Chapter 12
I drove to City Limits Diner and placed my order. I hope the strawberry topped pancakes travel well. I love their pancakes. I would eat them for every meal if I could. They didn’t have green tea so I got the professor a coffee and ordered one for myself as well. Tim loves this place, too. Of course he loves anything to do with food. His family owns a restaurant near the town line. I might go there for lunch. The waitress came back with my order and I left.
Pulling up in front of my house, I saw the professor leaning against her truck. I didn’t even notice her truck when she came yesterday. It is the same one I saw outside my house the other day; the one I thought belonged to one of my neighbors. She has been watching me. I wonder how long she has. I’ll be honest, I’m a little creeped out by this. I get out and greet her.
“Morning.”
“Morning to you as well,” she responded.
“Here’s your coffee, black.They didn’t have the tea you wanted.”
“That’s fine, not a lot of small town diners carry it. That’s why I added the black coffee.”
“Let’s go inside. Just a heads up, someone broke in last night and the house is a disaster. More so than usual.” I told her.
“Did they take anything?”
“Not that I can tell.”
“I can check for you and even tell you who broke in, if you’d like?”
“Really? How?”
“Deary, I’m a witch. I’ll just do a little spell.”
“Okay.” I pushed the door open and we went in.
We walked to the kitchen and set everything down on the counter. She then walked back to the living room and cast her spell. In seconds, we were transported back to last night.
“We can’t interact with anything, this is just a kind of memory of the space. I’ll speed it up to when they broke in.” She said as she moved her fingers across the space in front of her. And then it happened. The front door was kicked in and she slowed it back down.
“Vampires. That’s who broke in. Now let’s see what they took,” she said.
“Vampires? Those are real?”
“Yes. So are werewolves, fairies, shifters, and a slew of other supernatural creatures.” She stated.
“What? That’s not possible. People would know about them.”
“They do, dear. They just believe they aren’t real. And so many stories about supernatural beings, they don’t even get half of it right. They didn’t take anything, but I wonder what they were looking for.”
“I don’t know. I don’t have anything valuable.”
“Well you will probably encounter more supernaturals. That tree you created is going to draw them here. It is like a beacon, only because it’s on the news. That’s what brought me here. And most likely why the werewolves and vampires came last night.”
“I didn’t see any werewolves.”
“But you did. Those wolves in the bowling alley parking lot. You’re lucky they were only scouts. Probably sent by the Moonrise Pack a few miles west of here. And a few miles north of them is Pinus Alba. So if you can get your human affairs in order today, we can head there in the morning.”
“Wait, what? I don’t want to leave. My whole life is here in Tecumseh. And how did you know about those wolves? Are you following me?”
“You will be safer at Pinus Alba. Not all supernatural beings are friendly. Witches and fairies tend to hate each other. Fairies have natural magic, meaning it comes from the earth. They don’t cast spells, but instead call on nature to provide what is needed. Witches get their magic from the old gods or spirits. We are not gods ourselves, though you will come across some who think they are. Vampires and werewolves also tend to hate each other. Vampires drink human blood to survive, though I have heard of a few covens that drink animal blood. Most who do drink human blood get it from blood banks their clan operates. A clan, in case you were wondering and I see that you are, is made up of multiple covens or families in some cases. Typically, a clan has an alpha vampire. He or she creates a few more vampires who then go out and create more each starting their own coven. Now sometimes, a vampire will choose a human for a mate and you get half-breeds. The human either dies or is turned. This is the difference between covens and families. Now werewolves consider themselves the protectors of the humans. So you can see why they hate vampires. They also prefer the term lycan. Lycans live in packs. The members of the packs are not all related by blood. Each pack has an alpha, beta, and gamma. Those families stay in the pack. Other wolf families send their females to other packs when they have found their mates, the males stay within the pack. There are rogues, which are wolves who have been banished from their pack or who are the only surviving members of a defeated pack who were not accepted into the victor’s pack. Wolf packs are really very complicated. There are also hybrids. You have fairy-vampire hybrids, witch-lycan hybrids, fairy-lycan hybrids, fairy-witch hybrids - which are very rare - witch-shifter hybrids, fairy-shifter hybrids, and so on. There are no vampire-witch hybrids, only because a witch needs to be living and vampires aren’t. That’s not to say that a vampire and a witch can’t fall in love or anything. Many have, they just can’t be both. It’s the same with werewolves and vampires, again that’s rare considering they hate each other. And to answer your question as to how I knew about the wolves last night, yes, I have been following you since I first came to town. I needed to see who you were.” She said matter of factly.
“Why didn’t you help?”
“I needed to see what you would do. To see how your magik manifests.”
“That’s crap. You could have done something. And why did you make it so my car wouldn't start?”
“I could have, but what if you had killed those young wolves. And I didn’t do anything to your car.”
“Then what happened to it?”
“I wouldn’t know. Ah, wait, your hands were glowing when you got in it. Your light magik must have disrupted the electrical system. That happens sometimes with creator witches. When you learn how to use your powers, that won’t happen, unless you want it to, of course.”
“Okay. You know you’re giving me a lot of info here. But I have questions.”
“Go ahead dear.”
“How do I make my hands stop glowing? How do they even start glowing?”
“How they start is different for each witch. But since you just got your powers, like with all witches, you will have random moments when your powers will manifest. Most witches grow up knowing all this. Witches begin training as soon as they learn to walk. Obviously they don’t have their magik that young, but they learn about it and grow up around it. And when they get their powers, they go to their coven’s school. In your case, the Lunam Deam Coven is offering you a place amongst us and our school is Pinus Alba. As for how to make them stop, you just will them to stop. It will get easier. It is hard in the beginning, that is why we have schools.”
“Great! I have powers I can’t even control. Are there other covens and stuff in Michigan, or just yours and that Moonrise Pack?”
“Oh, there are many. If you look, you will find them between the human cities and towns, hidden among the trees or in the mountains. In Michigan, there are five witch covens, thirteen wolf packs, seven vampire covens, three fairy villages, three shifter villages, and I’m not sure about other supernaturals. Vampires have strict rules on where they can live and must have permission to claim an area as their territory. The rest of us go where our respective god or goddesses tell us to go. My coven is named for the Moon Goddess, Cecilia, she is who guides us. Most wolves follow her sister Celeste, who is also a Moon Goddess. Not all covens follow Cecilia though. Each coven has their own god or goddess. You will learn all this and much more at our school. And it starts in two weeks.”
“Um, I’m not sure I want to go. But I also don’t want anyone to find out that I created that tree. Would I be able to leave if I went with you?”
“Yes, of course. You won’t be a prisoner there. Even if you join our coven, you can still leave. Joining just means you will follow our laws and will help when needed. Also, the coven will help you when you need it.”
“Okay, I will check it out.