Fanfic: The Witching Hour
It was the same dream, the old terracotta bricks seemingly surrounding me in a complete circle. Natural light streamed brightly from the dome above, it had to be high noon, and a church bell was ringing in the distance. There was a presence lurking in the shadows, just out of the sun's reach. It was a creature and an ancient one at that. A vampire’s gaze was a weighty thing, oppressive, and dangerous.
With a gasp I woke to a gentle knocking on my door, I rolled over to see the dull light of daybreak. The face of the vampire eluded me yet again, as it had for the past six months. Bella, my roommate peeked her messy bedhead into my room.
“Yes,” my answer was muffled behind my hands as I rubbed my face.
When she moved in half a year ago, I noticed Bella’s lack of sleep and suggested doing nightly yoga. Which I had somehow turned into morning walks through the neighborhood. But, hey at least it was good for us. I went through my ablutions and sluggishly dressed for going out. I found Bella already waiting for me by the front door. Without a word, we slipped out and began our journey into the cool foggy morning. As always it took about two blocks for us to wake up enough to carry on a conversation.
“We should decorate for Halloween,” I stated noticing quite a few homes already getting into spooky season. It had always been a favorite of mine, just the irony of it all.
“It’s September…” She shot me an incredulous grin.
“I suppose we can wait until after Mabon to decorate.” I had my eyes glued onto this huge blow-up black cat with glowing eyes to even notice my slip-up.
“Mabon? What the heck is that?”
Damn. I could hear my dad’s voice just as clear as day, cautioning me about living with a mortal. I thought about lying, but Bella had become my best friend and rather odd herself. She held secrets, and at times the energy would become so strong my ears would ring. The only one I know for certain is that she had encountered a vampire due to the bite on her wrist. Maybe I could just tell her, of course leaving out a few key points. After all, in this day and age being a ‘witch’ didn’t immediately equal death.
“It’s a pagan holiday; it’s like our thanksgiving. Although it's celebrated from the twenty-first through the twenty-ninth.”
“Oh,” Bella almost tripped over her own feet, I reached out a steadying hand.
“Yeah it’s not something I advertise, but I grew up in a pagan household.” I jumped when she suddenly started laughing, well this was unexpected. Bella must have noticed my wondering look and she wiped her eyes which had begun to tear up with her mirth. “I’m sorry, Andria, I’m not laughing at you! Oh, I really should have known…So you’re Wiccan?”
“Yep,” I pop the last letter of the word. It was more than that, but I was rolling with it. Just as she wasn’t elaborating on the true meaning of her words either. “I’m glad you’re taking this so well, I was worried it would bother you.”
Bella scoffed and we began our walk again, “I’m sure there are stranger things out there than you being a witch.”
I merely hummed in response and linked our elbows together. Pieces of that shifty dream flashed in my mind, I could see it all as accurately as Bella beside me. Strange indeed…
September 22nd (The Autumn Equinox)
Going through protective wards is about as pleasant as peeing on an electric fence. The magic of whoever enforced them racked down your psyche, the more powerful the caster the worse it is. Any human who happened to stumble upon my great grandmother’s secluded home outside of Baton Rouge would suddenly find themselves going in the opposite direction… An uninvited caster’s mind would turn on them before they ever reached the house, their energy drained.
The old house was as it had always been. The light green weathered paint chipped as were the white shutters. Vibrant ferns still hung from the front porch, and Grandmother Geneva’s angel trumpets were still in bloom. I parked my jeep under the shade tree along the side of the house, before meandering my way to the backyard.
Geneva Wildes was a caster of the earth and was more at home with her hands in the soil. I stood for a long moment watching her work diligently in her garden. The big straw hat shielding her from the heat of the day, covered her still vibrant red hair. No gloves adorned her hands as she softly sang the tune My Bonnie. I felt like a ten-year-old again watching her, enjoying her melodic voice envious of her ease with the plants. They always died on me…
“She looks like an angel.” My Grand Dad Henrik’s deep voice startled me, he had always been a little too light on his feet. He leaned against the trunk of a nearby oak. The silver strands of hair mixed in with the dark seemed to glisten in the afternoon sun. “You would never know she had the temperament of a rattlesnake.”
“You love it,” I snorted quietly so as not to disturb her work. Although I would bet money she knew we were there. She had always been a blunt and no-nonsense kind of woman, whom I had always admired.
“That I do,” he readily agreed with a mischievous grin as he tilted his head back toward the front of the house in a gesture for me to follow him. “Without her combative nature to keep my mind sharp, these last one hundred and fifty years would have been mighty boring.”
“I imagine so.” I smiled while trying to push down the rolling in my stomach. I didn’t think Granddad would be here, I thought he would be with my father in New Orleans. But I suppose since stepping down from his seat on the Gathering he is no longer needed.
He eased himself down into the front steps with a deep sigh before his summer blue eyes met my own of the same hand-me-down color. I knew I had been caught. “Alexandria, have you been dreaming again?” My brain worked rapidly trying to think of a way to twist the truth. There was no way I could lie to such a strong castor, he would know immediately. But bringing up vampires would only send Granddad running right to my father. “I feel your distress, it calls out to me surely as if it were my own.”
“I have,” I admitted with a deep sigh. “However everything is… shadowed nothing is truly clear.”
“Well,” Granddad wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulders, drawing me into his side, and leading me into the house. “Tonight would be the best night to seek out the uncertain all of our power will be surging.”
I smiled even as the knot in my stomach became tighter. That was exactly what I was afraid of…..
annaxmalina
titsay
