Chapter Five

THE wind blew, and a huge pentagram appeared in front of the paper charm. That pentagram then turned into a screen-like circle. Inside it, one could see a woman sleeping in a messy room. She was snoring and only wearing a loose T-shirt.

“Casa,” Rie called. But the other didn’t budge. So, she had to try again in a much louder voice. “Casa!”

This time, her aunt’s body jerked, a common movement when someone suddenly woke up. Casa sat up too quickly, causing her to fall from the bed.

“Fuck,” Casa groaned. She looked around, and the moment she saw Rie, she quickly frowned. “Henrietta?” She stood up and sat on the bed. Seeing her completely woke the other. “Where are you?”

With her short brown hair and hazel eyes, Casa looked like she was only in her mid-20s. But that’s far from truth. The other was more than a hundred years old. Another perk of being a witch.

“Don’t worry, I’m outside the academy.”

Casa nodded. But her expression was still grim. “This should be very important for you to go out of the academy on your own. So, what is it? Did something happen at the academy?”

“First, sorry for disturbing your sleep,” Rie started. Based on the letter the other last sent, Casa was now somewhere in Asia. With the time difference between the two, it’s probably around midnight where she was.

“It’s fine. I may not be very reliable at time. But I’m still your aunt. If you have a problem that you can’t solve on your own, I’ll always be here to lend a hand. So, what happened?”

Rie looked at her aunt. Yes, Casa could really be unreliable, but when it involved her and Eri’s safety, she would go above and beyond to make sure they wouldn’t be in danger.

Rie took a deep breath and told Casa the problem. “I can’t sleep. It’s been days now. The tea made from flax seeds doesn’t work anymore. I need something stronger. I—” She clenched her fists. “I don’t want to relieve that night over and over again. I might go crazy if this continues.”

Casa was silent for a few seconds, as if in deep thought. “It’s likely because you’re turning 18 next month. You know what that means, right?”

Rie bit her bottom lip and nodded.

“Soon, even that bracelet won’t have any effect,” Casa added.

Rie automatically clasped the bracelet she was wearing. This was also one thing she feared. Casa stood up and picked a bag from the pile of messy things on the floor. Then she took out a satchel from it. Casa opened the satchel and took out a small vial.

“Put a drop of this on your tea before you sleep.” Casa mumbled some spell and in just a few seconds, the vial appeared on Rie’s palm. “It’s only a temporary solution, Rie. Don’t you think it’s time for you to face your fears?”

“I can’t. I’m still too weak, Casa,” Rie said, gazing down at the vial with a bitter smile on her lips.

Casa looked at her with understanding. “You were never weak, Rie. Just when did having fears equate to being weak? You’re strong. Believe more in yourself. If you only know the extent of your power, the extent of your magic.”

Rie only grasped the vial she was holding tighter. Because of the last thing Casa said, she was again reminded that she wasn’t a human. That she, too, was a witch.

“Magic that I couldn’t control,” she said in a sarcastic tone.

“Don’t worry, I will go back before you and Eri’s 18th birthday. It’s already time to leave that academy.”

Hearing that surprised Rie. But she could ask what the other meant. Casa seemed to have remembered something and quickly said;

“Tell Eri that I miss her, and of course, I miss you too, Rie. Ciao!”

Casa flicked her fingers, and the screen vanished. The paper charm also turned into dust.

Rie stared unbelievingly in front of her before putting the vial in the pocket of her pants, feeling a bit annoyed. “That Casa, always doing whatever she wanted.”

She remembered what the other said, about it being the right time to leave the academy. Did that mean Casa would finally take them? But how about the House of Hecate? Had the other finally thought of a way so they wouldn’t take her and Eri? She still had a lot of questions. But there’s really only one thing that Rie was worried about right now.

But that’s not all. Once a witch or a wizard became 18, their magic would also reach its full potential. And that’s what scared Rie more.

Because just like what she said to Casa earlier, she couldn’t control her magic. It’s the reason she was wearing this bracelet, to stop the uncontrollable flow of magic in her body. And just like what Casa said, it would soon not be enough.

It’s one of things that remained a mystery to her. Because when she was younger, she could control her magic perfectly. But after her father died, she also lost the ability to control it.

The only answer she could think of was because she was so traumatized by what had happened. Most people would lose their mind if the same thing happened to them.

Rie took a deep breath. She needed to go back to Miss Nováková. The other might wonder why she still hadn’t returned. But before that, she needed to look for a gauze to bandage her wrist. She still needed to sell her lie, after all.

Rie was about to open the door when she heard a sudden thud. As if there was something heavy that tumbled from the sky. She quickly turned and almost gasped when she saw a man standing in the middle of the rooftop.

The man was tall, almost six feet, if Rie was not mistaken. His muscles were very prominent in the simple white shirt that he’s wearing. His black hair was messy, as if a strong wind had blown on it. A few of its strands were covering the upper half of his face. But she could still see a straight nose and a set of sharp jaws with a night worth of stubbles.

Rie might not be familiar with males because she grew up in a place filled with females. But she would say with confidence that this guy was probably someone that others would consider ‘handsome’.