Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.
Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.
Summery: Vanity gets you nowhere.
Chapter Twenty-Six: Vanity
Angel looked at his friend and co-worker. "Run this by me once again?" he asked Wesley.
"You know as well as I do that Casey messes around with my stuff. Especially with magic. She'd just gotten better at hiding it when I'm around," Wesley sighed as he opened the book.
"Okay, and what's the plan?" Angel sighed as he looked towards his friend.
"Here," Wesley passed a piece of paper to Angel.
Quickly Angel read it over and looked at Wesley, "It's a simple age changing spell. From old to young."
Wesley nodded, "Exactly. With a little mislabeling, Casey will be feeling the effects of not using the proper precautions when practicing magic."
Angel's forehead creased. "But you said this would affect both of my children, and I don't see why Connor would be punished for something he didn't do," Angel explained his worry.
Wesley smiled, "But with this spell requires two people to perform the spell. Well it really needs one, but it's more powerful with just one person."
Angel nodded, "And it will wear off how long after the initial spell is cast?"
Wesley shrugged, "If it's two people and the ingredients are strong enough, it could last a little over a fortnight. If it's just one person, it could be about three days or so."
Angel sighed, "Let's do it."
A couple of days later Casey was snooping through Wesley's books when she came across a spell. "Hmm, a spell for no more pimples? This could be fun!" she thought to herself as she walked up to her bedroom.
Unlocking a drawer in her desk she rifled through the contents. She had the four crystals, the wolfsbane she knew she could get just down the street. She had plenty of blood running through her veins. What she needed was the bowl, she could buy it on ebay, and the right time to do it.
She thought of sharing the spell with Connor, but then decided against it. He would back out of it, and probably tell their father, leaving her no where. No, she was going to keep the spell to herself. She'd be the one with perfect skin.
A few days later found Casey sitting in her room, waiting for the house
to settle down for the night. And by that, she meant that everyone that had
some kind of supernatural hearing or are completely nosey were gone. In both
instances, that meant Connor.
Casey looked at the spell, she knew she could read Wesley's neat handwriting,
but the real question was if she could read the curious words on the paper.
It's not that they were particularly long words or had many confusing syllables.
No, the words were just strange and foreign to her ears, but after a few
silent run-throughs, Casey was sure she got it.
Lighting the candles in succession, starting with the one on her right and
going counter clockwise, she turned off the lights, leaving the room cast
in an eerie light upon the room. Taking the dark crystals that she had bought
out, she preformed the relatively easy part of the spell, the setting up.
Now it was time to chant the words, and chant she did. An unseen wind blew
the candles out in rapid succession, in the same order she had lit them.
The room was now dark and Casey let out the breath she had been holding.
A sensation of pins and needles traveled from Casey's toes to Casey's head.
Shivering slightly, Casey crawled to her bed.
Unbeknownst to her, she knocked over her circle or candles, causing the candles'
wax to fall into the bowl of the boiled wolfsbane. The crystals, the dark
as well as the light ones, fell upon the floor in a perfectly straight line.
This just sealed the fate of the spell even more.
Author's Note 2: Short I know, but after the last chapter, I deserve it. So there! Cute part is coming in the next couple of chapters, so stay tuned, m'kay?