4. Meeting
The Seeker met Morgan today. He is an irritating man with no concern for others. Needless to say Morgan got very upset, he was treating the situation as if it was her fault. Damn him. I tried to say that it was just because Morgan had been stressed lately, but I doubt that made any difference. I was nearly as furious as she. I will phone her later when she calm's down.
Giomanach.
I was in the middle of my Physics homework when I felt Hunter calling. I ran down to pick up before my family got there.
"Morgan, are you feeling better?"
"I'm sorry Hunter, I shouldn't have shouted at the Seeker like that." I now felt guilty, because I knew the council would hear about my outburst, and I was annoyed that I was always unable to control my anger.
"No, love, I should have warned you about Greg earlier. He was out of order talking to you like that. Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be alright."
"He had it all wrong anyway, I'm not communicating with the dead because Ciaran isn't dead. He must have been mistaken." I hoped that he was wrong. "Anyway, what do you think?"
"I agree, I don't know what is happening, but I will ask some other people from the council, and some people I know."
"Why is this happening to me Hunter?"
"I don't know love, but I'll find out, don't worry. How are you feeling?"
"I'm O.K., just a bit weak." That was understatement of the month.
"Do you want to come round tomorrow night? I was thinking I will invite Bethany and Alyce round, they might have some ideas."
"Yes, that would be great. As long as Greg won't be there."
"No he's staying at a b and b in town. I won't ask him."
"Bye, love you."
Everytime I speak to Hunter I love him more. He usually knows what to say, and how to solve things.
In the car the next morning, I asked Mary K.
"How's it going with Alisa?"
"Great thanks, the weddings on Saturday, and of course she's dreading it. It seems that the Hiliminator is being nicer now though."
Alisa's dad was getting married to someone else since her mom died. She had always hated Hilary and she was making her move out of her room in preparation for the new baby they were expecting. Alisa had invited Mary K. to the wedding.
"I'm so glad. Do you know what you're wearing?"
"Yes," As if she wouldn't know, "I'm wearing a pink flowery skirt, with a cream jacket and a tight fitting top underneath."
As usual, Mary K. would look amazing.
After school I went straight to the library to try to find information about what was happening to me. One of the books described my symptom's exactly.
"Bith mearc: A rare condition, where an acute pain in the head is followed immediately by becoming possessed by a soul. It is brought on by dark magick, used only by powerful witches. The spell inflicts the victim to become weaker after becoming possessed, and the soul will have full access to the victim's power, body and strength. However, they cannot remain for very long without the aid of another witch. The weaker the victim becomes, the longer an anam may inhabit them. There is no known cure, as the person acts as a living bith dearc. The condition will eventually lead to death by drainage of energy and soul.
That sounded terrible, but I knew that it was not what had happened to me, because Ciaran had not been dead. It must have been what the Seeker had been talking about. Thank the Goddess he had been wrong. I decided to get the book out anyway, in case it had other useful information.
I had just left the library when I got a witch message from Killian. Sis, want to meet me in the park now? What was that all about? I replied to say that I would meet him there. Killian never usually contacted me unless there was a good reason. I sent a message to Hunter telling him I might be a bit late because I was meeting Killian in the park beforehand.
When I got there I saw Killian immediately. The sun was just disappearing behind the trees, and he was sitting on the last bench with any sunlight.
"Hey, how are you doing?" I asked him.
"You know, enjoying myself as usual, getting along." He always managed to have a good time. I had no idea where he got any money from. For all I know he made it with a spell. You couldn't put it past him.
"I thought you might like to know that Ciaran is dead." He continued. "I should think that he'll be happy."
Panic came down on me in a huge tide. So the book was right. And I was going to die. Why did anyone want to do that to me? I had no idea how long I would have. Maybe Hunter would know. Why did this have to happen to me? Everything I knew from Wicca usually ended in disaster.
"Morgan, what's the matter?" Killian must have known that I wouldn't be that upset from the fact Ciaran had died. In my misery I told him everything. Once I'd finished he looked grave.
"You don't know for sure that this is the problem that you have. It could be a number of things."
I looked at him doubtfully. I had to be right. There was nothing else I could think of. This brought fresh waves of despair. Killian handed me a hipflask.
"For emergencies." He said with a grin. I knew I'd sworn to myself that I'd never drink again. I guessed that maybe this was one time I could let myself go. I took a swig, and some strong tasting liquid slipped down my throat. I felt better already. Then Killian whispered some words and a felt a warmth coming through from his hands. I allowed myself another gulp of alcohol and passed it back to Killian.
"Hows it going with that stuck up Seeker?" He asked me. Killian had never been fond of Hunter, ever since he'd taken him off the street in New York believing Killian was in danger.
"Good thanks. He's not a Seeker anymore though." Killian raised his eyebrows. I was feeling better. My despair and misery had dulled into a faint ache, a reminder of real life, but now I was happy to forget. I grabbed another swig from the hip flask, desperately trying to blot out my memory. My head was already swimming as I remembered that I was meant to meet Hunter.
Then Killian decided to show me some more party tricks, probably when he thought I was out of it enough not to object. This one involved causing beautiful flowers to grow around our feet. I gasped at the high speed motion of plants that usually only grew in hot climates. They were colourful blooms of many different shapes and sizes. It was then that I decided to try out some magick of my own. I got all the flower heads to turn around and face us, in unison, only vague memories reminding myself that this was forbidden magick. Killian smiled at me, clearly impressed. I then tried to make all the flowers glow, but in a sudden flash they burst into flame and died. I laughed at my mistake's, vaguely remembering that it's hard to control magick when you're drunk. Killian was falling about in laughter. He tried to pick up the lost heads from the ground, only to find that they crumpled into ash. That caused more hysterical laughter.
It was then that I realized that I was wasted, but I was enjoying it. So was Killian by the looks of things, we decided to get up off the seat and began walking around the park, only to find that I fell over and was rolling about on the floor in laughter. He bent down to pick me up, but only succeeded in being dragged to ground also. I lay there staring at the darkening sky, oblivious to the fact that I was now late for Hunter, or that I had recently found out about my death.
Suddenly I felt that familiar prickle of pain in my head, and I felt ill. My mind blanckly registered what was happening, but I was too drunk to do anything. Yet again I was overcome by another presence, but this time it was unfamiliar. It only lasted a few seconds, but was enough for me to remember what had happened. I burst into a wave of fresh sobs. I could barely register what I was crying about, Killian looked down at me, trying to comfort me. I wished Hunter was here. He would know what to do.
"We better get you home," Killian mumbled. "I don't think it would be wise for you to drive back."
I took me a while to realize what he meant. What were we going to do? Suddenly I heard Hunter's voice in my head. Morgan, where are you? Crap. I forgot our meeting, and I couldn't get there. It suddenly seemed very funny. I was stuck in the park, completely wasted, with no magick, or at least with strange magick.
"Shall I get Hunter to collect you?" Killian asked.
"Oh yeah, good idea," I mumbled with sluured words. I tried to send a message back to Hunter, but my magick backfired, making me feel like a pulse of energy had just blown through me, it gave Killian a sort of electric shock, and he looked at me grinning as he realized what had happened.
"Don't worry" he said, "I've done it." I laughed, feeling a wave of nausea and dizziness overcome me, this time probably because of the alcohol.
"Maybe I should go," he said quickly in horror. As he left he put his hand on my arm and sent me a spell that removed my sickness.
"Thanks" I muttered.
"See you soon, and I'm sure the Seeker will come up with something." He looked at me actually seeming worried. I didn't really register why. Then he was gone.