Chapter 8: Midnight Hour

 I was sat on a folding canvas chair in the middle of the woods in front of a huge bonfire, after midnight. My mouth was slightly agape, dry and wordless. But I had been issued a mug of hot tea with milk and two sugars.

'I bet you've got a lot of questions Maddie.' My Auntie M said who was sat beside me in her scary black hooded cloak, sipping her own mug of tea. I just sort of turned in her direction with the same look of confusion on my face. I glanced round at all of the other people who were dressed in similar black cloaks, milling about eating biscuits and drinking tea. They were all women, of varying ages and different ethnicities. I got a better look at everyone now with their hoods down and with the addition of a bunch of battery powered lamps that had been hung from the surrounding trees.

'Um, yeah.' I mumbled, sipping my tea which was for a lack of better word; perfect. Auntie M rested her elbows on her knees, clasped her hands together then rested her chin on them.

'So, all this weird stuff that's been happening to you recently has been happening for a reason. We call it an "awakening."' Auntie M finger quoted. 'The dreams, the nightmares, seeing things that aren't there, disappearing objects, the ravenous hunger, the sickness, tiredness, over sensitive senses. It's all related.'

'How?' I literally only had one word replies at this moment in time. I couldn't quite tell if I was tired or in shock or both. My Aunt though was getting straight in to it.

'Well I don't really know how to say it, so I'll just say it. You're a witch Maddie.'

If I had taken a drink of my tea before Auntie M said that, then I would've done a spit take. But that didn't happen.

'A... witch?' I sounded pretty clueless as if I didn't know what the word meant. I still wasn't buying it.

'Yep. A witch. An actual witch. Everyone here is a witch, so am I.'

I turned to look at my Aunt who was giving me her kind smile, the smile she did when she was being honest and sincere. I didn't believe what she was saying and she could read it on my face.

'You want proof. Okay.'

I watched her carefully as she rearranged herself in her seat whilst I just stayed slumped down in to mine, casually holding my mug as if I didn't know what to do with it. Auntie M simply moved her right hand and as if by magic, a flickering ball of fire appeared in the palm of her hand. Except it was magic.

'Holy shit.' I was particularly deadpan in my delivery. I rubbed my left eye with my free hand as if I was trying to rub an illusion away and I don't know what possessed me, but I just went and stuck my hand in the ball of fire.

'OW! Fuck me that hurt!' I squealed, jumping from my seat whilst nearly sloshing my brew all over the place. My hand was in agony now and she skin on my fingers had instantly turned a horrible colour. I felt all eyes on me now after my scream had attracted the attention of everyone else. They all turned and looked at me, smiling away as if nothing had happened. I sat back down and winced in pain as the skin on my fingers had already begun to blister pretty badly.

Auntie M took my hand in hers. I winced again even though she was being quite gentle and watched as she hovered her hands round mine. I felt my hand tingle, it wasn't an unpleasant experience but it felt strange; sort of like pins and needles. Then all of a sudden I could feel a cool sensation emitting from my Aunts hands. I watched intently as within a few seconds, the blisters and redness gradually faded in to nothing and my hand was well... fixed. I gazed at my hand in awe.

'I'm dreaming or something.' I groaned.

'Nope, you're not dreaming. It was your time to know.'

'Why?'

My Auntie M sighed.

'Every woman in our family dating back since long, way long before the witch trials has been a witch. We're actually descended from one of the original witch families in the United Kingdom. When we reach a certain age, we have an awakening usually somewhere around Samhain where our bodies tell us a change is coming.'

Auntie M was just saying words at me at this point, I wasn't even sure any of it was actually sinking in to my brain.

'As a witch, we're sworn to protect and help others who need it. We're guardians of this realm against against spiritual evils that mortals can't contend with.'

'Great, so I'm basically a battle mage in a video game.' I thought to myself.

'If a video game was real life then, yeah kinda.'

'Did you just read my mind?' I snapped back. Auntie M just grinned at me sheepishly.

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. It was all a bit much right now.

'So that's why you always knew what was going on with me I take it?'

'Yep.'

It fell silent for a few moments then I decided to speak.

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'So my mother was a...'

'Witch yes.'

'And my other Aunts were too?'

'They were indeed. More to the point, there's some people I'd like you to meet. Molly, Macy can you come here a sec please?'

Two of the cloaked figures looked at us then walked over carrying their mugs. They were both just a bit taller than me and both had hair a bit darker than mine but when they got closer, I noticed that they were both twins. Identical twins.

'Molly, Macy. This is Madelyn. Madelyn meet Molly and Macy, your cousins.'

Way to drop another bombshell Auntie M. Not only have I just stumbled upon a coven or whatever, but my cousins that I knew I had, thought were actually guys but have never met in my life before, are witches too and are standing right in front of me. They we're also named in accordance with our family tradition of all the women in our family being given a name beginning with M.

The two twins stood in front of me both took one of my hands and grasped them firmly as they smiled.

'It's nice to finally meet you!' They both said in unison. That was a bit freaky. Molly was on the left and Macy was on the right. I did notice that Macy had a pretty noticeable freckle on her left cheek just under her eye. At least I could tell them apart.

'Um, nice to meet you too.' I said in reply. I really wasn't sure what to say I was pretty taken aback. How was I not told about them?

My identical twin cousins took my hands again and tugged me over to where the others were chatting and introduced me to them. The five remaining people I didn't know were of all ages. Molly and Macy told me I was the youngest one there and that they were only a few years older than me and were attending university somewhat locally. The next was a young Asian woman named Mai who I think was in her mid twenties and had just recently qualified as a solicitor. Then there was Carmen, a lady with peppery curly hair who owned a pub in Baldock and looked to be in her forties. Then there were two more sisters, Gabrielle and Brianna who were originally from Jamaica but moved to the UK when they were little, I think they were in their forties. And finally there was Deirdre, a woman in her 50's who owned a florist shop.

They all seemed very nice and welcoming but I still was not feeling any of this at all. I really just wanted to wake up all snug and cosy in my bed.

I hung around for a while as everyone was busy chatting to me. Apparently there were usually a few more people there but some had prior commitments. Full moons were when the coven would usually meet mainly for social reasons and to discuss any spells they maybe working on or have already done, to swap spells and ingredients and to give the low-down on any nasties that have been plaguing the real world. Oh. And my Auntie M was the covens high priestess.

'Technically I'm like the area manager of several covens across England.' Auntie M interjected. 'Anyway lets call it a night folks, we've done what we need to and it's getting late.'

Everyone agreed and started packing away all their stuff. Deirdre had produced a large holdall from under the trestle table and began packing all the chairs away. I watched as she folded up all the canvas chairs, all eight of them and shoved them in to this bag that wasn't even big enough to hold one of them. What nearly sent me over the edge was when she picked up the small hot water Thermos geyser looking thing and placed it inside the bag then threw in the brew making supplies; then proceeded to fold up the trestle table and cram it in to this mind boggling holdall. It was like Mary Poppins' magic bag.

Everybody hugged and said their goodbyes. They all gave me their phone numbers written on a piece of paper and my cousins even said we should all go out together sometime and get to know each other. Then everyone started disappearing. They literally vanished in to thin air; with a weird swooshing sound. It almost looked like everybody had conjured a door sized wall of shimmering mist and walked through it; their bodies dispersing as they passed the thin panel of cloudy air.

'We can teleport?' I said, staring wide eyed at the now empty spaces where the other witches were stood. Auntie M was stood by the bonfire with her hands facing out, she slowly clenched her fingers in to fists and the bonfire

'We can teleport, you'll learn how to do that in time. C'mon let's get you back to your dorm.'

Tonight had been exhausting. I'm still not entire sure everything was real or not and I wasn't just having one of my really vivid dreams again. I had been quiet as well, I mean; how are you supposed to react to being told you're a witch as well as meeting family members who are also witches for the very first time? I guess I was pretty nonchalant for the most part. I still wasn't convinced.

I watched as my Aunt closed her eyes for a brief second. As quick as she had done that  I could feel a strange warmth; almost a strange feeling energy radiating from her.

'Hold on.' Auntie M took a hold of my hand and for a brief second yet another strange sensation came over me. It felt insanely cold and it went pitch black for that split second, almost like somebody had just flicked the light switch off and on again and then, we were out in the hallway in front of my dorm room. I had staggered slightly upon landing i suppose you could call it, but managed to right myself pretty quickly.

'How are you feeling Maddie?' Auntie M asked me.

'Um, a little overwhelmed I guess. I don't know.'

'Don't worry, let it sink in a bit then I can explain everything properly tomorrow. My awakening was pretty similar, in fact everyone's awakening is kinda the same.'

I just nodded. I just wanted to go to bed or wake up from this dream or whatever, I wasn't sure any more. Auntie M ruffled my hair which brought me back to my senses.

'Get some rest, see you in the morning kiddo.'

Then she disappeared.  

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