A Witches Heart by Lisa Marie McDonagh (best short novels of all time .txt) 📕

subject of our conversation said as I open the door.  
"Hey Daren, let's go." Before my aunt can embarrass me, I added in my head. 
"Have fun on your date," Aunt Lyn called just before I shut the door. Well I guess I asked for it...  
I blushed and he laughed. "Is there something I should know," he teased. 
"No, my aunt is... just... interesting. Ignore her." 
He laughed. "If you say so.... Oh, you look beautiful today," he commented. 
"Thanks, but this isn't something I would normally wear." I blushed an even deeper shade of red. I was having trouble finding clothes that were washed, so I had ended up wearing an outfit that my aunt had bought me when I moved to Seattle. I was wearing a deep blue dress that had a v-neck and went down to just below my ankles. I also had a jacket on. Apparently, this week had been abnormally warm for December; in the sixties and the sun was out. But this wasn't so bad for me, because all year the temperature in Santa Anna ranged from an average of about fifty-five degrees in the winter to seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit in the summer; I was used to the cold.  
It was the rain that I hated, that combined with the wind was just miserable. I was used to cold, but not rain, definitely not rain.  
Daren opened my door for me and I got into his car. "So why are we going to the park?" I questioned. 
"Well no one seams to go to the park anymore, everyone just thinks that it's only for younger kids," he explained. "But I love the park, the wild life, to watch the kids playing; I think it's just so relaxing." 
I laughed, "Sounds good to me." We ended up going to the park that was by my house. I sat on a swing while he was on the ground writing in some book. "What are you doing?" 
"Oh, nothing," he said, blushing slightly. 
I got up and sat beside him, he hid it from my view. "Oh, please, oh please, oh please," I whined, sounding like a four-year-old. 
He laughed, "You sound so cute when you whine." 
"Cute enough to see what's in your notebook?" 
"Hmm, let me think, close, but no." I pouted, but when I thought he was distracted, I snatched the notebook from him and ran into the trees and climbed the closest one I could find. "Hey, give it back!" he protested and ran after me. But he couldn't find me up in the trees.  
 
Daren: 
"What are you doing?" she said suddenly. She had been so quiet while she swung slightly back and forth, I had wondered if she had forgotten that I was there. 
"Oh, nothing," I lied, trying to hide my embarrassment. 
She got up and sat on the ground beside me, but I didn't want to show her my drawing, so I closed my notebook. "Oh, please, oh please, oh please," She begged, then she had the cutest expression on her face and she gave me puppy-dog eyes, it was so hard to say no to her. 
I laughed, "You sound so cute when you whine." 
"Cute enough to see what's in your notebook?" 
I thought about that, way cuter than that, but I wasn't planning on telling her that. "Hmm, let me think, close, but no." She started to pout, and then she suddenly grabbed my sketchbook and ran into the tress. I sat there for a second, dumbfounded. "Hey, give it back!" I shouted, and ran after her, but I couldn't find her. 
"It's your fault," her voice came from above me; I turned to see her high up in a tree, "You wouldn't let me see it." 
"So you found the need to take it?" 
She smirked, "Whatever it takes." Then she frowned, "C-could I please see it?" 
I sighed, "Go ahead, but come down first, I don't like you up there."  
"Okay." She climbed all the way down to a branch that was about level with my head, and then jumped from there to the ground.  
"Shesh, trying to kill yourself?" I chastised her.  
"Maybe," she said, innocently. She sat down at the base of her tree then opened my notebook. Her expression softened. "Y-you drew this," she whispered, awe present in her voice. 
"Yeah," I looked down embarrassed. When she was lost in her own world on the swing, I had been drawing her; she had just looked so beautiful with the way that the sun shinned down on her face that I couldn't resist. 
"It's so good. You have a gift," her voice was still very gentle. 
"I don't know," I mumbled, "You look much better in real life." 
She snorted. "I don't. This- this is amazing, do you think that you could draw me another one?" 
"Sure." She handed me back my sketchbook and I sat down across from her and started to draw.  
"Um, what should I do?" Now she sounded so self-conscious that I couldn't help but laugh.  
"Nothing really." Just sit there and look like your usually stunning self, I added mentally. 
"Oh, okay." She was quiet for a few minutes before she continued. "You should really be an artist you know. Oh, sorry for distracting you..." she blushed; I decided to add that to the drawing. 
"It's fine and I want to, but my parents don't think that that's a very good career choice," I scowled.  
"Oh, my parents don't- didn't exactly approve of my choice either."  
"What do you want to be?"  
"A writer, I love to read, so I thought writing would be the best thing to do with my life, but they said that it was too... risky, that I could waste a lot of my time and never get published." 
"What do they want you to be?" I asked as I put the finishing touches to my drawing. 
"I don't know and I guess I never will," her breathing hitched and I looked up to see her holing back tears. Then I remembered my mom saying something about her parents.... 
"Katheren, wha-what's wrong?" I didn't know what to do. 
"My parents," she whispered, and then I tear rolled down her cheek. 
I whipped the tear from her face with my thumb then enveloped her in a hug. "What about them?" 
"They- they were killed in a fire, when I was in eighth grade. I should have prevented it, it was my fault they died," she sobbed. 
"It wasn't your fault." 
"Yes, yes it was." 
"Could you tell me what happened, then I can tell you if it was your fault or not?" 
She took a deep breath, but kept her face buried in my chest as she spoke. "My friend, May, had invited me to sleepover for the weekend. I was excited, I didn't get invited over to people's houses very often, so this was a big thing for me. But right before I left the house, I got this really bad feeling, like something terrible was going to happen. But when I told my mom, she just gave me a wry smile and said not to worry about anything, that I was just worried about the sleepover. 
"Then, the next morning, the police had called May's house and told her mom that my house was burnt down last night, and that they believed my parents were inside. When she told me this, I didn't believe her; I insisted that she took me home that moment to put all of this nonsense to rest. But-" Katheren's voice broke, but she cleared her throat and continued. "The house- well there was no house; it was just a black pile of ashes with a basement. The basement was the only thing that was relatively undamaged. I broke down then and there, on the sidewalk, balling my eyes out. 
"A few days later, the funeral was held. Since it everything was in ashes, there were no bodies-" her voice broke again, "The only things that I had were the things that had survived the fire, in other words, various objects form the basement, and my mother's necklace."  
Her hand clutched something and I was able to see the necklace that she was talking about, it was a simple crystal heart on a chain, but as I looked closer, I was able to see protection spells woven into the metal chain of a necklace. This was my proof that she was a witch, but the question now was, did there parent's tell her before they were killed. But why hadn't it protected her mom then? This one was more than powerful enough to handle a fire, so why didn't it save her, unless she was attacked by warlocks, Katheren's mom should be alive now. Is that what truly happened, I wondered, were they killed by warlocks then the warlocks covered their tracks by making it look like a house fire? Or did her parent's fake their own deaths after a warlock attack, or fled to keep their only daughter safe? I didn't know now, but I had every intention of finding out. 
"I was sent to my grandparents for a year," she continued, "but then they decided that they were too old to be raising kids anymore. So they sent me to my dad's sister; that's how I ended up here." 
"So how is this your fault?" I asked confused.  
She buried her face deeper into my chest. "I knew something was wrong, that something was going to happen, and I left them, I left them alone and they died! I should have stayed or I should have insisted that something was wrong so that- that-" she started sobbing again before she could finish. "It's all entirely my fault!" 
"No, it's not; you couldn't have prevented that fire." Or if they truly were attacked by warlocks, you couldn't have stopped those either. "It's not your fault and you should stop blaming yourself. And I am glad that you hadn't stayed," I whispered. 
"Why?" she asked, finally sitting up, to look at my face.  
I whipped the remaining tears from her eyes. "Because then I never would have met you." 
Part of her mouth raised into a sad smile. "Thanks," she said as she gave me a quick peck on the cheek, "I needed that." 
I was so stunned-and ecstatic- by her little kiss- even though I was just on the cheek- that all I could do was nod like an idiot. Then she shivered slightly. "Come on, let's get back to the car," I grabbed her hand and helped her up. 
"Wait," she let go one my hand and reached down to grab my sketchbook. "You almost forgot this." 
"God, that would suck, thanks," I said. I ripped out the picture that I had finished for her earlier. "And I do believe this is yours." 
She smiled. "I like this one even more than the one you drew of my on the swing, but maybe because I knew you were drawing this one." Then she squinted and brought it closer to her face. "Am I blushing?" 
I smiled, "In the picture, yes, in real life, you weren't until I said that." We both laughed. "Come on, I am taking you to lunch," I told her, then grabbed her hand and dragged her to my car.

Chapter 6 
Daren: 
I ended dropping her off after lunch; her aunt wanted her for something. I decided to just go home. "Hey ma, I'm home," I yelled as I entered the house.  
"Hey Daren, how was your little outing?" as she said this, a wide smile spread across her face. 
I blushed, I knew where this was heading, and I needed to change the subject. "Great. Hey, there was something I wanted