Chapter 1 - A New Place to Live

I arrived in Rome, Italy on June 16, 2004. My mom was very excited about this move, but I wasn't. The only reason I didn't want to leave California was because my mom thought someone had started to suspect that there was a mystery behind the two of us. Yes, we had to be careful, but my mother often exaggerated and considered every act of greater interest in our lives as a threat to discovering our true identity. And we are not normal people, although at first glance we are no different from them. We are not normal, ordinary like the others.

We are witches, although my mother always preferred the term sorceress, because witches usually had bad associations, but for me it does not matter now or before. And just because some nosy neighbor started telling others about our strange behavior and habits, which she somehow managed to notice by sneaking up on our property, it was because of her that I had to leave my friends, good school and boyfriend. We lived in California for quite a long time, probably the longest of all our escapades, which made me get used to the surroundings and I thought naively that maybe we would stay there forever, or at least long enough so that I could finish school and start a life of my own.

For as long as I can remember, my mother, Rose McQuinn, was terrified that someone would discover our secret. It was probably an injury after seeing her grandmother's death as a little girl. As my mother was over 500 years old, it was at a time when the Inquisition was holy and the witch-hunt was in full swing. My mother's grandmother and my great-grandmother were burned at the stake for witchcraft, and my mother was 6 years old at the time. Now she was over 500, but still looked thirty-something. You need to know that sorceresses usually live up to 1,200 years and age very slowly. Theoretically, they could live longer, but I have never met a sorceress older than 1,200 years on my way. And only after the age of 1000, such a witch begins to look like an old woman, with wrinkles and gray hair, so my mom was somewhere halfway.

In any case, my explanation that nowadays hardly anyone believes in witchcraft, and certainly no one is burned at the stake, did not help. Mom preferred, just to be sure, to get out of California.

- It won't be that bad. You'll like Italy, it's a beautiful country, especially Rome.- she said, when we were driving from the airport in a rented car to the nearest hotel.

We were supposed to live there until my mother bought a house or apartment, which of course was supposed to be a matter of time. After all, in over 500 years of her life, my mother had built up a lot of money, so buying a house was very easy. Foreign languages weren't a problem either - all we needed was a spell and we both spoke fluent Italian.

- Christie, don't be like that to me. Stop acting like a little kid, you're 16 after all.- she said when saw my scowling face staring at the window.

I just rolled my eyes at these words and said nothing. Yes, Christina McQuinn, a 16-year-old witch was supposed to act like an adult.

- I'm fed up with these constant relocations.- I grumbled when we found ourselves in the hotel room.

It was nice and clean enough, but I was not happy at that moment.

- You know it's not my fault. We have to be extremely careful, remember who we are.- mum replied mercilessly and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

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When it was finally my turn to freshen up, I took a shower and then put on a white bathrobe with the hotel logo on the right side. I looked in the mirror to see a frustrated teenager of medium height, skinny, with medium breasts, pale complexion slightly freckled, green eyes that looked like cat's, curly, dark blond hair that, still wet with water, was now a bit floppy. My eyes were still red from crying, and the shadows under my eyes and a haggard face clearly showed how much sleeplessness I had been having lately. Seeing that, I wanted to break the mirror.

I hated myself for who I am. This "wonderful inheritance," as my mother called it, was destroying my life. If I were an ordinary teenager, and not a witch, I wouldn't have to move around constantly and live in fear that an unauthorized person would one day discover my secret.

In California, I felt happy. I lived there with my mother for 6 years, which is the longest of all our journeys. I had wonderful friends there, and even a boyfriend, Johnathan, who was two years older than me. We've been dating for a whole year and five months, and we've been a really good couple. When we parted, Johnathan had tears in his eyes, hearing that I wouldn't be coming back, and my mother wouldn't let me tell anyone where we were going. Every time I thought about this breakup, I wanted to scream. Tears automatically popped into my eyes and ran down my cheeks, falling onto a terry cloth robe with the hotel's logo on it. Out of nowhere, I remembered what my mother had said - that the sorceress' tears have a healing effect. I was never convinced of it, so I considered it only as the burden of suffering and sorrow that now filled my heart.

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When I finally left the bathroom and into the hotel room, my mother was gone. She left a note on one of the beds saying that she was going to look for a house or apartment for us, and a school for me.

After reading it, I crumpled the paper and threw it in the trash can. Then I walked over to my suitcase, pulled back the lock, and threw it open. I unpacked one set of plain white underwear, jeans, a purple tunic, and black ballerina shoes. I dressed slowly, dried my hair thoroughly, I combed it with a brush and pulled up in a bun, which was a difficult task with my curly curls.

Having done this task, I left the room, closing the door. Fortunately, the receptionist gave us two keys to our room, so I could easily leave, although my mother probably wouldn't be very happy about it, but at that moment I didn't care. I was going to do everything to spite my mother for as long as possible. I was fucking angry with this move, mostly because of Johnathan. If she thought my behavior before departure, in the plane and then in the car, was childish and unbearable, then another wave of disappointment was ahead of her. My mom deserved the punishment and I was going to punish her as severely as I could.

However, on the other hand, I was curious about Italy and what could happen to me here. Of course, the bitterness of parting with Johnathan and my friends obscured all my other feelings, but somewhere at the bottom of my heart there was a glow of curiosity, which I wanted to satisfy with this walk.