Originally, I published this story on Tumblr. The version you'll find there is slightly different, as I tried to keep it neutral. This time there's my OC, Calliope Reece (and so you can picture her Shelley Hennig portrays her). Hope you'll enjoy it :)

Chapter One: Siphoners

Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of my room. I had tried to stay in as long as possible because I wasn't ready yet. However, I couldn't prolong it any longer. It was time to put my life in danger once again. Danger, I most likely wanted to avoid but I couldn't. At least not yet.

"One day everything will be over."

My mother had suddenly appeared in the corridor, a stern look on her usually friendly face. She was just as tense as me. Putting a hand on my shoulder, she continued, "One day the Coven will have a new leader, and you - we - don't have to hide what you are anymore."

Only now I caught sight of the amulet dangling from her free hand. It was a golden necklace with a same colored, round pendant. The red gem in the middle slightly seemed to shine, emitting a faint glow.

I put out my hand, waiting for my mother to place the amulet on it. After all, it was partly my life insurance for everything that was about to come.

My mother let out a sigh before she finally gave it to me.

I could feel the magic flowing through it, eager to be taken. It was sending off invisible sparks, radiating a warmth onto my skin. But it wasn't right to absorb the magic right away. We still had a long drive to Portland, and only there I needed to have magic.

I was born as a siphoner which was putting me in as much danger as my family. There was this constant risk of being exposed and exiled from the Coven. For me, my fate would be even worse. I would be feared to be a threat to the Coven one day which would result in being sent to a Prison World. Just like every other siphoner before me.

So my whole life I had to made sure no one would ever find out about my little secret. At every single coven meeting, I had to wear my magical amulet so I could siphon its magic whenever it was necessary. Of course, I needed to do it in privacy so I wouldn't be seen.

"Are you ready?" Father's loud voice came from downstairs. He had packed our luggage in the car, now only waiting for us. "We should go now if we don't want to be too late."

While we went outside, I put on the necklace on the way, concentrating not to siphon its magic accidentally. Since this was something that happened every damn time my mind drifted off because I wasn't focussing enough; one disadvantage of being what I was.

I took a seat on the back seat, closing my eyes. Father started the engine, and we drove off into one of the most dangerous weeks of my life.

Our drive to Portland was rather dull and quiet. We didn't talk much because everyone was engaged in their own thoughts.

I couldn't really remember the last time I had attended a coven meeting at the Parkers home. It must've been many years ago since I never met the second set of twins, Lucas and Olivia. Not that I knew everything about their kids, but for some reason, Joshua and his wife had made sure to have another set of twins to do the Merge. So there must be something odd about the others which were in my age.

"It's time." Mother suddenly said, looking at me through the rearview mirror. I nodded in response - knowing what she meant - and took the golden pendant in my hand.

Again, I felt the magic flowing through it just waiting to be siphoned away. I closed my eyes, concentrating. I had to make sure not to siphon too much or otherwise I wouldn't have enough resources for the week. Of course, my parents could put a part of their magic in it every time, but it would exhaust and weaken them.

It would be the longest time we'd ever stay in Portland. Typically, the meetings only lasted two rarely three days, but this time Joshua demanded they'd have to be there a whole week. A week in which I would have to hide my real powers, making sure no having to use too much magic - which could get quite complicated in a household full of witches.

The orange light disappeared as I now sensed the magic flowing through my system. I noticed the strength it was giving me, loving the sparks I felt floating through my veins like electricity. Once I had made a promise that one day I'd find a way to make the magic stay permanently, this way helping myself and any other siphoner. Then no one of us had to hide what we are anymore and would be able to perform magic whenever we wanted or needed.

We arrived at the street where the Parkers house was standing. It couldn't be seen yet, but as soon as we'd come near enough, the spell put upon it would lift itself for them- It was placed there many years ago as a precaution, so other witches, supernatural beings or human couldn't locate them. Only members of the Gemini Coven who knew about the secret were able to see the house when they reached a certain proximity.

My parents looked at me with a waiting expression. There was a small fear evident, but I tried to ignore it. If I allowed myself to see it, I would become far more worried than I already was. As a response, I only nodded, sure of what they wanted to know.

I was ready to face them.

While we walked closer towards the house, everything spread in the garden became visible: toys, bikes and other belongings of children. Everything seemed perfectly normal, just like they were a family like all the others.

Before we could even knock on the door, it was opened by a brunette girl in my age. She was smiling, holding out her hands to shake ours. Father introduced us as the Reece family, and the girl let us in.

We stepped in, and the door was closed behind us. The girl revealed herself as Josette, Joshua's eldest daughter and one of the twins. She offered to take me upstairs so my parents could go and talk to the Coven leader who wasn't willed to let teenagers be present there most of the times. On the other hand, I wasn't really in the mood to face Joshua just yet.

Walking upstairs, we were welcomed by two little kids not older than three. They wrapped their tiny arms around Josette and smiled kindly at me. Even though I was a stranger to them, there was this genuine happiness and friendliness.

"Who are you?" The little boy asked with big eyes. He seemed to be shyer than his twin sister, as he was hiding behind Josette's leg; whereas his sister was standing in front of me, looking up. I kneeled down, so I was face-to-face with them.

"My name is Callie. And you must be Lucas." I replied, reaching out my hand to ruffle his blonde hair. Then I turned towards the girl, poking her nose. "So you're Olivia." The kids giggled, having their arms still wrapped around their older sister.

Josette took her siblings with her, bringing them to her room. It was a rather small room, but somehow we all managed to fit in together, sitting down on the blue carpet. The most prominent colors were white and blue (which seemed to be Josette's favorite color), and everything was held bright. Two small windows spent most of the light, even lighting the corners. Apart from a bed, a wardrobe and table with two chairs there weren't much more pieces of furniture.

Time passed by quickly while we entertained the kids with magic. It seemed to be the one thing they enjoyed most as they couldn't stop marveling and laughing. Not even the toys they later had brought to Josette's room were as enjoyable as our magic. Even though they could use magic on their own, they liked it more when we did it.

Of course, I always had to make sure not to use too much and not to use up all my resources already. Because I wouldn't be able to siphon in their presence; Josette would immediately know what I was doing (or at least she would be able to guess what it was), and then my secret wouldn't be a secret anymore.

But even with all the saving, I felt exhaustion taking over me, the magic leaving my system and making me more human than a witch. If I wanted to continue playing, I would need to absorb more magic. Therefore, I had to come up with a plan to get away from here so I could do it.

"Is here a nice place where I can take a walk? I need some fresh air." I mentioned towards Josette while the twins were gone to bring back their toys. Or to interchange them, I didn't know.

"Yeah... sure. There's a forest nearby." Josette answered, obviously irritated about my sudden change of behavior. I even imagined she looked suspicious though these thoughts were quickly wiped away as she again smiled at me. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"Oh no." I quickly said, only then realizing it must've been sounding rude. "You don't need to. I'm just getting headaches and to prevent it I only need to breathe some fresh air. And I'll find the way back - we're witches, right?"

I couldn't shake the fear that Josette might see through my lies and ask more questions, but instead, she only shrugged and without further ado I left her alone and quickly made my way back outside.

As I opened the front door, a cool breeze hit me. I took a deep breath, looking around if anyone was following me. No one did, and I walked towards a little forest nearby. Like Josette had said it wasn't really far away and after only a few minutes I had already reached the edge of the woods. The wind seemed to fade, and I felt the warmth of the sun on my skin.

I took a few steps inside, leaning against a broad oak. Again I looked around before my hand reached for the necklace around my neck. The chill metal was cooling my skin while simultaneously the magic was radiating a faint heat.

But I had to stop myself if I wanted to savor enough magic locked to last for the rest of the week. It wasn't even planned I'd siphon twice a day. Therefore I would either make it through at least one day without siphoning or hope my parents would give me some more of their magic.

At the moment I finished and decided to go back, I heard something behind me, footsteps on the leafed forest floor. Despite always looking around someone must've followed me. Why else would he or she be so close to my hiding spot?

"Invisque." I muttered, using the spell to cloak myself, feeling more secure this way. Only then I ran off without looking back. If I couldn't be seen no one would be able to follow me, right?

Never was I more wrong.

Just seconds after I took a quick rest behind a tree I was pinned against the same. Pain shot through me as I felt a pressure on my arm. Someone was holding it tightly, not giving me a chance to free myself. Instinctively I had looked to one side though out of the corner of my eye I could still see a familiar red light radiating off my arm where something - or someone - invisible was touching her.

As fast as the pain had started, it disappeared again, and only now I was able to take a first look at my opponent. Regardless of him being a stranger, he looked oddly familiar. I just couldn't lay my finger on the why.

He had short dark hair and blue eyes which were piercing into my dark brown ones. A smirk appeared on his face, and he tilted his head to a side, not breaking the eye contact. Unconsciously I bit my lip, feeling the heat rising in my cheeks.

"You must be one of the coven witches." He said, placing his large hand on my reddened cheek. His fingers were cold, calming me down a bit. Until now I hadn't even realized my breath had become uneven and my heart was beating fast and loudly. Despite the circumstances, I leaned into his hand, nearly closing my eyes.

My breath got caught in my throat as the red light appeared again and the guy's expression became devilish. Before I could properly think about what was happening, I exclaimed the first thing that was coming into my mind.

"You're a siphoner!"

At the same time, his facial expression changed to an uninterpretable one. He looked as confused as he looked interested. The light had faded away by now as did the magic inside of her.

"Why can't I feel your magic?" He asked through gritted teeth, and I saw anger burning in his eyes. Anger, paired with another emotion I couldn't recognize.

This seemed to be the decisive factor to gain back my courage. My hand instantly wrapped around my amulet, siphoning another bit of magic to push the guy off me, sending him directly into the air and onto the hard ground. Before he realized what was happening, I had used the cloaking spell once again and ran out of the forest. No one - not even another siphoner - should know the truth about me and my little secret.

Without any more incidents, I arrived back at the house. Just as I was about to knock on the door, it was opened by someone was a big smile on his face.

"Long time no see."