More Than Moonlight

The October night was cold and foggy. A singular street lamp was the only source of light for the entire street. Willow stumbled up the stairs to her grandmother's attic. The full moon shined bright, casting light through the small circular window of the tiny room. As she walked into the room, she reached for a light on the ceiling, pulling the string, the lightbulb flickered, before dimly lighting the room.

The wind pushed a branch against the window, making a knocking sound, startling Willow. She let out a small shriek and walked across the room to investigate the noise. Realizing it was just a branch, she calmed down. Glancing outside at the beautiful picture painted, orange and yellow leaves, fog filling the air, the stars glowing bright next to the moon, she loved this time of year. Regaining her focus, she turned from the window, tripping over piles of boxes on the ground, filled with her grandmother's belongings.

She began the task she came into the attic for, going through her late grandmother's things. She bends over to reach for a box, and her long blonde hair falls in front of her face, she lets out a frustrated sigh and quickly smoothes it into a ponytail, then reaches for a box labeled "pictures." Willow flips through the pictures, thoroughly examining each one, smiling as she looks back on her grandma's life. As she goes through box after box, finding things like jewelry and items she remembered from her childhood. She felt closer to her grandma through her things. Suddenly Willow felt an urge, like it was pulling her towards something.

Willow set down the box she had just finished rummaging through and walked to a large box in the corner of the room. She opened the box slowly, the top was some old books she remembered her grandmother loved. She continued to dig through the box until she reached a large brown book. Her hands reached down and she picked it up. Covered in dust, she wiped off the cover, reading the words underneath. Griffin. Her family name.

Intrigued, Willow opened the book, releasing the musky smell into the air. The book falls open to the natural crease in the spine. Her eyes skimmed the paper as she flipped through the pages. Images of potion bottles and ingredients, languages she couldn't read, plants and herbs she remembered from her grandmother's garden. She was confused, yet interested in what the book contained. She tried to look away but her eyes were glued to the book. Finally, she flipped to the last page, where a singular phrase stood out to her, Salem Witches.

Willow's palms grew sweaty and she dropped the heavy book onto the ground. The sound of it hitting the floor echoed throughout the old Victorian house, dust flew from all surfaces before resettling on the ground. Willow froze in place, the house was so quiet, she heard her heart thumping with anxiety. Gathering her thoughts she bent down to pick the book back up. She slowly reopened it to the first page, where she saw her grandmother's handwriting. Hazel Griffin's Grimoire it read, in a script that felt very immature to Willow, as if it was written by an adolescent version of her grandma.

Grimoire? Willow wondered. Her stomach turned as if her world had flipped upside down. Why did her grandma have a giant book relating to the Salem witches? What was a grimoire? Thoughts swirled like a hurricane in her head, trying to piece together the puzzle it seems her grandmother left her.

With the new knowledge she had about her grandmother's life, she turned back to the other boxes she'd abandoned. Digging through the first box she saw, she searched for more clues pointing towards her recent discovery. She found dried flowers she remembers helping her pick from her garden, but with a further look, Willow notices that each of the flowers is written in the Grimoire, they each have different, magical properties she'd never known about.

***

Hours passed since Willow uncovered her grandma's secret. She explored every inch of the boxes stored in the attic, twice. She had a new understanding of her grandmother, and every moment they had spent together. The bond she'd felt towards her grandma only felt stronger, though there was a sadness in the fact that she couldn't have found this out sooner, before her grandma passed.

Opening the Grimoire back up, she read a simple spell for levitation. Following the instructions she made a stray leaf she must have brought in from her shoes, float. She couldn't believe her eyes, she had magic. Out of nowhere Willow felt the earth shake beneath her. She stumbled a few steps before balancing herself upright. The piles of her grandma's things on the floor were dispersed throughout the room. Her head felt dizzy and she heard a call from downstairs.

"Willow!" It was her dad, Gabriel. She heard a sense of urgency in his voice that was foreign to her.

"Dad?" She called back, "Is everything okay?" She opened the attic door and quickly proceeded down the stairs. At the bottom she was met with her distraught father.

"There is something you need to know," He shifted his body weight. Willow could almost read his mind. He took a deep breath before he parted his mouth again, "Our family is special."

Willow took a step back from her dad. Did he know this whole time? She couldn't help but wonder if he could have kept something so big from her.

She was impatient waiting for his explanation, "We're witches," she blurted out. Her dad's face dropped. She turned around and ran back up the stairs. Inside the attic, she retrieved the Grimore and returned to her dad at the bottom of the steps. "I found this in grandma's old stuff." She shoved the book in his hands. "Explain."

Gabriel sighed and looked Willow right in the eyes. "I'm sorry, I know this is important, and none of us should have kept it from you," He paused and put his hand on his head in distress, he turned around and walked away from Willow, towards the bedroom Willow had at her grandma's house. "But there is a lot I don't have time to discuss right now." He shouted from inside the room.

Willow's forehead creased with confusion. Walking to the room she'd known for so long she saw her father grabbing her stuff and packing it up.

"Dad please tell me," her eyes began to pool with tears, "what's going on." She searched her fathers face, trying to understand the point he was trying to make.

"We are a very powerful family. When you found your grandma's Grimoire, your power uncovered, dangerous people are going to come after our family," He continued shoveling clothes into her backpack. "I promise I will tell you everything," He zippered the backpack and tossed it to Willow, "But we need to leave. Now."