Magic Story-- title pending

Prologue

“How did you do that?”

I... I didn’t know how I did that. Was I crazy? Was I possessed? My mind raced as I looked over the room, everything was in perfect condition but the window just in front of me, all the glass blown out and no glass to be found. Suddenly, the room felt too small, and I needed to run out, anywhere but here.

And so, I did, my legs moved faster than my mind as I sprinted out of my bedroom, down the stairs and out the house, the cool air hitting me like a brick wall. I stopped just before the steps and held onto the wooden railing of the wraparound porch, trying to feel something sturdy as my brain went haywire. Breathing fell into rhythm as I closed my eyes to center my panic—what just happened had to have a proper explanation. It couldn’tbe what I thought it was. If it was, I would be sent somewhere, to a mental institution, a church, a... I don’teven know.

“Kasia!” My brother yelled from inside the house, my panic rising again as my heart skipped a beat.

My eyes flashed open as I turned to face the door I had just run out of, wide open for anyone to run through. I needed to get away, he wouldn’t accept an excuse for what just happened, he would surely believe it was me. I couldn’t even think of an excuse, it was too obvious, it was, it was me.

“Kaska! Where are you!” Another yell, closer this time. I wanted to sprint, but my legs wouldn’t leave the porch as if it had been cemented through.

“C’mon,” I huffed, irritation flooding each letter, I had to leave.

It started to boil again, that feeling in the pit of my chest. The one that caused the window to break. Fuck. I tried to take deep breaths to calm down, but it was too late. The boiling rose as my fingers started to tingle; green hues sprouting from the tips of them like glitter. It was happening again, oh my God. I had to go, had to leave.

“Kasia, it’s okay.” my brother Leo said from behind me, his tone steady.

I couldn’t even turn to face him as tears streamed down my face, my hands now blurry in my vision, the green hues mixed with my tears. I tried to blink it out, rubbing my eyes on my sleeves, I needed to relax.

“It’s not okay Leo; I don’t want leave home.” I said, voice trembling at every word.

“You’re not going to leave home I promise.”

Facing him, he gave me a soft smile and brought his hand towards me, as if to take me into his arms. But I couldn’t do that, couldn’t bring myself to get near him. His normally pale face had some pink in the cheeks, as if trying to look as if he didn’t see something supernatural happen just a minute ago.

“How would I not be sent somewhere for doing that? I don’t even know how it happened.”

“I do,”

“Wh-what?” The tears suddenly stopped as I watched him. He walked over to me, sitting on the steps I was standing before and I followed suit, happy to see that the green hues finally left my hands, my heart calm enough for that magic to subside.

“Kasia, you remember Aunt Henryka?”

I nodded, my heart still trying its best to get to a normal rhythm. He took my hand, his softness and warmth, something I didn’t know I needed to calm down. The wind picked up and splayed our hair around, the cold even more comforting.

“You have magic, and we all know about it. She has magic too.”His voice was steady, as if speaking to a baby cat trying to coerce it to get out of hiding.

“What are you on about?” I huffed, frustration still lingering in my words, and my mind.

A short smile appeared on his face as he spoke, “You did a lot of magic when you were a child... up until your magic took over and, we had Aunt Henryka stop it from developing, and she wiped your memory of ever having magic.”

I took a deep breath, my lungs filling up with air it deeply craved and then letting it out little by little, allowing my racing thoughts to diminish into one singular HUH? I tried to search my memory for something that would go along with what he was saying, and after a minute of that, a memory peaked through, small but enough to convince me...

“Oh my God,” I stuttered out, my heart racing. “I remember,”

Chapter One

A month later

My aunt Henryka, a woman in her late fifties with the most vibrant head of hair, pink for the summer, had instructed me to use my mirror as a portal to my new school. A mirror, as a portal. Remembering that I had magic was one thing, but actively diving into the world of magic in mere days was definitely a mind spinner. She had informed me that the mirror I had in my bedroom, the one gifted from great grandma Bogumila, was actually a portal to anywhere—if I knew that before, I would have escaped many school mornings to go anywhere else, maybe Paris? The mirror was one of those that stood on its own and had gold ornate decorations on it of little baby angels and doves.

But I stood there, staring at myself. She told me that I needed to wear something comfortable as I would be walking a lot (normal behavior anyway as I lived in Bournemouth), so I had on my black joggers, a black hoodie, and my favourite sneakers, the white ones with glitter on the linings. Maybe thatwasn’t the best call as it would be my first time entering magic territory, but, comfy is comfy and I’m sure to get new clothes there. My dark brown hair was pulled into a French braid, courtesy of me, my mum could never make any plaits in my hair.

“Okay Kasia,” I mumbled to myself, “This isn’t the first time I played with magic, so, let’s go.”

Talking to myself was sometimes the only way to get through life, I was the sanest person I knew.I placed my hands in front of me, palms up towards the mirror and watched as those green hues flew up my arms, through my hands, hitting the surface of the mirror. It sent a shockwave of glitter through the glass, slowly changing the reflection into a view of a cottage almost, I think? It seemed familiar too as my skin crawled catching sight of an oven that’s seen better days and a window with a view of mountains, very tall mountains with snow covering the tops.

As my heart skipped a beat, I took the brave step through the mirror, surprised I could get through, surprised my magic actually worked. The smell of rosol filled my nose as I made it to the other side, a traditional chicken soup my mom would make whenever I felt down as it was my favourite soup, the comfort a girl dreamed of. The pit that was in my stomach diminished just at that scent, and I turned around, seeing if I could see the mirror I had just stepped through. There it was, the same kind of mirror as my own, but attached directly to the wall between one side of countertops and the other. My room was slowly fading, the deep purple walls and queen-sized bed filled with decorative pillows long gone and replaced with me, standing in this foreign, country-esk kitchen.

“Well, that worked.” I mumbled as I turned back around, taking my first steps into this new home, new to me, but definitely older. This house must’ve been standing for centuries as all the furniture looked to be from the 1800’s, all wood, and all vintage, very loved by whoever lived here. And, who lived here? Where was I exactly?

A rustle came from upstairs, my heart stammering as I took a slow step out of the cramped kitchen and into the hallway that had a door to my left, leading outside for sure, and a path to my right to a lit area, must be the family room or something. I started to walk down the path, the creak in the pale floorboards not keeping me sneaky (though, I’m sure whoever was here knew I was coming they had to). I kept on walking, looking at the window that lined the hallway, exposing the rolling hills just outside of this home, sheep prancing around further down and a village square just down the hill with many colourful buildings lining it. The time must’ve been sometime in the morning, the same time zone as my own home in the UK. But I can promise you this wasn’t the UK, it looked like my home country of Poland.

This had to be Poland.

My school was in Poland?

Stepping into the lit area, I found a living room filled with a very loved fabric couch covered with knit blankets and soft pillows and a love seat, same shade of teal but was stacked with baskets of laundry that was already neatly folded. The room was filled with gorgeous light from the sun that peeked through the curved window that stood just behind the main couch, hitting the ceiling and the floor. Hair stuck up on my arms as I saw the photos on the walls, pictures of people that were foreign to me, and pictures of people I knew all too well, even photos of... myself. They were all lined with these ornate golden frames, each more impressive than the last one. My aunt didn’t tell me to whom I was going to, not even my mom, they said this was all to be a “fun surprise". As I walked up to the wall on my right with two bookshelves lining each side of the TV unit, I wanted to take a closer look at the collection of pictures above the small TV, it resembled one from like 90’s, bulky and not big enough to stream the newest Marvel movies.

“Katarzyna? Is that you?” A voice came from behind me, one so familiar my heart almost stopped beating. There was absolutely no way it was her.Slowly turning, my stomach grew a pit as my eyes met the same ones I’ve dreamed of seeing again for years after I was told she passed away. Those same grey ones with the smallest bit of blue lining the pupil.

“Babcia?” I cried, running up to her as she stood at the end of the wooden stairs, arms wide open for me.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I gripped her, not too hard as I’m not sure how real this could be and if this was real, she had to be extremely fragile. I felt my breathing slow as the warmth of her hug brought me comfort; I’ve been missing her for around a decade. She pulled back a little so she could look at my face, her eyes scanning every inch of it.

“Oh kochanie, I have missed you so much.” She smiled her typical small smile that made her cheeks pink like fresh strawberries. “How are you feeling after the portal? Any nausea?”

Shaking my head, I smiled at her. She was all the same Bogumila, short as me a good 5’2”, white hair that lay down her back in the same plait as my own, and always wearing the cutest farm style dresses, the one she had on today was white with light pink flowers sprinkled all over the fabric. It was so strange to see her. How could she be here?

“Babcia, how are you... here?” I said through small cries, I needed my tears to settle.

As if she could read my mind, she rubbed her thumbs under my eyes to collect those tears. “I’ve always been here, but I couldn’t stay in Bournemouth anymore. I needed to come back home and help our community.”

“...and you couldn’t just tell us that? You had to pretend to be dead?” Suddenly anger filled my chest, it didn’t make sense that she had to disappear from my life, she was my best friend growing up so when she passed when I was ten, my world fell apart.

“Kasia... we kept magic away from you. This was to protect you until you were ready.” Her voice was soft, even, not catching any of my anger.

I pulled away from her grip, folding my arms over my chest, trying to take in exactly what was happening without dissociating fully because my anxiety was already getting on edge as everything was getting thrown at me all at once. She started to walk over to the kitchen, having me follow her in step.

“You are ready now, and you will learn so much of what you missed from your life. This whole world of magicis a part of you and honestly,I’ve been telling your parents that keeping this from you was a terrible idea,but they are your parents. I had to listen.” Her own irritation flooded the end of that sentence as she grabbed the red kettle from the stove, filling it up with water from the sink just below that big window I saw when I first stepped in.

“Wait, they wanted to keep the magic from me? And, like, how are you here, aren’t you over one hundred at this point?” My thoughts were still jumbled as my heart raced.

She placed the kettle on the stove just behind her, using a match to light the gas as a blue flame formed below the kettle. I stood at the end of the kitchen, looking over all the herbs that hung above the window, rows of sage, rosemary, and mint from the looks of it. The rest of the herbs hung in bunches around the mirror I stepped through, all dried and ready for use.

A soft chuckle came from my great grandma as she leaned against the counter, “Yes, I’mactually one-hundred and five this year. It’s a part of having magic Kasia, you live longer than an average mortal, or what we call here, Kazma.”

“And yet you pretended to be dead for ten whole years?” anger, pure anger spit from my mouth before I could process what I was saying, heat rising in my cheeks. “I don’t understand why you couldn’t say you just had to go home or something, your death traumatizedme.” I air quoted death.

“I know kochanie, and I am deeply sorry for that. I didn’t want to do that, but your parents thought it would be best until you were ready. There’s so much to tell you Kasia, and you will hear everything, just not all at once.” Her eyes met mine, sorrow filling them.

My heart slowed as I thought back on my childhood. Slowly those memories that were locked away have been opening this past month, but I still don’t have everything. I quickly learned a lot of my memories were even messed with, making me remember one thing when in reality, it had magic in it. So, I’m still waiting for everything to get back to normal and make sense again. But the stuff she’s telling me now; it is things I never knew.

“You have your own will; you should’ve just told me.” I said, softer this time.

With a deep breath, she opened one of the cabinets to pull out two mugs and placed them on the top next to the stove then grabbed two tea bags from a box that was just before her, slipping them into those cups as the kettle started to make the faintest hum, the water was almost done boiling. I walked up to her, feeling the urge to help her even though she truly seemed fine, like, old age was nothing to get her down.

“You know that’s not true sweetheart.” She finally responded, meeting my eyes. She took my hand in hers for a moment, rubbing small circles on the back of them like she did when I was a kid. “They took too long to tell you about our magic, how old are you now?”

Swallowing hard, I said, “I’m turning twenty-one in October.”

Nodding, she let my hands go and grabbed the kettle from behind me as it started to blare its scream, the screech cutting off fast as she turned off the stove and poured the water into the cups. I adjusted my backpack as it got heavier from having it on for a bit, I could just place it down I guess but where?

“That’s a little older than I would’ve liked for you to come here, but we will make do. No worries, you will catch up.” She said, placing the kettle back on the stove and facing me.

“Catch up?”

She nodded, “Kids start this school at fourteen years old because that’s when their magic is the strongest. Butit’salright, I know you have used your magic before, so you have some training in that brain of yours.”

I took a deep breath as I watched her finish making our tea, letting my brain catch up with all the information I learned. It felt like an info dump as my brain rattled through, but this was only the start... I was going to learn more.

***

“Wstawaj!” hearing my great grandma was still a shock as I tossed awake on the bed, she had me stay in for the time I was going to be here. Opening my eyes, the sun shone through the curtained windows, lining the wall in front of me with beautiful flower patterns. I sat up, my eyes adjusting to the room around me, pictures of flowers cascading the walls along with shelves lined with knick-knacks, perfumes, and small, wooden boxes. They were not just boxes; it looks like each was carved to have flowy patterns on them.

I hopped out of the bed, hitting the soft rug that lay on the old floorboards. Today was the day I was starting school, and I couldn’t say I wasn’t nervous; I definitely was. I was going to a school where people have been practicing magic for years if not decades, and I’ll be coming in as the girl where magic sprouts when she’s angry or when she has to walk through a portal.

After getting myself ready and throwing on the uniform, a black button-down shirt, black dress pants, and heeled leather shoes, I found my way to the kitchen to get some breakfast before I had to go. My grandma was already in, her head over the oven making me some eggs, from the looks of it, scrambled. Typical Babcia breakfast, scrambled eggs with green onion and an open face sandwich with ham and tomatoes, I’m sure that was what I was in for, and I wasn’t mad for even a second. I went back into the hallway and opened the door to my right, seeing a round dining table that was covered in a white doily and had a vase of yellow tulips sitting inside. There was a window at the end of the room, just as big as the one in the kitchen with a view of the fields around the home, trees and flowers blooming all over the yard.

My grandma had a cat by the way, his name was Franek and the last time I saw him was in my grandma's room, all snuggled up on her bed in a knit white blanket that contrasted with his soft brown fur. But I swear I could hear him purring in here, so I looked under the table and found him on the blue ornate rug, snuggled against the table legs.

“Oh, Kasiu, sit down sit down.” I spun to see my grandma with a plate and a mug of steaming tea. I took a seat just in front of the table, giving Franek space to sleep for however long he wanted to.

She set the plates down and as I remembered correctly, it was the eggs and the sandwich, which was so perfect. My heart felt full as I dug in, enjoying each and every bite as if it were my last.It’s been so long since I had babcia’sfood that I think this could cure depression in any human being. As I ate, she went back into the kitchen though I wished she just sat here with me, I missed ten years of her cooking, her laughter, the advice she would give unsolicited and her smile. But hearing her being active in the kitchen was almost enough to suffice as she hummed her way while cleaning the dishes in the sink.

After I ate, babcia sent me out the door and to the bus stop that would take me directly to the school. She said my books were already purchased and were all in this bag she gave me last night; it was just as black as my uniform and had a crest printed on the bottom right of it. It was small and had a bird with its wings open on it in silver.To be honest, this bag is so light, were their textbooks three pages long each?The warm breeze of summer air hit my face as I stood at the stop, waiting for a bus, or something. I wasn’t sure what was picking me up.

My grandma’s house stood alone on this street, the next house a few miles away each way, so all I saw were fields of grass and mountains in the distance. She lived in the town called Bialy Dunajec which had a great view of the Tatra mountains and so little people, it was mostly just nature. That fit right to grandma’s style.

As I stood there, I checked my apple watch. Seeing that I was a minute away from when whatever was picking me up would come, it was 07:59. I looked around, seeing nothing coming from either direction on this road, just black pavement and myself, maybe it was running later today which sucked, I wasn’t one to be late on my first day to anything, it happened more after I had already started if its work, or school, or hangouts with friends. I swallowed as I waited this one minute, wondering if maybe walking there would take me faster, but I didn’t even know where to go.

I heard a pop and suddenly, I was flying in midair, swirling through a what I think was a tunnel but must have been invisible as I could see the town I was just in, disappear within seconds as I zoomed towards the school, my heart raced as I tried to catch my breath, fear rising in my throat. Magic was something that I couldn’t get used to in a month, and I truly was learning something new every day because what kind of travel was this? Before I could even think of how this was possible, I ploppedat another bus stop. It took a second to get my footing right and to reduce the feeling of nausea in my stomach, but when I did, I could take a look around where I was.

There were old buildings around me and a cobblestone path under my feet, I was taken to Krakow, the beautiful city filled with art and love in Poland. I turned around to see an average building, brown brick with old, tattered windows, people walking in and out of it with manilla folders and even briefcases. Is this the right place? I rolled up my sleeves, the summer heat getting to me as my hair was down in locks down my back, I should’ve put it up in a bun. I started to go up the stone steps, feeling my nerves click into step with each movement of my foot on these stairs.

“H-hey!” A shout from behind me, goosebumps formed on my arms, maybe itwasn’t for me. So, I kept on walking, making my way closer to the black door that was going to change my life.

“Wait!” Another shout that maybe this time, was for me.

So, I looked back, stopping in my tracks to see a girl with blonde hair running up to me, she was wearing the same thing as me except that her bag had a few keychains on it and her hair was up in two high ponytails, giving off a young-at-heart vibe to someone that looked to be my age. Once she saw that I stopped walking, she gave me a soft smile and closed the distance between us.

“That’s not the school, I’ll take you there—You’re Kasia, right?” Her voice was chipper, something I wasn’t too used to.

Nodding, she took my hand so I couldn’t argue and led us down the stairs, turning right into the alley that was between the building I was at and the building next door, the alley being dark and kind of grummy with dead plants and side entrances to both buildings. I held tight onto her hand as I truly had no idea where to go in the first place until we landed at the end of the alley, where an entrance to a beautiful garden stood filled with bushes of roses, and herbs as well as a large stone fountain that had water flowing in soothing sloshes.

The girl stopped us right at this arch that was lined with vines, looking from me then at the arch then back at me. “Are you ready?”

“Uhh, I don’t know what I need to be ready for...” I said, voice a bit soft as admitting to a girl that surely has magic that I don’t know what’s going on is a bit embarrassing.

She let go of my hand, facing me, her green eyes so big she could be mistaken for a Disney animation. “Your grandma told me all about you, and well, like everyone. We are all excited to have you starting with us. My name is Julianna, but you can call me Julia.”

“My grandma told people about me?”

Julia nodded, her pigtails flying as she did, “It’s not what you think! You know about the legacy your family holds, everyone knows about you guys—this is such an important moment in history!” She was more excited about this than I was as I felt a black hole grow in my stomach, pulling myself out of this reality.

How was I to be keeping up a legacy when I barely knew what magic was?

“Wait, no, I--.” I didn’t even know what to say as my mind spun. Julia grabbed my hands again, squeezing them to ground me to her. “I justdidn’t know my family was so important. I didn’t know I was so important. It’s a lot of pressure.”

“Don’t do that, no pressure here Kasia.” She smiled, all white teeth and perfect. “Let’s just go in and start your first day, okay?”

I tried to relax as she led me along the archway that took us to the entrance hall of a tall building. No longer was there a garden, that was a faux garden I guess because the only flowers in sight were in pots that hung off either side of the towering curved wooden door in front of me that looked so extravagant, I don’t think I belonged here. The hustle and bustle of the city sounds were replaced by the crackling of candles and people walking here and there, wherever they were.

“Welcome to Jagielonia, school of magic and wizardry.” Julia said with a big smile, walking in front of me to present the hall. Her arms splayed out on either side of her.

“Wow, I--,” she cut me off, I assume too excited to keep it in.

“I know, it’s so beautiful and you’ve only seen the main hall! Let’s go in there,” She pointed behind her at the massive door, “... to meet everyone else.”