The Impossibility of You & Me

Chapter Four

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Faye does not get to do this part. We'll be here all night."

Faye glared at her. "Just because I'm a good storyteller—"

"Cassie's right," Diana interrupted. "We don't need the long, drawn out version." She faced me. "We're witches."

I stared, waiting for her to say more. Clearly that wasn't it. No way could that be the full sentence she'd planned to say. We're witches. What did that even mean?

"Fucking crazy, but true," Nick murmured from where he stood at the fringes of the group. "Witches. Like magic and shit."

"Do you have to be so crass?" Adam sneered.

"Yes."

I couldn't help it, I snorted a little laugh. "Witches."

Diana nodded. "Witches. Have you ever read or seen The Crucible?"

"Yes," I said, recalling English last year where we'd studied the play.

"So our story is like that. In Salem, some girls were caught in the woods. They labeled it witchcraft. The witch hunt began. Many people were accused and tried and executed..." she trailed off.

Cassie's soft voice picked up the story. "But the real witches, the original families, ran. They moved away and started their own town where they could be safe."

I blinked as it dawned on me. "New Salem."

Cassie smiled. "Right. And the twelve original families—"

"Or thirteen," Faye added.

Cassie sighed. "Or thirteen original families all lived along this road. If you live on Crowhaven, you have access to the Powers."

"And while our parents tend to ignore them, we harness them. Use them. Together. With our Circle," Diana said.

I nodded, because while this was all insane...they also made sense. If we were witches, it would be a good idea to join together to learn. To be stronger. To work together and understand one another. Oddly enough, it sounded...kind of nice.

"We were all initiated, and we've all been through what you went through tonight," Cassie explained. "I, in particular, went through pretty much the same thing—I had no idea about witches or anything until I was initiated and they told me."

"Your initiation," Melanie added a bit sharply, "is a bit of a risk, though."

"Melanie," Laurel said softly.

"She's not wrong," Suzan said. "She's not being kind about it, but we should explain this, too."

Diana frowned. "Is the first hour after joining the Circle really the best time to dig up our past?"

Deborah chuckled. "What's a better time? When we start reawakening evil Powers again?"

"We are not doing that again," Laurel said, eyes on Faye.

Faye just shrugged and inspected her nails.

"We always thought a Circle was complete with twelve members," Adam said, actually starting to explain the discourse. "We were at eleven before Cassie showed up. We were originally going to...well."

"We were going to initiate our sister," Doug said, no smile on his or his brother's face. "Her name was Kori."

Chris crossed his arms over his chest. "She died the morning she was supposed to be initiated."

"It was part of an elaborate plan to get me into the Circle instead," Cassie chimed in, rubbing her arms. "I didn't know about it. But my...father? I guess. I never knew him, but he was...he was my father. And he was evil. He wanted me initiated. So he used his Power and made it so I was the only option to complete the Circle."