Lights - Part 1 and 2

Part One

My heart beats loudly, I move as quietly as I can through the not-so-empty house. The wooden floorboards creak loudly as I fasten my pace, just as I open the door, screaming wakes me.
"What the hell, Erika?" I say annoyed and tired.
"Your mom wants you downstairs," she stares at me in silence for a moment before finishing, "Also, you're naked!" She runs laughing down the stairs.
I stand up grabbing clothes off the oversized blue dresser in my room. I throw on some gray sweat pants, and a black t-shirt and run downstairs.

"Yeah?" I say walking to the table to get some milk.
"You're late, Erika came over and was fixing your broom for you," she looks over to the window where Erika is cutting one of the trees in the backyard. "At least someone does some work around here."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." I say not letting her start another sentence before moving out the backdoor."
I go towards the broom cabinet and get out my mom's broom. I put it in front of me, floating up towards the clouds. I get about as high as the roof before re-adjusting myself looking over my backyard seeing the alter hidden by a circle of trees and bushes.
"It wouldn't kill you to help!" Erika yells from the ground looking up at me.
"It wouldn't kill you to have a little fun!"
"I'll show you fun!" She smiles at me and a dim pink glow engulfs her and she vanishes reappearing behind me on the broom.

"Are you stupid?" I say raising my voice trying to re-balance the broom.
"You said I couldn't have fun? This is my fun." She says with a soft giggle.
I redirect the broom towards town, but before I can even start flying we're headed towards the ground like I've lost my magic completely! Right before we hit the ground we stop, hovering inches above green grass.
"What were you doing?" My mother says with her hand, held at the broom controlling it.
"Flying?" I say, "It was Erika's idea," I finish with a smug look.
"Erika's idea? Don't you try to pin this on her, she's fixing YOUR broom while you're fooling around!"
I look up and see Erika smiling at me from the work bench.

"That little b-" My mother cuts me off.
"That little what? Oh, no. No flying for you, not even at night, what the hell were you thinking, flying during the day? What do you want, Salem witch trials again?" She says with an angry tone.
I look at the ground getting off her broom, it flies to her hand and she re-enters the house. I walk over to Erika, and take the knife from her.
"It's okay, I was done anyway," she smiles "I thought it was fun, the flying?" She walks out my side gate.
I walk to put my re-finished broom in the cabinet, I close and lock it before going back inside. Little Jessica had come over, my Aunt Matilda's daughter, I walk into the sitting room and sit on the old gray couch next to Jessica.

"Tell me about it." She says looking at me with her beautiful blue eyes, and black hair.
"Tell you about what?"
"The magic."
"Alright, but don't tell your mommy," I say smiling. "Our family, hundreds of years ago, made a bond the elements, granting us magic for our trust in them," I reach for my family's Book of Shadows, "This book is what they gave us, but we don't get our powers until we're 10." I open the first page of the book, "This is the first, her name was Agatha, she had the power to see the future."

"What's your power?" She's looking at me with puzzled eyes.
"I can make time move as fast as I want, or as slow as I want."
"What's my power?" She looks at her hands, "I have to have a power."
"You're only 9, Jess, you won't get it until next week."
"It's not fair!" She runs out of the room.
Aunt Agatha storms into the room, "What did you tell her, Steven?"
"I told her about the magic and that she won't receive her gift until next week when she turns 10." I point at the calendar, "Jess wanted to know why she didn't have her gift."
Aunt Agatha's face loses its angry expression and she quickly fades out of view.
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Part Two
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The doorbell is ringing incessantly, I walk downstairs just in time to see the whole coven, and family walking in the front door, laughing talking and little kids running all over the place. I turn and go back up to my room, just as I'm closing my door when Jordan, Emily and, Erika all flash into existence in Erika's dim pink glow.
"Hey," I say jumping on my bed before they've got a chance to sit, "What's up?"
Emily sits down on the couch with Jordan as Erika gets up on my bed next to me.
"We just got back from Paris," Emily says smiling holding up her Paris-themed bracelet, "And I got this." She shakes it back up her arm.

"She's lying, we got it at the dollar store right before we flashed in." Jordan does her insanely funny laugh.
"I don't think either of them are sane." I say looking at Erika.
"You're telling me, I've been with them all day."
"Don't they get on your nerves?" I say shrugging towards them.
"We're not deaf, dumbass," Emily remarks.
"I just thought-" I'm cut off by Uncle Ray yelling from downstairs, "Alter time!" He nearly screams.

We all walk out of my room and down the creaking staircase out the backdoor, the wind is blowing through the cool autumn air, the smell of vanilla and lavender fills my scent. We all make our circle around the large alter, my father steps forward, then Aunt Agatha, followed by my mother and Uncle Mickey. The wind seizes on my uncle's cue. We call the four elements, Emily and Jordan both raise their hands. Flowers, bushes, trees all flourish while a force field to keep our magic in raises. Uncle Ray lights the candles with his power of fire. We all follow in the ritual with my father leading.

"We call on our ancestors, blessing this place, the elements, and our family." I feel a warm feeling tingle over my body, "Our magic is a gift from the elements, we give back our words of blessing, blessed be."
Nearly the second we finish, almost in sync, everything goes back to how it was before.
Everyone turns to the house except Erika, Jordan, Emily, and I who decide going for a night flight isn't such a bad idea. We all grab a broom from my broom cabinet, we all take flight into the sky, making our way towards the town. The lights are shining bright and we can see everything, movie theaters, shopping malls, and cars flying through the town. I look up to meet Jordan's deep green eyes, like a valley flourishing with beautiful flowers.

"So, where are we going?" Emily breaks my concentration.
"Let's go to the mall, I've got some money to spare." Jordan says showing her wad of cash in her pocket, "Let's go!" Without waiting for a reply she starts flying towards the back of the mall.
Erika was second, followed by me and Emily. We landed behind the mall in the empty parking lot.
"What about our brooms?" Erika says looking around, "We can't take them in."
"I got it," Emily says taking all of our brooms and putting a force field around them making them nearly invisible, "I think we can leave them and be fine, plus nobody can touch them."

We leave the mall with too many items to fly with. We walk around back grab our brooms and let Erika flash us back to my house.
"I'm spending the night." Erika says lying down on my bed.
"Same here," Emily and Jordan both say simultaneously.
I pull out the couch into a bed, since there's only room for two, I'm forced to share my bed with Emily who insisted on sleeping in my bed.

I wake up the next morning and Jordan's not in my room. I walk downstairs, I see her in the backyard, I go to the backyard and sit in the lawn chair behind her to see what she's up to.
Jordan's arms go in front of her, a slight breeze catches me, I smell freshly picked roses, orchids, and violets. Jordan's arms begin moving in circular motions while the breeze picks up she makes the trees shift, flowers grow from nothing, making a beautiful piece of art like no other. The ground stops shifting and she turns to face me, her eyes slightly glowing a friendly shade of brighter green.

"Why are you spying on me?" She asks crossing her arms with a narrowed look.
I put my hands in front of me, time slowing down before reversing to when I had just arrived. Instead of sitting at watching this time, I cough loudly and obnoxiously.
"What time is it?" She looks down at her empty wrist.
"About 11 o'clock," I turn my head to look at the clock in the kitchen which is exactly on 11 o'clock, "Yep, I was right."

Jordan stands up and walks past me back up the old creaking staircase. I move swiftly behind her into my room where she's already woken Emily and Erika up.
"Breakfast," Emily says looking at me, "I'm thinking waffle house?"
We all get ready pretty fast, and instead of flashing to the restaurant, we all pile in Jordan's white Toyota Corolla.