I would like to thank PrincessKari for editing my stories and to thank the readers for reading them. Please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts and feelings on the story. I promise that I read them all.
Note from the Editor: I do apologize for any mistakes that were made in prior chapters. I am only fluent in American English, so there are some differences in spelling that I may have changed or overlooked. I am using an addon that assists me with editing, but I have only just managed to figure out how to switch it to the proper localization of English. It also limits what type of errors it picks up based on whether you have the free version or the paid version.
******
Jacob groaned deeply as he reached up to his aching forehead. Opening his eyes was painful at first, but his vision cleared slowly, revealing the room he was in. It was girlish in the extreme with pink walls and cream furniture. He was laying on top of the bed with its pink sheets still fully clothed. He wondered where he was and cast his mind back to the last thing he remembered.
Willow's face twisting with anger. Her ring aglow with power as red crackling lightning danced across her fists. His desperate dive to the side and the feeling of heat as the couch exploded. Then looking back and seeing her hand, the energy already leaping from her outstretched fingers towards him. A flash of crimson light. Then, power... floating... A terrified Willow at his feet... The ruins of the living room scattered around them... His hands, shining as bright as can be... The feeling of immense power in his chest and him saying, "What am I?" as darkness consumed him, causing him to faint.
Jacob returned to the room from his memories. He had been attacked by Stephany's mom in an attempt to destroy him but failed. Jacob was extremely confused and held his head in his hands when a thought occurred to him. If he was just attacked, where was he now? Jacob sprung to his feet and looked around for the door. He saw it and immediately made his way towards it. When he opened the door and peeked outside, he saw a long corridor with a familiar carpet. He was still in Stephany's place. This was most likely Stephany's or Tina's bedroom. Neither was entirely comforting with what Willow had just tried, and Jacob felt an immediate need to be anywhere else. Jacob slowly crept towards the top of the staircase, looking down to see if anyone was near the staircase. That's when he heard the faint voices downstairs and stopped dead in his tracks as he heard Stephany's voice, deciding to listen in.
*****
Stephany was furious at her mom. She kept biting her tongue to keep herself from swearing at her mother as she watched her mother magically repair the damage done to the living room. Tina, on the other hand, watched in awe as her mother was doing "Harry Potter" in the living room.
"How many times can I say I'm sorry, Stephany?!" exclaimed Willow as she reformed the couch from the splinters and rags she had reduced it to.
"I don't know mom," replied Stephany. "Maybe when my boyfriend wakes up from whatever spell you cast on him!"
"Don't you use that tone of voice with me, young lady!"
"You attacked my boyfriend, mom!" Stephany retorted.
"I know," said Willow as she slumped in defeat. "What I did... was wrong, honey. Please forgive me."
Stephany looked at her mother and felt her rage melt away. She knew why her mother had done what she did and had to agree that she would have done the same if she was in her mother's shoes. She walked up to her mom and hugged her. Upon seeing the hug, Tina ran up to join in.
Willow held her daughters and knew things would be different now. They stayed there until a polite cough echoed from the living room entrance. All 3 girls turned to see Jacob standing sheepishly.
"Uhhhmmm... Hi. Can someone tell me what happened?"
*****
Two hours later, everyone was sitting in the living room. Tina was on the floor, trying and failing to use magic to float one of her toys; Stephany was on the couch beside Jacob, gently hugging his arm as if to stop him vanishing in thin air; And Willow was in her chair, sipping from a coffee mug while Jacob drank a Coke. It had taken a while for each to tell their story, starting with Willow. She spoke at length on how her mother had started her training at 10, pitting her against other children in the coven in bouts of skill and sometimes battle. By the time she had reached the age of 16, she outmatched most adults in duels, thanks to her skills in enchanting. When she reached 18, however, she gave up the life of magic and went to college to study law. Soon, that life was behind her as she became immersed in her studies and fell in love with Stephany and Tina's father. Sadly, he passed away when Tina was young due to Cancer, leaving her as an only mother to what was once a brooding, geek son and her hyperactive daughter.
Jacob waited for her to finish before beginning his tale. How the shadow of his brother and sister always seemed to loom over him. How at school, he was bullied relentlessly for his inability to fight back. After his brother's trial, his mother had divorced his father for supporting his son's actions. He then slowly recounted the day at school. Why he had been in the bathrooms in the first place and how he could see magic as a colourful aura in the air. How in a moment of curiosity he had drawn the magic to him, and for the first time in his life, felt he could do anything. When Sven had busted down the door, he could see Sven as a ghostly outline with Steven in the centre, like tissue paper over a bright light. He told her how he started to mould Steven like clay, removing all the excess features and revealed what was deep inside Steven. He looked into Stephany's eyes and talked about how aroused he felt just looking at her new form. Then he spoke about the spells he cast. The first being a small spell to stop Stephany from referring to herself as Steven or Sven so no one would think she was crazy. Jacob was deeply embarrassed and ashamed until Willow nodded and motioned for him to continue. The next spell he wanted to cast just on Stephany making anyone near her think of her as always being Stephany but that he had to hurry the spell. His power was waning fast and before he could finish darkness clouded the edges of his vision and the world spun around him.
When he had finished with what he remembered at school, Stephany began. Telling them both about how miserable her life had been. How Maddilyn had bumped into him and swapped his usual chocolate bar for one laced in laxatives. How embarrassed he had been when every bathroom he approached had two bullying jocks before them and how he tried to resist until the inevitable happened. He had come home that day in tears and was so distraught he considered ending it. That was until he remembered the grimoire he had seen in the attic last year. He climbed upstairs into the tight attic space and managed to find it and brought it back down. He then spent hours upon hours translating the cover until he found the right spells to open the book. How he then found only one page would open for him and allow him to cast an illusion of his choosing. Willow patiently listened while Jacob held Stephany's hand. Tina made gagging motions at the hand-holding and returned to trying to levitate her toys.