Cicely ended her story there, there was little more to tell without going into every second of every year of her immortal life. She moved her gaze from her hands and it landed on Erin sitting near her leaning in close to her story to fully hear her. "Thats really the gist of my story."
Erin blinked and realized how close she was to Cicely and particularly her snakes. Erin leaned back and looked at the snakes one last time, they didn't really bother her, not like they had. They definitely were less bothersome after hearing Cicely's story. Cicely had watched everyone that she had ever cared about die before her very eyes. "Wait! how did you join the coven?"
Cicely smiled, "Well in all my wanderings probably in the early 900's I ran into Hattie. She gave me the family that I had been sorely missing. Because my family was long gone and I am the last known living gorgon. When I die," she paused and took a deep breath. "When I die, gorgons will be extinct if I do not bear a female child."
"The last one?!" Erin's heart was breaking, why were they all such sad stories!!! But Elizabet had warned her, it was tragedy that brought them to this coven. Erin moved her eyes towards a chain around Cicely's neck and a piece of colored glass was neatly contained at the end of the necklace. "Is that, the same colored glass from your story?"
Cicely nodded, "yes." She reached around her neck and held the glass in her hand, "its really the only thing I have that reminds me of my island and Vitalis. It is probably my most prized possession.
Erin didn't have to ask Cicely if she was glad to have joined the coven, it was evident by the fond way she spoke of the coven and being her family. "Thank you for sharing you story with me."
"Of course darling." Cicely did a quick glance over of the girl across from her, "you are not alone and there is a reason for everything."
Erin turned and looked at the reflective glasses protecting Cicely's eyes, "What?"
"What I mean is, don't judge Elizabet too harshly."
"Why is everyone defending her! Hattie was saying the same sort of things. Elizabet did something terrible to me. My family wasn't murdered by some evil entity, she made them forget about me."
"Yes, but there is always a reason."
"Sure, she's an evil demon."
Cicely let out a laugh and then bit her tongue. "You of course are entitled to your opinion. As for now, I shall go and prepare dinner, we've been talking for quite some time!"
"Thanks again Cicely. And, I'm sorry to have freaked out the first time I saw your snakes."
"No worries Erin, it wasn't that terrible of a reaction. Trust me, I've seen much worse!"
***
While Cicely kept Erin occupied with her story they began their plan for the extraction of the boy. Heather, Elizabet, and Flora would leave in the vehicle while Hattie, Dinah, Lena, and Myrtle would sit by the gates. The four had to be as physically close as they could be to the veil that separated the two worlds. Hattie spread a blanket on the ground and closed her eyes. Lena, Myrtle, and Dinah formed a circle around Hattie as she was going to need all the power she could get.
Heather, Elizabet, and Flora took their car and drove through the Octagon House gate and back into the real world. Flora rolled down the window and took a deep breath, "this air smell so good and fresh!"
Elizabet rolled her eyes and Heather didn't respond. Flora followed Elizabet's directions to the compound. Flora parked the car a decent distance away and communicated back to Hattie that they had made it to the compound and Elizabet and Hattie would begin their extraction shortly.
Heather and Elizabet opened their doors pulling out their gear along with them. Elizabet wore an exited expression. Heather on the other hand wore her same blank expression. Flora reached for both of their hands and whispered a spell, "This will provide you coverage for about 10 minutes. After that, you will be on your own. Okay? You understand?"
"Yup, 10 minutes. Then the spell drops which means Heather and I can have some real fun!"
Heather turned and looked at Elizabet, "your concept of fun is vastly different from mine."
Elizabet slapped Heather on the back, "you better be ready to cause some serious pain, bring out that inner demon."
Heather gritted her teeth and didn't feel the need to respond to Elizabet. Heather couldn't argue, not really. The two of them were demons after all.
"Too bad Cicely couldn't join!"
Flora shook her head, "Well, she is the perfect distraction. She probably has the longest tale -er- well the ability to tell the longest tale. And she is the best cook of us all! She will keep Erin busy."
"Yeah, it would just be nice to have her eyes is all!"
Flora rolled her eyes and finished the last bit of the spell, "Your time starts now."