That Monday, Valerie was not surprised when her presence went unnoticed. None of her usual friends said "hello" or even acknowledged her.
As the weeks passed, she spent each day researching throughout her lunch hour. To her dismay, the school library didn't carry a vast collection on witchcraft. Valerie searched the Internet but couldn't find the information she sought. She did discover a store website that caught her eye. Margie's Enchantments was located in New York City's East Village. Reviews of the store read, "Friendly and knowledgeable staff" and "A vast collection of spell books and magic tools. A great resource for any witch."
After school, Valerie plugged in her GPS and entered the address she had found on the Internet. Following the thirty-minute drive, she walked briskly and with purpose from her parking spot to the store. There were no windows in the storefront. A hand-painted sign that read Margie's Enchantments hung above an old wooden door.
Valerie pushed open the heavy door. Silver bells jangled overhead. She entered a small, rectangular room. Dark wooden shelves replete with books, candles, incense, and other trinkets lined the ecru-colored walls.
"Hello." A pretty college-aged girl sat behind a long, glass display case along the center of the back wall. Crystals and other colorful stones sparkled on shelves behind the glass. The girl's brown hair was parted in the middle and fell in gentle waves past her waist. Her big brown eyes glimmered behind long black lashes. "I'm Renee. Welcome to Margie's Enchantments. How can I help you?" Her tone was soft and warm.
"Hi, I'm Valerie. I'm looking for a spell book."
"Nice to meet you. We have plenty of those." Renee gestured to the right wall. "If you have any questions, let me know." She tilted her chin down to read the thick leather-bound book open in front of her.
"Okay. Thanks." Valerie crossed the room and browsed the shelf Renee had indicated. She picked up a book titled Practical Spells for the Modern Teen Witch and opened to the first page. To Bring Good Fortune onto a Loved One. Rolling her eyes, she flipped the page. To Promote World Peace. Valerie continued to leaf through the pages until she found a spell that caught her interest. To Become Irresistible to Boys. Valerie read with laser-like intensity. Halfway down the page, her brow furrowed. "Excuse me, Renee, I have a question."
As Renee walked over, her beige bohemian-style dress billowed out behind her. "How can I help you?" she asked in her soft tone. Her dangly star-and-moon earrings tinkled.
"This line." Valerie pointed. "What does it mean?"
Renee read aloud. “’While summoning the internal power within.' Okay, witches have innate power. They can access it when they need it, or when they're working a spell."
"I'm not sure how to do that."
"It's difficult to explain, but if you have the power, you can feel it."
"Does everyone have the power?"
"Not everyone. Certain people are born with the power. These are the people that are referred to as 'witches.'"
"Well, how do I become a witch?"
"It isn't that simple. People can't just become witches because they decide to. It generally runs in families."
Valerie stared at the floor, disappointment temporarily weakening her resolve.
Renee's eyes were full of empathy. "I'm sorry, Valerie, but there is hope. Even if there's a distant relative in your family that has a little supernatural power, there's a chance you could have inherited some. You might not even know it, but if you practice, you might find you have some abilities. Some of my customers have had this experience. I highly recommend this book." Renee deftly removed a thick hardcover from the shelf. In the blink of an eye, the book was placed in Valerie's hands. The cover depicted a woman seated cross-legged with her eyes closed and a glowing circle of light in her chest. Above the woman, bold, black letters read Accession: A Complete Guide to Finding the Magic Within.
"I have to warn you. Without close genetic ties, it will be a lot of hard work. It can take months, even years of practice."
"But there's only one more year of high school!" Valerie said. "Is there any way for a person to create their own power? Or a way for a person to obtain another person's power?"
"In the case of witch power, it is an energy that cannot be created or destroyed. It just is. It exists and it's born within. I would never rule anything out, because I always believe anything is possible, but there is no way I know of to create that kind of power." Renee paused for a moment. "There are ways to obtain the power. But transmission of power to a person whose body is not accustomed to harboring it is dangerous. It could result in instant death. Not to mention, it is unethical."
Valerie didn't give a rat's tail about ethics. "What are these ways?"
"There are two known ways to do this. Transference and evulsion. In transference, a witch willingly transmits or gives part or all of her power to another. In evulsion, power is forcibly taken from a witch without her consent. There are only a few individuals who have completed these methods and survived. The safest would be transference, but good luck finding a witch willing to participate. As I explained before, a witch's power cannot be created or destroyed. If a witch transfers some of her power to another, she is, in effect, diminishing her own strength."
"I see. Why is it that transference is safer than evulsion?"
"With transference, the transferor and the receiver are both participants, and they can communicate with one another. The witch can transfer a very small amount of power to the receiver, small enough amount that the receiver's body won't go into shock and die. With evulsion, there is less control over how much power is taken. Just a little bit too much could mean instantaneous death for the receiver.
"The one time I have ever heard of an evulsion being accomplished was when a strong, good witch used this method to divest an evil witch of her powers. In this case, the evulsion was permissible. Evulsion of power from a witch of good caliber is admonished in the supernatural community. If any human or witch evulsed power from a good witch for their own benefit, they would be facing a backlash. The supernatural community would see death as a proper punishment for such an offense. But to my knowledge, this has never happened. Evulsion is a difficult process to complete."
Valerie placed the hardcover Renee had recommended back on the shelf. She slid out a paperback titled Transference and Evulsion. Renee raised her eyebrows but remained quiet.
Valerie put the paperback book on top of the spell book already in her arms. "I'd like to buy both of these."
Runs in families, Valerie thought. An image appeared in Valerie's mind of a pretty girl with long, black hair and deep blue eyes with a guitar slung over her shoulder. Before she had even stepped out of the magic store, her mind was working overtime. Valerie would have all she coveted, no matter the danger to herself or the cost to others.