SORRY TO SEND ANOTHER BUT- also what about queen of hell!rowena interacting with any of the wayward sisters?? <3
"Alex, I need your help."
Claire was stood in the doorway of Alex's bedroom. Dressed head to toe in hunters gear, knife holstered on her thigh, leather jacket zipped tight. Whatever she wanted, it couldn't have been good. Jody was out of town with the weekend, I'm just helping Donna with something, and Claire must have waited until she'd left. It was all too perfect.
"Can't your weirdo girlfriend help you out?"
"Oh yeah, Kaia's coming too, but Patience is driving us and," Claire said. She was clinging to the doorway. "And I thought you wouldn't want to be stuck home alone while we're all out having fun so, you coming or what?"
And Alex sighed, because of course she was. Couldn't let her little sister get into trouble without her. Besides, it beat doing college applications.
So they piled into Patience's car. It was a bit cramped, but Claire and Kaia were sat in the back seat, barely an inch between them. Kaia was wrapped up, if Claire could cover her in bubble wrap she probably would. Playing with each other's hair. Patience focused on driving. The radio was on just loud enough to cover the hum of the engine.
"Where are we actually going?" Alex asked. She didn't recognise the street names anymore. Sioux Falls was a big enough city but Alex wasn't sure they were even there anymore.
"Just a few towns over," Claire answered.
Alex had to laugh. Because Jody could try, but she couldn't stop Claire from hunting, not when the girl thought she had to save the whole world. And Kaia would follow her anywhere. And Patience and Alex just didn't want to see their friends get hurt.
So that's how they found themselves on the way to a witch hunt.
Things never worked out as planned though, because they were way out of their depth. The witch, some woman called Penelope, was a lot stronger than they thought. Not some run of the mill, home grown wiccan but a Witch. Knew the girls were after her, so she left them a present in the motel room they'd rented for the night. And thank God that Alex carried a lighter so she could set the hex bag on fire.
But not before Patience started coughing up blood. And she was okay, or as okay as she could be, laid in bed with a blood smudged chin. It wasn't good though. That the witch was onto them.
"What should we do?" Kaia asked, and she was looking up at Claire like she had all the answers. But Claire was still just a kid. She looked kinda scared.
"I vote we go home," Patience said. Her voice was still raspy, but she definitely had a point. And Alex was halfway to agreeing with her, but Claire chimed in.
"I have an idea," she said. "It's a long shot but, Jody knows Rowena, right? We could, we could call her."
"Isn't Rowena like, the queen of Hell now?" Alex asked. "I'm sure she has better things to do than picking up after some wannabe hunters."
"Are you calling me a wannabe?"
"Look, Claire, we have no idea what we're doing, right? And you might be good with a gun but," Alex looked over at the bed. "Patience is hurt, I don't want you and Kaia to get hurt too."
"We can't call Jody to pick us up," Kaia said. "Patience shouldn't drive how she is. So we are stuck here for a few hours at least."
"Exactly," Claire stuck her tongue out at Alex. "So, we're summoning Rowena, okay? I brought the stuff, it's in my backpack."
"I'll do it," Patience said. They all looked at her, because Christ she could barely sit up. Was blinking light away, even though the motel bulb was pretty dull. Dazed and barely there but she continued, "I'm the one with psychic powers, right? It'll be easier if I do it."
Claire got out everything they needed. Crystal pendulum and a worn out Ouija board that Alex wondered how long Claire had been carrying it around with her. And there was smelling salts and sage, a jar labelled oleander seeds and god only knew where Claire found that.
If she already knew she'd need them before dragging them all on the hunt.
It didn't matter though, because all four of them were happy to come along. Sat around the Ouija board, hand in hand, eyes closed. Invoke the spirit, call on Rowena, and Patience was repeating the witch's name over and over again. Alex and Claire were holding onto Patience so tight that she couldn't fall over again. There was still blood all over her. Now on Claire and Alex too.
"We call on Rowena, Queen of Hell, for her help."
"Och, what do you lassies want?"
And there she was, red flowing hair and diamond dress. So beautiful it took Alex's breath away a little. She had her arms crossed, tutting, the same face Jody made when any of them messed up.
"There's a witch," Claire started, but Rowena cut her off.
"I would have thought you girls could handle a witch by yourselves."
"She's super old," Patience jumped in. "Like, centuries."
"She's really powerful, she hurt- she hurt Patience," Kaia said. She could quite meet Rowena's glare, instead pointing to the red smears all over Patience. Alex held up her own hands too.
"She's called Penelope," Claire said. She had a journal in front of her with all the facts. "She first appeared in 1756, been killing women for their looks ever since, apparently."
"Aye, I know Penelope. She was right nasty cow, tried to kill me before she realised I was much more powerful than her."
"So you'll kill her?" Alex asked.
"No, I'm not in the business of killing other witches," Rowena said. "It's bad for my reputation, but. I can give her fair warning that if she hurts you again there will be Hell to pay. And well, you can't take that threat lightly from the queen, can ye?."
And Claire didn't seem satisfied. Little notebook with an empty space, something she was hoping to fill with the infinite wisdom of Rowena. But Rowena seemed sick of standing there, swishing her dress around.
"I'll sort her out, don't you worry," Rowena seemed to be promising. That big smile, it was hard not to believe her. Even if Alex was a little sceptical. "Now, you girls better be off. I don't suppose you fancy me having to tell Jody what you've been up to."
They said their thanks. Because if anything, Patience had a bit more colour in her cheeks. They might not have killed the witch but, they were safe. And they were sure the people of the town were in safe hands with Rowena.
Even if Claire seemed a little dismayed.
Kaia pulled gently on Claire's sleeve. "When we get home, we can watch a film?"
