Chapter 5

“Mom!?” I exclaimed.

“Witchcraft? So does that make you guys witches?” he asked, seemingly unphased.

Mom walked by and placed her hand on my shoulder before whispering in my ear, “Trust me.”

I was beyond confused, and honestly, I was terrified, but I had to trust that my mom knew what she was doing. Even if I disagreed with her, she was the more experienced witch.

“Yes, Wynter and I are witches. However, you have nothing to worry about, we don’t go around hexing or cursing people willy-nilly.” She smiled at him.

Just then we heard a car door shut and my dad called out that he was home. He knew what today was, so he came straight out into the garden. He didn’t take long to find us, so he was surprised to find another person with us.

“Oh, I didn’t know we had a guest.”

“Honey, this is Cameron. He’s going to observe the ritual tonight.” My mom explained. “How about we all head inside to finish the preparations.”

Quietly we all followed her back to the house, mom and dad walked hand in hand. School ended at 3:00 pm and right now it was almost 7:00 pm which means the sun would set here in about an hour and a half.

“Are your parents gonna be okay with you being here for a few hours?” I asked, keeping my voice low and cautious.

“Yeah, I’ll text them that I’m hanging out at a friend’s house.” He shrugged.

“A friend’s house?”

“Yeah, we’re friends. Aren’t we?” He smiled at me before catching himself up with my parents.

Friends. Hearing him say that we were friends made a small smile spread across my face. I could feel a huge sense of relief wash over me. Never have I had a friend who knew I was a witch. It was always a huge secret that I had to keep and the only people that I could discuss the topic with were my family. That doesn’t mean I’ve never had friends, I had tons of friends back in Arizona. They just never knew I was a witch. To them, witches were something saved for horror movies and Halloween. Never would they have thought that not only were witches real, but they knew one.

“Okay, let’s head to the kitchen and start the preparations.” My mom clapped her hands once we made it back to the house.

“What kind of preparations are there?” Cameron asked.

“Well, we have to get our crystals for the ritual, prepare the herbs, and my husband likes to prepare different dishes for the rituals. Mostly cakes, and other desserts, since he’s not a witch they’re his way of celebrating with us.”

Mom walked behind the counter and started gathering different supplies along with her mortar and pestle. Dad joined her and got some dough out from the fridge, which I assume he prepared last night. Mom slid two jars over to me, one filled with lavender, and one filled with ginger.

“Wynter, why don’t you and Cameron start making the tea and paste.”

I nodded and put the kettle on the stove to boil.

“Tea and paste?” Cameron asked when I came back to the counter.

“For the new moon we drink ginger tea. Ginger wakes up the different senses of the body, which prepares us for the ritual, whilst it cleanses us of old energy we don’t need,” I explained, handing him a piece of ginger to examine. “We also make a Lavender paste, which we use during the ritual to calm and clear any anxieties we have for our upcoming goals.”

He nodded and proceeded to follow the instructions I gave him until everything was set. “So, Mrs. Morgan, do you have to be born a witch to practice witchcraft?” Cameron asked as we carried everything back to the ritual spot.

“Not at all, anyone can practice. Everyone has a little bit of magic inside them; blood witches like Wynter and I just have an enhanced version.”

“Mom, we should get changed before the ritual starts.”

Mom and I left Dad and Cameron at the ritual site as we made our way to the house to change into our ritual clothes. Once we were a good distance away from them, I turned my attention to her.

“Mom? You have told me for years not to let anyone know about us, but you just go and tell our secret to the first person you see?” I exclaimed.

“He has a pure soul, much like your father’s. Souls like his are few and far between. I believe he can be trusted. Now hurry up and get changed, the ritual will start soon.”

Changing took very little time, and soon enough we were wearing our ritual robes and had joined Dad and Cameron in the garden and got in our places for the ritual. Mom had Cameron stay by dad’s side, so he could watch. We all looked up at the sky and took a deep breath.

“Wynter, cast the circle.”

“Around us, our circles cast.

Nothing evil can get past.

Surrounding us in protective light.

Here our magic shall take flight.”

We then drank our tea and allowed its energy to flow through us. Suddenly with a swift flick of my hand I lit all our candles and incense. Next mom handed me one of the two tins filled with our lavender paste. We wiped the paste on our cheeks, neck and arms while breathing in the soothing scent. As we breathed the paste began to glow slightly, as though it was being lit by the moon.

“Dark moon, round and hidden.

We call on you to hear us and listen.” “Mom, started chanting, raising her arms towards the now black, night sky.

“We ask that you aid in our cleansing.

Clear the way for our new beginnings” I continued, as I followed her lead.

As the chant ended the flames of the candles rose high, burning white hot. We began a dance together, calling forward each of the elements. We could feel a whirlwind of air surrounding us, shaking the leaves nearby. Mom and I pulled out two pieces of paper from our robes filled with our goals. Folding them, we held them out on our open palms and called upon the element of fire to take our goals beyond us. The wind spinning around us grew stronger and lifted us towards the sky.

“Through the element of fire, we give you our goals.

May they reach you through the smoke from our souls,” we chanted in unison.

Within a second the papers were engulfed in a flash of fire before everything went still. We slowly floated back down until our feet were once more place firmly on the ground The ashen remains of the paper glowed like the moon before rising to the night sky and disappearing before our eyes. I felt a weight being lifted off me and like I could breathe again. Mom swept her hand over the candles and put the flames out, and we began to clear our things out of the way.

“We release the magic of our circle.” Mom and I say in unison.

“Wow,” Cameron exhaled. “That was amazing.”

“That’s not even one of their big rituals.” My dad commented with a smile.

It must have been nice for my dad to have someone else watching with him. Once all the potentially dangerous tools like, the hot candles and the incense, were taken care of dad handed out his snacks. We will leave the tools we used out all night to cleanse them before bringing them back into the house.

“Cameron, would you like to stay for dinner?” My mom asked, “After rituals like this we usually eat a meal.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose—”

“Nonsense, you’re welcome here whenever you’d like.” My mom smiled.

“I’d love to. Let me call my parents and let them know.”

Whilst Cameron talked to his parents, mom and I went to the house to wash up and change into normal clothes. As I washed the now dry lavender paste off my body, I tried not to question my mother. My mind, however, couldn’t shake the anxieties that came with him knowing. He could tell people. He could blackmail me and my family. We knew nothing about him, and I was the only one who seemed to be worried about that.

“Trust him.”

Looking up into the mirror I came face to face with Amelia, who stood behind me. “Why?” I asked her.

“Trust him,” she said again, before disappearing like she usually does. No explanation, just a demand I was expected to follow. It feels like she knows something I don’t, but I have no way of getting her to tell me before she deems it necessary. Letting out a sigh I dried off my skin, changed my clothes, and made my way downstairs once more.

Dinner went by relatively smoothly. Cameron asked the occasional question, mostly about the house and the grounds. It was decided that one day a week Cameron would come over and help tend the garden. Before long, dinner was over, and the dishes were being collected. “Wynter, how about you show our guest out while your father and I clean up.”

I nodded silently and motioned for Cameron to follow me. As we made our way to the front door, I turned to him saying “You know that you can’t tell anyone about what you saw here tonight, right?”

“Who would believe me anyway?” he questioned.

“You would be surprised. No one can know, not your friends, not your family, no one.”

“I understand. Though I do have to wonder; if no one is supposed to know, why can I?”

“Mom, says you have a pure soul, and she trusts you,” I stated, before opening the door. “I just hope that her trust isn’t misplaced. See you at school.”

He took a few steps outside before turning back to me.

“Wynter?” He called out, “Her trust isn’t misplaced. I promise.”

I closed the door and went back to the kitchen to help my parents. Mom washed dad dried, and I cleaned the table. We finished quickly and went to bed for the night. Well, they went to bed, I laid awake on my bed listening to the house. Sleep once again evaded me, it wasn’t until 3:30 am that I was finally able to sleep. So, the next day when my alarm went off, I was more than a bit grumpy. Coffee was a necessity today. I got ready for school with a simple T- shirt and jeans and went downstairs and headed straight for the coffee machine.

“You okay, sweetie?” Mom asked.

“No, sleep. Need coffee.”

“Wynter, you know how important it is to rest properly after spell work.”

“Yes, I know. Where’s Dad?”

I poured my coffee into my mug and listened to mom explain that Dad had to go to work early. Mom had a meeting so she couldn’t take me to school, so I guess I had to walk. Just as I was finishing my coffee when our doorbell rang, mom left me in the kitchen to go answer the door.

“Cameron, what a surprise!” I hear “Please come in.”

“Good morning Mrs. Morgan.” He smiled walking through the door. “Morning, Wynter.”

“Morning?” I replied, making my confusion clear.

“To what do we owe the pleasure of your presence this morning.”

“Well, I just wanted to come by and see if Wynter wanted to walk to school together?”

“That would be perfect!” Mom said, clapping her hands together.

I guess I’m walking with Cameron today, I don’t have the energy needed to try and argue. Besides, there’s no guarantee I wouldn’t get lost on my own. While Mom and Cameron made small talk, I gathered my stuff up and put on my bandanna before swinging my backpack on my shoulder. Mom still hadn’t fixed my other bandanna so let’s hope nothing happened to this one. We said goodbye to my mom and started our walk.

We walked in silence for the first half of our journey, keeping in pace with each other yet neither one of us dared to start the conversation. Nonetheless I could tell that he wanted to ask something, he kept his silence though.

“If you have a question, go ahead and ask. I don’t mind,” I said, breaking the silence.

“Why do you wear a bandanna every day?” He pointed slightly to the bandanna sitting atop my head.

“I use it to veil myself.” I untied the piece of cloth letting it fall loose in my hands. “These runes that are sewn into it expel the energies and emotions from the people around me, so I don’t become overwhelmed”

“Runes?”

“Magical symbols,” I explained, retying the bandanna around my head. “Long story short, it helps me stay in control of my magic.”

I watched him from the corner of my eye; curiosity clear on his face as he mulled over this information, perhaps thinking of more questions he wished to ask me. I certainly had a few of my own. Why was he so nonchalant about this? He never seemed overwhelmed, or fearful, like one would expectedly be. Yet here he was, being unrealistically calm. I wasn’t even this relaxed when I found out about it all. I spent weeks denying it, refusing to listen to my mother as she tried to tell me our family history. Did he know something I didn’t? If so, do I even want to find out what it would be? And most importantly, could I really trust him?

“So have you come up with a new idea for the art project?” he inquired.

“Not really. The only local history I know is my family’s. Can’t exactly use that now, can I?”

“Why not? I think it would make for some cool art pieces.”

“Rule number 1 for me is, don’t draw attention to the fact that I’m a witch.” I sighed. “It was easier in Arizona, but here my family history isn’t exactly a secret.”

He nodded in understanding. “Well, how about this?” he started. “After school, how about I give you a historical tour of Wichitan? We’ll take pictures and maybe you can find something that sticks out to you.”

I mulled the thought over. This would help me, and this would give me a chance to see if he was serious about keeping my family’s secret. “Okay, deal.”

Soon after, we arrived at school and went our separate ways to our lockers. I ignored the whispers the best I could, until someone physically came up to me.

“What did you do to Cameron?” a voice accused.

Turning I noticed a group of girls had surrounded my locker.

“Excuse me?” I questioned, raising one of my eyebrows.

“What kind of witchy woo-woo did you put on Cameron?” the girl in front of me asked.

My only response was to roll my eyes and close my locker. “I didn’t do anything. Now I have to get to class.” I tried to make my way through the crowd.

A few of their hands came out and shoved me back into my locker. “You need to keep your little witch powers away from Cameron and go back to where you came from.”

“Wynter?” Cameron’s voice cut through, causing the girls to back up. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I responded.

“Come on then.” He reached out. “Let’s get to class.”