Something Wiccan This Way Comes

by Emma Harrison

  Unfortunately she had a feeling that was far from the truth.

  “You have the most beautiful aura!”

  Piper stopped in her tracks when she saw a large woman with long gray hair rushing up to her, her blue eyes open in ecstasy as she gazed at the air around Piper’s head. A wreath of flowers sat atop her hair, and she wore a robe of pink-and-white gauze. She ran at Piper so quickly that for a moment Piper thought she was going to have to freeze the woman to keep her from tackling her to the ground. But instead she stopped just inches from Piper’s face and stared all around her in a way that made Piper feel as if she weren’t actually there.

  “It’s so full of peaceful colors!” the woman said, reaching out with her fingertips as if to gingerly touch the air next to Piper’s cheek.

  “That’s great,” Piper said, moving to get past the woman. “Thanks a lot for your time.”

  What a freak, she thought.

  “Oh, but there’s anger, too,” the woman said, her voice instantly serious. She reached out and grabbed Piper’s arms before Piper could step around her. “You have some black swirls here and there! That means anger.”

  “Uh-huh,” Piper said. Like it was really difficult to tell that she was angry at the moment. She wondered if the woman could tell that the anger was directed at her.

  “You should really do something to cleanse that,” the woman said. “We have some herbs back at our tent if you’d like to—”

  “No, thanks, really,” Piper said. “I believe a certain level of black swirls is actually quite healthy.”

  The woman’s eyebrows knit in confusion, and her pause gave Piper enough time to make a speedy getaway. She cut through the crowd until she was on the outskirts, where there was a bit more breathing room. So far she’d been weaving her way around the little coven groups for half an hour and hadn’t gotten anywhere. She was starting to think that there was no one sane at this entire Gathering, let alone anyone approachable.

  Piper walked around the outer rim of the crowd, trying to find someone, anyone, that she felt comfortable speaking with. A few people came twirling past her in a kind of spiritual conga line, and Piper stepped out of the way. Maybe it was time to call it quits and head back for the tent. On top of everything else she had a feeling she was starting to get a simulated sunburn from the fire.

  She turned and made her way back toward the path that led to tent 32, already daydreaming of moisturizer and a nice long sleep. But just as she was about to make her escape she noticed two girls, each with short blond hair, huddled together in intense conversation. They were both wearing jeans and boots and regular cotton sweaters. Piper felt a strong wave of relief wash over her. Maybe she wasn’t alone in this. Maybe there were some other normal people around here!

  Piper took a step toward the girls but paused awkwardly when she heard one of them sniffling. She didn’t want to butt in on a private conversation, especially if one of the girls was upset. Maybe tomorrow would be a better time. She glanced in their direction as she walked by, heading for the tent once again, and the taller girl looked up and caught Piper’s eye. Piper shot her a quick smile, and the girl smiled back. That was all Piper needed for an opening.

  “Hi,” Piper said, raising her hand. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” the taller girl replied, holding her elbows and casting a look at the other girl, who looked down at the ground.

  “That doesn’t sound too convincing,” Piper said, taking a step toward them. “I’m Piper Halliwell,” she said, offering her hand.

  The taller girl took it and smiled. She had slightly straighter, slightly longer hair than the other girl, but they both had very clear blue eyes.

  “I’m Tessa Conners,” she said, shaking her straight bangs away from her face. “This is my sister Taryn,” she added.

  Taryn turned and shook hands with Piper as well. Piper couldn’t help noticing that Taryn was cold and that her grip was fairly weak. Her choppy blond hair looked as if it hadn’t been washed or combed in a while. When Piper looked into the girl’s eyes, her heart turned. They were full of sorrow.

  “Is everything all right?” Piper asked again, a shiver of foreboding racing over her skin.

  “Well, I guess we may as well tell you,” Tessa said, looking to her sister for approval. Taryn gave a small nod and lifted one shoulder. “You’ve heard about the kidnappings?” Tessa continued. “Well, our little sister, Tina, was one of the victims.”

  “Oh, my God,” Piper said, covering her heart with her hand. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” Taryn said quietly. “Well, I mean, it’s not okay, but…”

  Tessa wrapped her arm around her sister’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “It’s just one of those situations where you don’t know what to say, you know?”

  “I understand,” Piper said. She looked around and spotted a small wooden bench outside one of the tents. “Here. Why don’t we sit?” she suggested.

  Taryn and Tessa followed her over to the bench, and Taryn lowered herself carefully onto the seat. She was clearly taking her sister’s disappearance very hard. She was thin and frail, and Piper found herself wondering when the girl had last eaten. Not that she blamed her. She was sure that if Phoebe or Paige disappeared without a trace, she’d have some trouble eating herself.

  “So…how long has she been missing?” Piper asked. “If you don’t mind talking about it.”

  “Almost three weeks,” Tessa replied, holding Taryn’s hand. “We only came to this Gathering because Tina really wanted to come.” She looked around at the frolicking people and the roaring fire and sighed. “I guess we just didn’t realize how hard it would be to be here.”

  “Was she taken in the middle of the night like the others?” Piper asked.

  “Without a trace,” Taryn replied, staring at the bonfire. “The police couldn’t do anything. The kidnappers didn’t leave any evidence.”

  “So I’ve heard,” Piper said, shifting in her seat. She had been through the drill and knew what these girls must be feeling—knowing that their sister was out there somewhere, helpless. Or worse—that she could already be dead.

  “She would have loved this,” Taryn said, glancing at Tessa.

  “Tina was the one who got us into the Craft,” Tessa explained, leaning forward to better see Piper. The light from the fire illuminated one side of her face and gave her a kind of ethereal glow. “She was more dedicated than we were. She always wanted us to be more devoted….”

  “She would have wanted us to be here,” Taryn added. “And besides, we were going crazy at home just waiting for news.”

  Piper nodded, her heart breaking for the sisters. Once again it seemed that the kidnapper had chosen the most powerful of a coven, but this time he had also broken up a family.

  Piper looked across the clearing, where she quickly spotted Paige talking to one of the girls in the white gowns. At that moment she resolved to stop teasing Paige so much about wanting to be here. Paige was her sister and she loved her. The last thing she wanted was for Paige to think otherwise. And she also resolved to do everything she could to help Taryn and Tessa find out what had happened to their youngest sister.

  “We’ll find her,” Piper said quietly. “If it’s the last thing we do.”

  Chapter

  6

  Piper trudged along the path toward the dining hall the following morning in desperate need of a cup of coffee. When she’d woken half an hour earlier, Phoebe’s and Paige’s cots had been perfectly made and the two were nowhere in sight. She had no idea why they hadn’t woken her up, but now she was late, she was cranky, and she was feeling seriously caffeine deprived. Unfortunately, even at this early hour, it seemed to be about a hundred degrees outside and her hair was already sticking to her neck, and she had a feeling that iced coffee was not going to be an option at good old Tumbleweed Campground.

  Piper swung open the heavy door to the dining hall and was hit with a blessed blast of air-conditioned air.
The large room was lined with long, family-style tables, and each one was packed with people. The noise level was not unlike that at a rock concert. Piper took a deep breath and looked down at her itinerary, which was marked with a table number for all meals.

  “What table’re ya at, little lady?”

  Piper jumped at the sound of a loud, rumbling voice right at her elbow. A tall, dark-haired man with the straightest, whitest teeth she’d ever seen was smiling down at her. He wore a plaid shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots and was craning his neck to try to read over her shoulder.

  “Uh, who are you?” Piper asked. Her social skills were not the best first thing in the morning.

  “Sorry. Where are my manners?” he replied. “I’m Ryan Treetop, owner of this establishment.” He reached out a large hand to shake with her, and Piper briefly grasped it.

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Piper Halliwell,” Piper said, leaning slightly away from him. His energy was a bit too much to take before she’d had her coffee. “I’m at table three.”

  “All righty,” he said. “That’ll be toward the front of the room on the left. Hope you enjoy your breakfast.”

  “Thanks,” Piper said, moving quickly away.

  She made her way down the center aisle between the tables. But when she arrived at table 3, she was looking at four Trekkie-type guys, all of whom were wearing shiny blue tops and dark black sunglasses.

  “Greetings, fair Wiccan,” one of the guys said, his face blank and his voice monotone. Piper wasn’t even sure if he had moved his thin lips.

  “Hi,” Piper said warily. “Have you seen two brunette girls who look kinda like me?”

  “They are at the condiment table,” another one of the guys answered, just as flatly. “They seated themselves earlier at the other end of the table.”

  “Thanks,” Piper said.

  She slid by them quickly, looking over the platters and bowls on the table as she went. There was a huge fruit salad, a basket filled with all kinds of breads, a few bowls of jam and butter, and a large platter of scrambled eggs. But no coffee. Where was the coffee?

  Piper plopped down at an empty plate at the far end of the table. Across from her were two more plates filled with fruit and muffins, and between them was a large book titled The Wiccan Handbook. Piper did her best to keep from groaning. The last thing she wanted was to break her be-nice-to-Paige resolution before she even had a chance to keep it. But she needed her coffee now, or her cranky side was going to take over.

  Finally she saw Phoebe and Paige approaching from the other side of the room, and she almost shouted out in joy. Paige was carrying three steaming mugs. What would she do without her sisters?

  “Good morning, sunshine!” Paige said, placing one of the mugs down in front of Piper. “Thought you could use a pick-me-up.”

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Piper said, inhaling the comforting caffeinated scent. She leaned into the table and reached for the sugar bowl, then dropped back into her seat. “By the way, why didn’t you wake me up?” she asked, spooning out a heap of sugar.

  Phoebe and Paige exchanged a look as they sat down across from Piper. “Uh…we tried,” Paige said. “You don’t remember?”

  “What are you talking about?” Piper asked as she stirred her coffee. “No, you didn’t.”

  “Piper, you threatened to blow us up, so we thought it best to leave you alone,” Phoebe said quietly.

  “I did not!” Piper said with a laugh.

  “Well, I guess that means you were asleep, which is probably a good thing,” Paige said, smiling. “That means it was just your subconscious talking and you don’t actually want to kill us. Of course, I don’t know how Leo deals with that every morning.”

  Phoebe giggled and popped a grape into her mouth as she opened the Wicca book. Piper eyed her curiously. She’d figured the book belonged to Paige. What was going on here? Was Phoebe going over to the dark side as well?

  “Phoebe, what’re you doing?” Piper asked.

  “Oh, I have to write that thing for the rededication ceremony, so I’m just trying to get an idea of what it’s all about,” Phoebe said, her nose in the book. “This is actually kind of interesting.”

  Piper saw Paige shoot her a wary glance, clearly waiting for her to start in on the whole Wiccans-are-fakes thing again. Instead Piper bit her tongue and busied herself with dishing up some fruit onto her plate. But she hated keeping her opinion to herself when she knew she was right. Why bother wasting time writing something for a ceremony that didn’t mean anything? None of this had anything to do with the evil she and her sisters put their lives on the line to fight every single day.

  “Well, the good news is nothing suspicious happened last night,” Paige said as she buttered a muffin. “No one’s reported anything, anyway.”

  That’s probably because the kidnapper is smart enough to know that no one who would come to this thing has any real power, Piper thought. He probably couldn’t be bothered. After seeing all the crazies around the campfire the night before, and hearing about the egotistical poseurs her sisters had met, she was starting to think this whole plan would turn out to be a bust.

  “Piper? Are you okay?” Paige asked, her forehead wrinkling as she bit into a blueberry muffin. “You look a little tense.”

  Don’t say it! Don’t say it! Piper told herself. But she couldn’t seem to stop her mouth from opening. She was about to let it all spill out, when she saw Taryn and Tessa coming toward the table and managed to stop herself. Just in the nick of time.

  “Hey, Piper!” Tessa said with a smile. “You’re at table three, too?”

  “Hi, guys!” Piper said, relieved to have something else to distract her. “I guess this is where they put the smaller groups. Taryn and Tessa, these are my sisters, Phoebe and Paige.”

  Everyone said hello, and Piper and her sisters slid down to make room for Taryn and Tessa, both of whom looked a bit better this morning. Taryn was still a little pale, but she had her short hair pushed back in a headband, and she appeared more rested than she had last night. Piper was also happy to see that she at least had her appetite back. She dished up a ton of fruit for herself, and Tessa went off to get them both some tea. Phoebe put the Wicca book aside, and Piper started to relax.

  “So, Taryn, we were very sorry to hear about what happened to your sister,” Phoebe said, folding her hands on the table. “Piper filled us in last night.”

  “Thank you,” Taryn said with a small smile. “We really miss her.”

  “Did you hear anything the night she disappeared?” Paige asked. “Anything at all?”

  “No,” Taryn answered, her eyes darting toward her sister, who was returning to the table. “Actually, if you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about it.”

  Piper felt as if a rock were hardening in the pit of her stomach, and Paige shot her a guilty glance.

  “Of course, sweetie. We understand,” Piper said, reaching across the table to touch Taryn’s hand. She looked up at Piper and smiled for real for the first time since they met. Piper’s heart went out to her all over again.

  “Everything okay?” Tessa asked, hovering at the end of the table.

  Before anyone could answer, the double doors at the entrance of the dining hall were flung open so hard they slammed back against the walls, causing a terrifying clatter. A short but muscular African-American guy came barreling into the room, his eyes wild.

  “Craig’s missing!” he exclaimed, looking over at a table filled with guys who seemed to Piper more like a bunch of stockbrokers than Wiccans. They had to be members of the coven Phoebe had told her about last night. The table fell silent, and Piper could feel the tension and fear fill the room. The guy looked around, his eyes traveling over Tessa, who was the only person standing, and falling on Phoebe, when they inexplicably hardened.

  “Where is he?” the guy asked.

  “I have no idea,” Phoebe said, getting to her feet. “But we’ll find him.”

  “All right,
all right, everyone stay calm,” Ryan Treetop said, stepping up next to the guy who had made the announcement. “What we need here is a plan.”

  At that moment a tall guy with brown hair stood up from the stockbroker table and looked at Phoebe, his expression scared but confident at the same time. “Everyone fan out. If Craig is somewhere on this campground, I want him found.”

  The sounds of scraping chairs and fretful whispers took over as everyone in the room started to file out. Piper saw Ryan walk to the front of the room to intercept Marcia Farina before she could leave. His face was flushed and he definitely didn’t look happy as he pulled her aside to speak with her. Piper had a feeling he was a bit worried about what the news of a kidnapping on the property might do to his business.

  “Oh, God,” Taryn said, looking up at her sister with tears in her eyes. “It’s happening again!”

  “You two stay here,” Piper said, resting her hand on Tessa’s back as she stood. “We have enough people looking, and you don’t have to put yourselves through this.”

  She grabbed Phoebe and Paige and hustled out of the dining hall through one of the back doors, where there were fewer people. The moment they were outside, they huddled near the wall.

  “What was that all about?” Piper asked Phoebe. “Why did that guy look at you like that?”

  “This Craig person is the one who came on to me last night in front of all his friends,” Phoebe replied, rubbing her forehead. “I don’t know, I guess he was just thinking about that. But you guys, Craig is the high priest of that coven,” she added, her eyes wide with fear. “If the kidnapper knew that—”

  “Then he was a prime target,” Paige said. “Come on. Let’s go to his tent and see what we can find.”

  Paige led the way toward the tents, but the mayhem on the grounds didn’t make for an easy trek. Members of Craig’s coven were barking out orders to other Wiccans and every tent was being searched. The desperation and fear in the air was starting to make people panic. Piper couldn’t help thinking of the witch hunts she’d read so much about since finding out a few years ago she and her sisters were witches. But this time witches were violating witches.