The Witch of Anima

I walked down the stairs with a sigh and turned on the heater. I made my way into the kitchen, knowing that I needed to have the coffee ready before my mother got down here. I had no idea what my brother was doing, but I had a feeling that he was waiting for me.

"Syn," Brody complained as I pulled out a mug from the dishwasher. Some shuffling sounds were coming from the living room, and I raised an eyebrow and wondered what he was up to, but I didn't go into the room to check on him.

"What?" I asked in the same complaining tone as he did. I set the mug to the side and started to make her coffee.

"You didn't even look at me."

"I'll look at you when the coffee is getting ready," I said, finishing up what I was doing.

"But," Brody whined. "I look awesome."

I sighed sarcastically and walked into the living room. I smiled when I saw Brody in a box with a red bow on his head.

"Ta-da," he said, grinning at me. "I'm your Christmas present. Open me up."

I shook my head and busted out laughing, letting my body relax. I shook my head again and grinned at my little brother, glad that he was this amazing little boy who could lighten my day up. "You, my darling brother, are crazy."

"Well, I got you to laugh," Brody said, innocently. He grinned and waited for me to come over to him. "Now, open me up. It's hot in here, and I gotta pee." He made a face, and I raised an eyebrow.

I shook my head again and walked over to him. "I don't know..." I said, tapping my chin and studied him. "I think I am just going to pick you up and stuff you in my closet..." I tapped my chin again while I thought about what I wanted to do with him. "I think I will open you up next Christmas."

"No!" Brody exclaimed, looking at me in mock horror. "Open me up now. Please? I have to go to the bathroom."

I shook my head, and mocked sighed. "You should've gone before you went in the box," I scolded and narrowed my eyes at him.

"But, I didn't have to go, then," he replied, pouting.

Staying silent, I took the bow off of his head. I stuck it on his mouth, and he looked at me with wide eyes before he narrowed them.

"Mmph," he complained while I started to untie the ribbon slowly.

"What was that?" I asked, finishing untying the ribbon. "I couldn't hear you."

"Mmph," he replied, and I snorted. He squirmed around and narrowed his eyes, telling me that he wanted me to hurry up and let him out of the box before he peed his pants.

My whole body grew tense when I felt someone else's presence beside my mother and brother. My whole body grew sort of tense, but I tried to make sure that I looked relaxed, not worry my brother, who knew about my powers.

I let my wall down a bit so that I could hear the thoughts near me. I ignored my brother's thoughts and focused on the thought of the person outside.

I hope he knows what he is doing, I heard someone say, appearing here from- the voice, I think a male, cut himself off before I could listen to anything else and placed a wall up as if he knew that I was listening in to his thoughts. It was surprising, though, not a lot of people knew that I could read their mind.

I bit back a sigh and placed the block back up, not wanting to try and pry. I was curious about who the person was and how they knew that I was capable of hearing other people's thoughts. I mean, it wasn't every day that someone knew what my "power" was.

"Syn," Brody complained, finally getting the bow off his mouth. "Can you please hurry up? I have to go bad."

I blinked a little and tore open the rest of the wrapping. "Sorry, Brody," I said while I pulled the box off of his head. "Go to the bathroom, and then we can open presents."

"Freedom!" Brody exclaimed, running to the bathroom. He slammed the door shut to the bathroom, and I rolled my eyes.

"Crazy boy," I muttered, going back into the kitchen. I shook my head and let a small tired smile appear on my face while I went to finish up the coffee for our mother. "What am I going to do with you?"