My First Coven

Midnight Hour

 I was sat on a folding canvas chair in the middle of the woods in front of a huge bonfire, after midnight. My mouth was slightly agape, dry and wordless. But I had been issued a mug of hot tea with milk and two sugars.

'I bet you've got a lot of questions Maddie.' My Auntie M said who was sat beside me in her scary black hooded cloak, sipping her own mug of tea. I just sort of turned in her direction with the same look of confusion on my face. I glanced round at all of the other people who were dressed in similar black cloaks, milling about eating biscuits and drinking tea. They were all women, of varying ages and different ethnicities. I got a better look at everyone now with their hoods down and with the addition of a bunch of battery powered lamps that had been hung from the surrounding trees.

'Um, yeah.' I mumbled, sipping my tea which was for a lack of better word; perfect. Auntie M rested her elbows on her knees, clasped her hands together then rested her chin on them.

'So, all this weird stuff that's been happening to you recently has been happening for a reason. We call it an "awakening."' Auntie M finger quoted. 'The dreams, the nightmares, seeing things that aren't there, disappearing objects, the ravenous hunger, the sickness, tiredness, over sensitive senses. It's all related.'

'How?' I literally only had one word replies at this moment in time. I couldn't quite tell if I was tired or in shock or both. My Aunt though was getting straight in to it.

'Well I don't really know how to say it, so I'll just say it. You're a witch Maddie.'

If I had taken a drink of my tea before Auntie M said that, then I would've done a spit take. But that didn't happen.

'A... witch?' I sounded pretty clueless as if I didn't know what the word meant. I still wasn't buying it.

'Yep. A witch. An actual witch. Everyone here is a witch, so am I.'

I turned to look at my Aunt who was giving me her kind smile, the smile she did when she was being honest and sincere. I didn't believe what she was saying and she could read it on my face.

'You want proof. Okay.'

I watched her carefully as she rearranged herself in her seat whilst I just stayed slumped down in to mine, casually holding my mug as if I didn't know what to do with it. Auntie M simply moved her right hand and as if by magic, a flickering ball of fire appeared in the palm of her hand. Except it was magic.

'Holy shit.' I was particularly deadpan in my delivery. I rubbed my left eye with my free hand as if I was trying to rub an illusion away and I don't know what possessed me, but I just went and stuck my hand in the ball of fire.

'OW! Fuck me that hurt!' I squealed, jumping from my seat whilst nearly sloshing my brew all over the place. My hand was in agony now and she skin on my fingers had instantly turned a horrible colour. I felt all eyes on me now after my scream had attracted the attention of everyone else. They all turned and looked at me, smiling away as if nothing had happened. I sat back down and winced in pain as the skin on my fingers had already begun to blister pretty badly.

Auntie M took my hand in hers. I winced again even though she was being quite gentle and watched as she hovered her hands round mine. I felt my hand tingle, it wasn't an unpleasant experience but it felt strange; sort of like pins and needles. Then all of a sudden I could feel a cool sensation emitting from my Aunts hands. I watched intently as within a few seconds, the blisters and redness gradually faded in to nothing and my hand was well... fixed. I gazed at my hand in awe.

'I'm dreaming or something.' I groaned.

'Nope, you're not dreaming. It was your time to know.'

'Why?'