The RavenFlight Witches

Chapter Two

Ella was seated at the kitchen table, still in shock. After her mother got her out of bed, she'd called the Garbers and let them know that Ella wasn't feeling well today and wouldn't be able to babysit. Ella had heard her mother's end of the conversation and it had been weird. As her mother spoke to Mrs. Garber, she had heard her murmur strange words after every few normal words, while she stroked a medallion hanging from her neck. It was a piece of jewelry she'd never seen before and Gran had one, too.

Gran was making blueberry pancakes, Ella's favorite. She had lost a very dear friend a few months ago and had been grief-stricken ever since, suffering terrible insomnia. But she seemed almost back to her old self today, humming as she made the pancakes. As if pancakes could make all this strangeness seem normal, Ella thought to herself.

Julietta sat down across from Ella and took her hand. "Ella, I know you must have questions," she began. "And you can have all the answers you need now. I expected that your coming of age would be like mine and involve physical intimacy, and knowing you so well, I imagined that we had some time. I know how chaste you are."

Ella looked up, reddening. How did her mother know anything about her sex life? Or lack of one? She and Sam had explored a little but Ella hadn't gone very far, physically. But that was strictly between herself and Sam. She'd never even told her best friend, Chloe, about the things she and Sam did, or didn't, do. Ella was very private.

Julietta smiled. "Ella, hon, it's just part of my power and will be part of yours, too. I can see things, know things, without being told. Soon, so will you."

Ella shook her head, slowly from side to side. "No...no..." she laughed then. "This is all a joke, right? I mean this is crazy. You cannot be serious. I can deal with, well maybe I can, I don't know yet...you being in some weird sex club? Is that it? Some depraved sex club with Jeremy Llewellyn from the bank?"

To Ella's surprise, Julietta laughed and so did Gran as she sat a steaming plate of blueberry pancakes in front of her. "How is any of this funny?" Ella demanded. But her stomach was growling and the smell of the food in front of her took over. She began slathering butter onto the hot pancakes and drowned them in real maple syrup.

"I promise you, Ella, what you saw last night is no 'weird sex club'," her mother told her. "We—you, me and Mama—are part of an ancient witches coven. We are the RavenFlight Coven and we've been around for centuries. Children are kept unaware of their heritage, their destiny, until they come of age, which simply means a loss of innocence in some way. That often, usually even, means sex." She took some pancakes for herself.

"What you witnessed last night was your coming of age," she told Ella. "And while I tried to talk Jeremy into giving you more time, until you had chosen to be intimate with a boy, he won't hear of it. You will be sworn into the coven at a special Circle next week and your ascension will begin."

Ella felt like she should be in shock but she was calmly putting forkful after forkful of pancakes into her mouth, chewing, swallowing, like this were any other morning. "I'm sorry," she said. "First, what do you mean 'my ascension' and second, why does Jeremy Llewellyn have any say about my life." She just as calmly took a sip of orange juice. This was so weird. She knew she should be hyperventilating or something, but she couldn't manage to even raise her voice.

"Go ahead, Juli," Gran said. "The calming illusia has worked. It's time to tell her."

Calming illusia, Ella thought. What's a calming illusia?

"Ella, Jeremy has as much say in your life as I do, more I guess, because he's Supreme Master," Juli said. "And he's also you're father."

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After that announcement, Ella had simply nodded and continued with her breakfast. She heard Gran say, "I think perhaps the spell is too strong. Let's modify it just a bit or we're not going to get through to her. She's too calm right now."

Ella helped herself to two more pancakes as she watched her mom and Gran each touch those strange medallions and murmur softly. Suddenly, Ella was full. She pushed her plate away and noticed she was feeling a lot of things. Confused, worried that her family had lost their minds and maybe even a little angry.

"My father?" she repeated. "My father. You mean the father you told me ran off when he learned you were pregnant? The deadbeat, good-for-nothing guy who knocked you up was Jeremy Llewellyn??? The hot guy from the bank, him? He's my dad?"

"We had to keep all of it from you until you reached--," Julietta started.

"My coming of age, yeah, I've got that part," Ella said, her voice finally rising. "And what you're telling me is that Jeremy Llewellyn is my father. And the fact that I saw you naked at a bonfire giving him head last night was my coming of age and has suddenly made me a witch??"

"Not suddenly a witch," Juli said patiently. "You've always been a RavenFlight descendant. But now your powers will begin to develop. You will now start receiving your gifts from--,"

"I...no...I'm sorry, this is crazy!" Ella exclaimed. Standing up and beginning to pace around the room.

Julietta and Rowena exchanged a look, smiling. Ella was a pacer, just like Jeremy.

"If he's my dad, then why doesn't he ever come around?" Ella asked. "He's lived here as long as we have, we see him all the time! Does he even care about me?"

"Jeremy actually comes around a lot," Juli told her. "He's been coming since your birth. Actually he was at your birth. Once you got a bit older and might have remembered, we started creating an illusia every time he visited and another bigger and more involved spell for the times you saw him elsewhere. We couldn't let you interact with him. Since he's Supreme Master, doing so might have triggered your ascension too soon which could be dangerous. Children cannot handle the power."

"What the fuck is an illusia??!!" Ella rarely swore but she was getting really angry. "Stop talking to me like I know what all this stuff is, like it's normal!"

"Ella, my love, I know this is overwhelming," Gran said. "But soon, it will all make sense. And an illusia is a small, temporary spell. It can be as small as taking the edge off of reality, like how we calmed you, or as big as hiding reality, like when Jeremy visits, so that you can't see or interact with him."

"But now, Ella, we won't need that illusia anymore!" Juli said excitedly. "You can finally officially meet your father. And, oh, Ella! He adores you! He so excited about your ascension!"

"WHAT. IS. MY. ASCENSION??!!!" Ella cried out exasperate.

Just like earlier, in her bedroom, Ella's mother simply blinked like this should all be obvious to Ella. "Jeremy is Supreme Master right now, but, Ella, you will take his place, very soon. You will be the new Supreme Master. It's all part of the portent."

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