Chapter 1
Josie Saltzman loved every aspect of being a witch.
Most of all, she loved every aspect of being a siphoner witch.
Lizzie hated it, she always had. Since they were old enough to understand what being a siphoner witch meant, Lizzie started to develop a resentment towards being a siphoner and having to rely on other magical things or people to give her magic. "I just want to have magic of my own without having to ask for it" She once said when they were both 8 years old and learning how to handle the power they possessed.
Josie understood her sister, she sometimes wanted to have magic of her own too like the other witches in their school. Lizzie and her were the only two siphoners in the whole school, so yeah, they stood out among the witches. No one else was like them. And honestly, they haven't met another siphoner witch besides each other.
So of course her sister would feel like that, she understood. But she also didn't share her point of view. Not now, not when she was 8 years old either, and probably would never.
Because Josie really loved being a siphoner witch. She loved the rush of energy she'd get everytime she siphoned, everytime she silently asked for the magical objects to give her some of their magic, to allow her to absorb it and when they did, when they gave their permission to be a litle bit drained directly from their magical core, Josie would get this amazing rush of unrestrained, raw and pure energy. However, Josie would get dizzy sometimes if she took a lot of magic, more than what she would be able to handle, but otherwise, she loved it.
Also, what she loved the most, was being able to see and sense the energy pulsing through the school, through every magical thing and creature living in it. She could feel it beating. Like a heart. Like a living, sleeping creature. She couldn't see it, but she knew it was there, breathing, present.
Actually, scratch that. Josie did see it.
She could see this magic just fine.
Since she was old enough to understand the world, she has always been able to see the magic.
When she was little, she remembered asking her mother why she could see magic but her mother only said with a kind, understanding:
"Because you're a siphoner witch, sweetie"
"Lizzie's a siphoner like me, and she doesn't see the magic" Josie had said.
"Lizzie is having a hard time with being a siphoner, maybe if she accepted it so easily just like you, she would see magic too" Caroline only said with a smile and then continued making them pancakes.
8-year-old Josie frowned and looked at her sister inspecting her stuffed animal with devotion. She knew her mom was wrong, because Josie was certain Lizzie didn't see magic like she did. She couldn't. If she saw magic like her, then how could she hate it? If it was so beautiful and colorful?
There was no way.
That thought stayed with her for a long, long time. While Lizzie kept developing her resentment towards siphoning, Josie could only grow to love it even more when the colors of the magic intensified and she could see it so clearly as she kept getting older and understanding more her abilities to siphon.
She almost always could see the colors of the energy she siphoned from magical things and creatures. Colors so vivid and beautiful. Colors so bright that not only made her feel happy, but the rush of energy and adrenaline she would get after siphoning would just be even more amazing. Every. Time.
So one day, her sister was awfully complaining about a class and once again, siphoning and Josie couldn't take it anymore. She had to ask. She had to make sure Lizzie couldn't see colors like she did.
When Lizzie just looked at her like she was some sort of freak and added:
"What do you mean? There's a glowing red everytime we siphon but what other colors, Jo?"
...Josie finally confirmed that she was the only one that saw other colors when siphoning. And honestly, she didn't know how to feel about that. It was strange and unsettled her but she couldn't do anything about it, she didn't have another siphoner to ask and the adults just wouldn't get it, she knew her dad wouldn't and mom wasn't around that much, her teachers never talked about other colors regarding siphoning... so Josie let it be. It wasn't like the colors were dangerous and harming her at all, no. The colors were bright and beautiful.
But then, when Josie was 13 years old, seeing colors not only appeared when she siphoned, but they appeared everywhere she looked. At first, she only thought that living in a boarding school with nothing but supernatural creatures burning with magic in their cores, she no longer needed to siphon to see the colors, but they were just there to let her know where the magic was.
And she was right. That ability just kept growing, and she was able to see the whole school pulsing with magic in a bright and intense red. The walls and floors were decorated with lines, like veins, painted in red everywhere. A well designed web of little red and orange veins pulsing throughout the whole school. Beating. Letting her know all of the magic they had. She loved it, it didn't take her long to get used to seeing the school's magic.
Then, that's when seeing colors in people happened. She would see the students glowing and shining with different colors every now and then. Like little strings of colors, vibrating with energy. And all of them had different colors. Sometimes even more than just one color. Some people shone brighter than others. And one person in particular shone the brightest of all.
She thought the same, magical creatures, magical colors. But when she saw that her dad, absolutely and completely human, also shone in a light blue color, that's when she got totally scared.
Maybe there was something wrong? What could be wrong? She was used to seeing colors, that wasn't new in her life. She has always seen colors. But seeing them in people felt strange and now, seeing them in her father, a non-supernatural creature, scared her out of her mind. Was something wrong with her?
With that thought in mind, Josie called her aunt Bonnie. The only witch she was comfortable with asking these types of things. She had never told anyone else about the colors she saw, so when her aunt told her with a little amazed laugh:
"It's totally okay, kiddo. Seeing colors is normal to humans as well. Only that some humans have that ability more developed than others"
"I don't understand aunt Bonnie, humans also see all the colors that I do?" Josie had asked, sitting in her bed, Lizzie asleep next to her, and she was worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.
Josie had been awake for hours, unable to go to sleep, and it was already past midnight. Probably Bonnie was asleep too before she called?
"Yes, sweetie…" Silence, and then. "But only some humans and not all of them. And definitely not in same way that you're describing it. Humans don't have that kind of sensitivity and intuition towards the world. Not even normal witches do" She said, Josie could tell that something was obviously heaving in her aunt's mind.
"What do you mean then? I'm a freak?"
"What? No! No, sweetie. Of course not. You're wonderful and amazing" Josie smiled, she really loved her aunt. "I'm just saying that perhaps you're more sensitive to see colors with such intensity because you're a witch. A siphoner witch"
"Huh?"
"You told me that it started when you siphoned, then it slowly grew and now you see the colors in people as well? Right?"
Josie nodded, then remembered that she was only talking with her aunt through the phone and cleared her throat "Yes"
"That's okay, that's normal. It only means that your powers as a siphoner witch are only growing, and your ability to see more colors alongside it"
Josie frowned. "But Lizzie's a siphoner too and she doesn't see more colors"
"That's because she wasn't born with that gift, only you"
Josie nodded, processing the information.
"Aunt?"
"Yes, sweetie?" She could sense her aunt's smile.
"What's that called? Being able to see those colors?" She frowned.
She was no longer worried about it, she was only exhausted from worrying too much before about it.
"The colors are named auras. You can look it up" Silence.
Auras.
Then, "...It's okay Josie. The fact that you are able to see them with such intensity makes you even more wonderful than you already are. Now go to sleep honey, it's past midnight already and you have classes tomorrow"
"Alright, thank you auntie. Good night!" Josie had said, still thinking about the word her aunt provided her with. Auras. Auras. Auras. Auras. Auras.
"Night sweetie"
When Bonnie hung up though, Josie couldn't go to sleep. Now she had a name for the colors. Auras. And she could look it up, she could read and investigate and educate herself on all the colors she could see.
So that's what she did. That night she didn't sleep at all. Instead, she spent the whole time in the library, reading anything and everything she could find about auras. About what they meant. About all the different colors and their meaning.
By morning she had it all memorized also, black bags under her eyes and desire to drink coffee the whole day, but oh well. Now Josie knew what it meant when she saw her best friend, MG, shining with a green and sometimes blue light around him. It just meant that his energies were loving, caring, and compassionate. That he liked to help others, he had great knowledge about things and even wisdom?
That's nice. Josie thought and it made her smile because it was true, and the fact that she could see her best friend's energy in such pretty colors made her feel happy and content. Knowing what his energy meant.
But after realizing that, now she couldn't help but to interpret people's energies, people's auras.
Lizzie shone in a bright magenta. A being with so high of an energy, creative, that doesn't follow the rest but herself and her own steps. Yeah, that's accurate.
So, Josie just kept learning more and more about auras. She was 13 then and no longer scared of auras. Only fascinated at their friend's colors.
But one person's aura in particular kept silently asking for her attention. It was so… strange that Josie couldn't help but stare everytime she could.
Josie was sitting in the library, and if she was casually positioned to stare at one Hope Marshall, sitting right in the far corner curled up in a loveseat, reading a book with her headphones on... then that was a coincidence.
Josie could see all of her colors. Orange, yellow, blue, green. All of them dancing with each other in a harmonious way, shining so bright that everytime that Hope was in the room, Josie couldn't sense anyone else's colors but hers. It amazed her, how much Hope shines even though she's just reading a book in a corner all alone.
Josie knew that normally, Hope was shy, and kept only to herself. She didn't have friends. Or at least that's what Josie thought beacuse she barely saw the girl with anyone else. Hope's always alone, reading or with her headphones on. Not talking to anyone only when it's necessary for her to. Still, out of all the people in the school, she outshined the rest. Definitely. And that kept Josie fascinated. Always looking for her, always staring at her.
Sometimes Hope even caught her staring and her cheeks would turn as red as her hair, usually she would raise an eyebrow and question Josie's staring with her pretty blush adorning her face but Josie just smiled and (okay, blushed as hell at being caught staring at Hope by none other than Hope herself) turned away.
So Josie maybe developed a crush on Hope Marshall, so what? Out of all the people in the school, Hope, her personality and her colors only captivated Josie even more every day. Josie didn't understand how Hope could shine so bright and it intrigued her. She didn't understand how Hope was the prettiest girl she had ever seen and it caused butterfllies in her stomach. She didn't understand why she could never approach Hope and just start a damn conversation with her without feeling flustered and like a nervous mess. So everytime Hope caught her staring, Josie blushed and walked away, not ready at all to even say hello.
But Hope's colors changed. And one day, when Hope was away for three long weeks and then returned to the school again, those bright and intense colors that Josie loved so much to see, were gone.
There was no longer blue with her, no longer yellow or bright orange. Josie didn't even know if Hope was still shining with the colors that accompanied her now. Instead of bright blue that usually meant calm and intuitive, a dark gray replaced it. Instead of the warm and cozy orange that meant that her energy was always adventurous and creative, there was a dimmer tone, a darker and lifeless orange. A red so dark that almost looked black. Josie missed her favorite: yellow. Before, Hope used to be cheerful and lighter.
Granted, there were few times you would see her smiling or laughing, but Josie knew she was cheerful and carefree. She knew it by the way Hope's smile made her eyes look like half-moons and her cheeks like two rosy apples anytime she would read something that made her happy, or when she thought no one was listening to her so she started to quietly sing whatever song she was listening to through her headphones.
Josie knew Hope, even though she never talked to the girl before, Josie always seemed to pay attention to her. Besides, her colors used to outshine everyone else. How could she not notice her? How could not anyone? Hope always stood out in her life, that meant something right?
But when Hope returned, none of those colors returned with her. Also, neither did her last name. Josie learned that it wasn't Marshall, but Mikaelson. As in, the Great Evil's daughter.
Josie only knew that Hope's parents passed away and that her name was Mikaelson now. She learned that Hope was also a wolf, and one that had triggered her werewolf side, which made her a tribrid now, having vampire blood in her veins too.
That's all Josie knew about what happened to Hope. The girl with the brightest colors Josie had ever seen, didn't even shine at all.
It made her sad, way too sad to see those darker shades now, and Josie wanted so desperately for the colors she used to see every day and absolutely adored to return.
But the fact is, two years have passed since that. Josie was now 15, and Hope's aura colors never returned.
Hope isolated herself even more, darkening what once used to be beautiful colors that only Josie was able to see.