by Logan Jacobs
I knew this wasn’t a request. It was a demand.
“Sure,” I said, since I was willing to accept the challenge.
I turned to page six-six-six and stared at the text before me, which I could thankfully read. It was all written in a dark, dirty brownish-red ink, which I realized was probably blood. I was beginning to come to the conclusion that nearly everything here was written in blood.
“Blood magic for beginners, it is a trial for women to access the ability to--” I started to say, but then Vanessa wildly shook her dark curls.
“No, don’t bother reading that, skip to the incantations,” Vanessa sighed with an impatient wave of her hand.
Giggling ensued as I started to read the part that wasn’t in English.
“E-Ego … auto … ” I struggled to pronounce the words, and my irritation began to boil over. I knew Vanessa was only doing this to humiliate me. “Auto … auto--”
“Autem,” the professor corrected in a louder than necessary voice. “Ego autem le dealaset cor eius pythonissam, advoca en sanguinem luna.”
“What does it mean?” I asked with a raised brow.
“I, the Wicca with dedication and determination, summon the blood moon,” she replied. “It’s common knowledge, Cole. You’re going to have to go through an abundant amount of reading in order to catch up with the rest of us.”
Her patronizing and condescending attitude was really starting to grate on my nerves, but I considered myself to be a patient person, and I refused to let it get to me.
At least, I had a feeling I was patient. There was still no way for me to be sure exactly who I was.
“I’m a fast learner.” I smirked in her direction. “I’m sure I’ll pick it up quickly.”
“Well, your life depends on it, so let’s hope that’s true.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Continue, please.”
“Professor,” Sweeny growled from behind me. “When will we be able to sacrifice animals for blood rituals?”
“Oh, for Wicca’s sake,” Faye sighed loudly. “Is killing creatures the only thing that interests you, Sweeny?”
“It is,” Sweeny answered with no shame. “So what?”
“It’s pretty basic witch of you, if you ask me,” Faye scoffed and rolled her green eyes.
“Well, no one asked you,” Sweeny retorted in a deep rumbling growl.
“Ladies!” Vanessa snapped her fingers. “Let’s not lose focus here, shall we?”
“Apologies, Professor,” they both muttered in unison.
“Anyway, to answer your question, Sweeny, yes, we will learn to sacrifice animals.” Vanessa grinned. “And it’s a perfectly reasonable question. Sacrificial tasks are among my favorite to teach, so let’s stop with the bickering, especially among yourselves, ladies.”
I knew this comment was directed at me, as if to say, “your real enemy is the one who is not like the rest of you, so target him instead.”
That was fine, though. I could hold my own.
“Professor,” Vesta called out with her hand raised high in the air again. “Can we please watch you perform a sacrificial spell?”
“Oh, yes, please?” Faye added. “I personally learn best by example. Besides … most of us know how to pronounce these incantations already. Why waste time with the text?”
I shook my head and mentally sighed. This was going to be a long semester.
But I was determined to prove to these women I wasn’t the stupid, mortal boy they thought I was. The headmistress said I’d been brought here for a reason, and I damn sure was going to figure out what that reason was.
“Fine, fine.” Vanessa laughed. “Let’s start with something small then, shall we?”
She turned her skirts and headed toward a black, dusty armoire. Then she pulled the doors open, using only her mind, and retrieved a small potted red rose.
Everyone quietly watched as Vanessa placed the rose on her desk, and she stared down at the flower as if it were made of gold. Then her bright, eager blue eyes flickered back toward the class.
“Everyone knows the basics of a sacrificial Blood Magic ritual,” she said. “First, I take a small needle or a knife, which has already been soaked in a concoction. Now, who can tell me what the ingredients are for this potion? Yes …Vesta?”
“Vampire ash, black sea salt, spider’s eye, a red moth’s wing, nightshade, the blood of a beast, one’s own blood … and of course, a human heart.” Vesta smirked.
“Very good,” Vanessa replied. “Now, in today’s lesson, you will have to make your own potion. Normally, it’s up to you to find the ingredients, but for today, I have gathered enough for everyone to have a go at it.”
With grace and poise, Vanessa strolled back to the armoire and began to pull out jars, tubes, and goblets. There was a small black cauldron on her desk, and when she returned to it, she carefully began to take out all the ghastly looking ingredients that Vesta mentioned. Then she started to measure the ingredients in a tube before tossing them into the cauldron, and I tried not to wince when I saw a whole human heart being thrown in as if it were a potato or an onion.
When I looked down at my textbook, the exact measurements were all scribbled down, which brought me some relief. I would at least have a guide in a language I understood, so I knew I could figure this shit out in no time.
At least that’s what I had to tell myself when I thought about the mysteriously deadly finals.
“Now,” Vanessa said after adding the salt. “What’s one of the simplest spells we all know?”
There was a small pause, and then Akira jumped up in her seat with excitement.
“Illuminana?” the dark-haired witch suggested loudly.
“Excellent,” Vanessa replied, and she was clearly impressed with how quick-witted these women were. “So, once all the ingredients are in, we will use the spell to cast a small fire inside.”
Vanessa set down the cauldron, raised her hand, and closed her ice-blue eyes.
“Illuminana,” she whispered.
A bubbling sound erupted, and flames burst forth from the cauldron. It only lasted for about a minute before the fire died down as if it was never there.
Then Vanessa carefully picked up the small cauldron and handed it to Akira.
“Please pass it around so everyone can see the color and consistency of the brew,” she instructed. “If it doesn’t look like this, then it could end up killing you instead, so take heed, everyone.”
Akira peered into the cauldron and took a long moment to stare at the contents inside, but she didn’t even bother to glance at me as she handed it over to me. As I took the cauldron from her hands, my fingers accidentally brushed against her skin, and she shuddered so violently that she nearly dropped the whole thing, but I managed to grab it securely before it could hit the desk.
“Don’t touch me,” Akira hissed and glared in my direction.
“I didn’t intend to,” I muttered back.
“I don’t care what you intended, male. Just don’t do it.”
“Fine.” I peered inside the cauldron, and I saw a thick blackish-red concoction. It smelled rotten, like dead, decaying leaves, and was still bubbling, even though the stone wasn’t hot to the touch.
“That’s enough of an observation, Cole,” Vanessa cut in a moment later, and her voice was sharper than it needed to be. “Pass it back to Sweeny.”
I resisted the urge to ask how she’d even be able to see it as I turned around and handed her the brew. The scarred and eyeless witch snatched it from my hands as quick as a bolt of lightning, as if my touch would only inflict more scars upon her. Then she tossed back her long, dark auburn hair, and I couldn’t help but watch her as she lowered her face to study the contents of the cauldron.
How the hell could she see?
“What?” Sweeny snapped without looking up at me. “Stop staring at me, human filth.”
Ah, so she could see … and clearly. But how?
“My bad,” I grumbled before I rai
sed my hands in defense and turned around.
The others took their time to study the potion, and when it was passed back to Vanessa once again, she set it back down on her desk and smiled.
“Now for the fun part,” she murmured as she retrieved a small needle from her dress pocket and then raised her white, dainty finger. She pressed the needle into her fingertip and dug deep into her skin until thick, dark red drops began to trickle down her finger. “Don’t be shy about how much blood you use. In fact, the more, the better.”
She then squeezed her finger and let the blood drip into the mixture. When she was done, a cloud of silver smoke emerged, and the potion began to bubble again.
“Now, what is the next step?” she asked the class.
“To recite the incantation?” I blurted out without thinking, but it seemed like the most logical and obvious next step.
“Yes,” Vanessa answered after a long moment, and she was clearly unhappy I was willing to participate and answer one of her questions correctly. “Now, observe me, carefully. Innomoss o pray sang luna.”
Instead of silver smoke rising to the surface, a light purple haze took its place, and I watched as Vanessa carefully took a small wooden spoon and stirred the liquid. She then took a blade and dipped it into the potion, which was now a dark plum instead of oil black, like before, and I watched with fascination as she neared the beautiful and vibrant red rose that stood on her desk. Then I watched carefully as she used the knife to slice into one of its petals.
At first, nothing happened, but then my mouth slightly parted as the rose began to turn ash gray and wilt. The flower finally turned into dust and disappeared, as if it were never there to start with.
“And now,” Vanessa intoned with a dark smile, “the rose’s life-force is tied to my own.”
The class clapped, and I couldn’t help but join in.
“As I said before,” Vanessa went on, “I will give you the ingredients this one time, but for the next class, it will be up to you to hunt down a creature and harvest its blood for your own potion.”
“Which creature’s blood did you use?” I asked out of morbid curiosity.
“A siren.” She smirked. “And it wasn’t easy to come by.”
With that, Vanessa began to hand out flowers to the class. She handed Akira a sunflower. Vesta was given a lilac. Sweeny had an orchid. Morgana, a black rose, and Faye, a lily.
I ended up getting a weed.
“This won’t be easy for you, Cole.” Vanessa winked. “So, I’ll be lenient this time.”
If that’s how she wanted to play this game, then I’d go along with it.
“Whatever you say, professor.” I grinned, and I planned to show her how vastly she was underestimating me.
Vanessa shot me one last glare before she twirled her skirts around and headed back to her desk to take a seat. No one moved an inch, and then Vanessa rolled her eyes.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” she sighed impatiently. “Get on with it.”
Ingredients began to mysteriously appear on the desk in front of me. I spotted the red moth wing, the black sea salt, a vial of blood and ash, spider’s eye, nightshade, and of course … the human heart.
A part of me still couldn’t believe I was about to take a human heart into my own hands and dump it into a fucking cauldron. How the fuck was this my life now?
I couldn’t bitch and moan about it, though. I just needed to keep rolling with the punches and make sure these crazy witches didn’t kill me.
Akira swiped her share of the ingredients without saying a word and began to concoct her own brew in fuming silence.
I ignored her and glanced down at the textbook. Then I carefully followed the instructions, measured out the ingredients, and mixed them together. Once I felt confident that I had it all together, I lifted the cauldron at eye level.
“Illuminana,” I whispered.
I half-expected nothing to happen, but then the brew began to boil. Some of the girls gasped, and Akira shot me a dirty look, most likely because she was still mixing her ingredients. I just smiled as the flicker of flames danced in my cauldron, and the brew bubbled.
Out of curiosity, I glanced up at Vanessa, whose expression was difficult to decipher.
I didn’t bother to dwell on it, though. Instead, I turned my attention back to the mixture and grabbed the needle. Then I pressed it against my fingertip as hard as I could, until thick, hot blood trickled down my finger. I hovered my hand over the cauldron and squeezed as much blood as I could into the mixture, and I breathed a smile of relief as the smoke emerged from the cauldron. I then took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and relaxed.
“Innomoss o pray sang luna,” I said as clearly as possible.
Even with my eyes closed, I could feel everyone’s eyes on me as I dipped the knife into the potion. I then carefully sliced into the weed, and the frail and pathetic thing instantly turned gray and collapsed into a pile of dust.
“Unholy hell,” Akira whispered after a long moment. “How did you do that?”
Before I could reply, Vanessa stood up and approached my desk as quick as a wasp.
“Beginners luck,” she snapped before she took the pile of ashes from my desk. She then looked at the rest of the class, and she was clearly irritated and confused. “Stop staring and get back to your own work.”
The other witches nodded, and I watched as Akira finally cut into her sunflower. It turned slightly brown, and some of the petals fell off, but it didn’t turn into dust.
“Fuck,” Akira hissed under her breath.
“It’s fine,” Vanessa said, even though it was clear she was disappointed. “It just takes practice. Ladies, how are the rest of you getting along?”
Everyone grumbled, and when I turned around, I noticed they were all struggling as well.
“I bet the only reason why he was able to do it was because he had a measly weed,” Faye whined when her lily only turned a dark shade of brown.
“Maybe you’re right.” Vanessa placed a finger on her lips as if she were trying to decipher an impossible calculation in her mind. “You know what, let’s try something else, Cole.”
“Sure.” I shrugged. “I’m game.”
The professor snorted before retrieving a large, Venus flytrap from her armoire.
Jesus … I thought she was going to give me a flower, not a fucking carnivorous plant.
“Go on,” Vanessa said as she slammed the plant down in front of me. “In fact, make a new potion as well.”
I scowled up at her but did as she asked. I repeated the same steps and said the incantation. Then, when I cut into the plant, it made a long hissing noise before crumbling into ash, dirt, and dust.
The silence in the classroom was deafening.
“Do I pass?” I asked with a smirk.
The classroom was still deadly quiet, and Vanessa turned to look out the small, oval window and then rubbed at the corner of her temples.
“Class dismissed,” she muttered. “I’m feeling a headache coming on … we’ll pick up tomorrow. Do not forget about your assignment. Even if you couldn’t sacrifice your flower, be sure to collect your blood from a beast for your quiz.”
Akira slammed her book shut before storming out of the classroom. The rest of the witches followed, and Faye shot me a dirty look before leaving.
I grabbed my own torn and bloody copy of my textbook, since I was hellbent on learning everything I could about blood magic, but before I could head to the door, Vanessa stepped in front of me.
“No,” she said, “stay behind for a moment.”
“Fine.” I nodded, but then I narrowed my eyes at her. “Look, can I be blunt, here, Professor?”
“Fire away,” Vanessa said as she crossed her arms.
“I completed the task, but you didn’t seem too thrilled by the turn of events,” I said as I stared her directly in the eyes. “Did you want me to fail?”
She said nothing, but her mouth tightened into a thin line.
“Follow me,” she said at length and just ignored my question entirely.
I should have expected her to dismiss my assumption, but I was also curious as to what she had to say. So, I sighed as I followed her out of the classroom, and to my surprise, the halls were completely empty.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
“Banquet hall,” Vanessa replied, and her voice was icy and firm.
“Right,” I muttered.
It was probably noon. Now that I thought about food, I realized I was pretty famished. Who knew when I last ate?
I tried to ignore the hunger pains that were growing in my gut as I followed Vanessa down the corridor, and I ended up following her all the way back to Theodora’s office. Then Vanessa whipped around to face me when we came to the door.
“Wait here,” she ordered.
“Fine,” I answered, and I tucked my hands into my pockets as she unlocked the door and headed inside.
She made sure to slam it shut on her way in.
I waited patiently for about five minutes, but then I grew bored and curious, so I pressed my ear against the door and tried to listen.
“Mother, he was able to do it on the first try,” Vanessa hissed. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You shouldn’t have doubted me,” Theodora replied. “I told you never to question the devil’s intent.”
“I didn’t doubt it--”
“Yes, you did,” Theodora snapped, “and I was severely disappointed in you.”
“Apologies, Mother,” Vanessa answered.
“Now, please do your duty and guide the young man,” Theodora sighed. “I won’t be repeating myself in the future.”
“Yes, Mother,” Vanessa murmured in a respectful tone.
I immediately jerked away from the door before it swung open again. Vanessa shot me a deadly glare, and I wondered if she knew I had been eavesdropping.
“Come along,” she demanded.
“I’m not a dog, you know,” I drawled, but she ignored me,
As we walked on toward the banquet hall, though, she spoke up.
