Shattered Worlds

The first thing Veronica did was search for other witches around her age who were not Leta. She still hadn't forgiven her friend for ditching her. There was just no way Veronica was going to talk to a traitor like her. She was so sure she could find other witches who would want to be her friend.

What was there not to like about her?

Unfortunately, reality seemed to think otherwise.

Why is there no one my age here?

Veronica wanted to tear her hair out when she saw another group of witches, who were clearly adults, in the distance.

So far, she had yet to encounter anyone who wasn't a grown up in this giant mansion. It was like the other kids were purposely avoiding her, but that couldn't be true. Veronica wasn't carrying her baby sister with her this time. They had no reason to avoid her since her baby sister wasn't getting in the way.

Besides, how would they know she was coming?

She could have been another witch roaming the halls. Unless she was somehow giving off some kind of vibe that let them know in advance to steer clear, it didn't make any sense.

Ignoring the looks the group was throwing her way, Veronica took a detour to avoid them. She walked down the hall, lost in her thoughts.

The whole situation left her with a bad taste in her mouth. This party was supposed to be fun and exciting. She and Leta were supposed to hang out and do stuff together, having the time of their lives.

What kind of stuff were they supposed to do?

Well, she wasn't quite sure. It wasn't like the other witches had advertised what went on at these parties. She only knew the bare minimum.

Something caught Veronica's eye, and she studied her surroundings, temporarily distracted from her plight. Her eyes shone as she marveled at the sights, wondering how much was bought with money and how much was made with magic.

If they were made with magic, would I be able to do it too?

Veronica reached out to touch one of the hanging lights when she heard a loud crash. She jumped, her head swerving around. There was nothing in sight, but that didn't stop her heart from pounding in her chest or her tightening her grip on her broom. After several long moments, she continued down the hall while keeping her eyes open. At the end of the path, she turned the corner and froze at the sight of broken glass strung across the floor.

"What happened here?" she muttered as she glanced towards the broken window.

She hadn't seen anyone or anything coming towards her from this direction. If she had, she would have immediately turned back. That could only mean one thing. Whoever or whatever was responsible for breaking the glass had gone in a different direction. Well, it wasn't really any of her business. She wasn't the one to break the window, and this wasn't her home.

As soon as she thought that, she glanced around to see if there was anyone else around.

Like before, she didn't see anyone, which was a huge relief. Veronica didn't want anyone to mistakenly think she was the one responsible for the broken window. It was already bad enough that no one wanted anything to do with her. She didn't want to give them more reasons to shun her.

Using her broom to brush the glass out of the way so she wouldn't step on any of it, she felt something prickle in the back of her mind.

It was only after she finished sweeping that she realized what was bugging her. In the movies, whenever a glass window was broken, the glass always ended up on the opposite side.

Veronica stared down at the glass she had swept up before slowly turning her head towards the window.

Doesn't that mean that someone broke into the mansion?

She tried to shake those thoughts out of her head because of how silly they sounded. It was simply impossible. Since the party started, no one could come in or get out of this place. That's the only reason why she hadn't been sent home, even though the other witches wanted her gone. The only people around were witches, except for her human baby sister.

Speaking of her baby sister, Veronica glanced in the direction she came from before shaking her head.

The movies must have been wrong. Maybe someone broke the window by accident—a spell gone haywire?—and ran off because they were scared of getting into trouble. Well, she wasn't going to stick around either. She wasn't going to take the fall for someone else.

Marching past the glass shards, she focused on finding the other kids. However, her mind kept wandering back to the broken window.

What if it wasn't an accident? Why would anyone want to break the window?

If someone was trying to get in, they could have just gone through the front door. No one was stopping them from coming in. They were all witches.

Everything about the situation made her skin crawl, and she hurried down the hall to find anyone. Veronica turned another corner, crashed into something, and was sent sprawling to the ground.

"Ouch!"

As she rubbed her forehead, she looked up to see what she had bumped into.

The girl in front of her scowled as she demanded, "Watch where you're going. This isn't some zoo where you can run wild like an animal."

Bristling at the girl's words, she quickly stood up and said, "You don't have to be so rude. It's not like I pushed you to the ground."

"How rude. Were you raised by beasts? You haven't even apologized for running into me."

"I was going to, but now I'm not."

The girl clicked her tongue. "Typical, but I suppose I shouldn't expect much from someone living among humans. If it were me, I would rather die than have a human family."

Die?

Veronica was instantly assaulted with thoughts of her father's accident and possible death.

"Ow!"

She stared at the girl, who had stumbled back and was glaring right back at her.

What just happened?

Staring down at her outstretched hands, Veronica realized she had just dropped her broomstick and shoved the other girl. Suddenly, the other girl rushed at her and pushed her back. Veronica stumbled, tripping over her broomstick and falling to the ground.

"If you do that again, I'm going to do more than push you to the ground," the girl snarled.

Veronica gnashed her teeth together. "At least I don't look like an idiot. Who wears their hair like drills?"

The girl gasped as she touched one of her drill pigtails. "How dare you! You wouldn't know anything about fashion, even if it hit you in the face. Look at you. You're a joke."

Scrambling to her feet, Veronica was prepared to chew the girl out when there was a loud crash. The two girls instantly flinched and looked in the direction the sound had come from. For several minutes, neither of them said a word.

The first to break the silence was the other girl. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Veronica said, picking her broomstick off the ground.

"I wasn't talking to you."

She threw a glare at the girl who ignored Veronica and marched towards where the sound had come from.

Veronica's eyes widened in surprise as she asked, "Where are you going?"

The girl stopped for a moment to flick her hair. "What do you think? I'm obviously going to investigate." At the look on Veronica's face, the girl scoffed. "Of course you're a coward too. Run away and let a real witch handle things."

As the girl walked away, she laughed mockingly. Veronica burned holes into the girl's back, but she didn't dare follow after her.

Who would walk toward the crash?

If anything, they should run away and find an adult. It would be one thing if they were humans, but they were all witches. A crash could mean anything from someone dropping a vase to someone accidentally unleashing a demon or something.

She looked back and considered going back the way she came.

Then she remembered the broken glass window. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to go back. However, she didn't have many options. She could either follow the rude girl from before and head towards the noise or walk back the way she came and possibly get accused of being the one to break the window.

Which was worse?

Well, on one hand, there was no guarantee she would bump into someone who would instantly think she broke the window. On the other hand, if there was trouble, she could use the rude girl as a decoy or shield.

After some careful thought, she hesitantly followed after the girl.

I don't like her, but she's like the only other kid I've met so far. She might know where the other kids are. It's better than roaming around this huge mansion trying to find them.

Veronica jerked to a stop and stared with wide eyes at the scene in front of her. The girl from before was being cornered by some kind of skinny creature with a skull for a head and antlers.

"Get back," the girl ordered as she waved her wand at the creature.

A ball of flames launched itself at the creature, but it easily batted it away like it was nothing. Then it shrieked before lunging at the girl. She dove out of the way as the creature crashed into the wall, sending pieces of rubble everywhere. Veronica instinctively closed her eyes and turned her head away while holding up her broomstick like a makeshift shield.

Where is everyone? How is no one hearing any of this?

She couldn't understand how none of the witches had shown up to investigate what was going on. The creature wasn't even trying to be quiet.

It pulled itself free from the wall, shaking its head. Then its eyeless sockets locked onto Veronica, who froze like a deer in headlights. Just as the creature opened its jaws, a ball of flames slammed into its face, cutting it off in mid-scream. Veronica looked away from the creature to see the girl from earlier pointing her wand at the creature.

"What are you standing around for?" the girl snapped. "Get away from there."

The girl didn't need to tell Veronica twice. She bolted towards the girl, and the duo hurried away from the scene. While the girl willingly checked over her shoulders to see if the creature was following them, Veronica didn't dare to look behind her.

If she did, she was afraid she would freeze up and trip over her feet.

After what seemed like forever, the duo finally stopped running to catch their breath. Veronica leaned against the wall for support as she looked back down the hall.

The creature was nowhere to be seen.

"What was that?" Veronica muttered to herself in between pants.

The girl huffed. "Are you joking? Don't you know what a wendigo is?" When Veronica remained silent, the girl made a disgusted sound. "Of course you don't. I don't know why I bothered asking."

It's not like I know everything. I only have two years of experience.

However, instead of bringing this up and arguing with the girl, she asked, "What's it doing in the mansion? Did one of the witches bring it?"

"Obviously not," the girl snapped. "You saw how dangerous it was. No one would think to bring a wendigo to the party. The party is supposed to have a right of passage, not the time to do dangerous work."

"Rite of passage?"

"Ugh. Don't talk to me. I feel like I'm losing brain cells talking to you."

Rude.

"Will we be safe?" Veronica asked as she kept glancing in the direction of the wendigo.

Before the girl could answer, a loud crash caught their attention.