Unfamiliar (Unfamiliar Series #1)

Chapter 16

It's dark as I walk across campus alone after my classes for the day. Luckily nothing unusual happened and I got through my lectures with a minimum amount of people staring at me. I tried my best to stay awake and ignore the people who whispered about me when they thought I couldn't hear them, though my eyes now feel swollen with exhaustion and all I want to do is go back to sleep.

But I still have to meet with the coven and I already forced myself to wake up ten minutes ago to get dressed.

The locket Eleanora had given me is tucked in my jean pocket and I pat it here and there to make sure that it's still there and that all of this is real. I stick to the shadows as I make it over to the gymnasium complex, the full moon above casting me in its light and guiding my path. I hesitate at the doors before I reach for the handle and open it.

The dusty air of the gym washes over me, bringing with it the too fresh memory of unleashing my conjuration powers and confirming what I am as I step inside and let the door fall shut behind me. I can still hear the sound of dozens of familiars working together to rip the target apart and I shudder at the animalistic noises that are engraved in my mind.

The only lights on inside are the ones for the exit signs, a red one spelling out 'exit' gleaming at me from across the gym and giving me a foreboding sense of warning.

I shake my head to free myself of the thought.

You're safe here, you're fine.

"Welcome, Kara," a voice suddenly says and I pinpoint it to be somewhere in the middle of the gym floor.

I suppress the urge to run as I remember my great grandmother's fate and I stand up straighter, preparing myself for the possibility of a fight as I stare harder into the darkness of the gym. I can't see anything at all, just the exit sign over the door on the far side and the tiny pool of red light that it's casting.

I don't know exactly what to say, so I go with my best choice, "Hello."

My voice echoes slightly within the rafters of the gym and reverberates into the darkness, like a stone that has been thrown into a pond. I can sense rather than see the other people who are walking across the gym towards me.

A light flickers on, a blue orb that reminds me too much of the memory of Cecilia being hunted as every nerve and muscle within me becomes fraught with tension. This is just a coven of teenagers, they can't possibly be hunting down Unfamiliars. I blink and focus on the face that is above the blue orb as I begin to make out the faint traceries of fingers cupping the orb.

It's Eleanora.

Her mouth splits into a wide grin, one that is relaxed and full of welcome.

"Kara Zen, you have been invited to join the Coven of Midnight, do you choose to accept?" she asks, her voice echoing hollowly around me and I almost feel like I'm surrounded.

"I do," I say after I clear my throat.

She dips her head, "Summon your familiar to prove your worth."

A dozen other orbs flicker to life around the perimeter of the gym, each of them being held by cloaked figures that have black hoods drawn low over their faces so I can't see who they are. The summoning sigil on the gym floor flashes to life, bathing the floor around it in azure hues.

I think back to how I had summoned Tessa's dove by merely thinking about it, but the only familiar that I know of in this room is Eleanora's white tiger.

But then again...

I touch the new, crystal necklace hanging around my throat, curious as to what familiar my mother had given me.

'Wear it a few times when you go to conjure a familiar and the familiar will become yours.' 

I begin to conjure, pulling the thread of magic from deep within me as the chant swirls in my head. I don't have to say it, I've already broken the barrier between never conjuring a familiar, I just have to think about it. The sigil reacts as a dark form flickers to life within the sigil and I hold my breath in anticipation.

The creature stands, revealing strong, nimble legs. It shakes its head, its black fur rippling over its muscled body as it blinks at me with golden eyes.

It's a black panther.

Tears suddenly well up unbidden in my eyes, I've been obsessed with black panthers ever since I was in the third grade and now my mother has gifted me with the ability to conjure one of my own.

I can only watch in awe as the panther strides over to me, its paws silently padding across the wooden floor as its curved ears tilt in my direction, its gaze fixed fully on me. It's a breathtakingly beautiful creature and I immediately try to think of a name that would befit such a creature.

Bastet, the name of the Egyptian goddess who had the head of a black cat comes to mind and I settle on the name as I remember that she was also a symbol of protection and cats.

Fitting for such a creature.

I reach out a tentative hand as the panther comes closer to me and I carefully pet it on the head as its form solidifies. I can feel the faint prickle of fur under my hand, but the sensation is more like a memory than a fact, an unsettling and strange, in-between sensation.

There but not quite there.

Most beginners' familiars aren't quite solid and even with my power, it's not an exception to this fact. Nonetheless, the familiar is still impressive and I can feel the eyes of the other people in the gymnasium watching the creature as it lets me pet it.

"The Coven of Midnight is meant to unite, to uphold the laws of witchcraft and to protect witches, do you promise to uphold these laws?" Eleanora inquires.

"I do," I promise her as a swell of strength surges through me, bolstered by the fact that I have a personal familiar to protect me.

"Then you are henceforth a member of the Coven of Midnight, a protector of witches," Eleanora reaches back and flips her hood down as the people around me do the same as familiars of all types, but all still powerful, flicker to life beside their masters.

I faintly recognize some of the other students standing around the perimeter as they raise their voices in unison.

"Welcome, Kara Zen, to the Coven of Midnight," they say, their voices echoing within the rafters.

Eleanora straightens as she looks me in the eye, "You are free to go, for now, we shall reconvene tomorrow night after lights out."