Some families have sapphire blue eyes; some might all grow up to be gardeners or doctors, while others have an innate affinity for music. My family? We're witches. Not witches in the nonsensical cackling, broom wielding monstrosities that has become the stereotype. Each of us are human beings, just like you, except we have magic intertwined with our life's energy, sort of akin to chakra or "chi". It is passed down to all members of our bloodline with no exceptions. My family has descended from one of the most prestigious bloodlines, the Callaway Witches.
My name is Derek Callaway and I'm 21 years old. So some facts about me other than my enchanted heritage... Well I'm a Sagittarius, not that it matters, I don't believe in Astrology anyway, I love to sing but I suck at it and I want to own my own restaurant when I grow up. I'm currently studying at a culinary institute while still living at home.
I have a twin sister, Gwen (short for Gwenevere, why she gets to have the cool name, I don't know), who can be both unbelievably annoying and incredibly trustworthy. We both are considered to be tall and have dark, almost blue black hair, with blue eyes. She's the only member of my family who knows my darkest secret. You might think it would be the magic thing but, in actual fact, it's that I'm gay. I realised this quite early in life. She was the first person I told, though it may not have been needed to be said. Since then she's been trying to hook me up with every seemingly gay male in sight. So far her efforts have been for nought.
Magic, though powerful, is not infinite. One cannot predict the future beyond normal intuition but we can gaze upon the past at our will. This nifty trick came in handy when my English Lit professor asked us to write a novel based in the old South, well old for me, in the 1960's. So far any knowledge I had regarding the subject had come from reading "The Help". That Minnie cracked me up. So I decided to try a Retrovision Spell, I swear, that's a real thing. I didn't think that my parents would condone such a blatant abuse of magic but this was more fun than spending hours researching the days of yesteryear.
Unlike traditional views of witchcraft, we don't require rhyming couplets or a wand to perform sorcery. We channel our energy into ancient words, the meaning of which is now forgotten (I won't bore you with details). So after writing the ancient runes on my mirror I let the magic flow through me accessing a window into the past. So here's the thing about the Retrovision Spell, you can choose a time and space to view but only if you've been there before. I chose an old holiday ranch in Texas that we'd stayed at as kids. Once the spell had been activated I knew something had gone wrong.
***
Jonathan Arlington was 23 years old in the summer of 1962. His father was the owner of the Arlington Horse Ranch, which was to be his inheritance due to his status as an only child. His life had been unremarkable until then. His attended the local schools and was now acting as ranch hand on his father's land, learning the tools of the trade. As the sun glowered overhead, Jonathan wiped the sweat off his golden skin, a tan well earned from toiling in the sun all day.
