Moe felt himself pale. He knew which room she was talking about. Monica's room. He blinked and cleared his throat. "A second room?" he said, no trace of nervousness in his voice. "That's exciting." Meanwhile, his secret was eating him alive inside.
"Isn't it?" Poppy said. "I need you to go in there and tell me what's inside; this place is probably full of neat cubbyholes and the like. We can talk about what you found later." Moe nodded. He zoomed through the wall and up to the fourth floor of the house, then stood in the attic, its shadows comforting.
What was he going to do? He shouldn't have kept Monica a secret, he knew that much. Having one ghost (himself) living in the house was quite enough. But he cared so much for Monica that he had come to start thinking of her as his. He knew what he had to do. He would tell her that she needed to come clean, that Alicia and Poppy had to know about her presence in the house. It was going to be hard, but secrets could not be kept forever. His mind made up, he tapped lightly on Monica's door and went through. When he saw her, lying on the bed, he could not believe his eyes. He felt the world blur around him. He had to reach out and grab a hold of the doorknob; otherwise he would have fallen over. "Oh my God," he said.
* * * * *
Downstairs, Poppy turned back to Alicia.
"Alright. Spill it," she said. "I'm tired of secrets. You said there'd be no secrets between us and now it feels as if there is a chasm. What's going on? ARE you cheating on me?"
Alicia looked crestfallen. "Oh, Poppy. . .it's much worse than you think," Alicia said.
Chapter Seventeen
Upstairs, Downstairs
Upstairs, Moe felt the world blur around him. He had to reach out and grab a hold of the doorknob; otherwise he would have fallen over. "Oh my God," he said.
Monica was lying on the bed, but gone was the young child waif of thirteen. Here was a woman, full figured and so not thirteen. Monica's hair had grown to large, bouncy curls that fell just beneath her shoulders. Her lips were large and red and looked wet. Moe found he wanted to kiss them. Her figure had also been significantly improved. Her breasts were round and large and cleavage was poking out from the top of her now form-fitting white blouse. Her legs were long and lean and shapely.
"Oh my God," Moe said again.
Monica smiled. "Do you like it?" she ran her hands down her body. Her nipples, visible through her white top, hardened. Monica smiled. She was making Moe uncomfortable. "I did it for you, Darling."
She brought her hands up to cup her breasts, and watched as Moe grew hard in his pants. "I see you approve," she said, her voice a predatory growl.
"How did you do this?" he asked. Thoughts were racing through Moe's head. He had already been attracted to Monica; it had been one of the reasons he had kept her presence in the house a secret. But now. . .gods, he didn't know what to think now.
"Does it matter?" she smiled a serpent smile and got up off the bed. She came towards him and put a hand on Moe's chest. She could feel his heart beating. "Does it really matter?" she ran a hand down to Moe's crotch. "This tells me it doesn't. The result is the same." Monica leaned forward and kissed him, running her tongue along his lips, fast like lightning. She heard him moan in response and pressed her body to his.
* * * * *
Downstairs, Poppy turned back to Alicia. "Alright. Spill it," she said. "I'm tired of secrets. You said there'd be no secrets between us and now it feels as if there is a chasm. What's going on? ARE you cheating on me?"
Alicia looked crestfallen. "Oh, Poppy. . .it's much worse than you think," Alicia said.
"Oh, really?" she said. "So stop beating around the bush and just freaking tell me already. I'm sick of this. I've known you were keeping something from me since the house quake. What is going on with me, Alicia? I know that you know."
Alicia was silent for a moment. She waited a long time before she spoke. "You are something that we have waited thousands of years for. Your coming has been prophesied."
"Who's this we? You said that we have been waiting hundreds of years for me."
"The Coven."
When Alicia uttered these words, the house began to shake softly. It hummed with magic, vibrated with anticipation. Both girls, intent on the discussion at hand, didn't notice the house and its actions.
"You're part of a Witch's coven?"
"Not just a coven, The Coven. We canvass the world, protecting our own. We are a support network, a community. The Coven looks after its own. We canvass the world for other Witches of the blood who may be in trouble and come to their aid. In the olden days, The Coven was a place of magic and secrets, but it has been disbanded. Only a handful of us remain."
"Am I part of the Coven?"
"No, you are something much more."
"What am I then? Cecelia and Naomi mentioned that I was to have a Guide. . .?" Alicia paled. "You know what I'm talking about!" Poppy yelled. "Tell me what I am. Poppy went up to Alicia and looked her in the eye. "Tell me what I am."
Alicia swallowed painfully before she spoke. "You are a Shape Shifter." She paused and went on. "You are the first Shape Shifter to be born in a thousand years. You are the embodiment of magic."
"And what does this make you?" Poppy asked in a whisper.
"I'm your Guide."
Poppy felt as if she had been slapped in the face. "You're my Guide? YOU are my GUIDE?" she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Yes. I watched over you since you were born. I am the one who is supposed to teach you how to be a Shape Shifter."
Poppy felt her head spin. "How could you watch me since I was born?"
"I'm a lot older than I look. One of the advantages of being a Witch is that you don't age as quickly. But I had help." She swallowed again. "Orlando and Karma are also Coven Witches."
"WHAT?" Poppy whispered through gritted teeth.
"I'm so sorry, Poppy. I was trying to protect you, I wanted to tell you, I—"
Poppy stepped back and slapped Alicia hard across the face. Alicia's head spun and spit flew from her mouth, hitting the ground in front of her.
"How could you do this to me?" Poppy felt her world shatter around her. Knowing now that those around her; Karma, Orlando, Alicia, had deceived her was almost more than she could bear. Her heart thudded in her chest, loud and full of blood, and she could hear it in her ears. Her head felt full, stuffed to the brim with what she had just taken in. She wanted to be loved but there was no one she could trust, no one but David. She felt the tears start running down her cheeks. "I trusted you, I TRUSTED YOU!" she let out a sob and ran away from Alicia.
"Poppy, wait!" Alicia called out.
Running away from the sound of her voice, Poppy ran downstairs to the basement, closing the door behind her before Alicia could see the way she came. The darkness was comforting to her tears. She wiped at them with the back of her hand. Something began to glow in front of her. She blinked, though it was not necessary in the dark, and the glow was still there. She edged forward, minding the stairs, until she was behind them. In front of her was a large door. She didn't find it odd that there was a door in the basement she didn't know about. After all, hadn't she found the door in the attic as well? It was rusted but let out a soft white light. She put her hand towards the doorknob and the door opened at her touch. Before her was whiteness. It was so pure, vast and wonderful that it wiped away all the negative feelings running from her. Squaring her shoulders, she stepped through the door, into the light. Into the house.
* * * * *
Naomi felt the ground shake under her feet. It was a curious sensation, as there was no earthquake. The ground under her feet simply began to shake and vibrate and then stopped as soon as it had come. Something had happened. She knew this with certainty. Something horrible had happened. And then she felt it, that feeling in the pit of her stomach that rose to her chest, a pulsating, charging beat that filled her chest. Someone in the Coven was in trouble. Naomi heard a noise and looked up to see Cecelia in the doorway to the living room, a crysta
l clutched in her hand. She had felt the vibrations too.
"We're too late," she said. "We have lost the Shape Shifter."
"Maybe not," Naomi said. "I think it's time we call the Coven to order."
* * * * *
Lucy felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. One moment she was fine and the next there was a bright flash of pain, white hot like electricity as it dances blue and gold. She dropped the tray she was holding and the shattering of glass woke her senses. She dropped to her feet to scoop the glass up. "Oh, God," she said out loud to the customer sitting in the booth in front of her, "I'm so sorry." She looked up to see Lucia looking down at her. She had a bruise on her face, just under her left eye. "Oh, Lucia Honey, what happened?" she reached out to touch Lucia's eye and Lucia moved away.
"Forget about it. What happened to you?"
"I. . .I had the strangest sensation." Lucia got on her knees and began to help Lucia with the shattered glass. Someone brought them a dustpan. "I felt this. . .pain. Something's happened."
"What, though?"
"I don't know, I think it has something to do with Poppy. I think my daughter is in trouble."
"You know, I think you may be right," Lucia said.
"Why do you say that?"
"I. . .I can't say. It's not my place." She fingered the bone Buddha in her coat pocket.
"Why not?" Lucia looked at Lucia, grabbed her coat collar. "If you know something, something that can help Poppy. . . ."
"We have to find Alicia," Lucia said. "She'll know what to do."
* * * * *
David ran into the living room when he heard Orlando yell out. It sounded as if he was in pain. When he got to the living room, he found Orlando doubled over, clutching his chest. David ran to his side.
"What's wrong? Orlando, what's wrong?" There was terror in his voice.
"I'm alright," he said. There were beads of sweat on his brow.
"No, you're not, you're not alright. What's going on?"
Orlando was having trouble breathing. "I can't tell you," he whispered at last.
"What can't you tell me?" David asked. "We were supposed to have no secrets, remember?"
Orlando could barely get the words out. "Get Karma. . .get Karma. . . ." He closed his eyes and collapsed on the floor, oblivious to David's screams.
* * * * *
Alicia felt the sharp stab of pain. Standing at the door to the basement, she had no doubts as to where Poppy had gone. She had gone into the house, this house full of tricks. This house of mirrors. She had lost her lover forever, all because of lies. She didn't have time to mourn her loss. She heard a scream of tires out front, loud enough to raise the dead, and ran down to the front door. Lucia and Lucy came barreling out of the car and towards the house. "Where's my daughter?!" Lucy screamed at her. She was frantic, mad. Losing your daughter would do that to anyone.
"I don't know." Alicia said.
"YOU don't KNOW?" Lucy said. Her voice was rising.
Lucia placed a calming hand on Lucy's arm. "I wouldn't say anything. I told her we had to come to you. You felt it, then?"
"Yes," Alicia said. "We have to go see Karma."
"Karma? What does she have to do with this?" Lucy asked.
"More than you think," Alicia said.
* * * * *
Roz was lying on her bed, holding her stomach with her baby growing inside her. She felt the shock of the earth too, felt it coursing through her body. This was not evil, however, but it was part of the puzzle. Poppy had started her quest. She rubbed her tummy, the room around her full of light. She had opened the curtains so she could see out at the world around her. The sun helped calm her, took away the depression. She could feel Poppy, sense her. She had started a new fork in her path, one that would lead to her destiny.
"And so it begins. . . ." Roz said.
* * * * *
Honey was changing the twins. Eileen had already been changed and placed in her crib for her nap, cooing softly. She was changing Kieran's diaper when she noticed something on the back of his left leg. It was a mark, shaped like a Pentagram; a star within a circle. With a growing sense of dread, she undid Eileen's sleeper and looked. There, in the same place, was the Pentagram. It looked as if both children had the same birth mark. Shaken, she finished changing Kieran and put him in his crib. Something was going on here. She didn't know what it was, but something was definitely going on. She closed the babies' room door quietly behind her and went out to the back porch.
Since the fateful events on Valentine's Day, she had taken up smoking. She had lit up again right after the babies were born. She needed to do something to calm herself and taking half a bottle of Valium didn't seem to be an option. There was a rustle of leaves and Honey saw Vanessa, their next door neighbour, standing at the back fence. "Hey neighbour!" she said. Her brown hair fell poker straight but was tied loosely at the nape of her neck. Her almond eyes were brown and deep and she had a happiness that emanated from her. "What's shaking?"
Honey smiled to herself and took another drag off her cigarette. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she said.
* * * * *
Honey could smell the roses. They filled her nose with a heavenly scent that made her think of summer days and happier times. She had loved roses as a child, their red petals, their softness, their intoxicating scent. She took another puff of her cigarette.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," she said.
"Try me," Vanessa said. "I'm no stranger to the weird and unusual. My husband used to collect books on the paranormal, God rest his soul."
"Your husband is dead?" Honey asked.
"Died four years ago today and not a moment too soon." She laughed at Honey's shocked face. “Oh, don't sweat it Honey, it's not all that bad. Jack lived a good life. We were married for twenty years and I enjoyed every moment. Now I have my roses to keep me company."
"It must be a lonely life with no one to keep you company."
"I don't mind, really. I like my own company. There's no one to talk back to me." She smiled.
The smile warmed Honey. "Would you like to come around? I can put on some coffee."
Vanessa smiled. "You know, I've been waiting for an invite. I'll be right over!"
Honey stubbed out her cigarette and went back inside to put the coffee pot on. She didn't know what had possessed her to invite a stranger into her home, but Vanessa seemed harmless. Jose was out with the boys, playing a round of golf with his friends from the Food Bank. Now that Jose was retired, he wanted to fill his time. "I might as well make a contribution instead of sitting on my butt" he had said.
She was happy that he was enjoying himself. He worked every Tuesday and Thursday from eleven am to four, and loved every minute of it. He handed out food to the homeless and loved talking to everyone. He got along great with the four women and one other man who ran the food bank and they had started playing golf together every Friday afternoon. She hoped he was enjoying himself.
Vanessa came in bearing a large basket of roses. "From my garden," she said, smiling. "I hope you're not allergic."
"On the contrary," Honey said, "I love living here; I love the smell of our roses, it's quite beautiful." She took the roses and got a crystal vase to put them in. "Roses used to be my favourite flower as a child."
"Really? I didn't get into flowers until after Jack died. I wanted something to fill my time and I got a seed catalogue from Jimmy Feed and Seed in the mail. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Rose is my last name," she said.
"I don't have many hobbies. I used to be an actress."
"Really?" Vanessa was wide-eyed. "Would I have seen you in anything?"
"Probably, but it was just so long ago. Perhaps I can show you my collection of memorabilia?"
"I'd really love that." She sipped her coffee. "You know, meeting you has been nice. I haven't had a girlfriend to speak to in years."
It occurred to Honey then that she had very few friends. Sure, there was Jose and D
avid and Orlando and Karma, but she didn't have any friends of her own. With Jose gone more and more lately, she had been feeling more and more lonely. "I could use a friend." Honey admitted.
"Great!" Vanessa smiled and squeezed her hand. "We're gonna get along just fine, you and me. Now what did you say I wouldn't believe?"
"How about I just show you instead?" Honey said. They climbed the stairs to the babies’ bedrooms and Honey went to Eileen's crib and then Kieran's, showing her the Pentagram shaped birth mark on the back of both their left legs. Vanessa stared at the Pentagram with eyes like pie plates. "I've never seen the like," she said. "Why are those marks on your babies?" she asked.
"I don't know. That's what I need to find out," Honey said.
Chapter Eighteen
Company's Coming
Karma felt them before she saw them. She could feel them coming towards her, at her, from all around her. She knew that it was time. She lit a cigarette and went outside to wait for the group. The wind was warm for October. A brief spot of warmth to heat her cold heart. She saw Naomi and Cecelia first. Alicia, Lucia and Lucy followed, their car stopping abruptly with a loud squeak. Then she heard a door close behind her and David and Orland were on the porch. David looked stricken, Orlando looked as if he were in pain. The only people missing were Roz and Chip. She assumed that they were not involved in this. She waited for them all to gather around her. Cecelia approached her. "I think it is time we call the Coven to order."
"This is all that remains of the Coven," Karma said.
Cecelia looked shocked. She stared at Lucia, Orlando and Alicia. "They are it? They are all that remains of a Coven that is hundreds of years old?"
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