Selena had been spent the entire weekend reading her great-great-great-great-great grandmother’s journal. It amazed her just how alike they were. When Sophia first discovered her powers, she was scared to death. But there was something that Sophia had that Selena did not. Someone that understood what she was going through. Someone to help her learn to control her powers. From what she had read, Sophia’s mother had been a witch as well. Selena envied her great-great-great-great-great grandmother that. In this day and age, finding someone to help her would be impossible. While her own mother had studied the occult, she wasn’t a witch. She would not be able to teach Selena exactly what she needed to do. And she needed help badly. With each day, her powers were growing stronger and even more unpredictable. Just that morning, she had shattered the bathroom mirror when she had stared at it too hard. Enough was enough. She decided that even if her mom could not really help, she needed to talk to her.

It took only ten minutes for Selena to arrive at her parents’ home on the outskirts of town. Her father was gone, as usual, but she sighed in relief when she spotted Melissa’s van in the small driveway. The house was a bright brick, only one story. The front porch was painted white and the door was painted a dark red. Shutting off the engine to her two-thousand and ten mustang GT, Selena walked up the sidewalk and climbed the porch steps. She reached for the door knob but the door was flung open to reveal her mother, dressed in jeans and a blue long sleeved top. With just one look at her mother, Selena broke down.

“You were right.” She flung herself into her mother’s open arms, sobbing. “Mom, I am scared and I do not know what to do!” Melissa kissed Selena’s forehead, pulling pulled her inside and closed the door behind them. Leading her to the calico couch, she both women sat.

“I know, sweetie. And I wish I knew how to help.” Mother held child close Mother and child held each other, Melissa doing her best to comfort her daughter. Placing her hand on Selena’s chin, she made it so they were looking eye to eye. “And as much as I want to keep this from you, you need to know. There is something else I did not tell you, Lena.” Melissa paused, unable to find the words. Selena frowned up at her mother, worried.

“What is it, Mom? What could possibly be worse than being unable to control my powers?” Her voice wavered with fear. Her mother grasped her hands gently and bowed her head.

“Long ago, a witch put a curse on the Grey family. No female descendant of Sophia Grey would live past their twenty-first birthday. It was her revenge on Sophia, who had mothered a child from the man she loved.” Melissa reaches for another leather bound journal that rested on the end table. “In eighteen fifty two, Sophia was banished from her hometown of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Banished for using dark magic on one of her own coven sisters. This journal is the sister to the other one I gave you. This one tells of her life from the time she was banished to the day right before she died. My darling Selena. I have done much research into the Grey family curse. Every direct female descendant of your great-great-great-great-great grandmother has died on their twenty-first birthday.” Selena let out a sob. How could her life get any worse? First, she was found out that she was a witch. Now, she was told that she would die on her twenty-first birthday.

“But, Mom. That is only twenty-eight days away.” Eyes wide in fear, tears poured down her cheeks. “I can not die. Not yet. There has to be a way to fix this. To break the curse!” She watched as her mother shook her head.

“When I found out I was pregnant with you, I searched. Both your father and I Your father and I both searched for a way to break the curse. We could not find anything.” She Melissa pulled her daughter into her arms, holding gently rocking her. God, it was not fair. “You are the last remaining female descendant of Sophia Grey, Selena. You are the first witch born to this family since Sophia was banished. Maybe there is hope.” She whispered in her daughter’s ear.