"It's ok," he assured me. "I think you have every right to be upset."
I nodded and handed him the file back, he took it and gave me an envelope - my severance. I never knew I was entitled to one as an assistant, but I was not going to complain. It would help me stay afloat while I searched for another job.
Even though I loved working for Mrs. Coe, I didn’t make nearly as much at WICCA as I made at the firm.
"I have a box if you need one," he said, grabbing the empty file box next to his desk as I stood. I quietly grabbed the box from him and made my way to the door.
"Remember, if you need anything, call me."
I nodded and left his office.
'I will not cry,' I repeated over and over to myself, blinking back tears, ‘I will not cry.’ I walked back to my desk, the empty box, and check in hand. I started to pack the small items I kept at my desk. I was glad my coworkers were at lunch, but they would be back in 20 minutes, and I needed to be gone before then. Once I had everything I wanted, I put the check in my purse, lifted the box in my arms, held my head up high, and walked to the elevator. They would not see me breakdown on the cameras.
I decided I would treat myself to a cab ride home. At least that way, if I did break down crying, it wouldn't be on a train full of strangers with handheld cameras. I walked to the elevator waiting area, thankful I didn't pass anyone. I pushed the down button and waited for doors to open. I inwardly groaned as I heard a familiar laugh fill the air. Chelsea's voice was getting louder. She was coming up the elevator. Why did this have to be the day she decided to come back to work early? I straightened my face as soon as the elevator doors opened.
"Olivia!" Chelsea exclaimed as she spotted me. "Perfect timing. I'm back from lunch, you can go to lunch now." She rushed out walking passed me, and I hoped she wouldn’t noticed the box in my hand, but she did, and she stopped in her tracks. "Why are you carrying that?"
"Oh..." I looked down at the box and back up to her. "Um, I was let go." My shoulders dropped, and the look on my face said the rest.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, looking uncomfortable.
"It's ok," I smiled, trying to remain strong. "This way, I can take more shifts at the shop." I tried to sound positive.
"If you need anything," she said, looking me in the eye, "anything, let me know."
"I will." I agreed, but deep down, I knew I would never act on it; she and I both knew she didn't mean it.
"May I ask why?" She asked.
"Downsizing. I guess I drew the short stick." I shrugged my shoulders, and I tried to laugh it off, but it fell short.
"I do hope this is not the last time I see you." She said, and again, I knew she was lying.
"It won't be," I played the polite game. In the years I had worked with Chelsea, we never hung out once after work. Though I knew she had with our other coworkers, well, my ex-coworkers, many times. But they didn’t matter to me anymore, I thought as I stepped on the elevator for the last time, this part of my life was over.
~~~~
I walked down the street, holding my box, feeling the world sinking but trying to figure out what to do next. I wasn't ready to head home, and the box wasn't cumbersome. I changed my mind about getting the taxi and decided to walk a bit to a closer metro.
Even in the biting cold, the city was beautiful. I passed the Capital Grille when a small sign stopped me.
‘Livraire' A bookstore.
I couldn’t remember there being a bookstore on that corner. I checked the time, but realized it was futile - it wasn't like I had anywhere else to be.
I could spend a few minutes in the store.
The door chimed as I walked in, but I didn't see or hear anyone nearby. It wasn't large and looked to only be one level.
I started to look around. Magical bookstores weren't rare, but they also weren't this big.
I walked down the closest aisle and noticed the shelves were full of small grimoires that seemed to be about simple spells and potions. All the spells I saw were common knowledge; nothing new to see there.
Most spells were family secrets that never left the family home. While most soon to be sixteen-year-olds were focused on celebrating their Sweet 16 (or whatever boys were up to), witches and warlocks prepared to receive a full load of their family’s magic. Until that moment, the witch or warlock might have some glimpses of their power, but they don’t have full access to it.
But on their 16th birthday, when the witch or wizard finally touches their family grimoire, their magic is locked with their families, and they are able to realize their full potential. Every family grimoire is different, and no one outside of the family would or could ever see it.
Which was why it sucked to be Unbound - no family magic and no grimoire. With the help of Mrs. Coe, I was able to hone my skills, but I’d never been able to do the kind of magic I dreamed of doing.
Because of this – family magic and grimoires - there were thousands of spells. Many of them are common knowledge to magicals. However, there are a few thousand spells that are family-specific based on the family’s magical specialty.
The more specific the spell, the more powerful the family. The more powerful the family, the more powerful the Coven.
I was in the process of building my own family grimoire. I was never able to find my family’s book after the death of my parents. Though I always knew if I ever did find it, it wouldn't be anything special.
I had about five good spells, and I hoped that if I ever decided to have children, they would be able to build on it. But I did love a useful ‘everyday’ grimoire. They helped me as much with protection potions and other spells I was forced to learn on my own to fill in the gaps between Mrs. Coe's knowledge.
One little tidbit, though, I made my current protection potion from a combination of recipes I found in a couple of books like the ones before me. I mixed a few of them, and with some help from Mrs. Coe, I was able to build myself a potent enough protection potion to keep my apartment safe.
I walked down another aisle that focused more on magical history. 'Magical Families and Their Secrets.' I stopped and gave the cover a once over. The one thing all magical families loved were their secrets, and this was a book claiming to have them. This was almost too good to pass up. I set my box down and picked it up.
I flipped the book over to check out the price – it was only three dollars. For that price, it had to be full of speculation, but still, there was something about it, something that called to me, something that said buy it. But there was a new potion book that I had yet to buy, and there could be new potions in there that could be helpful.
I walked back to the other aisle and picked up the book in question and took a look at the back. This one was $20, which was cheaper than I expected; it was feasible for me to get both.
I tucked the grimoire under my arm and went back to the other aisle and grabbed the book on family secrets. I placed both on top of my box, picked it up, and walked to the register.
A young girl was now standing there. She had purple hair pulled up into a messy ponytail. Her white shirt was wrinkled, and the front was tucked into the front of her cut off shorts. She didn't look a day over 16, but that could mean anything in my world.
"This it?" She asked, not looking up from her phone.
"Um, yeah." I saw her earing glow, and the books started to bag themselves, and the price appeared on the register.
"That will be twenty-three dollars." She gave me a heavy sigh, not looking up from her phone. I handed the money over and took the bag.
"Have a great day." I murmured as I headed out of the store. I placed the bags in my purse, picked up the box, and started back towards the metro.
~
I arrived home faster than expected and unloaded my purchases and my box on the coffee table. I sat down on the couch and pulled my books out of the bag. I took a look at the potion book first. Thankfully it wasn't complete garbage. There were a few hair taming potions, some home cleaning spells, and a couple of
protection spells and potions. The rest were spells I already knew.
I sighed and read through some of the protection spells and potion ingredients. With what some of the potions were calling for, they would be pricier than my current potion, even with my discount at WICCA, but the effects would last longer. Though the more I thought about it, I figured I could take a few of the ingredients and add them to my own.
I closed the grimoire and picked up my other purchase – 'Magical Families and Their Secrets.' I flipped the book open and glossed over the families mentioned: the Abbas, the Eastons, and a few of the other Covens on the Eastern Shore. But the family that caught my eyes was the Romar family.
There wasn't much known about the Romar family since their disappearance. Even before then, it was said they didn’t share their family secrets or spells with anyone not born of their blood. It is said those who married in were never privy to the full understanding of the Romar family. They went from being the ‘rulers’ of the magical world in the United States to seemingly vanishing into thin air. Their story was shrouded in secrecy and one of the biggest mysteries of the magical world. I turned to their chapter and wondered what new information this book had or if they would just repeat the current rumors.
The Romar Family
Not much is known about the Romar family other than what they have released. The first record is from 1445. Abagail Romar brought to the early colonies as a slave, but she did not stay in that status for long. It is said no sooner than she set her foot on the new colonies soil, she disappeared with all those who arrived with her. The bodies of those who sought to own her were found dead weeks later. Abagail Romar reemerged 10 years later in the Magical Society and took her place at the top with ease.
The Romars were the pillars of the new and growing magical community in The New World. While many of their counterparts tried to overthrow The Romars, Abagail proved she was stronger than they could ever hope to be. The Magical Families of this time were incensed that individuals with Abagail’s complexion continuously defied them. To correct this in their mind, they started the creations of the first Covens. At this, the Romars defied the Magical Society by remaining Unbound – not connected to a Coven - and did so for a couple of centuries, while staying the most powerful family. All this seemed to come to an end in the mid-1800s. When, without warning, the Romar manor and the family disappeared.
Their disappearance led to the birth of the American Coven elitist system, which is now in use today. During the ten years that followed their disappearance, there was a power struggle between the Covens. This was a bloody time for the Covens, and many Covens rose and fell. It was during this time both the Easton and the Abbas Covens were created.
The last unverified record of the Romars is from the mid-1970s, at the height of the terror caused by the Children of the Chosen (see Appendix for more information). The cult threatened to destroy all magical Covens, vowing that those in charge were not worthy of the power they possessed. It is said the Romar family returned only to sacrifice their lives to destroy the Cult.
To this day, the location of the Romar Manor is an unknown among all the Covens. Many magical explorers have spent a lifetime looking for the Romar Manor, but there have been no leads.
I flipped through a couple of pages of the story, searching the pages for pictures of the family. Sadly, there weren’t any. It would have been interesting to see what they looked like. While I didn’t learn everything about the Romars, I did have a bit more knowledge about their origins than I had before.
I flipped to the appendix to learn even more about another group that was shrouded in mystery, The Children of the Chosen.
FOUR
I held out my hand to the wine glass and bottle of wine on the counter. I waved my hand in a summing motion to bring them both over to me. With an upward motion of my hand, the wine uncorked itself and poured a tall glass before setting itself on the table. I grabbed the glass from mid-air and took a sip.
The Children of the Chosen
The Children of the Chosen were a cult in name only. Born from three Unbound families in the 1950s, their goal was to bring all Unbound individuals to the same status in the Magical Society as those within the Covens. Their original name was simply - the Unbound Coven. As all members of the magical community had power, they believed all witches and warlocks should be on the same level. The three families that were instrumental in the creation of the Unbound Coven - the Cruz family led by Caden Cruz, the Ellis family led by Kris Ellis, and the Morris family led by Trent Morris. The three most powerful Unbound families on the East Coast. Over the course of ten years, the families worked to create the groundwork for the Unbound Coven.. For the first ten years, the Coven did not make much headway until Trent Morris's death in 1968, when his son, Elliot, took over.
Elliot did not have the same peaceful outlook as his father. Elliot did not want to be on the same level as the Covens - he wanted to be above them. He rebranded the Unbound Coven as the Children of the Chosen. He, with a tight group of followers, took over the Coven from the Cruz and the Ellis families.
This is where the cult took their dark turn. Elliot, along with his followers, abandoned their homes and started to move from city to city, gathering more members as they moved along. He is recorded as saying the Children of the Chosen were not to be a monument but a movement that would swallow the world.
It was October 15, 1970, when they made their first kill, a Coven member. From there, their bloodshed knew no bounds. Dozens of magical beings were killed in the early weeks. This caused the Magical Community to jump into action leading to the creation of the Supernatural Police Force, or as its known the SPF, to stop the cult. (For more information about the SPF see Appendix B).
It was not until the most famous and possibly the most powerful magical family, the Romars, came back into play, that the cult finally made their mistake. To this day, it is not known how the Romars were able to defeat the cult, but on November 25, 1976, the Children of the Chosen were destroyed. A task that cost the Romar family their lives.
‘Wow,’ I grabbed the bottle and poured myself another glass. I took a big sip as I turned the page. There was a photo that took up the entire page, on the top, it read ‘The Unbound Coven.’ I scanned over the member's faces, but nothing stood out until I landed on Trent Morris. He looked familiar, like I had seen him before. But that was impossible since he died years ago. But there was something about his face, his eyes maybe, but I couldn't place my finger on it.
I took another sip and turned the page and started to read about another Coven family.
Around seven, there was a knock on my door. A knock was putting it nicely; it was more like a bang. I wonder who it could be? Clive was still working the graveyard shift, and Dessen shouldn't be home yet.
I checked the peephole, and I was shocked at who was there. Chelsea was pacing in front of my door. In the entire time we worked together, she never once came by. Did she really feel bad about me losing my job? Better yet, how did she know where I lived?
"Hi, Chelsea," I said as I opened the door.
"What the fuck!" Chelsea screamed, pushing past me into my apartment.
"What are you doing here?" I asked as I closed the door behind her.
"I'm here to get an answer from you! I know we weren't super close at work, but did you have to lie to me?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked, genuinely confused.
She stared at me. "You lied to me! Today when you said you were fired! You weren't fired, you quit! Why the hell did you lie to me? To get some sympathy?"
"I was fired," I repeated. In all our time together, Chelsea never once tried to reach out. And now she’s here…at my apartment…accusing me of lying about being fired. My annoyance with her was rapidly growing.
"Oh yeah? Then why did Mr. McDaniels come into the workspace today, once everyone came back from lunch, and said you quit, effective immediately." She tapped her foot expectedly.
"I do
n't know." I shook my head. "I have no idea why he would lie like that. Maybe he didn’t want to embarrass me?"
"Look, I know all the girls weren't super nice to you, but you didn't have to lie to me. I thought we were friends. I know you Unbounds don't have a family, so you don’t know what loyalty is, but-"
"Excuse me? First of all, I didn't lie to you; I was fired. I don't know why Mr. McDaniels lied to you, but that's not my problem. Second, you may have been 'nice to me,’" I spat the words. "But we weren't friends, so stop with this high and mighty bullshit like I owe you something."
She opened her mouth to retort, but I cut her off.
"I've known you for two years, two years, and this is the first time I've ever seen or talked to you outside of work. You have never invited me out before. Not for lunch, or that girl's brunch you do, or your paint nights! We were not friends! You pitied me because of my situation, so get off your high horse! Third, just because I am Unbound doesn't mean I lack loyalty, and I resent that you said that. And for the last time, I repeat, I was fired! They gave me six-month severance. Why would they give me that if I quit and-”?
"They gave you what?" She cut in.
"Severance. Six months." I repeated.
She shook her head. "But that doesn't make any sense. You wouldn't have gotten severance."
"Well, tell that to the check I just deposited into my account.”
"But it wasn't in your contract. We don't get severance. Only junior partners and above get severance. Did you sign anything in his office?"
"What?"
"Did you sign anything?" She repeated with a bit more urgency.
"Well yeah, he had me sign a form." I shrugged.
"Did you read it before you signed it?"
"Well, no," I shook my head. "I trusted him."
"Ok, forget that, what did it say on the top of the document you signed."
I thought back. "Notice of Separation."
Ahmentree's Magic Page 3