advertisements and other mail atop the dining room table to slide across the surface and swirl through the air.
Goosebumps stood out on my skin, and intuition told me to leave. In my never-ending quest to prevent others from catching me acting as anything other than in complete control, I found myself whispering, “If you huff and you puff, you might blow the house down.” Even if no one heard my ridiculous comment, speaking loosened my joints, and I felt a little more at ease…at least as much as anyone could hope for considering the circumstances. Only then did I realize that I’d muttered those words to spur myself into action. A volley of potential strategies ping-ponged through my mind, but none promised a way out of this strange situation.
Zephora, gasping with flushed cheeks and perspiration beading her forehead, lowered her arms, but although she breathed easier and appeared wiped out, the maelstrom of wind didn’t abate.
Had Zephora started this vortex, only to have Celestina continue it?
As if asking herself the question in my mind (or maybe she’d swiped it since I hadn’t guarded myself against her mind-reading abilities), Alexis swung her head towards her daughter. “You?” she asked, appalled. She marched up to her, clutched her forearm, and jerked her a foot forward. “Stop this, now!”
“Mom,” she squealed as Alexis shook her body in every direction. “Please stop, you’re hurting me!”
Hearing that pleading tone so full of fright and shame, and seeing her nose scrunched up with fear, I stalked toward my sister as anger suffused my veins and discovered that every bit of alarm had left my body. Despite the sweeping wind that had actually picked up its pace, so much that my hair fluttered about my head, I didn’t care who manipulated the elements inside the house. Only one thing mattered. Alexis was hurting my niece.
I had warned her against harming Celestina, and an unfamiliar rage throttled me toward her. I slammed an open-handed chop two inches above my sister’s wrist, forcing her hand away from Celestina’s arm.
The pressure with which Alexis had shaken my niece in combination with the blow I’d delivered sent Celestina crashing to the ground. Now that I’d ensured her safety, I couldn’t restrain the animosity inside me. It knew no bounds…and I welcomed it. I threw an open palm towards Alexis’s throat, but rather than hoping to damage her trachea, I latched onto her throat and squeezed, overpowered by a sense of justice.
In the back of my mind, I wondered if Zephora might attack me, but I’d also suspected she’d tapped out her magical powers. Any assault she might mount would be of the human kind, and therefore, I paid her no mind.
“Aunt Serena,” shouted Celestina. “Stop!”
How dare she yell at me for attempting to force Alexis to see her wicked ways? Didn’t Celestina want to avoid similar treatment in the future? Didn’t she want her mother to treat her with kindness and respect?
I clenched my fingers tightly around Alexis’s neck, glad to see the blood rushing to her face, enjoying how she squirmed under my grasp. My sister needed to know the wickedness of her ways, not just now, but forever, and I took pleasure in showing her that no one should be mistreated.
“Aunt Serena, I said…stop!”
Without removing my gaze from my sister’s face, yet delighted to see a flash of terror pass through her eyes, I said to Celestina, “She can’t keep hurting you. I won’t let her. Not now. Not ever.” I was proud when a smirk touched my lips.
“Aunt Serena, stop it. Stop It. STOP IT!”
A frigid wisp of wind slithered across my body, but the air seemed void of oxygen. I opened my mouth and tried to inhale, but no air entered my throat. Unable to breathe, I released my sister and placed both hands to my throat.
My sister fell aside and crumpled to the floor, wheezing. But she took in air, as evidenced by the audible way she labored for breath.
How was
Goosebumps stood out on my skin, and intuition told me to leave. In my never-ending quest to prevent others from catching me acting as anything other than in complete control, I found myself whispering, “If you huff and you puff, you might blow the house down.” Even if no one heard my ridiculous comment, speaking loosened my joints, and I felt a little more at ease…at least as much as anyone could hope for considering the circumstances. Only then did I realize that I’d muttered those words to spur myself into action. A volley of potential strategies ping-ponged through my mind, but none promised a way out of this strange situation.
Zephora, gasping with flushed cheeks and perspiration beading her forehead, lowered her arms, but although she breathed easier and appeared wiped out, the maelstrom of wind didn’t abate.
Had Zephora started this vortex, only to have Celestina continue it?
As if asking herself the question in my mind (or maybe she’d swiped it since I hadn’t guarded myself against her mind-reading abilities), Alexis swung her head towards her daughter. “You?” she asked, appalled. She marched up to her, clutched her forearm, and jerked her a foot forward. “Stop this, now!”
“Mom,” she squealed as Alexis shook her body in every direction. “Please stop, you’re hurting me!”
Hearing that pleading tone so full of fright and shame, and seeing her nose scrunched up with fear, I stalked toward my sister as anger suffused my veins and discovered that every bit of alarm had left my body. Despite the sweeping wind that had actually picked up its pace, so much that my hair fluttered about my head, I didn’t care who manipulated the elements inside the house. Only one thing mattered. Alexis was hurting my niece.
I had warned her against harming Celestina, and an unfamiliar rage throttled me toward her. I slammed an open-handed chop two inches above my sister’s wrist, forcing her hand away from Celestina’s arm.
The pressure with which Alexis had shaken my niece in combination with the blow I’d delivered sent Celestina crashing to the ground. Now that I’d ensured her safety, I couldn’t restrain the animosity inside me. It knew no bounds…and I welcomed it. I threw an open palm towards Alexis’s throat, but rather than hoping to damage her trachea, I latched onto her throat and squeezed, overpowered by a sense of justice.
In the back of my mind, I wondered if Zephora might attack me, but I’d also suspected she’d tapped out her magical powers. Any assault she might mount would be of the human kind, and therefore, I paid her no mind.
“Aunt Serena,” shouted Celestina. “Stop!”
How dare she yell at me for attempting to force Alexis to see her wicked ways? Didn’t Celestina want to avoid similar treatment in the future? Didn’t she want her mother to treat her with kindness and respect?
I clenched my fingers tightly around Alexis’s neck, glad to see the blood rushing to her face, enjoying how she squirmed under my grasp. My sister needed to know the wickedness of her ways, not just now, but forever, and I took pleasure in showing her that no one should be mistreated.
“Aunt Serena, I said…stop!”
Without removing my gaze from my sister’s face, yet delighted to see a flash of terror pass through her eyes, I said to Celestina, “She can’t keep hurting you. I won’t let her. Not now. Not ever.” I was proud when a smirk touched my lips.
“Aunt Serena, stop it. Stop It. STOP IT!”
A frigid wisp of wind slithered across my body, but the air seemed void of oxygen. I opened my mouth and tried to inhale, but no air entered my throat. Unable to breathe, I released my sister and placed both hands to my throat.
My sister fell aside and crumpled to the floor, wheezing. But she took in air, as evidenced by the audible way she labored for breath.
How was
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