The
Spirited Witch
Aura trailed her hand
along the cream wallpaper patterned with black velvet swirls. The texture
comforted her. In fact, she’d already worn a small line in the velvet over the
past ten years she’d lived here. It was only a few months now before she was
actually an adult. Most kids her age would go to college. Aura would be able to
start her training to become a real witch. As far as she was concerned, her
birthday couldn’t come fast enough.
Below her, a small crowd
of people wearing drab fall colours had gathered in the parlour and wove among
the antique furnishings. They seemed intrigued by the way the full moon cast
its beams through the lead glass windows and dispersed into small rainbows. She
was surprised she hadn’t heard the doorbell earlier or that her aunt was
nowhere in sight.
The stair behind her
creaked as her aunt’s cat followed her downstairs. While the so-called familiar
wasn’t eager to spend time with Aunt Sybillina, she seemed to follow Aura
everywhere. Aura was convinced Ash only tagged along to spy on her every move.
“Come on, then.” Aura
wiggled her fingers in front of the cat. “I could use some backup. I have no
idea where Aunt Sybillina is right now.”
She did a quick head
count. Seven people milled around the large round table. As far as she knew,
they were expecting six. She’d need to fetch one more chair. All that would
take was a quick trip to the kitchen and problem solved.
“Good evening, everyone,”
Aura said as she flashed a smile at the four women and three men. “My aunt will
join us shortly. Feel free to take a seat at the table. I’ll fetch us one more
chair.”
“She can see us?” someone
whispered.
Aura rolled her eyes. It
wasn’t the first time she’d heard that line. People always thought they were
being original. She brought another chair from the kitchen one room over and
chatted with their guests as she slid the chairs around to make room for one
more.
“I would like to see my
daughter again,” one woman said. “I have so much to tell her.”
“I’m sure my aunt will
have no trouble contacting her.” Aura nodded.
A tall, gaunt man
approached her. “Do you think we shall each get a turn? I have something very
important I should like to discuss with my wife.”
“That depends how spirit
flows.” Aura shrugged as she pulled out a chair for him.
A trio of elderly women
hovered near the divan. They bickered back and forth for several minutes before
one of them approached Aura.
“Are you sure so much
light is necessary for something like this?” she asked. The wispy feathers in her
hat nearly jabbed Aura’s nose as they bounced into her face.
Aura nodded. “Actually,
we’re lucky tonight. It’s a Halloween full moon and the veil between the living
world and the dead is thin. We should have a lot of excitement tonight.”
One of the other women
seemed to glide across the floor like she skated on ice. “Henrietta, I told
you. This is when they are the most active. Charlie says this is the perfect
time of day to see them clearly.”
Aura chuckled. “They’re
not deer, you know. Besides, I will light the candles and turn out the main
light once you’re all seated. They love candlelight.”
“That would be so much
better.” Henrietta smiled. “See, Babs, there is nothing to worry about.”
“You folks can take a seat
now.” Aura chuckled. “My aunt will join us momentarily.”
“Wait.” A man carrying a
motorcycle helmet walked straight up to Aura and waved a hand in front of her
face. “She can see us now.”
Babs gasped. “Yes, she
can. Oh heavens, my dear. How did that happen?”
Aura shrugged them off
convinced her aunt was playing a trick on her. It wasn’t funny. She didn’t need
to be reminded that she still didn’t have the same magical powers her aunt had.
With a sigh, she played along and told them, “I have no idea. I couldn’t
yesterday.”
“It is the perfect storm.”
The gaunt man walked toward the window but stayed out of the rainbows that
dotted the carpet. “Halloween, a full moon, and a blue moon all in one magical
night.”
“Okay, stop messing with
me now and take a seat so we can get started,” Aura said as Ash rubbed against
her leg and nearly bowled her over.
Then the doorbell rang.
Soon the house filled with the sounds of more voices as well as her aunt
welcoming their guests.
Aura’s
stomach clenched as her breath stuck in her throat. What was going on? Her
aunt must have double-booked the parlour for two séances. They might have the
chairs, but not the table space. Just as she got the seven guests in the
parlour seated, six more people began to file into the room with nervous smiles
and darting glances. Her aunt strode into the room behind them.
“Aunt Sybillina, what’s
going on?” Aura froze as one of the new guests sat right on top of a seated
guest. The man’s body went right through the lady with the feather hat as if
she wasn’t even there.
Aura’s mouth fell open.
“What on earth?”
Aunt Sybillina cleared her
throat and sounded irritated. “Aura, please remove that extra seat. We have six
guests tonight, not seven.”
Nausea swept over her and
her body refused to move. It was as if her feet were nailed to the ground. The
seven guests she’d greeted—the spirits—rose off their seats and into the air as
they all watched her expectantly. What was she supposed to do?
“Get a move on, girl,”
Henrietta clucked. “We don’t have all night.”
Aura lifted the seventh
chair and carried it by the back toward the swinging door that led to the
kitchen. One of the men stood near the doorway as if holding the door open for
her. The door didn’t move until she bumped it with the chair seat.
Once she set the chair at
the kitchen table, she paused to catch her breath. “I haven’t been able to see
spirits since I was a child. Why is this happening now?”
“It’s Halloween,” someone
said. “The veil is thin.”
“I know that. Just as I
know that I’m a witch. I just don’t have any powers.” She turned to face them,
but no one was there.
On the floor, Ash licked
her paws then glanced up with wide green eyes. Her gazed seemed to bore
straight into Aura.
“You again.”
“Aura, do hurry up so we
can get started.” Her aunt’s raised voice sent a shiver down her back like ice
water.
Ash blinked.
With her head bowed, Aura
hurried back into the parlour and avoided looking at any of the spirits as she
took her seat at the far side of the table across from her aunt. She looked up
and met her aunt’s stern gaze then hopped back to her feet to light the candles
in the large candelabra in the centre of the table with the long matches her
aunt kept in the sideboard cupboard. As she did so, she brushed against one of
her aunt’s guests.
This man was solid. Flesh
and blood.
Aura glanced to the woman
standing behind his chair. Bab’s fawned over him and tried to touch him but her
hand went right through his shoulder every time. Aura grew dizzy. What was
going on?
“May we begin?” There was
a sharp edge in her aunt’s voice.
Aura lit the last candle
then slid onto her seat. She flashed a nervous smile at the corporeal bodies at
the table. One of the spirits shook his head and tutted then feigned looking at
his watch as if he had somewhere else to be. Judging from his clothing, his
watch hadn’t worked in at least twenty years.
“Please join hands,”
Sybillina announced. “We are here to contact loved ones in the spirit world.
Tonight is a Halloween full moon. It is also a blue moon, which means it is the
second full moon of the month. We are blessed to have the veil so thin that we
can summon the spirits of your loved ones to connect with.”
The spirit with the watch
huffed. “Yes, so get on with it already. It is Halloween. We have places to go
and people to haunt.”
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