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Author's Note: I tried to get this one written sooner but every time I went to do so something came up. I finally sat down last night and told myself I was going to finish it, no matter what. I achieved that goal :) I'd like to thank djkauf and Indy for the magical editing and everyone for enjoying this universe :)

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FIFTEEN:

“You let the other one escape?”

“I was a bit preoccupied.”

Two voices woke me. I blinked and looked around the room blurry eyed for a moment, not raising my head. A quick look was all I needed to tell me I wasn’t at home. Blinking again, my vision came into better focus. The room was big; the furniture I could see looked really old. Instead of the canopy above me, there were four posts. It should have frightened me---passing out and waking up somewhere else but I knew this room. I’d been here before, albeit very briefly. It was the room in the Crowley Manor, the one I stayed in when I was a guest here last week. I couldn’t help but groan at the implication. When I collapsed, whoever found me must have brought me here.

“Preoccupied” said the familiar one of the two voices. “I thought you knew what you were doing.”

I knew that voice, it was hard not to recognize.

The Inquisitor.

“Would you rather I left the girl in the street?”

The other voice was a man, possibly the one who picked me.

The two speakers lowered their voices after that, seemingly drifting off.

I raised my head slightly and realized that they weren’t actually in the room. With that little bit of info, I sat up fully. The first thing I noticed was the shifting of my breasts. I looked down and gasped. What were once tiny A cups, easily concealable, were now back to the C cup size of before. I was thrilled and surprised at the same time. It must have been the necklace or rather removing it. I’m not sure what happened exactly but it looks like by breaking the charm, the rest of my female self broke through. I confirmed it quickly with a hand between my legs; I was fully girl down there as well. I wanted to be elated but the situation I was currently in was keeping me from hopping up and down.

I quickly took stock of the situation.

Last night came back to me. The party, having a good time, then Jack ruining it all. I can’t say that I really blamed him. We both got a bit caught up in things and it went too far. I should never have danced with him then none of this would have never happened. No, that’s not true. If I’d told someone the other day about those asses trying to grab me then none of this would have never happened. No matter how I look at it---no matter the scenario---it’s my fault. I couldn’t help but feel a bit stupid. I’m still not sure why I didn’t run to someone and tell them. It was one of things in the back of my mind but every time I went to do so it was as if something was keeping me back. Not something, I knew what it was: foolish pride.

I slipped out of bed, my pressing need to go to the bathroom overwhelming. I looked around the room, finding another door off in the corner. I rushed to it but found a large closet. Cursing, I looked around. The room was rather big, definitely bigger than my room back at “home”. Last time I was here I didn’t really get much time to explore it now I was starting to see how limited it really was. There didn’t appear to be a bathroom for one thing. Most of the room was taken up by antiquated furniture, pieces from a bygone era. I paid little attention to that and went to the window, pulling open the large curtains. The morning sun poured into the room, nearly blinding me with its brightness. After the spots disappeared from my eyes, I took a look outside.

My room had a great view of the courtyard and the gardens. Lots of brightly colored flowers made it look like a beautiful menagerie down there. I looked for a few minutes, followed the cobble stone path with my eyes until it led to the road. Beyond that, I couldn’t see anything because it was obscured by trees. This place was a mystery and I think that’s what made it so appealing. It was a shame that I only came here when something bad happened, though. It was so beautiful here; if I were Maggie, I would never want to leave home.

I turned away from the window and decided I really needed the bathroom. I rushed across the room to the door only to find it locked. I twisted the handle a few times then banged on it more than once but it was no use. Why the hell would they lock me in? Defeated I returned back to the bed and sat down in a huff. Was I a prisoner here? Was that what that conversation was really all about? They were clearly talking about the incident in the alley, the one that ruined my birthday. A birthday I sadly didn’t even really get to enjoy. If I ever saw either of those guys again I was going to flay them alive.

I felt my anger start to rise, my body tingled. All the lights in the room started to flicker, the tips of my fingers started to spark. I gasped in surprise, forcing myself to calm down but not before one of the light bulbs popped.

Just then, the door chose to open. Melissa stepped into the room. I’m not sure if she saw the bulb pop or not but she frowned as she entered. “I see you’re awake, I also see what the others were talking about.”

I jumped off the door, still angry. “Why is the door locked? Am I a prisoner now?”

My anger caused the lights to flicker again.

“Calm down before you bring the room down around us,” she snapped.

There was authority in her voice, power too. My anger ebbed away in an instant. I felt like a little kid who touched a burner and got scolded by an angry mother. Double burned if you will.

I dropped back down on the bed. “Sorry.”

“That’s better,” she said as she shut the door behind her and walked into the room. “I see that that anger of yours is going to be a real problem.”

“How would you feel if you woke up and found your door locked?”

“Scared.”

I nodded, tearing up slightly. Stupid hormones. Melissa came over and sat down next to me, pulling me into a hug. She held me for a minute or two as I cried. They were little tears though and over pretty quick. When I was down, she tried to smile but it kept turning into a frown.

“You really know how to stir things up don’t you?”

“How bad is it?”

“The one we found in the alley was pretty torn up. I’m not sure what happened but whatever you did to him shattered nearly every bone in his body. He’s in a magically induced coma right now, you’re lucky you didn’t kill him.”

I felt no love lost for him. “I wish I had. He’s Black Cross.”

Melissa’s eyes popped open. “You sure?”

I nodded. “He’s one of the two guys that tried to grab me back home. They tried the same thing Friday morning before school.”

“And you didn’t say anything?” I lowered my head in shame like a dog. “Damn it Kelly, how can I protect you if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”

Once again being scolded like a child.

“I’m sorry,” I said, tearing up again. “I wanted to tell you, I just… I messed up. I’m not sure what happened. Things got out of control then it was my birthday. I was going to call you yesterday morning then this necklace came…”

“What necklace?”

I reached into my shirt and showed her. “This one.”

Melissa’s eyes popped again. He hand then flew at my neck, snatching the beaded accessory. She tugged with a strength that I didn’t expect. There was a slight burn and then the necklace snapped free. She flung it on the ground. I watched in amazement as it caught fire and turned to ash.

“What the hell?”

“It’s a Snake Charm,” said Melissa, clasping shut the hand she used to pull it off with. “A particularly nasty one too. I’m not sure what it would have done but they’re used by a lot of Dark Magic users. You’re lucky I got to it quickly or else the damn thing would have never come off.”

I rubbed my neck. “Why is this happening to me?”

Melissa pulled into another quick hug before saying. “This is definitely getting out of hand” She pulled away, taking a quick look at her hand before continuing. “Here I thought it was another isolated incident of yours but there’s a lot more to it than we thought. I need to go for a bit but I promise to be back later. Is there anything you need before I leave?”

I nodded. “The bathroom.”

She smiled. “C’mon, I’ll take you.”

The bathroom was just down the hall. I peed quickly and then found myself standing in front of the mirror. I was staring at my neck, more specifically at the spot where the Snake Charm had been. There was a slight red mark there now, I’m not sure if it was from Melissa pulling it off my neck or from the burn I felt before she did so. I reached up and started rubbing, hoping it would go away but it didn’t. I frowned and cursed my stupidity. Thanks to my parents, I’d heard about a lot of things, Snake Charms were bad. They were used by a lot of dark magic users just like Melissa said. What she didn’t say was that they came in all kinds. They were usually items like rings or necklaces and usually created for a specific purpose.

What the hell was I thinking? I should never have put that damn thing on. What the hell was wrong with me lately? First, I neglected to tell anyone about the almost kidnapping and then I stupidly put on a necklace from an unmarked package I got in the mail. Was I losing my mind or was I just being so damn careless that I was missing the little things.

I groaned and splashed some water in my face before leaving the bathroom. Melissa was outside the door and led me back to my room.

“I have to go and talk to a few people but I’ll be back later, ok?”

I nodded and she left.

When I walked into the room, I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Maggie sitting on the bed. Her eyes locked with mine for a second then she rushed me, throwing her arms around me in a tight hug. She got me crying again, which fit in nicely with her own. We stood like that for a bit before she let me go.

“Never a dull moment with you around is it?”

I shrugged. “I don’t plan these things Mags.”

“You sure?”

I sighed. “I wish I knew.”

She nodded, falling silent. Her silence didn’t last though. “Well it’s a good thing I came to cheer you up.”

She rushed over to the side of the bed, dragging a large garbage bag. She opened it up and I caught sight of what was inside: presents.
“What girl leaves her own party before opening her gifts?”

I couldn’t help but smile, at least I could be happy for the moment. I’d deal with everything else when it came but here and now, I wanted to spend some time with my friend.

We spent an hour opening all my presents. Most of them were cards with gift certificates but some of them were actual gifts. Lots of jewelry and other things. It was nice that people I didn’t know went out of their way to get me something. I surprised myself a bit, as the two of us went through it all. I was giddy with excitement, something I couldn’t remember ever being. I’m not sure what exactly came over me but I was enjoying this. Even when we were all done, I was still having the best time of my life.

“Five hundred and sixty dollars” said Maggie with a smile. “And that’s just the gift cards; I haven’t even counted the cash.”

“Cash? People gave me cash?”

“Hey you’re popular now.”

Popular? How did that even happen? If someone were to use me and popular in the same sentence last month I would have laughed at them. Then again, if I told myself last month I was going to be a girl the next month I would have had myself committed.

“What do you mean popular? No one knows I’m there.”

“That’s part of your mystique apparently. I was talking with a lot of people last night and they all told me you’re cool because you blend in. Everyone knows who you are because of it.”

“That makes no sense.”

She shrugged. “Hey this is high school, stuff isn’t supposed to.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. When did Maggie become the great sage of all things teenager and how did I miss it.

We spent some time counting my actual cash; I pulled in another five hundred bucks. I guess I was definitely a lot more popular than I thought. My eyes were as big as saucers as I looked at it all. I don’t think I ever had that much cash in my life. Well at not that much at one time. Sadly, any money I made in the past went to video games and comic books. I had an extensive collection of both actually but looking at this cash now, I felt like I needed to save it. What I was saving it for I didn’t know but I’d been frivolous with my money in the past, blowing it all like a kid in a candy store.

We started sorting my things into piles. Maggie had a duffel she was going to lend me so I could take my stuff home.

“It’s a shame you didn’t get to go to the rest of your own party,” she said as we were finishing up.

“After what happened, I don’t think I was in a partying mood.”

“It worked to your advantage though. When you disappeared everyone thought you were doing it on purpose, adding to the mystique.”

Great, that’s what I needed. More perverse popularity.

Only in Ravencrest.

Neither one of us wanted to talk about last night. Sure, we could talk about the party but we didn’t want to brooch the alley incident. After I came into the room earlier and she wrapped me in her death hug, we discussed it briefly. She told me how worried she’d gotten last night when I stormed out of there. She also told me she was no longer talking to Jack because of it. She didn’t know what he did but had been convinced he was the cause. He definitely wasn’t my favorite person either. I was trying to enjoy my party and I really was until he butted his head in. The whole thing with Jack was kind of strange to begin with. I couldn’t deny that I felt something for him but I’m not sure why I ended up acting upon it though.

“Jack is public enemy number one for a while,” I said, making it well known.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

We laughed a bit. We would have continued to do so if not for the knock on the door. Maggie got up quicker, rushing to the door as she did so. When she opened it, I could already feel all the fun sucked out of the room. On the other side was Melissa holding a white dress, a sour look on her face. Behind her was the Inquisitor. The woman looked as nasty as ever, even more so today than before.

“Kelly” said Melissa before my favorite person interrupted.

“Miss Daniels” she said with some contempt. “It is my duty to inform you that you have been hereby summoned to a council with the Coven.”

Why didn’t that sound like tea in the sunroom again?

Melissa took charge again. “This is an official meeting so you must wear this” She held up the dress.

A dress? I guess it was all in now. I hadn’t really thought about wearing a dress. Sure, I kind of liked this whole girl thing now but I was hoping to take it one step at a time. First shorts then maybe a skirt and finally after several weeks a dress.

“What’s it for?”

Melissa smiled. “It’s the dress that Novices wear.”

“So I’m a Novice now?”

I couldn’t help but feel a bit excited at that.

The Inquisitor scoffed. “Hardly. All young women are required to wear the dress when in official presence of the Coven.” She turned to Melissa. “You have five minutes; I’ll be outside the door.”

She turned and left, leaving me alone with Melissa and Maggie.

“Did someone pee in her cereal?”

Maggie laughed. Melissa smiled.

“Grace is a bit intense. You should have seen her when she was babysitting me as a kid. Even back then she was a bit…well…let’s just say she shouldn’t be in charge of children.”

“Scarlet is cool though” added Maggie “how she ever got that way with a Mom like that.”

The Inquisitor had a daughter, would wonders never cease.

“Ok, cut the chatter,” said Melissa with a sigh. “I need you in this and you need to do something with her hair.”

The two of them moved quickly. I barely had time to take a breath before they were furiously stripping me. I’ve never had someone else take my clothes off before but I could see the rush. When I was down to my underwear, Melissa pulled the dress over my head. It was surprisingly light and airy. I’m not sure what it was made out of but it was really soft too. I found myself absently running my fingertips along the fabric. While I was doing that, Maggie was attacking my hair with a brush. I had to say that hurt quite a bit----I don’t think I ever brushed it. Hell I haven’t really been a girl that long. There were a few tearful moments as she got stuck on a really bad snag.

When the five minutes were up, I was presentable as I was going to get.

“It’s not great,” said Melissa with a sigh. “but it will have to do.”

“Thanks, I think” I said, not sure how to take her words.

“She didn’t mean it like that,” said Maggie, shooting Melissa a glare. “It’s just that with a little more time we could have made you look gorgeous.”

Gorgeous? Did I want to look gorgeous?

“You’re a lot like my sister Darcy,” said Melissa as she put her hand gently on my shoulder. “You’re both really pretty girls but you just don’t know it.”

I couldn’t imagine anyone in Melissa’s family not thinking they were pretty. Melissa was gorgeous; I would kill to have shiny hair like hers. If her sister looked anything like her then she was clearly blind if she didn’t think she was pretty too.

A knock on the door interrupted the moment. Maggie didn’t need to rush to the door to open it. The door opened on its own and the Inquisitor stuck her head in.
“Time’s up ladies” she said, opening the door all the way.

I felt butterflies. They weren’t the good kind either.

“Go, we’ll be here when you get back,” said Melissa giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Maggie gave me an encouraging smile before I took a deep breath and nodded toward the Inquisitor.

The walk with the Inquisitor took me through a lot of narrow hallways and down a few staircases. When we finally got to our destination, we were at the end of a long hallway. Before me was a solid looking wooden door, very ominous and threatening. I would have been less frightened but it’s not every day one gets walked down a corridor that was lit by actual torches. The light only extended a little beyond the torch’s range then it was nothing but darkness. If I didn’t feel like I was in a horror movie before I definitely felt like it now.
The Inquisitor took something from her pocket and laid it gently on the door. I never saw what it was but the door clicked.

She stepped aside as the door opened. “You have to enter first.”

I nodded and took a slow step forward. The room I stepped into once I crossed the threshold surprised me. It was bigger than I thought, rounded on the sides too. There were torches dotting the walls like the corridor and a strange bleacher like structure in the back. The benches there were empty. I turned away from that to the large podium like structure on the other side of the room. I saw seven robed figures sitting there; one was sitting more forward than the other. I locked my eyes on this figure, releasing that it had to be my grandmother. The figure’s head followed me as I walked further into the room, slowly approaching the single chair in the center of it.

“Sit down Kelly,” said the front figure, even though I knew it was her, the voice sounded nothing like hers.

It made me shudder a bit. I dropped into the chair quickly.

The Inquisitor walked into the room. “High Councilor, Members of the Coven. I bring you one Kelly Daniels.”

My grandmother---the High Councilor nodded. “Kelly Daniels, you are brought here today to answer for your actions. Do you have any words before we begin this tribunal?”

Words? “I’m not sure I understand what’s going on? Am I being accused of something?”

One of the other members spoke. “Did you not willingly use magic in the presence of Norms?”

“Are you talking about Troy?” There were murmurs and nods. “You know about that. I thought I was already punished for that.”

“You were. This tribunal will take into account all your actions,” said my grandmother.

“Tell us of the events from last night,” asked another one of the figures.

I sighed. I took a deep breath and in as much detail as I possibly could, I told them what happened. I didn’t start with last night though, I started with back home. I told them about the two men in the car trying to grab me and how I narrowly escaped. Then I told them about the second attempt in the street when Tommy came to my aid. I went into detail about the college, my controlled friend and the chase to the airport. When I jumped ahead to the other day---to the kidnapping attempt on the way to school---I was interrupted.

“You knew these two men were in the town?” asked one of the Members.

I nodded. “I’m sorry I didn’t report them. I’m not sure what happened…I wanted too but…”

There was more murmurs.

“You admit to willingly keeping this information from us?”

I shook my head. “I wasn’t keeping it from you. Like I said I wanted to tell someone but I couldn’t.”

“Couldn’t or wouldn’t?”

What the hell were they accusing me of? Did they honestly think that I would willingly keep this from them? Why the hell would I want to keep my attempted kidnaping from them?

“Yeah sure” I said sarcastically. “I wanted to keep this from you so they could come back and try to grab me in a dark alley.”

“The sass is unnecessary”.

“So are the stupid questions?” I snapped.

I knew it was a dumb thing to say but I was starting to get a bit peeved. I was the victim here and they were treating me like I was the bad guy. I could already start to feel my anger rising. I could feel the power at my fingertips, tingling and itching to be let loose.

The Coven didn’t like my snappy reply. They started murmuring again. I found it hard to believe that underneath those robes they were a bunch of elderly women. Well except for Cassie of course. I tried to find her among them but with the dark shrouds covering their heads she could be any of them. Searching their faces, I could feel them probing mine; most likely looking for whatever it is they thought I was guilty of. Was it truly the use of magic when Norms were present---something I knew was a big No No--- or was it something else.

“Miss Daniels” said my grandmother, speaking above the murmurs. “Will you please continue with your retelling of events?”

My anger slowly subsided. I took a moment or two to collect my thoughts before continuing. I told them everything about last night, making sure I let them know how excited I was to have a real birthday party and how upset I was that I couldn’t get to truly enjoy it. They probably didn’t care about that stuff but they seemed to care an awful lot about my retelling of the fight. I really piqued their interest when I talked about tearing off their precious necklace and the wave of backlash it caused when I did so.

“These men” said one of the Members, she had a gentler tone. “They were the very same who tried to abduct you in California?”

I nodded. “Scar Face and Baldy. They both have Black Cross tattoos. I think Mom and Dad thought they were only after me to get to them but that’s clearly not what they wanted.”

“Inquisitor, did you interview the witness?”

Witness? There was a witness?

“I did, High Councilor. I spoke to Mr. Locke for a long time. He told me about being at the party protecting his charge and how he overheard the fight. When he got there, Miss Daniels was already wiped out from the use of magic and one of her assailants had fled. He chose to aid Miss Daniels instead of pursuing.”

She said that last bit with some contempt.

So one of the Lockes rescued me. He must have been the guy who carried me.

“Would he testify this in front of this Coven?”

“The Were is outside if you wish to speak to him. I think it unnecessary” said the Inquisitor “but if you must speak with him.”

She waved her hand and the door opened. I snapped my head around to get a glimpse of him. I could sight of a tall figure, his face hidden in the shadows. I did get to see one of his arms though and noticed a particularly interesting tattoo, long and black wrapped around the whole of his arm. I’d seen guys with simple ink; it was kind of cool actually. I couldn’t help but smile a bit.

“That won’t be necessary Inquisitor,” said my grandmother “I have already spoken to Mr. Locke. He has told me everything that he knows.”

The Inquisitor nodded.

“Miss Daniels, is there anything else you wish to add to your story?”

I shook my head. “I told you everything I know.”

My grandmother nodded. “This Coven has heard all the evidence. What say you?”

“Severe punishment” said one, she had a shrill voice. “This girl has proven herself unworthy of her gift. She deliberately attacked a human in broad daylight in front of several others, she willingly kept important information from us then engaged in another event that cost one man his life and allowed the other to escape.”

Cost him his life? No that wasn’t possible. “He was alive when I left the alley,” I snapped, jumping from my chair. “I didn’t kill anyone.”

“Sit down Kelly” snapped my grandmother, for a moment her spelled voice failed and a bit of her true voice broke through.

It sent shivers down my spine. I dropped back into my chair.

“Your magical signature was all over the alley,” said the Inquisitor “The strength of it was unbalanced. You could not have known what something like that could have done. You murdered the man but it was not your fault.”

I shook my head, tearing up. “He was alive. I heard him groan, saw him move.”

“Accidents happen Kelly” she spoke in a gentle tone, placing her hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged it off.

“I know what I saw.”

“The girl is distraught,” said the very same shrill Member. “Clearly she does not have the prowess to handle the responsibility of her gift. I vote we bind her magic and be done with it.”

A Binding. I felt sick to my stomach. I knew all about bindings. When Black Magic users were captured, they endured either one of two punishments. The really bad ones were killed on the spot, they usually didn’t get trials. The others were given elaborate trials but it always led to the same thing: a Binding. But they had to be unanimous. If they weren’t, then the Vote of Binding could not go through. I knew that much at least.

I stared at all the Members, trying to read which one would dare vote for it.

I knew my grandmother’s hands were tied. Once a petition of Binding was set forth, a Vote had to be made. There was no denying it. However, if four of the seven ruled against it, then the Binding couldn’t go through. I’m not sure what happened after that. It was rare to call a Binding, more rare to call one on a non-black magic user.

“What say you on Binding Kelly Daniels?”

I watched them again. My eyes were on them all. I wasn’t the least bit surprised when the shrill one voted for it. I was surprised when she got another companion to side with her. I felt my anger rise a bit, the tingling tickling my fingers. As the Vote went around though, my anger quickly subsided. First one then another voted against it. Soon it was four to two. I let out a big sigh of relief after that. I visibly relaxed. The Binding Vote had failed. Even if my grandmother were to rule for it, it still wouldn’t pass. Four to Three always one. I couldn’t help but smile though I was still scared. I’d never heard of anyone ever beating a Binding. I’m sure it happened but it wasn’t common knowledge about what happened afterwards.

“The Vote has been made” my grandmother said, “The Binding will not proceed.”

I heard very audible grumbles. I also heard what sounded like relief in my grandmother’s voice. That surprised me a bit. I was certain she would be the first person who would have wanted me Bound.

“With the Binding off the table, there is only one course of action I see fit,” said The High Councilor with triumph. “It is the decision of this Coven that Miss Daniels learns to control her gift.”

There was a scoff. It was ignored.

I’m not sure I understood what that meant.

“Miss Daniels” my grandmother continued. “From this day forth you are now a Novice under this Coven. You will be given a book of your mother’s, a teacher and taught to control and contain your gift. That is the ruling of this Coven and it is final. Blessed Be.”

“Blessed Be” murmured the others.

A Novice? Me?

Now that I didn’t expect.

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