The Tea Trick

She didn't understand why they still did this; they weren't even friends anymore since their circle had split. They weren't enemies, either, but it was still awkward, meeting up every year. And even weirder that the organizer called it a tea party. Naomi didn't even like tea, but their leader, Tatia, and her best friend, Amy were obsessed, and the guys didn't really care one way or the other.

This year was supposed to be special. It was exactly seven years since their dissolution; it was also, not entirely coincidentally, Halloween.

Naomi remembered reading somewhere when they'd first started practicing that seven was the most powerfully magic number. That was why all those books placed such significance on being the seventh son or whatever; it was why their circle had seven members-3 girls, 3 guys, and one who didn't identify as male or female. Sometimes, Naomi wondered if that'd made them too powerful, if that why it'd all gone so wrong.

She made it to the bookstore just minutes before their scheduled meeting time. Tatia had closed the place down for them like she always did, but left the back door open so Naomi went right in.

“That you, Nae?” their leader's familiar Asian accent drifted out of the kitchenette in the corner, sounding as usual a little lower than the previous year. This time, though, there was another difference, too, something Naomi couldn't put a name to but that sent a slight chill down her spine.

“Yep, it's me,” Naomi called back not unpleasantly, unzipping her white windbreaker and draping it over the gray leather recliner she'd claimed at their first gathering then taking a seat.

Tatia came padding out a moment later, carrying her mug with Amy and Nick on her heels. “Hey. Kettle's on, should be done in a few minutes. How are you?”

“Fine,” Naomi shrugged. “Not much to report since last year. What about you guys?”

Her three companions shared a glance, something passing between them that she wasn't a part of, something she didn't think she liked.

“Things are good. I got my first job scoring for this new movie that's filming in town,” Amy supplied a proud smile curling her pale mouth also bearing that unsettling undercurrent.

Which Tatia mirrored as she chimed in, “Same. This place has been booming enough that I was able to publish my second novel, which has sold pretty well. Not JK Rowling-level fame yet, but who knows. Maybe one day.”

Right, Naomi had heard about that; both of Tatia's novels had appeared in the Chapters near her home and she'd actually bought copies.

“Oh, and I discovered this new tea at that store up in Sidney that goes amazingly well with that special sweetener Isaac always brings for you, Naomi. You should try it.”

“Where is Isaac, anyways?”

“He and I just moved in together; he was going to bring the last box of his stuff over before coming here since he hasn't had much time with his new job and taking care of the cat, so he might be late,” Niall answered, also quite cheerfully.

Naomi could understand why: it sounded like her friends were getting all the luck lately, while she, on the other hand, was getting nothing. She should've wondered why that was-and she did, but only fleetingly, then the curiosity was gone.

“Sounds like you guys have had a great year,” she commented with a lot more enthusiasm than she felt.

Tatia shrugged as if it were no big deal, but she and the others also shared another one of the looks as if engaging in a private joke.

The whistle of the kettle interrupted before Naomi could demand to be let in on it.

“All right, who wants what?” Tatia changed the subject abruptly, beckoning them to follow her back into the kitchen, where she lead them to the cupboard where she'd stashed all her tea.

She'd acquired even more in the past year, Naomi noticed, her collection now occupying all three shelves behind the dark-stained oak door; as they watched, she pulled down a large silver bag from near the rear of the bottom one.

“This is the new one: it's called black forest like the cake, and it has chocolate and cherries. I've been looking for something like it for a while-I was so happy when I found it last week.”

“I'll have some of that,” Amy decided, sidling over to the other cupboard where her friend kept the mugs.

Tatia nodded and started grabbing the various filters and infusers.

“Naomi, you, too?”

“Why not,” Naomi consented; it did sound good.

As they were pouring the water, the door opened again, accompanied by another familiar voice, this one with a British accent, “Knock, knock!”

“In here, Max!” Niall replied, taking his mug with him to the doorway so he could be seen.

The three last arrivals met him there, the blonde man-Isaac-wrapping his arms around him in a brief embrace.

“Hello, mates,” that British accent piped up again, the speaker waving to them from the threshold.

“Hey, Max. Earl grey, like usual?” Tatia guessed, holding up the blue-spotted mug they liked in query.

“Yes, please,” Max agreed.

“Raspberry for me, if you have it,” Isaac requested amicably, releasing Niall to collect his own cup, Jeremy following to fetch the tea he wanted on his own.

Once they'd all finished, they returned to the table in the other space, each assuming the same seats they did every year.

“Iztochi ya, and happy Halloween!” Tatia lifted her mug in a toast as she did at each of their meetings. Naomi never knew what the first part meant, only that it was Bulgarian; she always just presumed it was some cliché like 'to us' or 'to friendship' and just went along with it, clinking their cups together.

As always, the silence during that first drought afforded Naomi the opportunity to observe their finale members.

Like Niall, and the other women, Isaac, Jeremy and Max seemed extremely content, mischief glittering in their gazes. Jeremy had an obviously brand new leather jacket on and was drumming his fingers while he sipped his-orange, judging by the colour-tea to the tune of a song she didn't recognize, probably one of his own, while Isaac's new job must've been his dream job because, despite how busy it'd supposedly been keeping him, he didn't look that tired. On the contrary, he was flushed with an energy she hadn't witnessed in him since their practicing days. And Max, who'd never really been very animated, was practically vibrating in their chair over their cup of tea.

Naomi sipped her drink contemplatively, the changes in the others distracting enough she barely tasted the additional flavour in it that wasn't chocolate or cherries or anything else Tatia'd described. She did, however, notice when she was hit with a sudden fatigue that caused her to sway in her chair.

“Are you okay, Naomi?” Amy asked as she grasped at the table for support, her concerned tone at odds with the almost anticipatory shimmer in her blue eyes.

Naomi wasn't immediately forthcoming with a reply, puzzle by the inexplicable lightheadedness; she'd eaten before coming here, she'd slept fine the previous night and she'd been perfectly well a second ago.

“I don't know. I feel weird all of a sudden.”

All six of her companions glanced at one another over the rims of their cups then, meaningful glances that added to Naomi's disquiet.

“Maybe you're coming down with something?” Isaac suggested, his tone also deceptively worried, watching her with what Naomi read more as interest.

“You should drink more tea. It's good for you; it'll help,” was Tatia's helpful two cents, which prompted Amy's lips to twitch in what was definitely amusement.

Naomi just knew she was going to say that; but she didn't see a reason to disobey, so she blew on the dark liquid to cool it down more before taking another sip.

This time, she was distracted by the sweetness of the brew, so she didn't feel the effects, the draining, the taking nor the fact that everyone's eyes were on her. When she looked back up, they weren't, and they'd struck up another casual conversation, but when her attention drifted again, theirs returned to her, almost expectant as if they were waiting for something.

Yet Naomi didn't realize what-not until she was so weak she could barely remain upright.

“What's wrong with m-?” she exclaimed woozily, lolling sideways, hardly getting the entire question out before she collapsed

Niall caught her as she slumped, not batting an eye, just setting her on the floor as if he'd been prepared. Further proven by Tatia's, unless Naomi was mistaken, relieved sigh.

“Finally! Come on, we're nearly at the deadline. We need to finish this.”

Naomi couldn't stop the boys from grabbing her, maneuvering her into a particular spot on the carpet, Tatia and Amy getting to their feet.

“What are you doing to me?” she managed to inquire, though her lips were growing numb.

The camaraderie had totally vanished from Tatia's features, and she loomed above Naomi, cold and unfamiliarly pitiless. “Finishing what we started seven years ago.”

“We've been taking your fortune, your magic, and now we're going to complete the ritual and take everything else,” Niall added, equally detached, shutters slamming over his eyes so he was like a stranger. They all were.

Just as Naomi was about to attempt to ask how, she figured it out. The tea. That stuff that Isaac had introduced to her, that she'd been putting in hers every time they met, that was how. It had to be a potion ingredient that, mixed with a hot drink, created a potion enabling them to steal her luck. That explained why their lives were so much more pleasant and exciting than hers.

“Why?” But why would they do this to her? They weren't as close as they once were, but she didn't think they hated her. It never occurred to her that she had to be afraid of them.

Until now.

Her vision began to blur so she could only just discern the circle's identical cruel, distant expressions, Tatia's the most ruthless of all, this time matching her superior declaration.

“Because we deserved it. We never denied who we are, or let the past scare us into hiding. Those nobodies who died, they were acceptable collateral damage-necessary sacrifices. Just like you,” Isaac finished, a curl to his upper lip.

Naomi wanted to argue, but she couldn't. She was fading too fast, the potion digging its claws in deep and dragging her down into the dark. They'd tricked her good.

The last sight she had was the six people she thought she knew best, who she'd once called her second family, forming a ring around her, chanting the incantation that would rob her of her power, the incantation that totally pulled her under.

Then, everything was gone.