Chapter 11

It was Melanie’s birthday today. Kane came to my room to wake me up...at eight o’clock in the morning! I was now living in a spare bedroom in Kane’s house. It had been a week or so since my parents had kicked me out.

Kane told me we were going to Mystic Moon. When I asked him what Mystic Moon was, he just smiled mischievously and said, “you’ll see.” I was so anxious and excited to see what this place was, that I actually woke up on time.

We went to pick up Melanie and Penelope from their house, and then we went to IHop for breakfast. I didn’t eat much so Kane let me eat half of his. He wasn’t very hungry either, apparently.

Then we went on a half hour car ride. The only thing Kane would tell me and Penelope was that it was in Norfolk. Melanie told us it was her favorite store and that we would like it too.

Me and Pen were so anxious, we demanded Melanie and Kane to tell us something about the actual store. After that didn’t work, we brainstormed questions and asked them to Kane and Melanie, questions that wouldn’t be too obvious. We still didn’t learn anything.

We came up to a street where me and Penelope could see the sign that said Mystic Moon. We screamed at each other in excitement, and as we pulled up, we jumped out of the car before it even stopped.

Kane laughed. “Hold on girls,” he said as we began running to the door. “Let us get everything for the party.”

I felt guilty that I had been acting selfish on Melanie’s birthday. She was turning 18 today, today was about her. I vowed not to make the rest of the day about myself.

I picked up the decoration bags, all six of them, and waited for Kane to pick up the cake. Then we went inside, and I almost forgot about my vow. It was beautiful! It was a gothic Wiccan wonderland.

The store inside was large and square, with no windows except for the wall of them in the front by the door. The light shone through them, making the front of the room lighted in soft rays, and the opposite side of the store was left with electric lights that was less magickal than the front. In the sunlight, the glass pentacle and Goddess mosaics were lit up brilliantly and formed rainbows in their area.

In the front of the store when you came in, there was a sign on the right stating it was a safe place for people of any religion, race, gender, and sexual orientation. There was also a little nook that looked gypsy, with gypsy colors and cloths covering the table and area. There were candles and a metal thing covering the top of the table, that had vines and flowers covering it.

On the left side, there were paintings and tables with cloths covering them. The cloths were for sale, and so were the cards for different holidays and celebrations. They were beautifully gothic and had fantasy landscapes, like the shirt that Melanie wore the first time I had seen her.

All my senses came alive in this building. There was color everywhere, from white to black, pink to blue, red to green, and every shade and color in between. There was even little wind chimes in the front windows. I touched one, and it made the most beautiful chiming sound, like faeries singing. I always felt very emotional when it came to sounds and vibrations. My eyes watered, not from sadness, but a feeling of peace and oneness.

I touched a goddess figurine on the forehead, honoring her but not knowing who she was. The smoothness of the polymer clay felt so much like real skin that if the statue wasn’t freezing, I would’ve believed it was a real person.

All these senses came rushing to me, and not realizing I had lost track, I startled when Kane softly touched me on the shoulder. He smiled at me with a knowing gaze.

“Surprise. Now you know why I kept it a secret, huh? So that you would be even more excited and surprised. Now come on, follow me. We are going into the back room there. That’s where we will have the party.” We walked through the large store and put the bags and cake down on the tables that they had left for us. I opened the bags full of decorations and took out black and purple crepe streamers.

“What should I do with these? I asked. Kane looked at them for a moment and then said, “tape them to the wall behind this table, make it like a curtain. This is where the main attraction will be,” he joked. “And also drape them a different way on the walls. Like in a horseshoe shape. We will then put the signs a little under those. Then twist the purple and the black together and tape one end to the wall and one end to the floor next to the table, and out of the way so no one trips over it.”

I did what he asked, then stepped back to review my work. It looked awesome and magickal. Just then Penelope came in with the other food. It was going to be a buffet, apparently. She told me that Melanie was staying out in the store until we were all done so that she would be surprised.

Kane had put the cake on the table. It was beautiful; purple with black on the edges. Coming out of the cake was a figurine made out of cake and fondant. It was black and silver. It was a goddess statue but made out of cake.

“What about the presents?” I asked. Kane pointed to the store, “we’re each going to buy her something. If you have money, you should pay for it yourself, but if you don’t, I can give you the money. We are going to do a ritual where we hand her the gifts. She in turn says something about each of us. It’s hard to explain. Just wait until the ritual, you’ll see.”

“I have fifty dollars left over from my allowance. Penelope, do you have money?” I asked.

“What do you think? I don’t have a job, and I don’t get allowance. No, I don’t,” she said.

“Here. I’ll give you fifty dollars, that way we all have fifty to spend. Melanie will be outside, so we’ll have about five to ten minutes to get something and get back into the room.” He handed the two twenties and a ten to Penelope. “Ok let’s go.”

I knew what I wanted right away. I wanted to get the Goddess statue I had seen earlier. Hopefully she didn’t have one just like it. It was hard to shop for someone you barely knew.

I bought it in less than five minutes and went back to the room. It took the others about three more minutes because they hadn’t known what to get her. Kane had a necklace and Penelope had a shirt that had a fantasy landscape, a fairy sitting on a crescent moon, the sky pink and purple. The fairy and moon must’ve been a recurring theme in Wicca.

“You two got good gifts for Melanie; I’m surprised, you barely know her. She’s going to like them.” We put them in a cloth that Kane gave us, and waited for Melanie to come in. When she did, Kane and Melanie lit two black candles and two white, and then Kane directed us to stand around Melanie in a circle.

Kane immediately started the ritual by unwrapping his cloth and showing Melanie the necklace. He directed her to turn around and began putting the necklace on her throat. She turned back around to face us. Kane began to speak, “Melanie, this necklace has your crystal in it; amethyst. It also has the spiral Goddess. I wanted to give you three things; something as beautiful as you, something to remind yourself of how powerfully psychic you are, and something to remind you that you were a Goddess to me, and to the coven at the time of our dedication. I will never forget that moment, even if I don’t love you romantically. Thank you for being there for me, my Goddess.” Then he went back to join us in the circle.

Holy Hades, that was intimate. What was that even about, I wondered. Then Melanie began to speak to Kane. “Kane, you were my lover at Beltane, the day we were initiated. I was 16 and you were 17, I was scared and you were embarrassed; it was our first time. Although you were embarrassed and nervous, you put your pain aside for others. It was the ultimate sacrifice. You helped me through a time when I was scared; you were patient and drove the fears away. You were gentle and always made sure I was ok. You were my God, as well as to the coven. And I know the battle you fight with yourself almost everyday. So let me tell you as your Goddess that you are not capable of that. You will never become the person you think you are. And though I know that we are not together, I will still support you as your Goddess. I’ll even help you to woo your girl.” She smiled and winked at me. “Traitor,” Kane whispered, but I could tell he was really emotional from her speech.

I blushed from what she had insinuated, but her speech was rolling around in my head. They had had...sex. They had been romantic at one point. Even though there was no reason to be jealous, I was. I tried to tell myself that had been a couple years ago. And they even admitted to each other they didn’t think of each other romantically. But part of me wouldn’t listen.

Anyways, I was next and needed to give her my present and present a little speech.

“Um, Melanie, I don’t know you well, but you seem like a kind and compassionate person. I wouldn’t have known what to get you if I hadn’t seen this, and so I hope you don’t have one already.” I pulled out the red dressed Goddess statue and handed it to her. She gasped, “a Morrigan statue!” I could tell she was awed. She stared at the Celtic Goddess with wide eyes, then her face turned to me. “How did you know?”

I was confused. “How did I know what? I asked.

She gaped, and Kane laughed. “I told you she was special,” he whispered to Melanie. She looked at him, then back to me. “My Goddess is the Morrigan. This statue is the statue of the Morrigan,” she whispered in awe. Now it was my turn to be astonished. “I seriously did not know,” I said, putting my hands up to emphasize my innocence. “I just saw that it was beautiful and it reminded me of you.” I shrugged.

“That was the Goddess communicating with you. You wouldn’t have known otherwise. Thank you sister,” she hugged me. “Oh, and for my speech to you, all I need to say is that you are a strong, beautiful, and capable woman, and I accept your affection for Kane. Don’t take it lightly either!” she warned, “I don’t say that to just anyone. I am very protective of Kane, but I like you. So you have my blessing.”

My jaw dropped to the floor. Oh, and also I blushed, too. Beautiful. Just attractive, Chloe. But I couldn’t help it; I was so embarrassed. I heard Kane clear his throat in embarrassment next me. Melanie just smiled innocently and turned to Laura, Kane’s mom. She said her speech, something about Melanie being like a daughter to her, and how she is an adult now and so mature. Laura gave her a beautiful specially carved black and red candle with special oils and herbs in it. Then Penelope said something similar to what I said and gave her the shirt. Now it was time for cake.

Melanie looked sad that she had to eat the Goddess fondant statue, and then Kane got the second piece. “A coven is not a democracy, it’s more like a wolf pack. That’s why we’re getting the pieces of cake first.” Kane said. He smiled like he had made a joke and motioned for me and Penelope to get our slices. Then it was Laura’s turn.

After the cake was mostly done, Kane told me that we needed to shop for Samhain stuff, because we wouldn’t get another chance. I asked him what Samhain was. He looked surprised that I still didn’t know everything about Wicca.

“Samhain is a sabbat, a Wiccan holiday. You most likely know it as Halloween.”

I gasped, “so it’s true that Halloween is a witch’s holiday? What is it really about? Everyone says it’s Satanic.”

Kane laughed. “Probably because it’s one of the most important ‘witch’ holidays. The other being Beltane. Beltane is also a Wiccan holiday. The holidays are based around the seasons. Beltane is in summer and it is one of the most important fertility sabbats. Halloween might just be the only sabbat that is not fertility at all. Trust me, you don’t want to conceive a baby on Samhain. And then Yule, or the Winter Solstice, Litha, the Summer Solstice, Mabon, the Fall Equinox, and Ostara, the Spring Equinox. Then we have four more holidays, so we have 8 holidays in all. Imbolc in February, Beltane again in May, Lughnassadh in August, and Samhain, of course in October. It’s actually supposed to be November first, but everyone celebrates it on October 31.

“Remember the solstices and equinoxes are the twenty-first through the twenty-third, it really depends on the person when they want to celebrate it, and then the rest of the holidays land on the first of the month.

“So, does that sum it up for you a little bit?” Kane asked.

“Yeah, I know a lot more now, but what about what the holiday is about?” I responded. I’m pretty sure he had forgot that part of my question.

He smiled mischievously, “just be patient. That’s one of the things I want us to do on Samhain, I want you and Penelope to learn it from each of your mentors, on the day. We will split up for about two hours, and then we will meet back up at the coven’s personal cemetery. Yes, there’s a personal cemetery. And when I say coven I mean us, my mom’s coven, and the two other covens. Most covens have 13 members and some have died of sickness or old age, and also their family members are buried there. The ones that are Pagan. You’re not scared are you?”

“What?! Of course not; I’m goth. What do you think, I’m a poser? I love cemeteries!” I exclaimed. Kane laughed out loud. “I should’ve known.”

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At Mystic Moon, we shopped for Samhain. I bought black crystals, candles, and a broom. The broom was decorated like Kane’s wand, and had black and red ribbon wrapped around it. It had three little charms dangling from the middle where the ribbon was wrapped. An orange pumpkin, a silver pentacle, and a white skull. The skull was painted to look like a day of the dead skull. I turned to walk to the register and that’s when I saw it. A medieval black gown with long sleeves that widened dramatically at the wrist. It was beautiful, the perfect dress for Samhain. I grabbed it, made sure I had enough money, and bought the four items.

After that, Laura dragged me back to the car, so I never got to see what Kane, Melanie, and Penelope bought. They never told me either. I’d have to find out on Samhain.

Author's Note

Re-uploading all chapters