“All right, pumpkin.” Tristan stood up, gave me a kiss on the forehead and left with Josh.
I dragged myself off to bed and slumped onto the mattress without even taking my clothes off.
Chapter Seven
Misty Lake
WHAT SEEMED LIKE minutes later, I felt Tristan trying to wake me with a gentle shake, and I blinked at the dark room, confused, gradually realizing it was night-time already. I looked at the clock. Eight o’clock.
Fifteen minutes later, I was arriving at the front doors of the main house, panting my lungs out, cursing myself for being late again.
“Oh, look who’s joining us: the wonder fake boy,” Alicia greeted me, her pack of minions at her flank as usual.
“Hello to you, too, Alicia. It’s oh so very nice to see you again,” I greeted in return, with the same fake enthusiasm and sarcasm as hers. “But, seriously, your Mean Girls act is so done. I wish you’d stop with it. Please. We’re all adults here.”
“You’re the one acting like a prissy celebrity princess, Lost Girl, not me. I wish you’d stop with that,” she snapped back childishly, while her minions shot me vehement looks of disdain.
I rolled my eyes and gave up. There was no point trying to draw adult sense out of the brains of this bunch.
“You were pretty chummy with Simon Blaine, this morning. Are you guys having a fling?” Alicia chirped evilly. “I’ll bet the tabloids would die if they got hold of this piece of juicy gossip about you!”
“And I’m sure you know we don’t tolerate petty gossip,” Luna interrupted. “Revealing Joey’s presence at this Gathering would compromise us all, Miss Collins. Keep your mouth shut about what goes here, about Joey and anything else,” she ordered, making Alicia flinch. “Now, let’s get a move on. It’s a few minutes’ walk to the lake’s shore, and we don’t have the whole night. Chop, chop! Let’s get rolling!”
I can’t tell you how much I regretted ignoring Luna’s advice to bring a jacket. During the night, the forest was indeed very chilly, and not even the tall pine trees did much to stop the cold wind from blowing right through us. All the warmth the forest held during the day was completely gone, and the golden-greenish hue of the vegetation was replaced by scary shadows. The leaves in the bushes and treetops whispered to each other across the wind, crackling and rustling all the while we followed the trail. It was kind of creepy. And by kind of, I mean a hell of a lot. The only light came from the full moon and a few flashlights that some girls were carrying.
We bumped into Craig, the camp caretaker, on the way down to the lake. Luna had informed him of all late-night activities, and he wanted to know if everything was all right and whether we needed help to get safely to the shore, but Luna dismissed his offer, saying she knew her way around the woods well, and there was no need for any assistance.
I tried my hardest to avoid tripping as we walked through the dark forest, and, with great relief, at last managed to step onto the lake’s shore without a twisted ankle.
The view opened wide before us with an eerie patch of gray shore. The lake stretched beyond us at either side, with a dark silhouette of a huge boulder rising at our right.
Now I understood the name of the place. “Misty Lake” certainly had what the title advertised. I could hardly discern the other side of the lake. A thick, dense mist weaved through the air above the dark waters like an ethereal blanket of wispy fog.
“Say, what exactly are we doing at this lake at this hour?” I asked a girl standing next to me.
Alicia turned to face us. “Oh, you don’t know? You’re joining in our midnight Sabbath!” she said, with a devious smile that made her face look quite diabolical in the dark. “We are going to dance naked under the moonlight and purify ourselves in the cleansing waters of the lake afterwards. But first you must do the Sabbath blood ritual.”
My eyebrows went to my hairline. “D-dance naked? Blood ritual?” I’d thought we were going to sit by the lake and, I don’t know, admire the moon, or something. I hadn’t signed up for any of this blood ritual crap!
Luna stepped closer and joined in the conversation. “The naked blood ritual is required for new members that are joining our group. That means you two, Joe and Felicia. You’re the newbies this year. You must do the ritual before you are accepted as equals into the group.”
She had quite the evil expression on her face as well. I wouldn’t put it past Luna to do this sort of thing; she was known to dabble in dark, dangerous crafts like this. Everybody was pretty scared of her; I guess now I knew why.
“So, Felicia Collins, are you ready for this?” Luna asked in a chilling voice, her face hidden by the shadows.
The entire group had formed a circle around Felicia and me, shooting us intimidating glares. Felicia looked like she was about to crap in her pants, her eyes fixed on her big sister, pleading for help. Alicia didn’t move a finger to come to her sister’s aid. She just stood there, arms crossed over her chest and an amused smirk on her glossy lips.
“Miss Collins?” Luna pressed on, her tone cold and uninviting.
Felicia slumped in resignation, her expression tense with fear and humiliation as she prepared to start undressing. I was about to intervene, because I didn’t want to be a part of this sick ritual or even witness any of it, but Luna barked an order for her to stop before I could do anything.
“How about you, Joe?” Luna turned to me, her voice slightly more menacing than before.
“Hmm, okay, sorry to rain on your ‘Sabbath Parade’, dudes, but that’s not going to happen.” I crossed my arms defiantly. “I’m not getting naked here. What’s wrong with you people? And I’m not swimming in that lake, either. It’s freezing cold. Are you guys nuts? And I’m definitely not doing anything with blood! If this is what it takes to join in, count me out.”
There was a ring of dead silence for a few moments before Luna raised her head. I could finally see her expression clearly, fully illuminated by the moonlight.
She had quite a pleased smile on her face.
What?
“And that, girls, is how you do it.” She gestured to me.
Everybody around us grunted in unison, some huffed disappointedly, others moaned in disbelief.
“Fellow witches, our Gathering group is here to study the hidden secrets of the Moon and the magic within the Mists. That is why it is required we come to the lake shore during the night,” she explained, then turned to me and Felicia. “You two can relax now; there’s no blood rituals or naked activities required here. That was a little initiation prank we do every time someone new joins the group. You are the first to refuse the offer, Joey, and thus, to pass the test. Congratulations.”
“Wait, are you saying everybody here fell for this prank?” Felicia asked, confused. “Even you, Alicia? Did you fall for this, too?”
“Yes. They all have,” Luna replied, with an amused grin. “Everybody is so eager to please the group and join in. Everyone here has fallen prey to peer pressure.”
Luna turned to us, her face serious now. “There will be times in your lives, girls, where you will need to take a stand, even if the odds are against you. People will do anything to belong; you have to realize that some things aren’t worth doing. You must have the courage to stand up for yourself and refuse.”
Everybody shuffled their feet, mumbling in quiet agreement.
“I can’t believe you fell for it!” Felicia teased her older sister, after everybody had broken the circle and started ambling around the lake shore.
“Shut up! You fell for it too, dumbass!” Alicia hissed in irritation.
I was quite impressed by Luna’s first lesson that evening. I had a suspicious inkling that she had already predicted I would react that way. Luna knew I was always ready for a confrontation when faced with something I didn’t agree with.
Maybe Luna’s Gathering wasn’t going to be so bad after all.
Maybe she was going to teach me something interesting here tonight.
Who knew, maybe even practice real magic?
How wrong my assumptions had been. I didn’t learn anything practical whatsoever. There was a lot of mumbo jumbo about the moon and the many ways it could affect people’s lives, and a bunch of nonsense about visions you could spot within the wisps and twirls of the mists.
As in Celeste’s group, there was much ado about nothing and a whole lot of talk. They would chatter endlessly about occult powers that might exist, but in the end, they were all as normal as anyone else in the world. The only significant difference was that these people dressed all in black, with occult symbols printed on their clothing.
This whole experience of the Gathering felt more and more like a bunch of crazy people playing pretend in the middle of the woods. And I felt as clueless and lost about magic as ever.
When Luna asked me to give it a go and try to “seek visions within the mists”, I complied, but with some reluctance. I knew I should be more open-minded, and I was trying, but to be completely honest, I couldn’t see a damned thing in those mists. Sure, if I squinted hard and stared long enough, I’d see things forming in the fog, like in those mindless games I used to play as a kid, searching for shapes in the clouds. But like in the cloud game, here I saw mostly bunny-shaped things, sometimes a whale floating about . . . nothing worthy of qualifying as “premonitory material”.
And it wasn’t just me. All the other girls were lying through their teeth, declaring in fake spooky voices (to make it sound more credible) that they could see all sorts of mystical things.
“Come on, Gray! You have to concentrate on the swirls of the mists. Clear your mind and you’ll be able to foresee it more clearly,” Luna instructed, as we both stood at the edge of the lake, on the shoreline, the cold waters of the lake licking at our feet.
“I’m sorry, Luna, but I can’t see a damned thing!” I huffed in frustration. “None of the other girls can, either, you know. They are all lying to you.”
“Really? You can see with your . . . you know?” she asked, tapping her temple to signal my empathy-sight.
I nodded and kicked a small pebble into the lake. “Yeah. Except that Filipino girl over there. She seems like she really believes she’s seeing stuff. But the rest of them, bunch of liars, the whole lot!”
“All right.” Luna seemed to be mulling something over, and then she turned round to face the group that was chatting distractedly a few feet behind us. “Mayumi, darling, could you come over and give it a try now?” She motioned for the Filipino girl to approach us.
The girl stopped at Luna’s side and stared into the lake. “Hmm, I’m n-not sure if I can see anything, Miss Harker.”
“Well, it’s a lot like meditating, you know. Empty your mind of any thoughts, don’t think about having to see anything, just project your mind into the mists.”
The girl squinted into the distance, and Luna was quick to correct her again. “Don’t force it. You don’t have to strain your eyes; you have to glaze over the mist, as if you are daydreaming.”
The second time, the girl’s eyes did glaze and lose focus. When she spoke again, her voice had a different tone to it. “I see . . . dark hands breaking through the water, reaching for something, trying to grab it, and . . . the lake is boiling. I see fire breaking through the water, reaching into the air.” She blinked and her eyes unglazed, returning to normal.
“That was excellent, Mayumi. Well done!” Luna praised. “We will learn how to interpret those visions another night, but you did great.”
The girl blushed and shyly tucked her hands behind her back.
“Now, for the rest of the group, I must say tonight’s Gathering is over.” Luna turned and stalked towards the Glitter Coven. “I have an intuition telling me that you haven’t been honest with me.” Her piercing, dark gaze swept over the girls, who glanced guiltily away. “I think maybe some of you may be pretending to see things in the mists that aren’t really there,” she stated disapprovingly. “And if that is truly the case, what a shame. What do you honestly have to learn by lying to me? I can’t help you if you lie, and you can’t share anything with your colleagues if you don’t know anything.
“This is truly a waste of my time. Of everybody’s time! We’re leaving, and I suggest you all think long and hard about what you’re doing. I hope tomorrow you all come back with a new attitude, or there won’t be any more meetings with me. We’re heading back to the main house now. Keep up and stay close to me.” She stalked off without waiting for any reply.
Everybody hurried to follow Luna, except Mayumi, who lingered behind and tugged at my shirt to get my attention. “Hey, hmm, can I have a word with you?”
“Sure, what’s up, Mayumi?” I asked, eyeing the group who started stumbling ahead up the dark trail.
“W-well, I-I wanted to thank you for what you did for me.”
I turned to face her. “Me? What did I do?”
“I mean, I overheard you telling Luna about me; then she called me over and she even congratulated me! Thank you so much for helping me.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I didn’t tell Luna to congratulate you. The merit is all yours.”
“No, you don’t understand. She never would’ve called me if it weren’t for you telling. I’m so happy she gave me a chance. And it’s all thanks to you.”
“I’m glad, Mayumi, but I really didn’t do anything. Why didn’t you volunteer anyway, if you wanted a chance so much? I’m sure Luna would have let you try, if you’d asked.”
“O-oh, I don’t know . . . Alicia would have said I was a show-off, and I-I didn’t want her picking on me and making fun if I wasn’t any good at it,” she mumbled.
“Mayumi, you’ll never achieve anything if you let stupid people prevent you from trying out new things. Tell Alicia to go get a life and to stop bugging you!”
“O-okay.” She nodded and ventured to offer a small smile.
I smiled back, and when we both turned to follow the rest of the group, we realized they had all gone.
We had been left behind, alone, in the darkness.
Chapter Eight
Lost in the Woods
“I CAN’T BELIEVE it. Seriously, they were right ahead of us, how could we have missed them?” I complained to a trembling Mayumi, as we both stumbled blindly up the trail. I wasn’t going to point out that she was the one responsible for holding us back and separating us from the group. She was terrified enough as it was; I didn’t need to make her feel worse about it.
But I had to admit that my grumpiness was mostly to cover my fear. I was scared, too. Walking in a dark forest was pretty terrifying; everything crackled and rustled around us, and it was so dark, we couldn’t see a thing in front of our eyes.
I tried to fake confidence while we walked through the woods. If Mayumi realized that I had no sense of direction whatsoever to guide us back, she was going to have a major panic attack, and what good that would do us?
“M-maybe we should stay put. D-do y-you think they will come back for u-us, eventually?” she squeaked in fright.
“Of course. Luna will notice we’re not with the group and she’ll track back to find us. But we won’t even need that. We can find our way back by ourselves, right? We just need to keep following the trail. Lizzie told me that all roads in this camp lead to the main house: we can’t miss it!” I tried to sound reassuring.
“B-but how do you know we’re even on a proper trail? It’s so dark! I can’t see anything.” Her voice threatened to break at any second.
“Come on, man! Please don’t cry,” I pleaded.
She sobbed in reply, and I turned to look at her, which momentarily made me lose focus on the path. I hit a big dry log, tripped and fell down hard.
“Mother fuc—” I bit back a curse and rubbed my shin, staring vindictively at the log. The palms of my hands stung from scratches and cuts as I’d tried to break my fall.
Funny thing was, I didn’t remember passing by any dry logs on our way down to the lake . . . which m
eant we probably weren’t on the trail any more. I also wasn’t sure whether we should really be walking uphill right now. Wasn’t this supposed to be a level terrain? It sure had been when we’d first walked to the lake . . . which was maybe indication enough that we were heading in the wrong direction.
We were very lost.
“W-what is it? Are you hurt? Did you break anything?” Mayumi had scrambled down and squashed herself next to me, patting at my legs to check for injuries.
“Hey, stop it! I’m fine!” I pulled her hands away.
“Are you bleeding? I don’t know any medical emergency procedures! You are going to die and leave me all alone in this awful forest, aren’t you?” She was a second away from losing her marbles, I could tell.
“Hey, no one is bleeding, here! It was just a light bump on the shin, hardly a scratch. You gotta chill, dude. Stop panicking, it doesn’t help anything.” I scowled, and the order seemed to make her pull herself together.
“I’m sor—”
“Listen!” I cut in sharply. “Can you hear that? It’s voices! There are people talking nearby.” I pulled myself up and squinted into the darkness, trying to locate the direction of the sounds. “Look! There! Flashlights, can you see?” I exclaimed.
We were running towards the light as fast as the forest allowed us, when we bumped into three very startled boys.
“Simon! Thank God!” I exclaimed, and tackled him in a hug of relief. “I’m so happy to bump into you guys!”
“We’re saved! We’re not going to die in this forest any more!” Mayumi shouted in joy, also hugging one of the boys.
“W-what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be by the lake?” the boy being hugged by Mayumi asked in alarm.
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