Chapter 4: Chaotic

I took a cab to the center of the city. I dragged myself around, until I found a relatively cheap hotel to crash at. I paid them up front for the next two weeks, and dragged myself into the room. I laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling trying to figure out some sort of "master plan".

As exhausted as I was, I couldn't close my eyes. They were shot open, it was only now that I realized how terrified I actually was right now. I had never done anything like this all by myself. I hadn't been threatened like this in a long time, before I knew about Ciaran and Amyranth, back when my biggest problems were Selene, Cal or Hunter.

I decided that I needed to change my name. A couple of years ago, I had changed my name to Riordan. It was a name with a very large lineage of power, but very recognizable in our world. I changed it to something that I had never had a connection to: Katherine Matthews. I needed to find somebody to plagiarize some papers and IDs. I need them, in case this "master plan" of mine took longer than I thought. I had seen enough CSI shows, to know that it can't be that hard to find them, and surely after a quick google search; I knew exactly what to do.

I made myself go to sleep, but surely I was up just a couple of hours later. I was extremely jet lagged and terrified, and sleep wasn't my priority. However I felt completely rejuvenated.

I tried to salvage my appearance, and quickly walked down the street to the nearest clothes store. I bought 500 dollars worth of clothes & necessities: just some basics, jeans, tshirts, a couple of "nice" outfits, pjs and lingerie. In less than an hour, I had found the "bakery", that made me all the fake paperwork, and I had now become Katherine Matthews, from Chicago, Illinois.

After returning all my buys to the hotel room. I washed up, fixed my hair, dressed up, and headed on my quest to find Eagruth. They were known for their immorality, so I'm sure any witch here will know who they are. While shopping earlier, I saw a large occult store, with the power rune, sketched above the door. I knew that this was a good place to start. I tried to find my way back to the store, and once outside, I dropped all my power boundaries, and entered.

I decided that I needed to take my "power block" down, to spark an interest in them. If I seemed as immoral as they were, they would be attracted to my power. I walked into the store, took in my surroundings, and looked for the easiest way to spark some attention. I walked towards the front of the store, where there was a young handsome man. He had thick black hair, and dark blue piercing eyes, we were probably around the same age. His eyes were staring right through me. I looked like I was paying no attention to him, and glued my eyes down to a shelf of books: on how to do different types of illegal magick. I knew that I was at the right place.

A few moments later, that darked-haired man was standing next to me. "I've never seen you here before? Are you new in town?". I had sparked some interest. I looked at him straight in the eyes - "Just moved here from Chicago". He looked at me measured my looks, and then just blurted "You're Woodbane right?". It was undeniable, there is a bond between woodbanes, and somebody with as much power as I have, cannot hide their true clan.

I sent my senses out just to see with who I'm dealing with - and this man had plenty of power. "Yes and so are you." I answered promptly, it was a statement, and not a question. "Katherine Matthews " I introduced myself. "Enchanted Ms. Matthews. I'm Ryan." We continued to make small talk, where were from and all that. Everything I said was a lie. I was getting the feeling that he was trying to flirt with me, and he was really bad at it, but truly enchanting. He tried to do many glamours, to get my attention, but I waved him off. Then he finally asked if I would like to go to dinner with him, and then join him for a circle.

It wasn't uncommon for witches to invite other witches to their circles, but I wanted to see if this was worth my time. While Ryan was enchanting and immoral I wasn't quite sure that he was related to Eagruth. So I fished around - really really fished around. I asked about his friends, and performed my own set of tricks, to show him my power.

He then stopped dead in his tracks, stared at me and said "You're quite interesting. I like you." He asked if
I knew anyone in San Francisco, and if I had joined a coven yet - because a power and a mind like mine, would be well seen in his coven. I gave him a sideways look, edging him to add more. "We're an all woodbane coven, very powerful - I'm not bragging - we focus on our studies, but we enjoy having fun, our magic can become chaotic."

Chaotic? - I think I may have just hit a jackpot. I looked at him intrigued, his dark blue eyes were piercing through me, and I tried to maintain the façade, and show how I liked the prospect of his chaotic coven - with the powerful magic that had lots of fun. I was intrigued by his offer, and edged to learn a bit more. "I find you quite interesting Mr. Ryan too - so tell me what kind of fun are we talking about?"

He went on about little rite's that they did, a lot glamors, weather magic, some abuse of power, and so forth, but what caught my attention was - the rest you can see yourself. "I get off in 15minutes, wanna join me for lunch, and then we're having a circle. I think you're going to like it".

I was still deciding whether I should accept his offer, but I agreed to it anyways. Ryan seemed handsome, powerful and immoral. "I'll wait for you right here." casually I added "What's your coven's name?"

He looked at me - excited that he had swayed me so quickly - he had really seen some very interesting power tonight. "Eagruth".