The Topaz Necklace

I lost everything in the fire, except my topaz necklace, my brother gave it to me the day he left for The Academy. He’s meant to become a sorcerer, the first one in our family. He doesn’t know about the fire yet, he doesn’t know about Mum and Dad. He sent me a letter the other day, telling me he’d be home for summer, he wants to see me before he is positioned in a magical enterprise for his studies. He’s going to find out what happened, and he’s going to be angry, but I can’t let him drop his studies, he could be the change we need.

I meet my brother at the train station and he’s crying already,

“The Academy told me what happened before I left. Why didn’t you tell me.” He cries running over to me, pulling me into a hug. “You should have told me, Mille I could have stopped it.”

“No, you couldn't,” I sigh allowing him to cry on my shoulder, as I hold my necklace.

I gently lead him to the room where I’ve been staying, the third floor of the book café I work at. Leading him through the crowd in the shop I lead him up the stairs into my room. It’s almost completely bare besides a bed and a few books from downstairs.

“you’ve been living like this?” my brother says looking down at me.

“Yes.” I walk inside and throw my jumper onto the bed.

“I’m fine, it’s not that different to your dorm room, right?” I shrug, sitting down on the bed, and ushering my brother over.

“No, not really,” he hesitates. “I still don’t understand why you didn’t say anything,” he sighs lowering himself onto the bed. “You’ve been alone all this time, mourning the loss of our parents alone, while I was off at some school completely oblivious,” he says resting his face in his hands, we sit like this for a while, and I fidget with my necklace letting our clouded minds fill this tiny room full of fears and sorrow.

“I’m dropping out,” my brother announces breaking the silence “I’ll stay here with you and find a decent job to keep us both up on our feet,”

“No,” I say immediately, dropping my necklace.

“What do you mean no, I can’t just leave you here alone now that I know you’ve been living like this!” he motions around the room “I can't leave you, not again,” he sighs standing, I grab his arm.

“If you drop out now then this was all for nothing, the countless hours of study, the exams, and the magic seals, it was all for nothing if you drop out now.” I look at him closely, I know him he wants to graduate, he’d be stupid not to.

“So, what!” he yells ripping his arm out of my grasp “You need me Millie you can’t be alone forever,”

“I won’t be, you graduate in one and a half years, and I have Sophie until then,”

“who’s Sophie?” my brother freezes.

“The owner of the book café,” I answer, “You need to go back, you need to graduate,” I warn him as he looks at me with pleading eyes.

“Why? Why do you want me to graduate so bad, you have no idea what will happen after, they could position me in a magical coven on the other side of the world, we could never see each other again,” he pleaded but I won't budge.

“That wasn’t a problem when you signed up,” I lean against the wall behind me.

“Well for one, our parents weren’t dead Millie, you weren’t alone you had mum and dad you had a house to live in and a family to support you, but now you have nothing, I’m all you got Millie, and you’re asking me to leave,” he sighs. I pull at the Topaz necklace as I answer.

“You’re not all I have, I have a place to stay, a job and friends. Brother, you could be something great you could become a sorcerer, and you want to throw that away because your little sister's circumstances are slightly worse than yours,”

“You’re impossible!” he yells, pulling my door open and storming out, I shrug he’ll come around.

Later that night I heard a knock on my door, and in storms Sophie, with her black hair running down her freckled shoulders.

“Was that your brother, you brought into the shop?” she asks pointing behind her. “He seemed pissed,”

“He wants to drop out of the Academy,” I answer lowering the book I was reading.

“What, you can’t let him, does he know what will happen?” Sophie asks franticly.

“No, I didn’t tell him,”

“Why not,” she yells letting herself in my room and closing the door, “why wouldn’t you tell him,”

“By the time I worked it out he had already started his first year,” I shrug “didn’t want to scare him,”

“So, you put his life in mortal danger instead,” Sophie continues to yell “What the hell is wrong with you Maddi, you’re going to get your brother killed.”

“Already killed Mum and Dad why not him too,” I say sarcastically “They have no idea we are related, he’ll be fine,”

“How do they not know, it’s on their record,” she says.

“Because according to the Academy database, my brother is an orphan,”

“What you tapered with his records, Maddi if they find out,” Sophie edges forward.

“I know, they’ll kill him,”

“Maddi you stupid idiot, if your brother drops out, they’ll kill him, and if he stays and they discover the truth they’ll kill him and you,” she barks “How are you going to get out of this,”

“Hope,” I shrug “he only has one and a half years left, then he’ll be shipped off to a random coven and he’ll be safe.” It was the best plan I had there was no other choice, I needed to get him as far away from me as possible.

“Right well night Maddi, I’ll pray for you,” Sophie sighs before leaving my room, I hear her call down the hall “And no I ain’t helping you with any of your hocus-pocas magic this time,” good, I don’t want anyone else involved.

“Mandy nice to see you again,” the cashier calls out from behind the counter “looking for anything?”

“You got any, unicorn horns,” I ask as I search the shelf covered in bottled limbs and eyes, fur, magic-powered, and flowers.

“Might be a few out back, wait a sec,” they call out and I hear a door close. Quickly I pull open the little pouch on my hip, about the size of a purse, pushing in titan dust, lion fur, and a bird's eye, before the cashier reappears.

“Got a blue or white one,” they say holding the horns in either hand.

“White,”

“Perfect,” they say, “Anything else?”

“All good, for now,” I say heading to the counter.

“12 gems thanks Mandy,” she says handing over the horn as I pull the golden coins out of my bag.

“Thanks for doing business,” they say as I leave the store.

Pulling out my ingredients I unhook the bracelet on my wrist, as it transforms into a cauldron. I pull out the titan dust a dump it all in followed by three strands of lion fur and shaving of the unicorn horn. Slowly I mix all the ingredients together, holding my topaz necklace tight, as my door slams open.

“Millie what the hell are you doing!” my brother shouts from behind me.

“Making a spell,” he runs up behind me and looks in the cauldron.

“Where the hell did you get this stuff, Millie what are you doing?” he yells looking at me franticly.

“I already told you what I’m doing,” I say turning back to my spell.

“Millie, you know this is illegal, stop please, you’ll get in serious trouble,”

“Not if you don’t say anything,” I say adding 3 drops of human tears to the cauldron.

“Hey, what the hell was that, what exactly are you making, where did you even learn this?” he yells grabbing the empty vile from my hand.

“Born knowing it, just like the rest of you,” I sigh standing to confront him.

“What do you mean, you were born with it, you have not an ounce of magic in you, I remember when you were tested, it came up dry,”

“The test was wrong,” I shrug, if only he knew.

“Why haven’t you told anyone, you could come to the Academy with me, we could become sorcerers together,” he says grabbing my shoulders “Why wouldn’t you say anything.” He cries not letting go of my shoulder. He knows as well as I what will happen if I get caught, he just doesn’t know it already happened.

“Is this what killed our parents,” he suddenly shouts kicking at my cauldron.

“No, I know how to use magic,” I say blankly, he really thinks I would kill my own parents. The idiot.

“Then how did the fire start!” he says continuing to kick my cauldron.

“The Academy, also stop kicking my stuff,” I reply stepping in between my brother and cauldron, I don’t want it dented.

“The Academy,” my brother stops, frozen.

“Yup, blew it all up,” I sigh “Found one of my spells,”

“No,” my brother almost whispers “No, no, no,” he backs up to my bed, “they killed Mum and Dad,” he says collapsing onto the bed, “because you used illegal magic,” he looks up at me, he’s crying, again.

“Yeah, they think I'm dead too,” I shrug bending back to my cauldron.

“This is all your fault,” he suddenly screams “You got mum and dad killed, and you probably used your little magic powers to change my records as well!” he jumps to his feet towering over me as I tend to my potion.

“They know I tampered with your records?” I ask looking up at him.

“Yes, of course, that's why they sent me here,” he throws his hand in the air, “they wanted me to find you and work out what was going on.”

“They know I’m alive?” I stand up quickly if they know I’m here, we are all in deep trouble.

“of course, they know you're alive, they know everything,” he screams.

“No, they don’t,” I whisper grabbing my backpack, I keep under my bed. “They sent you here to find out if I was alive, and you just confirmed their suspicions,” I click the bottom of my cauldron, and it flips into the bracelet and slips on my wrist. “You need to leave,” I tell my brother pulling open the door “Go back to The Academy tell them, you couldn’t find me, and say no one in town knows what happened to me,” My brother follows me as I run down the stairs to the café.

“What why, what’s happening Millie,” he calls as I run to the café counter to grab food.

“Maddi, what are you doing?” I hear Sophie call out as someone grabs my arm. “Maddi what are you doing, why is he here,” she says gesturing to my brother.

“Who the hell are you?” my brother shoots back, “her name is Millie,”

“Ha, no crap it’s a fake name dumbass,” she yells turning back to me, “do they know?”

“They know,” I sigh grabbing my necklace and ripping it off my neck.

“I’ll grab your pack,” she says running out the back.

“What the hell’s going on Millie,” my brother yells again.

“Leave, Conner,” I yell at him “Get out, right now, leave Conner,” I yell again. As Sophie returns with my pack.

“Good luck Maddi, I hope I never see you again,” Sophie says with a smile.

“I hope the same,” I smile grabbing the pack and running out the café, Conner close behind me.

“Millie,” he grabs my shoulder “are you really going to leave me,”

“Yes,” I look my brother in the eye, maybe for the last time.

“Am I ever going to see you again,” he says tears appearing under his eyes.

“No, if you want to survive then no,” I sigh

“Oh,” he sighs letting go of my shoulder.

“I have to leave, take this,” I hand him my necklace “Tell them you found it in the rubble,” I smile up at Conner.

“Bye, Millie,”

“Goodbye, Conner,”

2 years later

“Commander Conner, I have located the witch,” a trainee runs up to me. “I saw her in town,”

“Leave her be mate, we have other things to attend to,” I whisper holding my little yellow necklace

“But this could be the last time we see her,” he says confused.

“The last time I saw her was a long time ago, and let’s keep it that way,” I huff marching off to the rest of the group. My topaz necklace hangs from my neck, I smile, she’s still alive.