Not as it seems

Chapter 6: You're sure?

"You're sure it was him" Braxton asked for the fifth time since I told him. "Yes" I groaned. I was sitting on the living room couch. Braxton paced in front of me with his arms folded across his chest. He had a look of concentration mixed with worry written on his face.

I watched him silently as I played with the charm bracelet on my wrist. My mom had given me this charm bracket for my 13th birthday, I've never taken it off. The only charms on the bracelet, was a picture of me and her, and then a turtle.

It was basic but I didn't get much time with her before she was gone. "I have an idea" he said, stopping dead in his tracks. He looked at me with wide excited eyes. He started walking towards the kitchen. I stood up and decided to follow.

Our garage was connected to the kitchen by a door next to the kitchen sink. There were counters to the left of the sink. The counters went the the corner, the corner counter was next to the fridge. In the middle of the kitchen was an island. On the other side of the island was our small circular dining room table. Around the table we're three wooden chairs. We use to have five, but it was a horrible smack in the face every time they were empty.

Braxton led me out the garage, I closed the door behind me. "Brax?" I asked confused, looking around. "It's out here somewhere" he mumbled looking through some boxes that were stacked up against the far wall. "What are you doing" I asked. He honestly looked kinda crazy the way he was digging through the boxes.

"Ah-hah" he shouted proudly. He pulled parts of a rubber dummy out of the box. He assembled the dummy. It was one of those weird muscular ones that people use, like karate class. I watched him, confused on where he was going with this.

"You're going to destroy this dummy" he smiled, slapping the back of it's head. "Why would I do that" I asked looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"So you at least no what spells to use when it's time to face him. Duh"

I nodded, sighing. Spells were weird, you didn't really say anything, you just thought it and it happened. Which obviously is the part I need training. The last thing I need is to get scared and throw flowers at him. I grabbed my wand out of my backpack, tossing the bag against the wall. I walked over to Braxton, sighing heavily.

"Great! Now. What is the first thing you wanna do to this dummy" he asked stepping back. I scrunched my eye brows before waving my wand. Suddenly the rubber dummy was dressed just like the man. Braxton stared at me confused for a moment. "You put clothes on it?" He asked, unsure if he had missed something.

"This is how that guy dresses. I thought it would make it feel more realistic" I muttered, shrugging. Braxton nodded. "Now, this man is approaching you, ready to battle. What is your next move" he asks intensely.

I swung my wand before thinking, closing my eyes. "Victoria... What" Braxton trailed. I opened my eyes and saw the dummy wrapped in thorn vines. "I've never actually seen this! This is amazing" he said enthusiastically, pumping his fist into the air.

I smiled at my small success. "Now" Braxton waved his wand at the dummy. The thorns had disappeared without a trace, it was as if they were never around the dummy in the first place. "It's possible you may miss, let's try again" he waved his wand and the dummy started moving sideways, faster and faster. I looked at him with complete panic. "It's okay. I'll repair anything that gets broken" he laughed.

I pointed my wand at the very quickly moving dummy. I waved my wand and immediately felt disappointed in myself. Flowers began to sprout out of the rubber. "At least you didn't miss" Braxton point out. "You're not going to be an expert at this right off the ba-"

"Oh this is hopeless" I shouted in annoyance. "No, wait a second" he looked closer at the flowers. "This is foxglove" he said smiling widely. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Why is that a good thing?" I asked with annoyance still laced in my voice. "Foxglove is poisonous to humans"

I looked from him to the dummy in surprise. I walked closer and peered down at the flowers. "You're catching on really fast. I'm so proud of you" he smiled, pulling me into a hug. I smiled, hugging him back.

"Hey V, sorry to interrupt your training but someone is here to see you. He says it's urgent" Ashton said, stepping into the garage. "He?" I asked confused. Ashton nodded, I walked into the house and to the front door. I hid my wand behind my back just in case it was someone else. I opened the door to see the cute boy from next door. He looked at me panicked. "You need to leave, now. He's coming for you."