Authors: Jamieson Wolf
"They support you because they are afraid of you."
"Enough. Leave the Coven if this is such a concern to you, sister." She spoke the word with biting malice. "Leave and never come back."
Cecelia had stayed, of course, watching over her, keeping an eye on her every move. This made her choice of which child would die much easier. She still remembered the wail that Cecelia had let out when she saw her precious Monica laid open on a table like a feast. Cecelia left, never to return, a thorn in her side—gone. Of course, the fact that Cecelia had been right only served to fuel her anger. She had not gained anything from the Coven House after Monica's death; in fact, the House had seemed more closed off to her than ever. The Coven disbanded after Cecelia left, leaving Mistress to wander in madness.
For she had been mad for a bit. She had wondered, sprouting obscenities, preaching and yelling at passersby, sleeping in public parks. Until she remembered the prophecy. The Coven House had a basement full of prophecies that had been seen by Witches and Oracles in the Coven. One such prophecy stood out, shouted out in amongst her madness. The prophecy of a Shape Shifter. The thought of this, of a Shape Shifter with so much power, wakened a hunger in Mistress that had not shown itself for so many years. And she would find her. She had worked far too hard to get to this point not to. She knew that if she had the power of a Shape Shifter, Poppy's blood mixed with her own, that nothing in the world would be able to stop her. She would not be stopped. Mistress could almost taste Poppy's blood on her tongue, the coppery smoothness of it. She clicked her nails against her desk.
All she had to do now, she thought, was find a way inside the Coven House. Then she would be able to find Poppy. Mistress smiled to herself and started singing a wordless tune. When Poppy died, the world would be hers. Was there any happier thought than that? She smiled to herself and continued to sing, her wordless melody filling her office with eerie music.
Chapter Twenty Five
Strange Happenings
Chip was worried about his wife. He was bringing Roz breakfast in bed, hoping it would start her day off right. Last night had been another indication that something was wrong with the woman he loved. They had been watching television. It was a quiet night and though they were both worried about Alicia and Poppy, they had managed to enjoy the evening. Chip had made a light dinner of a grilled chicken Caesar salad and they had had wine with dinner, a soft white that glowed golden in candlelight.
Since his wife had started talking in her sleep, Chip had kept an eye on her. She would start to talk in strange, guttural sounds that made Chip think of darkness and shadows. Each morning, Roz had no recollection of anything that had happened the night before. It had happened several times. And each day after such an event, Roz would be even happier and more content than the night before, beaming with good natured cheer. At first, Chip thought that Roz was trying to block out the darkness that had taken place the night before, but further inspection revealed that Roz really had no idea that she had acted strangely.
Last night had been different, though. Chip had woken in the night to hear his wife talking in the guttural sounds he had become so used to in such a short time. The guttural sounds went on for quite some time until Roz actually spoke.
"Leave me alone!" she whispered into the darkness. "Leave me alone!" her voice grew louder. "IT PAINS ME!" she screamed suddenly. "IT PAINS MY INSIDES!" Distraught, Chip tried to shake his wife awake. Her eyes flipped open and she regarded him, her eyes white in the darkness.
"Chip?" she had said. Her voice had been weak and small. "Chip? What's happening to me?"
"Shhh," he had said. "I'm here; I'll take care of you."
"Chip, I'm so scared. She's here you know."
"Who? Who is here?"
"There are those who seek her, the Shifter. She is here! SHE IS HERE! Even now, she tries to seep her way in, to ooze in through the floorboards. I don't know if we can stop her!"
"Who, Roz?" he had stroked her hair. "Who?"
"I cannot see her face, but she stalks the Shifter even now, even now she is trying to find a way in. I can feel her, Chip, I can feel her, see her, but cannot see her face!" she began to cry, soft sobbing sounds that broke Chip’s heart. His wife was aching inside and there seemed to be nothing he could do for her.
"Oh, Chip!" Roz had said. "What's wrong with me? My mind feels slow and dark. . . Poppy has begun her quest, but something stalks her, something hunts her. I can only feel it at night, can only know of its presence. We must help Poppy, Chip! We must
help her
!"
Chip had pulled his wife closer to him then, had wrapped his arms around her and held her close as fresh sobs shook through her. She had shaken and quaked against him like a leaf, but there was strength there, under her skin. He had placed a hand against her stomach, against the skin holding his unborn baby.
This morning, he approached the bedroom with nervousness at what he would find inside and pushed the door open. Roz was sitting in the rocking chair she had placed near the window and was rocking back and forth in the sunlight that streamed through. She looked like some sort of goddess, bathed in the light as she was. She was the most beautiful woman Chip had ever seen. "Hello Hon," he said, placing the breakfast on the dresser. "I brought you breakfast."
"Oh, you didn't have to do that, love," Roz said, smiling up at him. "I would have gotten myself something in a bit. I was just enjoying the sun. Isn't it beautiful?"
"Did you sleep well?" Chip asked, already knowing the answer.
"I slept beautifully," she said. "I'm glad we got a new bed before I got pregnant, it's made all the difference in the world." She stood and kissed him softly. "I love you, Hon," she said.
"And I love you too." Chip kissed his wife on the forehead and went to call David. There was something dreadfully wrong with Roz. And Chip meant to find out what.
* * * * *
On their second day in the cave, Poppy awoke again to darkness. The past day had been a trial on her, but she didn't feel like sleeping. She didn't think she would be able to sleep ever again. Who had known that there was so much magic in the world, and that all you had to do was look around? After Poppy had closed her eyes and seen herself on the inside, she couldn't stop seeing herself as a Crow whenever she closed her eyes. At first, this scared her, frightened her. She didn't want to see a nightly vision of what she was: a freak of nature. Alicia quickly put those fears to rest. "You are not a freak."
"No? Why not? I can turn into a bird, for Christ's sake."
"So?"
"So?" she mocked Alicia. "Is that all you can say? I can turn into a bird, I sprout feathers, Alicia. How is that not freakish?"
"First of all, you cannot turn into a bird. Not yet. That's another part of your quest. You must learn to change at will." She smiled. "Don't worry, it will come. You should have been better prepared for this."
"Yeah, well, seeing as it's your fault I'm not, you can take the blame for that."
Alicia winced. "I guess I deserve that and a lot more besides." She paused, reaching out to take a hold of Poppy's hands. "You have to believe me, if I could have told you, I would have. I had orders of my own." She ran a finger along Poppy's cheek. "It killed me not to tell you."
Poppy touched Alicia's face where tears streamed down her cheeks. "I know."
"And all through out, I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't because of rules of the Coven, I wanted to tell you so badly—"
"It's okay," Alicia said. "There's nothing we can do about the past. Let's focus on the future instead." The day was dwindling, growing dark. "The day is short here," she said.
Alicia nodded. "It depends on where we are in the Otherworld. Some places have longer days than nights or longer nights than days."
"I named this place last night," Poppy said.
"Now how did you know how to do that?"
"I don't know. I just gave it a name. I called it Ashling." At its naming, the ground shook under their feet.
"It recognizes you," Alicia said. "Why did you name it Ashling?"
"Because it fit, I guess. It felt right."
"Ashling is the Gaelic word for dreams or visions. It seems you picked better than you could have known."
They had made love that night, this time more slowly than they had when they had arrived. They were getting to know each other again, rediscovering their human territory. Now that morning had come, Poppy found herself still wrapped in Alicia's arms. She disentangled herself and went to sit at the mouth of the cave.
She watched the sun rise. It climbed above the hills, great swirls of sun that filled the sky like paint to a canvas. She longed to have her paints and her brushes in hand to paint this. She might never see it again. She moved over slightly when Alicia sat down beside her. They leaned closer, taking in their new-found intimacy. When the sun finally reached the top of the hills, Alicia stood up.
"It's time to begin your lessons," she said.
She motioned for Poppy to follow her and led them to the middle of the large meadow that surrounded them. "The essence of Shape Shifting," she began, "is to quiet what is inside you, so that you can hear your other self."
"See, lost me there already," Poppy said.
"It's simple. You are two beings: A Crow and You; these parts make you as a whole. Inside you is your Crow Self. You will have to listen to it to set it free."
"So it's like a conscience. Sitting there at the back of my head?"
"In a sense, yes. You must also learn to change back before you learn to Change."
"How can I learn something backwards?"
"Would you rather change into Crow Self and not be able to be yourself again?" she smiled at Poppy's shocked face. "I thought not. It's simple, really. Just as you listen to your Crow Self to Change, you must listen to yourself to change back."
"Does that mean that, once I change into a Crow, my human thoughts will be in my head?"
"Got it in one."
"This has to be harder than that. Just thinking of changing form can’t make me do it."
"What is will but a wish?" Alicia replied. "What is a wish but magic? You house the purest magic, Poppy, magic that has not been seen in these hills for eons. You are the first Shape Shifter in a thousand years. You can do this."
"I can if you believe I can."
"Ah, no, you can if YOU believe you can. I already know you can. Now, close your eyes, Poppy. Concentrate."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"I'm scared."
"I will be right here with you. I won't let you fall." She squeezed Poppy's hand.
Poppy closed her eyes and tried to blank out all the sound around her. She blocked out the wind running through the grass, the sounds of insects in the distance, Alicia's breathing and the beating of her own heart. She tried to calm herself, to achieve a balance in her centre. She heard nothing but silence for some time but then. . .softly at fist and picking up tempo and speed. . .the beating of wings.
* * * * *
The wings reminded Poppy of the movie
The Birds,
of Tippy Hendren running way from the feathered flock, her green suit blazing in a sea of black wings. Thinking of The Birds brought on panic, so she started just listening to the flap of the wings inside her, feeling the power of them. She let herself float along on the sound of those wings, let herself glide with the sound they made. After a few minutes, Poppy was able to work out a soft rhythm and she swayed to it. She stretched her hands out on either side of her and stretched her fingers, longing to fly.
"Poppy. . . ."
Alicia's voice was soft, as if it were coming from a distance. She felt the wings and the blackness surround her in a comfortable embrace, holding her in their grasp. She felt safe there, as if she were in a womb.
"Poppy. . . ."
Alicia's voice again, closer this time. She felt wind on her face and felt the wings respond. She wanted to lift herself off the ground and feel the wind below her, holding her up, around her. . . . She heard a snap and opened her eyes. Alicia was looking at her with a worried expression on her face. "I was afraid I lost you there," she said. "I snapped my fingers to get your attention."
"Sorry," Poppy said. "I was somewhere else."
Alicia smiled. "That's the point, isn't it? So you heard it? You hear your Crow Self?"
"Yeah." Poppy smiled, remembering. "It was scary at first, frightening. But then it was very relaxing, beautiful even."
"Shape Shifting is a beautiful thing as all animals in the Mothers kingdom are beautiful. There is nothing to be ashamed of; you're not a freak of nature, Poppy. You are magic, one of the most beautiful things in the world."
"I never thought of it that way," Poppy said. She thought back to everything she had read about magic and came to the conclusion that what she knew about magic wouldn't fill a pamphlet. "I guess I'm kind of out of my element here."