Finnegan's parents sat trying to console him in the living room floor, but not really knowing where to begin to process what was happening. There was a black and white ball python slithering around on their carpet, Elise was here, and now she wasn't, and Finn was convinced the snake was Elise.
Finnegan's dad picked up Elise's phone and checked the time. 7:35.
"Hey, didn't Elise say she had to be home at 8?" He looked at his wife. She thought for a minute, and when she remembered Elise saying that to her as well, her eyes grew wide, and Finnegan's head shot up, eyes still wide, but fresh panic sobering him.
"Oh my Gods! What are we going to do!!!?? She can't go back like this. How could we possibly explain this to anyone? And her mom will never let her see me again. Oh, Gods. Oh, GODS!" Finnegan had stood up and was becoming hysterical. He went over and picked the snake up from where she was trying to go under the couch to hide.
Finn's dad looked at his wife and spoke in a whisper, "Minerva, we need to do something! We're running out of time."
Finn's mom took a deep breath and tried to calm down to think of a plan. "Ok, well, she obviously can't go home, but her mom will never just let her stay over. We need an excuse."
"If it was raining too hard, she might not be able to drive, we could keep her until the weather cleared in the morning?"
"Good idea, my Love, you go with Finnegan and make a torrential downpour as quickly as you can. As soon as it starts, I'll call Elise's mother. Until then, I'll call the Elders for an emergency meeting. We're gonna need help."
They took each others hands and gave a squeeze, before rising up off the floor and facing Finnegan, who had stopped crying, but he was holding Snake-Elise around his arm and stroking her gently and staring at her sadly while she just tried to make her way to the floor and continue exploring.
"Finnegan." His dad squared his shoulders and spoke with authority. Finnegan looked at them. "I need you to come with me. Leave Elise here with your mom. We don't have much time."
Finnegan didn't know how anything could help. He was already losing hope. He laid Snake-Elise on the floor again and followed his dad who was already waiting with the door open. Finnegan's mom went to work calling the Elders of the Grove.
Finnegan and his dad went out to the clearing, and his dad helped him to pick up his abandoned artifacts. Once they had quickly, but carefully stashed everything in Finnegan's shed, they went back out to the clearing. Finnegan's dad grabbed Finn by the shoulders to say, "Son, are you alright? I need you to help me start a storm. We can't do anything about Elise right now, but we can giver her an alibi long enough for us to meet with the Elders. Can you do this?" He spoke clearly and calmly, but with authority. Finnegan had been panicking and falling deeper into despair as he thought he might never have Elise back and had exposed himself and his family as witches. He pushed all of this from his mind when his dad spoke to him, and he knew he needed to first try to fix it before giving hope. And he would only be able to help fix it if he had a clear mind. Finnegan shook his head, "Yes, dad. I can do it." His dad looked at his eyes, reading the determination in them, and nodded.
"Ok, stand here and wait in God pose for me to close the circle. Then, we will take each other's hands and I'll start the incantation. Just repeat with me, and we will chant until the first raindrop. You must focus on causing a torrential downpour and you must focus hard. We don't have much time."
"Ok, dad. Got it. I'm ready." Finnegan stood in the center of the circle in God pose, with his arms crossed over his chest with his hands resting on his shoulders. While his dad closed the circle, he prayed to the spirits to help him so that he could keep seeing Elise. He loved her, and he hadn't even gotten to kiss her yet.
His dad began.
"Spirits of the Air, come now to the circle. Blow fierce and wild and lend us your power! Hail, and welcome.
"Spirits of the Fire, come to our circle. Flash across the sky in bright lightning bolts, lending us your power. Hail, and welcome.
"Spirits of the Water, come now to our circle. Fall from the clouds in sheets, flooding the Earth with your power. Hail, and welcome.
"And Spirits of the Earth, come to our circle. Protect us through the storm and with the storm. We need your power. Hail, and welcome!"
Once the circle was closed, Finnegan's dad went to the center with Finn and pressed his palms against Finn's between them. They raised their arms up, their palms still touching. The wind had begun blowing and whipping the leaves above, while a low rumble of thunder could be heard growling low in the distance. Finnegan's dad began the incantation:
"O Tempest, come,
Show us your strength.
O Elements, we call you now,
To bring us a perfect storm!"
Together they finished the spell.
"O Tempest, come
Show us your strength.
O Elements, we call you now,
To bring us a perfect storm!
O Tempest, come,
Show us your strength.
O Elements, we call you now,
To bring us a perfect storm!"
A loud thunder clap sounded in the sky above them and the wind was strong now, pulling at their clothes. They continued chanting, shouting so their words could be heard over the roaring wind. When the first drop fell, they finished the verse, and stopped. They held their arms up until the rain was falling hard, then Finnegan's dad went back to the north position to begin opening the circle and thanking the spirits so he could send them away.
"Thank you for your aid, Spirits of Earth. Go now in peace. Hail, and farewell.
Thank you, Spirits of Water. We appreciate your aid. Go in peace. Hail, and farewell.
Thank you, Spirits of Fire. You have blessed us and we are grateful. Hail, and farewell.
And thank you, Spirits of Air, for your aid. Go in peace. Hail, and farewell."
By the time the circle was open again, the rain was falling so hard and blowing against them with such force they had to hold their arms in front of their faces as they ran back to the shelter of the porch. The wind blew the rain sideways and they still were pelted with raindrops until they came into the living room. Just before the sliding glass door was shut, bright, white veins of lightning spread across the sky, and thunder roared and cracked, nearly shaking the house. The two of them stood in the living room dripping and breathing hard.
Finnegan's mom, came from the kitchen, holding Snake-Elise around her neck and a phone in her hand.
"Great job, guys. That bought us some time. I just got off the phone with Elise's mom."
Finnegan had caught his breath, and he straightened himself up to ask, "What did you say?"
"I just told her that Elise was over here, but shortly after she left, it began raining and so she came back, but as she walked up to the door, she was soaked and muddy. So I was having her take a shower and change into something dry until the storm subsides." Finnegan's mom smiled, feeling proud of herself. Finnegan and his dad looked relieved, but Finnegan was still tense, and the storm spell drained them. His mom continued on to say, "I told Elise's mom, I believe she said her name was Linda, that Elise could sleep over here on our couch if it got too late, so we have until tomorrow morning to figure something out. You two should get out of those wet clothes before the Elders get here. I called them before the storm started, and they should be arriving soon."
Finnegan and his dad both nodded at her and removed their shoes by the door before going to change.
While Finnegan was pulling on some warm, black sweatpants and a dry tee shirt and hoodie, he was finally able to start processing the events of the evening. The spell had worked after all, but not on the item he meant to transform. So, that meant that his individual power was much stronger than he thought. He couldn't feel too proud of himself though because now his girlfriend was a snake! He was glad his parents were able to come up with an alibi, and he hoped the Elders could fix his mistake. He lifted another prayer to the Gods, promising not to test his strength alone again. It was too dangerous. He should have known better. He DID know better, but he was too hot-headed. He would need to spend some time speaking to the Warrior and the Sage after this so he could properly atone for his mistake.
Finnegan went back into the living room. His dad was already there and one of the Elders had already arrived and was standing at the door..
"Merry Meet, Sage Desmond" Finnegan bowed his head in respect to the man as he walked up. Desmond was a man in his early seventies, but he was not frail. He had a motorcycle and wore leather a lot. He had on jeans and a leather vest over a tee shirt with the image of angel wings on the front and graffiti letters spelling out 'FREEDOM' on it, all under a rainproof cloak. He also had a long gray braid hanging down his back with leather ties in it, and a short white beard.
"Merry Meet, Finn," he said. "Did you get a new snake?" he asked, seeing the snake around Finnegan's mom's neck. Finnegan tensed, not knowing what to say. His mom stepped in, pulling Snake-Elise off and handing her to Finn. .
"Come in, won't you, Desmond? We're still waiting on the others to arrive. I'm sorry to call you out, but I assure you it is an emergency. We'll explain everything when everyone is here. Can I make you some tea?" Finnegan's mom ushered him into the living room and offered.
"Thank you, Minerva. I'll be ok. No tea for me."
"Alright." She looked to her husband. "Owen, would you mind to greet the others, I'm going to make some tea anyway, in case someone else wants some."
"Yes, dear."
Finnegan couldn't believe how casual his parents were acting. There wasn't really any point in freaking out, he supposed, but Finnegan couldn't truly relax. He went and sat by the fireplace that wasn't lit, but it was out of the way. He laid Elise in his lap and stroked down the length of her body. Her scales were healthy and smooth, and her coloring was actually, black, white, and gray. She was a beautiful morph, and if he had to buy a snake like this from a breeder, she would be expensive.
"Oh, Elise," he thought to her, "I'm so sorry. I've ruined your whole life. I am going to do everything I can to fix this." He sat there, while she had twisted herself into a ball around his hand and then lay still in his lap.
There was another knock at the door. His dad answered it, and a man and a woman entered, shaking the water from their umbrellas and closing them before stepping across the threshold. They were in their fifties and not quite gray, but still elder members of the Grove. Their names were Celeste and Dave. Celeste was dressed in a flowy, moss green and orange tie-dye cotton dress, and she wore her pentacle necklace and a long, beaded necklace with an amethyst stone pendant. She had short hair in a pixie cut, but it was messy since she was in a rush to get here. Dave was wearing a Hawaiian short-sleeved shirt with athletic shorts, white crew socks, and white Nike tennis shoes.
Finnegan's dad led them into the living room, and they greeted Desmond, not noticing Finnegan in the back corner. Finnegan's mom came in from the kitchen with a tray containing mugs and a teapot.
"Hello Dave. Celeste," she said, nodding at each of them in turn," would you like some tea?"
"Yes, thank you, Minerva. So, tell us what this is all about. It must be urgent for you to call us out in this storm."
"Yes, of course. Make sure you're sitting. Finnegan, come over here. We've got a very serious problem, and we need your help."