Authors: Wren Emerson
I took her advice to heart and pulled on a comfy pair of jeans with frayed hems and a pink cowboy style shirt, complete with mother of pearl snaps. I left it unfastened over a form fitting white t shirt and rolled the cuffs a few times. A pair of flip flops and I was ready to go. It wasn’t dressy or even particularly fashionable, but it was comfortable and I thought I could probably use that since there were no guarantees that I’d feel at all at ease mentally.
I tried a walk in the woods and even went to Ben’s clearing, hoping that a chat with him would calm my nerves or at the very least, help pass the time. Unfortunately for me, he was nowhere to be found. I trudged home in defeat, the hours that loomed ahead of me, feeling like a physical weight on my back, bearing down on me.
I attempt to read and then to watch TV, but neither thing could keep my mind off the impending meeting so I gave up and passed the time throwing a ratty tennis ball at a tree trunk. The repetition was soothing and it put me into a trance-like state. My mind was a blank slate and so when Darcy yelled for me to come inside, it startled me. I missed the tree and the ball rolled past it into the woods.
I grabbed the ball out of a thorny shrub and trotted back to the house. Darcy stood in the doorway, smirking around a mouthful of apple. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll banish you or something.”
“Believe me, nobody would be happier about that than me.” I slammed my shoulder into hers as I passed. Once again Darcy managed to piss me off. I couldn’t seem to have a conversation that didn’t end with me wanting to punch her in the mouth.
Ramona was waiting for me by the front door. She eyed my outfit which was now dotted with prickers and snags from the bush. “I know I said didn’t need to dress up, but don’t you think this is taking that a little too far?”
I shrugged and tried to brush off the debris.
Ramona sighed. “Let’s just go. We’ll be late if you change now.”
As she backed down the driveway, I realized that I had no idea where the Coven held their meetings. Somehow I just couldn’t imagine a bunch of old women casting spells in the town hall. But we didn’t go to the town hall or even a church, which would have been my second guess. Instead, we pulled up in front of a house. Just another stately, rambling house in a town full of them.
“Who lives here?”
“This is where Elizabeth Fletcher and her Family live.” She got out of the car.
So what if they hate me? What’s the worst that can happen?
I followed, my hands fisted at my sides.
Ramona walked with authority up the stairs. She knocked loudly. If she was nervous about these proceedings, she didn’t show it.
A young woman answered the door. She looked a lot like Olivia Fletcher, which made sense since she was probably related to her. An older cousin maybe? Surely it wasn’t her mother. This girl looked like she was twenty five at the oldest. Her long black hair was piled loosely on her head and she wore a velvet track suit with the jacket unzipped to show off a nipped waist and firm breasts pushing against a tight fitting tank top.
“Ramona. Come in.” She and Ramona exchanged air kisses. Then she looked at me.
I felt her pale eyes drinking me in from head to foot. “And you’re Thistle?”
“Yeah.” I tried to peek around her to see if I could get a glimpse of any of the members of the Coven, but the entry way was empty.
Ramona smiled apologetically at the girl. “I’m sorry about Thistle’s manners, Elizabeth. I’m afraid I didn’t warn her about your power.”
My attention snapped back to the girl.
Elizabeth? No way that this girl is centuries old. Unless it’s another illusion like what Cora can do.
Elizabeth waited quietly, an amused smile playing on her face. For a horrible moment I wondered if she could read my mind.
“Is it rude to ask what your Talent is?”
She gestured for us to follow her inside. “Most women prefer to keep the exact nature of their powers quiet because it gives them an advantage when dealing with the politics here.” She ran her hands over her body. “My power is impossible to hide. I regenerate from all damage at a rapid rate. Including the damage of aging. I don’t get sick and if I get hurt, the wound heals.”
I gaped. “That is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard of.” I remembered now hearing something about that, but seeing it was an entirely different matter.
Her smile was wry. “It has its advantages, to be sure.”
We entered a room set up as a parlor. There were old fashioned settees and straight backed chairs set up in a ring, facing each other. Nearly all the seats were taken. Most of the women looked like they were Ramona’s age or older. One woman looked like she might be around my mother’s age and I assumed she was probably James Middleton’s mother. A couple of the women were whispering to each other and didn’t stop when we entered.
Ramona and I sat side by side on the last empty loveseat. For once I was grateful to be near her. Cora was glaring openly at me and I could sense reactions from the other ladies that ranged from curiosity to overt hostility. Ramona’s interest in me might be self-serving, but at least I knew that she wanted me to survive today’s encounter.
Elizabeth sat on a high backed chair and tucked her legs into the chair in a way that teens often did. How many times had I done it myself? I had a hard time reminding myself that if she looked her real age she’d be nothing but loose skin and dandelion puff white hair.
She raised her hand and the mummers died down immediately. She might look like a teen, but she commanded the respect of these women. “Ok, ladies. So you have probably all figured out that this is Jane Madison who will be Ramona’s successor as Matriarch.”
All eyes locked on me. A burning flush crept up my neck and over my face.
Can I go ahead and die now?
“We’ve brought you here today to have a formal introduction.” Elizabeth continued. “Not just so we’ll know you, but so you’ll know who we are.”
She turned to the woman on her left side and started naming the women one by one. Each one nodded minutely when her name was called.
“Margaret Carter, Pearl Griffin, Cora Spencer.” I was treated to a tight lipped smile and narrowed eyes as Cora responded to her name.
Elizabeth continued her role call without noticing anything amiss. “Anna Wright, Alyce Saunders,” Elizabeth smiled a little. “And of course you know Ramona.”
Elizabeth smiled at me and then pointed to the woman on my left. “And that’s Genevieve Littlebury, Joan Astley, Tatiana Middleton, Emily Baldwin, Mary Shehorn, and Tamara Claphan.”
Elizabeth pointed to herself. “I’m Elizabeth Fletcher and I’m the High Priestess of the Coven. This has been so for centuries. I’ve been chosen for this role with respect to my age and experience and I have sworn that my Family and I will always remain neutral and use our powers of healing for the good of every member of the town of Desire.”
“What is her power?” Cora asked.
“Yes,” Anna Wright agreed. “What is it that she can do? We’ve been told that her magic is perhaps the most powerful we’ve ever seen, but nobody knows what she does.”
Ramona’s face lit up with her fury, but her voice was as cool as ever when she spoke, “It is tradition that if it is required, we need only demonstrate to the High Priestess to preserve our Family’s advantages in political matters.”
Elizabeth nodded, “I will not require a public display of power. You can show me shortly.”
Cora and Anna bent their heads together and started whispering.
Elizabeth eyed them cooly for a moment before she asked, “Is there anything else anyone wishes to add before I dismiss Jane from our circle?”
“Can we have a Hunter verify that she does, in fact, have the power that Ramona claims she does?” Cora asked.
“I don’t see why not.” Elizabeth said.
She pulled a slim cell phone out of the pocket of her jacket and texted a quick message. “Someone will be here to verify her level of magic potential in a few minutes. In the meantime, Jane, would you join me in the other room?”
I shot Ramona a helpless look, but she only nodded. I followed Elizabeth as she weaved through a few different rooms. We ended up at the back of the house in a kitchen that looked like it might have been revamped recently. The counters were granite; the appliances were all brushed steel. The most eye catching thing was the entire back wall made of floor to ceiling glass panels that over looked a pool and perfectly manicured back lawn.
She let me look out the window for a moment before she turned to me. “I brought you back here so that we could talk about your power in privacy. Georgina claimed that Ramona didn’t tell her about what you could do before she packed you up and took you on the road. As the High Priestess, it’s my job to know things like this and like I told you before, I’m sworn to secrecy and neutrality.”
It was astonishing how her demeanor changed now that we were alone. She still seemed friendly, but she also talked and carried herself more like my peer than ever. The cell phone and easy way she sat and now this casual conversation in her kitchen all screamed that she couldn’t possibly be as old as she claimed.
“Does it hurt when you’re injured?” I blurted out.
She leaned back against the counter. “It really does. Just not for as long.” She grinned lopsidedly at me. “You don’t believe it, do you?”
The blush crept up on me again. “I- I mean… It’s just that…” I couldn’t think of a way to finish so I just clamped my teeth on my tongue and willed myself to shut up.
“It’s fine. Nobody really gets it at first. But I haven’t changed my appearance since I was maybe 19 and my powers really manifested. Before that I’d still heal faster than normal, but I think I probably could have died if I was hurt bad enough. Then the process sped up and pretty soon I was the way I am now.”
She grabbed a knife out of the block and held out her arm over the sink. “Watch.”
I gasped. “No!”
I was too late. She sliced the knife into her arm and cut a smooth line all the way around her forearm. By the time she got back to where she’d made the first cut, the skin was smooth and perfect again. There was very little blood and she swabbed up that little bit with a damp paper towel and left the knife in the sink.
My stomach lurched. “That was amazing, but also so very
very
gross.”
“Right?” She laughed. “I still get a little queasy when I do things like that even though I know it’ll heal up in no time.”
“Your power is really impressive, but I can’t get over how much you talk and act like a kid. For someone as old as you are, I would have thought you’d talk all old fashioned and maybe even still dress that way.”
“I think it could be hard to let go of the old ways, but I welcome change. I’m rich enough that I’ve always had access to the latest technology and I’ll sometimes go to the city and just spend some time in places where young people gather. Between watching TV, spending time on the Internet, and passing myself off as a teenager I’ve picked up a lot about the culture.”
“I’d say so.” I agreed.
“Now would you like to tell me what it is that your Talent is?”
“I can wish for things.”
She frowned a little. “Wish for things? And the wishes come true?”
I nodded. “Yes, it alters reality to make the things I wish for true. Only people close to me remember the way things were before, but it makes me really sick afterwards so I hope you’re willing to just believe me because I have school tomorrow and it really sucks to try to make it through the day with a magic hangover.”
“That’s very intriguing. I’ll admit I’d like to spend some time examining your limitations, but we’ll save that for another day. Right now I’d like to assign you a mentor of sorts.”
“A mentor?”
“Yes,” Elizabeth bobbed her head. “You’ve been raised outside of our society your entire life. I can understand how confusing finding out all this must be to you now. Especially about your role as a First Daughter, which is what our entire society is structured around. You need to learn what that means to you and to the others in this town.”
She pulled out her phone again and sent off a lightning fast text. “I’m going to put my granddaughter, Olivia, in charge of you for the time being. She’s a First Daughter in this Family, but since it looks like I might just live forever, she hasn’t been raised with the same level of competitiveness as most of the other girls in town.”
Before I could protest, footsteps padded down a set of stairs just outside of the kitchen entry way and Olivia leaned against the door jamb with her arms crossed. Her expression was mild. I forced a weak smile.
I hope Lydia doesn’t hate me even more when she finds out about this.
“Olivia, you know Jane from school, right?”
“I sure do, Mother. What did you need? I was working on my homework.” Olivia wore a pair of baggy overalls over a tiny midriff bearing t shirt. A pair of combat boots peeked from under the denim. It was a look that I was pretty sure hadn’t been popular since at least the mid 90’s but she pulled it off. She paired the grungy look with a pair of satiny opera gloves that went past her elbows.
Elizabeth tried to look stern, but her eyes were crinkled with merriment. “You are such a liar. I know if I checked your phone right now I’d probably find at least twenty texts time stamped within the last half hour.”
Olivia sighed and crossed the room. She wrapped her gloved hands around Elizabeth’s narrow waist. “You know most girls have grandmothers who don’t think they are the same age.”
“And who goes shopping with those grandmothers if not their granddaughters slash best friends?” Elizabeth asked sweetly.
Olivia rolled her eyes and gave Elizabeth a kiss on her cheek. Elizabeth winced and I gasped when the spot she kissed first blistered like it was burning and then blackened, the area around it becoming red and inflamed. The skin cracked open and the exposed tissue underneath looked rotted too. Within seconds the skin was smooth and blemish free, but I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
“That’s crazy! Why did you do that?”
Olivia assessed me for a moment before she spoke. “That’s what happens if I touch anyone. If I touch you long enough, your whole body will eventually turn black and fall apart. But you know what’s great? The magic sniffers say I’m one of the most highly gifted talents in town.”