Even with the obvious news that Marc is no longer available, she
’
s still very persistent with her same old line of questions. Why he won
’
t hang out with
her
anymore
,
or return her calls
,
or go out to eat with the
ir friends
. I really didn
’
t understand Kelly
’
s problem. She is a
beautiful blond
Barbie
-
type cheerleader. Other guys will just about kill to be with her
, but
she never gives them the time of day.
I lean against a large oak tree overlooking the school parking lot, a view I
’
m getting quite
accustom to
. I
’
m cloaked and watching Marc talk with Kelly when Lisa suddenly shifts beside me.
“
What are we doing?
”
she whispers leaning next to the tree as well.
I roll my eyes and whisper back,
“
What
’
s it look like?
”
and then sigh
.
“
No, don
’
t answer that.
”
We both laugh at each other.
“
Marc is trying to keep the peace with Kelly because I think he
’
s afraid that if
she
and I get together that I will incinerate her.
”
“
Well that is a thought, you know, I would love to see her pom
-
poms go up in flames
,
”
Megan says as she stands behind us with one hand on the tree and the other on her hip giving us one of her saucy grin
s
.
I
smile pointing my finger at her.
“
Don
’
t tempt me, I may not like Kelly
, but
I don
’
t really want to hurt her.
”
“
Well anyway, tonight
’
s the Imbolc celebration
,”
Megan continues as she raises a
gorgeous
questioning brow.
“
What are you girls wearing
,
and are
you bringing Marc?
”
she
earnestly adds
.
“
First,
Mom
always picks out my dress, you know
that
, it
i
s kind of a tradition for us, and yes, Marc and I are attending the Imbolc celebration together.
”
Running my fingers thro
ugh my hair I grin at them both.
“
I spoke to
Dad
who thinks
it
’
s
a smashing idea for him to go
.
To
get him acclimated in our ways as much as possible.
”
I quickly take a peek around the corner of the tree and see Marc standing by my car.
“
Ok
ay
girls
,
let
’
s get out of here.
”
The three of us uncloak and walk out to the parking lot. I feel all of a sudden like
the
three witches
from Shakespeare. Everyone is looking us up and down. Some looks are intriguing, some are concerning
,
and other
s
are confusing, as if
they have never seen us before, p
robably because they haven
’
t.
The wind picks up blowing our hair around like we are in a music video and I give an accusing look at Megan.
She just raises an innocent eye
brow at me and smiles.
“
What?
”
I
’
m thinking to myself,
Great, we can
’
t even keep off the radar walking to our cars after school
.
I get home and give
Mom
and
Dad
quick hugs.
Mom announces
as I run upstairs,
“
I will bring your dress up to you in a bit, okay?
”
“
No problem
Mom
,
thanks,
”
I yell back
, then
my cell rings
a familiar tune
as I walk into my bedroom.
“
Hey beautiful
,
I
’
m wondering if you can tell me more about tonight
o
ther
than
;
be at your house in two hours
,”
Marc
inquires
with
that wonderful
deep
voice of his.
Biting my lower lip
,
I begin to debate with myself about how much to tell him
. The
Imbolc
is a very important witch holiday that we celebrate each year
at the Spring Equinox
. The Imbolc embraces the rites of purification as well as symbolizing fertility as the winter gives way to spring. Witches are extremely open about sex, as I have said before
, but
I
’
m
still a bit hesitant about speaking to Marc so bluntly about it yet. My thought is to let him figure it out once he
’
s there. So I just state the basics to him.
“
Marc, it
’
s an annual ritual celebration usually done in the
spring
time, a passage signaling the end of winter and the beginning of the growing season, bringing back growth and birth. In our ways we give equal respect to life and death. Also, the month of February was very
sacred
back in the ancient Roman times.
”
I begin fidgeting with my hair as I rattle on, “
Once
,
a goddess named
Februs
fell in love with another deity,
who
became her consort. Over time they were known for purification and death
,”
I finish by telling him,
“
I need you to wear a solid black tuxedo. The men wear all black and the women wear white dresses. Our coven made this event even more alluring because it is a masquerade party. We will all be wearing masks. I already have yours so no need to worry about that. I
’
m running out of time, so I
’
ve got to go. See you when you get here.
”
I never give him an opportunity to ask a single question before I end the call. Mom said a little mystery is always good.
I take a shower
,
and pull my hair up
as
my mother comes in with my elegant dress and mask.
“
Mom,
it
’
s
absolutely stunning.
”
“
Your welcome, Alyss,
n
ow, you know your father and I wi
ll be at the Arcane for tonight
’
s celebration.
”
Hugging me she says,
“
I hope you and Marc have an amazing time, call us if you need anything.
”
I bite my lip nervously pacing, I
’
m going on my instincts with Marc and my parents seem perfectly fine with this. I really want him to enj
oy tonight and not feel intimidated
in any
way.
I stop in our foyer l
ooking over myself in the Queen
’
s mirror. My evening gown is a sheer white color and it flows down to the floor and then some. It fits perfectly to the form of my body showing all the curves in all the right places. It is one of the sexi
est dresses I have seen, with
an extremely low cut back which shows my crescent mark. It
’
s sleeveless with only two simple diamond straps on either shoulder.
My mask is gorgeous, it
’
s silver and gold intertwined in an exotic patterns and fans out across my face. I decide to keep my hair down with my thick dark curls
cascading down along my back.
I hear Marc
’
s car pull up,
g
rabbing his black mask, I stand by the door. My heart is pounding inside my chest insanely. I sure hope he likes what he sees, because what you
see
is what you get with me.
I open the door when
I hear his footsteps come closer. My fire element ignites my heart into beating again because it completely stop
s
the moment I see him. He walks towards me wearing a solid black tuxedo. His spiked golden blond hair stands out and I imagine him walking off a runway for Ralph Lau
ren. We both stand a few feet a
part in awe of each other
’
s appearance. A few seconds pass
,
and finally
,
he glides right up to me in a blur. The swift
ness
of his movement
s
appear effortless
, but
before I can debate how fast he moves he puts his hands on my hips and studies every tiny feature of me.
His eyes drift from the floor upward
along my body
until he gently holds my face in his hands and says
,
“
When I hear the word
s
goddess
of the gods
, I think of you, Alyssa.
”
He opens his car door for me to get in.
I get in
and as I wait for him
,
the radio plays a song called
,
“
A Town Called Hypocrisy
,
”
I
laugh lightly, how fitting.
“
Ok
ay
, what
’
s so funny?
”
He asks as he backs out of the driveway.
“
The song,
it
’
s
just amusing to me that a town named
Praynun
,
Montana
has no idea that it
has witches
.
”
Chapter 13
Once we pull up to a huge
elaborate
mansion, I decide to give Marc a little history about this rar
e home as we wait for everyone
to arrive. Changing my voice to a more mystical tone, I
casually motion my hand toward
the entrance as if I am a hostess, like Vanna White. “This mansion before you was built back in the late eighteen hundreds by a witch named Carson Williamson. He wanted his house to have the influences from the many of the different countries he traveled to long ago. The entire house has characteristics of Gothic, French, and Italian designs.”
I smile at him standing in a pose as he shakes his head at me. He takes a step closer and I still don’t move. With a sensual grin he says, “So are you going to quiz me after this is over?”
He reaches over
,
gently taking my hands and placing them around his neck. I relax, but wit
h a teasing tone
I say
, “I may just do that.”
Walking me backwards he whispers
next to my ear
, “So, is this going to be a pop quiz?” His
seducing hands run over my hips and along my back
.
“Or do I get to study my subject more?” Before things become
even more
eventful and heated
,
Dawson
’s car pulls in just a few
parking
spaces down.
Megan appears first, sauntering ou
t from the passenger’s side and
she is gorgeous in her alluring
white evening gown. Her mask is white with light shades of blue. We shake hands the coven way and as she leans in to kiss my cheek she whispers, “Better keep your eyes on Marc because he’s absolutely sublime tonight, Alyss.”