Coven

       Mary walked past the houses with carved pumpkins and fake ghosts in their yards. Past trick-or-treaters and parents telling their kids to not run too far ahead as the children grew excited with the rush of sugar and the hopes for more. The world had that amber glow of the low sun reflecting off the fiery-colored leaves in the trees and on the grounds.

       “Oh! I love your costume, hun,” A middle-aged suburban woman told Mary, breaking her line of thought. “You make an absolute adorable witch.” The woman smiled. She wore a fairy costume that was a size too small as she walked a group of tykes down the sidewalk.

       “Thanks,” Mary replied sheepishly.

       “Going to a party, dear?” the motherly figure asked Mary upon realizing that the girl was at least twenty-one instead of a teen.

       “Uh, yeah,” Mary told her, “Sort of.”

       “Well be careful, sweetie,” the woman said, “there are ghosts and actual witches about tonight.” She called as the youngsters in her group pulled her to the next house.

       Real witches, Mary thought, ha!

       She reached the woods right out of town and continued down the narrow pathway that Megan had told her to follow. Megan had been the first person to talk to Mary when Mary had moved to town from Oregon to attend the small college. Megan had introduced Mary to her two best friends, Sarah and Lauren.

       She thought back on what they had told her tonight. “Bring the clothes we got you and show up right as the sun goes down in that clearing in the woods.” Mary wondered what an actual witch coven would be like. She would be the fourth and apparently, that meant that they would finally be able to perform actual magic. Not just rituals to get the attention of boys or for better grades in calculus.

       “She’s here!” Megan announced as Mary came to the clearing. The other girls were dressed the same in pointed hats with dark cloaks. A small bonfire was burning in the middle of them.

       “How do you enter the circle?” Lauren asked as Mary slowly stepped to where she was supposed to kneel.

       “With an open heart and a clear mind,” Mary answered solemnly. Megan had told her everything she would need to remember for tonight.

       Megan stood up and walked over to stand above Mary as Lauren and Sarah began whispering an incantation that Mary couldn’t understand.

       “Hold out your hand, Mary,” Megan told her. The other two stood up when they completed their initial words. Mary knew to remain on her knees, she held her hand out.

       Megan produced an ornate dagger from beneath her cloak. She grabbed hold of Mary’s wrist sharply, causing the girl to jump slightly. Megan stuck the blade into Mary’s palm. She released small cries of pain out as Megan held her hand over the fire to allow the blood to drip into the flames. Lauren and Sarah approached the other two. Sarah held out a small goblet that Megan now allowed Mary’s blood to slowly flow into. Mary felt like she no longer wanted to be part of this, fear of rejection or once again being known as the wuss kept her in place.

       “This is your last chance, Mary,” Megan told her, “You can leave now if you have any doubts because once you join us, there is no going back. You are bonded to us forever.”

       It is so easy to just leave, Mary’s consciousness told her, Just stand up and run.

       “I am ready to enter your coven,” Mary spoke quietly.

       The three standing women took sips from the goblet, leaving scarlet stains on their lips. Megan handed her the goblet.

       Mary felt like retching, the sight of the dark blood, looking like a black wine in the October darkness, gave her a lump in her throat. It smelled like copper. She hesitantly took a sip and was surprised that the blood tasted more like sugar than metal. The other girls recited another incantation over her. They then took their places to kneel around the fire again.

       “He will be here soon, once you pledge your allegiance, you will forever be a part of one with us,” Sarah told her.

       The air stirred wickedly. The fire grew for a moment before dying down to its original form as Mary’s blood boiled in the dancing orange flames. Her hand stung as it leaked into the gross before her.

       “Are you ready to enter the coven and be one of us?” a whispered male voice asked in Mary’s ear. “I can sense doubt within your heart, but that is normal.”

       The voice left an icy feel against the skin of her neck. Mary shivered. She could feel two hands grasping her shoulders, softly but with a certain force that would not allow her to move from its grip.

       “Mary, Mary,” the voice whispered in her ear, more cold breath with the scent of ash clouded her, “The lovely little cherry. Join your sisters and I will give you the world. The universe. Milk and honey as much as you can take.”

       The three other girls laughed, causing Mary to avert her gaze from the fire to them. The women began to levitate off the ground. She laughed and smiled like they were at a party instead of this sinister ritual. The girls then dropped the cloaks off their shoulders. The fabrics fell to the dirt soundlessly as the women writhed in the air, the fire giving a red glow to their pale naked bodies.

       “You can join them, Mary,” the voice said again- he sounded rougher this time, “Just give your undying allegiance to me and you can fly with them.”

       “Join us, Mary, join us!” the floating women shouted in unison. They smiled and laughed without restraint still.

       “Don’t you want to finally be a part of something?” Megan asked.

       “You could finally have friends, Mary,” Sarah said next.

       “Find the love you have always wanted,” Lauren taunted.

       “Give it up to me and you can have the life you always wanted, Mary,” the unseen man hissed in her ear. He sounded like a snake, Mary realized. She felt the hands slide from her shoulders and down her arms, sensually caressing her hips. The feeling of it felt like ice cubes of poison running down her body.

       “No!” Mary shouted. “I don’t want this! I can’t.” She started to cry.

       The feeling of the hands on her faded as the naked women fell to the ground in a dull thud.

       “You- you bitch,” Megan hissed.

       “We were ready to have it all,” Lauren sneered. “You ruined it, you pathetic, little whore!”

       “I don’t want to be one with you,” Mary fought back through tears and fear. “I can’t be part of this. I’m sorry, Megan.” That hurt the most, Mary had actually grown extremely fond of Megan’s friendship.”

       “You will pay for this,” Megan fired back in a dirty tone. “You weak, sad little girl. You are nothing and always have been. He could have given you strength and relevance. You could have had any guy you wanted. You had to pussy out last minute.”

       The words of Megan cut through Mary’s skin like daggers. It was like being torn apart by family.

       “Go,” Megan said limply. Mary could see tears in Megan’s eyes by the fire now. “Just go, Mary.” She could also see the three women had changed. Instead of beautiful ladies in their early twenties, it appeared as if the women had aged a hundred years in three seconds, their eyes were glassed over in glaucoma, their features were now wrinkled and saggy, and their once luscious hair stuck out in matted rat’s nests.

       Wordlessly, Mary picked herself up silently. She was still crying but walked away from the sobbing old crones knowing she had done the right thing.

       “Oh sweetie,” A voice said when Mary had reached the road out of the woods, “Look at you, party not go as planned?” It was the woman from earlier, though she had changed. Her body was no longer hanging out of the fairy costume unpleasantly. Instead, the woman was young and beautiful with a healthy body under the outfit. “I understand, I am just glad you’re okay. Come with me, I have some friends over that I think you may want to meet. They’re a lot better than that other trash.”