Electric Blue by Jamieson Wolf

pieces of the future. . .she would sniff the sulfur that rose from the earth and have hallucinations. She would make vague predictions from what she saw. She was very renowned; people would come from thousands of miles away to hear her judgments."
    "But they wouldn't always relate to the people?" Poppy said.
    "Not really," Naomi said. "They would listen to her speech, and interpret it for themselves. She may have said something like ‘woman wears band of silver’ and the woman may have taken that to mean she was getting married."
    "When in reality, it may have meant something else?"
    "Anything else. . . ." Naomi shrugged. "No one can say for sure whether or not the Delphic Oracle was a shaman or the real thing."
    "But you believe," Poppy said.
    Cecelia nodded. "Yes, we do. Just as we believe in Cassandra, the woman destined to see the downfall of Rome . The world has been full of seers and Witches. We believe in all of them. They are our sisters. They have marked the path for us; all we have to do is follow."
    "So. . . ." Poppy said. "What does an Oracle do?"
    "I'm doing it," Cecelia said. "We help, offer guidance when we can and look into the future when necessary. Instead of vague images and guesses, though, I'm able to see whole scenes. They may not make sense when I see them, but they will later. The one I had about you, about sitting here, didn't click until you mentioned you knew that we were Witches. I see bits and pieces but they're more helpful than wisps and nothings."
    Poppy turned to Naomi. "Are you a psychic because your grandmother is an Oracle?"
    "Nope. My mother was a Witch before me and I'm a Witch like her. We all have our own traits; the use of magic differs from person to person. I'm good at finding things. Cecelia can see into the future, my mother could turn back time."
    "Turn back time?"
    "Oh, not quite as glamorous as you'd think. She could only turn back time to the past hour. But it certainly came in handy quite often. She got into great fun." Naomi smiled. "My mother was a real mischief maker."
    "So what does that make me?" Poppy said.
    "What do you mean?" Cecelia asked. "Have you felt magic?"
    "Felt it?" Poppy said. "How about done it?" Briefly, she told them about what had happened on Valentine's Day, about Jethro and what she had done to him, how the blue light had flared up from her fingers, her palms. She told them about moving into the house, about the powers that lived in the House on Harrow Hill and how the house had tried to warn them about Jethro. Then she started telling them about what had happened recently, that she had unleashed magic again during the earthquake inside the house. She told them what it felt like, that it fueled her dreams as well as her mind. "I haven't slept well for a week," she said. "Every time I close my eyes, I'm flying. Every time I dream, I'm flying."
    "What are you flying as?" Naomi asked.
    "I don't know." Poppy shook her head. "I wake up every morning not remembering anything. I can't remember anything about the dream, but I remember flying," she said. "I remember flying."
    There was a chill in the air. Cecelia spoke. "We know what you are."
    Poppy waited for her to continue. When she didn't, Poppy looked at them. "Well?" she said.
    "It's not that simple," Naomi said. "There should be someone watching you, someone keeping an eye on you, your Guide—"
    "My what?"
    "Your Guide. Only they're allowed to tell you what's going on. She or he is the one who guides you through life and. . . certain difficulties. It's out of our hands, we can't say a thing."
    "It's not that we don't want to," Cecelia put in. "Only that there are laws among witches preventing us from doing so. Even in magic, certain things must be done by the book."
    "My Guide?"
    "Your Guide is chosen for you at birth." Naomi placed a hand on one of Poppy's. "I'm sorry, I can't say more. We risk expulsion by the Coven should we say any more. We both want to help as much as we can."
    "Then if you can't