Well, I certainly wasn’t wearing what I expected. I don’t know, guess I was thinking of some cool cloak or something. But not this.

A voice at the back of head was screeching about the fact that ‘mY CLOTHES DISAPPEARED!!!’; but I ignored it in favour for ‘OH MY GOD, WHAT AM I WEARING?!’

Well, it was reasonably obvious. It was a dress, quite similar to one I owned actually. It was silver-white in colour, with splashes of a pale red on the skirt. The torso was adorned with a flame (for whatever reason…), and the collar was red too. Almost reminiscent of a bowling pin.

I spun around a couple of times to get different views of myself before it dawned on me. The skirt was very short. Not smutty-I-flash-every time-I-move short, but definitely short enough that it was very uncomfortable for a girl who grew up wearing shorts her entire life. Guess that explains the breeze, then. At this, the nagging voice in the back of my head turned into a roar. That, plus the fact I didn’t know how I did this in the first place, let alone change back; I started to panic.

Impressively, I didn’t scream. Probably because it would upset the dog. And maybe my neighbours. Before I lost my self-control, I leapt out of the bathroom and into my parent’s bedroom opposite, backpedalled and sprinted down the hallway once more. And hit myself on the lounge room doorframe.

Fighting back crazed screams and tears now, I fumbled the book cover open, frantically flipping through for anything that might help me. Though I suppose that wasn’t actually helping me that much. Somehow, I found myself on the page I had first found when reading. I think this grounded me a little, because I didn’t have an urge to scream so much anymore.

I don’t know how long I was searching before I came upon a description of the transformation, but the fact that I could hear Diesel (probably whining for attention), meant that it was getting close to midday.

During transformation, a new set clothes will replace the ones you are currently wearing, causing them to disappear briefly before you are clothed once more.

Well that’s just great. I’m completely naked while transforming. What is this, some bad anime?

It is the same whilst transforming back. To begin my transformation, I found it best to feel as if I were changing costumes for a play, as I am an actress, however, I have read different methods for other witches. Most common is visualising changing clothes, which is used for both transformations.

I barely had to close my eyes and imagine that before I felt the tell-tale whoosh that meant I was transforming. Oh thank god. That was a lot easier than I thought, well, now that I fixed that (and confirmed that I can actually use magic, yay!), I can get started on the rest of the book.

I wasted no time to start reading. This time, I was actually going to start from the beginning. The very first witch. Or at least the first one to record her existence. The date recorded was 13th day of the 7th month, 873 BC. She seemed to be someone of importance, some type of leader. Or related to them, it wasn’t clear. Wait a sec, concubine, she was a concubine… ok then. To someone called Shoshone II. I’ll have to Google him later.

Apparently, to avoid her, ahem, duties. She would create a double of herself to perform them for her, while she did more important more important tasks. In this case, said tasks were researching potions and training with the army. Apparently she helped train the elite guard who protected the current pharaoh. I guess she was pretty badass.

She described doubling as ‘her natural power’, probably that special ability each witch has or something. But she also created a spell to achieve the same effect. The spell had to be performed in front of a mirror in front of a mirror. It could be performed verbally, but was more effective when written.

This sounds great. Maybe I could use this to get out of school. Oh, but then I would feel guilty ‘cause Tara still has to go. Guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it, for now, I’m trying it out.

This time, my trip down the hall wasn’t as frenzied. I turned left at the end into my parent’s bedroom, with a floor-to-ceiling mirror. I looked around, trying to gauge how much room I’d need. There would be two of me soon, after all. Eventually, I decided to move the chest at the end of the bed and kick away some lingering shoes of my Mum’s. Let’s get this started.

I realised I didn’t have anything to write with on the mirror that wasn’t permanent, so I decided to go with the verbal option. I have no idea why I could suddenly read Egyptian, but I’m guessing it has something to do with the Allspeak thing I read about earlier.

Ok, here goes nothing.

EGYPTIAN: “My mirror image, I grant you a body of your own to come forth in my place.”

My reflection began to move on its own. She reached for the sides of the mirror, her fingers coming out from its surface. Large ripples occurred across the surface as the rest of her body emerged. Oh, gods above, this was weird. She looked confused. Probably because I had just gone into shock. Exactly the same. Same bed hair, same PJs, and just, same everything. And a glance at the mirror only gave me a reflection of her back. Christ, this was happening.

“Umm, just wait one sec.” Yeah, wait a sec for me to turn around and have a silent panic attack! And to make matters worse, it was just past one. Meaning Tara’s getting back from school soon.

Cue doorbell.

Ok 4. Shit, I have a double,

2. Tara is literally at the door,

3. I can do magic,

4. I just read Egyptian, and

5. I have a freaking double!?