by R. L. Weeks
“Okay, tell him I said hi. See you in chemistry.” She skipped away, her ponytail swishing behind her.
I walked toward the woods where I spotted Nicholas by the bench. He looked effortlessly handsome. His top button was undone, and his hair was swept to the side.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he said and grinned.
I blushed at his unexpected display of affection.
“Hey.” I flattened my skirt and fiddled with my charm bracelet.
“Follow me.”
“Where are you taking me?”
I couldn’t see it, but I could tell he was smiling as he walked ahead of me. “You’ll see.” He attempted to be serious. “How are things with you? Since everything…”
“Good!” I exclaimed. “Really good actually.”
“I’m glad.”
“How about you?”
He hesitated. “Nothing eventful has happened. Same as usual.”
“Why did you hesitate?” I asked.
“You don’t usually ask.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” he said earnestly.
I searched for a conversation topic. “First day back at school since, you know.” I let out a heavy sigh.
He grunted. “It’s just filled with people who didn’t know Amara well, placing flowers, bears, and other crap by her locker as if she spent so much time there.”
“I don’t know. I see it,” I thought aloud. “It’s their way of mourning the loss of their own invincibility and the hard truth that even at our age, we are fragile and can be wiped out in a second. It’s not distasteful, and it’s not like Amara is alive to see it.” I tried not to sound insensitive. “It probably makes her parents feel better, seeing the love. We can all pretend she was a nice person. Rose-tinted glasses and all. Who would want the memory of someone trashed by who they really were in life?”
He looked back and raised an eyebrow.
“What?” I asked.
“Your responses always surprise me.”
“How?”
“You’re just honest. It’s refreshing, I guess. You’re not trying to please anyone or saying what’s appropriate to everyone else.”
I shrugged. “It’s all true. I mean, when I imagine being dead, I’ve never felt so loved.”
“You imagine that?”
“That’s weird, huh?” I questioned, feeling uncomfortable.
“I think everyone does it now and again. Not many people say it out loud.”
I smirked. “I guess I was born without that ‘social filter’ thing.”
He smiled, the first genuine smile since Amara died. “You are absolutely perfect just how you are, no matter what’s happened. We just need to help you.”
“After what happened?” I asked.
“We’re here.” He sat on a rock next to a pond. A flock of birds flew out from the branches of a tree, making me jump. He placed his arm around me. “I was wrong to tell you not to practice magic. You should be focusing on controlling it. My cousin arrives tomorrow, so we can at least get a head start on this thing.”
I noticed he wasn’t wearing his leather jacket. I didn’t know how it had gone unnoticed. It was weird to see him out and about without it. “No leather jacket today?”
“No. Should I be wearing it?”
“It’s just you always wear it.”
“Well I decided against it today.”
“Okay. L-o-l.”
“Who says l-o-l in real life?” He teased. “You’re so weird.”
“Hey.” I chastised. “Now, back to the practicing magic lecture.” I smiled. “I’ve been trying to myself. I know you said not to.” I waved my hand dismissively. “But I needed to try to control the beast within.”
“Agreed.” He pulled out his phone and put on a playlist. The first song was powerful, alternative. It had a good beat, just what I imaged he would listen to.
I approved. “Nice playlist.”
“This is the best way to entice your magic to the surface,” he told me. “Music is the best thing to evoke emotion in us. It can’t hurt.” He exhaled. “You need to learn to control your powers before you end up killing someone.”
Something in his tone sounded off. It was unsettling.
“There are two paths: light and dark. I need you to walk in the light.” He took my hand in his. “To do this, we must embrace the darkness. One cannot exist without the other.”
The sun glinted in his eyes, showing off a thousand shades of gold. I gazed into them, entrapped by his stare. I felt want ripple through our bond. I wondered if all witches had a bond or if it was the weird betrothal thing he mentioned—if that was even a real thing.
He took a deep breath. “Are you ready to embrace the dark?”
“That’s what today is,” I stated, not as a question. “You want me to go dark.”
“To feel it, understand it, accept it, and choose to do the right thing anyway.”
The corner of my lip twitched. “And you? Do you embrace your dark side?”
He nodded. “All the time. I don’t hide who I am. Show me who you really are.”
I felt intensely vulnerable as he looked at me with a burning curiosity. My throat hurt. I put my hand up to my neck.
“Your throat chakra.”
I laughed. “You believe in that too?”
“Yes.”
“So does Vanessa. She’s always talking about chakras.”
“There are seven of them,” he explained. “If they’re blocked, it can cause problems—physically too. Your throat chakra is blocked by lies or holding something back. You can unblock it with honesty.”
“Everyone lies.”
“Yes, but usually not to themselves.”
I disagreed. “Actually, I think that’s who everyone lies to the most.”
He rolled his eyes, in a teasing way. The corners of his lips lifted.
Being around Nicholas made me feel so open. It was unnerving, like he could see right through me.
“Okay, I’ll be honest on what I’ve been holding back.” I mustered my strength. “I want you.”
His expression stayed cool. “Go on.”
I was taken aback by his response but continued. My face flushed red. My body was betraying me. “I’ve wanted you since we went to that house,” I admitted.
He didn’t respond.
“Say something!”
“I don’t know what to say.”
I rubbed my forehead. The boy I wanted didn’t want me back. Fantastic. “You promised you’d never embarrass me.”
He seemed a little thrown off by that comment. At least he showed some emotion. “It’s not that I don’t want you.” His gaze turned to one of burning desire. “I’m vulnerable with you.” His pulse quickened and pupils dilated. “Too vulnerable.”
“I don’t understand…”
He gave me a knowing look. “I think you do.”
I searched our bond for something—anything—and felt his need to protect me ripple through our connection. His whole focus was on keeping me safe. He was hiding something from me too. If he let his guard down, everything in his mind would be revealed to me. What could he be hiding that was so important?
“Get out of my head,” he demanded icily.
I flinched. “This was a dumb idea. You told me to open up to my darkness, which in turn means my desires for you, and then you make me feel stupid.”
“I’m protecting you. You have to trust me.”
Electric waves traveled through my body. “Forget I said anything. I don’t want you, not anymore anyway. I thought you were different.”
“I thought we agreed not to lie to ourselves.”
I ground my teeth together. “Oh, just fuck off, Nicholas.”
We walked back to school in a deafening silence. I did my best not to cry. Nicholas was the only thing that brought me any solace in my grief, and now that he was gone, I had to deal with stuff alone. “I need a day,” I said and walked away from him. I didn�
��t want to be around everyone else grieving Amara when I couldn’t even cope with my own dad’s death.
Nicholas called after me. I didn’t turn around. Whatever it was he was hiding from me, I didn’t want to hear it. Instead, I decided to take a walk through town. Going home wasn’t an option. Mom would be pissed if she found out I was skipping school again.
The sun beat down on the concrete as I walked down the small winding road. I remembered running down it as a kid and scraping my knee. I had been with Vanessa and Maria. Looking around, I saw a glimpse of memories long forgotten. I was haunted by the good times, taunting me as if to say those days were over. The ghosts of the children of us materialized in a thin mist. They were swept away by the breeze as I walked. I reminisced the days of Vanessa, Maria, and me. The twins weren’t really in the picture then. I always preferred it without them. Vanessa tried to include me in their friendship group, but they were Vanessa’s friends, not mine. I used to have my cheerleading friends, but they had ignored me since I quit the squad. I felt sad. I hardly saw Maria those days and barely spoke with Vanessa compared to how much time we used to spend together.
My purpose had always seemed clear, or at least unimportant. Now, everything had changed. I had fallen for a boy who refused to let his guard down enough to reciprocate any feelings, my mom was working double the hours to keep up with mortgage payments, and I felt more alone than ever.
The forest loomed in the landscape, shadowing our small town. Inside of it, the bear that killed my dad walked around, unaware of the pain it had caused. I was forgiving with animals. They didn’t have the awareness us humans did. They just acted on primal instinct. At least he hadn’t been murdered by a person. That would have been worse.
The forest was so vast, I couldn’t see the end of the sea of trees. I had told Dad not to go hiking in there so many times, but he never listened to me… or Mom. If he wanted to do something, he did it, and there was no deterring him. I wished I was like him, going for what I wanted without hesitation. I used to be stronger.
I passed the bookstore and the local Walmart. I hurried through pathways until I reached the beginning of the nature trail that led to the forest. Hesitantly, I walked up to the path and passed a sign that warned people of the black bears. I wasn’t sure how many were in there. Probably a lot, but I wasn’t an expert and I didn’t care. I needed to see the spot where Dad had died, and as reckless as it was, I figured with my powers, I could somehow save myself. I needed to feel close to him again, and it seemed like a good idea.
There was something magical about the sparkling on the green. The forest was alive, a beating heart filled with creatures of all sizes. I saw the allure Dad must have seen. There was something freeing about being in a place where if you dropped dead, nothing would change. It changed my perspective in a second. The feeling of the world on my shoulders disappeared as I submitted to nature. My bond rippled out to the leaves, trees, and the earth beneath my feet.
My bond wasn’t exclusive to Nicholas; it seemed I could connect with Mother Nature in a personal way. I let her take me, used her to guide me as I fought my way through the overgrowth and over the unsteady ground. Tree roots twisted above the dirt before sinking back into the earth. Nothing was disciplined in nature. It could expand in all its glory without restriction. I no longer felt afraid but instead at peace. The leaves were illuminated by the dappled light. Accessing my powers there was as easy as breathing. Riding my emotions like a surfer on the perfect wave, I lifted my hands into the sky and let loose. My powers had been waiting for me to let go fully. It was a part of me—it was me—and I understood that now. I allowed Mother Nature to lure the dormant strength lying inside of me out. A warm feeling circled in my stomach, and a sense of power ran through me. The sky disappeared as I got into the thick of it. Only small patches of white and blue could be seen through the thick canopy. Birds tweeted, watching me from above.
The trees narrowed. To my left, mountains reached high into the sky like pillars to the heavens. It was a beautiful sight. Dad would climb the mountains, but how could I find where he died exactly in such a vast place with no paths or maps to direct me?
“It doesn’t matter,” a soft, flowing voice tinkered in my mind. The voice echoed in different tones, something not of this world. I felt a sense of family as I walked away from the mountain base and back into the depths.
I saw something strange poking out from between the trees. I walked closer to it, although my gut told me not to.
The same voice entered my mind again. “Leave now.”
Who are you? I asked in my mind and closed my eyes. An image came into view of a beautiful woman with long, curly hair. She looked exotic, except for her eyes and nose which mirrored mine. Was she an ancestor of mine? She looked of the earth. Leaves were in her hair but were not tangled, as if they belonged there.
She told me to run, but my curiosity got the better of me. I reached the trees and gasped when I saw bones lying among the branches, hanging from threads. Blood stained the back of a tree trunk. The smell of rotting flesh and the buzz from the flies feasting were too much. I bent over and threw up. The burning acid in my throat made me choke. I grappled for air and stood up straight. Stumbling over the roots, I saw a sight I wish I hadn’t. Bones lay everywhere and a blood trail led to a cave. There were traps everywhere, big enough to catch a human. I stepped cautiously and decided it was time to go.
I let my intuition guide me as I ran. Whisking past the trees, my foot cracked on the uneven ground. It felt like someone had stabbed a hot poker into my leg. I screamed out, but no one came. The sky darkened, and the stupidity of running off and the enormity of what could happen next pushed me into an enveloping darkness.
***
I woke up in Nicholas’s bed and bolted upright.
Nicholas walked into the room, holding a coffee mug. “Calm down. Don’t get up. You broke your leg, but don’t worry…”
Behind him, another man walked in. He had blond, wavy hair, olive-colored skin, broad shoulders, and a straight nose. It looked like he belonged on the beach. He had sky-blue eyes and a charming smile. “I healed you.”
“Wow, uh, thank you. You must be Nicholas’s cousin.” I presumed, considering he was in Nicholas’s house.
He rustled Nicholas’s hair. “Yes, I’m little Nicki’s cousin.”
“Don’t call me that,” Nicholas retorted.
I shot him a smile. “Thanks again.”
“Anything for a pretty girl.” He saw Nicholas’s expression and laughed. “Or my cousin’s girlfriend. I’m Joshua by the way.”
“I’m not his girlfriend.” I looked at Nicholas. “I’m Kate.”
Nicholas looked at me regretfully but didn’t say anything.
Joshua was a calming, sturdy presence to our electric energy. “We need to all talk. We have a problem.”
“Your problem is my problem,” I said and stood.
Nicholas scoffed. “Well, aren’t you quite the little empath.”
I ground my teeth. “I meant our witch-wendigo situation. Plus everything that happened yesterday. I have a lot to tell you. There were bones everywhere. Something was out there, and I think it was the Wendigo that was stalking us. Then I heard a voice, like an ancestor, watching over me. I connected to nature.”
Joshua smiled. “The purest form of magic. You would have been open to connecting with your witch ancestors.”
“It felt so beautiful, except the darkness that followed. The thing out there is evil. I wonder…” I paused, and a lump formed in my throat. “What if the wendigo killed my dad,” I pondered aloud, horrified.
Nicholas walked to my side, attempting to be discreet, but I knew he did it because he was worried I’d break down.
“I’m fine,” I told him.
“If your dad was killed by a wendigo, then there would have been nothing left…” He attempted to be tactful, but it had the opposite effect.
All I could imagine was my dad ripped to shreds. I
held my stomach and held the bedframe to steady myself.
Nicholas held me up. “We will figure this out.”
For a moment, I felt that spark we had before shoot through our bond. His arms steadied me. On instinct, I leaned into him and rested my head on his chest. The sudden display of affection caught him off guard. He stroked my hair and looked at his cousin. “Do you have any information on wendigos?”
“Actually, I do. Follow me into the kitchen.”
Joshua dropped the heavy volume onto the table.
The leather-bound book looked unremarkable, but the book was full of dark secrets.
“Read this. It’s the personal notes from the leader of the Black Lily Coven, before he died,” said Joshua as he poured himself a coffee.
“Coffee drinker too?” I asked.
“Mmhmm.” He offered me a cup. “Black, milk, sugar?”
“Milk. One sugar.”
There were several cups lined up on the counter, ready to be used. They had different quotes on – Great Ideas start with Great Coffee, one said Latte, the other Cappuccino, and another read The Best Time to Drink Coffee is Now. I couldn’t agree more. I guessed Nicholas collected coffee cups too. I’d never noticed before.
I looked down at the book and opened the first page.
The Black Lily Coven is one of the largest covens in America. It was created after the Black Rose Coven gave in to the darkness. Each new witch or warlock was put to a test where they must embrace the darkness so they could follow the light—your healers, seers, psychics, and helpers to humanity. Witches were shown in a positive light and beloved until the Black Rose Coven’s leader became lusted by the powers he had grown to love. Tempted by the darkness, he made a deal where he could have powers beyond the light, beyond using nature to help ungrateful people. Lucifer gave him—and all those in his coven—powers. The only thing asked in return was to break Lucifer free from the Underworld. To do that, they needed to break seals with the help of Lucifer’s demons and other creatures at his bidding: wendigos and shifters. After the Black Rose Coven tried breaking the seals—most of them involving murder—witchcraft was seen in a negative light. The Black Lily Coven was created to stop the Black Rose Coven.
