you doing in my room?" Penelope stared at her.
The woman laughed again, "I'm here to make everything all better. To make life more....bearable if you will."
"Oh and just how are you going to do that? Are you going to give me a magic spell book or something?" Penelope had her arms crossed.
The hippie reached over to her desk and grabbed a book. "My, you are quick to pick up on things. That is precisely what I'm going to do!"
"Uh-huh...be real with me, lady." She laughed.
The woman held out the book to Penelope "I kid you not, I'm here to deliver this to you!."
Penelope looked at the book. It was bound in a mahogany-colored cloth that was thick with old, but sturdy papyrus pages. As she took it into her hands, she felt a jolt of energy shoot through her small body that caused her to involuntarily jerk. "What the.....?"
"Haha, I see it has taken a liking to you, Penelope! You two are going to have so much fun together!" The woman laughed as she danced around and clapped her hands.
She looked at the woman with a look of confusion "Us two? What do you mean and how the fuck do you know my name?"
"It's simple, the book told me! You see, it might look like a book but it is imbued with a magic that is very much alive! It will help you out. But like any sentient being, there are certain things it won't do." The woman smiled at Penelope.
This all sounded too outlandish to be even remotely true. A book that was "alive" with magic?
"How will I know if I do something that the book isn't cool with me doing?" Asked Penelope as she embraced the book to her chest with both hands.
The woman placed her hands on her hips "It's quite simple. If the book doesn't want you to do something, it will let you know. That's why you will learn from the book and it will guide you on your path!"
Penelope continued to look at the book then at the woman. "My path? What kind of nonsense are you talking about? This all sounds too good to be true."
The woman shook her head "Ah but that's what they all say at first. They think what I tell them is absolute malarkey. I even had one young man tell me that it sounded like some cheesy 80's teen movie but I assure you it is very real!."
