Immortal Slumber

by S. L. Perrine

  They were still unsure what would happen in the event that Bellatrix and Barnaby would have a child and if it was a boy. Since Barnaby was not the eldest of the Crawford line, it was possible that I would have received the powers anyway. Again, it was something they had not heard of happening in the past. My grandfather, Alistair, had also done research on the matter and could come up with nothing.

  The sun had already set when we emerged from the second floor. Ophelia had been sent inside to prepare a meal for us, so we had our strength for the ritual. I was happy to find that she was an amazing cook. Those out in the woods had packed their food, I was told, when I asked if we should share.

  “It wouldn’t keep them hidden very well if we cart a bunch of plates out to them. As it is, Bellatrix has to try to get back to her post before she’s spotted. I’m sure Sabina will be here; I just don’t know when.”

  I looked at Chester between bites of beef stew. “Wait, do we think she knows where we are?”

  “Ya never know . . . crazy lunatic women seem to run in your family, on both sides. She could have shown up at any point in time today.” I looked at Matt and had to laugh when Crystal’s hand sparked blue, and he jumped. “Hey, what did I tell you about that?” Matt tried to whisper to her, but I was pretty sure everyone heard. I knew everyone heard her response when they all tried not to choke on their food or spit it out from laughter.

  “Can we please not discuss your sex lives while we eat?” Clara got up, bowl in hand, and sat on the front porch to finish her meal.

  Crystal, seeing my obvious confusion, leaned into me and said, “Just a little something I practice at inconvenient times.”

  Matt turned a stern eye to her and added, “Yeah, inconvenient for me.”

  After that, we sat in silence, or close to it. Bellatrix snuck out the back door and circled around to her post in the woods. Matt and Crystal offered to do the dishes, and Clara helped me upstairs to get ready for the ritual.

  “You’re shaking like a leaf. Cut it out.” She pulled a brush through my hair and I tensed up at the thought of how snarled it may have gotten.

  “Sorry, but I’m a bit nervous. That’s a lot of power they want me to ingest.”

  “Yeah, it is. I can’t imagine what that’s going to feel like for you. Maybe there’s a way to store some of it elsewhere . . . you know, after the ritual.”

  “Like, as in a brush?” I laughed at her.

  “Yeah, but it would have to be something you keep with you. So nobody could take it.”

  I looked up at her and realized she was thinking so hard on it, she looked like she was in a trance. “Shit, you’re serious.”

  “Of course I am. You’re new to magic. Shit, you could kill one of us and not realize you were doing it.” She laughed then and tapped me on my head with the brush. “Really, I’m not thinking a lot. Just enough, so you don’t feel overwhelmed. Like in a ring that you wear every day. You can access the power if you need it, but you won’t feel overwhelmed by it.”

  “Hmm,” I said, letting her know I would think on it.

  “My mother said too much power in a person makes you feel like you’ve drank a dozen energy drinks. I know you’re used to being buzzed on coffee, but you should think about it. If you’d feel better about it, we could do it together. Nobody would have to know.”

  I was thinking about it, and just as I was about to tell her I thought it was a good idea, I thought about my mom. Would she like the idea?

  “I’ll let you know, but if I do, I’d like to keep it between us.”

  “Okay.” She finished brushing out my hair and pulled our robes from the clear bags that covered them on hangers.

  I found a small bathroom off the back of the larger living room and a little laundry room as well. On the other end of the room was another door I hadn’t seen earlier. When I stepped inside, I was hit with an overwhelming fragrance that reminded me of home. Not the house I grew up in, but the feeling of home. There was a full bed and two dressers in the little room. One stood tall and the other long, with a mirror on the back of it that covered the whole wall it stood in front of.

  I stopped in front of the mirror and put my hand to my face, watching the reflection as it did the same. It looked like me, but somehow was different.

  “Mom?” I saw the reflection mouth the word. No, it wasn’t her. I really was staring at my own reflection. “Clara?”

  I could hear her stumble over something and yell a profanity at whatever had tripped her. When she ran into the room, she was already wearing the long white dress she had brought with her.

  “What’s wrong?” She looked around the obviously empty room.

  “Have you noticed my . . . I mean I-” I couldn’t think of the words and then settled on the easiest. “Do I look different to you?”

  She looked at me and giggled. “Well, yes. You’re making your transformation.”

  “Into what? Who says witches have to have long hair and tanned skin? I don’t even look like me anymore.”

  My dark hair had developed a shiny, violet hue, and hung below my waist. When left alone, it would spiral, but after being brushed, it was in waves. My skin had evened out, but I still looked like I had a summer tan, and not a freckle was left behind.

  “Not a witch . . . a Priestess . . . a gift from the goddess.”

  “What if I liked my dorky looking freckles?”

  Clara laughed at me and left the room. I shook my head and wandered to the closet. I opened the door and was drawn to a long black bag hanging snugly to the wall. The rest of the closet’s contents pressed hard against it. It took all the strength I had to move the hangers and clothes in order to free the garment bag.

  “What are you doing?” Clara asked when she returned back to the room with my robe in hand.

  “I didn’t bring a dress. I was just going to wear the robe over my jeans . . . ” I trailed off and instead, held out the bag.

  “Okay, well, no. That’s not happening.”

  She eyed the bag in my hand, and when I opened it, she smiled. It was a long white dress, similar to what she wore, with long sleeves. A crown of flowers hung around the top of the hanger.

  “You have to wear that.”

  I smiled and for once, didn’t argue against her suggestion. I just nodded my head in agreement.

  The dress fit like a glove, as did the robe. When I tied the robe at the waist, it was easy to see the dress beneath. With each step I took, the slits in the robe opened up from the waist and down to the hem. The dress flowed neatly in between, revealing itself.

  Clara took the hair from around my face and pulled it back into one small braid, leaving the rest of my hair to flow over my back. She tucked the braid around the crown of flowers to hold it on my head.

  Crystal joined us, and she also had a long white dress to wear under her robe. Our robes matched, except for the color of the embroidery that lined the edges. Where mine was embroidered with black, both of theirs had been done in purple. Crystal’s long blonde hair didn’t last the day in the braided crown she had shown up to my house with. She had taken it out and braided it. Her hair sat to one side and fell over the front of her shoulder, outside of the hood. Clara unintentionally had done her long brown tresses similar to that of Crystal.

  After Ophelia made her way upstairs, she started to cry. She almost made me cry again as she told me how much I reminded her of my mother on the night they reformed their coven. I didn’t know the rules on the size of covens, but wondered if they had been breaking them when they joined the two covens together. I figured I would wait for a time better suited to discuss the varying things I needed to have them explain.

  By the time she was done fussing, it was time for her to sneak back outside to her post. It wasn’t sneaking so much, since Sabina had already visited. She was more than likely aware that Ophelia would be there. She would just be outside of the circle with Chester. It would hopefully appear, to a newcomer on the scene, that they were the only two super
vising the ritual.

  I had to stop what I was doing to look at the boys when they came upstairs. They had stayed downstairs and dressed in a small bedroom behind the store. It looked like it had been used as an inventory room prior to my parents’ disappearance. Since Ophelia was using the space as her own, it had one small bed and a little dresser inside of it. Ophelia hadn’t wanted to disrupt the house by using the living space my parents had used. She had told us she only went upstairs once a month to dust, but she hadn’t been up there for more than that since before they had gone. She was being respectful and knew that in a way, they occupied the space with her.

  Chad stopped short a few feet from me and his mouth dropped open. He looked at me as if he hadn’t truly seen me before. He wore a long black robe, similar to Matt’s. The hood and cuff didn’t have embroidery like ours, and there was no formfitting at the waist. It was just a long sleeve black robe with a hood. Underneath, I could see he wore black slacks and a black button-up shirt. We were all barefoot, and I was told it was how we would complete any ritual, but was also assured we wouldn’t feel the cold of winter once the circle was cast. Skin to earth contact was a way to ground our power, with the help of the Mother goddess.

  I had only ever cast once outdoors, and that was such an emotional day. I couldn’t remember a thing from it except the explosion and the look on Clara’s face when the rolling, inflamed tire was coming down the street after us.

  “You girls look amazing.” Matthew was the first one to break the awkward silence in the room. He immediately went to Crystal, held her by the hands, and looked her over from head to foot. “Very nice.” He placed a quick kiss on her cheek.

  “Yes, utterly amazing,” Chad said as he took my hand and twirled me around.

  “This is why nobody ever dated within their own covens before,” Clara said and cracked a smile. “There’s always a fifth wheel.”

  We all started laughing and Chad grabbed her hand and twirled her around also. “You know you look amazing, Clara.”

  “Of course, just wanted to make sure you all saw it.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The laughter died down as the clock in the room signaled the eleventh hour with small bells. We just stood there in a circle looking at one another. I excused myself one last time to the bedroom and closed the door. I looked at myself in the mirror, marveling at how much I had truly changed in the last few months. I felt a hand on both of my shoulders. One was significantly different than the other. The veil was thinning, and soon, we would be able to see them. Soon, I would have their combined power in me to bring them back.

  But then what? Did I move out of my house and live with my birth parents? Or do I keep them a secret from Helen and Michael, the same way I’ve kept my new life from them?

  I had to let that all go for the time being. I had to keep my thoughts of the ritual intact, above all else. All of that would come later. I sat down on the bed and my bare foot hit something underneath. It was hard and felt like I had sliced my foot open, but one quick look relieved me of the worry.

  I crouched down and lifted the skirt around the bottom of the bed to pull out what my foot had made contact with. It was a spindle, wooden, and looked like it belonged on the back of a chair. Further inspection produced the furniture piece it had belonged to long ago: a baby crib. It was broken into more pieces than I imagined it being in.

  “This was going to be for me.” Again, a calm feeling washed over me as two strong hands circled around me and righted me on my feet, facing me to the door.

  “Okay Silas, I’m okay,” I said to the empty room, and opened the door. At that moment, more than ever, I wanted the power I would receive. I wanted to give my parents back their lives, and I wanted my parents. The more time spent in this house, with them so near but so far, I longed to be with them. Whatever happened after that, I no longer worried about. I had to bring them home.

  “Let’s go. We have a circle to cast,” I said, staring down my friends as I rushed from the room.

  “Nice pow-wow with the rents?” Clara asked sarcastically.

  “Yes.” I smiled and led them down the stairs, out of the house, and to our rightful spots within the clearing.

  The leaves crunched underfoot, and the air was cooler than it had been in the daylight. We didn’t have a flashlight or any way to see where we were going, but with Chad’s hand in mine, we walked towards the clearing that waited for us. The moonlight slipped to the ground, between the trees above, and we could see Chester and Ophelia, who stood on opposite sides of the clearing.

  Chester looked on as a proud parent would while watching a child become an adult. Essentially, that is what was happening. We were all eighteen years old and taking on our own coven. It was as profound a moment as a child heading off to college. We no longer needed to be held by the hand, even though we would still require guidance.

  The tools were placed on the altar earlier in the afternoon. Crystal took the rosemary from the altar and followed behind me as I laid the salt and purified water around the outside of our clearing, creating a circle to bring both protection and purification for our ritual.

  “We ask the goddesses of earth, fire, and water to bless this circle with their protection and with strength,” we all chanted as the end of the circle was closed. For the first time, I saw a white light where the start and end of the circle met. It traveled from the meeting point around the circle and glowed bright, not dying out. The area around us darkened with the illumination inside the circle.

  The light buzz of magic hummed within our circle and I relished in it. The outside world would remain in view for us, but from this point on, no one outside our circle would see anything within it. To Chester, Ophelia, and those in the woods, it was an empty clearing within a circle. If someone, namely Sabina, were to show up, the clearing would be enough to show her where we were. If enough power was thrown at the circle that protected us, then it could be broken, until I called my power. When that happened, nothing could break it. That’s what I had been told.

  The thought settled in my head, there in the circle, that I could feel the surging of power as the moon rose higher above us. The veil was almost thin enough that I could see my parents. They appeared as a shimmer. I could see that they were standing on opposite sides of the circle. The others, I could see by their faces, could see them as well. Chad nodded at me and I continued.

  I concentrated on the task in front of me, and stepped to the altar as the others held hands around me. I closed my eyes and began the chant Chester had taught us, my arms out and my palms facing the sky. The others chanted as well. My eyes opened and I looked down at the altar in front of me. The candle sparked and lit. The flame rose, and the five around the circle lit as well, one at a time, before they all settled. The white light around the circle died, and we were left with the light of the candles. I picked up the sage and lit it with the candle, holding it in the air around my head.

  “We ask the goddesses to purify our circle and outcast any who should not have entered.”

  I set the sage in the silver bowl that had been added to our list of tools for the ritual. Next was calling the power from my parents. They both looked at me and nodded their agreement.

  “I call upon the ancient power, passed down from a mother to her child. I call the Crawford witches past to grant me what I may inherit. Allow me, as the High Priestess of our line, to hold this gift and use it with care.”

  We all looked around as white shimmers flew in and out of the air, around the outside of the circle. They flew about, shooting from one side of the circle to the other, as if they were searching for her. Just when I thought we had started too early and they would leave, my parents were corporeal. The shimmers settled inside of her and she held out her arms to take them in, and then they flew from her, into me.

  I had to wait as they moved power from my mother to me before calling my father’s power. Bellatrix warned me that my Crawford ancestors may not complete the transfer
if they knew I would take on the power of Sigmis. However, I had to complete both transfers within the time my parents would be physically with us. As the white lights began to leave my body, I could see the strained faces of the four who were standing around us. I needed to hurry.

  “I call upon the ancient power, passed down from father to child. I call the Sigmis line of warlocks past to grant me access. Grant me the ability to inherit what no son of my family can. Allow me to keep this gift and handle it with care.”

  I saw the white lights of my mother’s ancestors fade away, back into the night sky, as those of my father’s came up from the ground and out of the trees. They didn’t circle for long, as they found Silas immediately and then seemed unsure if they would come to me. I did as Bellatrix had instructed in this case. I picked up the blade we would use to pierce our skin for the ritual and pierced the palm of my hand. I held my palm in the air, facing the sky, as they circled.

  “They will be confused by a woman calling to them. You must pierce your skin to show them you are Sigmis.” Bellatrix had held up her hand to keep me from objecting about being anything other than Crawford, and I sat back.

  I held my hand to them so they might grant me the power of my father. I didn’t have to wait long, as each wisp of light entered me by the palm of my hand and I was lifted from the ground. I suddenly felt what Clara had been telling me. The amount of power that was in my body, buzzing through my head, was making me dizzy. I could barely think straight as the lights of my ancestors released me. My feet touched the ground and I grabbed the makeshift altar with my uninjured hand to steady myself. Chad moved, as if he was going to come to me, but I held up my other hand and he stayed where he was. I grabbed the small ribbon that was left for me and wrapped my hand.

  “I’m okay,” I said, moving away from the altar. I looked to my left and right to see my parents one last time as they began to fade. I hoped more than ever that I would be able to return them to us.

  I saw a bolt of light off in the distance and looked at Chad.