Chapter 3
After spending the day browsing through shops in Shardon, the girls booked a cab to the museum for the ghost hunt. It was a cool and cloudless night, with an almost-full moon illuminating the landscape. The Hex Girls exited the cab and approached the museum entrance.
"Five bucks says that the 'ghost' is just gonna be the curator in a costume," Dusk said with a hint of agitation, still upset about not finding a place to drink in town.
Thorn sighed. "Hey, this might be legit."
"It better," Dusk replied as she crossed her arms.
"Well, looks like the curator isn't the ghost," Luna added as she pointed at the museum entrance.
The curator was facing door and was fumbling with some keys, trying to lock the door.
"Hey, is the ghost investigation still going on?" Thorn asked the curator.
The curator gasped and dropped the keyring.
"Sorry…no…i…it's cancelled," he stuttered, bending down to pick up the keyring.
"Are you serious!? Why?" Thorn asked while crossing her arms.
"I…I'm sorry," he weekly replied.
Thorn noticed that the man was shaking and was struggling to catch his breath. His polo was slightly torn at the collar and his hair was disheveled. As he passed Thorn, she noticed that the curator had a bruised eye and there was some blood on his lip. Thorn's anger subsided when she saw this and became startled.
"Can we get our money back then?" Dusk asked, seemingly oblivious to man's condition.
The curator reached into his wallet and handed her an assortment of crumpled bills. "Now leave before…" he stopped, seemingly too scared to finish his thought, and hurried down the sidewalk.
"That was weird," Dusk commented as she counted the money. "Hey, there's forty bucks here."
"You didn't notice the man's black eye? It looks like he was in a fight," Luna told Dusk.
"Shit. Did the ghost get him," Dusk laughed.
"I don't know," Luna said while frowning at Dusk's comment. "But something bad happened to him."
"So what, should we call the police?" Dusk asked.
"I don't know. Maybe. I don't know if he called them," Luna said as she hastily looked around.
While her friends were arguing about what to do, Thorn walked over to the nearest window and peeked through it. There was just enough moonlight to see that someone had ransacked the front desk, but nothing else seemed out of place.
"That's odd," Thorn said to herself.
Thorn didn't think it was a robbery as the exhibits remained untouched and the curator still had money on him when he left. This doesn't make sense, she thought trying to find a solution. Could he have really run into a ghost? She paused at that thought. A part of her wanted it to be a real ghost that attacked him, as twisted as that was. It'd be the first supernatural phenomena she'd seen since Oakhaven. She was determined to find an answer.
Thorn moved away from the window and started walking along the house toward the Levre family cemetery. She stopped at a fence that wasn't much taller than her that connected to the house and encircled the cemetery; a single locked gate prevented entrance.
"Where are you going?" Luna shouted at Thorn as she and Dusk ran to her.
"I wanna know what's going on here," the black-haired girl said.
Thorn grabbed the top of the fence and pulled herself up. She struggled a bit to keep herself steady, but she managed to get one leg over, then the other, before dropping down on the other side.
"Are you crazy?!" Luna exclaimed in a more hushed tone. "You're trespassing."
Thorn brushed herself off and headed farther into the cemetery without acknowledging Luna.
"Finally something fun," Dusk cheered as she climbed over the fence almost effortlessly.
"Ugh," Luna sighed, placing her hand on her forehead in frustration. She glanced around before climbing over the fence herself.
Aside from the moonlight poking through the clouds, the cemetery was unlit. Rows of headstones, some quite weathered, stretched across the property for a few hundred feet. But dominating the landscape was a large mausoleum, the polished marbles surfaces glistened in the moonlight. Even in the distance Thorn could read the name "Levre" carved in the stone; this was the final resting place of Alexander Levre.
The girls crept along the side of the museum, Thorn leading the way.
"Where are we even going?" Luna whispered still clearly nervous about being here.
"Shhh," Thorn hushed before she suddenly stopped, raised a hand and crouched down; Luna and Dusk followed suit.
A backdoor swung open and five individuals exited the building.
"The curator better be right about this," a male angrily said. "I'm not happy we let him get away."
"Oh don't worry, this is it," a female assured the first individual.
In the moonlight, the girls caught a better glimpse of mysterious people as they crossed an empty field between the graves and the museum: The three people who didn't speak all wore dark hooded robes that went down to their knees, with a few streaks of gold that reflected in the moonlight. The girls noticed a brief shimmer of light on their faces, suggesting that they were wearing masks. The two individuals who spoke dressed bit differently; they wore sleeveless caped overcoats over a dark long-sleeved vest along with dark pants, boots and gloves. They also seemed to be wearing masks as their faces also shone in the moonlight. Additionally, the woman wore a black, pointed hat with a round base.
The two individuals who spoke stepped ahead of the others and they seemed to be in charge. The group headed toward the mausoleum, unaware of the girls hiding in the shadows.
"Okay Thorn, I think it's time we headed back," Luna whispered.
"Not yet," Thorn replied.
Thorn moved to the corner of the building and glanced around to see if anyone else was coming. With the coast clear, she darted across the open patch of grass to a row of large headstones and crouched behind one. She checked to see how far away the hooded people were and seeing that she was still out-of-sight, moved to a closer headstone.
"Hehe, this is fun," Dusk laughed as she followed Thorn's path.
"Wait! Don't g…" Luna stopped as Dusk ran off.
"Why do I even bother?" Luna sighed. She quickly followed her friends toward uncertainty.
After several minutes of darting between headstones and shadows, the girls hid behind a rather large grave about thirty feet from the mausoleum where the robed people stood, just close enough to overhear them.
"Sir, we have confirmed that there are no conventional entrances into the mausoleum," one of the robed individuals said to the male leader.
The male leader turned to the female leader, who had started examining the mausoleum.
"Matella-," the male leader said to her.
"I'm already on it," Matella replied, cutting him off.
The woman walked alongside the mausoleum, running her hand across the marble wall. She paused at one spot.
"Found it," she said still facing the wall.
Matella held her hand over the spot like she was grabbing something. Her hand and the spot both glowed blue while a glowing triangle with a series of lines crossing it materialized between them. She rotated her hand and the triangle turned downwards. She then swiped her hand over the wall and the wall slid open.
"Gentlemen," Matella said, motioning for the others to enter.
The masked men entered the mausoleum, two of them turning on flashlights. After the men disappeared into the darkness, Matella entered herself. Once inside, she turned around and resealed the mausoleum in a similar sweeping motion.
"That was awesome!" Dusk shouted amazement, not caring if the masked people heard. "But what was that?"
Thorn excitedly smiled and ran to the mausoleum. Her friends followed her over.
Luna patted over the spot where the woman was previously standing.
"There's nothing here! No seams, crevices, buttons. Nothing but solid marble," Luna said shaking her head in disbelief.
"That, that had to be magic," Thorn said with childish smile on her face. Granted, opening a door wasn't how she thought she'd rediscover it, but she was certain this was the magic she sought after for years.
"Not necessarily," Luna added, though she sounded unsure of herself.
Dusk waved her hand over the spot where the woman's hand was glowing in a vain attempt to get something to happen.
"Thorn, you should give it a try. You're a Wiccan after all," Dusk suggested.
"Why not," Thorn said blushing.
She made her way to the spot and raised her hand to the marble. Nothing. She tried waving her hand and nothing happened. Thorn's smile diminished, her body slouched and she lowered her arm. Figures she thought as she stared at the ground.
"You got to pretend you're holding something. That's what that lady did," Dusk said trying to reassure her friend.
"Try picturing a door knob," Luna suggested.
Thorn sighed. What else could I possibly lose?
Thorn looked back at the marble and clenched her fingers around an imaginary doorknob. She turned to her friends as nothing immediately happened.
"Nothing," Thorn stated with a frown.
But her friends' eyes widened and their jaws dropped.
"Umm…your…" Luna tried to say as she pointed at Thorn's hand.
Thorn raised an eyebrow and looked back at the marble and her hand.
"EEK! My hand is glowing!" Thorn shrieked in both fear and excitement as a downward facing triangle with lines running through it manifested between her hand and the glowing spot on the marble.
"What do I do?! What do I do!?" Thorn squealed as she flailed her arm in the air, only somewhat aware that the marble wall slid open and closed in conjunction with her arm's movement.
Luna and Dusk could only stare in shock, unable to speak.
"Make a fist and quickly open it. You'll release the seal," a woman's voice ordered from inside the mausoleum.
Without hesitating, Thorn closed and opened her hand. The triangle dissipated and the glow faded away. Thorn sighed, but as she looked up she saw that the door was open and the five masked individuals were looking right at her and her friends.
"Terminate the witch," the male leader commanded in a cold and calm manner.
The two robed individuals by the entrance reached to their sides and retrieved what Thorn quickly realized were pistols. Everything seemed to freeze; Thorn couldn't move, she couldn't think. Her heart raced and she struggled to breathe.
"No, no, no. Don't you two do anything," Matella yelled at the two armed men.
They obeyed and holstered their weapons.
"Matella…" the male leader said in annoyance as he approached her.
"Let me handle with this Cyrus," Matella responded.
"I'm not wasting our time with this witch," Cyrus stated.
Matella turned to Cyrus and she started whispering to him. "She could be useful to us. She did open a Class Three seal just by watching me…"
The rest of the conversation became too quiet for Thorn to hear, but both masked individuals stopped and momentarily stared at her.
"Fine. You're responsible for her," Cyrus concluded before he and other robed men walked over to a large coffin situated in the center of the mausoleum.
Matella turned to the startled girls and walked to Thorn.
"I'm so sorry for my partner's behavior. He's been under a lot of stress lately," Matella said her tone more cheerful and friendly. "To properly introduce myself, my name is Matella."
Thorn and her friends just continued to stare at the masked woman.
Matella chuckled. She removed her gold and crimson mask, revealing herself as a woman likely in her thirties with blue eyes and brown hair. She had a friendly smile across her face.
"So what are your names?" the woman asked.
"Um," Thorn gulped. "I'm Thorn…and this is Dusk and Luna."
"Uh, hi," Dusk nervously added.
Matella chuckled. "That's cute, you all have little nicknames, but what are your actual names?"
Thorn grimaced. "And your real name is Matella?"
"It legally is," the strange woman replied.
Thorn sighed. "Sally," she reluctantly said.
Matella looked at Dusk and Luna.
"Kimberly," Luna said under her breath.
"Jane," Dusk groaned.
Matella kept smiling. "Much better," she said before turning her attention on Thorn.
"So Sally, that Class Three seal you opened back there was some pretty impressive spell work. I mean, to get past that kind of enchantment is quite an accomplishment," Matella said.
Thorn just looked blankly at her, entirely caught off guard by the question and she didn't know how to respond.
Matella chuckled some more. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"
Thorn shook her head. "Magic?" she replied, unsure of herself.
"Oh you poor girl," Matella said while shaking her head. "Alright then. Back to the basics. So, um, congratulations you're a witch, just like me."
"I'm not a witch," Thorn replied, slightly raising her voice. "I'm one-sixteenth Wiccan on my mother's side and I practice Classical Wicca."
Matella burst into laughter. Thorn glanced at her friends, but they just shrugged, before turning back to the woman.
"Hahaha! Oh, that's a good one. One-sixteenth Wiccan. Haha. And I'm one-fourth Catholic. Ha," Matella laughed while wiping a tear from her eye.
"What's so funny about that?" Thorn demanded as she took a step closer to Matella; she didn't realize her fists were clenched.
"Oh, you're serious," Matella said she regained her composure. "First of all, that's not how religions work. Second, beliefs have nothing to do with someone being a witch or warlock."
This sudden revelation caught Thorn off guard. Could I actually be a wit…? Thorn quickly stopped that train of thought. No. Wiccans are not witches. Despite this, the possibility still lurked in her mind and Thorn craved for an answer.
"What do you mean?" she nervously asked.
Matella regained her more professional tone before answering.
"It's quite simple: witches and warlocks are, respectively, any woman or man who can use magic; mages for magical people in general. Personal beliefs, ideologies and cultural backgrounds have absolutely no role in this," Matella reiterated.
Thorn didn't know how to respond to that emotional sucker punch. She tried to speak, but was dumbstruck. Though she always hoped to find real magic again, the reality of her situation was much different. She was confused and shocked as everything she thought she knew about herself and her faith was flipped on its head. Wiccans were supposed to be good people that helped others, while witches were evil monsters that hurt and killed people. Sarah and Ben were monsters. Her Wiccan ancestors weren't. She wasn't.
Thorn vividly recalled the moment she reunited with her father after the Ravencrofts were defeated. He called her a witch. She remembered her response: A Wiccan, daddy. A Wiccan. She was so proud then. But now, that pride was gone, replaced with confusion and frustration. She didn't want to think about it anymore.
Yet questions flooded her mind. Why me? Why couldn't I use magic before now? Was my Wiccan heritage really responsible for sealing away Sarah Ravencroft? Thorn shuddered at that last thought, as that moment was what affirmed her Wiccan beliefs. If it was the case, it would, in her mind, render her faith irrelevant.
Thorn closed her eyes and shook her head, breaking her out of her thoughts. She took a deep breath and regained some of her composure.
"So I'm a…" she stopped herself from completing the thought. "No."
Matella frowned and rolled her eyes. "Here we go again…"
Thorn shook her head and backed away from Matella as she moved closer to her friends.
"That's heavy…to realize you're an actual witch after all this time," Dusk commented in a fascinated tone.
Thorn glared at Dusk and moved away from her. "No. That's not what's going on. Don't even mention it."
"But why her?" Luna asked, concerned for her friend. Thorn glanced to Luna. That was one of the questions she was too afraid to ask.
Matella shrugged. "No idea." She turned to Thorn. "You said that you have ancestors who were Classical Wiccans. They were known to include mages in their groups, so it's possible you had an ancestor who was a witch or warlock. Magic sometimes gets passed down through families."
That was a little more comforting, but it didn't guarantee anything and it still conflicted with her beliefs.
"No, I can't be a witch," Thorn stammered. "I'm a Wiccan."
She wanted the conversation to end and, fortunately for the bewildered girl, the sound of something metal crashing onto the marble floor inside the mausoleum brought relief to the confused girl. The four of them turned their attention to the mausoleum.
"It's about time you got that casket open," Matella exclaimed turning to Cyrus. "Did you get what we came here for?"
"Our objective here is complete," Cyrus said emerging from the shadows with the rest of the masked people.
Thorn noticed that he was holding a single sheet of parchment covered in a nonsensical script resembling that didn't resemble any written language. He quickly folded the parchment and placed it in his pocket. But as Cyrus exited the mausoleum, there was a bright flash of blue light followed by a sonic boom. He stopped moving and raised his hand.
"Set a line," Cyrus ordered with a clear sense of urgency in his voice.
Two of the masked men removed a small canister from their robes and began pouring out a white, crystalline powder that faintly flowed red; they ran in opposite directions away from the group leaving a trail of the substance behind and circled the mausoleum. Cyrus and the other man removed from their belt what looked like a cattle prod with a chord that attached to a small mechanical device on their belts. They turned a dial and the device emitted an electrical hum; Thorn felt the air become static around them.
As this happened, a strong gust of wind swept through cemetery swirling around the group and howling through the rows of headstones. The moonlight then dimmed before disappearing completely. Alarmed, Thorn, Luna and Dusk looked up at the sky and saw a dark cloud enveloping the area; the clouds twisted and turned into dark spiral directly above the mausoleum.
"Hmm, looks like we'll have company," Matella said as she put on her mask.
Thorn trembled as her moment of relief came to an end.