Gingerly, Dani descended the first few steps of the stairs with hand tightly gripping the railing. While the feminine heels of her sandals were only about an inch and a half high, they narrowed towards the bottom, causing a lot of wobbling from the teen’s delicate ankles. This presented a real possibility of falling for the inexperienced girl.
“Tsk, that won’t work, at all,” Dani’s mother said from behind her. “I suppose I can do you one more favor today.”
With a gesture, she cast another spell. Instantly, Dani felt her balance improve and her posture adjust itself. The next couple of steps came much easier, and after that, she practically floated the rest of the way down the stairs.
At the bottom, Kat waited, grinning from ear to ear. “Took you long enough. Cute dress, Daniella.” Beyond the closed door to the living room, they could hear the sounds of the party guests chatting away, unaware of the confrontation between the two birthday girls.
Dani winced at hearing her altered name. “Shut up. You did this to me!”
“Didn’t Mom explain it to you?” Kat laughed, rolling her eyes. “This is a gift! And an expensive one, I might add. As a new witch, I really don’t have a whole lot of power of my own. That’ll come with practice. But today, I was getting a boost from all the witches at the party as a witchday present. I could’ve used it to turn you into any number of nasty things, and you would’ve been stuck that way until I had enough power to reverse it, which could take years. Instead, I chose to spend my present making your life better.”
“Better!?” Dani nearly screamed before glancing at the door and lowering her voice to a hiss. “My life was going just fine until now, and you had no right to make it ‘better’ without my permission.”
Kat tilted her head as if the concept were foreign to her. “Of course I did. I’m a witch, and you’re not. At least, not yet. It’s not fair, but that’s how the universe laid things out for us. And if I wanted to, I could be cruel, but you’re my br-I mean, sister. And now, you can be much more than just human. Don’t waste this opportunity.”
“It’s disgusting,” Dani spat. “And from what I’ve seen of witches, I don’t want to be one! Treating people like this just because you can. You’re nothing but a monster!”
Kat crossed her arms, her amusement turning to anger in a flash. “You little creep! Fine, I’ll be a monster, then! You don’t deserve to be a witch! I’ll take my present back and make you a slug!”
“You know you can’t do that, Kathryn,” said their mother as she materialized next to the bickering siblings. “The boost was only for your first spell, and you can’t have two first spells. If you want to perform that level of magic on Dani again, you’ll have to work for it.”
“But Mom!” Kat whined. “I’m eighteen! Don’t I get more of a choice?”
Her mother shook her head. “You already made your choice, dear. And you’re not that old by witch standards. Now, you must live with the consequences for a while.”
Expressions of rage and frustration crossed Kat’s face before she threw her hands up with a shriek and stomped off to her room.
Dani couldn’t help but stick her tongue out at her sister’s retreating back, taking some glee at the juvenile gesture. After some thought, she asked, “If I’m still a girl when I turn eighteen, will I get a witchday party, too?”
“Of course,” her mother replied.
“Can I use my first spell on Kat?”
“You can, if you still want to.”
“Why wouldn’t I want to?”
Her mother simply shrugged. “Two years is a long time, long enough to change your mind.”
“Change my mind!?” Dani gave a humorless laugh. “I don’t think so. I’ll make her pay for this.” Straightening her back, she marched off to the party.
Behind her, her mother mumbled to herself, “We’ll see.”