When Esadora was discharged in the early afternoon, she went home. She'd had the option of going to her classes, but she had no motivation for it, and she was way too tired to anyway. She had decided to go to her house by herself, since it was literally in view from the school, and it seemed that that decision was about to come back and bite her in the ass as she stumbled across the field of grass.

Not only was she dehydrated from the crying session she’d had, she was also very… hungry—for blood.

Here in the field, the smell was only slight, but knowing the source of the smell was at the school made her want to turn back and—no. Those were witches she was thinking about—what the hell was wrong with her? Then the thought occurred to her:

Was she turning into a vampire?

She immediately shook her head clean of that idea. She’d never heard of a witch being turned into a vampire by being bitten by one. Then again, she’d never heard of a witch’s magic disappearing because of a vampire bite, but here she was, magic gone. Muttering curses under her breath, she plodded on, pushing these thoughts to the back of her mind.

Once she entered her house, she darted up to her room, her body calling for rest. Outside her door, however, she was met with a strong scent of witch blood. Was Ezra here?

She grimaced. It was sickening to think that she would know if another witch was nearby because of this new… characteristic of hers.

With an uncomfortable sigh, she opened the door, and there he was, this time sitting on the bed instead of lying down. Sighing, she struggled to refrain from telling him to get the hell out of her room. “What are you doing here?” she asked, taking a seat next to him and beginning to breathe through her mouth.

“Not happy to see me?”

“Not particularly, no.” Esadora instantly regretted her words, grabbing Ezra’s hand as he tried to stand up. “No, don’t go! I… I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry.”

He sat back down. “It's alright, but what happened in the nurse’s office?”

Esadora grimaced. How could she break it to him?

“Oh, well, you know—just found out my magic is gone forever. No biggie.”

But it was a biggie. And it hurt to even think about. She sighed, entwining her hands on her lap and looking down at them. After a few minutes, Ezra’s hands clasped hers. Then something wet hit her hand. A tear. And another. And another. Before long, she was full on sobbing, and Ezra pulled her into his chest.

Between hiccups, Esadora told him everything that went down in the nurse’s office after he left, leaving out Ximena’s visit and how she smelled blood in the air.

Ezra petted her hair, keeping quiet. And she was glad he did, because nothing could make her feel better. Nothing could right the wrong that’d been done the night before. Ever.

In the morning, when Esadora finished getting ready for school and went downstairs, Ezra wasn’t on the couch like she expected him to be, leading her to think he must’ve left sometime earlier. It was relieving because Ximena would throw a fit if she found out he’d slept at her house last night, after the fight that happened two days ago.

With a sigh, she made her way to the dining table where, as anticipated, her mother sat. When Esadora stepped in, she looked up from the book she’d been reading and smiled.

“Good morning,” she said. Then she gestured at the two plates of food on the table, one almost finished. “I made us both some breakfast.”

Esadora blinked. Rubbed her eyes. Was this really her mother speaking? She pinched herself, hard, but there her mother still sat, a patient smile gracing her face.

“Come sit.” Her mother nodded at the seat next to her.

“Okay,” Esadora said hesitantly, making her way over to her.

Once she was seated, her mother's happy smile turned into a melancholy one, but neither of them said a thing, silently eating their food in a silence filled tension.

This went on for what seemed to be such a long time that Esadora jumped when her mother began speaking, almost dropping her spoon.

“You know, Esadora, I don't mean to push you away. I do care about you, and I wish you wouldn't doubt me on that, but I also know it's my fault. Ever since your father's death, everything's changed. I work with the Chamber now, and because of that, have grown distant with you.”

She paused, glancing over to see Esadora's confused expression. She let out a humorless laugh. “I'm sorry. This doesn't make any sense, does it? I'm really just rambling at this point.” She sighed. “I guess what I'm really trying to say is, not everything is quite as it seems. I know I don't spend enough time with you, and saying I have reasons for that isn’t going to help anything, but it’s the truth. I have reasons as to why I don’t spend much time with you, and I can’t tell you them—but I can tell you that I love you. If there’s nothing else you take away from what I’m saying, I hope you know how much I love you, even if I don’t show it often enough. But I love you, more than anything else in this entire world. And I will always, always, be on your side.”

She stopped, looking down with such a despair ridden face that Esadora couldn't help but feel sorry for the woman. “Enjoy your breakfast, and have a nice day at school.” Standing up, she took her plate, dropped it in the sink, and left the dining room.

Dazed, Esadora muttered a small “yeah,” even though she knew she couldn't hear her. That was more than her mother had spoken to her in a long time, besides the day before. And her apology had sounded real, with a tone that made her sound like she was about to cry. But the rest of it… Esadora wasn't sure what she'd meant about everything not being as it seemed. What exactly had she been talking about? What wasn't as it seemed?

But she pushed these thoughts back, smiling as she remembered that her mom had told her that she loved her. Though Esadora wasn't ready to forgive for the years upon years of not being a mother, she now thought of her mom a little differently. After all, it wasn't just Esadora going through things. Her mom's husband had died, and she worked in the Chamber—no doubt she was stressed, maybe even depressed—whereas, Esadora had no real responsibilities other than school and could barely even remember her father. She could stand to, at least, sympathize with her mother.

Once she had finished her breakfast and put away her plate, she took off to school.

Almost.

Then she remembered her mother was still inside and opened back up the front door, calling out, “Uh, I'm, uh, leaving and… I just wanted to tell you that, so… byehaveaniceday!” She slammed the door shut without waiting for a response, hopping off the porch.

She sprinted toward her school, face flushed. For some reason, she was terribly embarrassed, even though all she’d said was goodbye to her mother. It struck her as strange, she supposed, when she’d not done it in years. But now… things had changed. Just two days ago, she’d been bitten by a vampire, causing her to lose her magic. And only then, only then, did her mother say any slightly meaningful words to her. Only then, did she truly try to reconnect with her… because she lost her magic.

She halted fast, nearly losing her balance, but if she was being honest, she didn’t care.

Just like her mother didn’t.

If it wasn’t for Esadora having lost her magic, her mom never would’ve said a thing. So had anything really changed beside her losing her magic? Had she gained anything?

No.

She had only lost something very dear to her.

Forget her mother—what about her magic?

It was gone.

Thoughts of the like tormenting her, she dragged her feet the rest of the way to school, staring at the ground as she converged with other students. When she entered the school, however, she forced her head high; after all, who even knew if her magic was gone forever? And how could a mere vampire take her magic away? She shook her head, a small smile forming on her face. What a ridiculous idea.

She beamed upon seeing Ezra at her locker.

“Hey,” she said.

He grinned. “Hey. What’s got you so happy?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“Well…” he trailed off, a sheepish expression coming over his face.

She lightly punched his shoulder. “C’mon, tell me!”

Several punches later, he finally looked back at her, grabbing her hand as she attempted to hit him again. “Okay, fine! You might not be happy about it though.”

“I doubt that.”

“Whatever you say,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, the reason I’m so happy is that… um… so, a few days ago, I asked Ximena out on a date, and we scheduled it for today, after school.”

Esadora squinted. “This was -”

“Before your fight, I swear! And I don’t - I’m not - I hope you’re not mad. I mean, I like Ximena, but if you don’t want me to go, I won’t.”

She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Are you crazy? No, you’re going, and that’s final.”

He blinked. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I would never stop you from dating anyone, even if that someone is Ximena.” She said her name with such emphasis that even she herself was surprised, only now realizing how much resentment she held for the girl.

“You’re mad.” A statement, not a question.

“No, I… I just don’t like her!”

“Right. But you’re still mad. Are you mad at me?”

She huffed, glaring at the floor. “No, of course not.”

“Then what?”

“Nothing.” She turned to her locker, and he sighed.

“Okay, fine. But you’ll tell me later, right?”

She snorted. “I’ll tell you nothing because there’s nothing to tell.”

He smiled. “If you say so. Now, do you know how to open your locker?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve only ever seen you open and close it with magic, and… you know.”

She nodded, smiling a little about how he didn’t want to say it directly. The smile disappeared, however, when she realized what he was talking about. When she’d started middle school, she dedicated a good amount of time figuring out what kind of spell would open and close her locker without her having to put in the combination. After figuring it out, she never opened her locker with the combination again. This year, she hadn’t even bothered learning it. She sighed, directing her gaze at the floor when tears built up in her eyes. When had she become such a crybaby?

“Hey,” she heard Ezra say from beside her. “Are you okay?”

She blinked away her tears before looking up at him. “I’m fine. Just don’t know how to open my locker.”

“Do you know your combination?”

“Nope.”

Ezra let out a breath, running his hands through his hair. “Come on. You’re using my locker.” He set a brisk pace to his locker, and she sped-walk to follow.

She worried that he was annoyed with her until she saw the slight twitch of his lips. She soon found herself smiling as well, though for what reason, she couldn’t imagine.

After her second pace, Esadora felt a little worn out, as people had been coming to her with questions and supportive comments all day, but overall, she felt good. It was nice knowing people actually cared about her.

And the good mood stayed… until they showed up.

The Classy Quartet was what Esadora called them. First up, Sacha Grimm. With muddy hair and observant eyes, it could be safely assumed that they only kept her around to gather information for them, or look out for teachers whenever they decided to bully someone. Then there was Josephine Widdleburg, the chatterbox—she was a natural beauty, and naturally popular as well. Not only was she pretty, but she specialized in controlling people with her magic. It clearly came easy to her, which led Esadora to believe she’d had a fair amount of practice. Next up was Keevare Shade, who Esadora had spoken to on many occasions. What she lacked in looks, she made up with a fiery personality and incredible magic, which was what Esadora liked about her. She didn’t back down from a fight. They’d even been friends up until high school, when Keevare had met Fidelia Paige, the leader of them all.

Though not ever speaking with her, Esadora knew a great deal about her, mostly through the rumor mill. It was said that she was easy to get along with, unless you got on her bad side, which some people did by simply existing. And she could easily put thoughts into someone’s head, sometimes make them black out with a simple snap of her fingers.

Esadora had always avoided them at all costs. But now it looked as if they were coming straight for her.

She quickly turned her head away, mentally banging her head against the locker. Why couldn’t she have been faster about getting her things? The hallways were basically cleared out, save for a few students heading to lunch. And even these students could see what was about to happen, glancing from the Classy Quartet to Esadora before hastily moving on.

Smart people.

Esadora shoved the last of her notebooks into her locker, hurrying on to the lunch room. However, just when she was about to turn the corner, something that felt like a shoe kicked her in the back, shoving her forward so hard that her face almost smashed against the wall; she stuck out her hands at the last second, wincing as they smacked into the wall. Not wasting a second, she swiveled around, then gasped as she saw who it was.

Sacha?

Said girl giggled and stepped back. “What? Surprised I’m so strong? Well, after you gave me that unreasonably harsh asswhooping in class, I decided to get stronger so I could show you what pain really feels like. Not that it matters anymore, since you’re weaker than, like, everyone now.”

Esadora blinked back tears and mustered up a sneer, taking in a sharp breath. “Still butthurt about that? It was a class activity - what did you expect?”

She barely had a second to breathe before Sacha gripped her collar and slammed her against the wall, red-faced. “How dare you talk to me like that, like your better than me? In case you hadn’t noticed, your days of arrogance are fucking over!” She shoved her one last time before letting go as the rest of them surrounded her.

Esadora pressed herself closer to the wall, crossing her arms. How had she even gotten into this situation?

Keevare had averted her eyes, Josephine had her usual sadistic smile on, and Fidelia stepped up to her, smirking.

“I heard about happened, Esadora. Are you okay?”

She opted to stay silent, knowing full well that Fidelia couldn’t care less about how she felt.

She jumped when Fidelia’s hand slammed against the wall next to her head. “It’s rude not to answer when some asks you a question.” She paused, tapping her finger against her chin. “Or are you mute now? On top of being human, you’re suddenly mute? Oh, that’s” - Her eyes narrowed - “ridiculous.

“You used to talk big shit when you were at the top, but now that you’ve dropped to the bottom, you want to act like you were never high to begin with. But I won’t let you forget about how much of a piece of shit you were, and how much of a piece of shit you still are! No - it’s unfair to everyone else.”

She took a few steps back, glancing at the other three girls. “Let’s teach her a lesson, shall we?”