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Author's Note: Here's Ch.12, the Coven scene as I'm calling it. Sorry for the delay, I was being a bit lazy with this one lol. I'd like to thank djkauf and Indy for the magical editing and everyone for enjoying this universe :)

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TWELVE:

“What did you do?”

The question didn’t surprise me; the asker of it did though. Mary was sitting at the table with me, the two of us currently alone. We’d been sitting in silence for so long that I thought she’d forgotten I was there. Minutes after the Inquisitor arrived, Melissa followed. As soon as she got here, the three of them went off to discuss things in private. Mary and I were left alone to glare at one another. It was clear from the look she was giving me that Mary was pissed off but somehow she was trying to play nice over the whole thing.

Talk about confusing.

I decided to answer her question the best way I possibly could: with a shrug.

She gave a disgusted look. “You have to know something; the Inquisitor just doesn’t show up.”

I sighed. “Something happened in town today.”

I quickly told her about the library; then what happened afterwards. But I was pretty certain that no one truly saw what I did. After all, they were all bitching at Troy for attacking me. No one seemed to even notice that my hands glowed and I pushed him on his ass. I guess I was wrong. What didn’t make sense though was the appearance of an Inquisitor. I knew a little about them from my mother and usually they didn’t handle such trivial things as that. Sure, I was in trouble but nothing as severe as sending someone like her to me.

Mary laughed. It was the first time I’d heard her do so since I’d gotten here.

“Man I wish I could have seen his face,” she said.

I smiled and couldn’t help but wonder if maybe my cousin was bipolar. One minute she was a royal bitch and the next she was like this. Looking at her now, I saw shades of the girl I once knew but it was like she was trying too hard to be this other person as well. It made me wonder if something had happened, something that she didn’t want to tell me about?

I didn’t get a chance to ponder it much longer though because a few seconds later, the grownups returned. My grandmother was in the lead. When she walked into the room, she made quick eye contact with me. Before I would have said there was a sliver of human being in her---especially when she talked to me like I was one. Now though---the look she gave me---it was like she was completely forgot about earlier. Not that I was expecting her to give me a hug or shower me with kisses but I was hoping for a shred of respect. I thought I finally had some but whatever shred there was seemed to be long gone. The woman standing before me was the same cold hearted shrew from before, but even worse.

It was the look she was giving me. It was the kind of stare that even Medusa would shy away from.

The Inquisitor and Melissa followed her. There was no way I could read the expression on the Inquisitor’s face because it was the same sour one she gave me when she arrived. Melissa on the other hand was like a book. When she locked eyes with me, there was definite disappointment and something else, sorrow maybe. What was there to be sad about, did something bad happen?

Melissa was the only one who sat at the table. She dropped into the seat next to me and gave my knee a gentle squeeze.

A few seconds later, the Inquisitor spoke.

“Mr. Daniels” she said, putting great emphasis on the mister. “Your grandmother and Miss Williams have just been filling me on your current predicament. I find it very peculiar that this change has happened twice.”

“Neither of which was my doing” I abruptly pointed out.

“So I’m told”

I didn’t like that tone at all.

She continued. “It is also been brought to my attention that as a male you were without any magical talent?” I nodded. “I see.”

I definitely didn’t like the way she said that.

It also occurred to me where she was going with these questions.

“Like I said though, neither of the times that I turned into a girl was my doing.”

“I’ve heard the explanations but I find it hard to believe that you were a Dud before and now miraculously you have powers.”

My grandmother cleared her throat. “That’s not the reason you’re here. I think the Coven would appreciate it if you were to stay on topic.”

The Inquisitor nodded. It was clear that whatever the relationship was between my grandmother and this woman, the Inquisitor seemed to respect my grandmother a lot.

“Now Kelly, can you tell me about Troy Curtis?”

I sighed---I felt like a broken record tonight. So as detailed as I could, I told her everything about Troy. I started with my first encounter and followed through to last night when I blasted him. She listened to the whole story, nodding here and there. When I was done---her floating notebook taking notes the whole time---she waved her hand and the book disappeared.

“You didn’t mention this morning?”

“This morning?”

She sighed heavily. She waved her hand and the notebook reappeared. She flipped it open and read. “At one thirty six am Eastern time, one Troy Curtis was driving rather fast---coming home from a night out on the town. While making the final turn toward home, he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a tree.”

“Seriously!?”

It surprised me when Mary asked the same exact thing.

Our grandmother scoffed, the Inquisitor didn’t look amused.

“As enthusiastic as you might be, Mr. Curtis is currently at Brendsen Memorial in a coma.”

Brendsen was the next town over. It was the closest town to Ravencrest even if it was about thirty miles away. Ravencrest didn’t have a hospital, any serious injury was either sent to Brendsen or if it was really bad, they were flown to NYC. If Troy was in Brendsen General it meant he was either not as bad as she was saying or they were waiting to transfer him to the big city.

But all of that meant nothing because the simple truth was that Troy was in the hospital. It was worse than that---well maybe not for Troy----but the Inquisitor thought I had something to do with it. Of course, she didn’t say that in as many words but it was definitely implied.

“You think I did it?”

“You tell me.”

I was about to tell her to go screw herself when I remembered something about last night. Well not last night specifically but about my dream. I was a giant and everyone was a tiny little bug. I remember one of those bugs being Troy and I squashed him. It was just a dream but I could vaguely remember feeling much better. Then there was that whole thing I said to Sophie yesterday about wanting Troy to wrap his car around a tree.

Did I really do it?

The Inquisitor continued. “When a witch uses magic, there is a signature left behind. In most cases, it’s a very small trace, barely able to register. But with young witches, the trace is much stronger because their magic isn’t as refined as a more experienced practitioner’s is. I never would have even bothered if not for the flags that went off.”

She didn’t bother to elaborate on those.

“So I did do it?”

Melissa piped in for the first time. “You don’t know?”

I shrugged. “I had this dream last night where I squashed him but it was a dream right?”

My grandmother and the Inquisitor exchanged a quick glance.

Why didn’t that look good?

“I’m in trouble aren’t I?”

The next person who spoke was my grandmother. Her tone was surprisingly warm given how she kept glaring at me.

“We won’t know for certain until the Coven has a chance to examine the evidence.” She turned to the Inquisitor. “Grace, send for a car.”

The Inquisitor nodded and left the room.

“What’s going on?”

“You need to meet with the Coven”

The ride to the old Crowley house was a quiet one. When Mr. Wilkes arrived, the only person who got into the car with me was Melissa. Apparently, my grandmother would come in another one. I’m not sure where Mary was going or if she was coming at all. Melissa and I didn’t say much, which was fine by me. It gave some time to think. This whole situation just kept better and better. First Mary turned me into a girl then back into a guy. I turned back into a girl and discovered I had magic. That little bit should have thrilled me except for the simple fact that I somehow put one of my classmates into a coma. Not that he didn’t deserve it of course. OK, so maybe he didn’t but a guy like Troy needed to get his ass kicked whenever possible.

I just never thought it would happen.

It scared the hell out of me. I’d never heard of a witch being able to use magic like that. There were all kinds, of course. It wasn’t uncommon for individual families to have specialties. The Crawfords for instance specialized in defensive spells. I didn’t really know much about it except that my mother could cast things like shields and Wards. In Calcutta two years ago we met a witch who could levitate which was really cool. I remember asking my mother if she could do it as well but apparently, a witch had to have an aptitude for certain things. My mother didn’t have one for that kind of magic. I tried to get her to clarify more but she told me that it was wrong to ask those kinds of things. Now I wish I had pushed her about it a little more.

The car came to a slow stop about twenty minutes after leaving the house---another one of those strange Ravencrest rides. I tried to open the door but realized it was actually locked from the outside. I tapped on the partition, hoping to get Mr. Wilkes’ attention. I didn’t want to stay in this car any longer than I had to. I knew about the Coven by reputation only. Because we lived in a Norm town back home, my parents didn’t have to worry about one. In fact, the closest Coven to us was in San Diego. Occasionally they would make trips there to check in. I knew for a fact that there were two big ones in the northeast, one here in Ravencrest and the other in some small New England town.

Major cities like New York didn’t really have a lot of magic concentration to them. There were a lot of Unseen but they had different rules and regulations.

San Diego apparently was one of the rare exceptions to that rule.

“Don’t be so eager” said Melissa as I tugged on the door again.

I huffed. “I want to get this over with as quick as possible.”

I was trying to put on a brave front but truthfully, I was mortified. I tried to run from her the other day for a reason. I’d heard a lot of stories about Covens and they terrified me.

Melissa put a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Relax.”

I sighed. “You don’t think they’re going to punish me do you?”

She laughed.”They rarely ever punish anyone. I’m not sure what you’ve heard but they’re not the bad guys.”

“What if I am?”

She took her hand off my shoulder and pulled me into a hug. She held me tight. I wanted to cry; instead, I closed my eyes and rested my head on her shoulder. What I did to Troy was unheard of. I knew something about that dream was off, I should have said something but I stupidly kept my mouth shut. I’d done nothing but stupid things in the last few days. I should have let Melissa tell the Coven about my second change immediately but no, I had to be the idiot. Now here I was in a really bad situation and no matter how much Melissa tried to sugarcoat things, I was in trouble. Public displays of magic were one thing but to actively attack someone---conscious of the act or not---was really bad.

When we finally pulled out of the hug and I opened my eyes, I saw her smiling.

“You’re going to be fine. This isn’t really an official Coven hearing anyway. They’re just going to assess the situation and figure out the next course of action.”

I was reassured by that but only a little.

A moment later, Mr. Wilkes opened my door. “Sorry for the delay ladies.”

It felt weird to be called a lady.

Mr. Wilkes held his hand out and I took it. That felt a little weird. He helped me out of the car and I turned slightly to a look at my surroundings. The first thing I noticed was the large open space. On the car ride over it looked like we were going to the middle of nowhere, in fact it felt like it now. Looking around now it definitely didn’t feel like it. I saw a well manicured landscape complete with hedgerows, flower gardens and marble statues. Turning around I clearly saw a stone wall and iron gate. The car was parked on a road from which a white stone walk led up to one of the biggest houses I’d ever seen. It wasn’t the biggest house in Ravencrest of course but I was never able to see the Locke’s house from the road because of their wall.

So by process of limitation this was definitely the biggest.

It was made of red brick with several peaks---gables---and lots of windows. It was a bit gaudy in places with arches and pillars but I suppose that’s how they liked it back then. I didn’t really know much about Crowley. I didn’t know much about the history of Ravencrest in general. I knew that a lot of the kids used to call this place the old Crowley house and one of the summers I visited, Mary and her friends tried to convince me it was haunted. Looking at the large place in front of me there was nothing haunted about it. Sure, it looked as creepy as hell---it had that haunted house vibe to it---but the lush green vegetation and vibrant colored flowers dispelled any possible haunting as far as I was concerned.

“Right this way ladies,” said Mr. Wilkes.

Melissa and I followed him down the white stone path.

I started to get a creepy vibe the closer we got to the house though. The path was lined with tall hedges and statues. The statues weren’t creepy but the hedges reminded me a bit of the ones from The Shining. That movie freaked the hell out of me. As we got closer to the house though, the hedges dropped away, replaced by flowerbeds. The sweet fragrance of mums and lilies filled the air. I couldn’t but wonder if the flowers were perhaps magicked because they were so bright and beautiful.

When we got to the large porch, the front door opened and a woman greeted us. There was something vaguely familiar about her features. Though in her sixties at least, I could definitely see Maggie in her face. If I were to guess, I’d say she was Maggie’s grandmother at least.

She had a warm smile and when she spoke; her voice had a gentle tone. “You must be Kelly. Maggie has told us so much about you.” She took my hands in hers and gave them a gentle squeeze. “I must say though I wasn’t expecting a pretty young girl?”

I sighed. “It’s complicated.”

The old woman chuckled. “In this town, we’ve seen it all I suppose. You’re not the first new young woman to appear in this house after all.”

Why didn’t that surprise me?

Still holding my hands, she led me into the large house.

I was surprised at the interior. From the outside, I was expecting something grand but things were pretty simple. It was a mishmash of modern and old style, too. There was a lot of old wooden furniture, velvet and elegant but there were also a lot of modern conveniences too. When we passed by the main room for instance the whole arrangement was very modern including the surround sound speakers, giant flatscreen and the large fish tank that dominated one whole wall. The bright colorful fish inside seemed to be the focal point. There was a small boy---maybe five or six---standing in front of it, staring at them.

“Timothy, stop staring at the fish.”

The boy turned and smiled, his two front teeth missing. “Ok, Grammy.”

He didn’t stop looking at the fish though.

Like the older woman, I could see Maggie in his features as well.

The old woman---who finally introduced herself as Joanna---led me further through the house. She talked as we walked, telling me about this and that. Some rooms we went by quickly, others she stopped at their entries and told me about them. One of them appeared to be a small sitting room; it looked like it belonged in the 1900s. Unlike the rest of the rooms, this one didn’t appear to be touched at all by the modern world. I saw a small fireplace, an old wooden desk and bookshelves. There were lots of old leather bound books. My attention though was drawn to the large portrait above the fireplace. It was a youthful looking man with a dull expression.

“Master Crowley” said Joanna “the portrait originally hung in the main room but after the most recent renovations in there, we moved it here.”

I smiled. “You have a lovely home.”

She chuckled. “It’s not our home dear, we’re merely the caretakers.”

After that, we continued our little tour. It ended toward the back of the large house, in what I think was called a sunroom. There was a little table set up for tea but there was no one present except for a large dog. As soon as we stepped into the room, the dog came bounding over. I loved dogs. It annoyed me that we couldn’t have one but Mom didn’t want Diamond to have any disturbances as she called it. A dog would complicate things apparently. Besides that witches had cats, they were the only pets permitted as Familiars.

I bent and started to pet her.

“Buttercup” said a familiar voice from behind me. “What are you doing in here?”

I turned to find Maggie standing behind us. The dog left me and padded over to her before disappearing down the hall. Maggie smiled at me but it was a bit strained. It was nice being at her house but given the circumstances, I could see where she might be a little uneasy.

“I’ll leave you girls alone,” said Joanna as she left.

I sighed. I’d been a lousy friend so far, especially after taking off on her. Then she apparently called my cell like a hundred times, worried sick. I’d been so wrapped up in things that I never once called her back. She probably hated my guts right about now.

Maggie walked over to me and I prepared to be slapped. Instead, she surprised me by giving me a hug.

“What was that for?” I asked when she pulled away.

“I was so worried about you. Then I heard about all of this and I thought something horrible happened.”

“I think it did.”

She nodded. “I heard about Troy.”

“They think I did it and the scary thing is I think they might be right.”

Maggie’s eyes widened a bit and I quickly spoke in a hushed tone, telling her everything that happened after I left the library yesterday. When I was done, she shook her head.

“You can’t be held accountable for something you might have done in your sleep.”

“I’ve heard of stranger things.”

“You want to hear strange. The Coven rarely meets these days and this year so far they’ve met two months in a row.”

“Two months?”

She nodded. “Last month something happened with the Weres. I’m not really sure what but Tracy was here and it was a big mess.”

Tracy, Mary’s friend? Trevor’s sister.

“What did she have to do with it?”

Maggie’s eyes bugged out. “The Lockes are Werewolves, you didn’t know that?”

I shook my head. Holy shit, Trevor was a Were. He seemed so normal. Not that there was anything wrong with that. I didn’t really have all that much interaction with them, Weres, I mean. We ran into them every once in a while during our travels but they were a solitary bunch, kept mostly to themselves. There was also this thing about Weres and Witches, our two races didn’t really get along all that well. I’m not sure why. I was kind of mind-blowing though to know that not only was Mary friends with one but two Weres.

“Did Trevor come too?”

Maggie looked at me strangely. “You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

She laughed. “Trevor and Tracy…”

“Maggie” said Joanna behind us, interrupting whatever she was about to say. “Our other guests are arriving.”

Maggie sighed. “I have to get going. I’ll tell you the big secret later”

She gave me a hug then left.

Joanna walked over to me. “This is an unofficial gathering. The Coven doesn’t usually meet under circumstances like this but they’ve made an exception. If you wait here they’re be with you in a moment.”

With that, she smiled, turned and walked slowly out the door.

A moment later, someone spoke behind me:

“Kelly, be a dear and shut the doors please.”

I jumped. Startled I snapped around and was surprised to see that the once vacant table and chairs were now completely occupied. There were seven women sitting there now, one of them---Cassie---was pouring some tea. I scanned their faces, shocked and awed. I wasn’t shocked to see my grandmother sitting there though. I was a bit surprised to see Mrs. Donovan though, the kindly old woman from the diner. I think she was the one who spoke earlier because she was the only one looking at me.

“Kelly; the doors” said my grandmother, shaking me out of my stupor.

I quickly snapped around and pulled the doors shut.

Mrs. Donovan smiled. “That’s good, dear” Then she held up a teacup. “Would you like some tea?”

I shook my head. What the hell was going on?”

I stunned into silence for a moment and when I finally did find my voice, I stumbled out two words: “What, who?”

The collection of women laughed.

Cassie stood up, giving the others a look before walking over to me. “I know it’s a lot to process. We’re definitely not what you were expecting I’m sure but most of that cloak and dagger stuff is for show.”

I was still too numb to move but I did speak. “Don’t tell me you’re the…”

Cassie nodded. “Guilty as charged.”

“Cassandra, you’re just confusing the poor girl more” said another of the women.

“Girl” hugged another. “She’s no girl. She might look like one but it is an enchantment after all Margaret.”

“That’s what we’re here to find out Dolores,” said Margaret.

The two of them started bickering back and forth. It was silenced however when my grandmother stood up. The other six women in the room looked at her. I looked at her too. I realized then that these women seemed smaller when my grandmother stood. Well not smaller in a physical sense of course but it was as if she seemed to tower over them, bringing an air of superiority to her. I couldn’t help but feel a bit in awe of her myself. At home, she was just my grandmother but here she felt like she controlled the whole room.

I felt like a child again.

“Kelly why don’t you have a seat, we have much to discuss.”

I shook my head. “I think I’d prefer to stand.”

Cassie placed her hands gently on my shoulders and led me over to the table. Suddenly there was another chair there which she gently pushed me in to. I didn’t resist in the least. My grandmother smiled as Cassie took her empty seat then she too sat down. As soon as she did, the women seemed to visibly relax.

“We’re not here to pass any kind of judgment today,” my grandmother said, her voice had a gentle but firm tone to it. “We are here to discuss the nature of my grandchild and what must be done about it.”

I’m not sure I liked the sound of that.

“I thought I was here to talk about what happened with Troy?”

Mrs. Donovan spoke. “That incident has already been handled. The young man in question was put into a coma by us. His injuries from the crash were not severe; he will wake in a day or two without any memory of anything from the last few days.”

I couldn’t help but sigh. “Then why did the Inquisitor make it sound like I did it.”

Mrs. Donovan chuckled. “Grace has a flair for the dramatics”. She cast a look at Dolores. “Like her mother.”

Dolores huffed, giving Mrs. Donovan a cross look.

“So I didn’t hurt him?”

“You caused the crash” said Dolores with contempt “but the boy was unharmed.”

“That’s not why we’re here,” said my grandmother.

Margaret spoke. “My granddaughter has already told me all about the change. She’s been with the girl since the second time; she called me the moment it happened. Kelly didn’t do this to herself; whatever brought it about was not within her control.”

All the women cast glances at one another. Then they all looked at my grandmother.

“The tests on the matter have come back inconclusive. We could run more but I fear they’d give us the same results. Like Melissa suggested to him earlier, the changes will keep coming. He could be back to a boy tomorrow and girl a few hours after that. The changes are reckless.”

Perhaps a blocker then?”

The woman who spoke hadn’t spoken before. She was sitting in-between Mrs. Donovan and Cassie.

My grandmother nodded. “I was thinking the same thing.”

She reacted down to a bag at her feet and when she came back up, she was holding a small necklace case. She opened it up and took out the necklace inside. It was a simple silver chain with a little silver pendant on the end. When she held it up, the light caught it slightly. The pendant looked like a little moon. It had a cheap look to it but I could tell that there was some power to it as well. Looking at it, I couldn’t help but feel that belonged to me.

“I made this the night of the first change,” she said as she stood up. “I crafted a bit of your blood and a strand of your hair into the weave.”

She walked around the table and stood behind me. She held my hair and then fastened the necklace around my neck. She dropped my hair a second later. I reached up and touched the pendant, feeling a spark. I pulled away my hand quickly.

“What does it do?”

As soon as I spoke, I realized my question was already answered. I hear it in my voice, no longer the melodious tone it had been before. It was back to a tone I was more than familiar with, my own. I reached up and touched my throat, feeling the Adam’s Apple. Then I looked at my hand, realizing it was no longer as small and dainty as before. Looking down at my flat chest only confirmed it and I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
I was back to being a boy.

When I looked up, I was shocked to see that everyone but my grandmother were gone. I blinked, amazed at the power of magic that these women used.

“Is this permanent?” I asked, surprised at how strange I thought I sounded now.

My grandmother sighed. “Only time will tell.”

She stood up and walked toward the doors. She stopped before pulling them open, turning to say one last thing.

“For what it’s worth, I think it’s better this way.”

She pulled open the doors and left.

I sat there stunned. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting but I didn’t expect this. Sure, I wanted this but I was certain that there was no going back.

“You OK?” asked Maggie’s soft voice as she walked into the room.

I turned to her and nodded. “I’m fine.”

“Then why are you crying?”

I reached up and touched my cheek, not even realizing it until I felt the wetness. I was crying, how had I not noticed. That scared me a little but not as much as the confusion of the tears. Was I crying because I was happy to be a boy again or was it because I was no longer a girl?

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