The low hum of the coven’s voices rose in unison. Her skin tingled. Warm vibes coursed through her.
“We ask the Goddess and God for their protection during this harrowing time. We and the spirit of hundreds of slain witches are under a vicious attack. We ask that you guide Brenna in her quest to save the souls of these women, and her friend who has been cruelly taken by the dark force that haunts this town.”
The chanting ceased. They stood in silence for a minute, soaking up the magical warmth in the circle. Everybody sat down on the floor, crossing their legs. Celestine took a biscuit tin out from under the altar and opened the lid revealing crescent moon shaped cakes. She took one then passed the tin along. Then she opened a bottle of red wine with a loud pop. The cork hit the floor with a thump as Celestine took wine glasses out from under the altar. Dark red liquid spilled into the glasses, and when all of the glasses had some, she passed them around. Brenna always enjoyed this part of rituals. It was the custom to have cakes and ale after doing a spell because normally there was no eating before.
Brenna took small sips of her wine and enjoyed the crisp crescent cake that tasted like vanilla and smelt like roses.
“So, Brenna, what do you do when you aren’t fighting evil forces?” a blonde coven member asked.
“I have a shop that I share with—” Brenna was interrupted by a gurgling sound coming from one of the women. She started rocking back and forth, hissing through clenched teeth. Everybody stood up and backed away from the hissing woman, eyeing her closely.
“What’s going on?” Brenna yelled, having to raise her voice over the hissing sound.
“I don’t know!” Celestine yelled back.
The high-pitched hissing became louder, piercing the air with its shrillness. Three of the cloaked women let go of their wine glasses to shield their ears. Glass shattered; wine splattered the floor. The hissing woman started spinning around, tilting her head back, flailing her arms in the air. Suddenly, she stopped spinning and stood still, her eyes rolling back.
“Brenna, don’t worry about me,” said the woman, shaking violently.
“She’s channeling!” somebody shouted. Hailstones began crashing down on the roof, hammering at their ears, making it hard to hear what was being said.
“This is Maggie…”
Before Maggie could finish delivering her message, a dark shadow formed around the circle, blowing out the candles around the room, surrounding them in darkness. The only light came from candles in the protected circle. The shadow transformed into the shape of a wolf and pawed at the ground, snarling. It jumped at the girl who was channeling Maggie but was stopped by the invisible walls of the circle. It hit the ground, letting the girl continue.
“I’m stuck in a world between ours. I want you to know that I’m okay, Brenna. He can’t hurt me while you are alive.”
The girl went limp and fell to the floor. The wolf growled menacingly at the coven members and disappeared. The hail stopped, leaving an eerie silence hanging heavily in the air.
Celestine lunged toward the girl on the floor and roused her out of her slumber. Brenna stood stunned, replaying Maggie’s words over in her mind. Knowing she had to close the circle before they could leave, she waited for Celestine to close the circle. Celestine wished the elements, the God, and Goddess farewell, thanked them for their attendance and protection, asking them to leave in peace and love. She snuffed out the two white candles. Then she extinguished the incense and the circle was closed.
One of the girls rushed over to the light switch and flicked them on, lighting up the hall. The girl who had channeled Maggie was sitting in an armchair with hooded lids. Brenna walked over to her.
“I’m so sorry,” Brenna said.
Hazel Eyes walked up behind her. “Don’t worry, Brenna. This has happened to her before. She has a gift. She doesn’t usually talk after for a while, as it takes time for the force that entered her body to completely leave.”
Celestine turned to Brenna. “Brenna, you aren’t alone. What happened tonight was a good thing. Maggie wanted to let you know she was okay and that if you want to save her you need to stay strong. Don’t be phased, that judge is scared of you; that’s why he was here. He wanted to stop Maggie from getting her message to you. He doesn’t want you to succeed.” She laid a soothing hand on Brenna’s shoulder.
“Thank you for everything, Celestine. I’d better get going before the weather gets worse,” Brenna said, listening to the wind whipping at the building.
“That’s a good idea. I have a feeling we’ll all be dreaming tonight.” Celestine winked at her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Brenna tensed up, remembering the hug she shared with the thing she thought was Maggie. Realizing she was safe, Brenna hugged Celestine back.
“Drive safely, Brenna.” Celestine drew her arms back and smiled at her.
“Bye, everyone.” Brenna waved at the coven members.
The girl who had channeled Maggie opened her eyes sluggishly and waved at Brenna. The rest of the group farewelled her with hugs and smiling faces.
“It was great meeting you all,” Brenna said, reluctant to leave.
She dug around in her bag for her car keys as she made her way to her car, being pelted by heavy rain. When she found her keys, she unlocked the car and hopped in. She shoved the key into the ignition and started up the car, turned out when it was clear. The window wipers groaned as they pushed a blanket of water to the side, giving Brenna just enough time to see the road was clear. She drove through the pouring rain wondering what her dreams had in store for her tonight.
Chapter Eleven
Darkwoods 1645
Jonathon helped Rowena out of the carriage and they stood on the gravel waiting for Ronan. The three of them headed for the large square building that could almost pass for a small castle. Its stone walls towered over them. Two small windows positioned to the sides of the solid wooden door looked like eyes evaluating your every move. Jonathon knocked firmly on the door. A few mechanical sounding clangs sounded before the door slowly opened, revealing a tall man who looked as if a smile would crack his face. He raised thin black eyebrows and looked Rowena up and down studying her closely with one cold gray eye. Rowena couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to his other eye, which was a knotty scar. “Who’s this?”
Ronan cleared his throat and stepped forward. “This is my sister, Gwyneth. She’s going to be helping with prison duties.”
He grunted and ushered them inside with leathery hands, avoiding any further eye contact.
Once inside, Rowena shivered. She wasn’t sure whether her chills were caused by the cold air or the cold atmosphere. Rowena took a deep breath of stale air and took in the room. Moss spotted the craggy walls. The dusty floorboards were stained with rust-colored splotches. A worn desk stacked with papers, caked in grime. A large black bug with more legs than seemed necessary scuttled across the desk. Rowena shuddered, imagining it crawling up her leg.
The prison attendant peeled open his lips and ran his tongue across them like a slippery eel. “It’s feeding time.” The words that spilled from his mouth were plagued with a morbid tinge of excitement as a crooked smile curled his lips. He ushered Rowena toward a small room that resembled a kitchen. An older woman with grey hair wound into a bun was standing by the bench in front of a filthy bowl full of stale crusts of bread. Wicker baskets had been lined up in a row. The woman jammed a knobby finger into a large nostril, wiped her finger on her smock then started putting pieces of the stale bread into the baskets. Some of the bread had green and white furry patches.