Sophie

Sophie woke up to sunlight streaming in through her curtains. Today was the first day of school, and she wanted to make a good impression. She pulled off the covers and leaped out of bed. She yanked open the doors of her closet, and she peered inside. She selected a long navy blue shirt with black leggings and blue boots. Oh, and she almost forgot the gold amulet that had been the last birthday gift from her father before he had disappeared. She still remembered the last words he’d said to her and her twin: “If the world ever goes black, connect these amulets so our people will see light.”

She shivered. Looking back on it, what he’d said just sounded creepy.

“Sophie, come down here!” called her mother. “You’ll be late for school.”

“Coming!” she called back. She pulled a brush through her chocolate hair and raced downstairs.

“What took you so long?” asked her twin Jacob, who, though they were twins, looked nothing like her. He had blond hair and blue eyes, and she had brown hair and green eyes. He was sitting at the table eating Lucky Charms.

“I was getting ready,” she huffed.

“Well, I don’t think your hairbrush works, because your hair still looks like a bird pooped on it.”

“Jacob, that’s enough,” said their mom.

Sophie scowled at him and he grinned.

“Bye, mom,” called the twins as they took the front stairs two at a time.

“Hey, race you to the bus stop!” Jacob called with a lopsided grin, and took off running.

When she reached the bus stop (first! Of course) she had the feeling someone was watching them, but she brushed it off. This was the first day of school, and it would be perfect!

Jacob

“Hey, um, Jacob?” said Sophie.

“What?” he said irritably.

“Um, I think that the sun’s getting smaller,” she blurted, looking around at the surroundings. “The world is really getting darker!”

“That’s ridiculous,” he exclaimed, but as he looked up he realized his sister was right. The sun was rapidly shrinking in size, plunging the world into darkness.

“What are we going to do?” said Sophie, panic edging her voice.

“Connect the amulets,” he said, suddenly remembering what their father had said to them on their birthday.

“What!?”

“Just do it,” he ordered. Just as the sun died away, the amulets connected and started to glow brighter and brighter until they were pulled from Sophie’s and Jacob’s hands and into the sky. They went up and up and up until it looked like a smaller weaker sun. Then a man came out from the shadow of a tree, and they stared in disbelief.

“Uncle James!” they said in unison.

He smiled. “I haven’t seen you since you were small.”

“W-why are you here?” Sophie stuttered. Jacob knew she was remembering the last time they had seen him, when their house had caught fire and he’d saved them.

“Well, there’s no time to talk. We need to get you to the safe house now.”

“Wait, why should we trust you?” Jacob argued.

“Just come on,” he said in a gruff voice. That meant it was important. Finally they followed reluctantly. He led them to an alleyway, and there he pulled out a staff made of curved mohogany with odd engravings covering the wood. He began to twirl it round and round until he said one word, “cia,”and then the air in front of them shimmered until a whirlpool of light appeared.

What’s happening? Jacob thought wildly, but then Uncle James pulled them into the whirlpool and boom! They were in front a long building that looked like a mansion.

“Wow,” the twins exclaimed, then they looked around, and the scene took their breaths away. They were standing on the lower part of a long driveway that led up to a mansion nestled in a huge mountain with acres and acres of pine woods surrounding it.

Jacob smiled. “This is an awesome safe house.”

When they entered the mansion, there was a room that was even more amazing. It was a huge room with balconies ringing the domed ceiling. At the other end of the room was a long dining table, and at that table sat twenty kids all in PJs and eating various kinds of cereal. They all stopped eating and stared at the twins. Sophie gave them a meek sort of wave and then stared at her feet.

Uncle James spread his arms and said, “Welcome to the Mansion, the safe house for magic!”

“Wait, wait, wait! What!?” Jacob exclaimed.

“Magic?” Sophie frowned.

“Yes, magic. This whole place is dedicated to the study and learning of magic for young magicians.”

“Wow, that is so cool,” Jacob said, “but then–”

“Why are we here?” Sophie finished.

“Well, my young niece, you are magicians.”