Here is a someone, being quiet and unobtrusive and going to siphon some holy water out of the basin.

Jenny doesn't immediately notice her friend, but she passes in front of the light from one of the windows on her way up and Jenny spots her. She doesn't quite chirp- it's church, she will not ruin the atmosphere, she's here for the peace after all- but she does somewhat dance up front towards her classmate. "Soph! Hey! Are you Catholic? I didn't realize."

"Uh - no, I'm... not. I was sort of under the impression that you could take the water even if you weren't? Right?"

Jenny blinks at her in confusion, then at the font, then at Soph again. "You- er, sure, it's for everyone. But. Caaaan I ask what for? Unless you're taking the idea of immersive baptism really seriously, it's mostly for stuff in the church anyway."

"I'm... not sure you'd believe me."

Jenny shrugs. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me." She smiles. "You can have your secrets with God. That's part of the fun."

"Thaaaaaat's... really not it. It's - okay, if you don't believe me, can you acknowledge that I didn't think you would and didn't come in here ranting and raving and I'm not insane?"

"Yesssss? You really don't have to tell me, though. I don't want to make you feel weird about it or anything." She considers. "Unless it is a weird sex thing. I don't think I'm okay with holy water being used for weird sex things."

"It's not a sex thing! Not even a non-weird one! It burns vampires."

...well, if Jenny was expecting anything, that was not it. "Vampires?" she repeats blankly.

"I'm going to put it in a water gun and carry it around in case I meet vampires."

"And this isn't, like, a really epic game of tag you're playing with people at school or something, and taking super seriously?"

"It is not that thing."

"I am halfway between 'why would Soph lie to me, just believe her' and 'I sorta don't want to accept this with proof but this is a terrible horrible awful never actually do that idea and please do not actually prove it to me'."

"Well, I don't, like, have a vampire locked up in the basement, but I could do a little magic or you could watch my sister have superpowers?"

Not squealing in church, not squealing in church, not squealing in church. Even if it's not Sunday and no one's here. It is disrespectful. But- "Maaaaaagic?"

"Just a little bit, I don't want to overdo it, apparently it's addictive, but I can do a little bit."

"Also I'm sort of worried that if I cast a spell in a church someone will decide to burn me for being a witch. I can call you next time I'm going to cast something anyway? A lot of it doesn't look like anything though."

"Whatever you like!" Jenny agrees cheerfully. "I mean, right now I'm stuck here till the ducklings are done with Catechism, but you know me. I don't do much except play mama duck. Time is a thing that I have."

"I probably won't need more any time soon but it'd be nice if it was there if I did. I'm usually not out after dark, and vampires also don't like sunlight. I just needed a new batch because what we already had is in water balloons, and Bella can throw those hard enough to burst on contact and I really can't."

Jenny cracks up. "You have holy water water balloons? That is the cutest thing ever!"

"It's not sacrilegious or anything? Oh, good."

"I have read lots and lots of the Bible! I promise there is nothing condemning the use of holy water balloons." She rolls her eyes. "But poly blends are scaryyyyy, whoooooo."

"I may or may not be wearing poly blends."

"Shame on you! Three Hail Marys and a Glory Be!" She tilts her head side to side mock-consideringly. "Hey, go for broke, say the whole rosary while you're at it."

"I'm not actually Catholic, remember? I'm one of those sort of vaguely Christian maybe people."

"Then I refer you to an acceptably Vague Christian Maybe penance. Build your own!"

"How about I continue helping my sister fight the forces of darkness?"

"Hey Soph! What's- Patrick, I said down, buster- what's up?"

"Hey, if you don't mind risking being out after dark to get over here - which I mostly recommend only if you have a car - I'm going to do a spell, and I thiiiiink it may cause something to glow, if you want to see."

"Caaaan you wait a bit? My parents aren't back from work yet. I can probably borrow the car once they're home, but in the meantime- no car, no one else to watch the ducklings, and Patrick has decided he is a monkey and is trying to climb the side of the staircase."

"Yeah, I'm still doing prep work. I just translated the part about the glowing and thought I'd let you know."

The porch lights come on when the car approaches. "Hi, Jenny!" says Soph, sticking her head out the door.

"Only if I do it right. I decline to actually explicitly invite you into the house for vampire reasons."

Jenny looks down at her neck, still displaying the cross necklace, and then back up at Soph. "Errrr..."

"Yeah, I know, it's not because I think you might be a vampire, if you were a vampire you'd be on fire, I'm just trying to cultivate the habit."

"You have the weirdest problems!"

"I kind of do."

Belatedly interpreting Soph's comment as you should come in even though I didn't say so, Jenny waves goodbye to her mother and enters the house. Behold: she is not impeded. On top of not being on fire or tearing off her necklace. She is extremely not a vampire.

"Noooot all the time, right? I mean, it's not carrying a knife everywhere, but glowing seashell!"

"No, just for like a second, or I'd just get Bella to show you her glowing seashell at school or something. Are you ready?"

"Yes ma'am witch lady ma'am!"

"And now I give it to Bella and she makes sure it works, because I made it so only she can do the thing."

"...can I try too? As a test!"

"Uh, sure." Soph hands her the seashell.

Jenny pokes at it. It continues to be a seashell. She shrugs and hands it back.

"Bellaaaaaa," calls Soph. "I think I did the knife."

Bella gives the knife a couple swings, then changes it back. "Was that the first supernatural anything you saw?"

"Yeah, I felt weird about doing like the glitter spell in a church? So yeah."

"What! What what what, there is a glitter spell, can I see?!"

Soph giggles. "Okay, but just once." As Bella scampers back up the stairs, she waves her hand through the air and trails glitter.

Well, now there shall be hugs and semi-coherent excited giggles.

Hug!

"Okay, wow, so- tell me things? I mean, you can do magic! How much have I missed, I don't even know where to start. We're not in church any more, spill!"

"I can't do like a ton of magic? And almost nothing from memory. Bella can't do any so I'm learning it so I can help her because, she's, like - a superhero sort of? She's supposed to kill vampires and demons and stuff."

"Riiiiight. Er, how common are those...? I wasn't aware demons were a thing running around?"

"They're like - actually really surprisingly common. I don't think most people know about them though. And there are fewer vampires around here now."

"I am really really okay with fewer vampires! But, like, avoiding demons? Is that a thing? I have successfully avoided them so far! I would like to never encounter a demon? If possible?"

"They're not as easy to like - carry basic stuff around that wards them off, compared to vampires. I can put some spells on you but they don't actually help all that much, I'm not that good and there are lots of kinds and some have their own powers."

"And you said magic was addictive," Jenny reminds her. This is her Mama Duck face. She will not be contributing to addiction unless necessary! (Or unless glitter.)

"Yeah. Or at least it can be? I don't really know very much about that. I don't actually like doing magic especially much, but I don't know how much it takes."

Jenny smiles, pleased that Soph seems on board with the anti-addiction plan. "So you have some sorta Magic Teacher who told you?"

"Not exactly. I have a witch friend but mostly I'm learning stuff out of books and trying to do as many things that she doesn't know how to do as possible so there's two different kinds of witching available for the demon slaying stuff. But there's a nurse who's not a witch but knows stuff, and I called her when Bella got poisoned, and she mentioned it."

Well, now there is concerned spluttering. "She was poisoned, ohmigod, is she okay!?"

"Yeah she's fine the nurse knew a potion that me and Alli made and she's okay. She didn't even get nightmares like the kind of poison usually gives you."

There is a pause while Jenny processes this. "Okaaay, I think I am maybe confused by what this poison was and stuff, and possibly also about potions, buuuuut Bella is okay so this is fine and I am pleased it worked out? I guess?"

"It was like a magic poison, not like a snakebite or whatever."

"Your problems are still the weirdest problems!"

"Yeah, kinda."

"Er." This is not the type of problem Jenny has experience solving. It already knows how to tie its shoelaces. "Can I help at all...?"

"I mean, you could be witch three and then we'd have enough for a Macbeth production? You could make crossbow bolts for Bella. And stakes, but she uses those less and now she has the knife shell. If we run out of holy water you could bring us that. And now you know who to call if you see something weird."

"Addiction sounds sorta scary, but I will totally bring you holy water! And do craft projects with the kiddies. Though I will not bring you their arrows, that would be mean and possibly fatal."

"It's bolts, not arrows, get Bella to show you how to make them."

"You mean like tonight? I can't stay too too late, my mom has to leave for the night shift eventually, but if it's quick I can wait."

"No, no, doesn't have to be any special time, it's up to you."

She shrugs. "Doesn't really matter to me! I mean, I'm here now anyway, but Bella is also off... somewhere. Probably doing mysterious Slayery things."

"Putting her shell on a necklace. She said."

"Hah! See? That is totally Slayery and I proclaim myself correct."

"She's the only Slayer alive so I think everything she does is probably Slayery. She brushes her teeth: Slayery! She toasts a pop tart: Slayery!"

"There will have to be degrees of Slayery. Reading about demons is more Slayery than reading about the Civil War!"

"Okay, fine. Some things are characteristically Slayery. Arts-and-crafts isn't so much, though, only the reason she wants her shell on a necklace has to do with Slaying, she's probably doing it with string and glue like a normal person."

"She could steal the string and glue from dead vampires!"

"Why do you think vampires keep craft supplies around?"

"Er...the better to glue you with, my dear?"

"Pffff."

"Soooo what kind of things can you maybe-sometimes-sorta do?"

"You saw the glitter. I wind up working with rocks a lot, spells with rocks in them make sense to me, they're kind of expensive but I only need to buy a rock once, not like potion ingredients, so I've got like four percent of a respectable crystal collection so far? And the rocks do - I'm gonna say 'blessings', they're called all sorts of things in the books but they're supportive things like protection and luck and healing. I can move stuff without touching it but I still have to do about a minute of chanting first before I get ahold of anything so it's not useful if anything's moving around fast. If I get enough practice I'm supposed to be able to figure that out without having to talk or wait."

Jenny giggles. "So you're just sorta a really competent New Age hippie?"

"...Yes. I am sorta a really competent New Age hippie. I like that."

"Next step: lots and lots of tie dye!"

"Ooh! I would be so there but the rocks are kind of eating my allowance. Bella's going to chip in but she got an advance on hers for a long time to get the crossbow."

"Are any of them find-in-the-street type crystals? Or do they need to be polished and everything too?"

"If I find a rock in the street I won't necessarily know what it is, which could be important. Polishing helps and these are, like, semiprecious stones that you wouldn't find just walking around anyway - precious ones would be good too but I don't have the cash."

"Awww, no spells to magically summon precious stones? Then you could just summon whatever you needed!"

"Well, not that I've found."

"Boooo. But hey. At least's there's glitter!"

"Yes. There's glitter."

"Heeeeeey now, none of that face! Glitter is important!"

"I like it, but it's not that practical. It doesn't even last long enough to make a good lamp."

"Things that make you happy are also important."

"You're right. But I'm sort of worried about casting too much? Like - the nurse said it's more like alcohol than heroin or anything, but I don't know what my magic tolerance is, you know? So - if I need happying glitter I'd just be a camp counselor at an art camp next summer."

"I volunteer the ducklings as practice," Jenny giggles.

"That might actually be, like, useful experience! If I try to counsel somewhere that's picky."

"Are there a lot of places that are that picky...?"

"I don't know, I haven't tried it before."

"Me neither! I mean... I am sorta already a camp counselor, right?"

"If you call your house camping."

"My house is totally sturdier than a tent. But the food's probably about the same..."

"And you've got plumbing."

"I would say 'and it's so useful for keeping the ducklings clean', but I don't think I could get Patrick to stay clean even if he lived underwater."

"He'd get algae and pond muck all over him?"

"Sand. Squid ink. Weird fish goop. We never underestimate Patrick's capacity for finding new and interesting things to stain himself with."

Soph giggles.

There's time for some more gossiping and giggling, but it is soon time for Jenny to head home. She thanks Soph for showing her her "awesome new hobby" and reminds her that they should have an "arts and crafts party" at some point, and then her mother arrives and off she goes.