Season of The Witch Part-7

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Season of The Witch -
Part Seven

by:
Enemyoffun


Kelly is from a prominent family of witches but has no magic power to speak of. When his parents decide to leave the country without him and he's shipped off to live with relatives, that's the least of his problems.

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Author's Note: Yes I'm alive :) Sorry for the delay I got wrapped up in several different things, one of which was finishing a certain game before its sequel came out---then I got wrapped up in said sequel. Ah, the addiction of video games. Anyway, here's Ch. 7 finally done.I'd like to thank djkauf and Indy for the magical editing and everyone for enjoying this universe :)

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SEVEN:

The bright light was shining down on me when I opened my eyes, so bright that for a split second I thought it was the end. You know the saying “bright light at the end of the tunnel”; well I thought this was it. I’d had some kind of brain hemorrhage in the bathroom and I died there. What a shitty place to die; I know but after what I saw there was no way that that was real. Unfortunately, for me, I realized the light was in fact from one of those large halogen lights that hung on the ceilings in schoolrooms. I groaned, closing my eyes for a second. So I was still alive. I’m not sure if I liked that idea. Not that I wanted to die but the alternative at the moment didn’t seem any better.

I looked into the mirror earlier and saw a girl staring back at me.

I reopened my eyes and took a look at my surroundings. The first thing I noticed was the sterile smell in the room; it didn’t take a genius to figure out where I was. I was lying on a bed---maybe a cot of some sort. I sat up, ignoring the weight on my chest. I knew what that was, too, but I wasn’t ready to acknowledge that. I looked farther around the room. It didn’t look like a hospital room, it wasn’t white enough. Besides no hospital room that I knew of had cots instead of beds. If I had to guess, I’d say it was the school nurse’s office. I groaned at what that meant. I passed out in the bathroom---the guy’s bathroom---and someone found me there.

The implication of that scared me. It meant someone saw me, saw what I’d become. They already thought I was a girl and now things were just going to get worse. The rumors would start soon: “Hey, the new girl was unconscious in the boy’s bathroom” or “I heard she was actually in the boy’s locker room, too?” Of course, neither of those things bothered me because I was not in fact a girl; at least I wasn’t twenty-four hours ago. I groaned loudly. There had to be some kind of explanation for all of this, guys just don’t spontaneously transform into girls in the middle of the day. There had to be some kind of magic involved and if I were to guess I had a pretty good idea who.

I slipped off the cot, my new chest shifting again. I tried to ignore that as I slowly got to my feet. I took a deep breath before my first step. When I walked, things were a little off. My whole center of gravity was thrown off a bit, my body weighed more in some places and less in others. I thought about making a clean break for the door that I knew was somewhere around here but my bladder betrayed me. Instead, I looked around, hoping that there was a bathroom in here. I spotted another door in the far corner; it was either my intended target or a supply closet. I made a break for it, ignoring the empty desk on the other side of the room.

I pulled up the door and found a toilet, sink and mirror. Without thinking about it, I rushed over and peed. It never even occurred to me that I was sitting down until I was done. Of course, there was no way I could go standing up but it scared me how quickly I adjusted to that. Maybe it was instinctive or something. After flushing, I went over to the sink to wash my hands. As I turned on the faucet, I saw her. It was the same girl in the mirror from before, the same one that scared me so much that I passed out. The surprising thing now was that now that I looked at this new face I was shocked at how much it looked like my old one. It was a bit softer now, my nose slightly smaller, my lips a bit different. But it was the same me looking back, well, a little more feminized than before but still the same. The most drastic change was my hair. It was still the dull dirty blonde from before but now it reached way down my back. I reached up and brushed some of it behind my ear, amazed at the length. My sister used to have long hair like this except her’s was red like my mother’s---like most women in my family actually. Jess cut most of her hair off when she went to college though, something that my mother didn’t really approve of. I think she liked the idea of braiding my sister’s long gorgeous hair.

For a split second, a mental image popped up in my head of my mother braiding my hair. I shook it away quickly.

I quickly splashed some water into my face, shut off the faucet and left. I was bound and determined to make a break for the door, hopefully before anyone saw me. Once I got outside, I was getting my bike and pedaling for home as fast as I could. My grandmother would know what was going on and maybe a way to fix it.

“There you are” said a voice from across the room, startling the hell out of me.

I jumped slightly. Then I turned around. The woman standing behind me looked vaguely familiar, like a childhood friend all grown up. No, not a friend, someone else. I squinted a bit at the brunette beauty and then it clicked. “Melissa?”

She smiled. “In school I think you should call me Miss Williams.”

I couldn’t help but blush. Melissa Williams was Mary’s former babysitter. I got to know her one summer when my parents spent some vacation time here. That was about six or seven years ago. Melissa was in high school then I think, her senior year. She’d been Mary’s babysitter for a few years before that. When I first met, her, my grandmother roped my parents into some kind of job for a few days and left us with Melissa. I can honestly admit I might have been a little smitten with her, a schoolboy crush maybe.

Seeing her now was a bit of a shock.

“I’m guessing you weren’t expecting me?” I shook my head, she laughed. “I’m the school nurse. Just started this year actually.”

I blinked once or twice. She was dressed in a white outfit, a tiny nametag on her left breast. She hasn’t changed much. She was a little older of course but still as beautiful as I remembered. Without thinking much about it, I walked back over to my cot and sat down. She smiled and walked over, carrying a clipboard. When she got to me, she gave me a strange look. I felt a lump in my throat. Melissa knew I was a boy, she’d seen things that made that pretty clear. It scared me wondering what she was thinking, me clearly as a girl sitting in front of her.

“So” she said, dragging it out a bit longer than I would have liked. “Anything new?”

I laughed. “You could say that.”

She smiled. “You and Mary still not getting along?”

She knew all about the harmless pranks that Mary used to play on me. She was present for a few of them actually.

“It’s a little better but then again she’s Goth now so I can hardly tell.”

We both laughed at that.

A silence fell over us after that. I didn’t know what to say. Sitting in front of her---like this---scared the hell out of me. What was she thinking, did she think I was a freak? Did she want to have me committed or dissected? Maybe something worse? My heart started to beat a little faster and my palms started to sweat. I couldn’t help but squirm a bit. I think she noticed because the next thing she did was reach out and gently squeeze my knee. As soon as her hand touched me, I felt a warmness I didn’t expect, then my nervousness seemed to fade. The warmness spread through my body and it felt good, really good.

When I smiled, she nodded. “That’s better.”

When she took her hand away, the good feeling was gone. “What did you do to me?”

“It’s a mild calming spell, it’s usually done on animals but it works on humans too.”

Calming spell? No way. Melissa was a witch?

She laughed. “How much do you know about the families here in Ravencrest?” When I didn’t answer, she continued. “My family has been practicing for a very long time. I’m surprised your grandmother didn’t tell you.”

I huffed. “She doesn’t tell me much.”

Melissa frowned. “She’s still like that?”

“I don’t think she’s ever going to stop.”

Melissa bit her lip then impulsively hugged me. It felt kind of nice and a bit strange too, our breasts rubbed against one another. As soon as that happened, I pulled away.

She saw the look of horror on my face and nodded. “So you didn’t do this to yourself then?”

“I might be girly,” I said, tearing up slightly “but I don’t want to be a girl.”

Melissa nodded. “Well I’ve called your grandmother, she’s on her way. Until she arrives, she’s asked me to run a few tests. I know a few detection spells; I might be able to see what did this to you.”

I nodded. “You have my permission.”

Giving permission was a polite thing to do in witchcraft. Most spells worked a lot better if the intended victim gave permission. There were a lot of spells that didn’t require it but the ones that did were a lot more effective that way.

Melissa raised her hand in front of my face first. The tips of her fingers started to glow blue and she slowly moved her hand about my body, a few inches from my flesh. I didn’t feel a thing. During the “scan”, she made a face once or twice, which was a little worrisome. The scan only took a few minutes, when she was done, she rubbed her chin. Then a moment later, her fingers glowed again, this time green. The second time was about as long as the first. This time though, I felt a slight tingle. When she got to the third test, more glowing fingers---red this time---I was starting to get real worried.

“Is something wrong?”

Her fingers stopped glowing. “No, just confusing.”

“Confusing?”

“Did you mess around with anything; perhaps try a spell on your own?”

“No” I snapped quickly.

Only an idiot tried to mess with magic. I knew what happened to people who tried to do magic without being able to truly control it. There were always a few Duds who tried and it never ended well for them. I didn’t like being a Dud but I knew there was nothing I could do about it. I accepted my status, I didn’t like it but I lived with it.

Melissa stared at me for a second; it felt like her eyes were burning into me. A moment later, she smiled. “Ok, what about Mary?”

As soon as she asked it, I groaned. Mary, of course it was Mary. That stupid spell she tried to do last night, I knew there was something up with that. She was being too nice to me, especially after getting pissed at me earlier. Of course, Mary had to have something to do with this. Sure childish pranks weren’t enough for her anymore, now she had magic and could do some real damage with it.

“Tell me about it,” said Melissa, a slight assertiveness in her tone.

“Mary called it a Becoming spell; she said it was a glamour to bring out my true potential.”

Melissa laughed which was not a good sign. I couldn’t help but frown. She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. A Becoming spell, that’s a new one.”

She got up from the chair she’d been sitting in and walked over to the desk. She picked up the phone and made a call. As she was making the call, the door to the Infirmary opened. I was expecting my grandmother to walk in, what I wasn’t expecting was Mr. McC. He strode into the room like he owned it. He looked around for a second and then his eyes fell on me. Looking at his face, I could tell he wasn’t too happy. He started toward me. He got halfway to me before Melissa stepped in front of him.

“I told you, sir, that she’s in no condition for visitors.”

“So she’s a she then?”

I didn’t like his tone at all.

“At the moment yes.”

“What the hell does that mean exactly Miss Williams?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it then.”

Melissa groaned. “This morning Kelly woke up one hundred percent male, he has been male his entire life. From what I can tell however, someone cast a spell on him to make him female. I was in the process of figuring out how that was done before you rudely barged in here.”

“There are rules and policies,” said McC “this kind of stuff isn’t supposed to happen here. I was told that you people would keep your magic out of my school. It’s bad enough you already threw down one punishment but this too much.”

One punishment? What was he talking about it?

“This is harmless. The user cast a spell as a joke. A better Practitioner than I could figure out exactly what it is.”

“Then I suggest you call one.”

“She already has” said a stern voice from behind them.

I looked toward the door and saw my grandmother standing there. She looked past the two of them and over to me. Our eyes locked for a moment but I couldn’t read the expression on her face. She walked quickly into the room. McC tried to stop her but she brushed right past him. I gulped when she stood in front of me, looking down on me like I was nothing. The woman definitely had the scariness vibe down. She raised her hand and when it glowed---her whole hand turned blue. She didn’t let it roam over my body though; instead, she kept it right in front of my face. A few seconds later, her hand stopped glowing and she lowered it.

“Have you called my granddaughter?”

Melissa nodded. “She should be on her way.”

“So Mary did this?” I asked, finding my voice finally.

My grandmother nodded. “If I were to guess, I’d say she spiked the milk.”

Of course she did.

“This kind of thing is uncalled for,” snapped McC, his face turning red.

“Its none of your concern” said my grandmother lazily.

“The hell it isn’t. I pulled strings to convince my faculty that your grandson was in fact male and now one of my students found “her” in the boy’s bathroom. I think it’s a big concern of mine.”

“The Council will handle it.”

“Just like they handled that other matter.”

My grandmother turned toward him, her eyes narrowing. “What are you suggesting? Are you speaking out against us?”

The color drained from McC’s face. “No, but you witches strut around this town like you own it and you expect all of us to fall into line like good little soldiers.”

“This matter is no concern of yours and neither is the way that we conduct business. I have heard what you have to say and will take it under advisement. Now I suggest you not speak again for your benefit.”

There was a reason I was scared of the woman. She was a real force to be reckoned with. I looked at McC and it seemed like he was smaller than before. Not in the physical sense of course but my grandmother surely let him have it. It was the first time in my life that the woman ever truly came to my defense even if she was defending witches in general. It was kind of nice and I couldn’t help but smile.

The moment was shattered by an “Oh crap.”

I looked away from McC to see Mary standing in the doorway.

Our grandmother turned to her and shook her head. “I think you have some explaining to do young lady.”

Mary went three shades paler than she usually appeared.

*******

“Tell me exactly what you did?”

I’d never seen my grandmother ever get angry at Mary before. But listening to her tone and seeing the way that the old woman glared at my cousin it was something to behold. It was surprising to say the least but not as surprising as the fact that my grandmother held it in for so long. We left school shortly after Mary appeared in the nurse’s office. Melissa was able to convince Mr. McC that it might be better if I took the rest of the day off. He didn’t protest---I think he was afraid of my grandmother’s wrath. We left quickly enough. Neither of them said a thing in the car. I sat in the front with my grandmother---a first for me. She didn’t speak to me either. When we got home, it took a few minutes for my grandmother to say a thing.

“I used a Glamour spell,” said Mary, her voice low and soft like a child who knew they were in trouble.

“I know what you thought you did but I want to know exactly which spell you used?”

Mary shrugged. “It was in the book.”

“Get up!” my grandmother practically barked out the command.

Both Mary and I jumped off the couch.

She didn’t say a word as she stormed through the living room. Mary and I were too scared not to follow. We went right into the kitchen. My grandmother was already going down the stairs into the basement so the two of us had to race to follow. By the time, we got to the bottom of the stairs she was in her secret room. I lingered behind, afraid that I might get hollered at if I went too far. Mary didn’t hesitate though as she walked over to the book. It was like she could read my grandmother’s mind---me, all I saw was this nasty glare.

Mary started flipping through the book slowly---it didn’t take her long. “Here” she said, pointing her finger at the page.

Our grandmother looked over her shoulder. Her face was like a blank slate, devoid of all emotion. I watched and waited. Mary stepped back and looked at her two. We even looked at one another for a moment, waiting for anything. When my grandmother finally spoke, it was words I had never expected her to say to Mary:
“You damn fool of a girl.”

The old woman was full of surprises. First, the glares and now the outright insults. So maybe she hated all her grandchildren equally after all.

Mary cringed at the words. She recoiled slightly, as if they were a nasty whip lashing into her flesh. “I’m sorry,” she said softly, tearing up a bit.

“Tears are not necessary. One should not cry when they make stupid mistakes.”

Mary bit her lip and nodded. The tears rolled down her cheeks but it was clear she was trying to suppress them. I felt vaguely sorry for her. I say vaguely because after all she did turn me into a girl.

“You said you thought this was a Glamour spell?” asked the old woman after a long silence.

“It was supposed to be a joke” said Mary “make him look like a girl to other people but he wasn’t supposed to actually turn into one.”

“No one’s laughing” my grandmother quickly shot out.

A joke? I looked down at my chest, at the two orbs of flesh currently dangling off it. This was supposed to be a joke to her. I’m not sure how turning a guy into a girl would be remotely funny at all. It was cruel and nasty. If this was all because I was starting to become friends with Misty Curtis then it was downright insane. Mary needed to get over whatever her malfunction was.

My grandmother finally looked at me. “This spell, did she ask your permission before casting it?”

“She asked but I refused.”

My grandmother shot more daggers at Mary. “You performed a spell on him without his permission?”

Mary nodded. “He was befriending Misty. I wanted to teach him a lesson.”

“That’s no excuse. You’ve put that poor soul through enough as it is. Punishing her more isn’t going to solve things or make you feel better.”

There was another long silence and then Mary asked. “Is there a way to fix it?”

I wanted to punch her. She did this to me and now that she’s in hot water over it, she wants to fix it. I had half a mind to knock the little bitch on the ground and pound the snot out of her. I know it wouldn’t solve anything but it would make me feel better. Instead, though, I bottled up my anger and glowered in the corner.

“You need to tell me exactly what you did.”

Over the next twenty minutes or so, Mary went through the whole process step by step. I fell into a chair, only half paying attention to things. I knew enough about things to know that Mary screwed up big time. She broke a really big rule of witchcraft: she cast a spell above her level and without permission. Glamours were harmless and usually meant for fun, my sister used to do them all the time. They were quick spells, parlor tricks sometimes. The complicated spell that Mary laid out was anything but. When she got to the potion part, our grandmother had been right: she did in fact put it into the milk.

I groaned at that.

When she was done, explaining Mary asked the question that was kind of on my mind as well. “What did I do wrong?”

It took my grandmother a moment to respond. “You somehow mixed up incantations. It generally happens with Novices as the Glamour and Transformation spells are very similar.”

“So it was a stupid mistake?” I asked.

The old woman ignored me. When she spoke, it was directly at Mary. “It should be fixable. I can talk you through the reverse but it’s going to take the rest of the night and possibly tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow!” I snapped loudly, loud enough to get their attention.

I was sick and tired of this being ignored thing. I was in the room too; I was in the house as well. My grandmother might not like it but she was going to deal with it one way or another.

“I can’t walk around like this? I can’t go to school like this either.”

“It’s a fixable setback. In twenty four hours you’ll be back to your old self.”

“I’m surprised you want to rush this thing,” I snapped angrily.

“And what is that supposed to be mean?”

I scoffed. “There’s only women in this house now” My anger was rising. “In fact I’m betting you two planned this whole thing from the start. Let’s get rid of Kelly the only way we can.”

I started to cry then ran out of the room. I stormed up the stairs, slammed the door and barreled my way through the house. I thought about going to my room but I didn’t want to be in the house with them right now. Instead, I went right out the front door. I picked a direction and ran in it, not carrying where I was going. I thought about running to Morgan’s, maybe trying to convince Aunt Grace to allow me to stay with them instead. But that would never work; she’d try to get my grandmother involved. Besides there was still the little fact that I was stuck as a girl and Mary was the only one who could reverse it. It felt like I’d been running forever, well at least twenty minutes or so.

When I finally did stop, I found myself on a street with some big houses. I looked about, trying to figure out how far I’d run. I hated not knowing this place as well as my home town. I thought about turning around, going back home. Mom taught me never to run from my problems, in fact I’m not even sure why I did. I just had this surge of emotion and all I wanted to do was cry, yell and run away. Instead of going back though, I found myself looking at the houses, one in particular. It was big, made out of brick with white columns. Above the door were Greek letters. It was then that I suddenly realized where I was: Greek Row.

This was the street where the sororities and fraternities were.

I stared at the big house in front of me. I wondered if they had a phone, I could use to call a cab. I started for the walkway when something stopped me. I’m not sure what it was but my skin started to tingle and I got this overwhelming sense of dread. I took a step back, looking up at the house as I did. When I did, a chill ran down my spine. I squinted my eyes and when I did, I thought I saw this green shine to it. I shook my head, wiping at my eyes----there must have still been tears in them. When I was done wiping, I looked again and the shine was gone.

“Smart choice” said a voice from the shadows.

I jumped and turned. A girl stepped out from behind one the trees, she long whitish blonde hair with a distinctive blue streak. She looked me up and down. There was something about her. Her pale skin, the way she seemed to appear there without me hearing her, the way her seemingly cold eyes looked at me. I knew in that instance that a vampire was standing before me. I took another step back, my heart starting to beat faster. She wasn’t the first vampire I’d met but she was the first one I’d met alone. I instinctively reached into my hoodie pouch, hoping Mom’s knife was still there. Sadly it wasn’t. Vampires were dangerous things even one alone like this.

“Stay where you are” I stammered, trying to keep my fear out of my voice.

She smiled. “I’m not going to hurt you darling.”

Her voice now had a Texan accent that I swore wasn’t there when she spoke before.

“I know what you are,” I said, finding more confidence.

She nodded. “Then you know why walking up to that building over yonder” She pointed her thumb quickly behind her. “Isn’t really a good idea.”

I nodded. A sorority of vampires, that’s just crazy.

“Why don’t you head on home?” she continued, her eyes turning a bit silver when she did.

I knew that move. It was a Mesmer but I was safe at the moment. I knew from my parents that female vampires could only Mesmer males.

“I’m not sure how to get back there actually. I’m kind of lost.”

“Who’s your friend Charlotte?” asked another voice as a second girl appeared.

The first girl---Charlotte---didn’t give me pause but this new one did. There was something about the way she appeared like that that scared me. She was just as pale but had long black hair that shined like silk. Like Charlotte, she was very pretty but unlike Charlotte, there was something overly sinister about her. I didn’t like this girl one bit, especially the way she was looking at me. Her eyes seemed to burn straight through my clothes, it made me feel sick.

“She was just leaving” Charlotte quickly enforced.

“I thought I heard her mention something about a cab. She can come in, use our phone.”

There was no way I was going anywhere near that house, especially with her around. I shook my head. “I’m good.”

“I’ll walk her home,” said Charlotte, shooting the black haired girl a look. She turned to me. “Where do you live, darling?”

“On Meadow Street, I’m staying with my grandmother and cousin.”

`The black haired girl’s eyes narrowed. “You’re a Crawford?” That surprised me but I nodded. She sighed. “Shame.”

Then she turned and walked away, almost disappearing as she did so. I let out a loud sigh of relief. Charlotte pointed down the road and the two of us started walking. I was surprised she was exposing herself to so much sunlight because I knew how much it made them sick. She didn’t seem to mind however. She kept walking without me like we were two normal gir…people. Neither of us said a thing to one another. I was a little nervous actually. I’d run into a few of them and each time, the vampires tried to kill me. The idea of walking down the street next to one---without her trying to rip my throat out---was a new experience for me.

When we got to Meadow Street, I was surprised how quickly we had arrived. There was no way that was twenty minutes. The strange and weird Ravencrest had struck again.

“You can take it from here?” she asked, I nodded. “Good.”

“Thanks” I said giving her a weak smile.

“Word of advice, don’t go wandering around this town when it starts to get dark and especially stay away from our house. You’re lucky I was watching or else things could have gone a lot worse.”

I didn’t really like the sound of that so I nodded and told her I’d be more careful. Charlotte didn’t stay around after that. I didn’t linger either. I turned and started back toward the house, feeling like a total idiot. I’d never overreached like that. It was kind of strange actually but it felt good too in a way. I’d been bottling up my feelings toward that woman for years and though I didn’t let them all out, yelling at her felt relaxing. When I finally got into the house, I was surprised at how normal things felt. Mary was nowhere in sight, the cats were sleeping on the couch together and I overheard my grandmother on the phone in the kitchen.

I let out a deep sigh, walking toward it. I caught the tail end of her conversation.

“…spell, yes I’ll keep you informed”

She hung up and turned around. “There you are,” she said.

“Sorry for running off like that, my emotions got the better of me.”

She nodded and sniffed. “You smell like death, where have you been?”

I groaned. I was never going to win. I turned and walked out of there, heading up the stairs to my room.

Mary was lingering outside of my door, sitting on the floor. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, her head buried in them. When I approached, she looked up. Her eyes shined with tears. I sighed. I knew this girl; I used to like that girl. She was the standoffish, stubborn kid again; the one who used to cry when she thought no one was looking. I was happy to see that some things never did change. I walked over and dropped down next to her. Neither of us said a thing but she did rest her head on my shoulder. We sat there in silence for a long time.

When she finally spoke, it was so soft I could barely hear her. “Sorry.”

“What was that?” I teased. “Did the bad ass Malice just apologize?”

She shoved me with her shoulder. “It was a stupid prank. I never thought it would turn into this. I just…I just…”

“I know and though I’m still pissed at you, I think I can forget it if you change me back as soon as possible.”

She turned and gave me this evil look. “I don’t know, I think I kind of like you better this way.”

We laughed. She rested her head on me for a few more minutes before making a sniffing sound. She rose up and moved away slightly. “You smell horrible; I think you need to take a shower.”

Now she’s right back to normal. So much for the kinder, gentler side of Mary.

This time I gave her a shove, she shoved back and everything was ok.

At least for the moment anyway.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF



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