[Author's Note: Hey everyone! I got chapter three all retyped, and I totally made up for it—it's one of the longest chapters I've written so far in the whole series. So, you know the drill, everything you recognize from the book series Sweep is property of Cate Tiernan, everything else is mine, blah, blah, blah. I think I've kept you waiting long enough. Enjoy! –Katie]

Shadow Girl

Book Two: Soul Searching

[Chapter Three: Circle]

      April 8th

                        I asked this kid who sits next to me in band, Derek Boles, if he knew anything about Moira. He got this weird look on his face, a mix between anger and fear, and asked, "Why do you want to know about that witch?" I was surprised—Not only do I not think that Moira's a bad person, but what's with the witch thing?

                        Later that day this cheerleader Ashley Ballard invited me to a party tomorrow, which is Saturday. When I told her I already had plans, she said, "Oh, right. With Moira." She said it kind of strangely, so I asked her what she had against Moira. "You'll see," she told me. "You'll learn all about the secrets that little witch keeps."

                        So is Widow's Vale such a quaint little town that the kids don't dare use the b-word? Or is there something a lot weirder than Pleasantville purity going on here? I guess I'll find out on Saturday.

                                                                                                --Jordan

            The day of the circle, I was beyond nervous. Today Jordan would find out the truth about me. He'd find out that I was a witch. I paced around the living room in the cute pajama outfit my aunt Mary K. had bought me for my birthday. It was only ten in the morning, but I was already worried.

            "Moira, sit down, would you?" my mother finally told me. "You're making me nervous." She paused, thinking, and then she asked, "Why exactly are you nervous? You've had circles with these kids before."

            "I know. But…Jordan's coming to the circle, only he doesn't really know it yet."

            "Um, run that by me again?"

            I sighed. "I mean, he knows that he's coming to our house. But he thinks that a bunch of us are just hanging out. He doesn't know that there's going to be a Wiccan circle."

            Mom pursed her lips. "Moira, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be inviting people to Wiccan circles and not telling them."

            "I know, and I didn't mean to, but all of a sudden Arianna's inviting him and I couldn't say no." I sighed again and sat down on the couch. "I know this is bad. But it all happened so fast, and I couldn't find time during school to ask him, 'Hey, I'm a witch, does that bother you?'."

            Mom smiled a little bit. "Well, I guess you'll have to take time tonight to tell Jordan the truth. Oh, and don't tell your father about this; he'll have your head."

            "Yeah, I know." I played with a strand of my hair, biting my lip. "I'm so nervous."

            My mother smiled at me. "You really like Jordan, don't you?"

            I reclined on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "Jordan isn't like any other guy I know. I mean, that day in the library, there were a lot of other people there. But he chose to talk to me. And yeah, I had to be getting a vision of him in a crystal at the time, but still. He came over and willingly had a conversation with me. He's coming to my house and he barely knows anything about me. Jordan ditched the cheerleaders to sit with me at lunch. Not many guys are about to do that." I sighed. "And now I have to take the risk that he'll run away from me when I tell him I'm a witch."

            Mom looked at me sympathetically. "I know, honey. But you have to have faith that it'll all work out."

            I gave her a wry smile. "Easier said than done."

            Mom gave me one last small smile and left the room, saying, "Dad and I have to go run a few errands, and then we're going straight to the Sharps' for the circle. Have fun tonight."

            "I will, thanks." I spent the rest of the morning going over the lesson plan my dad forced me to write out. Tonight I would teach the coven about the four elements. I also worked on some homework and watched some television while waiting around at my house. Around five, there was a knock on my door.

            I opened the door to reveal the D'Alessio sisters. The stared at me for a few minutes, then Claire said, "I told you it would be a good idea to come early, Jamie."

            I blinked. "What?"

            "You're still in your PJs, that's what!" Jamie exclaimed.

            "…So?"

            "Moira, the object of your affection is going to be here, at your house, in an hour," Claire said, inviting herself and Jamie into my living room. "Therefore, you should have been getting ready a long time ago. You, my friend, need a lot of help, and even though I still can't fathom why you're even interested, we are here to help."

            I led them up the stairs to my room, where they picked through my closet and Jamie complained about my clothes selection ("Are all you have dark colors?"). They finally settled on a blood-red blouse with flowing slit sleeves, paired with dark low-rise jeans. Next was my hair. The sisters had been bickering for ten minutes on what style to do it in when I asked if my vote counted, since it was my hair and all. We all decided on low pigtails, which looked cute on me. Then they got their paws on my makeup and attacked me with my eyeliner. When they finally let my face go, my eyes looked a lot darker, more mysterious. I kind of liked it.

            By that time it was five minutes to six. Claire and Jamie helped me set up the circle room for that night, and soon people began to arrive. Including Jordan.

            I knew it was Jordan before he even rang the doorbell. My stomach twisted in uneasy knots as I opened the door. When Jordan saw me, his face broke into a dazzling smile. "Hey."

            "Hey," I replied. In my mind I saw myself falling over. But I managed to keep myself in the upright position. I looked around Jordan for a car. "Did your grandmother drive you here?"

            "Nah, I walked."

            I was surprised. "Really? How far is your house from here?"

            He shrugged. "Not that far. Just a couple of blocks."

            "Oh, cool." I led him into the living room, where my friends had cranked up the stereo. Jordan and I sat on the couch and started talking. A few minutes into the conversation, my mother's gray cat, Dagda, scampered into the living room and leapt up onto Jordan's lap, purring contently. This made me absurdly happy. Lately I've felt that Dagda has a sixth sense, one for perceiving dangerous vibes. When I was being haunted by my late uncle, Dagda either avoided me or gave me an attitude, like I was untrustworthy. I'm guessing it's because he could sense Cal's presence and he knew I had something to do with it. The fact that he so willingly accepted Jordan made me feel even more comfortable with him.

            I must have gotten really deep into mine and Jordan's conversation, because suddenly Claire was lightly rapping my forehead with her fist. "Hello? The doorbell's ringing."

            I blinked at her.

            She blinked back.

            I blinked again.

            "You're pathetic!" Claire informed me emphatically, and she gave Jordan a pointed look. I simply shrugged and turned back to Jordan, who had been watching the exchange with an amused smile.

            We went back to our conversation, which was whether or not quadratics would ever come up in real life ("Just because you're failing, Moira…" "Shut up, Jordan."). A few minutes later, we were interrupted by a deep voice asking, "What's he doing here?"

            I looked up from Jordan to see Rusty, looking genuinely pissed. "I said, what's he doing here?" he repeated when I looked at him with a blank expression.

            "Jordan was invited here," I said quietly.

            "He's not part of the coven," Rusty pointed out, an edge of accusation in his voice.

            "Coven?" My insides froze as I turned to look at Jordan, whose face looked confused. "What's he talking about? What's a coven?"

            "He doesn't even know what a coven is," Rusty scoffed.

            I stammered a moment, not knowing where to begin. "Moira, what's he talking about?" Jordan asked me again, searching me with his eyes.

            I took a deep breath. "Jordan, would you come into the kitchen with me? I need to explain some stuff."

            Jordan nodded and set Dagda on the floor. I led him into the kitchen, dreading the upcoming conversation. I was facing the counter, trying to gather my thoughts, when Jordan said, "What's going on? What was Rusty talking about, Moira?"

            I exhaled and turned around to face Jordan. "Listen, when Arianna invited you over here, she left out something. A big something." I looked into Jordan's eyes, dark into light. "Jordan, I…we're Wiccan. We practice Wicca. Tonight's a coven meeting, and a coven is a group of Wiccans who practice the craft together. Witchcraft. And," I said as Jordan's eyes grew a little wider, "Wicca's not all that the bad publicity says it is. It's not devil worship, and we don't do animal sacrifices, and…" I trailed off as I looked up into Jordan's confused eyes.

            "So that's what they meant," he murmured to himself.

            My brow furrowed. "What?"

            Jordan just looked at me. "Well, I was asking people about you, and everyone I talked to called you a witch. I guess they really meant…a witch…"

            "Oh," I said, trying to resist asking him, You were asking about me? Jordan still looked a little wary, so I looked down at the floor and said, "Look, we're probably just gonna hang out before we do any real Wicca stuff, so if you just wanna stay until the circle, that would be fine. Or, if you really just want to leave now, that's fine, too." I looked back up at him. "But I would really like it if you could stay. Doing a circle with us doesn't mean you'd be going against your religion, it really wouldn't. But," I backpedaled quickly, "If you really don't feel comfortable, I'll understand." I'll understand that my life is total crap, I added pessimistically inside my head.

            Jordan looked into my eyes for a few moments. Then, he gave me a very small half-smile, and my heart fluttered. "Actually," he said, "I think I'm gonna stay for it." YES! my mind screamed. My life isn't total crap! "I mean, it sounds okay. I trust you about the whole non-Satan-worshipping thing. So, why not just try it once?"

            "Yeah," I said. "Why not?" We stood there for a few moments, until I said, "I guess we better go back inside."

            I had turned to leave the kitchen when I felt Jordan's hand on my arm. "Moira." I slowly turned to look back at him, shivering slightly at his touch. "I just wanted to tell you," he said quietly, "that you look really nice tonight."

            Every nuance of intelligence was immediately erased from my mind. Once again I felt as if we were the only two people in the universe, and I was lost in Jordan's green eyes. Jordan slid his hand down my arm so he held my hand in his. Smiling, he said, "Come on." I bit back a giggle as he pulled me towards the living room.

            Rusty looked like he was ready to shoot someone when he saw Jordan and I walk into the room, with Jordan holding my hand. Claire looked like she wouldn't mind being the recipient of that bullet. I just laughed and told everyone that it was time for the circle.

            I led them all into the large circle room that my parents always use for their coven meetings with Kithic. It's roomy and doesn't have much furniture to move out of the way, and has everything that any witch would need for a circle. I gathered a bunch of things into the center of the circle, and gathered the coven and Jordan into the center, while I drew a chalk circle on the floor around us. "Mike, PJ, would you purify our circle, please?" I asked.

            I handed each of them a bowl of salt, and they each sprinkled salt on one half of the circle, saying, "With this salt, I purify our circle." Jordan watched all of this with interest.

            Everyone moved out to sit just within the boundaries of the circle, except for me. I stood in the middle, where my supplies were. "Tonight, we're going to learn about the four elements: earth, water, air and fire."

            "Watch out, Jordan," Arianna told him from across the circle. "This is when Moira can start sounding like a boring old teacher."

            I had to laugh with everyone else. "Shut it, Ari. I promise that I won't sound like a textbook, okay?" I picked up a silver bowl filled with sand, and placed it in the north position within the circle. "This bowl of sand represents the element earth. It's feminine and nourishing, which is probably where people got the saying Mother Nature. Each element has other things connected to it, like colors, zodiac signs, and runes, which we'll cover at a different circle. The color green is associated with earth, and the earth signs are Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn."

            Next, I took another bowl of sand with a stick of incense stuck into it. I almost lit it with my mind, but decided against it and also picked up a box of matches. Letting Jordan know that I was Wiccan was one thing; showing him that I had freaky, unnatural powers was another. I lit the incense and said, "This represents the element air." I placed it at the east side of the circle, saying, "Air is for communication, the mind, and the intellect. Its color is yellow. The air signs are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius." I glanced over at Jordan. "Asleep yet?"

            Jordan shook his head, grinning. "Not at all."

            "Cool." I took a tall, black candle and put it at the south end. "Fire," I said, striking a match and lighting the candle. "It's a strong element, symbolizing transformation, success. Passion." I couldn't help but glance at Jordan again. He looked right back at me, into my eyes, staring intently. I paused for a moment, almost getting into that dreamy only-people-in-the-universe feeling again, but then I heard Rusty clear his throat loudly, and I shook my head and continued with the lesson. "The color associated with fire is, of course, red, and the fire signs are Aries, Sagittarius, and Leo."

            The last was a bowl of water, and I placed it at the west position. "Water is the last element, for the emotions, and for love, healing and beauty. Its color is blue, and the water signs are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces." I wiped my hands on my jeans and said, "Okay, let's all join hands."

            Jamie indicated a spot she'd saved for me, between her and Jordan. I took both their hands, worried that my hands would feel sweaty and disgusting to Jordan. His hands were soft and warm, and slightly bigger than mine. "First, close your eyes and focus your thoughts. Release every negative feeling, and breathe in and out slowly. Tonight we're going to do a focusing and purifying circle," I told them, and I began moving the circle clockwise. I began saying a basic chant, which would be easy to catch on to.

Water, cleanse us

Air, purify us

Fire, make us whole

Earth, center us

            Soon, the others in the circle began chanting with me, and we picked up speed, chanting louder. I could feel energy growing within the circle, could feel my own magick beginning to take me away. There was magick all around us, and it was wonderful. We all stopped at the same time, throwing our hands into the air. "Send the cleansing energy into yourselves!" I told the coven, pressing my own fist to my chest. The familiar yet always amazing feeling of magick whooshed into me. Next to me, Jordan was panting hard, and when I looked at him, he was rubbing his temples lightly. "Jordan? Are you okay?"

            "Yeah," he said, putting his hands down and looking at me. "I'm fine. Just dizzy."

            "Everyone, sit down and ground yourselves," I said, sitting down cross-legged in the circle. "Just let yourselves calm down."

            Everyone sat down. "I think I actually felt something," Rusty said, looking directly at me.

            "Really?" I asked. "That's great. Did anyone else feel anything?" Most of the others shrugged without really answering. "Don't worry about it," I said. "Some people are more sensitive than others. It's surprising that even Rusty felt anything this early."

            Rusty gave me a small, proud smile, and then he said, "I've been reading about the Seven Great Clans of Wicca. Do you think you could tell us more about that?"

            "Sure," I said, though uneasiness crept through me. If we got into a discussion about the clans of Wicca, would that lead to Jordan finding out my bloodlines? I knew that he would find out sooner or later, but I preferred it to be later. I unfolded my legs and sat with my knees up to my chest and my arms wrapped around my legs. "A long, long time ago--"

            "In a galaxy far, far away," Jamie cut in, making everyone laugh.

            "No, actually it was this galaxy," I said, grinning. "Before Christianity and even Judaism, there was Wicca. Some people who practiced Wicca called themselves blood witches, descendants of the Seven Great Clans: Rowanwand, Burnhide, Vikroth, Brightendale, Wyndenkell, Leapvaughn, and Woodbane. They were known to have supernatural powers, gifted by the Goddess themselves.

            "The Rowanwands were the knowledge seekers. They collected books of important information and hoarded what they learned. They sometimes used that as a battle strategy: If their enemy was plagued with a disease they could cure, the Rowanwands didn't cure them."

            "Aren't they nice," Claire said dryly, and everyone laughed again.

            "The Burnhides worked with gems and crystals. The Vikroth witches were related to the Vikings, and they were warrior types. The Brightendales worked with herbs and healing work. The Wyndenkells were expert spell weavers, and the Leapvaughns were just mischief makers. They got the word leprechauns from Leapvaughn." I sighed. "And then, there were the Woodbanes.

            "The Woodbanes were a colorful bunch. They were known for their work in dark magick and their desire for power at all costs. Today, many Woodbanes have renounced all evil, but there's still some traditional Woodbanes out there. An important thing to keep in mind: Not all dark witches are Woodbane, and not all Woodbanes are dark witches."

            Everyone nodded. "So, what's your clan?" Rusty asked me.

            "Wait, what are you talking about?" Jordan cut in before I could answer. "Moira's...a blood witch?" He looked at me.

            Arianna grinned. "Show him, girl." She blew out the black candle and sat back, looking at me. They were all looking at me. Especially Jordan.

            It would be a snap to light the candle with only the power of my mind. I'm a fire fairy, like my mother and her mother before her. But with Jordan's eyes on me, I felt scared to. Would he turn away from me? Finally I thought, Screw it, and I concentrated on the candle. Within seconds, the wick burst into flame.

            I turned back to look at Jordan. His eyes were wide. "Pyrokinesis," he whispered, reaching out to touch the candle. He blew it out and looked at it, examining it.

            I leaned over to look him in the eyes. "It's just a wick and wax, if you're looking for any tricks," I told him with a grin.

            "This isn't possible," Jordan said, staring into my eyes.

            "Are you doubting her abilities?" Rusty asked him, sounding edgy.

            "Russ, relax," I said, giving him a chastising look. "It's normal for people to be skeptical the first time they see magick performed."

            Rusty looked sullen. "So, you were going to tell us your clan...?

            I sighed. This was going to be fun--not. "Well...I'm Woodbane." As my coven mates mulled this over, I said, "Actually, to be precise, I'm only three-quarters Woodbane. I'm one-fourth Wyndenkell, on my dad's side."

            "Wow. Don't mess with Moira," PJ quipped, and the tension broke as laughter filled the room. I cracked a smile, and looked over at Jordan to see how he was taking it.

            He looked a little confused, and a little apprehensive. "So…you're descended from a dark clan," Jordan said slowly, looking at me.

            "I can't believe you just said that," Rusty yelled, jumping to his feet. "Son of a--"

            "Hey!" I interrupted, getting up, too. "You! Kitchen! Now! I'll be there in a sec."

            Rusty blinked at me. "Moira, he--"

            "Ah-ah-ah, do I have to light a fire under your butt to make you move? Because I can do that easily. Now go!" I told him, pointing towards the kitchen. Rusty sulked away, and I said, "I'll be there in a little while."

            I knelt down next to Jordan, who was still looking a bit nervous. "Listen, I'm not going to pretend that my ancestors were all do-gooders. My grandfather alone caused many deaths, including my own grandmother's, the love of his life." I made eye contact with Jordan. "But, that's not who I am. That's not who my parents are. You can trust us. We're good."

            Jordan looked into my eyes for a moment, then he nodded. "Okay. I'll take your word for it."

            I smiled. "Thanks. Now I have to kick some butt. Be right back." Jordan snorted, a smirk on his face as I walked into the kitchen.

            As soon as I was inside, I threw up some blocking spells at the kitchen entrance, so if we started screaming, no one would hear. "Okay, what is your problem?"

            Rusty stared at me. "My problem? I don't have a problem."

            "Oh, right, that's why you're at Jordan's throat for no good reason."

            "Moira, he was insulting you to your face."

            I rubbed my temple. "Rusty, Jordan is new to this whole magick thing. He's allowed to be skeptical like that. I mean, when someone's just finished telling you that their clan is known for their use of dark magick…you have rights, you know? You have rights to be a little scared and nervous and you shouldn't have started yelling like that. Seriously, why are you like this?"

            Rusty turned away from me. "I just…I don't like him."

            "Rusty, you don't even know him."

            "Yeah, I don't know him and all of a sudden he's invading my whole life!" Rusty yelled. "He's invading my friends, my coven--"

            "Rusty! In case you haven't noticed, nothing has changed," I pointed out incredulously. "It's not like people are ditching you. But they will ditch you if you keep copping that attitude." I rested my hands on my hips. "And another thing. You asked me to run this coven. And I am. So I'd really appreciate it if you stopped trying to tell me how to run it. Everyone's allowed to invite anyone they want, so don't undermine my decisions."

            Rusty soon looked very defeated. "Let's go back inside now, okay? And be nice." I led him back into the circle room, pondering over the fact that I just yelled at a seventeen year old.

*  *  *

            Later, I was walking with Jordan towards his house. I had offered to walk him home, since he'd come by himself, and Claire gave us very pointed looks as we all left. It was a chilly night, and I walked with my arms wrapped around myself.

            "I really enjoyed tonight," Jordan told me honestly.

            "Really? I'm glad."

            "Yeah." There was a pause. Then Jordan said, "So, your cat must be pretty old."

            I looked at him. "What do you mean?"

            A grin flickered on Jordan's lips as he said, "Well, all his black fur's turned gray."

            I rolled my eyes and smiled. "Oh yeah, and I got a nose job to hide the warts and my pointy black hat's at the cleaners," I replied sarcastically.

            "And can I try out your broomstick? I've always wanted to fly," Jordan added, and I started cracking up. If it had been any other person, I probably would have been offended to the point of using magick against them. But I knew that Jordan was just joking harmlessly. The thought occurred to me that he was flirting, and I was glad that he couldn't see me blush slightly.

            "All that stuff about witches is just myth," I said, ceasing my laughter. "We don't ride on broomsticks and we mostly look just like other people, no green skin or pointy hats. A lot of witches do have cats, but so do a lot of normal people. It's not a witch must-have."

            Jordan nodded. We walked along in silence again, until Jordan said, "That was pretty amazing, with the candle. Can a lot of blood witches do that?"

            I shook my head, a smile creeping onto my face. "It's just in my blood. I'm a fire fairy, just like my mother and my grandmother."

            "A fire fairy, huh?" Jordan thought about this for a minute, then said, "So can you fly around on wings and sprinkle stuff with pixie dust?"

            "Jordan!" I laughed, shoving him lightly.

            He grinned at me, and I smiled back. "You must have been a real handful when you were little," Jordan mused, an admiring smirk on his face.

            I shrugged. "My powers weren't as strong when I was young, plus my parents had their own powers, so we still had the whole normal family balance." I grinned at the memories of my childhood. "But I could still make things pretty hot to the touch, even if stuff didn't burst into flame. So, for example, if my mom said I couldn't have a cookie, I'd spend time heating up the remote control so when Mom picked it up, she'd burn herself."

            Jordan laughed out loud. "Man, if I could've done that to Grams…"

            I snorted. "If you did that to your grandmother, you'd get your butt kicked just like I did."

            By that time, we'd reached Jordan's house. "Well, thanks for inviting me to your house tonight," Jordan said, looking into my eyes.

            "Anytime. I'm glad you had fun." We held each other's gaze for a few minutes, and I wondered for a second if he was going to kiss me. But then Jordan hurried up the steps, saying, "I'll see you around, Moira."

            "See ya." As soon as Jordan closed his front door behind him, I squealed to myself. The first guy who had ever taken a serious interest in my had survived me telling him that I'd been a witch. I pranced off towards my house, wondering when the last time was that I'd felt so happy.