Chapter 40: Coven Cleansing
I paced the day away, wearing a track from my room to the kitchen as I spent the next several hours waiting for someone, anyone, to come home. Even Meira's bus passed our house without stopping.
I fretted over trying to find my mother. Why couldn't I ever convince her to carry a cell phone? If it had anything to do with computers or technology, Mom was way old fashioned. Which meant I was stuck in the dark, soon to be literally, with no idea what was going on. My tentative tries to reach her with my mind found nothing which meant she was either heavily shielded or I was doing it wrong. And since my telepathy was fed by my air magic, something I'd never really learned to use long range, I knew I was pretty much out of luck unless I stumbled on the answer by some happy accident. Trouble was, most of my accidents had nothing to do with happy.
I did call around to Meira's normal friends, but no one had seen Mom or my sister.
When the sun set, I expected Uncle Frank and Sunny to rise. At least they would be bodies to talk to, if not warm ones. And Uncle Frank would probably know more than I did. Or, at least, that was what I kept telling myself to keep from tearing my hair out in frustration.
But when neither of the vampires made an appearance by a half-hour after sunset, I decided to investigate. I snuck into the basement, feeling somehow like an intruder despite the fact it was my house too. I went to Uncle Frank's cupboard. I felt a little disoriented. Something in the basement wasn't right.
I understood at last. The cupboards were gone.
It's not like someone could have casually walked in and helped themselves to the pair, either. They were a matching set of handmade, solid cherry wardrobes, all the heavier for the two vampire bodies inside. I was always grateful Uncle Frank hated coffins and opted for cupboards instead, but at that point I would have been happy to see him in a shoebox.
Now I was really worried. Had they simply not been in their sleeping place it could have been that they stayed somewhere else that day even though it wasn't like them not to come home. But the fact their cupboards were missing all together... unless they decided to move them in the middle of the night and not tell us, it was very possible Uncle Frank and Sunny joined Sassafras on the missing list.
I went back upstairs and started pacing again. I needed to talk to someone, but I didn't dare call anyone in the coven. What if I picked the wrong person? Alerted the traitor?
By eight o'clock I couldn't stand it anymore. I decided the risk was worth it and called Erica's.
It rang so many times I was sure she was missing too. I almost hung up when I heard the click. A breathless male voice said, "Hello?"
Crap. Jared. I drew a breath and risked it.
"Hi, it's Syd," I said. "Is Erica there?"
"No," he answered, sounding puzzled. "She's already at the site."
"Site?" I asked. "What are you talking about?"
"The ceremony," he explained. "Syd, where are you?"
"Home," I said. "Alone. I can't find anyone. Meira's not even here, or Gram." I felt a little whiny when I said it and hoped it wasn't and wondered why I cared.
"That's weird," he said. "I'm on my way out there. Do you want me to pick you up?"
I hesitated. Could I trust him? I took a chance.
"Thanks, yeah," I said.
"See you in a minute." He hung up.
I grabbed a sweater and locked the house, waiting for him on the porch. He pulled in a moment later in his silver Volvo. He tooted the horn despite the fact I was sitting right there.
I hated it when people did that. I climbed in the front seat and put on my seat belt as Jared greeted me.
"Hey, Syd."
"Hi," I said.
He backed out of the driveway as he spoke.
"You almost missed all the fun," he said.
Fun? What was his problem? "What's going on?" I asked.
He watched the road. "Your mother is having a ceremony to cleanse the coven."
And she didn't include me. So that meant either she was trying to keep me out of it or she was taken again and whoever the traitor was didn't want me there. Didn't matter which. I was going.
"How's school?" I didn't appreciate his attempts at small talk but figured if he was nice enough to drive me I should at least make an effort.
"Okay," I said.
"Cool," he said. I winced. Grownups should never say "cool". Ever.
"How about soccer? You were quite the player the other day."
I decided I stretched my good will about as far as I could.
"I'm a little worried about Mom right now," I said. "If you don't mind."
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. "Sorry, Syd," he said. "Just trying to keep it light."
"Don't bother," I replied.
"Fair enough. We're all worried, you know."
I gazed out the window, staring into the darkness, trying to ignore him. I know, I wasn't being very charitable, considering. Still, he took the hint and fell silent.
The rest of the ten-minute drive went by in total quiet. I watched the streetlights get further apart as we came to the edge of town and disappear altogether when we hit the countryside. The new site chosen for our major Sabbath celebrations was far enough outside of town to keep us from prying eyes. Owned by the coven, it was warded so no one would trespass. I knew that part of the ritual for cleansing the site for our use also put up gentle barriers that encouraged normals to stay away if they happened across our land. Nothing overt, just a nudge that made them want to walk in the opposite direction.
Jared slowed the car and turned down a dark dirt lane I would have missed. I held on over the bumps but only had to endure the rough ride for a minute. The site came into view up ahead, packed with cars. A large bonfire lit everything. Someone set the Samhain fire alight a night too early and I wondered. Another would have to be built, power cast. It seemed like such a waste.
Jared parked the car and watched at me as I undid my seatbelt. I reached for the door handle before I noticed he stared at me. I looked back at him. In the dark of the car, I couldn't tell what was in his eyes.
"Syd," he said. "Be careful tonight."
"Good advice for everyone," I answered.
"Seriously," he said.
I debated, torn. I needed to tell someone, who else was I going to share with?
"Thanks for the drive," I said, and escaped before I caved.
I made my way across the crushed grass creased with the passage of multiple cars, weaving my way through other late arrivals, headed for the center of the site. For once, I was out of the path of the smoke and only had to deal with the flickering glare as I walked. Just past it, I saw the coven gathering, and not our usual number. My jaw dropped. I stopped walking as I saw that every single member was there, all one hundred and thirteen of them-minus the twins-including my grandmother. Gram stood next to Mom, chewing something. I could only assume someone thought to give her chocolate toffee to keep her busy.
The whole coven never gathered. Okay, so they did on holidays, but this wasn't one. Why were they all there? I shivered as I thought of the power about to be called. If anything went wrong, it wouldn't be pretty. Considering the state my mother was in, I wasn't sure if being there was such a good idea.
I wove my way past witches I hadn't seen since the last Sabbath and crossed the circle into the center of the site. I could feel eyes on me, unfriendly eyes. I knew I hadn't been invited for a reason. Tough cookies. I ignored Dominic Moromond's glare as he spotted me, not even bothering to glance his way. I felt relief when he made no attempt to stop me from going to Mom.
The giant pentagram focus of the site glowed with candles, different colors for each point, representing the elements they stood for: blue for air, green for water, brown for earth, red for fire and white for the spirit, the focal point of the pentagram, near where my mother stood. I made my way over the centerline of candles and to Mom. The part that was my mother was missing. Couldn't anyone else see it? Feel it? Panic rose inside me as I searched the faces that surrounded us but no one seemed concerned. Mom had been taken and the coven didn't even notice. She went back to staring out over the gathering while I desperately tried to reach her
Nothing. Just a big wall of nothing.
I turned to go to Erica, to tell her, get her to help when my sister slammed into me. She was very happy to see me, throwing herself across the pentagram and wrapping her little arms around my waist.
"Syd!" She cried. "You're late!" She reeked of scented ceremonial smoke and fast food.
I picked her up and hugged her, gesturing to Erica, trying to be subtle. Erica frowned at me and shook her head a little like I was supposed to just stand there and not cause any trouble.
She had no idea what trouble was.
I remembered I had Meira in my arms. "Yeah," I said. "You guys left without me."
She made a face. "Erica picked me up at school," she said. "Brought me right here. We've been getting ready all day!" She glowed. "It was so fun. I got to have take-out and they let me light the fire!"
There must have been something on my face, because hers fell.
"Syd?" Her eyes were clear amber and very serious. "What's wrong?"
I put her down, heart falling. Erica picked her up. Could she possibly be in on it? I couldn't bring myself to believe that but it did make me hesitate to go to her. "Just stay with me, okay, Meems?" I suddenly felt very alone.
Joy gone, she clung to my hand. I could almost taste her fear and felt bad about it, but only for an instant of weakness. From what I could see, she should have been afraid. I know I was.
I didn't have time to try to talk to Mom because the last of the witches stepped within their assigned section of the pentagram. She closed the circle.
"My friends, my family, my coven," she took two steps forward toward the center, her voice carrying to every person there. "We have come here tonight, on Samhain eve, to cleanse ourselves of the evil power that attacked us and tried to weaken us with its negative magic."
I checked out the other members and saw only rapt attention. I was determined I could find the traitor by staring at each person, that their guilt would jump out at me. But every single witch was caught up in the power of the family, the huge and generous whole that made the Hayle coven the envy of the witching world. I made a face at Batsheva's rapture and caught Quaid's expression.
Okay, maybe one other person wasn't caught up in it either. We locked eyes as my mother went on.
"Call forth your magic, bring it to the surface, share with your family so we may join as one and cleanse our circle of this evil." I could feel the wave of power building, a slow, gentle thing, familiar from so many years of being forced to endure these ceremonies. It felt like a Sabbath gathering, despite the fact we were a day early. I wondered if it worked would we be forced to do another dog and pony show again the next night? Yes, a silly thing to worry about, but there it was.
I held back on purpose, mainly so no one could blame me if something happened but also so I could feel what was going on without being engulfed by it. That was why I picked up the subtle thread my demon didn't like, the familiar magic I'd sensed twice before. I fought her to keep her under control, a battle so all-consuming I almost missed the drama unfolding around me.
It didn't take long for the gathering to guess something was terribly wrong. The calling felt unbalanced, uneven, as though Mom's ability to manipulate and shape it was missing. I saw her face twist as I continued to struggle with my demon, and knew my mother fought whoever took her over. I gathered my demon's attention and showed her what was happening. We had to help her.
My demon understood. And slammed into my mother so hard it gave Mom the shove she needed to get control back.
I saw the light come back in her gaze, saw the evil power vanish at the same time my demon went silent.
But it was already too late. The collective energy rose unguided and unstable, despite Mom's attempts to rein it in. Fear shone on every face, terror even, as the spell, now with a life of its own, drew more and more of itself free of the witches in the circle, growing into a massive column of wild magic. It rose into the air above us, hovering, writhing with life. Mom stepped forward. I sensed she was close, so close to getting it under control. Had she only another second, I know she could have done it. But she didn't have the time she needed.
Instead, she did the only thing she could. She committed it to the elements and hoped for the best. By doing so, the power would be diffused, absorbed by whichever one drew it. The worst part about trusting natural forces was there was no way to tell which of the four would take control. Air would work, although the normals would get a show. There wasn't any water nearby the force could flow into. The bonfire would be ideal as it was already burning and though that much of an infusion would cause a massive explosion, the wards on the site would keep it contained and protect the coven.
The only one that would be an issue, really, was earth. We were tied so tightly to it, the force of the release could do serious damage. Unfortunately for Mom, that was exactly where it went. The thing surged and expanded above us and crashed to the pentagram like a massive hammer, slamming down on the entire site from point to point, extinguishing every candle at once. It burst into nothing, recoiling violently back through the family and into the ground.
I found myself on my back, feeling the tingling of the soil beneath me as the last of the magic dissipated. I knew if Mom hadn't managed to channel it somewhere, it would have destroyed us all. As it was, I felt like being destroyed may have been the better choice.
Meira clutched my hand as I struggled to catch my breath. I could hear crying and moans all around me as the witches suffered from the recoil of power. I struggled to a sitting position, feeling like I weighed a thousand pounds. I drew Meira to me. She cried in my heavy arms. I saw Mom's motionless body not far from us and gathered what remaining strength I had. I slowly, so slowly, pulled the two of us to our mother. She was crushed into the ground, the earth around her indented with the weight of what she did. I knew she channeled as much of it through herself as she could. It saved the coven whether they knew it or not, but she paid the price. She literally imprinted in the ground beneath her, face-first in the dirt and grass.
I let go of Meira long enough to struggle with her limp body. I managed finally to roll her over. I had a panicked moment before she opened her eyes and looked at me.
I was never so happy to see her.
Mom pulled herself up, out of breath. Her face twisted into horrible grief. She clutched my hand hard for support. Our gazes locked.
"Syd," she whispered. "What have I done?"
"Miriam!" Erica's voice called, desperate and terrified, taking my mother's attention before I could answer. "Jared!"
His body lay crumpled on the ground. Mom struggled to rise but it was Batsheva who made it to Erica first, who sent a surge to Jared and revived him.
I knew as I felt around the circle not everyone there was going to be so lucky. As the stunned awareness began to wear off, the wailing and weeping began. Too many of the witches felt like the twins, alive but empty. Mom's tears fell as she sat there, looking around her but not really seeing with her eyes. She was searching with her power. What she saw, what we both saw, broke my mother's heart.
It was Batsheva Moromond who broke her will.
"How has this happened?" The portly woman staggered toward us, naked shock on her face at the crumpled and damaged mass that was the most powerful coven in the country. "Where was your power, Miriam? Where was the Hayle strength to lead us?"
The wailing and crying stopped. Everyone still with us stared at my mother, glared at her. They demanded an answer with that collective glare. There was such a heaviness to them, a desperate anguish that needed to know what happened, wanting to blame. I was terrified so much negative energy focused on Mom.
I watched in awe as my mother, unbowed even then, found reserves within herself and rose under the weight of it.
***
