Morana

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"Don't go," Alejo told me for the millionth time.

"You know I don't have an option," I repeated.

"Of course you do. The option is to not go."

"And what? Have them come here and watch as they hurt you?"

It was almost time for me to leave to visit the coven, visit Alejo's mother. I was in the hallway, getting into my shoes.

"I'll come with," Alejo decided and went to grab his jacket. I took hold of his wrist, stopped the action.

"No. That won't lead to anything good. It's better if I just go on my own. Get it over with. I promise I'll be safe and make sure to not say anything that can upset them."

Alejo looked hesitant, but I knew he knew I was right. It was like Marianela had hinted at. If I didn't go, Alejo would have to shoulder the blame. From what his mother had said last time, there was a fifty-fifty chance between who she would hurt to punish him. He himself or me.

I wouldn't mind it if she decided to hurt me. I doubted she could hurt me in any way that was worse than things from my past. But I could not risk that she maybe would try to hurt Alejo.

I knew it was the opposite for Alejo. He wouldn't care if she hurt him, as long as I was safe. But he knew she maybe would hurt me instead, and that was the last thing he wanted.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll have my phone with me, so I can message you as soon as I leave from there," I went on to try to soothe him.

He put an arm around my waist and drew me in. Placed a soft but emotional kiss on my lips.

"I don't like this," he told me, and I gave him a weak smile.

"Neither do I, but it's how it is at the moment. When I come back, we can try to figure out a way to rid them from our lives."

He nodded and gave me another kiss. Longer and somewhat harder. One that, without a doubt, would have taken us to the bedroom had I not needed to leave.

"Promise you'll be alright," he whispered.

"I promise."

He let me go, and I left.

He could, of course, have teleported me there, but I had refused that offer. I didn't want him anywhere near that house. So I was taking the bus instead.

We really had to leave town somehow. If we didn't, we would live in the constant worry about what they planned next. The problem was that it didn't matter where we went, they could always find us.

Best would be if I could manage to make them lose interest in me. Though Alejo was the one who belonged to the coven, to the family, I doubted they cared enough to hunt him down and drag him back if he left. Me, however, they had a certain level of interest in. Whatever was up with my magic, it was clear they wanted it for themselves. So if me and Alejo left, they would force him back to simultaneously force me back.

I wasn't sure how to make them lose interest though. I somehow doubted they would if I told them the truth of what I had learned at the Library. That death was intermingled with my magic. If anything, I had the feeling that would increase their interest and maybe start seeing how I potentially could be of use.

It was twelve o'clock very precisely when I arrived at the coven's house. It was clear on the weather that the Sacramento winter was there. The sky was gray and there flew small droplets of rain in the air.

I reached my hand out and knocked on the door. It opened to reveal a smiling Priestess on the other side.

"I'm so glad you could make it," she told me as she moved aside to let me in.

I took off my jacket and hung it to the side before moving further in with her.

In the living room, tea had been put forward together with several tiny sandwiches which lay on what looked like both old and expensive porcelain. As I sat down, she poured tea into one of the white cups with a golden edge. The scent of ginger came from the cup when she handed it to me.

"You must be wondering why I wanted you to come over," she said as I took a first sip of the tea. "The truth is that I just want to get to know you better. There's always been so many others around that I don't feel like I have gotten a proper chance to talk to you."

"There isn't much to know about me," I answered with a shrug.

"Now that I find hard to believe. Just from growing up without parents but still managing to become a strong, independent, and kind woman, I know there must still be a lot I don't know about you."

What followed was a long conversation of her asking me all sorts of things. Everything from my interests to my education to my struggles of knowing I wasn't ordinary, but having no one to ask about it. The conversation could easily have felt like an interrogation, but it didn't. She showed what came off as genuine interest and concern for me. If it wasn't because I knew she was an abusive mother, I would have been charmed by her.

"It must have been so difficult for you, growing up and living your life without a sense of belonging," she said and shook her head in sadness.

"Yeah, I guess it has been," I agreed, while feeling the warning bells go off inside of me. Knowing that we were finally coming to the climax of the conversation.

"I can't deny that my heart breaks a bit for you, listening to your story, and I would love to help you find a place where you belong."

She went silent, as if waiting for me to say something. I didn't have anything to say, however, and didn't feel like entertaining her, considering how obvious it was what would come next.

"A coven is that to most witches," she continued when I remained quiet. "We are a community, a family, that looks out for one another. We all want nothing but the best for each other. I know you have gotten a somewhat morphed picture of what we are, but I hope you can come to see our true selves."

"Even Alejo?" I asked before I could stop myself. "You care even for him?"

"Of course!" She sounded almost offended. "Him especially, he is my son after all. But like in all communities, everyone has to do some labor for the benefits they receive. It saddens me he seems to have grown complacent and forgotten that his home and all his expenses are paid for by the coven. We make sure he can live a comfortable life without worries. Is it really too much to ask for some assistance in return for that?"

It was a nice and flowery speech that she delivered with just the right amount of emotion. It left me unable to refute her, especially because I didn't completely know. The work I had seen him do wasn't too bad, it was rather their attitudes that had been horrible. But the attitude she could easily explain away by that the others didn't approve of how he wasn't grateful over what he got.

But even though all of that was the case, I knew there was more that I didn't know about. I knew she had hurt him and used me to threaten him. Though if I brought it up, she would explain it away as something much less horrible than I knew it had been in my core. And I would stand powerless to call her on her lie since I had not witnessed it myself.

"It doesn't," I therefore answered, since no other answer would lead me to anything productive. It was better to then play along and hopefully make her believe she had gotten to me.

"I know you care a lot for him, but I do hope that you'll be able to form your own opinion of the coven without being tainted by his biased views. He's always been sour and a bit jealous over the fact that he's never been even close to as talented as any of us when it comes to magic."

She really worked overtime to throw shade at Alejo. But in the spirit of playing along with her game, I nodded.

"We'll be celebrating Yule in a week's time, and I do hope you'll want to join us. It's also during the different holidays that we accept new members into the coven, so please consider until then if you would want to be a part of the coven or not. You'll be welcome to join the festivities even if you decide against joining, though unfortunately there will then be certain parts you cannot partake in."

I nodded again, having no reply for her, though knowing my answer. I would go to the celebration because I knew Alejo would be forced to. But there was absolutely nothing she or anyone else could say to make me agree to become one of them.