2. The Boy With Magick

'He is sin. He is hellfire. He burns the purest things.' – Bloodsongs.

*

(Art)

Grabbing his backpack from his car, Art walked inside his house and was instantly greeted by his glowing mom. Her smile was thousand watts, and so was the happy flush in her face.

'Uh-oh,' Art thought, 'what's today? Please God.'

When his mom was like this, it was usually something that made her go extra crazy.

"You know, the Bakers has arrived this morning. They were old friend of ours." His mom said, her eyes wide and happy.

"Really?" Art narrowed his eyes as he scanned his mom's secret smile. She looked like she knew something he didn't.

"Yes." She said, looking very enthusiastic. So, they must be different than the people in the town they often mingled with. Most of them knew nothing about 'The Coven' or about the magick.

"Are they like-" He looked at his mom and she nodded.

"They don't have magick if that is what you are asking. They are like me. But Paula's grandmother, she was a powerful witch of our coven. Everyone expected Paula to inherit the magick, but she didn't. Everyone was disappointed, but Paula wasn't. She wasn't very interested in inheriting pure magick." His mom said with a sigh.

"Uh-uh, I understand why she was very much interested in that." Art said with a smirk in his face. His mom gave him a glare.

"Yeah, yeah, don't go about complaining again, Art. And Paula has a daughter, now. Maybe she has pure magick like you, but Paula says they haven't seen any magick, yet and the girl, she doesn't know who she is or where she has come from." His mom explained as she walked towards the kitchen and Art followed.

"Um. It is nice you have your friends here." He said, only half lying.

"Your dad took Matthew outside. Kristy and I were baking for Paula and Aurora. Do you mind bringing it over to them, Art? I am so tired, and Kristy is buzzing from sugar high. I need to get her to bed now." Her mom widened her green eyes, which was exactly like his, and pouted. It was a look no one could resist.

It was one of his mother's tricks, to make him do things he didn't usually would want to do. And no one could make Art do things he didn't want to, mostly. Sometimes, he did give into his mom's ridiculous power of convincing, though.

He threw his backpack on the couch and looked at his mother with a bright smile that might as well blind her. The smile was so fake, and she knew it. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he shrugged.

"No, mom, I am fine right here. I have some works to do. Maybe I can fly the cake to her front door and you can call them to open their door and take it, huh?" He smirked, knowing his mom would instantly say no to that. His mom's pout became a frown and then

she gave him a look all moms thought would make their sons pee in their pants. He chuckled. She was a teddy bear and no way in heck she could manage to look stern. His mom's look was the most pathetic of all that he had ever seen.

"Art Hennessy, don't be a jerk and get this plate to Mrs. Baker. You and little Aurora were friends once, you know, you should meet her. She is a beautiful, beautiful girl. Maybe you can find out whether she has magick or not. You said you are bored to be the only one with magick in this boring town. Also, her eyes, they were azure, like an endless sky, they are beautiful eyes." His mother's eyes shone again, and her smile bloomed. Anger forgotten, she looked at him with a pleading look in her eyes. Art sighed.

He was lonely, of course, but he was fine with the only one who had pure magick. He used his power for stupid things, and these days, it was more like a muscle memory at this point, but... he liked being normal. He liked not being the guy who could make things fly or whose anger could sometimes make things float or shatter or explode. Yes, insane things that might make his friends and girlfriend run in the opposite direction if they knew about it.

Sometimes, he even wished he had born like his mother, with soft magick. His mother was born from the long line of witches, but she had no powerful magick in her like he had.

She was an Earth witch, who used Earth's power to heal and communicate with animals. She also could make herbal remedies and healing potions with various herbs, flowers, plants, and oils, that could help people with different ailments and heal them completely. She had her own spell book of blends, and it was powerful in its own way, but it was not like Art's magick.

Art, on the other hand had pure magick that was tuned to his emotions, and his thoughts. The one that flickered on when he was not absolutely in control. So, he had to be in control all the damn time. If he lost control, the benches in his class might fly, the water in the bottles might float. Crazy things like that. No one knew about his magick, except Zach, his best friend.

The coven of witches in Coven Groves was extinct, when the last real witch with pure magick, this Paula's grandmother, died and after that, there were mostly only wiccan people with soft magick, whose ancestors were real witches or wizards. Miranda Belize, the owner of the sweet tooth, was also from the wiccan line and she had soft magick, too. She was also an Earth witch, who made remedies with water and herbs. The librarian in their town, Mama Bora, was also someone with soft magick. Until Art. Art was the first one in decade with powerful pure magick.

When Art turned thirteen, he was fighting with his dad about something really ridiculous and then the mug his father had in his hands had shattered. His dad had looked at him with shock and bewilderment, and his mom had squealed and hugged him and said... "You are a wizard." Now, that was exactly what every thirteen-year-old would want to hear. How cool was that!

He was a wizard. He would get a wand. It was all so amazing at first. To have that kind of power at your fingertips and in your wand. Yes. Art enjoyed it and he wanted to explore it, but his mom had made him sit and she had explained to him about who she was and their ancestry, boring things he didn't really want to know. At first, he was very excited to try his magick by breaking things.

It was fun, as it would be only to a thirteen year old boy. But then it got dangerous when he couldn't control his magick when his emotions were high.

Whenever he got angry at something, someone, things started to break, shatter.

One time, he accidentally threw a chair at his best friend. Zach had screamed like a girl, until Art calmed him down and explained to him about everything. Zach had calmed down a bit, but for a year, he acted so careful around Art, and he would always think twice before talking anything that might anger Art. Art absolutely hated it. Now he had learnt how to control it, most of the times.

"Do you like her, mom? Do you want me to date her?" Art asked with a roll of his eyes. His mom was so obvious. He could read her like a damn open book.

Janessa looked shocked for a second and then she laughed, the sound ringing inside the house like a pleasant bell.

"No, I just thought... you know, if she has magick, you might get together and you can-" His mom started, and Art cut her off with a wave of his hands.

"I don't want to know whether she has magick or not, mom. I don't really care. Most of the time, I wish I had no magick." He said and his mom looked mortified.

"How can you even say that, Arthur Hennessy? This is your blood rite. This is a blessing from our ancestors. You are chosen and you can't- you can't dismiss it like that. You know how many of us has wanted this and never got it. You got it. You must cherish it. You must treasure your blessings."

"Chosen for what? To break things? To make things fly?" He huffed. "No one in this town even know I have magick except our inexistent coven of six witches. My magick is as useful as learning to ride a ship where there is no water."

"You don't understand it, Art, but one day you will. Let's stop arguing about that. Now... back to Aurora."

"Oh mom, I love how loyal you are to your ideas. Stop matchmaking, mom. I already have a girlfriend." He said and his mom's smile wilted, literally. It was as if he had stabbed her with a sharp dagger and was screwing it round and round. "And I have some homework to finish, mom. This is how ordinary my life is. Bye mom, I love you, but I am not acting as your maître d'. Or falling for your tricks. Not tonight. Good night." He gave her a kiss, and walked away, or more like ran away.

Who wanted a new girl with beautiful eyes? Not him. Not really.

He already had Julienne. Julie may not be the love of his life, but he was in no hurry to find love at this point of his life. He was young, Julie was beautiful. And they were good friends.

That was all Art needed, for now. He didn't need a soulmate or anything. He was too young for one. He was perfectly fine with a girlfriend he liked.

The deep stuff should come later. Way, way later.

He opened his curtain and stared at the light pouring from the windows opposite to his.

He blinked, stared, and blinked again. The windows opposite to him was always dark, but it wasn't anymore, and he hated the new intruders in there. He hated that the darkness was now lit with light.

That window, which had always been stayed closed for over a decade and some, opened and a shadowy figure was now leaning against it.

He couldn't see her face clearly, but she looked so lost in the night, so alone. The pale bend of her neck curved as she looked up at the moon, as if she was wishing to fly away.

She looked like a statue, carved in marble, but he could feel her breathing in his bones. He could almost feel her soft breath in his skin. So pale, she reminded him of the stories of the Moon Goddess. She looked like a glowing light in the shadow of the moon.

He had a sudden yearning in his bones, which came as a flood, swamping him.

Yearning to find how those eyes looked like... in the light. How she looked like.

It was strange. The yearning. It was so sudden, so powerful. It was like a strange feeling inside his body. He hadn't even met her or knew how she looked... and he was already thinking about her in a way he shouldn't.

'Must be all my mom's yapping...' He thought with a scowl. She was the one who kept talking about Aurora and how magnificent her eyes were.

"What the hell is wrong with me?"

He slammed the window shut, and for a good measure, drew the blinds down.

He would rather not feel these feelings. They were damn confusing.

___