Intern: A 13 Covens Magical World Adventure (YA)

by Cassandra

  “Now.” Pastor Norman opened his door and the others followed suit. They crept forward, onto the porch, and into the house.

  Gloria McCrow didn’t even notice their presence. She was in the middle of an old-school stare down with Grandma Ethel.

  The girls, however, spotted Jessica and the others easily. When they saw her, their jaws dropped in shock. No one dared speak. No one except the two old adversaries.

  Ethel’s voice crackled dangerously. “It’s hard for me to believe that after all these years, you’re still so stupid. Or have you simply gone senile? Have you forgotten what Max and I did to you all those years ago? We locked you up for dark magic once, and now, you dare to pull the same tricks? Seriously, Gloria?”

  The other woman laughed, although the sound didn’t match the angry look on her face. Her carefully styled hair had come a little unraveled and the flush on her cheeks wasn’t makeup. “Maybe you’re the one who’s senile, Ethel. Do you think you still have the same pull you had all those years ago? Do you think I’m afraid of you? If you haven’t noticed, Max is no longer at your side.”

  “I know exactly where Max is. I could have him right here with the mere snap of my finger. But I don’t need him to handle the likes of you, Gloria. You, I can handle very well all on my own, you angry ol’ bat. If your memory is so sharp, please tell me how you enjoyed witch’s prison. If you keep screwing around with those damned little girls behind you, if you continue creating havoc with all your childish tricks, you’ll find yourself right back in witch’s prison. I’ll see to that.”

  Gloria laughed again, a sickening cackle. “Your threats mean nothing to me, Ethel. You’re not even a real witch anymore. You don’t even have a coven. You’re nothing but an old cat lady that all the kids make fun of. Ethel Libbons, you are a joke.”

  As Jessica listened, anger grew steadily inside her. Who the heck did this old woman think she was, talking to her grandma like that?

  She stepped forward. While she wasn’t at all sure what she planned to do, she felt the need to defend her grandma. The instant she took a step forward, Pastor Norman, Chad, and Todd joined her. Their collective movement caused Gloria McCrow to notice them. Her head snapped in their direction and she stared at them, momentarily startled. Then, she shot them a condescending sneer. “Is this your new coven, Ethel? They look like a bunch of misfits if you ask me.”

  Ethel turned and saw the rest of them for the first time. “I told you all to stay behind and let me handle this,” she snapped. She held her hand out to warn them all to not come any farther. They all halted.

  She turned back to face Gloria. The other woman folded her arms, a smug look on her face.

  “Listen to me carefully, Gloria,” she said, her tone icy. “If I have to come out of retirement to put you away, you’d better believe I’ll do it. Your head’s too constricted by that hideous wig of yours to know half of what’s going on out there. Those of us who actually mean something in the witch community can’t be bothered to clean up your idiotic messes. And all this because you’re meddling in the affairs of a group of girls barely a quarter of your age.”

  “That little brat granddaughter of yours started it.”

  “My granddaughter didn’t start anything,” Ethel yelled. The very walls trembled at her anger and Gloria actually recoiled. “Keep her name out of your mouth. Besides, you are far too old to play the blame game. Let me remind you what really matters.” She took another step forward so that she now stood and stared directly in Gloria’s face.

  Jessica noted, with some satisfaction, that the other woman actually looked scared.

  “Before you make another move,” her grandmother said slowly, “remember that as bad as I am, I’m not the worst that can happen to you. Think long and hard about the witch’s prison. Are you truly prepared to deal with that again?”

  The other woman shuddered. She clenched her teeth and her fists closed at her side. Whatever had happened to her in the witch’s prison had clearly made an impact. Her defiance had all but withered.

  Ethel took a step back. “That’s what I thought. You’re not so stupid after all, Gloria. You know I am not to be tested. You’d be better off if you remember that. I really don’t want to have to send you to that prison again. You’re an old lady with a family now. But send you back, I will.” She looked at Gloria’s granddaughter and her two friends.

  The look on Debbie’s face made her resemblance to her grandmother suddenly uncanny.

  Ethel smoothed her hair down and cleared her throat. “It’s been a pleasure seeing you again, Gloria. Next time, I hope it will be under better circumstances.”

  Her adversary muttered something under her breath.

  “What was that?”

  “I see Maximus is rounding up his old strays again. Sending you out here to do his dirty work.”

  “Trust me, Ms. McCrow,” Pastor Norman ventured, speaking for the first time, “nobody sends Ethel Libbons anywhere against her will.”

  “Damn straight,” Grandma Ethel agreed.

  “You’re all out here trying to relive your glory days. Times have changed. Remember that.”

  “And you remember your time in witch’s prison,” Ethel hissed. “Keep testing your luck, and Max and I will be the least of your worries.” She turned to Debbie. “Talk some sense into your grandmother, child. While you’re at it, leave my Jessica alone. You’ll find some other way to amuse yourself if you know what’s good for you.”

  “Don’t you dare speak to my granddaughter!” Gloria yelled.

  Ethel waved a dismissive hand, completely unperturbed by the outburst.

  “Get out of my house, Ethel. You and your little entourage. You’ve overstayed your welcome.”

  She raised a sarcastic eyebrow. “Were we ever welcome?” She turned to Jessica and the others. “Come on. My work here is done.”

  Pastor Norman tipped his hat to Gloria before he followed her out.

  “You ladies have a wonderful day.” Chad smirked as he held out a hand to direct Jessica and Todd to make their exit before him.

  Once they had all left the house, the door slammed behind them.

  “I guess you were right, Ms. Ethel. You really didn’t need us to handle those witches,” Chad admitted with a broad grin. They had all piled back into Pastor Norman’s truck and now headed back to Ethel’s house.

  “I didn’t want you all to feel completely useless.” The old woman grinned back at him.

  “I’m simply glad I got to see firsthand why it pays to never piss off Ethel Libbons.” Todd laughed. “I’ve heard the stories, but that’s nothing compared to seeing you in action.”

  Chad huffed. “That wasn’t even her in action. She was downright civil. All she did was talk. If you really want to witness something special, you have to see her actually fight. I’ve heard from plenty of witches that there’s nothing like seeing Ms. Ethel taking down a demon.”

  “I can imagine.” Todd looked at Jessica. “And word on the street is you have your grandma’s fighting spirit when it comes to bringing down demons.”

  “Oh, enough with all the flattery you two.” Ethel waved them off. “Are you trying to make us blush or something?”

  The two younger men laughed.

  “Would you all like to come inside for some food?” she offered.

  Chad shook his head. “That’s tempting, but we need to stop at the academy.”

  Pastor Norman sighed. “I’d love to, but I need to get some things ready for a meeting tomorrow.”

  Grandma shrugged. “I suppose I’ll catch up with you all later. Come on, Jessica.”

  “One minute.” She didn’t follow her grandma out but remained in the backseat of Pastor Norman’s truck. “Pastor Norman, is it all right if I talk to you for a second? It shouldn’t take long.”

  He checked his watch. “Is it important?”

  “Sort of. I have some questions.”

  He nodded. “All right. I have a few minutes to spare.”
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  “Well, I’m going inside. I can hear those cats howling from all the way out here, driving poor little Grace crazy.” Ethel winked at the pastor. “Later, Pastor.”

  “Goodbye, Ethel. And thank you for handling things today.”

  “No problem.” She waved at the guys as they made their way to Chad’s car before she disappeared into the house.

  “So, what’s on your mind, Jessica?” Pastor Norman twisted in the driver’s seat to look at her.

  She swallowed as her mouth felt a little too dry all of a sudden. A little hesitant, she gazed out the window for a moment. Even though the car doors were closed and the windows were raised, there was still a crisp quality to the air. “I meant to tell you this before,” she prefaced and took a deep breath. “The other day at school, I heard that whistling again.”

  He blinked. “Whistling?”

  Jessica nodded. “Yeah. The demon song. The Aquiel. I think he was at my school. I tried to track him down, but I lost him again.”

  His mouth pressed into a grim line and he sighed. “Well, I certainly don’t like the sound of that.”

  “I’m sorry. I can’t seem to keep track of the thing. He always gets away from me. I’m afraid I won’t be any good as a demon hunter. I don’t think I’m cut out for this kind of work.”

  “No, no, Jessica. You misunderstand me. I meant that I don’t like the sound of that thing in your school. Teenagers are quite impressionable. It would be far too easy for that kind of demon to take over a student’s body. I’m not upset that he got away from you again. You can’t blame yourself for that. I have several decades of experience on you, and he constantly escapes me, too. How can you blame yourself?”

  Jessica glanced at him. “I guess I hadn’t thought about it that way.”

  “Demon hunting is tough, no matter how old you are.”

  “I’ll bet.”

  “Is there anything else on your mind?” Pastor Norman asked, his tone gentle and concerned.

  “So much that I can hardly make sense of it all,” she admitted. “I really would like to know more about demon hunting. I feel like I don’t even know what questions to ask.”

  “I’ll tell you what. How about you come by the church tomorrow? Are you available after school?”

  Jessica nodded. “Yeah. Sure. What’s going on tomorrow?”

  “There’s an assignment at the church. I think we could use your help.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Really? What kind of assignment?”

  He paused for a moment. “There’s a woman who has been possessed.”

  “Possessed?”

  “By a demon. Yes.”

  A little startled, she swallowed. “I don’t know.”

  “With how you’ve tried to help me catch this Aquiel, I think it would do you some good to see a possession up close.”

  “Okay. But it sounds so scary.”

  Pastor Norman nodded. “It is. But I’ll be there the whole time, and so will others. You won’t be in any real danger. Besides, it will be a good learning experience for you. It might even help you figure out what path you want to take as a witch.”

  “Well, when you put it like that, sure.” She nodded. “All right. I’ll be there. Thank you, Pastor Norman.”

  “No problem. Rest up. You’ll need it.”

  Jessica got out of the car and felt nervous and excited all at once. She couldn’t deny how terrifying the idea of seeing a possession up close was. Yet she couldn’t deny that on some level, it sounded kind of cool, too.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Can I help you with something?” Jessica asked. She’d had a feeling someone was watching her but had initially thought she’d simply imagined it. Now, she saw the boy a few lockers away staring at her. She hadn’t been mistaken. This had happened to her all day, but it had taken her a while to catch on. Earlier, she’d been thoroughly preoccupied with the idea of being in the presence of a possessed woman after school. She constantly tried to tell herself that it was no big deal. She had, after all, encountered an Aquiel a few times now. Still, she couldn’t help herself. Something about this felt different and her nerves refused to be soothed. She repeatedly envisioned walking into a scene that looked like something straight out of The Exorcist.

  She wanted to put on a brave face for Pastor Norman and whoever else would be present, but she knew if she walked into the house and saw the woman’s head spinning in circles with green vomit flying out of her mouth, she would run. Without a doubt, she would be out of there faster than a speeding bullet.

  Jessica had been so consumed with these thoughts that when she first heard her name being whispered down the hallway, she thought she was hearing things. Plus, it wasn’t like she was the only Jessica in the whole school. Then, she noticed the way people glanced furtively at her and whispered from the corners of their mouths.

  Just like the guy who currently stood several feet away from her. He exchanged a panicked look with his friend when she confronted him.

  “So you’re simply going to stare at me? Did I suddenly become interesting?”

  “It seems like it,” the boy responded stupidly before he ran off with his friend.

  “What the hell?” Jessica stared after them. What was that about?”

  “Jessica.”

  She jumped at the sound of her name and spun to see Christa from the magic shop heading her way. The girl smiled and waved.

  “Oh. Hi, Christa.”

  “Hey, how’s it going?” She fell into step beside Jessica as they made their way to their economics class.

  She decided to tell her the truth. “Honestly, it’s been a weird day.”

  Christa nodded. “I’ll bet.”

  Jessica looked sideways at her. “Why do you say that?”

  The other girl lowered her voice. “I don’t mean to alarm you, but have you heard what people are saying about you?”

  She stopped abruptly. Her companion took several steps forward before she realized she wasn’t beside her. She moved back hastily and looped her arm through Jessica’s to pull her along with her.

  “It’s nothing bad, really,” Christa prefaced.

  “What is it? Just tell me.”

  “The mind-control. Or hypnosis. Whatever you want to call it.”

  “Oh, that?” A laugh bubbled inside of her. It came as something of a relief, although she couldn’t fathom why she had expected something worse than that.

  Christa frowned. “So, you’re actually cool with everyone knowing you’re a witch?”

  “Shh!” Jessica hissed. “No. I’m not.” She shrugged. “I guess it could be worse. I’m not concerned with people thinking I did hypnosis.”

  “Did you really use hypnosis then?”

  She shook her head. They were in front of their class and she didn’t have time to explain. “We’ll talk later after class.” Christa nodded and they un-looped arms and headed to their seats.

  When class was over, the girl waited for her outside the door. She was obviously eager to hear the rest of the story. As she made her way over, someone yelled her name again. Jessica jumped and spun around. Sara and Ashley bounded toward her. Before she could say a single word, Ashley grabbed her by the arm and pulled her along with them.

  “All right, spill it.”

  Baffled, she looked apologetically at Christa who simply smiled. She understood, clearly, and waved goodbye before she wandered off in the opposite direction.

  “Come on. Tell us,” Sara demanded.

  “Tell you what?”

  “How you got out of those detentions. Everyone’s saying you’ve used hypnosis.”

  “Right,” Ashley agreed. “Which is ridiculous, because how did you learn hypnosis? And if you really do know hypnosis why are you holding out on us?”

  Jessica pressed her lips together. Hearing others whispering about this was one thing but being confronted by her friends about it was another. She hated the fact that she had yet to come up with a good explanation. Now, sh
e felt like a deer caught in headlights.

  “You’re being way too secretive lately,” Ashley accused her as they rounded a corner toward their combined physics class.

  “Yeah. We’re supposed to be your friends, Jessica. Why are you hiding so much from us?”

  She sighed. While she wished she could tell the truth, she knew she couldn’t. “I’m not hiding anything.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Then go ahead and tell us how you did it. We’re all ears.” Sara waited expectantly.

  “I…well, it’s… I… Uhm.”

  “Can’t think of a lie?” Ashley and Sara exchanged a look.

  Jessica shook her head. “Let’s say I’ve learned how to be very convincing.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, can you be convincing on our behalf sometimes?” Ashley tilted her head to the side.

  She smirked. “Maybe. You have to trust me. I’m not hiding anything from you.”

  Ashley tossed her head back and laughed. “Well, then, it’s a deal.”

  The mood lightened and they stepped into class and chose seats next to one another. Jessica couldn’t help noticing the way people looked at her. She began to feel less bothered by those stares now. In fact, she even found it somewhat cool. She had never exactly been a social butterfly, nor had she ever been particularly popular. While she wanted to believe she was above such petty nonsense, she couldn’t deny that on some level, the attention felt good. Magical, even.

  She settled into her seat and reveled in the air of mystery that surrounded her. At the same time, she wondered how much longer it could last before it became a problem. If it ever became a problem, to begin with. Jessica wondered how Debbie, Patricia, and Marie would react if she surpassed them in popularity. She had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling too broadly. They would be furious but they knew they could never expose her without exposing themselves.