Amber frowned. “Well, we really shouldn’t do it drunk. That’s just asking for trouble.” She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth then nodded. “But with you, I think we just might have to. It’s the only time you don’t seem to have that corncob stuck up your ass.” She smiled drunkenly then hiccupped.
Brianna scowled as she donned her robe. “I beg your pardon. I am not drunk. I’m just a little tipsy.” Deciding to leave the corncob remark alone, she tightened the sash on her black ritual robe.
“Yeah, okay, whatever.” Amber straightened her own robe and pulled her pentacle from beneath it. The jewel in the center glowed dimly in the waning sunlight.
“Drunk, tipsy, shit-faced. It’s all the same to you, right?”
“Hey! I represent that…I mean I resent that remark.” Brianna grinned, then shook her finger in Amber’s face. “I thought you were going to quit swearing. It’s not very attractive, you know.”
Her friend made a face as she inspected the already prepared circle of candles. The altar within the circle faced the east and was decorated with two small statues, a dish of sea salt, patchouli incense, a red, white, and pink candle, and one small earthen dish of water.
Amber stepped to the altar and made a few corrections. “The incense representing air should always be in the east, the candle representing fire in the south, the water in the west, and, of course, the salt for Earth in the north. Let’s do this.” She looked at the sky. “The moon is even in the right phase. You really did your research for this one, didn’t you?” She turned her gaze toward Brianna. “I’m impressed.” She stumbled over a candle. “I think it was a good idea to set the circle outside though. That way, we don’t have to worry about burning the house down.”
“Why do you think I wanted to do it out here?” Brianna asked dryly. “Besides, it’s so beautiful, and I love to look up at the stars.” She inhaled deeply, loving the combined scents of someone grilling and the Colorado blue spruce that grew in her back yard.
They lit the candles and called the four-corners, each taking two. Brianna raised her arms to the sky and spread her feet wide. Inhaling deep, she centered herself calmly and pictured the energy flowing from within her to empower their circle. She envisioned the wind blowing her hair, her robe plastered against her body, the sash whipping behind her in the wind.
“Guardians of the East and elements of Air, I ask for your presence within this circle. May you step within with love and trust to lend your distinct energies to protect this magical rite.”
Amber followed suit in the South. Setting her feet apart, she raised her arms. Brianna pictured a fire as bright as the sun, as hot as fire from the dragons of legends as she moved to the West quarter.
Raising her voice, Amber tilted her head back and said, “Guardians of the South and elements of Fire, I ask for your presence within this circle. May you step within with love and trust to lend your distinct energies to protect this magical rite.”
Brianna raised her arms in the West. Picturing the sea, she conjured a vision of mermaids and mermen. They danced in the waves, playing, gathering sea foam and blowing it at each other. “Guardians of the west and elements of Water, I ask for your presence within this circle. May you step within with love and trust to lend your distinct energies to protect this magical rite.”
For Earth, Brianna envisioned a herd of bison cantering freely across the open plain. In her mind’s eye, she watched as elves and gnomes played with the bison in the field.
Finally, Amber stepped to the North quarter and raised her arms. “Guardians of the North and elements of Earth, I ask for your presence within this circle. May you step within with love and trust to lend your distinct energies to protect this magical rite.”
Together, they asked, “Oh, Great Mother, she who knows all, sees all, is all. Please attend this rite and lend us your immense power, that we may be successful.”
“Okay, hon. It’s your show,” Amber whispered.
Brianna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I hope I don’t make a fool of myself.
She lit the candles, red for passion and pink for romance and raised her arms to the sky, a wand in her right hand. She inhaled deeply through her mouth and exhaled slowly through her nose. For the first time, she felt the magic possess her. It sobered her instantly. The euphoria of the alcohol, no longer inhibited her movements. Swaying, she began to recite her spell.
“Reach for my heart, you know it is there.
Though we’re apart, we two are a pair.
You feel it within me, my heart beating true.
You know I am here, just waiting for you.
Come to me, come to me, find me some way.
Though we may be worlds apart,
You will find me some day.
Please, Great Mother, send him to me.
In love and light, I ask thee,
and it harm none, so mote it be!”
Brianna screamed the last of the spell. The words felt as though they were ripped from her soul. Power moved through her body like a thundering pulse, and she felt the force of the energy leave through the tip of the wand. She could actually see the energy swirling in the air above her head, before it shot through the sky and into space. It startled her so much she almost lost concentration. But the last few years of practice and self-discipline paid off, and she was able to finish the visualization of her spell without faltering.
The residual energy caused the hair on her arms to stand on end. Her scalp tingled as static built up in her hair, the electric charge crackled loudly in her ears. The evening had grown darker and, as the power shimmered around her, tiny sparks surrounded them like fireflies.
Brianna looked at Amber, who stared at her as if she’d just sprouted another head. “What?” she asked warily. With her luck, maybe she had sprouted another head. Or a tail. Goddess knew stranger things had been known to happen around Amber. She yelped and turned around, trying to get a good look at her rear.
“Don’t you see it?” Amber whispered and looked up.
“See what, the energy? Of course I saw it. You said if I did it right, I would see the energy leave my wand through my mind’s eye.” Brianna said. She still twisted around in an attempt to see behind her as her robe swirled around her ankles.
“What in the world are you doing? Stop that!” Amber reached out and gave her a swat. “Watch it. You’re going to catch yourself on fire.” She pulled her from the edge of the circle, rubbing the smoldering hem of Brianna’s robe in the dirt.
“You’re supposed to see it with your mind’s eye, Bri. Meaning that you’re supposed to visualize it. I saw it with my two eyes,” she whispered, pointing at her face. “Oh, Bri, I think this spell of yours is going to work in a really big way.”
Chapter Three
“What in the world was I thinking?” Brianna moaned as she pulled her full length black dress from the closet. “I should slap myself for even coming up with this stupid idea in the first place!” She laid the shimmering black satin dress on the bed. She’d dressed up as a witch for the last five years. Once, when she’d decided not to dress the part, the entire neighborhood had a fit. So, for the last three years, she’d dressed in the black wig, hairy wart, green face and blackened teeth to please her neighbors, not herself.
“My heart just isn’t in this anymore. I should tell them all to kiss my butt,” she groused. “I’m a real Witch, not a storybook hag sent here for their entertainment.” She heaved a sigh and headed for the shower with her dog, Killer, close at her heels. She looked down and smiled. “You’re such a good boy. You told me you want outside, you good doggie.” She bent down and patted him on the head before she carried him to the living room to let him out into the back yard.
It wasn’t long before Killer became involved in a harmless investigation. He sniffed under the shed and started barking. Brianna shook her head with a sigh. She probably had mice under there again.
Heading back toward her bedroom, she made a detour to the
small entertainment center that held her TV and stereo. She clicked the stereo on, and her favorite new age music flooded the room.
In the bathroom, she reached into the stall and adjusted the temperature of the water as she hummed along with the music. Letting out a sigh when she stepped into the tub, she groaned with pleasure as the hot water cascaded down her body, washing most of the soreness and kinks away. Brianna began to sing along with the music as her fingers massaged her scalp with her favorite Berry Explosion shampoo. She vigorously scrubbed her body with the matching body wash. The sweet berry scent never failed to make her feel clean and feminine. Muscles, still sore from having to bend and scrub all day, protested as she bent to turn off the water. Too bad there wasn’t time for a good long soak in the tub.
Brianna sighed when the phone rang. Flinging the lavender shower curtain aside, she ran still dripping to answer it. Snatching up the cordless unit from her bedside table, she answered with a breathy, “Hello.”
“Hey, Bri, you are still coming over tonight, aren’t you?” It was Amber. They went to the Witches’ Ball together every year.
“Of course,” she replied, glancing at her clock radio. She shivered slightly, wishing she’d thought to grab more than one towel. “I’ll be ready for trick-or-treat by six. It should be over by eight, and I can leave then. You don’t mind waiting, do you? We should still have plenty of time to socialize.” She hurried back into the steamy bathroom, picked up the hand towel on the counter and wiped steam from the mirror.
She studied her delicately carved face critically, noticing what her mother had always said were tiny imperfections, that to her were enormous. Her small nose turned up at the end, a trait that had never struck her as being particularly attractive. Her mouth and full pink lips, which her first and only boyfriend had deemed extremely kissable, looked too…well, too something. Her mouth turned down at the corners and she stuck her tongue out at her reflection.
“No, I don’t mind waiting,” Amber said. It sounded like she spoke around a mouthful of food.
Brianna made a face. She was probably eating again. How in the world could the woman eat so much and stay so small? She walked back into the bedroom to get dressed. “I’m not going to wear the green face paint again. It took too long to wash it off last year.” She juggled the phone and the bath towel as she dried off, scrubbing ruthlessly at her already pink skin with the towel in an effort to hurry.
“Even then, there were green streaks down the side of your face.” Amber sniggered. “And a green tinge to your skin that made you look like you were ready to barf.”
“Don’t remind me.” Brianna grimaced at the memory. Shaking her head adamantly, she added, “And I refuse to miss the limbo contest again. I spent entirely too long in the bathroom washing that gunk off.”
“I wonder if Pan is going to be there in his sheepskin leggings again this year.”
Brianna groaned. She could hear her friend’s teasing smile. They both had been very surprised to see him, in all of his naked glory, last year. Closing her eyes, she shook her head. “Don’t even go there.”
“There is just something about a man wearing sheepskin leggings and nothing else that really gets my heart pounding.”
“Oh shut up, Amber! I couldn’t help it. I’d never seen a—”
“Sorcerer’s staff?” Amber’s laugh was infectious and Brianna smiled, in spite of herself. Would the woman never stop teasing her about her reaction when she’d seen Pan nearly naked from the waist down?
Brianna half grimaced and half grinned at the memory. Leave it to Amber to bring it up. She’d be carrying that particular monkey on her back until her friend found something even more embarrassing to razz her about. “I couldn’t help it. I’d never seen one so big before.”
“Neither had I. But no one heard me say, Oh my God! Is that thing real? I thought I was going to die of embarrassment.”
“You were embarrassed? It wasn’t me, who said, Honey, don’t mind her. She’s a virgin and doesn’t know what she’s missing. I was completely mortified.” Not to mention embarrassed by the fact that her friend was correct.
Amber laughed. “I was serious! You shouldn’t knock it till you’ve tried it, Bri.”
Brianna felt the familiar heat rush to her face. “I knew I never should have told you I was still a virgin. I knew it, yet I told you anyway. How dumb is that?” She managed to wiggle into her black dress while holding the phone to her ear, then looked into the mirror over her dresser. “You know, it’s a shame. Tonight is the only night I can wear my pentacle on the outside of my clothes. Everyone expects it on Halloween,” she said, smoothly changing the subject. She slipped on a moonstone pinkie ring along with some of her other magical jewelry and searched another drawer.
“What did I do with that stinking wart? I’ll never forgive myself if I’ve lost it. The darn thing cost me a fortune because it looks so real.” Brianna dug through the dresser drawer searching for her box of Halloween makeup. She frowned, reached over to the window and pulled open the blind. She closed the first drawer and opened another.
“But then again, you couldn’t be the witch if you lost that ugly old wart,” Amber added sagely.
“I suppose. I’ll have to give that some thought. It’s not a bad idea.” Biting her lip, Brianna rummaged deeper and found her makeup case. Making a face at the green paint, she shoved it to the back of the drawer, planning to ignore it. She pulled out the wart and sighed. There was no way she’d ever be lucky enough to lose it. And she’d never be able to bring herself to throw it away. It had cost too much.
Removing the small plastic box from the drawer, she opened it and withdrew the very realistic and nasty looking hairy wart. She stuck it to her cheek next to her nose and grimaced at her reflection. “Well, I found it.” Her disappointment was evident.
“Why don’t you tell them you lost it? Or the dog ate it?” Amber asked, impatiently. She obviously didn’t understand Brianna’s need to do something she abhorred just to fit in.
“You know I don’t like to lie. It’s bad enough that I lie about my religion. There has to be some sort of bad karma attached to lying all the time,” she replied. Brianna heard what sounded suspiciously like a snort on the other end of the line.
“You only lie because we both know what would happen if our so called friends found out what we really are. Besides, you don’t lie about it,” Amber reasoned. “You’re like me. You act as though you’re Christian like everyone else. You just don’t tell them you’re not.”
Brianna shrugged, rationalizing their behavior. She applied her lipstick, blush and mascara, then smiled. Her neighbors were most likely going to have something to say about the softer side of the witch this year. Too bad! “I know. They’d most likely make life so miserable here, we’d want to move.”
“Have to move, is more like it.”
“I’m not wearing the green face paint this year. I don’t care what they think.” Brianna smiled at her reflection.
“That’s it, girl! Don’t let them tell you what to do,” Amber cheered.
“Maybe next year I’ll just conveniently be out of town. It would be nice.” Brianna walked to the old vanity that once belonged to her mother and sat down to don the hated wig.
“They ought to be glad you do this at all, Bri. After all, this is the Eve of our New Year, the day we honor our deceased loved ones. I wouldn’t even go to the ball if they didn’t hold an open circle.”
“I know. I wouldn’t either, even though I love going. It’s always such a blast.” Brianna brushed her hair and left it to tumble carelessly down her back. “Hang on a sec, Amber.” She set the phone down. She’d almost forgotten to do one of the most important things of the evening.
After retrieving her old Besom and the new one she bought each year, she cast a circle and cleansed them both. She empowered the new broom with energies to remove negativity from her sacred spaces. She cleansed the old one, removing all energies from it so she could dispose of i
t properly. Its last use would be to carry around the front yard as a part of her costume tonight. She picked up the phone. “Thanks for holding. I almost forgot to bless my new broom,” Brianna said, feeling sheepish.
“I thought I heard you cleansing something. So, is the old broom going to go with you to scare the kiddies tonight?”
Brianna shook her head, forgetting for a moment that Amber couldn’t see her. “I’m not going to scare anyone. I don’t want these kids to have the same misconceptions of witchcraft their parents have because of me.”
“Good idea, Hon. I’m gonna let you go. Be at my house at eight.”
“Okay, see you then.” Brianna set the phone in its cradle and walked across the bedroom. She opened her jewelry box, removing a smaller intricately carved wooden case. From that, she withdrew a pendant on a chain. The necklace had been in her family for generations, passed down through hundreds of years. The large, heart-shaped stone was unlike any other Brianna had ever seen. When touched by anyone other than herself, the stone would lose its glow for months. It was almost as if it had some inner power meant for her alone.
She clasped the silver chain around her neck. The stone fit snugly between her breasts, below the pentacle. When the two brushed together, the pendant vibrated slightly and grew warm. Tilting her head to the side, Brianna stared at the old pendant as it rested between her breasts. She reached up to finger the stone. That was strange. She frowned. It had never done that before. Then again, she’d never worn the two pendants together before, either. Brianna, always too apprehensive to wear the heirloom, feared the chain would break and she’d lose it. For some reason, it just seemed right to wear the necklace tonight.
Briannas Prophecy Page 3