When Witches Wake

by Hilary Foxhill

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  EMILY HAD ONE more day until she would see Claire again. She was terrified, and yet she couldn’t wait. She had no idea how she was going to act normal around her. How do you act casual around someone you’ve been dreaming about? She played with the idea of asking Jeremy about how to handle it, but she didn’t feel like she knew him well enough yet. She didn’t think he would think she was crazy, but the dream felt too personal to talk to him about. That’s when it occurred to her that it might not matter if she told him or not. He might have seen it already. He said that he saw her dreams. He could have seen her and Claire as well. She tried to reassure herself, thinking perhaps he would have said something to her about it. Unless he didn’t want her to know that he saw the dream. It didn’t matter anyway, she still needed to figure out how she was going to approach it. She thought about Claire when she was folding her laundry. She thought about Claire when she did her dishes. She thought about Claire when she was driving her car. She was still having the dreams of her in the dark and smoky room, dancing naked in a circle with strangers. But they didn’t bother her as much lately besides the fact that she would have rather have her dream of Claire every night. But they came occasionally, and Emily would wake up smiling, sweating, heart beating and feeling warm and in love. In love with a total stranger.

  The next morning Emily was getting ready to go to Jeremy’s house. Her bed was covered in a pile of clothes that was growing larger by the minute. For the life of her, she could not find the right outfit to wear. Each option was either too tight, or too casual, or too dressy, or too colorful, or too black. She looked at herself in the mirror and wished she could just go naked. She was used to that by now, and it was the only way she had been with Claire. Assuming it was Claire.

  “It was Claire,” she reassured herself in the mirror. “You’re insane.”

  She heard her phone ringing and couldn't see it anywhere. The ring was muffled, getting louder as she threw items of clothing off the bed to search through the pile for her phone. Her phone appeared and her mother’s face was on the screen.

  “Ugh,” she sighed. “Not now.” She pressed the red decline button and placed her phone on the nightstand. “Casual. Comfortable. Just be yourself,” she said.

  She picked out her favorite blue jeans and a floral blouse. She wore her hair down and slipped on her gray Chuck Taylors, pet Eli on the head, and slipped out the door with her jacket in her hand.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  HALF OF THE coven was gathered in the living room, and the other half were talking in the kitchen. There was excitement in the air, as they were all eager to meet Emily. They had met other seekers before, but there was something about this situation that made everything feel different. Perhaps it was the fact that Jeremy was certain that this woman, who had zero knowledge of witchcraft, was a full blown witch that was meant to be in their coven. That certainly hadn’t happened before. Or maybe it was because a great leader in the community had been murdered and they were all feeling lost, on edge, and on guard. It was most likely the combination of both that contributed to the feelings floating around the house.

  Of the coven members, Jeremy felt the most pressure. He didn’t know much about Emily, but he felt a connection to her. And he felt she had some kind of connection to the coven. He was also anxious about how she might act around Claire. Her nervousness upon meeting her the first time she visited the house was not lost on him, although he had been in a kind of shock from unwillingly witnessing her dreams before she stormed out of the house. Jeremy wanted to focus on the coven dreams, and he’d just have to see what happened with Emily and Claire. He didn’t want to intervene there. In the past he had a habit of poking his head into Claire’s relationships, but he had bigger things to worry about right now.

  The doorbell rang. Jeremy got up to get the door and Claire was at the bottom of the stairs.

  “I’ll get it, you can sit,” Claire said.

  He sat back down on the couch and watched.

  Claire opened the door and Emily was standing there. She smiled. “Hi Emily, come on in.”

  Emily didn’t expect Claire to answer the door and was unprepared. Although she knew she wouldn't be prepared to see her at all.

  “Hi Claire." She smiled timidly and entered the house.

  “You remember my name? Good memory!” Claire said. She sensed that Emily was very nervous and was trying to make her feel more comfortable. She had felt seekers who were nervous before. Almost all of them were. But this woman brought it to a whole other level, making her wonder if something else was going on.

  “Um, yeah I guess. I mean, thanks," Emily said. She was already saying stupid things and wanted to turn around and never come back.

  Jeremy bit his lip and walked over to greet Emily.

  “You’re back!” he said.

  “I am,” she said with a nervous smile. “Against my better judgement!” she joked.

  “Come on into the living room. Everybody is here to meet you!” he said.

  Emily walked past Claire and caught the scent of her shampoo. She recognized the smell and closed her eyes, thinking of her dream. Snap out of it, she thought to herself.

  Everyone introduced themselves, standing and shaking hands with her. Emily took a seat on the couch. She squeezed her hands together on her lap in between her legs. Her shoulders were visibly high and tense, and she pressed her lips into a smile as she looked around at everyone’s faces.

  “Well thanks for coming, Emily," Jeremy said.

  “Thanks for inviting me, I'm happy to meet everyone," she said. She made eye contact with Claire and they held it for a moment. Allison noticed and looked at Jeremy with a questionable glance. Jeremy furrowed his brow and shook his head quickly to dismiss her.

  “I know you have some questions about witchcraft. It probably seems weird that I invited you over to meet people, and I’m sure you’re wondering why these other people are here.”

  “I mean, I have an idea why everyone is here," she said.

  “So normally I wouldn’t be so open with a person unless they came to me, or one of us, already knowing who we are. Or, what we are, I suppose," he said. “You don’t exactly fall into that category. You say you know nothing about witchcraft, and until we spoke you didn’t think it was real.”

  Emily nodded in agreement.

  “With someone who knows nothing about any of this, I would be much more tight-lipped about us and what we do here. Except that you don’t really fall into the total newbie category either. Because in a way, you’ve already been here with us," he said. “So let’s just get it all out into the open. This is our coven. We’re witches. I firmly believe that your dreams have showed you practicing with us. In our coven.”

  “This is so cool," Allison said. A huge smile growing on her face.

  Olivia chuckled lightly and Tanner smiled too. Claire and Jeremy looked at each other nervously and then back at Emily, expectantly. Emily’s face flushed pink and she felt it get warmer, which only made her more nervous.

  “Yeah this is pretty weird," she said.

  “So,” he continued. “Do you want to tell everybody about what has been going on? I've given them a little summary, but if you feel comfortable it's probably best for everyone to get a sense of it in your own words.”

  “Uh, sure. Okay," she said. She felt put on the spot, but she knew this is why she came, so she needed to push through it. As nervous as she was, she felt that same sense of familiarity that she did when she first met Jeremy. Like she kind of already knew these people. She began to explain her dreams to them. Telling them what she had told Jeremy. How they repeated themselves so many times that she knew what was coming next and was able to stitch the parts of the dreams together in a sequence in her memory. How she felt like she as an active participant in the dreams and not just like she was watching a movie. She admitted that she knew the smell of this house when she first walked in, and she couldn't put her finger on the way she f
eels like she recognizes each of them, even though she hasn't met them or even really seen any of their faces.

  She looked at Claire and her face turned red again. She shifted her gaze quickly to Jeremy. Claire sensed her nervousness increase again. In an instant she recognized it not as the nervousness of meeting a new group of people, but romantic tension.

  So she has a crush on one of us, Claire thought to herself. That might become a problem.

  “And you said you’ve had dreams that have ended up predicting things before?” Jeremy asked her.

  “Yes, when I was little I remember one dream in particular," she said. “I don’t know if it happened more than that or not.”

  “Have you had any other dreams lately besides these repeating ones with the coven?” Tanner asked.

  Emily was silent as she tried to decide how to answer that question. Jeremy tried to not register any anticipation on his face.

  Emily cleared her throat. “Yes," she said. “But I uh, don’t really feel comfortable discussing them," she made an effort not to look at Claire.

  Tanner nodded silently, accepting her answer and her wish to privacy. “Fair," he said.

  “That is totally fine," Jeremey piped in. “We are just here to discuss the witchy stuff.”

  “Speaking of witchy stuff then," Claire said. “Do you have any questions for us, Emily?”

  “I'm not sure," she said. “Like Jeremy said, I didn’t even think any of this stuff was real until recently. It's a lot to take in, and honestly I'm still trying to process it. Like Jeremy seeing into my head.” The realization that if Jeremy could see into her head by touching her, made her wonder if any of them read or heard her thoughts? Could Claire? “Can all of you do that?” she asked. “What all can you guys do?”

  They all smiled and looked around the room at each other. Claire spoke first. “Well let’s not get ahead of ourselves. That isn’t the kind of thing we talk about with the uninitiated," she said.

  “Uninitiated?” Emily said. “People who aren’t witches? Jeremy said he thought I was a witch.”

  “I think that you are, yes. With your dreams, and the fact that your mind seemed to direct them into my head. That doesn't usually happen without any work or energy on my part.” he said. “I think you’re one of us. But that isn’t the same thing as being initiated," he explained.

  “It sounds like you have some inherent powers," Claire said. “Some witches have skills that they seem to be born with. But some witches are born without any special ability at all. Whether you start with something or nothing, it takes a lot of learning and honing of your skills to reach your potential," she said. “It takes practice.”

  “A lot of practice," Olivia said.

  “And with all there is to learn, someone has to teach you," Jeremy said. “You need someone to show you the way."

  “Now I won’t get into the specifics of any of our skills today. We just met you and like Jeremy said, you fall into a weird little spot with us, but that doesn't mean we can just tell you everything," Claire said. “But if you are initiated as a witch, your skills could drastically change. For some people it’s an immediate difference. It's like they are given an entirely new body and they are seeing the world for the first time. For others the change is less drastic and things develop over time. Whether you have any abilities before you are initiated doesn’t seem to have any impact on how initiation will affect you.”

  The group nodded in agreement with Claire.

  “So what is it about initiation that sparks this change?” Emily asked.

  “Good question," Jeremy said. “If you find out the answer someday we’d love for you to share it with us.” The group chuckled and Emily looked confused.

  “We perform a ceremony that has been passed down to us from hundreds of years ago," Tanner said. “We have a general idea of what happens, but we can’t actually explain every aspect of it. We have a good idea about a lot of it, but we don’t have all the answers unfortunately.”

  “We just know it works," Allison said.

  “You don’t know how it works?” Emily asked.

  “You’re getting a bit ahead of yourself again," Jeremy said. “Here is what I can tell you for now. We will teach you what we know, if you would like us to.”

  “If you want to be initiated into our coven, you’d be expected to spend a good deal of time with all of us to make sure it's a good fit," Claire said. “Then at a specified time we would perform your initiation, and you’d start on your path to witchdom with us.”

  “So are you in!?” Allison said.

  “Um," Emily said.

  “Calm down, Allison," Jeremy said. He turned and looked at Emily. “This is a big decision and you don’t need to tell us right away.”

  Emily looked into all of their faces. She looked around the house and she took a deep breath, smelling that familiar smell. She felt a strange kind of certainty in her gut. Sitting in this weird house with these weird strangers who call themselves witches, she felt a level of comfort she can’t remember ever experiencing at any point in her life before. Rabbit hole, she thought.

  “I’ll do it," she said.

  “You really don’t have to tell us today," Claire said.

  “I know," Emily said. “But I feel like it’s what I’m supposed to do.”

  “There isn’t really any going back from this once you’re initiated," Jeremy warned.

  “Once you’re a witch, you can’t un-witch yourself," Tanner said.

  “You don’t have any doubts?” Olivia asked.

  “It is the BEST decision you will ever make!” Allison said.

  Emily smiled at Allison and looked at Olivia. “I don’t actually. I haven’t dreamt of this moment, but I feel like I’m supposed to be with you people. I don’t want to waste any more time," she said.

  “Okay then," Jeremy said. “For the next year we will all get to know each other and work towards your initiation.”

  “A year?” Emily said. “I have to wait a year?”

  “A year and a day is the standard amount of time you spend with a coven before you're initiated," Claire said, attempting to reassure Emily.

  “You didn’t know witchcraft was real up until a couple weeks ago," Jeremy said. “I think you’ll survive another year.”

  “But what about protecting us from the witch killer?” Allison said. They all looked at her and Jeremy gave her his stern shut up Allison look again. “You said her dreams could help keep us safe from the murderer.”

  Emily was surprised. So there was more going on here than they were letting on. “You think my dreams will protect you from the killer?”

  Jeremy shifted in his seat. “I thought that once you became a part of our lives that perhaps your dreams might show if we’re in danger, yes.”

  Claire crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. She was curious to see how he was going to wiggle himself out of this.

  “Why would she dream of a new event before the event her dream keeps showing her has even taken place?” Tanner asked.

  Jeremy looked at Emily. “Well like she said, she has had other dreams," he said. “She hasn’t told us everything. Which is totally fine," he looked away.

  He knew, Emily thought. He had seen the dream of her and Claire. She was almost certain of it. She suddenly felt very awkward. He hasn’t told her, at least. She assumed that Claire wouldn’t be acting so casually around her if she knew that she had been dreaming of them together.

  “Well if we just initiated her now we could help her hone her stuff. Maybe even find some new goodies she doesn’t know about.” Allison bounced her eyebrows at Emily and smirked.

  “Other goodies?” Emily said.

  “You might discover some other things that come easily to you after you're initiated," Tanner said.

  “Like what?” Emily asked.

  Jeremy shook his head no and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Again, we can’t tell you that stuff," Jeremy said. “Sorry.”


  “Why not?” Emily said. “I don’t get it. You’re telling me you guys are witches but why can’t you tell me what you can actually do?”

  “Keeping ourselves hidden and under wraps has gotten pretty lax in the last few decades," Jeremy said.

  “Which has had deadly consequences for some of us," Claire said, avoiding eye contact.

  Jeremy continued. “Very true," he said. “It would probably be a good idea to start being more careful again, but that is a whole other conversation. Anyway, a lot of the original guidelines are still followed. When you’re initiated you take an oath to keep certain secrets. We lose some of our power if people know what those powers are. And until you are one of us, you’re a possible threat.”

  “I don’t really get it," Emily said. “But okay.”

  “If you want to move forward, you have a lot to learn," Claire said. “And we will teach you. When the time is right you’ll be initiated and you’ll be born into a whole new world.”

  Emily felt a flutter in her stomach. The prospect of spending more time with Claire made her giddy. And the possibility of having magical power and having a new world open up to her was all so exciting.

  “You do realize it is potentially dangerous, right?” Olivia asked. She looked at Emily with such care in her eyes. “Our friend June was murdered, and it’s likely that her being a witch had something to do with it. You might be putting yourself in danger just by associating yourself with us.”

  Emily looked at Claire, and she knew she had to see where this path would take her. She was hoping it would lead to some answers. Put her dreams to sleep, and lead to a new life with a new love.

  “I feel like my dreams have been just knocking on the door of my subconscious. I need to answer them, and that means going all the way,” she said.

  Jeremy and Claire looked at each other and Claire shrugged her shoulders.

  “Alright," Claire said. “Well, Emily. We are going to be spending a lot of time together.” Claire smiled at Emily and Emily felt her cheeks begin to burn as they blushed pinker. Emily’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She peeked at the screen and it was her mother again. She tucked the phone back into her pocket.