Sixteen year old Dahlia Auruse seemed to always be showered by a never-ending rain of new. New house, new school, new teachers, new friends, new neighborhood, and now, new powers. She was the only psychic of Spellway, her old school, and was abandoned by her friends and left as an outcast.The whole thing had become so bad that she was depressed to a point where she wouldn’t leave her room.
“ A change of environment, that’s what she needs.” Dahlia had overheard her dad discussing with her mom. So the family packed their belongings, and moved to a different city. She was now walking to her new school, Scather High.
Dahlia sighed and pushed a strand of black hair behind her ear. In a world of immortals, she stood out. She was almost to the school, when a single raindrop fell on her cheek. She lift her hand and softly brushed it away, then looked to the cloudy sky and smiled. The rain had always made her happy.While others thought of gloomy days, having to stay inside, and getting wet and muddy, she had seen the beauty in it. She thought of each raindrop as a crystal, joining together with other crystals and spinning through the air without a destination nor a care in the world. Each was free to do as it desired. Dahlia wished she could be like that. Instead she was kept in her house like a prisoner, sentenced to life. With her over- protective parents who were always trying to fix her. Her parents were psychics also, but wanted a normal life, so they didn’t use their powers. They didn’t want Dahlia to use her powers either, but she did anyways. She could have seen what her new school would be like, but was afraid to.
Dahlia walked up the steps. She adjusted the strap of her backpack and reached for the door handle, but when she touched it ever so slightly, she got a flash of a female witch, with light swirling around her. She had a deep evil grimace and a gleam of hatred in her electric- blue eyes. She threw her hands above her head and lightning sparked from her fingertips. She threw her hands forward and threw the lightning with an ear- piercing scream....
“ Are you okay?” someone asked, snapping Dahlia out of her strange vision. She glanced up to see a girl with short, dark brown hair and violet eyes.
“ You’re a psychic?” Dahlia asked in awe, seeing that they had the same eye color. Different species had different unusual eye colors. Psychics had violet, witches had electric- blue, vampires had gold, werewolves had orange, and shape- shifters had bright green .
“ Yes, and so are you I see.” she said. She looked at Dahlia curiously. She was short, slim, and pixie- like. She wore mostly white and black.
“ I’m Dahlia Auruse.” Dahlia told her.
“ Narisa Malane,” she replied. “ I’m an aura psychic. That means that I can see colors surrounding you, showing me how you feel.” Her voice was like a bell, and it rang out happily with each word she spoke.
“ I’m a future psychic. I have very precise visions about the future.” Dahlia said. Narisa nodded and then opened the door to the school. She held it open for Dahlia, and then skipped inside.
“ The different species group together here. The shape-shifters, vampires, werewolves, and witches make up our class. Then there’s us.” She informed, her eyes darting to Dahlia’s face. “ There’s you, Daren, and myself. Daren is a life psychic. He can touch you, and know your entire life story.Pretty cool huh?” She paused to open the door to a classroom. They stepped in to see a group of different eye colored teenagers. Out of the whole class, one group stood out, the witches. One was spinning a pencil in mid- air. Another looked at the pencil and it immediately burst into splinters, but when they saw Dahlia, they forgot what they were doing and sneered at her instead.
"Overhere.” Narisa whispered, grabbing Dahlia’s hand and leading her to a seat in the back. She sat down and put her books up, then as she looked back up, everyone was back to their magic. Some shape-shifters shrunk down to bugs and crawled over to the witches to scare them. The witches jumped up and screamed, just to see a laughing person grow in its place. Everyone laughed and enjoyed their supernatural gifts until abell sounded, and a mist of glitter twirled into the room. It stopped in one spot, and then twirled faster and faster until a smiling figure was standing there.
"Good morning class. I see we have a new student. What is your name, immorta?” She asked, using the word for a female immortal.
"Dahlia Auruse.” Dahlia answered quietly. Mrs. Karian started to reply, but a girl walked into the room and gave her an
excuse slip.
"She sure looks familiar.” Dahlia thought to herself. She stared at her, trying to figure it out, but when she saw her face, it hit her like a ton of bricks. She gasped and her blood turned to ice water.She went rigid with fear. It was the witch girl from her vision. She pressed her lips together to keep from screaming.She remembered her long, bleach blond hair, and her electric blue eyes.Most of all she remembered that gleam in her eyes. The girl turned and locked eyes with Dahlia.She glared and then raised an eyebrow at the fear on Dahlia’s face. Then with a toss of her hair, she strutted to her desk.
"That's Ashtra Carlin."Narisa whispered to Dahlia. "She's a storm witch,and the meanest girl in class.” She snickered.
Dahlia looked at Ashtra and tried to get a clear reading on her, but only got a flash of pure hatefulness.
"I see a restraining order in your future” Dahlia thought aloud quietly, brushing away her long bangs that always fell
over her left eye. Soon they started class, and learned how to control their powers better. They did demonstrations, and
learned about their histories. When they got a break, Ashtra marched over to the window and sneered into the rain. She flicked her hand and the sun shone.
"Why did you do that?The rain was beautiful!” Dahlia asked, a little mad and disappointed.
"Who likes the rain? All it does is make my hair frizz up. You would have to be stupid to think that it’s beautiful. There’s
nothing you can do about the weather anyways. You’re not as powerful as a witch.” She scoffed, rolling her eyes.
Right then Dahlia knew that Ashtra was going to make her life miserable.
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That night, Dahlia’s vision replayed over and over in her head. That devious look on Ashtra’s face seemed to bore into
her.
“She’s going to kill me,” Dahlia thought. I don’t know why,but she hates me. There’s something truly evil about her.
I don’t even know her well, but I have a feeling I will.” Dahlia finally trembled herself to a sleep filled with nightmares about eerie lights and piercing screams. Before Dahlia had the vision, she would have thought that Ashtra was just a regular snobby girl of high school, but now she was adangerous predator. Every time Dahlia thought of her, she was
struck by another vision. Visions of Ashtra sending lightning bolts from the sky and striking just inches from Dahlia, as she tried to scramble away. Thunder rolling and rain falling, making her feel terrified instead of the usual peaceful sense she got from it. The look of hatred and triumph as she tried to end Dahlia. The victory when Dahlia cried out in pain. The spite when she didn’t.Dahlia curled up on the wet earth in defeat. Then she heard a distant beeping. It became more distinct as Ashtra and her surroundings faded away. It came closer and closer until it was right at Dahlia’s ear.She shot up in her bed, panting and scared. Her hand shot out and turned off her alarm clock. She shook violently all over. Her heart felt as if it were going to bust through her chest. She calmed down as much as mentally possible, and got dressed. Her mind wandered as she walked to school. She didn’t realize when she had gotten there. She just stood staring at it without comprehending. Her feet moved, but Dahlia didn’t feel it. She remembered something that Narisa had told her before they left school.
"Storm witches know what you’re thinking. So be very careful.” Dahlia had not been careful. She had been thinking about her vision throughout school, and now Ashtra knew about it. Since Dahlia had the vision, it was going to happen. She didn’t know why it was going to happen, or what it was that made her so angry. Then she remembered something else that Narisa had said. “ Witches and psychics have been sworn enemies since the beginning of immortality....” Sworn enemies, and Dahlia had just come for a change of environment.
“Why can’t I just have a normal life? Well, as normal as a sixteen year old psychic could have.” She thought. She dragged
up the steps and grabbed the door handle. She winced when she “saw”another quick flash of swirling light, but braced against it and stepped inside.
When she got in the classroom, she knew something was wrong. Besides the witches having almost every writing utensil,
book and paper spinning in the air in a mobile type motion, the others were very quiet and looked kind of ashamed. Almost frightened. They all were droopy, tired, and weak, but the witches were normal. Ashtra looked the best, though. She was more powerful, confident, and healthy than before.She smiled boastfully at the mobile of floating objects and a thick fog settled around it instantly. It looked magical and beautiful, butit was scary at the same time. She was becoming more powerful.She was winning.
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The next few days, everyone got worse and worse, and Ashtra got even more powerful. The only ones who were not affected were Dahlia, Narisa, and Daren. Daren had been away for a few days, and Dahlia had just met him the day before.
"She’s draining everyone’s powers.” Daren had told them.
"Somehow, she’s taking them and making herself more powerful.We’re not affected because our powers are as strong as witches.”
Things got worse, and the visions continued. They were coming more often now, but longer, harder, and scarier. Over the days, Ashtra got meaner and stronger, and showed such hatred toDahlia, that she knew that the battle was coming soon. They were sworn enemies now, and Ashtra wanted her gone.
**************************************
Dahlia was dreaming of Ashtra again when the time came. Thevision was at its worst. She dreamed that she was walking through a field,or being pulled. Now she could see it, there was a mist surrounding her, pulling her closer and closer to a distant, but bright, light. She didn’t fight it, but it was too strong anyways.Suddenly lightening crashed very near, jolting her fully awake.She wasn’t dreaming. She kicked and screamed.
“ No!” She yelled. “ Why, Ashtra. Why? What have I ever done to you?”
“ You’re too powerful! You can’t be as powerful as me!” Ashtra’s voice echoed. The light blinded her now. The mist was
choking her, getting tighter and crushing her lungs. She couldn’t get a breath. Couldn’t cry for help. Tighter, tighter. She was getting light headed.
“ Don’t give up!” said a voice. “ Keep fighting!” She saw herself when she was eight, screaming at her four year old sister as she fought the current of the river. Dahlia wanted to save her, but she didn’t know how to swim. Nadia was drowning, but she couldn’t save her.
"Nadia! Keep fighting!” She screamed and cried as she saw her sister cough up water and then go limp.
“ No!” All at once Dahlia felt a surge of power and broke free of the smothering fog.When she caught her breath after a lot of coughing and wheezing, she saw that she was standing in front of Ashtra. She had a wicked smile on her face, and an evil glow in her even brighter electric blue eyes.
"Dahlia, Dahlia. Escaped my magic, have you? You’re stronger than I thought. Not strong enough to defeat me, though.”
Her eyes glowed more with each villainous word she spoke. “ I was smart enough to use my powers to drain the mere immortals,but you stayed the same!” Dahlia gasped when she saw Ashtra’s fingers flicker with electricity. She slapped Dahlia with a shock, making her fall backwards. Ashtra laughed darkly and light started to swirl around her. She had a deep, evil grimace, and she threw her hands forward and threw the lightning with an ear- piercing scream. It hit Dahlia’s leg as she tried to scramble away. She screamed in pain. Victory shown on Ashtra’s face. She sent lightening bolts crashing from above and thunder rolled nearby.Rain fell in streams and bounced off Ashtra’s lightning like a force-field. Dahlia curled up on the wet earth and sobbed in defeat. Ashtra was too strong to fight. As the rain fell on her andAshtra laughed maliciously, she remembered Nadia again. The water sucking her in and falling in her mouth as the rain fell in
Dahlia’s. She watched her sister fight against the dark water while she sat by helplessly. Then Nadia letting go and dying.
"Don’t give up!” Dahlia was motionless, unable to do anything. “ Keep fighting!” Ashtra was killing her.
“ DON’T GIVE UP!” The surge came again, and Dahlia clapped her hands together, sending a bolt of power from her
fingertips. Ashtra cried out in surprise as it hit her in the chest and sent her flying backwards.Then all the species’ power shot out, and then faded away.
Dahlia gawked at what she didn’t know she could do. The rain stopped, and the thunder silenced. Ashtra lay powerless on the ground. Dahlia stood up, wet and soggy, and limped away.
