"Ahvi, can you hurry up? We're going to be late and these witches don't have a chill spell," my aunt called for me from below the stairs.
"We'll be right down!" Wendy echoed, nearly bursting my eardrums. She pulled with force, convinced she was trying to push out my organs with how she tightened the corset. I shot her a death glare and she only smiled.
I wasn't a big fan of these types of dresses, Wendy knew that all too well, I preferred things that didn't make me unable to breathe but also didn't look like grandma wear. More like princess wear, like the princess title I so happen to claim.
It was finally my 21st birthday, I was excited to finally feel part of the coven, finally start my immortality, and possibly ascend as regent after my Aunt Kira. I was much too excited, thinking about the dangerous things I could finally do with my immortality. Not like I would bother anyway.
I was quickly snapped out of my thoughts by yet another tug on the ropes of the corset by the chattering Wendy.
"I think I'm quite snatched enough, Wen," I said irritably, using my mind to tie the knot at the back of my black and red, low-bodice dress.
"Was just trying to help," she muttered with a mocking sad face.
"You've done more than enough, Wen," I consoled her, rolling my eyes as a cheeky smile appeared on her face.
Wendy has always been a very dear friend right from childhood up to college; she has kept me company in this boring house with Aunt Kira busy with regent duties and her sons, Matthew and Gordon, busy with every other thing older boys, nearly men, do to help out in the coven.
My mother had been killed alongside my father, that is all I know of it, all I was allowed to know as Aunt Kira had wiped the memory of their true deaths clean from the coven according to Matthew.
They were the best regents our coven had ever seen according to what my aunt had told me repeatedly. They were the origin of the immortality ritual and a few other spells that made us powerful. Even with such power, there came a time whereby they had to make sacrifices for the coven, so they did, wholeheartedly too.
All I got was the usual, 'They made a sacrifice, it was a tight attack,' yet it never sat right with me. I've always wondered what my parents were like, how they behaved, how they loved, how they ruled.
All I had to console myself was word of mouth and a few pictures. People said they loved each other to stupor, they would kill for each other and do nothing but rub their love in everyone's faces.
They were great rulers as well, equal powers as they made it the first time our coven has had two regents at once. They were rather rule-breaking, too, to be the first regents to rule at once and to bring the immortality ritual. Naturally, they had many enemies.
I caught a glimpse of how my mother looked each time I looked in the mirror, I only had my dad's green eyes that shined whenever I was angry just like his did, according to Aunt Kira.
Every other feature of mine reminded me solely of my mother's pictures. My jet-black hair, my nose, my stature, my facial structure, each feature screamed my mother so much. Aunt Kira would remind me occasionally after staring blankly at me with a smile.
"Ahvi, are we going to the party after your special party?" Wendy asked, pushing my hair up into a better style.
I frowned, "What party?"
"The party Jason is throwing for you, Ahvi. Don't tell me you forgot already," she whined irritably.
"Oh," I rolled my eyes as it dawned on me, "Why is he even doing that?" I sneered.
"Because he likes you, Ahvi. He's been out of his mind about you for the longest time," she explained, "The least you can do is show up for the party."
I sighed, "Fine, if the ceremony goes well, I'd sneak out with you to the party."
"Yes!" She exclaimed, "You're 21 now so the club is the only option," she muttered in a way she must've hoped I didn't hear.
"No, I'm not going to any clubs, Aunt Kira would murder me!"
"Technically she can't because you'll be immortal," she teased with a shrug.
"Why you little–"
"Ahvi!" Aunt Kira yelled again, now getting closer to my room, "If you don't want me to barge in there, hurry up! We can't keep being late for each ritual!" She pounded her fist on the door.
"Just a sec," I called out, facing my attention back at Wendy, "Fine, we'll sneak out afterwards, but wouldn't it be weird showing up to a club with a formal dress and some expensive shoes?"
"You better start acting 21, you're not an eighteen-year-old trying to sneak out to drink illegally anymore. You're a grown woman now, you're only home for your ritual and you're back to school," she held me by my shoulders giving me the strict pep talk, "When in school, you need to level up, you're legal to do whatever the fuck now, so that means the club every weekend–"
"Hell no," I shook my head, grimacing in disgust, "Absolutely not, you're right though, I'm not eighteen anymore. I'm a sophisticated lady now, the club isn't as exciting to me anymore," I admitted, using that as an excuse when clubbing had never truly been my forté.
"But we're going tonight regardless," she smiled mischievously, "I'll pack some club clothes and shoes; you can change in the car; I'll be right outside the coven house," she promised.
"You know you're not allowed there," I whispered with my eyes wide in fear that Kira would hear us, "I'll just meet you where you're allowed to get up to."
The door locks seemed to unlock by themselves, sure the colour had drained from my face as my aunt Kira stood there angrily, her arms folded as she stared at the both of us, "Would it take an entire year before an adult gets ready for a ritual?"
"No, Aunty, pardon me," I muttered, rushing my shoes on while Wendy and I giggled, but that seemed to make her a little less angry as a small grin displayed on her face.
"Just hurry up now, we're already late," she complained.
"As always," I commented, striking final poses in the mirror while clutching my black purse.
"And who's fault is that every time?" My aunt asked sassily, "Let's go now, please."
"How do I look?" I asked haughtily, striking a pose for her.
"Gorgeous darling, perfect twenty-one," she smiled admirably, "I'm sure everyone else would say better things even. Come on now," she added.
"You got this, Ahvi," Wendy cheered, their appreciation healing my nervousness slightly.
Here goes nothing.
I made my way downstairs with a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach; needless to say, I was worried as shit. I had never had such an important ritual performed on myself; I had only watched when it was done to my coven members, and it wasn't the most delightful sight.
"Hi, Ahvi," Matthew greeted, "How stunning you look this evening," he took my hands in his with a grand smile that lit up the room, his mother's eyes he had in those sockets shined bright hazel as with admiration, "You're not that little rascal that use to give mother a bleeding headache anymore."
"Don't get it confused, she still gives me headaches but I can testify that she's much more grown now. A lovely woman she is now," Kira commented, "Now run along, we're already very late."
Gordon ran into the room boyishly while still struggling with his shoes. As he stood tall, nearly two years older than me, he still acted like a child. He was more of Kira's headache than I was.
"Gordon, we're late! It's not like you were putting on makeup, you're just intentionally wasting time!" Kira complained, releasing an exhausted sigh while pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Sorry ma–" his mouth agape as he stopped mid-sentence once he laid eyes on me. I could feel my cheeks flush with embarrassment as he smiled in amusement, walking towards me, "Look at you!" He exclaimed, holding both my arms out playfully, then twirling me till my stomach hurt from giggling, "Stunning! Absolutely stunning!" He proclaimed.
"Thank you, both of you. But we really do have to get going, we're already late," I admitted.
"Taking after mother with her shrewd punctuality and prim proper facadé already I see," Gordon teased, throwing a wink at his mother while she stood there unimpressed.
"Funny," she deadpanned with a brief, fake smile, "Now please, let's go already!"
We obeyed, my aunt Kira and I sat in one car, and the boys sat in the other as we made our way to the coven mansion through the dark, cold night. I couldn't believe I was going to head to the club in this weather, I was surely going to catch a cold afterwards.
As the regent's family, they greeted us as so, setting us down at the special, grand hall as they still prepared for the ritual. I didn't blame my coven for their awful unacknowledgement of time, they were immortal so they believed, as one naturally does, that they have all the time in the world to be sluggish.
The time for the ritual grew near and I began to panic. There remained a horrible feeling in my stomach that something was wrong but I brushed it off. Coincidentally, unlike other days, they were preparing for just one ritual as no one had my birthday, or at least, no one was turning 21 by midnight.
Kira held my hand endearingly, giving me a slight fright as she had come from nowhere after being up and about the entire night, "Don't fret, just calm down; everything will be fine," she assured me with a smile, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.
She pulled me towards the large circle that was in the middle of the hall. I gulped nervously as I felt everyone's gaze on me as I sat in the circle, my aunt the regent, and a few elders surrounded me, already chanting under their breaths.
Soon enough, my blood felt like it was flowing backwards; a sharp pain through my body made me scream in agony. My eyes wide open as I witnessed the distraught mesmerization in everyone's eyes while I was in terrible pain.
But their mesmerization didn't seem normal; most of them looked very troubled, and I wondered why until I looked over at the elders surrounding me they all were chanting loudly now; some seemed to be in deep, obvious pain while all of them had blood pouring down their faces from their eyes.
I was confused but I was in too much pain to question it at the moment. My limbs felt broken; my body felt like a million trucks had fallen on me, but, to my observation, I was still intact.
The pain stopped, and some of the elders had fallen right to unconsciousness as the others struggled to catch their breaths, as did I.
Distinct murmurs echoed through the hall; the other witches were shocked, and I could understand why. This had never happened in our history that elders were to feel anything while performing the immortality ritual, especially not the regent.
Aunt Kira stared at me in fear and shock, still clutching her chest while trying to catch her breath. Best believe I was dumbfounded still in the middle of the crowd, just as confused as anyone else.
"Thank you all for participating, but that'll be all for today," my aunt commended the still chattering crowd, causing few to dismiss and others remained to gossip before she turned to me. Her face was a dull pale, as if she had just seen a ghost but she simply walked past.
I surely didn't feel any bit stronger or immortal, if anything I felt weak down to my bones but I remembered I needed to head out with Wendy. I rushed out of the mansion, luckily no one of importance had taken notice of me as they were probably still trying to wake the elders or wrap their heads around what just happened in a meeting.
I had no clue what had just happened and I didn't care to know, all I knew was it wasn't normal but I concluded every witch had to have different experiences with such a strong and important spell.
I rushed to Wendy's car that was parked right outside the coven's compound, sitting at the back seat so I could see some space to change.
"How'd it go?" She asked.
"It was painful, but I still don't know what exactly happened there. I digress, let's go before my aunt realizes I'm not in there anymore," I hurried her.
The bad feeling at the pit of my stomach grew even more intense as she drove, concluding it must've been the food I ate earlier or the drinks but I was wrong, I was horribly wrong.