Curse Of The Sourceress (Chapter 1)

a story about a family of modern-day Irish witchesv

Chapter 1
Lisa sat at her desk aimlessly twiddling her pen.
("Oh come on! How much longer is it going to be?!")
She looked behind her, then slowly around the room.
She could see that quite a number of her classmates already had, or were, in the process of falling asleep.
The room was so tense, that you could have cut easily cut it with a knife.
Eventually, at 3:30pm, the school bell finally rang.
There was an enormous collective sigh of relief as all the other young female students packed away their schoolbooks.
"Make sure that you have all those assignments done for Monday!" their teacher, Miss Daly, called after them.
"I'm glad that's over!"
"Yes! Me too!"
As Lisa made her way towards the classroom door, Miss Daly called after her.
"Lisa. Could I see you for a moment, please?"
Even though she felt a little bit tired and drained, Lisa nodded.
"What is it Miss?" she asked.
"You haven't seen your mother today have you?"
"No. I haven't actually." replied Lisa. "She usually goes shopping around this time every Friday."
"I see. Would you tell her that I need to talk to her?" asked Miss Daly as she walked back over to her desk.
"Sure. Of course I will." Lisa said as she picked up her school bag.
As Lisa left the classroom, making her way down towards the general student assembly area, she paused for a moment, looked back towards Miss Daly's classroom, but then continued on until she got the sixth year assembly area.
After Lisa had gone, Miss Daly picked up her duster. As she began cleaning the blackboard, she also paused and looked around her. She had an uneasy feeling that something was not quite right. She didn't realize it at the time, but she was secretly being observed.

************
Meanwhile, Andrea O'Doherty, Lisa's mother, was sitting in the reception area of the Craughhill Medical Centre. She was there to meet her twin sister Katherine, who was the resident Family Guidance Counselor.
It wasn't too long before Katherine finally appeared. She had a brief conversation with a young mother with three children which seemed to reassure them.
"Don't worry. You'll be absolutely fine! Here's my phone number if you ever need to talk to me." she told them handing them a small card.
The young mother thanked Katherine and they then left.
As Katherine was just about to go back into her office, she caught sight of Andrea. She frowned at first, but then waved her to her slightly older sister.
"I'll be with you in a minute Andrea!" she called out.
"Okay Kathy." Andrea replied.
Katherine closed the door. A few minutes later, she reappeared with her handbag slung over her shoulder.
The two sisters embraced each other.
"Did you have a good day?"
"Ah. It wasn't too bad." replied Katherine. "How are things at the school?"
"Well it was fairly routine until the lunch break that is." Andrea said. "My goodness! You should have seen the absolute mess that was caused!"
"Well.... You know what young teenage girls are like!" Katherine remarked rather offhandedly.
"Maybe so." Andrea agreed. "But not many people around here have been around as long as we have, you know."
"True enough." Katherine nodded.
"If you're ready, we'd better get going if we're going to get to the supermarket." Andrea said looking at her watch.
"Right then. Let's go."

*****************
"Aren't we done yet Maeve?"
"Not quite Grainne." Maeve answered as she put another stack of books back on the shelf near the door.
"There we go! Done!".
"How are things with you at the moment?"
"Not too good I'm afraid." replied Maeve. "Roisin is still having problems in school, particularly with the senior history teacher."
"Really? That's Andrea O'Doherty." Grainne said. "From what I've heard she's an excellent teacher."
"Well Roisin has said that she's never really been nice to her at all. And this isn't the first time either, by the way." Maeve told her.
At that moment, the distant chiming of church bells began to sound.
"Well. I think that's us done for today. See you on Monday Grainne." Maeve said as she handed Grainne her weekly wage packet.
"See you on Monday, Maeve." Grainne said as she left.
Maeve smiled. She then went back into the shop. After closing the door behind her, she then made her way into the back room.
She knelt down and opened a secretly hidden apartment. She then reached in and picked out an extremely old and ancient-looking golden book. It was entitled, The Golden Book Of The Sidhe.
She ran her finger slowly along the top edge of it. She didn't know what exactly it was but there appeared to be something vaguely familiar about it.
("There you are, my little beauty!")
After flicking through a number of pages, she sat down on a nearby chair and began reading.

*****************

Andrea and Katherine had by now arrived in the car park of the local supermarket. While Andrea parked the car, Katherine jumped out. She began bounding almost effortlessly over towards the supermarket entrance. As she did so, a number of people couldn't help but notice this.
Pausing for a moment, she threw them a nasty, almost threatening look.
("What are YOU lot looking at?!")
After a few moments, they just ignored her and continued going about their business.
Andrea watched, shook her head and then followed her in.

*****************

Back at the house, Lisa had now changed clothes. After folding her school uniform up, she placed it very carefully and neatly back in her wardrobe. Picking up her hairbrush she began combing her hair.
As she stood in front of her mirror, she felt an extremely cold, icy chill suddenly run through her.
She shivered.
Then, for a split second, she thought she saw the image of a woman in the mirror.
Her spirit board, then began rattling and moving about.
She put down her hairbrush and watched very closely as it started spelling out the following name:
"....M..A..E..V..E.."
Lisa was puzzled by this. Who on earth could this possibly mean? There were many different women living in the Craughhill area that she knew of with that name. For all she knew, it could be any one of them.
She decided to wait until her mother and aunt got back from doing the shopping before asking them what this could possibly mean.
After a few minutes, she managed to relax a bit.
("What I need right now is a good cup of coffee!")
With that, she headed downstairs to the kitchen and put on the kettle.
As she waited for the kettle to the boil, she heard the sound of a car pulling into the driveway.
A few minutes later, she heard the front door opening.
"Lisa! Are you there?!"
"Yes mum, I'm here!" Lisa called back.
"Could you give us a hand with the shopping?"
"I'll be there in a minute!"
Lisa checked the kettle. It was still boiling. It would be another few minutes before it was ready. She left the kitchen, making her way towards the front door. She began helping Andrea and Katherine to bring the shopping back into the house.

*****************
Maeve meanwhile, had now closed her shop for the day and was now on her way home. She was driving along a fairly rural part of the county with traditional stone walls on either side of the narrow country road.
At this point, the evening autumn sun was just beginning to fade indicating that evening time was near.
Suddenly, without any warning at all, an enormous flock of crows descended on the car with such speed that  Maeve nearly lost control of her car.
Skidding to a halt against a mud bank, Maeve took a couple of moments to compose herself.
She immediately got and began examining the car for any possible signs of damage. Fortunately, there was none done.
("Those damn birds! If ONLY there was some way I could control them! But, how?!")
By then, it was beginning to become chilly due to the rapidly expanding night air.
Maeve got back in her car and drove home.

When Maeve arrived home, her daughter Roisin had already been in the process of doing her homework.
She hadn't had a good day in school.
Firstly, she'd arrived late for school and then secondly, she'd been given a detention period for her involvement in the canteen fight.

At around eighteen years of age, Roisin was generally regarded as a fairly competent student. However, she was also known, not just within the school, but in the location area for being something of a troublemaker.
If there was ever a compulsive troublesome individual, Roisin was it.
"I honestly don't know why I even bother to go to that bloody school!" she exclaimed in frustration.
"Well, we DO need to move with the times." Maeve replied. "We have been out of circulation for a long while and we need to brush up on our knowledge."
"Oh please! Not another lecture!" Roisin grumbled.
"What was that Roisin?" Maeve asked rather sharply and sternly.
"Nothing." Roisin grumbled.
Maeve shook her head.


*****************

Andrea and her family had now finished their evening meal. As they cleared away the dishes, Lisa sat with her hand just over her spoon which kept jumping up and down in front of her.
Katherine was already doing the washing up at the sink while Andrea was upstairs having a bath.
After a while, there was a little bit of commotion upstairs.
Lisa got up from the table.
"What's after happening now?!" she exclaimed.
Katherine, on the other hand, chuckled quietly to herself.
"What have you done now Kathy?"
At this, Katherine adopted a much sterner stance.
"Are you back-answering me young lady?!" she snapped.
Lisa just extremely calmly folded her arms, not for a second taking her eyes off Katherine.
Upstairs, Andrea had just got out of her bath. After drying herself with a towel, she sighed as she looked at the frog spawn that had been left at the end of the bath.
("Oh! Kathy!")
She could hear all the commotion from downstairs. She shook her head. But then, she began to sense a familiar presence  coming from somewhere near her.
At almost the exact same moment, the noise from down below also stopped rather abruptly.
There were a number of heavy vibrations throughout the whole house, but these ceased almost as immediately as they had started.
Katherine and Lisa were now both standing over by the kitchen door. A few minutes later, there were joined by Andrea.
"What's happening mum?" Lisa asked a little nervously.
"Don't be afraid Lisa." Andrea whispered as she put her hands on Lisa's shoulders. This seemed to relax Lisa a bit, though she was still feeling pretty nervous.
As all three women watched, a ball of mystical blue and white light suddenly came in through one of the open windows.
Within a matter of seconds, it had centered itself on a spot near the back door. It then began forming into a humanoid shape.
Andrea turned and looked at Katherine. She could sense an enormous amount of tension from her.
("Take it easy Kathy!")
("I can't! I'm just too tense!")
("I know! But just try to!")

But Katherine need not have worried. The mystical ball of energy eventually formed into the shape of a woman whose physical age may have suggested that she was somewhere between sixty and seventy years old.
Dressed in long navy blue medieval-looking dress, her face was marked with numerous scars, the obvious war wounds of many centuries of magical activity.
She took a few moments to carefully examine herself before walking over to the three women.
"Is nobody going to greet me?" she asked, folding her arms.
"Mother! Hi!" Andrea said and she gave her mother a hug.
"Andrea! You look so beautiful!" Aine said as she examined her eldest daughter.
"What about me then?!" grumbled Katherine.
"Hello, Katherine. How are you?" Aine said, slightly solemnly.
"Okay." Katherine muttered a little bit quietly.
"So what brings you here then?" Andrea asked.

Aine took a few moments before adopting a much more solemn posture. She then called for Lisa.
Once everyone was together, she then stood in the centre of the room and began speaking.
"I was contacted by the Wise Ones. They have a number of concerns regarding your behaviour Katherine."
At this, Katherine immediately sat up.
"Me? Why me?" she asked a little nervously.
"Now there's a surprise!" Andrea remarked a little offhandedly.
"What did you say Andrea?!" Katherine snapped.
Lisa closed her eyes, folded her arms, lowered her head and just sighed.
Before anyone could say anything, an argument had erupted between the two sisters.

This continued on for another few moments until, finally, Aine had heard enough.
"Alright, you two! That's ENOUGH!" she said in a voice that was so loud and clear that it shook the whole house.
At this, Andrea and Katherine both instantly jumped while Lisa just simply shook her head.
"What on earth am I going to do about you two?!" she exclaimed.
"Why should YOU care?!" snapped Katherine rather bitterly. "You left the two of us on our own!"
At this, Aine walked very purposefully over to Katherine. Grabbing her by the ear, she lowered her voice/
"Do you EVER back-answer me young lady! You know what happened and also who was responsible for it, don't you?" Aine said, finally letting go of Katherine's ear.
Katherine cried out in pain and began rubbing her ear. With tears in her eyes, she immediately got up and ran out of the house.
Andrea, for her part, was also a little upset at this. She cautiously approached Aine and stood on her left.
"Don't you think that you were maybe a little bit too hard on Kathy?" she asked rather quietly.
Aine smiled sadly.
"I know Andrea. But please try to understand that you, Katherine and Lisa are all that I have in this world. I just want the best for all three of you."
Lisa then spoke up.
"Doesn't anyone think that we should go after her?"
Andrea shook her head.
"No. She'll come back at some point. She nearly always does."
Sure enough. No sooner had Andrea said these words, then Katherine suddenly reappeared, still looking a little upset.
"I'm sorry about that mum." she muttered a little sorrowfully.
"That's okay, my darling." Aine said as the two embraced.
Andrea and Lisa both smiled at this. Lisa then said.
"Everything's going to be okay now mum isn't it?"
"Yes, Lisa." replied Andrea. She then spoke to Aine.
"Okay. Now that's settled mother, could you be a little bit more specific as to the real reason why you are here now?" she inquired.
"Yes." agreed Katherine. "You obviously didn't come here for no particular reason at all."

Aine took another few moments before sitting down.
"Could I have a cup of tea first?" she asked.
"Of course. I will get it for you." Andrea replied going out the door. "The same as always?"
Aine nodded.
When Andrea had gone into the kitchen, Aine then turned to Katherine.
The worried look on her face made Katherine feel a little bit even more nervous that she had done beforehand.
"What is it mum? Why do you look so worried?" she asked.
"Come and sit by me." Aine said. "You too Lisa."
Lisa looked at Katherine, who nodded slowly.
(When both were sitting on either side of Aine, Aine adopted a much more solemn stance before speaking again.)

When both were sitting down on either side of her, Aine relaxed a bit before speaking again. By that time, Andrea returned with her cup of tea.
"As you know." Aine began. "Before Lisa began her training, the Sidhe said that she would face one final challenge before she can become a full-fledged witch."
Andrea and Katherine both nodded.
"I cannot say for certain, but there is an apparent feeling within the Sidhe that a great an "ancient evil" as they have put it, will return. Now we do not know when or how it will manifest itself bite it is definitely coming so be ready to deal with it when it comes."
"Don't worry mum." Katherine said as she got up. "We will be, won't we Andrea?"
"Absolutely Kathy." Andrea firmly agreed with her arms folded.
"And Lisa will help too?" Aine asked.
"Yes, I will without question." Lisa replied.
Aine smiled again.
"I know you all will." she said.
"How long can you stay?" Andrea asked after another few moments.
"Well, because of my 'situation' I can only remain here for a maximum of two hours." Aine answered getting up.
Just then the clock began to chime six o'clock.
Aine gave Andrea and Katherine a hug each. She then took Lisa by the hand.
Leading her out into the narrow hallway, she paused by the stairs.
"You have a big challenge ahead of you Lisa. Whatever happens, you must always try and stay loyal to your family." she told Lisa.
Aine then gave Lisa a locket.
"If you ever need to contact me, use this." she told her.
Lisa took the locket and nodded slowly.
"I will Gran. I promise." Lisa stated very firmly.
"Good girl Lisa. May you be, blessed be." Aine said as she left.
Lisa opened the door and watched as Aine walked very slowly but purposefully into the dark night.
When she had gone, Lisa walked back into the house closing the door behind her with a wave of her finger.