Coven

It was windy on the rooftop - the storm was going to be a good one. Bea's hair whipped around her face, flicking into her eyes and mouth. She wished she'd tied it back before they left, but the weather had been calmer then. Nobody had said anything about rooftops, either, but the height didn't bother her. It was exciting, to be so high up above the city.
"Remember, Beatrice," said a voice from behind her shoulder. She thought it might be Isaac, but she didn't know them well enough to tell the boys apart. It didn't matter. "Stay away from the lighted areas. Annie's good, but she's not that good."
Annie's pale skin seemed to glow in the moonlight, a face and arms that bobbed in the general shadowy darkness.
"Are you ready?" She asked, eyes alight with excitement. Bea nodded. The older girl handed her an old, home-made broom. The handle was worn, and the bristles were falling out - and when she touched it, her fingertips tingled.
"She feels it," Duncan - or was it Isaac? - announced smugly.
"We told you she would," Isaadc, or possibly Duncan, added. Annie rolled her eyes and poked her tongue out at them. The childish gesture made Bea smile wistfully. If she was lucky - if she made a good impression tonight - one day she might be a part of this close group.
"It's a pity Cale couldn't be here," Isaac - Bea was almost certain it was Isaac - said. Annie glared at him and his brother punched his arm.
"Don't listen to them," Annie said calmly. Her hands were held out before her, palms up, and the air above them shimmered like asphalt on a hot day. Bea watched with open fascination as a series of rune-like symbols appeared on her palms and then lifted into the air, swirling around themselves to form a single, inky black sphere. Annie's eyes looked especially green above its blackness, and they bored into Bea's with an almost painful intensity.
"This might - tickle," she added.
"I can handle it," Bea said. She'd meant to sound confident, but her voice was little more than a whisper.
Annie plucked the dark sphere out of the air, and cracked it like an egg on the top of Bea's head. Something she could not see trickled down her face, and as it slowly spread - down her shoulders, torso, legs - Annie grinned.
"I can't even look at you straight," she declared proudly. "I've really outdone myself this time."
"What do you mean?" Bea asked. Annie pointed to a puddle nearby. Bea stared down into it and immediately felt disoriented. It wasn't that she couldn't see herself, but that her eyes kept wanting to look elsewhere, and for some reason she found herself thinking of how unusually large the park's owls had grown.
"Owls?" She said, looking away from the dizzying reflection.
"It's easier to suggest what they saw than to say they saw nothing," Isaac explained. "And when you're dealing with stuff that's already complex, it's always handy to have an easier option."
"Besides," Duncan added, "Being truly invisible has its drawbacks. With prolonged use -"
"That's a story for another day," Annie snapped. "Beatrice, it's time to fly."
Bea's legs shook as she climbed onto the low wall at the roof's edge. Sure, she trusted these people. She trusted their broom, too - she'd watched them fly it around for almost an hour before being convinced.
"Are you sure?" Bea whispered suddenly, too afraid to be ashamed of her fear. "There's no - less deadly way of doing this?"
"I'd call it only potentially deadly," Duncan said. "Since you're not actually going to die."
"How do you know?" She countered desperately. "Maybe you're wrong. Maybe I don't have any magic at all."
"You're questioning Cale?" Isaac shook his head. "Better not do it when he's around. It tends to make him very angry."
Bea remembered Cale as more bear than man - tall and hulking, with an intimidating amount of muscle and dark, shaggy hair. Even setting his bulk aside, there was something unnerving about him. His features were a little too smooth, a little blank - except for his eyes, smouldering with the heat of an internal anger. Yes, Cale was intimidating enough without making him upset.
"Cale's talent is seeing talent," Annie said quietly. "He is very good at what he does."
"But - " Bea gulped, bludhing even as she continued to argue. "I'm afraid. I'm afraid you'll all be wrong, and I'll fall, and I'll die."
"Don't be afraid. We wouldn't let you fall," Isaac said.
"We'll catch you," Duncan added. Their palms were glowing, too.
Bea nodded once, then turned, and, with her heart in her mouth, stepped off the rooftop.