With the Elders all seated around the coffee table with Finnegan's mom, Minerva, Finnegan's dad, Owen, stood next to his wife and reached over for her hand. Finnegan came and kneeled before them, holding out Snake-Elise, who was trying to slither back up to his shoulders and tuck against his warmth.
"Finn, I think you should explain the situation. Elders, please listen all the way through before you ask questions. We already realize this is an unbelievable situation, but nevertheless, it is what we are dealing with." Looking at Finn, Minerva nodded for him to begin.
They were all looking at him expectantly.
"Ok, I guess I should start by saying that I inherited a trunk of special artifacts from my Nana Rose, who passed away a few months ago, which contained her Book of Shadows. I couldn't bring myself to look through any of it until a week and a half ago, or so, but I found a transformation spell."
After he said this, the Elders all sat a little straighter. Finn continued, "I met a girl at school, who I was partnered with for a Science project, and after spending more time with her, I began to like her and test her to see if I could trust her. She is trustworthy, but she had no previous knowledge of paganism, so I kept her in the dark about this spell. I asked her to be my girlfriend recently."
At this announcement, the Elders all grinned, but his parents remained serious, so their grins faded away, and they continued to listen. "I've been working on my own to cultivate my craft and power, and I wanted to try something simple to see if I could do it. On my first meeting with Elise to work on our project at her house, I found a berry in the woods, and I wanted to turn it into a rose to give her. I wasn't sure it would work, but I attempted it anyway. I told her I would be busy tonight and that I would call her this evening. She didn't have her license yet, and I didn't expect her to show up. When my ritual was finished, the berry remained, but I found this snake at the edge of the clearing with Elise's coat, phone, and a backpack purse. Elise is nowhere to be found." Finnegan started getting choked up on his words, so he fell silent, and his dad finished the explanation.
"Elise had mentioned that she wanted to surprise Finn, but we didn't know what he was working on either. He usually locks himself in his shed, anyway, and we thought it was sweet. But she happened to mention that she had to be home by 8 o'clock," the guests' eyes drifted toward the clock on the wall, "which is why Finn and I created this storm. We had to buy some time to figure out what to do, but we only have until morning."
The Elders looked at each other in disbelief, not knowing where to begin asking questions. Suddenly, Minerva gasped and covered her mouth with the hand her husband wasn't holding.
"What is it, my Love?" Owen said to her, shrinking down and squatting beside where she sat.
"I just remembered the first time Elise was over here. I made her some tea, and I divined a big change in her life and an accident. She was a dragon and deer antlers in her leaves. I told her to be careful, but I thought maybe a car accident or something would happen. Oh Great Goddess!" Minerva looked at Owen. Finnegan pressed his warm palms against Elise's body and hugged her as best as he could.
Finally, Desmond spoke. "So, you believe that the transformation spell worked and turned your girlfriend into a snake?"
Finnegan almost sneered at the man, but he just looked at him with a level expression and said, "Yes. I can hardly believe it myself, but if we do nothing we'll have even bigger problems. I realize that it was a mistake to work this level of magic on my own, but I thought the worst that would happen is it wouldn't work. Please, help me fix this, and I promise to properly atone for my error." Finnegan was almost pissed when he finished his speech.
"Well, I for one, am quite impressed," said Dave. " I mean, a young wizard cultivating mostly in solitary practice who was able to pull off an advanced spell is rather impressive, wouldn't you say Celeste? You have a talented young man on your hands Owen and Minerva."
"Yes, but it was still reckless. If we can't fix this or cover it up, we shall be exposed, and this will go beyond this quaint little hamlet where we live. This kind of news would spread all over the country, then all over the world. We have to do something," Celeste joined in.
"Finn, will you bring us the Book of Shadows from your grandmother. We need to see how this spell was written," Desmond said. The others agreed.
"Alright, but I have to go out to the shed. Dad, can you please find something to put Elise in?" Finn carefully removed Elise from around his neck, and handed her to his mom. Before going to the shed, Finn went to grab a flashlight and a rain poncho from his room.
Elise wound around Minerva's hand into a ball and she seemed to watch Finnegan's form retreat from the room. Once he was gone, Elise began scoping, raising her head into the air and flicking her tongue to taste the air while looking around from her poised position. Celeste got up from the couch and walked over to the chair where Minerva sat holding the black and white snake. Celeste reached out to stroke the snake. Elise flicked her tongue out over Celeste's wrist and bumped her nose against Celeste's arm before she coiled back around just as Finn reappeared. He was wearing the poncho and his hiking boots and holding the flashlight in his hand. He opened the sliding door and ducked under the hood, then he closed the door and was gone without saying a word.
"I have to say, Minerva, your son is a brooding one. So, tell us more about this girl. What do we know about her?" Celeste asked. Minerva filled them in on as much information as they knew about Elise. She was Finn's Science partner. She was an only child of a single mother, named Linda, who was severely protective. Elise is a very sweet girl. She studies hard and likes to read. and Finnegan was absolutely smitten.
Owen returned from the basement with a large basket with a lid. "This might work until we find something better. Sorry, Minerva. I had to take your scarves out."
"That's fine, Love." She held Elise out so she could set her in the basket when Owen removed the lid. "Wait. Did you just dump the scarves on the floor, or did you put them in something else?"
Finnegan returned with the Book of Shadows at that moment. Desmond got up and went to take the book from him while Finn removed his boots and left them by the door, but Owen beat him there and took the book first.
"I'll find the page for you Desmond. There's a protective spell on the book. Only members of the bloodline will be able to open it." Owen told him. Finnegan had finished removing his boots and went to the basket. Minerva was making a face at Owen, but now was not the time to scold him for being careless with her scarves.
"Ok, now that we have the spell, Finn, you'll have to tell us what you did when you worked it. Leave out no detail. We must know everything," Dave told him.
They all listened to Finn walk them through his steps, and pored over the spell, trying to find a reversal, all through the night. Meanwhile, Elise was tucked safely in a basket and a storm raged outside.