In Memoriam

by Michael Beaulieu

  “Alrighty, then,” Lia says.

  Shar rolls her eyes.

  January glares at me.

  I return my attention to the coven. Just as I’m wishing they’d give us candles, George waves us over.

  “I think they’re giving us candles,” I say and stand. Everyone gets up and we walk over. The girls all leave their purses on the table so I reluctantly leave Kat’s backpack beside mine. I’m sure nobody in the coven would steal it, but there are several other people here, too. As we wait to get candles, I look at the collage, which shows Kat with lots of family and friends, doing things like walking on the beach at night, skiing and chilling at cafes. Then I see a photo that makes me take pause. It must have been printed from security camera footage because it’s a photo of Kat and I talking that time I asked her if she could help us. I wonder if this is meant to flatter me or if someone is fucking with me, trying to make me feel worse than I already do.

  I try not to think about that as we receive candles from the left side of the altar, and the casually dressed people get them from the right. See, what is really bugging me at the moment is that none of the other non-coven people are wearing black. One of the guys is wearing a Metallica shirt, for fuck’s sake. I hope Kat was a fan and he didn’t just wear that because he didn’t care enough to at least turn the shirt inside out so it’d look like a plain black t-shirt. What bugs me most, however, is this woman who’s wearing a red dress. It’s a darker red, probably crimson, which makes me think of blood, which makes me think of Kat’s snake bites bleeding as she died. I also can’t help but notice that it’s the same color as my period blood. Gross.

  “Could the coven please form a circle,” the high priest asks. Everyone in the coven, George included, gets in a circle. There are tall purple candles on the ground where each of them ends up standing.

  The high priestess then raises the athame, which is at least four inches longer than ours, and glows yellow in her hand instead of sparking. She makes a pentacle in the air with it then she takes it and proceeds to walk behind the altar and around the entire circle the coven is in three times. That way, the altar is within the circle. Unfortunately, it feels like it takes [fucking] forever since they’re a large coven – I counted fifteen of them, not counting the high priest and priestess. They’re probably an odd number instead of an even because they’re down one right now with Kat passing. Then again, traditional covens often consisted of 13 people. Some witches even believe that Jesus was one of the first high priests and that the 12 apostles were his coven. I’m not sure I buy that, but it’s an interesting theory.

  Once she’s back behind the altar, the high priest rings the bell three times again. The high priestess then points the athame skyward again and says, “Guardians of the North, South, East and West, we call upon you and ask that you guard this sacred circle and protect it from any negative being or entity that may try to enter. So mote it be.”

  My friends and I all say it along with the coven, “So mote it be.” Some of the other non-coven people say it as well. They could be witches, too, just not part of this coven. [Although, wouldn’t witches show Kat some fucking respect and wear black?]

  The high priest looks at me and my friends and smiles, so I guess we were supposed to say it with them. Score one for Emma and the outcasts. Hmm, maybe that’s what we should call our extended, magickal family? Since we aren’t all in a coven together but we’re definitely a group. But I guess nobody would like being called an outcast. Although, we kind of are. And it’s wittier than just calling ourselves the Scooby Gang, which I started because the friends on Buffy refer to their group as the Scooby Gang. But I think the homage has gone on long enough.

  As the high priest looks up and invites the Lord and Lady to join us, I’m suddenly struck with an intense headache. It’s in the center of my head and it feels like the two halves of my brain are being pulled apart. I wince and double over, but January thinks quick and places her hand on my head, making the headache go away as fast as it hit. Thank Goddess. I want to pay attention to this. But I probably deserved the headache for punching her.

  The priestess raises a chalice and says, “To Lord and Lady,” and drinks some of the wine then she hands it to the high priest, who does the same. Then he steps around the altar and hands it to the nearest person in the circle. They pass it around, each of them saying “To Lord and Lady” before they take a sip. I really wish my friends and I could be in the circle. Maybe that’s why the word outcasts popped into my head – I feel like one right now.

  As they continue passing the wine around, I look at my friends. But I do it mostly out of the corner of my eye so it still looks like I’m paying attention to the ceremony. January’s black eye is really starting to show. Looks like it’s doubled in size since we left to come here this afternoon. Although, part of it could be that she accidentally touched it and rubbed some of the make up off. Sadly, Lia and Shar look like they’re beating themselves up big time. You can see the guilt all over their faces, the corners of their mouths dipped downwards and their faces nearly pale.

  Once the chalice has been returned to the altar, the high priest says something in a language I don’t understand. It kind of sounds like Latin, but it’s probably an ancient language used by pagans.

  Everyone in the coven starts chanting and walking in a circle. I still can’t make out a word. I wish I knew if they were doing a prayer, or if this is their version of singing, or doing a spell, or what. I think it’s a little rude for them to use a language that nearly half the people here don’t know even if it is kind of beautiful.

  Do you know what language that is? I ask January telepathically. She knows the language of the fae so maybe something they’re chanting is similar.

  I don’t know what language it is, but my brain is translating it into English anyway.

  I give her a confused look.

  She smirks. It’s a fairy thing. Anyway, they’re chanting for the Lord and Lady to welcome Kat into the Summerland and let her meet them again next week on Samhain when the veil is thin.

  Maybe that’s why Kat doesn’t want to come out? Because they’d feel weird doing this ceremony if they knew she was already in the Summerland and that she’d already come back. And people need their rituals, especially when grieving.

  The chanting stops and the coven stops walking. Everyone is back at the candles they were standing by before they started going around in a circle. Now they turn their attention back to the high priest and priestess.

  My phone vibrates a couple times, but I just leave it there in my pocket. I feel bad since it might be Krystal or Priscilla but they know I’m at the memorial.

  “Now we will relax and talk about our memories of Kat,” the high priestess says as she pierces the circle with the athame. “Who would like to go first?”

  “I would,” George says. “Kat and I were roommates for nearly ten years and –

  George stops short as huge flames shoot out of the ground, circling around the coven. They must be six feet tall. You can barely see the top of a few heads.

  “What the...” I mutter.

  “This can’t be good,” Jim says.

  “It’s probably part of the ritual,” Lia says to Shar.

  “But the priestess just broke the circle,” Shar replies. “The ceremony is over.”

  “Maybe we should all get out of here,” January says.

  Most of the people who aren’t dressed in black are backing away.

  We hear the coven’s voices from inside the circle and they’re panicked. I think they’re saying a protection spell.

  Pete swallows hard. “I think January is right. Let’s bolt.”

  “You guys can go, but I’m staying,” I say. I want to grab January and Jim’s hands and run like hell because this is bizarre and scary, but something compels me to stay. Maybe I can’t bring myself to ditch these people when I’ve already cost them one of their own? [Or maybe I’m just looking for an excuse to play hero again?] No, t
hat’s not right. I hate being considered a hero. Heroes aren’t as flawed [or fucked up] as I am.

  George appears beside us, having teleported out. A few others teleport out, too, each of them bringing someone else from the coven along with them. Then they go back in for the rest of them. Except for George, who starts screaming, “Everyone who isn’t a witch, get out of here now! Something bad is coming and we don’t need to worry about protecting you! Go, go, go!”

  “Think it’s a demon?” I ask George, shouting over the roar of the flames, which have just grown louder. [Although I’m pretty sure I already know the answer.]

  He shivers. “‘That’s my best guess.” Then he starts yelling at people again. “Seriously, please leave for your own safety. It isn’t safe here.”

  Even some of the people dressed in black start fleeing along with those in regular clothes.

  People are yelling that we should leave, too. My friends are all looking at me, as if for permission, but I can’t just leave. What would Kat think?

  “You should leave, too!” a woman in black shouts to George and the other members of the coven who’ve escaped the circle.

  “Not while we still have people in there!” George yells back.

  One of the women in the coven begins to levitate her way over the flames, but just as she’s passing over them the flames shoot up as high as the house and she gets caught in them, screaming as she catches fire and falls to the ground.

  Pete runs over to her and says a spell as fast as he can, “Water spirits come to me. Let pour forth the water that we need. River, stream, lake, river and sea, let healing water flow through me. Lord and Lady, I call on you, so mote it be.” As soon as he’s done saying that water starts spraying out of the palms of his hands. Lots and lots of water. You’d think his arms were fire hoses. It immediately puts the fire out. Unfortunately, it does not appear to have healed her at all; she’s badly burned.

  January goes over and places her hands on the woman’s legs, as those are burned the worst. You can see the black nerves. I have to try not to stare, but I can’t help but look. The only instances where I’ve seen such awful burns before have been when January has torched someone, but they deserve it. [Fucking chaos is erupting here and I like it.] Wait, what the fuck am thinking? I want these flames to go away and everything to be back to normal, not fucking chaos. What’s the matter with me? Be mindful of yourself, Emma!

  The members of the coven are all looking at each other with worried faces, but nobody says a thing. Meanwhile, my stupid phone vibrates again.

  “There are still some people inside,” the high priest says to the high priestess and they teleport inside.

  We all look at the flames, which are still raging. Pete sprays the fire with his magick water, but he can’t make a big enough hole in it for someone to get through. A few members of the coven are hitting it with water, too, but their efforts are just as useless.

  Suddenly, we hear people inside the circle screaming for dear life. The fire must have spread within the circle. Shit! What the fuck can we do? [Rien du tout!]

  “George?” Lia shouts in order to be heard over the flames. “What can we do?”

  His words come out rapidly. “Just go, get out of here. My coven will deal with this, but having to protect you and your friends will only make that harder.”

  Jim gets up and joins Pete. They stretch their arms out, palms facing the flames. Together they shout, “Water spirits come to me. Let pour forth the water that we need. River, stream, lake, river and sea, let healing water flow through me. Lord and Lady, I call on you, so mote it be.” Water comes bursting out from all four of their hands. It creates a tunnel of water within the flames.

  Someone comes into the tunnel. The flames on them immediately go out, but they have trouble coming through the tunnel because of the force of the water pushing against them. I recognize the crown of horns; it’s the high priestess.

  That’s it, I have to do something. I teleport into the tunnel, grab her and teleport out of the fire. We’re all surprised to see that she’s completely uninjured. No burns.

  “Those must be some talismans,” I say to her. “Can you stop this fire?”

  “We’re sure as hades going to try but you and your friends need to leave now.”

  “That’s what I said,” George says, sounding like a tattle tale, telling on us for not leaving.

  Well, we’re still not leaving. I turn to the high priestess. “My friends and I killed an evil witch who possessed the magick of over two dozen witches she’d killed over the years. If we could handle that, I think we can handle this.”

  The high priestess glares at me for a second then she turns her attention to the fire and says something in that language I didn’t understand and it pushes the flames back a good ten feet, revealing the dead bodies of three people from the coven. “Nooooo!”

  The flames start to withdraw even further, but then a fireball comes soaring out of them and it’s so strong it’s unaffected by the high priestess’ spell. In fact, it hits her in the center of the chest, causing her to fall backwards onto the ground and shriek; she’s burning now

  “I’ve got it,” Pete says and runs over and sprays her. Who knew he could be useful as a witch?

  “I... I – it shouldn’t have burned me. Something’s very wrong here!” the high priestess cries out. She says something else in that language I couldn’t understand, and places her hands on her chest. Then her hands glow; she removes them a moment later, and she’s healed herself. Her skin is still a bit red, but that’s it.

  I feel a hand on my shoulder and shudder, but when I look over I see that it’s Kat. My friends can all see her, too. As can the members of the coven who’ve survived [this glorious fire when they should have gone willingly to the ninth dimension. I hear it’s a 24/7 party down there.] Wait – what?

  “Why is this happening?” I ask Kat. At this point the screams have ceased; those who were still in there are presumably dead now, but the flames still roar and boy are they loud.

  “I don’t know!” she shouts.

  The flames have filled the circle again. Pete returns to helping Jim with the tunnel, though nobody uses it. [I bet they’re all burned to a crisp inside. They smell like bacon. Yummy bacon.] Gross! What the fuck, Emma?

  I turn to Kat. “Let’s try to stop it!”

  Kat looks at me and nods. Then the two of us scream: “Arrêtez!”

  Everything stops. Just like in the stairwell at J’s lair, Kat and I have managed to stop time or freeze things in this area – whatever we did before. Best of all, the flames vanished as soon as we said it! Unfortunately, now we can confirm that five members of the coven have been burned to death, including the high priest, whose crown has been partially fused to his skull from the heat. It looks like the others will have to be identified by dental records. There isn’t enough hair or flesh left on them for anyone to figure out who’s who.

  “What should we do now?” I ask Kat.

  She shakes her head. “I don’t know. Whoever or whatever made the flames is still out there.”

  I sigh. “How do we find them?”

  “Let me try something,” she says. “As evil is vain and narcissistic, I command the evil here to show itself. You cannot hide from the likes of I, you will come out into the open or be cowardice and hide. So mote it be.”

  We all repeat it with her. As soon as we finish saying “so mote it be” the second time the ground starts shaking like we’re having a category six earthquake. It knocks us all to the ground – including our currently frozen friends, who still don’t move, as if their bodies had been turned to stone. Then the flames come back, around six feet high again.

  “Whatever we did, it’s not working on whatever is causing this so we better just unfreeze things so people can defend themselves,” Kat says.

  “OK. Do you remember how we unfroze things before?” I can’t recall. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’m such a stupid fucking idiot.

  “I don�
��t,” she says, looking worried. “Let’s just try arrêtez again. Maybe it’ll stop what we did. On three.”

  “OK.” I take a deep breath.

  Kat counts, “One, two, three.”

  “Arrêtez!” we scream together.

  For a few seconds, it seems like it didn’t work. But then, thank Goddess, everyone starts moving again. Of course, they’re all lying on the ground, some with their faces in the dirt. They have no problem getting up, though. The ground has quit rumbling.

  Lia wipes dirt off her face. “What the hell happened?”.

  “Something evil burped,” I say. “Or else we had a bad earthquake.”

  “We should get the fuck out while we still can,” Pete says.

  “I think he’s right,” Jim says. “We don’t know how bad the quake or whatever was or how far it reached. You guys need to go check on your families.”

  “Well, mine’s right here,” Lia says and smirks at Juliana.

  “My vote is to leave, just for the record!” Juliana shouts.

  “Maybe I should check on my parents,” Shar says.

  “Whatever the fuck caused those flames just killed several of my coven,” Kat says, mostly looking at me. “And it probably caused the quake. You should all go and leave me and the rest of my coven to deal with this.”

  “Absolutely not!” I shout. “You selflessly showed up at the mountain and gave your life helping us that day. We are not abandoning you!” I glare at all of my friends to make sure they heard me.

  Kat shakes her head. “If you want to stay, OK, but let your friends go!”

  “Fine. You guys go if you want to!” I yell to my friends over the crackling sound of the magnificent flames. [No, not magnificent. I think I meant maleficent.]

  “I’m staying,” January says. “It’s my job to protect you, Lia and Shar.”