Helene operated on auto-pilot at work the next day. Her eyes constantly darted to the clock, to see how much time she had until she had to climb into a car and drive off to wherever with the creepy white eyed man.
She couldn't tell anyone, as she was sure they would think she had lost her mind. Maybe she had, she wondered if maybe this was the mental break that she had feared would come one day. She wasn't sure, but she knew she had to find out whatever was going on with the white eyes, else she could be haunted forever.
Part of her hoped that he wouldn't turn up, that she could forget any of this had happened and return home to her normal life. But there he was, standing by a matte black BMW.
"Hey!" He smiled over at her as if they had been friends for years. She pulled her bag closer and put her head down, walking to the car. Ivan made sure to open the door for her and he could feel the anxious energy pulsating from her body.
"Are you nervous?" He asked as he started up the engine.
"Where are we going?" She ignored his question.
"To meet some very important people." He told her and she sighed, resting her head against the seat and letting her eyes fall shut.
Ivan couldn't believe it when he looked over to find her asleep beside him. He had expected her to nervously fidget or ask him countless questions. But it was as if she had pressed the off switch on her mind in an attempt to relax. He was impressed by the amount of control she appeared to have over her mind.
Gerard heard the car. His palms became sweaty, sat in the office of the pub. He had bought the pub fifty years ago, to work as a headquarters for the coven. It blended in seamlessly with society and allowed them to congregate in a social setting.
Helene tugged at the hem of her sweater dress. She tried to repress the deep set anxiety that was coursing through her veins. She coached herself into the pub, one step, then two steps, until she found herself in what seemed like a pretty average underground pub. The stairs were sticky with the residue of god knows how many drinks and suddenly, Helene felt the weight of the situation she was in. Who was to say that she was going to make it out of the pub alive. Why had she trusted this stranger? But in for a penny, in for a pound.
Ivan walked in behind with a large, cocky grin plastered on his face. He had never seen anyone with a glow like hers and he was the one who had found her.
"Hey! Turn your bloody light down!" Jeff, one of the older witches shouted from the bar. Ivan smiled encouragingly when Helene looked back at him with apprehension in her eyes.
She took a moment to have a good look around. At first, one could be excused for thinking that it was a biker gang she had been brought to. Men with long grey beards and leather jackets that she was sure were older than her stood by the bar, sipping beers that lingered in their moustaches. But then, when she looked closer, it was not a biker gang at all. In fact, there was no way to categorise the group of people at all. There were people in smart suits, others in jeans and T-shirts. Some were old, some were young, there seemed to be nothing that linked all of them.
"I told you to turn your light off!" The scary biker man sat at the bar shouted again, pulling her from her thoughts.
"Now, calm down Jeff. She's a newbie."
The voice was lyrical and lilting and it seemed that the general chatter hushed when the suited man entered the room. Helene froze when she realised that the commotion had been directed at her. She sighed, pulling her bag close to her again. She was deeply uncomfortable.
Gerard couldn't believe it. He had to allow his eyes to adjust to her aura. It was brighter than any he had seen in his time leading a coven. Once he got past the aura, he got a good look at her. She was pretty enough, if not a little plump for his tastes.
"Hello, Gerard." He extended a hand and was taken aback when she firmly thrust her hand into the shake.
"Helene." She replied bluntly and he felt the rush of newly awoken power run through him.
"Wow, don't you just love newbies?" He looked over her head to Ivan, who chuckled, nodding.
Helene sat with her new acquaintance in a private corner of the pub. He was all salt and pepper, in a finely cut suit and a well trimmed beard. She didn't like how he looked at her, but she couldn't put her finger on why. She took a couple of deep breaths, in an attempt to calm herself.
"Do you know who we are?" He asked her and Helene could feel the awkward, talkative version of herself that she became when she was uncomfortable rise to the surface.
"Wait, let me think." She began, deciding to joke her way through this interaction. "Goblins, fairies? No, vampires! Vampires would be so cool!" She smiled in an attempt to seem confident and was glad when she was met with a deep chuckle from Gerard.
"Oh, I like this one." He told Ivan, over her head and she decided she really didn't like being spoken about in front of her face.
"So, am I going to become superman?" She asked, hoping that all of this hassle would at least be worth something.
"I'm afraid not. But what you are is a witch." He told her and she slumped back against the sofa, considering what he had said for a moment.
Gerard watched as the cogs turned in her brain. He hadn't expected her to be a funny little thing. But it seemed she was going to meet all of this head on, making his job infinitely easier.
"A witch? Well, you know my mum used to know a witch-" She began to think aloud and he cut her off.
"No, no, those are Wiccans, only a religion. We are real, full blooded witches." He told her and watched as she pouted like a scorned child.
"What does that even mean?" She asked, clearly frustrated.
"Well, what it means, my child, is that you were born into a long family of witches. Your blood is different to others, you hold a power that you cannot imagine." He told her and was a little underwhelmed by her reaction.
"But why did you come to me now?" She asked and he was glad that she was inquisitive rather than dismissive.
"Your blood was awoken. There is a time in every witch's life where their magic is awoken and that time for you was very recent."
She sat and listened to Gerard, thinking about the seance. That had obviously been the trigger. She couldn't believe that she was believing him with such ease. But something about what he was saying registered in her mind, it felt right.
"So this is-" She asked, gesturing around to the pub.
"My coven. I have been the leader of this coven for almost a hundred years." He told her and she couldn't process the underlying meaning of that statement at that moment, saving it to unpack it later.
"As a newly awoken witch, you have to commit yourself to a coven. We walk amongst humans, but we live in our own community." She took a moment to understand what he was saying.
"Wait, you mean I have to move?" She asked, horror in her eyes. She couldn't abandon her sister like this.
"No, no I'm sorry. I'll just get the train for the coven meetings or whatever, I can't move."
Gerard was beginning to lose his patience. The strong will that had seemed so alluring at first was now frustrating.
"I don't think you understand, Helene. Your life is going to completely change." He told her and watched as she furrowed her brows.
"Is there any way I can go back to my life?" She asked and he shook his head.
"No, you are one of us now." He told her in a definite way.
Helene thought she might burst into floods of tears. She had to fight this, she couldn't give in and give up her life so easily.
"Who is in charge? Is there someone I can speak to about all of this?" She asked, wondering if she could speak to some sort of witch manager. She only realised how ridiculous she sounded when Ivan and Gerard began to chuckle.
"No one made these rules, my child. It is the natural way of things. Just like werewolves run in packs, we must live in a coven." She listened tentatively, but felt her mind race at the mention of werewolves. It seemed the world was not what she thought it had once been.
"How can I believe any of this?" She asked, the sinic creeping through.
"You know what you can do. You know what you saw that night. You can only deny the truth for so long." He explained and he was right, she hated to admit it, but he was right.
Gerard could see the mental gymnastics going on inside of Helene then. He sighed and looked at her with kinder eyes than before.
"Listen, all that I am saying is, as a witch, you must dedicate your life to something bigger than yourself. The coven will find you a job, and we have a place for you to live. It is all sorted out, all you need to do is commit." He slid his card over to her.
"Call me when you're ready to join us." And before she could respond, he was gone.
Helene sat in awe of the situation. Ivan moved to sit beside her and nudged her shoulder in a friendly sort of way.
"I didn't understand at first. I wanted to stay with my parents. But the coven is our home." She listened, feeling a little more at ease hearing it from Ivan.
"How old were you?" She asked and he sat back, reminiscing.
"I was nineteen, I'd just come back from the war." He recounted and she wondered how old everyone was in this coven.
"I didn't come here first. I went to a different coven, they got to me first." He added.
"Why did you leave?" She asked and he huffed.
"A coven can be a brutal place if it has the wrong leader. I was lucky to get out." His tone made the blood drain from her face.
"I want to go home." She told him and he nodded, leading her out of the pub.
She gripped onto the business card all the way home.
"Was it true what he said, about werewolves?" She asked in a small voice, on the drive home.
"One of the best things about this coven is their relationship with the other beings in the area." He answered, his eyes never leaving the road.
"What else is there?" She asked and he smiled over at her.
"More than you could ever imagine." He replied in a way that haunted her.
"Vampires?" She asked tentatively.
"Take my advice and don't get involved with the vamps, they're nasty creatures." He told her and she looked up at the ceiling of the car, feeling overwhelmed.
"It's too much."
"You'll get used to it."
When she got home, she headed straight for her room, ignoring the sounds of hunger coming from her stomach. She laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling. How had this happened to her? How had her life suddenly become so unpredictable? She had a half mind to forget the events of the evening, rip up the business card and go about her life. But she had a sneaking suspicion that she would be setting herself up for a world of pain if she did.
---
After she had left the pub, Gerard slumped down in his office and wiped a hand down his face. She was more important than he had originally suspected. If they didn't get her, she could become a powerful weapon in the hands of another coven. His mind snapped from his train of thought when one of his favourite children burst into his office. He was surprised that Gabbi hadn't stomped over in her platforms and thrust a black polished hand out to the newbie, but she waited for her to leave before she pounced on him.
He had a weakness when it came to Gabbi. She was one of his proudest recruits. She had exploded into her witchcraft, in a ball of rage in the mid 80s. She was going to do some serious damage if they hadn't recruited her quickly. When he found her, she had been a little ball of black spikey hair and hatred. She had death metal band posters on her wall and a heart as black as any he had seen. But with time and care, he had nurtured her into an impressive young witch.
She knelt down by his chair and looked up at him with the big puppy dog eyes that he could never resist. She hadn't changed a bit since the day he had found her and she always had a way of getting what she wanted.
"Please please, I really want her! Pretty please." She wanted to be the newbie's mentor. Picking a mentor for a newbie was no joke, a witch's mentor is their parent in the coven, their best friend, their teacher. Gabbi had never been mellow enough to be given a newbie before. But Gerard had a sneaking suspicion that Gabbi might be the perfect fit for the witty little girl.
"Only if you are good." He promised her and she jumped on him, squeezing him tighter than he would like.
It seemed no one slept that night. Gerard laid awake, wondering if he would take her advice and call him and Helene laid, staring at her ceiling, considering all of her options.