Some Witches Need Anger Management

The Coven

"Mona, I'll need you to keep all students out of here for the foreseeable future," Victoria said "We can't risk this leaking out to The Council. It won't go down well."

I had no doubt that they would take it badly. They had been ready to bloody neutralise me because of the mere possibility that I had attacked someone, and, there wasn't even any proof that I had!

Yeah, if they knew that we were dabbling with dark magic and trying to open a portal to another world they would flip out.

It was dangerous as hell, and, that's saying something as we had done some pretty questionable things to try and firstly clear my name of murder, and then to track down Kian when he went missing. We had managed to bend the rules and come out mostly on the right side of The Council but creating a hole in the fabric of our reality to try and get my doppelganger home might be a step too far for them.

I didn't want to imagine what they will do if they got their hands on Callum. Shit. That wasn't something I wanted to think about. I'm sure they would use him however they wanted.

Yeah, that didn't come out right...

"We'll need people to stay here and watch over us," Kian added "Mrs Colby and Dylan should stay here. We don't want everyone in danger."

"I'm not useless!" Dylan protested "I can help you guys."

"Honey, I think you should listen to Kian," my mum said "Staying here would be safer."

"But..."

"I'll be staying, you can help me research portals and alternate universes. I could really use the help." Harry Jekyll said, cutting Dylan off.

He still looked like he wanted to argue the point, but he nodded his head before walking over to the nearest desk, hopping up on it, before folding his arms.

"Okay," I said "So Vic, I'll go with you Kian and Michael to The Coven?"

People say there's safety in numbers and, right now, I really fucking hoped that statement was true.

"Sounds like a plan," Victoria said "We'll need to go into a trance to connect with them, so we sit in a circle on the floor, holding hands for protection. Once we're in the trance together make sure you follow my lead at all times. If any of us get disconnected you'll never wake up."

Well, that's a damn good reason to follow the rules.

"Sounds like fun," Kian said with a worried smile.

"No, it sounds like every other Tuesday," I replied. It did. Getting into scrapes like this was rapidly becoming a regular thing for us.

"The Coven is the hive mind of the oldest witches and wizards around. Some of them have existed for nearly two thousand years," Victoria explained as she sat on the floor. I quickly followed suit and ended up in between Kian who sat on my left and Michael who sat on the right.

"They've been around since time itself began," she continued "No one has been able to trace their ancestry back very far. All anyone knows is that they've been around since the beginning of all things supernatural," she finished.

"So, how come nobody mentioned them before?" I asked, "I mean, The Council, The Church Of Dracul and The House Of The Apocalypse... but nobody ever said anything about The Coven?"

"They don't like to be bothered, even by fellow magic users. They tend to keep themselves separate from the rest of the supernatural community," Victoria explained "They have a strict policy of no interference."

Huh, and now here we are knocking at their door. This was going to go well. Not.

"Now, focus on your breathing. Try to relax your minds," Victoria instructed as Kian put his hand on my left hand, while Michael took my right "Close your eyes, just breathe. Breathe in, breathe out, deep, slow breaths."

As Victoria spoke, I closed my eyes and tried to let my breath slow down. I had never really taken to the idea of mediation, but, controlling my breathing had helped me to control my urge to transform whenever I got angry. I focused on my breathing until I felt myself begin to relax.

"Open your eyes," Victoria said as her words broke through the silence.
I opened my eyes slowly, blinking at the bright light that surrounded us.

"Where the fuck are we?" I asked looking around and finding it impossible to see very far through the hazy glow.

"Not exactly where I wanted to be, but close enough. We're in The Coven," Victoria said "This is like a holding cell."

"Are we prisoners?" Kian asked, "Because, it feels..."

"Shut up!" Victoria cut him off "This place is not like the real world. Everything is a test here, and we have to prove ourselves worthy of an audience. If you start to believe something then the probability of it becoming real..."

"So, if we believe that we're trapped then we might not be able to leave?" I asked "That's messed up."

"So, we play the game by their rules," Michael said, "And we prove ourselves."

"Exactly," Victoria nodded "And, we only get out once we pass the trial, or whatever the fuck is waiting for us out there."

Kian frowned "You know, suddenly I don't have so much faith in this plan."

"It's the only plan we have," Michael pointed out.

"I'm not convinced, to be honest. But I guess it isn't like we can go now back anyway," Kian said, running a hand through my hair nervously as he stood up "Let's get moving, I feel exposed sitting here."

Michael nodded, standing up and grabbing my hand. He pulled me up too, before helping Victoria.

"Okay, so, which way do we go?" I asked looking around at the glistening, yet empty expanse that surrounded us.

Victoria smiled then, as she moved to the side and pointed at the floor. Where she had been standing was a large wooden hatch with a metal handle inserted into the middle that would allow us to open it.

"We go down," she replied.