A.N.:
Dream: Well… now that we got through that cursed first chapter, I can began to get things accomplished.
Aurelia: And you said you wanted a one-shot (gives me evil little glare)
Dream: heh heh (runs away, turns back toward audience) Anyway, I'd like to formally thank you for continuing reading this story. It was just a little doodle of an idea, and then it escalated. I hope you'll keep reading and if you like it, wonderful. If you don't, Flames Welcome! Criticism is an awesome help in the writing process… By the way, If I'm not back soon, then it's because of nasty high-school scheduling! Blah! And because a friend of mine asked, Aurelia's name comes from someone I used to know… A really long time ago… She meant a lot to me and I wanted to honor her memory. What better way than to put her in a story? … though I hope she won't mind my making her Wiccan…..
Love, Dream
Dream, Rail and Liam together: Merry Meet and Merry Part until we Merry Meet again!
***
Chapter Two: Of Coven Troubles and History Teachers
The next morning was all a blur as her alarm went off, she showered, and got ready for school, being careful to dress in shades of soft brown. Julian offered her a ride, but she declined.
"No thanks Julian, I'd rather drive." She sipped some orange juice, thinking.
He put on his leather jacket. "You sure? You seem rather quiet this morning."
She waved him away and made up a quick lie. "I'll be alright… If I can make it through Mrs. Wilshire's damn science test."
He laughed as he grabbed the keys to his green Saturn -his baby. "I made through her class, sophomore. I'm sure you'll be fine."
She blew him a kiss as he walked out the door, and she finally grabbed her faded brown backpack and walked out the door to her '93 Geo Prism. Getting in the gray interior felt like coming home. Because it was spring and the weather was warm, it was no trouble getting the Geo to start and drive the mile or so to the high school, passing early spring life along the way.
She pulled into the small Johnson's Crossing High School parking lot and got out of her beloved car. No one looked at her as she passed by, heading straight for a small grove of oak trees that had been turned into the school's mini park, decorated with a couple benches and some early flowers.
A few kids already awaited her. "Relia!" One called, a junior named William, who rushed towards her, his baggy, faded green jeans slowing him down.
She smiled. "Hi Will. Something wrong?" She flicked her gold-brown hair over her shoulder.
His dark green eyes, matching perfectly his long-sleeved shirt, were troubled. "The coven needs to talk. All of us." His hand began reaching for his hemp necklace decorated with dark green adventurine stones, but he thought better of it, and ran his hand through his dark brown hair.
Aurelia's light brown eyes grew troubled with confusion. "What? Why? What's wrong?" She played with the waistband of her casual brown pants in worry.
Will's eyes met hers, and she saw the disgust. "It's Jaide."
Aurelia slowly closed her eyes. She shifted her bag on her back and grabbed Will's hand. "Come on," she said patiently. "Let's settle this."
Three other people stood by the benches, all dressed somewhat similar. There was only one other boy, who was dressed in shades of baggy beige that matched his blonde hair and brown eyes. His face was intelligent and friendly, despite him playing sports. In one ear he had a pentacle stud earring. One of the girls wore a lightly dressy red shirt and a wine-colored skirt to match her auburn hair. She had a sweet, delicate face and her blue eyes were fixed on her hand, were she wore a pentacle ring. The other girl wore various shades of black silk, looking like a continuation of her silken black tendrils of curly hair. Her eyes were a color of the same on a sarcastic, cold looking face. It was the red girl who spoke.
"Aurelia…" she said quietly. "Jaide wants to do something that will affect all of us again. But this time she's asking."
Aurelia's glance passed over the girl in black. "Well Lily, that's good. What is it?"
The boy in beige grunted. "I told you she'd do it."
Aurelia glared in his direction. "James, shut up a moment!" She looked to the girl in black once again. "Well Jaide?" she asked. "What's up?"
Jaide uncrossed her arms and stood up from where she leaned against the oak bench. Meeting Aurelia in the eyes fearlessly, she said, "I want to bring in others to Nightwalker Coven."
Aurelia raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Really? Who?"
Jaide didn't hesitate. "Adam Neesin and Whitney Fellows."
Aurelia blinked in surprise. "Why?"
"Adam's been studying some on his own… And I don't want him getting the wrong ideas."
Relia nodded and spoke slowly. "Okay… And what about Whitney?"
Jaide rolled her eyes and her shoulders. "Whit's a natural. I can see it in her… Not to mention she wants to be one of us."
Will looked confused. "I thought she was a loner?"
"Hell no!" answered Jaide. "People just don't understand her."
Aurelia sat down on the bench, putting some hair behind her ear. "Well, you know the rules as well as anyone. Bring 'em to the Esbat tonight, and we'll either vote them in or send 'em packing. And don't worry," she added, seeing the look on Jaide's cold face. "We vote for Nightwalker's well being, not our own vendettas against people." She looked at the others. "Any problems?" No one said a word, though Lily moved towards James, who wrapped her small frame in his arms.
Will sat next to Aurelia. "So," he said, stretching his arms. "Did you do the working last night?"
"Yeah…" Aurelia rubbed her eyes.
"And?"
"I don't know if it worked. I had a minor one last night but…"
Jaide rolled her eyes and used her sarcastic tone. "Oh, come on, Rail. Not those ridiculous nightmares again. How old are you, four? Deal with them! Everyone has them!"
Rail rubbed her arm. "But not like this. Every night, Jaide, for two months! I don't call that normal."
"You're a witch, you dork! You're not normal!"
Will glared at Jaide. "Even for a witch it's not normal. I believe that there's something not quite right about this. It's starting to worry me. First we lose Kyle and now this? Something's up."
Lily looked over from where she was cradled by James. "We should discuss it at the circle tonight," She said brightly. "What are we doing tonight again?"
James spoke from behind her. "Norse Runes, right?" Aurelia nodded. "My house at eight, everyone."
The bell rang from the small school buildings, and some kid running by yelled mockingly: "Hey Witches'! You're gonna be late!"
Everyone stood and got their stuff. Aurelia looked at Jaide and said, grabbing her backpack, "And don't forget your new friends, alright?"
Jaide smiled coldly. "Don't worry. I won't."
***
The abysmal, boring school day dragged onward, leaving Aurelia to cope with the teachers of the tiny school. Though polygons, poetry and The Periodic Table of Elements were drilled in her head, she found she couldn't concentrate. The sun was shining brightly in a clear sky, and it was a full moon that night. Excited flutters kept distracting her as she looked out the window and thought of the night ahead.
"Miss Dawson!" Came Mrs. Wilshire's voice, loud and angry coming from the tiny, strict teacher, bringing Aurelia back to attention. "What element is number twenty-four on the table?"
Aurelia searched her brain, but came up blank. "I don't know, ma'am."
The old lady glared down the bridge of her nose, over the rims of her glasses. "Then I shall suspect you'd be paying better attention, hmm?"
Aurelia hung her head. "Lesson learned, ma'am."
"Good. Now, you can make up for it by starting to read Chapter 12 for the class on page 452."
Aurelia sighed and opened her book. "Yes ma'am."
But the shock of the day came during History. She entered the room of her fifth hour eagerly, waiting for the bell to ring so the class would begin. But when it did, only twenty-five of the thirty-two students were in their seats. The other seven ran to their own as Mr. Wood walked in yelling. "Seven students! Seven lazy, slow, irresponsible students, late for my class! This is unacceptable!"
"There's that word again," whispered Hannah Jones to Mark Wilson, who nodded.
"Never have I had to deal with SEVEN late people in one day, let alone one class!" The young teacher's fine, dark hair fell in his face as he yelled, his gray eyes blazing.
Aurelia slid down in her seat. Normally this was her favorite class, for Mr. Wood was an awesome teacher, but it looked like today it wouldn't be so. When it came time to turn in their homework, he grew angry again. Where once he was understanding and lenient, he grew furious. "Unacceptable! Twelve missing assignments. TWELVE! I try to be good to you kids, I try to be fair, I even go so far as to be lenient, but twelve missing assignments? I only give out homework once a week, for pity's sake! How lazy do you get? Nearly half my class did not see fit to do the work, and I don't understand it. Mr. Wilson," asked Mr. Wood. "Was the assignment too hard to be done?"
Mark fidgeted in his seat. "Well… no… I guess."
"Then why did you not turn it in?"
"Well… I had baseball practice and then I had-"
"Silence! You will turn it in tomorrow for half credit, no excuses. Grades are dropping dramatically here people! And you-" he yelled, turning and pointing to Aurelia. "You will see me after class!"
Aurelia shrunk in her seat, embarrassed, as people around her laughed. She had never gotten in trouble here before, why was it happening now? She hadn't done anything wrong, she was sure of it. To get yelled at by her favorite teacher was a letdown in the extreme.
The class continued on much like it had began. Finally the bell rang, and Mr. Wood ended with: "And you all had better behave tomorrow, or it's detention for every one of you! And Aurelia, don't forget to stop by my desk on your way out." The kids would have snickered once again, but they feared the consequences and hightailed it out of the room. Aurelia sighed, picked up her books, and walked to his desk.
"Sir? What did I do wrong?" Her voice trembled.
"Nothing," he croaked, and cleared his throat. "ah, I'm gonna be hoarse tomorrow." He rubbed his throat and loosened his dark tie.
Aurelia's eyebrow raised. "Sir?"
He cleared his throat again. "Actually, I'll apologize tomorrow." His voice was back to the friendly tones. "I did it so I could have a moment with you alone. What class do you have next?"
Aurelia thought. "Study hall," she answered, wondering what was up.
He nodded, wiping his hair out of his eyes. "Good. Good. You see Aurelia, I wanted to talk to you about Wicca."
Aurelia's spirit's fell. Her favorite teacher was gonna bark at her too? This was so unfair!
Seeing the look on her face, he smiled. "Oh no, I'm not here to yell. I just wanted to know if you wanted to borrow some of my books."
She looked up in surprise. "Your books?"
He chuckled. "It's a little known secret, but I practice the Craft, too."
Aurelia's eyes shined with delight, and she pulled a chair up to his desk. "Really? How long? Are you in a coven?"
He laughed and looked at the clock. "Do you think Mrs. Barnes will miss you in Study Hall?"
Aurelia shook her head forcefully. "She won't even notice."
He looked at her long and hard as the bell rang again. "Ok, I believe you. I don't have a class this hour, so it's safe to talk."
Aurelia grinned.
"As to your questions," he said, getting up and walking toward a cabinet in the back of the room, "I've been studying all my life. And I am part of a coven. I work with a coven about forty miles from here, named The Covenant of the Forest of the Moon. We call it Moon Forest for short." He grinned. "It takes way too long to say it the other way."
Aurelia couldn't stop grinning. "That's… That's wonderful!"
He laughed again. "I hear you're the leader of a coven around here."
Aurelia shrugged and leaned her face on her hand with her elbow on the table. "Sort of. I started it, anyways. But only one person's my age, and even she's a little older." She sighed. "Nightwalker is just… They don't always agree on things."
"Nightwalker?" asked Mr. Wood, playing with a combination on the cabinet. "Is that what you call it?"
"Yeah…" answered Aurelia, "I mean, after all, it is what we do."
"Well, it's expected that everyone shouldn't agree on things, that'd be just strange and creepy." He shivered at the idea of witch-clones. "But harmony in the coven is really important. How balanced are your energies?"
"We have two boys, and three girls. We used to have three guys, but one moved away and hasn't talked to us since."
Mr. Wood looked over, intrigued, still playing with the lock. "Oh? Kyle Freeman is a witch? I never would have guessed." Aurelia guessed he had known because Kyle had been the only one to move away in about three years.
"Neither would I, at first. But he was the one who supported me in it." She brought the topic back to present day. "And now we might get more members. Another girl and guy both." She rest both elbows on the desk now, with her hand in her hands.
"Aha!" Mr. Wood finally got the cabinet open. "Here we go." He looked over to Aurelia and waved her over. "Come on." She walked toward him, curious. Looking in the closet, she gasped. It was full of books on Wicca! Mr. Wood grinned. "I like helping out interested students, illegal though it is to hand these books out to you guys."
Aurelia could barely breath, running her hands over the spines. "Oh, don't worry… We won't tell…"
"Go on, look at some." He motioned toward it and walked back to his desk, digging in his briefcase.
"Oh holy mother…" breathed Aurelia as she pulled a book or two out. One talked about moon astrology, another about Circle casting. And yet another talked about garden magick. Aurelia was transfixed as she read through properties of gemstones in a book with a blue leather cover.
"So who all's in your group?"
Aurelia almost dared not speak, holding the books delicately. "Um… Well, there's me, William Mayer -he's a junior-, Lillian McCoy, James Nemoke -another junior, and, uh, Jaide Lorenson, she's a junior too."
The young teacher nodded. "Impressive, for such a small town. What are you studying?"
She flipped through a divination book. "Right now we're doing Norse Runes. We have a circle tonight, and I thought we could do some rune casting."
"The Elder Futhark? That's a good lesson. There should be a couple books that could help you in there." She heard him rustling in his briefcase. "They should have black paperback covers, near the bottom right-hand corner."
She looked there, and sure enough, a little tab on the shelf above read "Runes" She found a few with the Elder Futhark and pulled them out. "Thanks. These'll be great for tonight's Esbat."
"And there's something else." Mr. Wood walked toward her with his hands behind his back. Aurelia frowned, looking at him questionably as he pulled a brown leather book out from behind his back. "This was my first grimoire. I'm giving it to you, to help you, and guide you."
Her eyes widened. "Your first Book of Shadows? But… you can't… I couldn't… You should give it to your own child."
He shook his head. "I don't want children. My choices are… limited. I trust you with this, Aurelia, because I see the dedication and power in you. In the back is a list of components to make you stronger when you cast these, otherwise they might not work."
Her eyes grew troubled. "Why?"
He leaned down toward her, putting a hand on her shoulder and looking her directly in the eye. "Aurelia," he said softly. "I'm a blood witch."
Aurelia's light brown eyes about popped out of her head. "You're kidding!" She whispered with her hand near her heart. "You are? What clan, do you know?"
He nodded and smiled as he patted her shoulder. "I do. Actually I'm what you would call a 'half and half'. Part of me is Wykendell, and I can live with that."
"And the other?" asked Aurelia, praying it wasn't Woodbane.
He laughed. "Leapvaugh, if you'll believe it. I mean, do I look like a mischief maker to you?" He gave her a glum look. "I mean, it's near embarrassing."
Aurelia scowled. "At least you're something. I'm nothing at all."
He shrugged. "Who knows? I'm not very good at seeing that kind of thing, but there's definitely power there." He stared at her and her neck bristled.
"What are you doing?" she asked, rolling her shoulders as if brushing him away. It clicked in her brain. "Hey, stop casting your senses! That's not nice!"
He blinked, then laughed, pulling away from her. "Good job. I just had to see, had to know."
"So, what are you good at? Many blood witches have an ability at something, right?" She brushed at her shoulder.
He yawned, covering his mouth. "Auras, if you'll believe it. I can see them -and read them- if I want."
Aurelia grinned. "So what's mine like?" She stood and turned in a circle, already knowing the answer.
But her teacher was all business. He stood and touched a hand to her temple, closing his eyes. She felt a ripple through her body. When he opened his gray eyes, they were smiling. "Gold…" he whispered with a touch of smile. "Warm, loving golden-brown."
She smiled. "And now you know why I dress in golden-browns on certain days of the week. We dress in our aura colors when we have an Esbat. We had them read once, at a Pagan fair upstate."
He smiled, then looked at the clock. "You'll need to leave. It's almost time to go home, and I daresay you'll want to get those books put away before then. Any others you like?"
Aurelia hesitated. "Well… I'm working with candle magick right now…"
"Oh, I have plenty on that. Like fire, do you?"
She shook her head. "I'm more earthy myself. But I was wondering…" She hesitated once more.
"What? What is it?" He looked worried.
She hung her head low. "I've been having nightmares lately… Well, not exactly lately, I've been having them for a while now. I can't sleep anymore."
He thought hard, but the clock got in his way. "I'd love to help, but we'll have to put this off until tomorrow. I can get you out of Study Hall for awhile."
"Really?" Her eyes lit up. "So you'll help me?"
"Of course."
"Oh, Mr. Wood, thank you!" She could have hugged him, but refrained.
He raised a hand in warning. "But no calling me that when we're not in class. That's the only thing I hate about being a teacher."
An idea popped into her head. "Why don't we go by our Wiccan names after History's over?"
"In English or Gaelic?"
"English… easier that way."
He smiled in agreement, and offered his hand, which she took in her own. "By the Goddess and Moon Forest coven, I am called Dragon."
She kissed his hand out of custom. "By the Goddess and Nightwalker coven, I am called Skysong." He returned the kiss of the hand. The hands released.
"Just bring the books back when you're done, all right?"
She went to the door and turned around. "I will. Thank you. Thank you for everything." She flashed a grin before running out the door.
He smiled after her, closing and locking the cabinet. "Just what I need," he said and smiled. "Another student hounding me at the end of the day."
***
A.N: Sorry it was so long, but I just couldn't stop until here! I'll get up more when I get the chance, okay? And now…. Please Review, and thanks a world! (Smiles) -Dreamseeker1
Dream: Well… now that we got through that cursed first chapter, I can began to get things accomplished.
Aurelia: And you said you wanted a one-shot (gives me evil little glare)
Dream: heh heh (runs away, turns back toward audience) Anyway, I'd like to formally thank you for continuing reading this story. It was just a little doodle of an idea, and then it escalated. I hope you'll keep reading and if you like it, wonderful. If you don't, Flames Welcome! Criticism is an awesome help in the writing process… By the way, If I'm not back soon, then it's because of nasty high-school scheduling! Blah! And because a friend of mine asked, Aurelia's name comes from someone I used to know… A really long time ago… She meant a lot to me and I wanted to honor her memory. What better way than to put her in a story? … though I hope she won't mind my making her Wiccan…..
Love, Dream
Dream, Rail and Liam together: Merry Meet and Merry Part until we Merry Meet again!
***
Chapter Two: Of Coven Troubles and History Teachers
The next morning was all a blur as her alarm went off, she showered, and got ready for school, being careful to dress in shades of soft brown. Julian offered her a ride, but she declined.
"No thanks Julian, I'd rather drive." She sipped some orange juice, thinking.
He put on his leather jacket. "You sure? You seem rather quiet this morning."
She waved him away and made up a quick lie. "I'll be alright… If I can make it through Mrs. Wilshire's damn science test."
He laughed as he grabbed the keys to his green Saturn -his baby. "I made through her class, sophomore. I'm sure you'll be fine."
She blew him a kiss as he walked out the door, and she finally grabbed her faded brown backpack and walked out the door to her '93 Geo Prism. Getting in the gray interior felt like coming home. Because it was spring and the weather was warm, it was no trouble getting the Geo to start and drive the mile or so to the high school, passing early spring life along the way.
She pulled into the small Johnson's Crossing High School parking lot and got out of her beloved car. No one looked at her as she passed by, heading straight for a small grove of oak trees that had been turned into the school's mini park, decorated with a couple benches and some early flowers.
A few kids already awaited her. "Relia!" One called, a junior named William, who rushed towards her, his baggy, faded green jeans slowing him down.
She smiled. "Hi Will. Something wrong?" She flicked her gold-brown hair over her shoulder.
His dark green eyes, matching perfectly his long-sleeved shirt, were troubled. "The coven needs to talk. All of us." His hand began reaching for his hemp necklace decorated with dark green adventurine stones, but he thought better of it, and ran his hand through his dark brown hair.
Aurelia's light brown eyes grew troubled with confusion. "What? Why? What's wrong?" She played with the waistband of her casual brown pants in worry.
Will's eyes met hers, and she saw the disgust. "It's Jaide."
Aurelia slowly closed her eyes. She shifted her bag on her back and grabbed Will's hand. "Come on," she said patiently. "Let's settle this."
Three other people stood by the benches, all dressed somewhat similar. There was only one other boy, who was dressed in shades of baggy beige that matched his blonde hair and brown eyes. His face was intelligent and friendly, despite him playing sports. In one ear he had a pentacle stud earring. One of the girls wore a lightly dressy red shirt and a wine-colored skirt to match her auburn hair. She had a sweet, delicate face and her blue eyes were fixed on her hand, were she wore a pentacle ring. The other girl wore various shades of black silk, looking like a continuation of her silken black tendrils of curly hair. Her eyes were a color of the same on a sarcastic, cold looking face. It was the red girl who spoke.
"Aurelia…" she said quietly. "Jaide wants to do something that will affect all of us again. But this time she's asking."
Aurelia's glance passed over the girl in black. "Well Lily, that's good. What is it?"
The boy in beige grunted. "I told you she'd do it."
Aurelia glared in his direction. "James, shut up a moment!" She looked to the girl in black once again. "Well Jaide?" she asked. "What's up?"
Jaide uncrossed her arms and stood up from where she leaned against the oak bench. Meeting Aurelia in the eyes fearlessly, she said, "I want to bring in others to Nightwalker Coven."
Aurelia raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Really? Who?"
Jaide didn't hesitate. "Adam Neesin and Whitney Fellows."
Aurelia blinked in surprise. "Why?"
"Adam's been studying some on his own… And I don't want him getting the wrong ideas."
Relia nodded and spoke slowly. "Okay… And what about Whitney?"
Jaide rolled her eyes and her shoulders. "Whit's a natural. I can see it in her… Not to mention she wants to be one of us."
Will looked confused. "I thought she was a loner?"
"Hell no!" answered Jaide. "People just don't understand her."
Aurelia sat down on the bench, putting some hair behind her ear. "Well, you know the rules as well as anyone. Bring 'em to the Esbat tonight, and we'll either vote them in or send 'em packing. And don't worry," she added, seeing the look on Jaide's cold face. "We vote for Nightwalker's well being, not our own vendettas against people." She looked at the others. "Any problems?" No one said a word, though Lily moved towards James, who wrapped her small frame in his arms.
Will sat next to Aurelia. "So," he said, stretching his arms. "Did you do the working last night?"
"Yeah…" Aurelia rubbed her eyes.
"And?"
"I don't know if it worked. I had a minor one last night but…"
Jaide rolled her eyes and used her sarcastic tone. "Oh, come on, Rail. Not those ridiculous nightmares again. How old are you, four? Deal with them! Everyone has them!"
Rail rubbed her arm. "But not like this. Every night, Jaide, for two months! I don't call that normal."
"You're a witch, you dork! You're not normal!"
Will glared at Jaide. "Even for a witch it's not normal. I believe that there's something not quite right about this. It's starting to worry me. First we lose Kyle and now this? Something's up."
Lily looked over from where she was cradled by James. "We should discuss it at the circle tonight," She said brightly. "What are we doing tonight again?"
James spoke from behind her. "Norse Runes, right?" Aurelia nodded. "My house at eight, everyone."
The bell rang from the small school buildings, and some kid running by yelled mockingly: "Hey Witches'! You're gonna be late!"
Everyone stood and got their stuff. Aurelia looked at Jaide and said, grabbing her backpack, "And don't forget your new friends, alright?"
Jaide smiled coldly. "Don't worry. I won't."
***
The abysmal, boring school day dragged onward, leaving Aurelia to cope with the teachers of the tiny school. Though polygons, poetry and The Periodic Table of Elements were drilled in her head, she found she couldn't concentrate. The sun was shining brightly in a clear sky, and it was a full moon that night. Excited flutters kept distracting her as she looked out the window and thought of the night ahead.
"Miss Dawson!" Came Mrs. Wilshire's voice, loud and angry coming from the tiny, strict teacher, bringing Aurelia back to attention. "What element is number twenty-four on the table?"
Aurelia searched her brain, but came up blank. "I don't know, ma'am."
The old lady glared down the bridge of her nose, over the rims of her glasses. "Then I shall suspect you'd be paying better attention, hmm?"
Aurelia hung her head. "Lesson learned, ma'am."
"Good. Now, you can make up for it by starting to read Chapter 12 for the class on page 452."
Aurelia sighed and opened her book. "Yes ma'am."
But the shock of the day came during History. She entered the room of her fifth hour eagerly, waiting for the bell to ring so the class would begin. But when it did, only twenty-five of the thirty-two students were in their seats. The other seven ran to their own as Mr. Wood walked in yelling. "Seven students! Seven lazy, slow, irresponsible students, late for my class! This is unacceptable!"
"There's that word again," whispered Hannah Jones to Mark Wilson, who nodded.
"Never have I had to deal with SEVEN late people in one day, let alone one class!" The young teacher's fine, dark hair fell in his face as he yelled, his gray eyes blazing.
Aurelia slid down in her seat. Normally this was her favorite class, for Mr. Wood was an awesome teacher, but it looked like today it wouldn't be so. When it came time to turn in their homework, he grew angry again. Where once he was understanding and lenient, he grew furious. "Unacceptable! Twelve missing assignments. TWELVE! I try to be good to you kids, I try to be fair, I even go so far as to be lenient, but twelve missing assignments? I only give out homework once a week, for pity's sake! How lazy do you get? Nearly half my class did not see fit to do the work, and I don't understand it. Mr. Wilson," asked Mr. Wood. "Was the assignment too hard to be done?"
Mark fidgeted in his seat. "Well… no… I guess."
"Then why did you not turn it in?"
"Well… I had baseball practice and then I had-"
"Silence! You will turn it in tomorrow for half credit, no excuses. Grades are dropping dramatically here people! And you-" he yelled, turning and pointing to Aurelia. "You will see me after class!"
Aurelia shrunk in her seat, embarrassed, as people around her laughed. She had never gotten in trouble here before, why was it happening now? She hadn't done anything wrong, she was sure of it. To get yelled at by her favorite teacher was a letdown in the extreme.
The class continued on much like it had began. Finally the bell rang, and Mr. Wood ended with: "And you all had better behave tomorrow, or it's detention for every one of you! And Aurelia, don't forget to stop by my desk on your way out." The kids would have snickered once again, but they feared the consequences and hightailed it out of the room. Aurelia sighed, picked up her books, and walked to his desk.
"Sir? What did I do wrong?" Her voice trembled.
"Nothing," he croaked, and cleared his throat. "ah, I'm gonna be hoarse tomorrow." He rubbed his throat and loosened his dark tie.
Aurelia's eyebrow raised. "Sir?"
He cleared his throat again. "Actually, I'll apologize tomorrow." His voice was back to the friendly tones. "I did it so I could have a moment with you alone. What class do you have next?"
Aurelia thought. "Study hall," she answered, wondering what was up.
He nodded, wiping his hair out of his eyes. "Good. Good. You see Aurelia, I wanted to talk to you about Wicca."
Aurelia's spirit's fell. Her favorite teacher was gonna bark at her too? This was so unfair!
Seeing the look on her face, he smiled. "Oh no, I'm not here to yell. I just wanted to know if you wanted to borrow some of my books."
She looked up in surprise. "Your books?"
He chuckled. "It's a little known secret, but I practice the Craft, too."
Aurelia's eyes shined with delight, and she pulled a chair up to his desk. "Really? How long? Are you in a coven?"
He laughed and looked at the clock. "Do you think Mrs. Barnes will miss you in Study Hall?"
Aurelia shook her head forcefully. "She won't even notice."
He looked at her long and hard as the bell rang again. "Ok, I believe you. I don't have a class this hour, so it's safe to talk."
Aurelia grinned.
"As to your questions," he said, getting up and walking toward a cabinet in the back of the room, "I've been studying all my life. And I am part of a coven. I work with a coven about forty miles from here, named The Covenant of the Forest of the Moon. We call it Moon Forest for short." He grinned. "It takes way too long to say it the other way."
Aurelia couldn't stop grinning. "That's… That's wonderful!"
He laughed again. "I hear you're the leader of a coven around here."
Aurelia shrugged and leaned her face on her hand with her elbow on the table. "Sort of. I started it, anyways. But only one person's my age, and even she's a little older." She sighed. "Nightwalker is just… They don't always agree on things."
"Nightwalker?" asked Mr. Wood, playing with a combination on the cabinet. "Is that what you call it?"
"Yeah…" answered Aurelia, "I mean, after all, it is what we do."
"Well, it's expected that everyone shouldn't agree on things, that'd be just strange and creepy." He shivered at the idea of witch-clones. "But harmony in the coven is really important. How balanced are your energies?"
"We have two boys, and three girls. We used to have three guys, but one moved away and hasn't talked to us since."
Mr. Wood looked over, intrigued, still playing with the lock. "Oh? Kyle Freeman is a witch? I never would have guessed." Aurelia guessed he had known because Kyle had been the only one to move away in about three years.
"Neither would I, at first. But he was the one who supported me in it." She brought the topic back to present day. "And now we might get more members. Another girl and guy both." She rest both elbows on the desk now, with her hand in her hands.
"Aha!" Mr. Wood finally got the cabinet open. "Here we go." He looked over to Aurelia and waved her over. "Come on." She walked toward him, curious. Looking in the closet, she gasped. It was full of books on Wicca! Mr. Wood grinned. "I like helping out interested students, illegal though it is to hand these books out to you guys."
Aurelia could barely breath, running her hands over the spines. "Oh, don't worry… We won't tell…"
"Go on, look at some." He motioned toward it and walked back to his desk, digging in his briefcase.
"Oh holy mother…" breathed Aurelia as she pulled a book or two out. One talked about moon astrology, another about Circle casting. And yet another talked about garden magick. Aurelia was transfixed as she read through properties of gemstones in a book with a blue leather cover.
"So who all's in your group?"
Aurelia almost dared not speak, holding the books delicately. "Um… Well, there's me, William Mayer -he's a junior-, Lillian McCoy, James Nemoke -another junior, and, uh, Jaide Lorenson, she's a junior too."
The young teacher nodded. "Impressive, for such a small town. What are you studying?"
She flipped through a divination book. "Right now we're doing Norse Runes. We have a circle tonight, and I thought we could do some rune casting."
"The Elder Futhark? That's a good lesson. There should be a couple books that could help you in there." She heard him rustling in his briefcase. "They should have black paperback covers, near the bottom right-hand corner."
She looked there, and sure enough, a little tab on the shelf above read "Runes" She found a few with the Elder Futhark and pulled them out. "Thanks. These'll be great for tonight's Esbat."
"And there's something else." Mr. Wood walked toward her with his hands behind his back. Aurelia frowned, looking at him questionably as he pulled a brown leather book out from behind his back. "This was my first grimoire. I'm giving it to you, to help you, and guide you."
Her eyes widened. "Your first Book of Shadows? But… you can't… I couldn't… You should give it to your own child."
He shook his head. "I don't want children. My choices are… limited. I trust you with this, Aurelia, because I see the dedication and power in you. In the back is a list of components to make you stronger when you cast these, otherwise they might not work."
Her eyes grew troubled. "Why?"
He leaned down toward her, putting a hand on her shoulder and looking her directly in the eye. "Aurelia," he said softly. "I'm a blood witch."
Aurelia's light brown eyes about popped out of her head. "You're kidding!" She whispered with her hand near her heart. "You are? What clan, do you know?"
He nodded and smiled as he patted her shoulder. "I do. Actually I'm what you would call a 'half and half'. Part of me is Wykendell, and I can live with that."
"And the other?" asked Aurelia, praying it wasn't Woodbane.
He laughed. "Leapvaugh, if you'll believe it. I mean, do I look like a mischief maker to you?" He gave her a glum look. "I mean, it's near embarrassing."
Aurelia scowled. "At least you're something. I'm nothing at all."
He shrugged. "Who knows? I'm not very good at seeing that kind of thing, but there's definitely power there." He stared at her and her neck bristled.
"What are you doing?" she asked, rolling her shoulders as if brushing him away. It clicked in her brain. "Hey, stop casting your senses! That's not nice!"
He blinked, then laughed, pulling away from her. "Good job. I just had to see, had to know."
"So, what are you good at? Many blood witches have an ability at something, right?" She brushed at her shoulder.
He yawned, covering his mouth. "Auras, if you'll believe it. I can see them -and read them- if I want."
Aurelia grinned. "So what's mine like?" She stood and turned in a circle, already knowing the answer.
But her teacher was all business. He stood and touched a hand to her temple, closing his eyes. She felt a ripple through her body. When he opened his gray eyes, they were smiling. "Gold…" he whispered with a touch of smile. "Warm, loving golden-brown."
She smiled. "And now you know why I dress in golden-browns on certain days of the week. We dress in our aura colors when we have an Esbat. We had them read once, at a Pagan fair upstate."
He smiled, then looked at the clock. "You'll need to leave. It's almost time to go home, and I daresay you'll want to get those books put away before then. Any others you like?"
Aurelia hesitated. "Well… I'm working with candle magick right now…"
"Oh, I have plenty on that. Like fire, do you?"
She shook her head. "I'm more earthy myself. But I was wondering…" She hesitated once more.
"What? What is it?" He looked worried.
She hung her head low. "I've been having nightmares lately… Well, not exactly lately, I've been having them for a while now. I can't sleep anymore."
He thought hard, but the clock got in his way. "I'd love to help, but we'll have to put this off until tomorrow. I can get you out of Study Hall for awhile."
"Really?" Her eyes lit up. "So you'll help me?"
"Of course."
"Oh, Mr. Wood, thank you!" She could have hugged him, but refrained.
He raised a hand in warning. "But no calling me that when we're not in class. That's the only thing I hate about being a teacher."
An idea popped into her head. "Why don't we go by our Wiccan names after History's over?"
"In English or Gaelic?"
"English… easier that way."
He smiled in agreement, and offered his hand, which she took in her own. "By the Goddess and Moon Forest coven, I am called Dragon."
She kissed his hand out of custom. "By the Goddess and Nightwalker coven, I am called Skysong." He returned the kiss of the hand. The hands released.
"Just bring the books back when you're done, all right?"
She went to the door and turned around. "I will. Thank you. Thank you for everything." She flashed a grin before running out the door.
He smiled after her, closing and locking the cabinet. "Just what I need," he said and smiled. "Another student hounding me at the end of the day."
***
A.N: Sorry it was so long, but I just couldn't stop until here! I'll get up more when I get the chance, okay? And now…. Please Review, and thanks a world! (Smiles) -Dreamseeker1