The Coven Comes to the Hotel Cortez
"Cordelia? Cordelia?" Zoe whispered. Cordelia continued to stare off in the distance, "Have you heard from Queenie yet?" Zoe shook her head and immediately felt the worry in Delia's voice. "I'm sure she's fine, after all you did give her a winning ticket. She's probably just out spending money on God knows what, more colored hair streaks maybe." Delia smiled, "I'm sure you're right Zoe. I must be worried about nothing." Zoe faintly smiled back and handed Delia a letter.
"What's this?" asked Delia. "It's an application we received that I thought you should look at" replied Zoe. "Another witch? I didn't think we had any more coming in" said Delia, "Where is she from?" Zoe glanced away, "Well you see, that's the thing. This witch isn't technically a 'she' per se". Delia raised her eyebrows and looked at Zoe, "So this witch is a male? How is that even possible? Our line is directly descended from women and women only." "Well you see, this applicant identifies as female but was born male. I'm not sure how else to describe it" said Zoe awkwardly. Delia looked out the window, "So she's transgender? I must say that this is a first for our Coven. Give her a call, I'd like to see her myself." Zoe nodded her head and exited the room.
*Later that day*
A knock was at the door. Zoe put down her book and went to answer it. "Welcome to Ms. Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies, I'm Zoe." "Hi, my name is Ari and can I just day how happy I am to be here." Zoe smiled and led Ari into the Supreme's office. "Ari, may I introduce to you the Supreme of our coven, Cordelia Foxx." Ari was stunned by the beauty of the Supreme. She gazed upon the neat flowing blonde hair, and the perfect eyebrows and simple yet elegant makeup she had. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ari," said the Supreme as they shook hands. Ari smiled and sat down, gazing upon the immaculate things surrounding her.
"First and foremost Ari, what made you believe you are a witch?" said Delia. "Aside from being transgender, I still felt as if I was different from everyone else. I always felt connected to all things spiritual and nature related. I grew up in Arizona within the Navajo Nation. We have these legends of Navajo witches, who were wicked and terrible. They would consume human remains, and use the skin of animals to transform into animals themselves. They were known to be purely evil and use their magic to cause others pain. We refer to them as 'Yee naal dlooshi', which translates into 'Skinwalkers'."
"So you're saying you possess these abilities as well?" asked Delia. "Yes I do," replied Ari. "So to be blunt, you're a shapeshifter? Correct?" asked Delia. Ari smirked and said, "No, my power goes far beyond just transforming into animals. But my powers seem to only cause harm to others, which has become increasingly difficult to control." Cordelia stood up and raised her arms to the side, "You wouldn't mind demonstrating would you?" Ari shook her head, "No, my powers will only hurt you. I don't want to do that." "It's the only way for me to truly verify that you are indeed a witch. Now, give me your best shot."
Ari closed her eyes and breathed in, she looked directly at the Supreme with a deathly stare. Cordelia began to tremble, and fell to her knees. Her throat felt as if it was being held in a chokehold, and her vision was blinded as she felt the familiar burn scars begin to form again. Cordelia became afraid that she would have to suffer through blindness once again. She tried to stop Ari, but the pain was so unbearable she couldn't focus. Zoe rushed in and waved her hand towards the wall, sending Ari flying across the room. Cordelia gasped for air, and her vision slowly began to return as the scars faded away.
Ari picked herself up off the floor. Zoe helped Delia up and sat her in a chair. Ari began to say how sorry she was, but Delia raised her hand to silence her. "That's alright, I asked you to show me but damn! That was something else!" exclaimed Delia. "What were you even doing to her Ari?" asked Zoe. "I was bringing her worst injuries and pain to the surface. If you didn't stop me, the injuries would have remained permanently." Zoe and Cordelia exchanged a look of bewilderment. "I can go now, I'm sorry I shouldn't have come here," said Ari she headed towards the door.
"Wait Ari!" said Delia. "We would be happy to have you here. Zoe and I were just surprised by your power because I don't think either of us have encountered anyone like you before. Your power is so different from anything we know, but we will do anything to help you gain control over them. You are a part of our coven now. You will always be protected here," said Delia. Ari smiled and went to hug her new Supreme. "So what do I call you? My Supreme? Supreme Foxx? Ms. Foxx? Cordelia?" asked Ari. "'Delia' is fine Ari," she replied. "Zoe, can you get her settled in and introduce her to the other girls?" said Delia. Zoe led Ari upstairs as Cordelia sat back down.