Chapter 4

The Inner Circle

I sleep in a guest room for two days until someone comes to get me.   This person just so happens to be Blanco.  

It’s very late at night when I go into a huge room.  I keep thinking about my mother.   The fact that I wasn’t allowed to see her and wondering how she was alive.

“This is a common area. There are six of us.  For some reason, the Headmistress has you making seven…”

He didn’t seem too excited about that.  I wish I could say this mean, rude person somehow turned me off and I came to realize how shitty of a person he was.  But it didn’t.  Blanco was ridiculously attractive still.  It’s the middle of the night.  It has been such a day but for some reason, the skies outside remain the same color red.  You can’t tell through the dark tower curtains, however.  

“Everythings red…”

“Of course.  Sacrifice witches are red.   Of course, this area would be red.   The members of the Inner Circle share this area, but we all have our private rooms attached to this common space.”

“I’d love to meet them.”

“Well honestly it doesn’t matter what you love,”  Blanco responds to me, “They are asleep.  Luckily not having to deal with some new kid from a family that hasn’t been around in 20 something years.”

I roll my eyes, “You are just charming, aren’t you?”

He mocks my sarcasm, “No, not charming.  Maybe irritable, short-tempered, and no longer willing to put up with your shit tonight.”

He points to a room and then disappears in another room a few doors down.  

He seems frank to me.  I want to mention that it was a figure of speech but I have a feeling he still wouldn’t get it.   The place smelled good actually like incense but not in an overwhelming way.   It looks like a common space with red sofas, a television, a few tall old fashioned bookshelves and strange decor everywhere.  The decor all had almost visceral extremism about them.  And that’s when I realize.  Taxidermy.   These people decorated their room with taxidermy!  

I lay in my bed.  It’s so late but I can’t sleep.  How could I possibly sleep realizing that I was a fucking witch doctor!   I was a real fucking witchdoctor surrounded by others.  

I fall asleep though, straddling the pillows, dreamlessly.

But something startles me halfway through the night.

I wake up staring at what seems to be a figure just standing at my door.  

“Can I help you?”

I can’t see who it is.  The person takes a step forward and that’s when I realize they have a mask.  They are wearing red.  

I look at the figure.  The figure stares back at me. The person walks into the room positions themself next to the closet.  Another figure comes in similar to the first.  My heart is racing. I get on the bed looking down as a third figure walks into the room.  Then even more.   The last positions themselves right in front of the doorway.   There is this dark feeling in the pit of my stomach.   My mouth is dry.  I want to scream! I want to call for help.  I wonder how far Blanco was.  I wonder if he would hear.  

 All of a sudden several others run into the room as well.  I feel two of them grab me on both arms.   I kick wildly realizing that these people are here aggressively trying to restrain me.   That’s when I see the third person come up to me.

The person pulls a knife out of their red shawl.  

They cut themselves.

And all I see is black.

~

When I come to myself I don’t know where I am.  The first thing I realize is I can’t move.  My hands are tied up.  My feet are tied up.  The ropes are so tight that when I try to stretch and move I have very little wiggle room.  The next thing I notice is that I am gagged.  A long handkerchief is tied around my mouth.

The last thing I notice is that I am completely naked.  

“It’s time,” a voice says.

That’s when I see all these masked figures gathered around the padding that I’m laid out on.  The room we are in is pitch black.  There are no windows.  The only sources are from these candles that seem to float around us as though alive.   The scene seemed magical, frightening, and exhilarating all at the same time.  

I’m horrified when they make a circle around me.  And I think I nearly start to have a panic attack when the one closest to me pulls out a knife the size an elephant’s dick.   I squirm harder realizing that I’m not dreaming.  This is happening.

Two people remove their masks.

Aviva and Circe.  

I’m squirming as Aviva holds the knife to my wrist.   Was this some sort of revenge for me flirting with her boyfriend!  Fuck, Gene.   This would be such a poetic way to die.

Strangely she looks around at other masked figures and starts to explain,  “In the ancient days on Moreen Island, when a witchdoctor became of age and joined the inner coven  each member of the coven would drink the blood of that witchdoctor.   The five families each bring their representatives to create one family.  The Sacrifice family.”

She hands the knife to her sister and Circe declares, “Circe and Aviva welcome you to the coven on behalf of the Atwood family.”

It was then that I realize this was some sort of ritual, but what it doesn’t scare me any less when she cuts me on my finger, lowers her head to my finger, and sucks my finger.  Her sister grabs the knife after her and cuts the other finger and does the same thing.  

It was a strange feeling being cut like that but honestly, it made me feel closer to them when they did it.   Something about that welcome and taking my blood into them felt right.

The next person takes off their mask.

I notice who it is.  It’s Blanco.   He takes off his mask and someone else takes off theirs as well.   This other person is a girl with brown skin and long hair so long it almost touched the ground.  I realize that she has a huge burn that circulates a great portion of her face.

“Blanco and Fatima welcome you to the coven on behalf of the Ferris family.”

Fatima cuts my shoulder and sucks blood from it.  Blanco stares at me intensely for a moment.  It takes him longer than the others.  I’m not sure what he’s going to do but every part of me is melting under that stare.  It made me wonder if he was welcoming me into this coven or if those were just words required for him to say.

I find his knife on my forehead.  He draws blood.  Then he lowers himself over my head, positioning his head opposite of mine.   And he slowly sucks at the top of my forehead.  It’s a strong slurp, pushing his lips off against my forehead in a way that reminds me of a kiss.  Or maybe I’m just playing wishful games.

Blanco wasn’t interested in me.

The next person to remove their mask is passes the knife.   This is Notch. He’s standing there looking particularly tall and handsome.  I should have known it was him.  He gives me a smile and a nod, letting me know he was already familiar with me.

“I, Notch welcome you to the coven….on behalf of the Boss family.”

I watch as Notch looks at me.  Then he looks down at his knife.  He has that bad boy grin on.  He was just way too cool to let anything phase him.  And I knew he was going to do something slick even before he reaches down and slices my inner thigh.  

I hear Blanco have something of a coughing fit when Notch leans into my inner thigh and slowly drags his tongue across my inner thigh.  It sends a chill up my body feeling the sensation.  My eyes almost curl to the back of my head.  Circe snickers a little but I watch Aviva’s eyes go stone cold as she nudges her sister who is still seemingly amused.  

There was one more person who takes off their mask.  I didn’t know him.  But when he takes it off I am immediately impressed by what I see.  He has curly black hair, a handsome with big lips, a light brown eyes with a toasted caramel skin complexion.  He’s a bulky guy on the thicker side but he wore his weight well.  Even underneath his robe, I can see his firm chest.  

He stares right at Notch when he says, “I, Jagger welcome you on behalf of the Wright family.”

He doesn’t grab the knife from Notch.  He shakes his head as though he doesn’t need it.   We’re all surprised but what shocks me is when he takes my gag off.  I’m still standing there confused on what’s happening but then he leans forward and he begins to KISS ME!   His tongue wraps into my mouth when he circles his hand around me. I kiss him back  I mean I’m shocked this is happening but it is the sexiest thing that’s ever happened.  That’s when I feel him bite my tongue.  He draws blood from my tongue, sucking it.

I lean forward grasping at his lips, our saliva melding into one another.  The wetness of the kiss has all this raw aggression in it.  He was like a wild animal how he rampaged my mouth in front of the other witchdoctors.

The kiss from this Jagger was dangerous and enticing making me up wanting more.  I don’t get it though he because when he leans up I’m not there anymore.

I’m in my bed again.   No one there with me.   It’s as though it were one big dream.

It’s morning…

~

There is a handwritten note on the desk.   It tells me that I should go two floors up to the third room on the right when I wake up.   It takes me some time to take a bath and all those things in the strange room down the hall.   The halls are empty including the bathroom but it became clear that I must have shared this bathroom with a few people.

That would make this very,  very interesting.

After prepping myself I notice a red cape is laid out for me as well as other clothing stocked in the closet.  For some reason everything I tried on fit perfectly as though tailored just to me.    How’d they know my size?  

I choose to pair the red cape with some fitted grey distressed jeans.  

I’m nervous.  Ridiculously nervous.   As much shit as I talk about feeling confident this was different.   This was the magical world.   Dorothy, you weren’t in Kansas anymore.   Gene, you aren’t on Moreen Island anymore.  I’d end up going in the room next to me and spraying some of that person's cologne on out of panic that I was too basic.   And then I realized the person would recognize their cologne and had a freakout.  

It was too late.

I go upstairs and find the room that the note pointed me too.   By how normal everything seemed as I approach I think that maybe last night was all some weird dream.    But then I see the face that I saw last night.    The burnt girl.

“You made it.  Sorry for last night.  I always thought the ritual was outdated and cruel.”

I stare at her as though she has two heads, “Uh…”

“Oh, I should have introduced myself.   I’m Fatima...Blanco’s sister.”

She extends her hand to me.  I reach out for it but before I can get to it she is being yanked away.  I look up and realize it’s Blanco Boss doing the yanking.

“Get to auditorium Fatty,” he tells Fatima shoving her.

He stares at me as he walks by with the intensity he always gives me.  But there is all grimacing in his glare as he makes sure that I don’t go anywhere near his sister.  

I watch him walk past and follow him.  I realize I walk in a small auditorium.  One that sits about 50 people or so.   It’s circular in nature with a small stage at the bottom of the few rows of elevated seats.   I see Blanco sit towards the stage with his sister right beside him.  He looks back at me but just for a second and turns as way as though making it obvious I didn’t bother him.   I sigh a little and look over to see Notch.  He has his hands wrapped up with Aviva.  She holds tightly to his chest as though he’s some sort of prize or something.  

It was kind of odd but is what’s even weirder is what’s happening across the room.   I notice it’s Circe.  She is arguing with that cute boy Jagger.  It’s a heated argument.  The boy is aggressive.  That kiss wasn’t the only thing wild about him.  The way he screams at Circe, with the veins popping out of his neck and his biceps flexing showed quite the dramatic.

“IT’S OVER!”  I hear Circe bark.

Just when she does it, I clear my throat.  I didn’t mean to.  Truthfully something was caught in it.  When they both look over at me it becomes very clear that what happened the night before had caused some issues with Circe and her man.

I take a seat, away from the others.  I felt like the odd man out.  The auditorium was big enough that each group sectioned itself out.  But there were groups.   Blanco and his sister Fatima or Fatty as he called her, Notch and his weird-ass girlfriend Aviva,  Circe, and bulky Jagger.

And I was alone.

“Yo,” I hear a voice behind my ear.

It’s Jagger.   I notice the look Circe shoots me as she joins Notch and her sister across the room.   She is pissed.   I should tell her boyfriend to go away.  If I was smart I would tell him to go away, but I realize someone else notices.  

Blanco.

His eyes set on us as though trying to figure what was happening back here.  And that’s the only reason I turn to Jagger and smile.

“Gene,” I state, “I met everyone but you.”

He grabs my hand puts it up to his mouth and kisses it, “Saved the best for last.  Even though I think we met intimately last night.”

“By the way, your girl is reacting I don’t think that’s something that normally happens?” I ask.

“She’ll get over it in a week.  If you know Circe then you know she’s all talk, no action.  It was just a kiss.  Besides, I had to make it special.  The Wrights and the Bahs have a history.  For years we were intertwined.  I think that has a few people bothered.”

“Can you give me a rundown on everyone?” I ask.

I’d met all of them but I feel like I needed to understand the dynamics of this group in some way.  

“Well, you got my best friend Notch.   He is the resource kid here on campus.  Anything you need from the human world, get with Notch.  He’s got connections out the ass.  Aviva and he have been dating for a few months now.  Nowhere near as long as I’ve been with Circe but the four of us are the real coven.   You can hang with us…”

He knees me with his thigh a little bit and smiles.  It was clear that he was throwing a bit of shade towards the Ferris family.

“What about them?”

He rolls his eyes, “Forget about them.  No one likes Blanco.  His family is a conservative, patriarchal fascist regime.  He never lets Fatima talk to anyone.  We’ve grown up with the girl and barely know her.”

“I thought the coven was family,” I state looking at him, “Seems a bit fractured.”

“It’s not us.  It’s him.  Blanco’s trouble.  Heard he killed his twin.”

Hearing that about Blanco was shocking, but hearing about the twin thing again seemed odd.

“Like for real?”

He laughs, “In the womb.   Still kinda sick though right…”

We laugh for that moment.   It’s weird just sitting around.  I don’t know what we’re waiting for, but we are just waiting.   I’m glad Jagger came to sit next to me.   I’m surprised Notch didn’t.  He seemed so nice before, but then I remember Notch was the cool guy.  He wanted me to come to him.  Guys like him enjoyed that kind of thing.  Even now he’s probably the only one not looking over at Jagger and I intermittently.  He avoids all contact at all.

I turn to him and smile, “What’s this thing with twins in this coven?”

I was a twin.  The Atwoods were twins.  There were rumors back on the island that my father was a twin.  And now I’m hearing Blanco had a twin.

“You’ve heard?  Supposedly witches attempt to conceive on a full moon to get twins.  Twins usually have special gifts.  Like Blanco, he can negate someone’s magic if he stares at them.”

“That’s so cool,” I state, “Wish I had a twin.  Someone to be close to like that.”

I promise I didn’t even mean to flirt with this boy.  I mean, he was sexy and all but the room was so quiet that that last thing I wanted was to cause a disturbance.

But he leans into me, taking my wish as an invitation, “I can get close to you.”

I notice how Circe looks at me.   I’d made a lot of girls pissed in my day.   I’d never pissed off a witch though.  

“What are waiting on?” I ask.

“Him. Our trainer...”

He walks into the room.  He’s clean-cut and cute kind of guy.  Not the kind of guy who you would say was strikingly beautiful or stunning, but not the kind of man you would ever call ugly.   As he walks through the auditorium I notice he carries a bunch of books with him that he piles up on the auditorium.  

“Good afternoon,” he says looking up at me.

“Hello…” I call back.

He doesn’t smile at me.  He doesn’t do anything welcoming.  He studies me as though I’m some foreign specimen to him.  His gaze shrinking into my facial features a few times as I stare back at him.  I notice how he just seems to glare.

“My name is Micko Boss.  Come down here…”

I walk down to the center of the room.   Circe says something.  Something low.  It’s about me.  I know it is.  I hear her and her sister laugh.  Notch puts a smirk on, which pisses me off a little bit.  I turn around trying to distract myself but find my eyesight squarely met with Blanco’s.

“I’m Gene...Alexander, I mean…” I stop myself, realizing I was so used to announcing myself as someone I wasn't, “I”m Gene Bah.”

“Long time since we’ve had a Bah.   I’m your trainer.   Every year I get together with the members of the inner circle of the Sacrificial coven and train them for the Witch Trials.  Have you heard of the trials?”

“Like the Salem Witch trials?” I ask.

Micko Boss looks at me stone-faced.  There is laughter in the room though.  Everyone laughs, except for Blanco who was way too serious to show let his guard down even for a second.  I laugh at myself realizing how little I know.  

Micko Boss shakes his head, “The witch trials are a trial of passage for every witchdoctor coven in Eden.   A team scavenger hunt for a list of materials.”

That’s what this was.  Preparation for the Witch trials.  

“A scavenger hunt.  It sounds easy…”

More laughter.  This time I see Blanco visibly roll his eyes at me as though he found me the most annoying fly on the planet.  I have to admit this time it was a bit more embarrassing.

MIcko shakes his head, “Imagine having to do a scavenger hunt when other witchdoctors are trying to stop you.   Imagine then that during this ceremony every citizen in Eden allowed to legally hunt and kill you if they see you during this ceremony.  It’s open season for players in the trial.  And do you know why they call this the city of monsters?”

I had an idea, “What kind?”

“Werewolves.  Vampires.   And worse things,” Micko tells me, “This is why we don’t leave the Witchtowers.”

“You’re afraid?”

When I ask my question I don’t mean to offend Micko, but he is offended.   He just stares at me as though I’d just attempted to take a personal attack on him.  

“The days of being mocked by Bahs are long gone,” he states, “You can decide you want to learn what you need to know to participate in the Trials or you can go back to wasting away in Moreen Island.  It’s up to you…”

“I didn’t mean to----”

Thump.  He slaps books in my hands.  

“Get started.”

“What’s this?”

“Reading.  Reading is magical.”

I think this has to be a joke, but one at a time the rest of the coven comes and collects these books.  And then we just start reading silently.  Or some of us at least.   Blanco seems to be intent on reading through the books.   A few others flicker in and out of them from time to time.  Others like Aviva and Notch he struck up a conversation.  Circe has some snacks that she seems to be working on.

I opened the book and start reading.  They are just some weird stories.  Stories about witchdoctors.  Nothing even really interesting.  Just the strange lives of people from long ago.  

It goes on like this until lunch.  And then after lunch, it continued for the rest of the day.

After class I find myself walking up to Micko Boss.  By now the others had gone back to the dorm.   It’s been hours just reading through these stories and getting absolutely nothing from it.

“Hey…” I state.

He immediately just looks irritated by me, “Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr. Boss.”

“I wanted to just let you know I didn’t mean anything by my comment earlier,” I explain, “I’m just a little one edge.  I just found out my mother was alive.  I was hoping to see her.”

“She doesn’t want to see you.”

He says it straight forward bothered in any sense about how I was going to take it.  He’s different from the Headmistress.  The teacher just seemed like he didn’t care for me.  And clearing up what happened earlier meant nothing to him.

“Excuse me?”

“She doesn’t want to see you.  You are here to learn magic.  Not to reminisce with your mother.   Is that right?”

“Well, that would be awesome if I was learning magic,” I state, “We spent the whole day just reading.”

“Blood magic is dangerous.  Especially dangerous in the wrong hands.  I’d rather have well-studied students then wild Bahs running around casting spells that cause more harm than good,” he states, staring me up and down, and adding, “You can leave, Mr. Bah.”

There was something personal about how the teacher was talking about me.  The Headmistress promised me power.  But here I was in a room with a man who wanted me to read through some old dusty books.  They wouldn’t even let me talk to my mother.  

~

I get back to the dorm and realize that the others are drinking.  There is music playing and there was a more relaxed vibe.   They are all gathered in the common area to save the Ferris family.  It’s Notch Boss who walks up to me and hands me what looks like a cup of alcohol mixed with juice.

“Sorry about my cousin, Micko.  He’s a distant cousin,” Notch tells me handing me a drink.  

“They let you guys drink?” I ask.

Notch looks at me and raises his eyebrow, “Do I look like the kind of person who waits for someone to LET me do something.  I smuggled it in here…”

I snicker a little bit at Notch and walk to the couch joining the others.  I see the Atwood girls both looking at me like a sniper as I join the group.  I’m used to getting attention but I preferred one on one.  I got nervous when I was in groups.  

I sit in the couch letting out a big sigh.

Circe’s been studying me and immediately says, “You look disappointed.   I guess the truth of magic isn’t as sexy as the fantasy of it.”

She enjoys mocking me but there was no lie.  I was disappointed.

“Is this all you guys do?” I ask, “Read books.”

“Basically.  Micko says it teaches us discipline,” Aviva adds in, “Honestly I don’t mind.  I get to read magazines?”

I’m lost, “You’re in a witch tower reading magazines?”

“My baby smuggles them from the human world,” Aviva says.

She throws her arms around the resourceful Notch who has this triumphant smile on his face.   Jagger and Circe were nowhere near as touchy-feely as the other couple.  I wondered if they were still upset with one another but it was hard to tell because Jagger has a very aggressive look and Circe just seemed unpleasant all the time.

“So how did you guys learn blood magic?” I ask.

“We grew up with it for the most part,” Jagger butts in, “I know you’re excited about all this Gene, but honestly it’s not a big deal to us.  We grew up with magic.  It’s just not...special…”

The idea of magic not being special blew my mind.  I’d spent time being a fake magician, coming up with tricks to entertain people while these people could do the real thing.   I was tired of pulling coins from behind people’s ears.   But looking at these people it seemed like they were having more fun sitting around drinking.  

I watch as Aviva is all over Notch, and Notch, seemingly the kind of guy who enjoys the praise laps it up.   Circe has been shooting me death stares since I’ve come in the room. And then there was Jagger who is staring at me as though I owe him something.

“What about the competition?”

Notch laughs, “We never win in that thing.  It’s stupid.”

Notch crosses his arm as his girlfriend swoons over him.  He was too cool for it.  The way he says it shuts down the whole thing.

Jagger on the other hand doesn't play it cool.  His insecurities are showing when he immediately shouts out, “He means we don’t compete.  We could be competitive if we wanted to be.  If I wanted to I’d crush that thing.”

“Jagger you’re too much of a hothead to be effective,” Circe states.

“And you’re effective?” he barks back at her, “When was the last time the Atwoods produced a REAL witchdoctor?”

“Probably the last time the Boss family produced a REAL man,” Circe snaps back.

Jagger looks at her, then looks at me.  He was irritated.  He stands up, grabs at his jeans outlining a huge dick print.  He makes sure he holds it, showing proof to everyone in the room that wanted to see.

“Trust me.  All man over here…”

They looked like they were going to start ripping each other's eyes out at any point.  I sigh a little crossing my arms and seeming confused.

“You two, OK?”

“Mind your business,” Circe warns me, pointing her finger at me.

She gets up off the chair and walks over to the bookshelf, which had even more books.  She doesn't want to read them. She just wants to stand there and brood.  

“These two are like this a lot,” Notch responds.

“And what?  You two are just a happy family?” I ask Notch.

That’s not what I remember when Notch’s tongue had been navigating his way to the back of my throat.   Notch clears his throat.  He looks a  bit uncomfortable all of a sudden.

“Like I was saying,” he changes the topic back to the trials, “No one cares about those trials.”

“What happens when you win?”

“Your coven gets a metal until the next one,”  Notch says rolling his eyes, “Like I said...stupid. But it’s a big deal to some people in Eden.   So I guess they do it for recognition.  But honestly for the most part it’s pointless.”

“Maybe this year it should be different…”

Circe gives me a look, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Maybe this year we could try to win,” I shrug, “I came here wanting to see magic.  Instead, it just seems...I don’t know.  Bland.”

She seems more and more annoyed the more I talk, “You don’t even know who we are up against.  If you had any idea how powerful those other covens were you wouldn’t----”

“He has a point.”

We all turn at the same time and realize that she’s being cut off because someone has interrupted us.   The person comes from one of the rooms. I notice it is Blanco Ferris who walks into the room.  He walks straight over to the music and turns it off without saying another word.  It’s kind of rude.  But then when he is in the middle of the room he turns to the rest of us.

“You’re all think acting like delinquents is going to gain respect back in this coven,” Blanco states, “You’re pathetic.  And the fact that the new boy notices that on day one proves how far we have fallen from our ancestors.”

From the look on the faces of everyone in the room, I doubt this was something that happened often.   Notch’s laughs, one of those laughs where he is half embarrassed and half shocked.   I have to admit it’s impressive Blanco walking in here telling them off like that.

Blanco takes a few steps back towards his bedroom.

“Who told you that you could touch my radio, Ferris?” a deep, challenging tone comes from Jagger, “Bring your ass back here and apologize.”

Blanco stops walking but he doesn’t turn to face Jagger.  His face is toned and stern-looking.  He’s not the type to wear his emotions, even anger out on his sleeve, not like Jagger would.  And I can see the look on Jagger’s face right now.  He was angry.  The veins were popping out.  The muscles were expanding.

“All I did was turn down your radio.  My sister is trying to sleep,” Blanco surprisingly responds in a calm composed manner.

Notch looks at Jagger, “Jag,  let it go.  You know how weird he is…”

He’s talking about Blanco like he’s not even in the room.  I don’t like it.  I don’t like that Jagger is being aggressive with him for just wanting to turn down the music and get some rest.

“He takes magic serious,” I point out, “That’s respectable.  It’s nice to know we have that common.”

Blanco turns to me.  Our eyes connect.  I smile at him.  He doesn’t smile back.  There is this awkward tension between the two of us.  It’s something that I never experienced before.  I wasn’t awkward with guys. Not ever.

“He doesn’t know anything about fucking power,” Jagger tells me aggressively, “That whole bodybuilder look doesn’t mean shit in a real fight.  I can prove it.  You want to see real blood magic, Gene?”

Jagger reaches for the table.  He grabs a glass, angrily slams it on the table until it breaks into shards.  Then he cuts his arm causing blood to bleed out of his biceps.

“Don’t do this,” Blanco states looking back at Jared, “I have no issues with you.  I just wanted to turn down the music.  Some of us are here to think with things besides our dicks.”

If he meant to provoke Jagger he was doing a good job.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jagger didn’t like being called out on his shit.

“It means you’re doing this to impress the new boy.  You think because he looked the way he does and because he is the son of Genesis Bah that it would make up for the fact that you’ve been slacking for years.”

Jagger’s not himself anymore.  His eyes are a dark potent shade of black.  I watch in amazement as Jagger’s bulky body lifts in the middle of the room.  He floats there for a second and we see the lights flicker in the room.  All around us are these shadows that begin to form.  They form on each of the corners in the large open common room.   My eyes jerk back and forth as it happens.

The figures come out and start walking in the room.  They were shaped like men but there was nothing to them.  They were just shadows.  They were dark ghosts that eerily swept across the room.

“OK, Jagger,” Aviva states, “You’ve proved your point.”

The four shadows get closer towards the center of the room.  They get closer to us and I feel the room gets so cold.  My bottom lip begins to shiver a little bit.  I don’t think it’s the temperature after thinking about it for a moment.  It was the eeriness of these shadows moving towards us.  

One step closer.  Two steps closer.

Then something strange happens.  The one closest to Blanco walks right past him.

Blanco seems confused, “They aren’t after me…”

That’s when the shadows all face me!  And all four of them merge into one.  And for a moment I think I’m looking at myself.  I think I’m looking at a twin version of me.  But that’s when I see hair flowing in the way that my hair didn’t flow.  I see the body softening.  I see the curves of a woman start to form in those shadows.

Notch looks at Jagger, “JAG!  STOP THIS NOW!”

Jagger’s body is still floating in the air.  He struggles to open his mouth and he says, “I can’t stop it.  I can’t...I can’t control the spirits anymore.”

Then the shadow comes for me!   It reaches out for me and it feels real.  It feels real when it grabs for my throat right after!  It begins to choke me.  It begins to choke the life out of me.  I watch surprisingly as Blanco takes one of my hands.  He pulls me away from the shadow hard and I land squarely on top of him as we both collapse on the carpet nearby.

My eyes connect with Blanco as I laid there saved from the shadow by him.  I’m laying on his chest.  There is this deep connection but I can’t even enjoy it because when I look up I notice the shadow is still there.

“LEAVE US!”

I hear the strong words coming from the other end of the hall.  I turn to see a figure having entered the room just in time.  It was a woman.  I can tell from the voice.

She has somehow vanquished the spirit.

Everyone is looking at me.  At this point Notch has pulled his friend out of the sky and they are both collapsed on a nearby couch looking as dazed and confused as I am.   What the fuck did we just experience?  What went down?

The woman removes her cloak.

And I realize who it was.

“Mom?”

“I’m sorry I just came to see you.  I had to sneak away in the night when no one was watching,” she explains, “But then I heard an attack.”

The attack.

I can see Jagger calling out from the couch, “Gene, I never meant that.  The spirits. They were just acting on your own.  They just...attacked you.”

“It wasn’t an attack,” my mother tells me, “It was a warning.  It was the reason that your father gave me to you to raise.”

“Gave me to you?”

She nods, “I’m not your mother.  Your father had you through magic.  Deeply forbidden magic.  I raised you until you got of age and then I left you there faking my death to give you a shot at a normal life.”

The others listen in.  I can see their faces perplexed by what's happening.  

It’s Blanco who mutters, “We should give them privacy.”

I don’t think the others leave because they respect him.  I think they leave the room because he calls them out and makes it obvious that everyone is listening in.  Truthfully they probably knew more than I did about what was going on.  I find myself having to sit on the couch.  It’s not every day the person who you felt raised you ended up not being your real mother.  

She circles around me a few times.  It seems like she may be nervous speaking to me about this.  I don’t know.  The truth is I didn’t know anything about this woman.  Not like I thought I did.  

“Why lie to me?”

“I raised you because your father didn’t want you raised in this place.  He didn’t want anyone to know you were born.   Because once you return she is going to track you.  She is not going to stop until she finds you and kills you.”

“Who?” I ask.

I remember the shadow that looked like the female version of me.

“Your twin sister…Lilith.”

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