I stared out of the window, bored out of my mind, tapping on the polished glass.
"Hey, driver?!" I called out to the driver, sitting in the front of the fancy car, feeling irritated that I couldn't bring my maid along, at least she'd try to keep me company. But no, my mother had told me that she had to "rest" now that I were away.
"Rest?" What nonsense. I only had two hours sleep every day, that maid of mine had four hours sleep, and she was still tired. Then again, maybe it was because I had magic to help me sleep and the maid didn't have magic, but, whatever, she still should've come.
"Ahem, yes, Miss Nyx?" I'm broken out of my thoughts by the driver
"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT?! DID I NOT?!"
"U-U-Uh, y-yes Miss Mary!" The driver stutters.
"I thought so," I mutter under my breath, "How long is it gonna be till we get there?"
"J-just a minute or so more, Miss."
I go back to tapping on the window glass, I secretly loved coming here.
Every summer, I would come to the Falls to see my brother and sister, they lived here. Sometimes, most times, they would come and stay with me, but this time, on a rare occasion, I got to stay with them... this time for a lot... longer though.
My mother wasn't my real mother, she adopted us all when we were little. My real mother and father... no-one knows what happened to them, I didn't really care anyway, they had abandoned me, why should I care? I shouldn't and that's all I ever wanted to say on the matter. My new mother was kind to me, and cared for us all, like I was her own. My brother and sister only lived separately because they had a show to run in the Falls, and this was the year that I'd finally get to join them and stay with them permanently. I'd still visit my mother, of course, but this was my new home. It was where I belonged. Where I wanted to be.
Just as my thoughts came to an end, the car rolled up in a familiar part of the forest, aah, the Falls..., I sighed as I thought to myself. The car's engine became little more than a hum, and I unbuckled my seat belt, waiting to be let out. The driver quickly got out of his seat, opened the car doors and ran round to my side. He opened my door and helped me get out, "The Falls, Miss Mary." He said, as he closed the door behind me. "Thanks 'n all." I mutter. The driver gives a polite smile and goes round to get my bags from the boot. He struggles to lift them out the back, but he manages to do it anyway, and he asks me if I'll need help getting to the twins' place, but I shake my head and say no, he was relieved of his duties. He nods and gives a courteous bow, before getting into the car again, and heading off.
This was it, my new life. I look up, in the distance, not too far was where I'd be living from now on: the twins' mansion. Well, it wasn't really the twins' mansion, it was Great Uncle Ford's, but they liked to pretend it was anyway, and I liked that about them. With a sigh, I picked up my bags and nearly dropped them because of the sheer weight of it all. I try again, but struggle to even lift the bags off the ground, so, in defeat, I just drag them along the floor, I'm sure Will could repair them anyway, or just buy me a new one instead...
Ah, Will... the family 'pet'. Well, I wasn't sure 'pet' was the right word, but that was what they all seemed to call him, though they would all deny it to his face. I, on the other hand actually quite liked Will. He was cute, friendly and someone to talk to whenever I got fed up of my crazy family. I was quite looking forward to see him again. Ugh, if only he was here to help me with these bags, that would help out a lot.
But, he wasn't, so I had to just lump it and get on with it, Gleeful style. That included swearing blind at the bags for being so heavy, even though it was me who didn't want to be helped to carry them in the first place; stamping the floor in a rage whenever the bags got stuck and finally, resorting to just screaming for someone to help me.
That help arrived in the form of Gideon, the local brat. I sigh as I see him wonder through the forest, oh, him again. He's got his nose planted in his stupid journal, he looks up when he hears my screaming. He looks up and walks over to me, "Hey, are you the new girl? I saw you here last time. I just saw you- and- and I thought I'd see what was up, because you were screaming and-"
"Shut up! Just take my bags... please." I try not to upset him too much, this was the kid who was going to carry my bags after all and I also decide not to be too cruel because well... I may need to use him in the future, so it's best to stay on... suitable, let's say, terms with him, for now at least, and so I pick up two of the bags, and leave him to pick up the other two.
He looks at me a little strangely, but shrugs and goes to pick up my bags. He doesn't even complain about the weight, he just smiles shyly and walks with me to the mansion. Five minutes later, I arrive at the mansion. I walk up the steps and kindly tell Gideon "thanks, but... piss off now." He just shrugs again, mumbles a quiet, "You're welcome, Miss." And walks off again, with his face knee-deep in his journal. I look at the huge door in front of me, "Is it worth knocking? No, they'll never hear you. You should ring the bell instead. That way, they'd know it was you."
I click my fingers, and a blue light appears around them. Just inside the door, a small gold bell rings, I hear a clatter as someone runs down the stairs to answer it. I hear a thud, as someone, probably Will, gets pushed out of the way. I can hear the many latches unlock, and the door opens ajar. A tired face pops out, it's Mason. He sees me and opens the door for me to come in. I go to pick up my bags, but Mason looks at me again, and frowns. "No. Leave it, go in. WILLIAM!" he screams. Will scrambles to get up and runs past me, picking up my bags and following me inside. Once inside, I look around for a second. Nope, still the same old place.
1st person POV
My eyes scanned the room, until they brought me back to Mason. "Good evening, dear Mary..." he said, looking stone-faced. I tried to keep up the same expression, but eventually, I broke out into a smile, "Oh, shut up!" I said, laughing.
"Alright, alright," he said, starting to laugh, "Hi Nyx, how are ya?" he said, hugging me.
"I'm fine, just a little tired. Thanks anyway." We ended our hug by staring at each other blankly, it was our signature hug, though, I will admit, minus the giggles and laughter during the actual hug. He broke the silence afterwards,
"So, welcome to the Falls kid, for real this time. I guess you're finally old enough to join our little show, huh?" He ruffled my hair, I groaned in annoyance, not the hair, Mason, not the hair!
"Yeah, I guess so. I begged you to join a bajillion years ago, but you wouldn't let me."
"I know, I know. But at that time, you hadn't even mastered your first spell."
"And? I would've been fine, Mason."
"Hmm. I beg to differ. It's not all it's cracked up to be, it's not all fakery , and deceptions, we have to use real magic too, otherwise people wouldn't come to us, you know that. Plus, it was too dangerous for you at the time. I mean, sure you're older now, but I'm still not gonna let ya just wander around wherever the hell you want, it's a dangerous place, the Falls, and you could get lost easily if you're not careful, so that's why I'm going to give you this."
"Give me what?"
"This." He held out a small chip-card-shaped piece of plastic in front of me.
"And what are you gonna do with that exactly?"
He suddenly grabbed my hand and cut it with his penknife, smirking, making me wince slightly. He shoved the chip card thingy inside the cut and waved his hand over the cut, closing it up. "That's what I'm going to do with it."
"What... is it?" I asked him.
"Simple," he said, "it's a tracking device, so I can always see where you are."
"Ugh," I groaned, "you're just as bad as mum."
"Hey! I'm not that bad, and I never said that you had to wear it. Find a way to rig the device, so that I think you're always where you're meant to be, and then I'll be none the wiser, won't I?"
I nodded. He knocked the tip of his nose, "Mason's fact of the day: it helps a lot when our Great Uncles are around, so they never get suspicious of where we are, apart from a few times, when I got caught and just blamed it on Will instead. But that's a secret." He smiled, and looked me over.
"You really should show me how you're progressing with your magic," he said, "then Stanley can get started on an act, or rather, acts, for you. For now, you really do seem tired, and cold. Why don't you go upstairs and see your sister? I'm sure she'll be happy to see you. If you need me, I'll be in kitchen making dinner, or just holler, like we usually do, okay?"
"K." I said, and watched him walk off into the kitchen. He was quite casual, seeing as it was the evening, and all the shows for the term were done. He just wore a white short sleeve t-shirt, some black trousers, and his signature gem collar. That was another thing I was excited for: my show costume. I had a couple weeks before the show started up again, to learn the ropes and get settled, before people started coming to the shows again. My costume would depend upon my act, hopefully it was could be something cool, but I wasn't sure. I'd also get my gem, now that I could handle its power a little better. It would strengthen my powers and give me new ones too! But I would have to wait for a little while, not yet, I told myself. Just a little longer...
I was broken out of my thoughts by a muffled bang coming from upstairs. I paused for a second, before grabbing onto the long white banister, and running my hand along the smooth rail, as I ran up the endless steps. Aah, I do believe that that would be the source of the bang, I thought to myself. And I would be right. Straight ahead of me was a room with smoke pouring out the gap at the bottom of the door. I smiled, oh I am so glad to be back home, and I stood in front of the door. I took a deep breath and counted to three. "1, 2, FUCK IT!" I barged into the room and a plume of thick smoke flew at me, I turned back around coughing and spluttering.
I quickly regained my breath and held it in as I walked in once again, to the smoky room. I fanned the air with my hands and left the door wide open, hoping to dissipate some of the heavy fog. Some of the smoke cleared up quite quickly, and I saw what the cause of all of it was. A figure, shrouded in smoke, sat at a large wooden table, coughing, and trying to escape from behind it. I walked towards the figure and held out my hand over the table. A soft, warm hand accepted my help, and I felt the person pull themselves up and step towards me. As the smoke left the room, I began to work out who it was as each feature was slowly revealed: bare feet, short black skirt, light blue t-shirt, brown hair, a familiar face, and that beautiful blue gem. "Mabel?" I coughed out. I got a reply in the form of non-stop coughing.
"W-" -coughing- "Will-" -even more coughing- "WILLIAM!" screamed the voice. Will ran up the stairs, and dashed into the room.
"What the-" is all he could manage before he was cut off by another coughing fit, this time it was me. He clapped his hands together and suddenly all the smoke was gone. Mabel and me stood coughing in the middle of the room for a couple of seconds afterwards. Will rushed up to us.
"A-Are you both okay?" He asked, concerned.
"Y-yeah, we're fine. Now- (coughing fit)- now piss off please." Mabel said, her voice coming out as barely a whisper.
"U-uh, if you're sure."
I nodded, but I felt like I had just coughed up all my internal organs.
"A-as you wish then." He bowed and walked out. I looked up at Mabel,
"You okay?"
"Fine, I think so anyway. I might be missing a lung or two though." She looked up at me, "Oh, sister, how you've grown. You're not so little anymore."
I rolled my eyes. She sighed,
"Always the irritated one, weren't you?
I tried to keep a straight face, but failed. She always used to do that to me. I may have grown up, but I was still her little sister. And I always would be. No matter how hard I tried to be the bigger one.
We hugged each other and ended with our death stares, as always. I broke the silence. "So, what the fuck were you doing in here?"
"Me? Oh, I was just trying out a new potion of sorts, but it went a bit wrong."
"As usual." I rolled my eyes again, but she grabbed my chin and squeezed hard.
"Oi, I was doing it for our benefit actually."
I slapped her hand away from my face, rubbing my chin. "Oh, really?"
"Yeah, I was trying to make a potion that would let us... have some fun with our dear old brother."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I found it in that old spellbook of yours."
"Oh god, Mabel not the control one? Jesus, I thought we were over that. You still tryna get that to work?"
"Well, I was trying to get it done as a surprise for you, seeing as you're gonna live here with us forever now."
"You always were one to experiment with the wrong stuff." I sighed, still, it was good to see her. I looked around the room. This was my room. And Mabel's. And Mason's. We all shared it. It was huge, and one of the grandest rooms in the mansion, and yet still, it was our cosy little room. For tonight though, I would sleep in another room, while I gave Will time to unpack all my stuff into this room, while everyone was asleep. I looked down at my watch, my stomach growled.
"Is Mason doing dinner down there?" Mabel asked.
I nodded.
"Well, if I were you, I'd bring an emergency sick bucket, and an iron stomach. It's alright, hopefully he doesn't burn anything this time. And if he does, we can just ask Will to make us something. At least he's useful for something." Mabel said to me.
For the next half an hour, we busied ourselves with tidying up most of the mess in the room, and chatting about what we'd do tomorrow. We were gonna see how my magic had grown since I was away, so that Stanley could pick out what I was gonna be in the show. I was so excited. Whilst we were finishing up, we heard Mason scream "Dinner!" from downstairs. Mabel looked at her watch, "Half five! Wow, that's late. I wonder what took him so long..." I hesitated, the room was still a bit of a mess, so I continued picking up random bits off of the floor. Mabel tugged at my shoulder, "Don't worry about that, Will'll do it. Come on, let's go!"
She ran out of the room, laughing, and I followed after her.