I wake up to the sound of pounding footsteps in the hallway and cries in the upper level. I sigh deeply. "Goodbye, Helena." I get up from my bed to see that I have been unclothed almost completely. I'm wearing nothing but underwear and socks. "What the hell?"
I make my way over to my dresser to find clothes on a hanger with a note attached:
♡ WEAR THIS IN HONOUR OF THE DEATH OF OUR REIGNING SUPREME. WE WILL HOLD OFF THE SEVEN WONDERS TEST UNTIL AFTER THE FUNERAL ♡
A black, velvet button up, a pair of black skinny jeans, and a pair of black high-top sneakers.
I slip on the clothing and fix my hair in my mirror. I walk downstairs to find the other four potential Supremes and the council waiting for me in the living room.
"You missed Helena's funeral, George," says Catarina. My jaw drops from guilt.
"Let the Seven Wonders of Witchcraft test begin!" shouts Theodore, clearly ignoring my grief. "First: Telekinesis." A table is brought out with five objects laying on it. "Each of you must obtain your object using only your mind." All five of us give each other a securing look. "Who would like to go first?" asks Theodore.
"I would!" Anastasia says almost instantly.
"Pick your object," says Theodore.
Deciding to choose the porcelain unicorn, Anastasia studies the object. And just like that, it slides across the table. She cheers joyfully and hops up and down, crying out shrieks of happiness. "Who's next?" she asks.
Dave, the only other warlock at the academy, steps up to the plate. Dave has always been picked on for being scrawny and insecure, until word got out that he could be the next Supreme. He has been working himself up since then. I honestly believe that he has his hopes and dreams riding on his potential Supremacy.
"I'm gonna choose..." He looks at the remaining items on the table. "This one," he says, deciding on the table lamp.
Gazing at the lamp, Dave receives it instantly without any trouble. He looks at me and says, "You're next."
I can tell that Dave is trying to make this a competition and it honestly won't get him anywhere. I accept his little challenge and choose the fifty-pound weight.
I take a deep breath and observe the weight carefully. I still feel the burden of missing Helena's funeral on my shoulders. Ultimately, I put that to the side and transport the weight into my hand. I flaunt the weight proudly in Dave's face and laugh. "Nice try, Dave." He gives a low growl as I continue laughing.
The next up is a girl named Sierra, a nobody-turned-somebody since the rumours of the potential Supremacy arose. She approaches the table and successfully slides a briefcase across.
Last is Celeste, who is no stranger to the Seven Wonders. She has been trying to be crowned Supreme for the last two years. Celeste is left with the final object, a jar of olives, which she effortlessly obtains faster than any of us.
"Good!" says Catarina. "Let us move on." We are taken to the side yard where a collection of five dummies are lined up about twenty-five feet in front of where we're standing. Each of them dressed as one of us. "Pyrokinesis. Each of you must light the dummy of your choosing on fire. Good luck to you, my students."
Celeste does not hesitate to set the Anastasia-look-alike on fire.
"I take it that she doesn't like you," I whisper to Ana.
"Yeah, but she'll have to get over it since I'm gonna be the next Supreme." Ana then lights Celeste's dummy on fire. She looks at Celeste. "It's a good look for you. You should try it sometime." Celeste rolls her eyes at Anastasia as she walks away.
After that, Dave takes the initiative to set my dummy on fire and laugh about it.
I look at Sierra. "You know, I feel bad because there's an uneven number of rivalries here: Ana and Celeste, and Dave and myself. It's like, nobody's trying to set you on fire. So, I'll set yours on fire as an act of kindness."
She giggles and then says, "Thanks, George."
I step forward and set Sierra's dummy on fire. I turn to her and say, "It's a shame because I actually really liked that dress. It looks good on you."
Finally, Sierra sets Dave's dummy on fire, but instead of red and orange fire, hers burns blue.
"Great! Let us move on, children," says Catarina. The council then takes us back into the living room and asks that we all lie down in a circle. "Descensum: literally going to hell and back. If your soul has not returned by sunup, you will die and never return. Helena has demonstrated descensum enough times to where you all should know the spell pretty well. So without further ado, go to hell!" She turns the hourglass over and the sand falls.
Each of us close our eyes and say the spell in perfect unison, "Spiritu Duce, in me est. Deduc me in tenebris vitaad extremum, ut salutaret'nfieri. Descensum!"
I feel a harsh force pull on my body as I descend into my personal hell. I open my eyes to a man sitting in a corner of a room, crying.
As I approach the man slowly, he yells, "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME! YOU'VE CAUSED NOTHING BUT PAIN AND SUFFERING FOR THE LAST THIRTEEN YEARS OF MY LIFE! I'M DONE WITH THIS AND YOU!" The man turns around and reveals himself as my father. He then proceeds to pull out a handgun and shoots himself in the head right in my face. Blood splatters on me. I sit next to my father's corpse, crying hysterically. Suddenly, I'm back to where the vision started and my father is yelling. I realise that it's a giant, never-ending loop and wake up from the nightmare.
I begin hyperventilating and weeping as I am the second to last one to awake. I look outside. It is almost sunup and Ana has yet to wake up.
"George, how was it?" asks Sierra.
I struggle to find words suitable for describing my hell. "It was... hell."
"I mean, what did you see?"
"It was the night my dad committed suicide right in front of me. The reason I'm here now, actually." I hesitate before asking the rest of them. "What about you guys?"
Sierra sighs. "I was in this huge argument with my dad. It was just a giant mess and looking back at it, I don't remember what it was even about." She looks at Dave. "What about you?"
"As you may know, I was bullied in middle school and that's the only reason I'm here. I made my bully have a brain aneurysm by touching his forehead. I wound up killing his entire gang," he says, sounding almost proud.
"So your killing them was your hell?" I ask him.
"No, just the bullying," he says.
"Well while the rest of you are having a pity party, I was seeing myself never passing the Seven Wonders," says Celeste in a snobby manner.
Infuriated by her, I yell, "I hope you fucking die. How dare you even compare your hell to the rest of ours? You're a grade-A piece of shit, and I hope you never pass the Seven Wonders."
Clearly enraged, Celeste uses her powers to lift me in the air and slams me against the four walls of the room. The council members begin yelling at her, but still, she won't put me down.
Finally, I am dropped. I get up to see blue fire burning on Celeste's clothing. Our new butler, Christian, puts out the fire, soaking Celeste in the process. In my opinion, Christian is too young (he's younger than I am) to be a butler, but he's taking place of his father since he has retired.
"Sierra!" shouts Benita. "That is no way to handle a situation like that!"
"Well none of you assholes were doing anything! So I had to!" she shouts back at Benita. The argument suddenly stops as the sunlight fills the room and Anastasia's ashes are blown away.
Celeste scoffs. "Just one less bitch to worry about."
"May her soul rest in peace," says Catarina ironically. "But we must move onto the next Wonder: Concilium. This one should be quite equal now that there are four of you."
The council pairs us up against the clear rival of one another.
"George and Dave, you go first," says Theodore.
Confidently, Dave taunts me. But in many unsuccessful attempts, he cannot force me against my will.
My turn.
"No hard feelings, Geor-" says Dave, but is interrupted by my mind control. I force Dave to grab a letter opener and slit his own throat. The council's jaws drop in shock of my action. As the blood stains the white carpets of the living room, Christian readily cleans up my mess.
"Dave didn't pass the test. He would've been no good like this," I say in my defence. "And besides, he can be brought back to life. One of us is bound to be able to."
Instead of being harsh and brutal, Sierra decided to be playful with Celeste, making her break dance and embarrass herself. Unfortunately, it isn't the same the other way around. Celeste forces Sierra to break her own arm and is about to do more until the council stops her. "That is enough, Celeste!" shouts Catarina. Celeste does what she is told and releases Sierra from her grip.
Calmed, Catarina guides us to the next Wonder: Transmutation.
Sierra and I turn this part of the test into a playful game of tag until, of course, Celeste ruins it by bringing us pain.
"I still hope you die," I say, recovering from her beating.
The next test is Divination. Helena described it as "channelling your past Supremes."
"You must be able to identify the location of an item that belonged to a past Supreme," says Theodore. "Celeste, you go first."
Celeste grabs the cup full of pebbles, shakes it, and pours it on the table. Instantly, she says, "Under the sofa, left-back leg. It's a jewellery box that belonged to Stella Rickard." Christian is ordered to receive the item and brings it back.
"Good job, Celeste," says Catarina while Celeste just shakes it off. "George, you're next."
I take hold of the cup and pour it out on the table. I take a good five minutes to observe the pebbles.
"You're looking for Cordelia Foxx's cane from when she was blind," says Catarina. I take a better look at the pebbles and identify the cane's location.
"Upstairs, under Helena's mattress in the master bedroom," I say confidently.
Christian runs upstairs and brings the cane back to the living room. "Cordelia's cane as you predicted, sir," he says. The council members seem impressed.
"Sierra, your turn," says Theodore.
Sierra nervously scoops up the pebbles and tries to concentrate. She gives up after ten minutes of struggling. "I can't do this, I'm sorry. I'm not even gonna try. When I look at the pebbles, I just see pebbles."
"Okay, disqualification," says Theodore. "Now to move onto the final Wonder: Vitalum Vitalis." The council members lead us to the basement where we see Dave's corpse lying on a table.
Sierra begins to ask, "There's two tables. Why is there only one-?" Theodore begins choking Sierra with plastic wrap.
"What the fuck!" I yell as the two other council members hold me down. "Let go of me you inferior creatures!" I struggle to break their grip on me. Finally, I see Sierra's body give out to suffocation and die. Benita and Catarina let go of me and help Theodore place Sierra on the table.
"Bring her back to life, George. It's the final test," says Theodore. "Or Celeste, you go first. Bring Dave back."
Celeste scoffs and prepares to bring Dave's life force back. From what I hear, this is the test she always winds up failing. She hovers over Dave and tries to give him the breath of life several times and each of them is a failure. Celeste begins screaming in frustration and starts banging on Dave's corpse. The council members rip her from the body and pay their focus to me.
I take a deep breath in, focus all of my attention on the spell and Sierra, and exhale into her mouth. Sierra gasps heavily as her life force regains its strength and brings breathing again. The three council members begin clapping in excitement.
"George Montgomery, congratulations! You are crowned the New Supreme of our Coven!" shouts Catarina in excitement. "Now quickly! Revive Dave."
I frantically run over to Dave's corpse and grant him the breath of life. He slowly rises in confusion. "Where am I?" he asks.
"I killed- Well technically, you killed yourself, but I made you- Anyway, you died and I brought you back!" I say, thrilled. I help him up from the table and say, "Dave! I'm the Supreme!"