Hunter and the Hart

Witches and Wolves

As the day wore on, the nagging feeling only grew. Chris and Caleb had no idea what I was talking about when I asked if anything had gone wrong for them, although that's no surprise. The power of the witches in our family was only passed through the women. But I was odd, even by that standard. There had never been another witch in our family, or any that I had heard of, who had magic even remotely similar to mine. Nobody knew the full extent of my magic. Mama had caught me talking to a bird once, and had thought it was very similar to a fairytale, the young princess who befriends the animals. But even in those stories, the princess is rarely, if ever, able to actually understand what the animals say in return. And nobody knew that I could use my magic to shapeshift. I made very sure of that. The only witches I'd heard of who could do so were all evil, but even worse - for me anyway - is that they only ever had one animal that they could shift into. A raven, a crow, a cat, whatever it was that they could do, there was only one. And I felt that this change was quite possibly the biggest reason that I could sense this dread. 

By lunch time, I was a knot of anxiety. The woods which had always been a source of splendor now only seemed to house suspicion. I sat at the edge of the soccer field, rocking back and forth with my knees to my chest, trying to draw some amount of strength or comfort from the sweet tang of the pine trees, the rich full scent of the earth below me, even from the electric tingle that danced on the wind, hinting at a major storm. But nothing helped. The more I focused on the forest, the more intense this feeling became, and the more I felt the need to run. I couldn't tell if this need was to run toward something, or away from it, but the need to run became overwhelming, and I spent the entire lunch period running laps around the field. 

The bell jarred me from my thoughts, and I pulled my hair down and ran my fingers through it, braiding and unbraiding my waist length hair repeatedly through my remaining classes. By the time school let out for the day my hair was a frazzled mess. My brother's both watched me in concern as we waiting for Mama to pick us up. 

"Hey, birthday girl." Caleb's voice was soft behind me, and his tone was gentle, like when he used to sing me lullabies when we were little. "You okay?" He rubbed his hand gently over my upper arm. "What has you so on edge, ladybug?" 

Several students walking past gawked at us as my brothers both wrapped their arms around me.

"We can't help if you don't tell us." Chris's voice is strained, and it hurts me to know how worried they are for me.

"It's just...." my voice was small, and that seemed to worry them as much as anything else, "I keep getting this weird feeling something is going to happen, and it's most likely going to be bad." 

"Why would you think that something's going to happen, ladybug?" Caleb rested his chin on my shoulder, pulling my back against his chest as Chris hugs me from the front. A soft sigh puffs from my lips, tussling a lock of Chris's hair. 

"I can't explain it." I shook my head as much as I could while being sandwiched between my brothers, which wasn't a whole lot. "I think it has something to do with magic....I can't find any other explanation for it." 

"Hmmm." I can feel Caleb's forehead crease slightly, and I am once again grateful that my family loves me so much. 

"Hey, why are you squishing our ladybug?" Mom's voice rings from the line of cars, hopeful and tinged just so slightly with worry.

"Because she's having a hard day." Chris pulls away, his hand sliding down my arm to intertwine his fingers with mine. I can see Cara stiffen as she spots us from across the school's parking lot.

"Well, it won't last much longer." Mama's smile is stiff, and I can tell that something is wrong. She notices as I start to frown slightly, and she shakes her head slightly, lipping the words "We'll talk later."