Chapter Two

Teresa Russo would like her children to think that she wasn't as naïve as they thought she was. Sure, she was mortal and didn't know too much about magic but she knew when there was something wrong between her children. It was a recurring thing since the birth of Alex that she would have to keep both eyes open when she was around her eldest sibling.

You see, the thing about Teresa Russo was that she knew her children were always comfortable around each other since they were very little. Take Alex and Justin for example – Justin was the big, protective brother that would always be there for his little sister. She remembers distinctively the time when Justin was around five and Alex was around four that she noticed the minor change in her two eldest children. This was right after the birth of Max – she noticed that Justin wasn't as attentive towards Max as he was to Alex.

Alex was his little sister and he would do anything to make her happy, so it appeared.

She remembered the time where a small child boy T.J had stolen Alex's ice cream near the sand pit in the park. Alex cried. Teresa watched as Justin intuitively heard his little sister's cry and leapt up from the picnic table to trudge over to T.J and snatch the ice-cream back from him.

He walked back to Alex and handed her the ice-cream. She took it in her hand, observed it for a few seconds, before chucking it onto the ground to give Justin a huge. She wrapped her little arms around her older brother and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back just as tightly. The ice-cream lay forgotten.

Teresa believed that it was after that day, that they truly became inseparable. The actions were thought-provoking when she thought back to the time each of her children were born – after Alex was born Justin would cradle his baby sister and not let her go. He loved to hold her, sometimes more than Jerry did. He always took special care of Alex, making sure she never touched a cup of hot coffee across the dining table or played with the sharp cutlery. He used to teach her right from wrong and she so willingly complied and learned from him. He paid more attention to her than any other colouring book or cartoon programme. When Max was born, he never paid as much attention to him as he did to her; and preferred sitting with Alex and playing with her instead. Night times were slightly better as her children would soundly sleep – but on some nights she found Alex cradled in Justin's arms when there were thunderstorms outside. She would stand by the doorway and watch her two eldest children sleep in each other's' arms; and silently prayed that what she thought could happen never will.

Between Max's birth and starting their first few days of school, Teresa convinced herself it was normal and that they would treat Max more like they did one another when he began to walk and talk so he could interact with them more. It never really happened.

Teresa observed her children carefully. She knew that Max would be the third wheel in his siblings' relationship, but he was happy nonetheless and never really seemed to care when Alex and Justin went off to play with each other. He was content with the simpler things in life and never really took to notice.

They stuck together – attached at the hip throughout the earliest years of their childhood. Alex somehow always managed to find herself with Justin at some point throughout the day; and when Teresa would separate them to do different things they always ran back to each other at the end of the day. Teresa never felt bitter that Justin would always be the one she ran to first whenever she scraped her leg or had her ice-creams taken away from her in the playground. It just seemed that she preferred him to her.

When Justin was seven and Alex was six, Teresa caught them peeping from the spiral staircase watching the movie she and Jerry were watching that night. A harmless romantic movie; Justin and Alex were too young to comprehend what was actually going on.

A few nights after that she went upstairs to tuck her children into bed. She went into Alex's room first and found her bed empty. Teresa sighed to herself and went directly to Justin's room. She needn't have to look I Max's room because she knew where Alex would be. Teresa opened her oldest son's bedroom and found Alex and Justin sitting on the bed, surrounded by several colouring books, a scatter of crayons, a few toys that they had played with, too. But when she looked up she couldn't help the sudden surprise across her face when she found her two children kissing.

Now, Teresa doubted they actually knew what they were doing. She simply recognised that they saw interest in what the TV showed and wondered what it was, what it felt like, without actually realising that they were doing something that siblings simply didn't do. Teresa stood in the doorway and watched them pull apart after a few short seconds, before staring at each other confusedly to see if anything else would happen. Nothing did. Teresa turned around to leave the room. She was hesitant at first to go break them up, but decided not to because there would be no reason to punish her children on account for something they had no idea was wrong in the first place.

It continued for the rest of the year; for about five more months. Sometimes they would lightly peck each other on the cheek when the other was crying, or had lost something, or simply saw a sad face. On outings to the mall or to the grocery store Teresa would allow Justin and Alex to hold hands because honestly, it was a very sibling thing to do as well as being safe when they crossed the road.

Teresa believed it was when Alex dropped a tub of fudge ice-cream on her foot in the frozen food section, which hurt her, and as soon as Justin heard her cry he let go of Max's little hand and sprinted over to stroke her hair and hold her. He kissed her again. Teresa felt a shiver go up her spine. She still did nothing.

When they first started school, teachers and parents' would comment on how Justin and Alex were pretty much inseparable – and despite that not really being that big of an issue, there was the problem that they wouldn't socialise properly with the other children. Justin and Alex would go in the corner of the playroom and share toys with each other rather than the other kids. It was rather fascinating, really – they didn't really seem to notice other children, other friends around them. Only each other. And to top it all off, Alex would get into little arguments with other children who took her and Justin's toys, and when one girl pushed her, Alex cried, and Justin kissed her again. A few parents commented on their behaviour.

So to stop them from clinging onto each other like a life-raft, Teresa sat them down and explained to them very vaguely that they had to separate and that everything, including the kisses, had to stop. Alex didn't understand and cried. Justin looked at his mother and questioned her carefully; but she simply told him that he had to make other friends apart from Alex, and that she had to do the same. Justin looked at his little sister and nodded – he understood. Alex didn't at first.

So things changed.

Teresa kept Justin and Alex at a distance. They didn't argue yet but she could tell that disagreements were evolving. Justin would hesitate upon running to her if Alex had fallen over and (being her natural instinct to call for him) Teresa shook her head and told him to stay there while she went and tended to her daughter. The first couple of times Alex asked her mom why Justin wasn't there to help her. Teresa never really told her the truth.

When they had their first little argument as young children, Alex stomped off but turned back to face her brother – her face immediately softening to see if he would do the same. He did for a few seconds, before it hardened again and he told her to go clean up the lego mess she had made in the living room. Alex turned away.

Justin caught on well. They were separated enough, now.

But Teresa knew she might've well as damned them for all eternity because she knew what she was doing would come back to haunt them in later life.

Eventually, they found other interests.

Teresa believed it was when Justin started making other friends at school; that Alex really began to notice that he was changing. He liked homework. He liked school. Sure, Alex thought school was alright, but she just wanted to come home so she could spend some time with Justin instead. Justin couldn't wait to go upstairs and do homework. Alex couldn't wait to play with Justin after school, but he was always busy with other friends or doing extra-homework which he loved. She also stopped staying in his room during thunderstorms, Teresa noticed. Alex also harboured a new love for colouring books. Good, Teresa thought, a distraction.

Jerry was absolutely thrilled when their powers started showing up. Justin was more excited about the theory of magic and wanted to study as soon as possible, even at the tender age of ten. Alex was far more excited about testing her magic out…on Justin. She started to become more troublesome after that. Her pranks were always targeted at Justin. No matter how many times she said they were never intended for him, Teresa got the faintest idea that they were only done to get his attention. Most of the time they did, but never long enough for Alex to be satisfied enough so she kept on doing it. It never went the right way and Justin ended up disliking Alex more and more as the years went by.

Then Alex met Harper and things got slightly better, but only to a certain extent.

Things got considerably worse once they reached their teenage years. Alex loved drawing – truly, on anything. One day, she came home from school with little drawings inked all over her skin in permanent marker. Jerry and Teresa were horrified but not as horrified as Justin was. At the tender age of thirteen, that was the first time he really got angry at her. Justin shouted at her and she ran upstairs crying.

Justin was distracted by magical books and everything that could be written down as an essay. He loved books and she loved paints. He loved science-fiction movies and she loved gory zombie flicks.

Justin listened to his mother and stayed away from Alex as much as possible. It worked. Obviously.

Teresa knew that Alex was doing it for Justin's attention when she came back from school with cut hair. Justin was furious. They practically screamed at each other. Alex ran upstairs again and couldn't stop crying for hours. When Teresa went to check on her she found Justin lying beside her on the bed, his arms wrapped tightly around her protectively; repeatedly whispering "I'm sorry, so sorry," Into her ear. Alex gave a little nod, before pushing her face into the crook of Justin's neck. Teresa found it baffling that she saw the traits she thought she had gotten rid of showing through her two of her three children – but it seemed that when Alex really was at a time of need, she needed no one else but her big brother Justin.

Neither seemed to notice that their mother was watching them.

Things went back to normal after that. Everything turned into a routine, and it nearly scared Teresa how quickly their children were to forget how they were before the age of ten. She guessed it was for the best.

Alex would get into trouble and Justin would try to help her and fix things. He found solace in the fact that he was seemingly better at fixing magical issues than Alex; and she hated that he underestimated her and eventually found him helping her distasteful to the point where she'd try and fix it on her own. That splintered the rest of their relationship.

They begin tearing each other apart very quickly. Teresa sometimes regretted what she did to them, but found it easier to manage all three of her children. Max liked collecting things and experimenting with food while Justin was content with books and Alex liked sketching and playing with Harper after school.

Then Alex turned fifteen and Justin turned sixteen. Teresa saw nothing wrong after that. It was normal. She did however, notice how insanely jealous Alex would become when Justin took sudden interest in girls, or vice versa. When Harper began to comment on Justin looking "cute" or "hot" Alex couldn't help but pull a face and pretend that she wasn't listening. It would be normal for siblings to act disgusted that way – but not like Alex. Not in the tinge of jealousy across her face when Justin met that girl on WizFace, or talked about that cute girl in his Biology class.

Teresa simply hoped that her children wouldn't do the wrong thing. But deep down, she knew that eventually that day would come when the consequences would take its toll on both her eldest, naïve children.

It would happen and she would be damned if it didn't.