Crystal Ellis glanced up from the meal she was cooking. Ever since her father remarried, she had practically become invisible and the maid, though she had done so to keep her sanity. She heard shouting coming from the living room. She shook her head and sighed. Whatever had possessed her father to marry this woman? Two more voices joined in. Those would be her stepsisters, Fiona and Riana. Crystal strained her ear to hear a little bit more. What exactly was the argument about? She heard the word 'cats', and then she knew. One of the cats, or all three of them, had gotten into her father's things yet again. Could their mistresses not keep them in check? Crystal shook her head. Her father could probably argue until he was blue in the face, but those three would manage to win and the cats would be let off the hook yet again. By the time she had served dinner, that was exactly what had happened. The rest of the evening seemed to pass peacefully, no mention of the previous argument was made, even as the cats traipsed in to eat their food. She eyed them slightly, they seemed bored with the world, but she knew they were always plotting something. She figured on checking on her pet rat Francis before cleaning up the kitchen. Sure, he was in a pretty good cage, but one could never be certain with these cats.

As soon as dinner was over, Crystal dashed up the stairs and into her room. She opened the cage to look for her pet, who opened one cranky eye. She smiled.

"Sorry Francis, just wanted to make sure those nasty cats didn't disturb you." She placed a treat in his food dish. "Here, for your troubles." The rat seemed to accept the apology as he got up and ate the treat real quick before heading back to the spot and went back to sleep. She locked the cage back up, went back downstairs, and set about cleaning the kitchen. She joined the rest of the family in the living room. Her father had turned on the TV to watch his shows while Crystal's stepmother and stepsisters were playing with the cats. Crystal grabbed a book off the bookshelf and sat down next to her father to read. He placed an arm around her, and for a moment, everything seemed right with the world.

Crystal got up early the next morning to fix breakfast for everyone. She fixed herself a cup of coffee as she watched the sun rise. It was so peaceful, until her stepsisters woke up and began their morning routine of yelling at each other over one stealing something from the other, while their mother would try to break them up. By the time they had come down the stairs for breakfast, everything was righted and Crystal's father was ready for work.

"I shall be working late tonight," he announced.

"Oh Christian, do you have to?" asked his wife with a slight whine to her voice. For some reason Crystal wanted to hurl, it felt like she was putting on an act and was laying it on thick.

"Yes, Aine, I have to, we have that important meeting this evening, and if you expect me to get that promotion, I have to be there."

Aine pouted. "Oh, alright. But I'll miss you." He glanced at the three girls. "I'll miss you all, but I have to do this."

Crystal placed a hand on her father's hand. "We understand, Father, and we wish you the best!" Fiona and Riana echoed her words.

"Thank you, all of you. I certainly hope to make you all proud of me."

"Oh, I'm sure you will," said Aine with a smile. "You always make us proud."

"I'm glad to hear it." He glanced at his watch. "And I need to go. Love you!" He gave each girl a kiss on the cheek and Aine a kiss on the lips before dashing out the door.

The rest of the morning seemed to pass very quietly. Aine, Fiona, and Riana took their cats and left the house about eleven, Aine mumbling something about meeting an old friend and going shopping. Crystal didn't care, as long as she got to be all alone for a little while. She got a stew going in the slow cooker, ate lunch, and played with Francis for a little bit before going about dusting the place and doing a general tidy. She wanted to get as much cleaning done before they got back, it's easier to clean up when there's no one around. Plus, she was due to volunteer at a bake sale this evening and at the soup kitchen for the majority of the next day. Best to get as much done as possible when she had the chance.

When she got to the master bedroom, she paused. Aine never wanted her in the room for long, but the room gave Crystal an eerie feeling so she willingly obliged. She set about cleaning it quickly when she noticed the door to the adjoining room was cracked open a bit. Aine had kept the keys to both doors with her and her daughters were the only ones to have ever entered. The cats probably too. Crystal tried to ignore the door, but curiosity got the better of her, and she opened the crack even further, allowing her to peep in. Her eyes widened at the things in the room. There was a cauldron in the center, and piles of ingredients were scattered around! Her stepmother and stepsisters were witches! Crystal gritted her teeth, so that's what possessed her father to marry this woman, she literally put him under a spell! Closing the door a bit behind her, she stepped gingerly around the room, careful not to disturb anything, but searing everything to memory. A thought came to her, who could she go to with this information? The police would probably be no match against three witches. Were there any witch police or something? But what if all witches were exactly the same? She heard Aine's voice in the hall, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Where is that girl?"

"Probably in her room with that dumb rat," came Fiona's reply. "Such a nasty little thing."

Crystal glanced at the room. Which way would Aine come through? She heard the key in the door leading out to the hall and quickly tiptoed to the master bedroom. She got behind the door just in time.

"Mother, why couldn't we just have transported ourselves here?" asked Riana with a whine. "It would have been so much easier!"

"Silence!" The three paused as if to listen for Crystal, who was standing behind the door in the master bedroom, barely daring to breathe. "You are such an idiot! You clearly weren't paying any attention! There were too many people watching! We might be able to transport out, though. Fiona, watch the window."

Fiona giggled. "Yes mother."

"Riana, help me search for that phial, since you apparently can't do anything I tell you to."

Riana groaned. "Oh mother!"

"Don't 'oh mother' me! If you ever expect me to make you a sage, you'd better do as you're told, understand?"

"Yes ma'am," mumbled Riana. "But why do we need it?"

Aine groaned. "Do I seriously have to explain everything to you. Have you no brains?" She grumbled a bit. "Fine, I'll tell you, this phial will get Mr. King to do exactly what I tell him to."

"And what's that?"

Aine groaned again. "It's part of the plan! Get Mr. King to purchase that old bar in Glimmerbrook and turn it into a restaurant in about a month. He'll send one of his trusted workers to manage the place!" She began to laugh evilly. "And with their attention on keeping the secrets of Glimmerbrook safe from non-spellcasters, that's when we'll strike."

Fiona gasped. "Oh mother, it's brilliant!"

"Thank you, I think so myself."

"And soon we'll all be Sages!" exclaimed Riana. The sisters broke out into evil laughter. If Crystal wasn't afraid of being caught, she would have found it quite comical.

"But in order to do that, we have to find that phial!" snapped their mother. "Come on Riana!"

Riana huffed. "Yes mother." Crystal could hear them rummage around in the room before Riana let out a squeal. "I found it! I found it!"

"Good, now let's get back to Mr. King before it's too late!"

"Transportalate!" shouted three voices. Then there was silence. Crystal waited several minutes before peeking into the room. All three were gone! Crystal pushed the door back into the position that she found it. So there were people in Glimmerbrook she could trust, and that she had to get this information to them. But when could she go warn them? She realized she needed to be alert and wait for the best moment, otherwise Aine would just use her father as leeway, or even put a spell on her. She glanced at the clock. She was glad she would be out of the house soon, she needed to think more about it. She just hoped she could act normally so as not to arouse their attention. She let out a breath and got back to cleaning, she would also have to come up with some reason to go to Glimmerbrook. Maybe, hopefully, some answer would present itself, but for now, she just had to wait.