A girl finds out she is a witch when her father ships her off to boarding school. Katy age 16 was sent to Whitfield, Massachusetts by her father and his girlfriend. To a boarding school called Ainsworth. The school was build in 1691 by her ancestor Serenity Ainsworth. Which Katy actually knows nothing about because her father has never told her about her mother or anyone on her side of the family. As far as Katy knows her last name is Jessouver, which is her dads last name. But Katy knows her actual name is Serenity, but goes by Katy.
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When she gets the Whitfield the limo driver that has picked her up calls her Miss Ainsworth, which she has no idea why. Even the headmistress does to and everyone looks at her with looks of pure hate, which she does not understand why. There is a boy who has drawn Katy's attention. He has been giving her really dirty looks every single time he sees her, but even though she sees that she is still drawn to him. His name is Peter Shaw. After a few weeks of just going to classes and to her dorm and no where else she gets a job at Hattie's Kitchen, which is right on the Meadow in front of the school.
The Meadow is actually a very magical spot for all the witches. They are the only ones that can get through the fog and still know where they are going. As for Cowen, which is an ordinary human, they would not be able to find their way out of the fog at all. Which means that they cannot find Hattie's Kitchen in the meadow. Katy was hoping that working in Hattie's Kitchen would keep her from having to deal with the dirty looks from everyone but most of all from Peter Shaw. But she soon learns that she will be working right along side him in the kitchen with Hattie.
When Katy sees a boy of about 10 years old sitting in a high chair, she asks who he is and Peter tells her that the boy is his brother. She goes to ask if he is OK and Peter gets mad and tells her that Eric, his brother has brain damage. While working in the kitchen after a week, Hattie tells Katy that she needs something off the top shelf. Katy gets the stuff off the top shelf, but while up there a leather strap catches her eye and so she brings it down. Only to go into a vision type state. When she comes to, Hattie asks what happen and she tells Hattie about the vision. Hattie tells her she has a gift, that gift is were you can touch an object and see its past and who ever had it or made it.
After Katy tells Hattie about the vision Peter blows up and says that her mother was psycho and insane. That the reason Eric is brain damaged is because Katy's mom threw him against a wall as a baby. Katy doesn't believe him but goes and looks up any information she can find on her mother. The only way she can find anything on her mom is by the only picture she has of her to look for in the newspapers.
After Katy learns that not only is she a witch, but she is an Ainsworth and that everyone thinks that she is like her mother, she proves Peter wrong. The night of the party celebration, a fire ball went right for Eric's head but missed and hit the wall. Katy “pushed” with her mind. Meaning that she thought of a blanket smothering the fire to put it out and then she pushed that image out to the fire and put it out without having to use water. Everyone the next day swore that Katy is the one that tried to kill Eric, but Peter shows up and tells them to back off Katy, that she didn't do it, that she actually put out the fire.
After Peter tells everyone to back off, Katy is called to the visitors lounge and meets her Great-Grandmother and her Aunt, who is her mothers twin. She finds out more about her mother than she ever thought possible. Katy's aunt and great-grandmother also inform Katy that her father is not to know they have been talking to her. Because if he knew she would never see them again. Katy realizes that she is from a very strong line of witches and that her dad is cowen. But after meeting her mothers family, things really begin to change for Katy.
Not only does Katy have the vision gift, but she can also move objects with her mind. But she is noticing another gift that she has, that she is actually not liking one bit. She can touch someone and feel there emotions and if deep enough she can read their minds.
Katy goes to her aunt and great-grandmother and tells them about Peter, that is when they tell her that she should not date him or even marry him. Because even though there is magic bloodline in his ancestors, he might actually be complete cowen. But Katy doesn't believe that one bit. So Hattie asks Katy to help Peter with his binding spells that he is to be working on. So they go out to the meadow, where the magic is the strongest, and Peter is able to do some energy magic with Katy. Where they end up kissing and Peter tells her that he can never see or talk to her again.
Katy doesn't understand why the sudden change in him. He will not even talk to her or even be near her. But she seems him staring at her with longing in his eyes and deep sadness. She knows that her feelings are getting even stronger, she vows to do whatever it takes for them to be together.
With the winter Solstice holiday coming up Katy stays with her aunt and great-grandmother, on Solstice morning before 3 am they go to the meadow and start to make their way to the center, which is where the ritual is held. They hear a murderous scream and they go rushing to see whats wrong. They end up seeing a dead bird in the pathway. Katy seems everyone panicky, but doesn't understand why. That is when Katy learns about the Darkness.
Then Katy's dad goes to pick her up for Christmas break and that is when Katy learns that her dads girlfriend, who is a spokesperson for a shopping center called Wonderland, that is trying to build on the meadow, has kicked Hattie out of not only her home, but the kitchen that she runs out of it. After she finds out about Hattie losing her place, she leaves the very next morning to go back to Whitfield. When Katy goes to Hattie's place, Peter and Katy decide to see If they can find the deed to Hattie's place so she can keep it. But everyone tells them that they cannot go and find it. So Peter and Katy lie about where they are going, and go search for the dead in one of the Shaw mansions that are not far from Hattie's place. But while looking for the deed the house spontaneously goes up in flames. Which to the witches in another sign of the Darkness is getting stronger and closer.
Peter starts avoiding Katy even more, even to the point of telling her she has to stay away or he will hurt her, when he promised he never would. Which Katy tells him she is not going anywhere. Katy finds out that Miss P. the headmistress of the school is djinn. A djinn is someone who can control others thoughts without them knowing it.
A few weeks later Katy happens to go to Peter and Hattie's new place because she keeps having visions of Peter being beaten. When she gets there she sees something that scares her more than anything. Eric is sitting and talking like a normal person, but she can tell by his eyes that it is not Eric talking. But the Darkness its self. After Katy wakes up in the hospital she asks to talk to Peter and Peter tells her he has a plan, but wont tell her what it is. Peter tries to kill himself to save his brother from the Darkness, but it doesn't work.
When Katy gets out of the hospital she finds out about what Peter did and goes straight to him and asks him why. His only response was that he was trying to protect his brother. As Katy is about to leave the hospital after seeing Peter she can no longer keep quiet the Darkness and Eric. Which she then regrets telling everyone because that is when she learns that they burn people at the stake by fire. That they will burn Eric at the stake, because he is the Darkness.
So to stop the town from burning him at the stake, Katy,Hattie,Peter,Katy's aunt, and Katy's great-grandmother decide to go to the meadow and get the great book of secrets and do the 'Song of Unmaking'. The great book of secrets is a book that is put together over 350 years of the whole 27 families known spells. But in the process of trying to do the song, they are stopped and Peter takes Eric to Shaw Island, where he normally planned to just stay with Eric and the Darkness, until they died. But Katy finds a way to change the fact that by bringing Eric back long enough to be able to get to shore of the main island. But after a few miles the Darkness comes out in Eric and Katy ends up dying and meeting the woman who wrote the 'Song of Unmaking' and begs the rest of the dead witches to help with the witches on earth to hear the actual song to make the 'Song of Unmaking' actually work, instead of actually burning people at the stake.
When the dead witches bring Katy back to her body they hurry to the meadow, where everyone is waiting to start the burning. But while they are being tied to the stake Peter and Katy do a hand fasting. A hand fasting is basically an engagement that is bound for one year and one day. When they light the stakes Katy notices that she can hear the song and so can everyone else around them. When everyone starts to hear it a big blue wall of flame shoots as high as can go around Eric, Peter, and Katy. While in the wall of fire, Katy sees every dead witch that has ever burned because of the Darkness. Including her mother. After the Darkness has been lifted from earth, everyone realizes that Eric is actually a healer of all things.
For a little while things are good, but what no one knows is that the Darkness is still waiting. The Darkness is made because witch and cowen all have evil thoughts and they are filled with anger, fear, and disappear that it feeds on. But just for a little while it cannot come back until it starts all over again.
Best scene in story:
My favorite scene is when Katy dies and goes to the summerland and meets every witch that ever died with the burning. She finds out that a few of them did it out of love and took another persons place, which saved the other person.
Opinion about the main character:
I like the fact that even though Katy is very much hated she ends up being the one to save everyone in the end.
