The Awakening

He awoke with a start. He was always restless when the moon was full, as was normal for all witches. But, this was different, tonight, the moon was blue. Such an occurrence only happened every two or so years. But to add to the peculiarity of this night, a witch had been awoken.

He wiped the sweat from his brow as he climbed out of bed. Gerard had been the leader of the coven for decades, and had felt countless witches awaken. But this one was powerful, unsettlingly so.

He had always been sensitive to the new turners. But this one burned him, she was like a star bursting into flame. How had he not felt her before? He usually felt a certain level of unease a few weeks before a new witch was about to awaken. But, with this one, it was nothing and then everything, all at once.

Once he regained his composure, he dragged himself into his study. He glanced over at the clock, of course 3:00AM, the witching hour. He pulled out the file of potential newbies. He had one of his underlings keep a record of all of the witching families in the UK with children who had not turned. He perused for a while before she jumped out like a ghost in the night: Helene Ried. She was from a powerful line of druid witches. He pressed his fingertip and thumb against his temple and sighed, picking up his phone.

He called Ivan, his most seasoned newbie recruiter. He was handsome and dashing and got the new girls easier than anyone.

"Hello?" He answered groggily on the other line.

"I need you to meet me, now." He demanded and the line rang dead. In no more than four minutes, Ivan breezed through the door in his sweats, blonde hair dishevelled, looking like an ad campaign for lounge wear.

Gerard rolled his eyes as he watched Ivan run a hand through his hair.

"What can I say? My beauty doesn't have a bedtime." He attempted his most seductive voice, killed only a little by his Scottish twang. They stared at each other for a moment, before they both broke into soft chuckles.

"Okay, before I vomit, sit down." He pulled out a chair and Ivan slouched down.

They spoke for a moment about the new awakening.

"You think she is powerful?" Ivan asked and Gerard rubbed his hands down his face.

"I have never felt one like it." He told him and Ivan nodded.

"It is imperative we get her. If she falls into the wrong hands, we are in big trouble." Gerard insisted and Ivan agreed.

"Luckily, she doesn't live far from here." He looked down at his book.

"Only about an hour away." He added and Ivan thought that that would work heavily in their favour.

"I need you to get on it first thing tomorrow. Find a way to get to her." He ordered Ivan and left him in his study to return to bed.

---

Helene laid awake that night, shaking. Her body felt like she was on fire. She hadn't wanted to go to the dumb seiance. But her sister had begged her and had been moaning for weeks about how boring she was. So, she reluctantly agreed to go along.

The crystal shop was run down and dodgy, tucked down a dimly lit alley. The minute they arrived, Helene wanted to turn around and go home.

"Even for you, this is a little much, Steph. Are you sure?" She asked, looking up at the crooked sign, reading: Crystal Castle. A shudder shot up through her spine as her older sister clamped her hand in hers, pulling her along.

"You don't believe in it anyway, so what's the harm?"

Steph was right, Helene didn't believe in any of it, the spirits and the crystals and the supposed wiccans. But something felt off as the bell tinkled as they entered the shop. It was not Steph's first time in the Crystal Castle or the spirit circle that happened once a month, on the full moon. But Helene was an admitted and proud virigin to these kinds of things.

Although Helene felt uneasy at the whole situation, she forced to herself relax as she met the group. It appeared to be a lot of middle aged women and grandmas who liked to knit hemp and drink green tea. She smiled and shook hands with each lady, their names going in one ear and out the other, and then they took their places in the circle, their spots the furthest away from the door. She shifted as she felt the distance, more uneasy than before.

The leader of the group began to light a fire in the middle of the circle and Helene had to restrain herself from crying out that they were sat on a wooden floor. Steph had begged her to trust, so she would trust.

The woman began chanting in a language that Helene could not pinpoint, it was unlike anything she had ever heard before, throaty and deep. She squinted as the woman threw herbs into the fire and it roared up towards the ceiling. She looked over at Steph, who had a child-like wonder in her eyes and shivered, wondering how much of herself Steph had kept from her.

Her breath hitched as she noticed the ladies passing around a flask, some sipping and others chugging. Once it got to Helene she reminded herself that it was just tea and that it couldn't hurt her. She took a healthy swig, much to the amazment of the other women and sat back on her heels.

A minute passed and she felt unchanged, until her vision began to blur and her hands reached out onto the floor to support her body weight. Her eyelids felt heavier than ever before and as she blinked and blinked again, she was greeted by a stranger. She had been sure that there had only been two ladies sat opposite her in the group. But now, she gazed upon a third lady.

Her hair was wild and matted and her skin was sunken and deep. She wore rags and her fingers were covered in mottled silver.

"Helene!" She called to her, her voice hoarse and strained.

"Who are you?!" She cried back, unable to contain her curiosity. The woman began crawling frantically, her knees grappling over the fire. Helene cried out as the woman plunged herself into the flames.

As she came closer, unscathed by the fire, Helene noticed her eyes. They shone white, no pupil, no iris, all white. She reached for Helene, grabbing her hands, squeezing them tightly.

"You must leave this place child, find your own." She spoke frantically, her mouth moving quickly.

"We need you, our kind needs you." She pleaded and begged and then suddenly, she was gone, replaced by Steph shaking Helene awake.

They left Crystal Castle and Helene couldn't stop her hands from shaking. She felt a deep discomfort somewhere near her stomach and wondered what in the hell those ladies put in that tea.

Steph didn't say anything and Helene was glad for it, for she was sure if she had opened her mouth all that would come out would be a gentle cry.

She threw herself into bed as they got home and forced herself to squeeze her eyes shut until she forgot about the night, or fell asleep, whichever came first. A light, restless sleep fell over her plagued with white eyes women and languages she couldn't understand.