What We Found In the Basement

Her fingernails were the colour of blood.

Olivia admired her long claw-like nails, their glossy sheen owed to the pot of nail polish sitting by the ancient TV remote. The strong smell of nail polish bit into her nose, drowning out the scent of instant coffee. She tapped her stylus against her tablet, the scratched screen filled with her riotous handwriting. The old flat-screen rumbled in the background, a news reporter droning about taxes or the share market or something equally as uninteresting.

Olivia practically jumped out of her skin as a sound radiated from the basement. She stared at the darkened door that led downstairs. 'Al!' She shouted. There was no reply.

Olivia across the room. She turned the old brass doorknob slowly, the handle resisting her pull. Beyond the set of stairs was a cavernous room, piles of boxes and old belongings stacked haphazardly along the walls and forming a maze through the room. A soft glow lit the far corner of the basement.

Olivia had been in the basement only once. She slowly crept down the stairs, being careful not to trip in the dimly lit room. In the corner was Al, delicately searching through the pages of a dusty old tome. 'What's this?' Olivia asked, standing beside her.

Al turned a pale face to her, eyes wide. 'I think I found something. A spell book.'

Olivia snatched the thick book out of Al's hands, scanning the pages. 'Why do you say that?' She spoke sharply.

But Al was already moving on to another item. 'Who was it that lived in this house before we moved in? Some ancient aunt, you said?' She lifted an object up to the light. 'Is this a...video tape?'

'VHS tape. Let me see that.' The tape was unmarked, the label on it brown with age. Olivia only frowned at it as Al flipped through the pages of the so-called spell book, her hands growing more frantic as she read the headings lining the top of the pages in large bold print.

'Olivia... Is it possible you have any...witch blood?' Olivia almost started laughing at that. Her, a witch! She couldn't even high school chemistry, and now Al was suggesting that she had the ability to make precise potions and summon objects out of nothing.

'That's ridiculous.' Her voice was hard.

'Would there be any harm in learning? You wouldn't have to learn witchcraft. You wouldn't have to tell anyone.' Her face was ghostly in the dim light, her eyes black as stone.

'Yes. There would be harm done.' If the witch council ever found out... If she was a witch. She would be taken away from her home. Taken from Al. She would no longer be training to become a lawyer. Instead she would have to learn the witch arts, and spend a very long lifetime practicing them.

She snatched the ancient book from Ali's hands, slamming it shut and shoving it behind a tall stack of boxes. She stalked back to the door, Ali trailing behind, and when they had both stepped back into the living room, she switched off the light and slammed the door shut.