The Coven: Part 2
By Patrick O’Donnell
The Past
After the ritual in the forest.
Suffocating. That’s how it felt as Jenna closed the door to her house. The clock in the living room fills the silence with a repetitive ticking sound, a metronome to Jenna’s isolation. Jenna turns on the T.V. The light fills the room with a static hiss before resuming with its scheduled programming. Jenna wasn’t watching, she has her back to it, but the canned laughter and moronic sentiments provide a comforting backdrop.
The room goes cold and Jenna can feel the presence of another person. It causes the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up, an evolutionary trait used to warn of predators. Jenna is expecting this intrusion, it doesn’t make it easier though. The intruder rests a spidered hand upon Jenna’s shoulder, Jenna winces from the cold grasp and turns around. “You did good Jenna. You are moving her right along nicely” says the visitor. Jenna doesn’t make eye contact. It’s as if her whole body is rejecting the words this person is saying.
“Agnes, I don’t feel like I’m doing something good.” Agnes steps into view more clearly. Her tall spindly body fills the space. Though she is thin, it is if she is an unavoidable mass. Her long dress bellows behind her and ripples across the floor. Long black hair cascades off her pale flesh. Her mouth seems disconnected from the words as she speaks, they seem to float out and have no sense of urgency. A stark contrast to the heavy and dripping words that Jenna is speaking. “It’s okay, your friend will be fine.” She takes Jenna’s hands in her own. Agnes’s skin looks rough and is riddled with veins. However, to the touch, it is as soft as butter. “Jenna, were where you when I found you? Crying, crying in the forest because you were scared of losing your best friend. Scared of being alone. Didn’t I promise you that I would fix that? Don’t you trust me?”
Jenna pulls her hands back. She can still feel the pressure marks on her hands from were Agnes was squeezing. “I don’t know if I can trust you. It sounded great, but after we did the ceremony, I feel weird.” Jenna wants to shout, she wants to curse and run and escape. Instead, she sits down, a prisoner in her own house. The moon shines through the open window, the shadows it creates makes a line between Agnes and Jenna.
The television continues to hum in the background, the commercial is for some sort of artificial butter. Agnes leans over to whisper in Jenna’s ear. For a split second, Jenna feels as if Agnes is trying to kiss her. “Let me show you something,” Agnes says.
Agnes puts her hands on either side of Jenna’s face and starts to squeeze. “Close your eyes child.” Jenna does as she is instructed, not of her own will, it is as if she is a puppet getting her strings pulled. When Jenna opens her eyes she is blinded by a bright light. Once she adjusts and looks around she sees she is standing in a kitchen. The time of day has shifted and the pale moonlight has been replaced with a soft glow. The sun hangs in the sky like a precious jewel. The kitchen is bathed in soft warm light.
“Where am I?” Jenna asks. Agnes does not answer with her words, instead prompting with one long pointed finger. Jenna turns to see were Agnes is pointing. Standing in the kitchen is Sarah holding a baby. The baby plays with Sarah’s hair as she coos at the baby. An idyllic sight, however, it all makes Jenna feel uneasy.“ Why are you showing me this? When is this even?” Agnes does not respond. A second person enters the kitchen where Sarah is. They are talking on their phone. “Of course, that’s right, I’ll be right there. Let’s make today an easier day. I’m going to take off early to spend it with my family.” Jenna recognizes the voice, it’s her own. The person next to Sarah turns around and Jenna can feel what Agnes is showing her. This is their future. If she can make this work, Agnes is saying she will be with Sarah.
Just like that Jenna is back in the suffocating house, isolated, and alone. Agnes is gone, nothing but the cold left to remind of her presence. Jenna moves upstairs, her body feels weighted and each step takes more energy then she feels she has. As she comes round the stairs, she catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her face is tired looking and her eyes are starting to form bags. “Soon, this will all be over, and I can rest.” Once inside her room, she pulls open her desk drawer. The soft sliding sound soothes her as its contents are revealed to her. The pages of the book that she ripped out stare back at her, taunting her, daring her to explore, and probe the darkness further.
As she reads the pages she feels her head begin to swoon. Another voice, one that is part of her yet separate begins to speak. “Blood, we need blood. You are so close to being what you truly are.” Jenna feels no fear. This voice is her friend, she leans into it. “Read the pages, let them guide you.” Jenna pulls the pages out of the drawer, she is careful not to damage them any further. They Read:
Once you have given your soul, there are yet steps to follow before one can truly be part of the coven. One must first rid herself of any immediate family that she has. The coven will be her new family. The strength to kill them will flow from the voice one hears in their head. Only follow their command, the rest shall follow. Next, anyone who is infatuated with a male must first kill them and sacrifice their blood to the dark one. This will ensure that the pledge is being taken seriously and no bonds outside of the coven are being formed. Be warned, if you do choose to resist the voice, it will not stop. The voice will continue its maddening chant until it is appeased. The only way to rid the voice and save the loved ones outside of the coven is to end their lives.
Jenna stops reading, her heart is going off like a car alarm. “Sarah, oh my god, what have I done?” she says to herself. The voice beings to intensify in her head. “Worry not about Sarah, her voice will guide her. She will not refuse us. Worry about holding up your end. We need blood, blood, give it to us.” Jenna calms herself down and takes a deep breath. She can feel her life swerving back into her hands. She knows her parents will be home the next day. Now there is only the wait.
The Next Day
They arrive just on time. The taxi cab deposits both her parents at the driveway. Their spray tans and perfect white teeth can be seen from space. Jenna hates them, she is glad she hates them, it will make what she needs to do that much simpler. “Mom, dad, I’m so glad you're home! How was your trip?” It pains Jenna to be this fake, she soothes herself with the reminder that soon it will be over.
“It was about what you’d expect. We had to really fight to be treated with any sort of dignity. I mean, the company is doing poorly but that doesn’t mean we deserve to sit in anything but first class,” her mom complains. Jenna nods in agreement, choking down the resentment as she takes their bags inside. Her dad is already on another business call and ignoring her. He hasn’t even said hello before he is off in his study, working on who knows what.
“You know you must forgive him. Your Father is a hard-working man. If it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t have half the luxuries that we do. I feel it is better to have a wealthy hard working dad who may be absent then a dad who is present and a total bum.” Jenna disagrees but holds her tongue. She watches her mom’s throat as she talks. The voice in her head kicks in, dissecting the situation. “Yes, that would make a great place to cut, don’t do it yet though, wait until nightfall. Wait until it’s dark.” Jenna regains her composure.
“Right you are mom, I’m so glad dad was never around so that we could live in this big empty house.” Jenna’s mom nods in agreement. The sarcasm and the venom behind Jenna’s words are lost on her.
“I’m going to take a long soak in the tub, are you okay getting dinner for yourself?” Jenna feels a sense of relief over not being forced to carry on with her mom any longer. She nods emphatically and escapes upstairs before her mom can change her mind.
As night falls on the the sleeping house like a curtain, Jenna is ready. She is dressed in all black, making her virtually un-seeable against the dark backdrop of the house. A knife she stole from the kitchen earlier is tucked away under her pillow. She brandishes it, letting the light play off its sickly sharp blade. Jenna swipes at the air, practicing her attack. Tonight she will be an orphan, but only for a moment. After that, she will be with her true family.
The house is quiet, it’s always quite. Jenna feels the rush of change coming, and it excites her. Tonight, she will end her familial suffering. When she arrives at her mom’s door, she pauses. For a moment the reality of the situation slips into her consciousness. What she was about to do would be irreversible. The voice kicks in, just enough to give her the nudge to keep going. “You are so close, just a little further and then, sweet, sweet, blood.”
The door opens slowly, Jenna puts her head in first and looks around. Her mother is the only body in the bed. Jenna creeps over and slowly gets onto the bed. She is careful not to wake her mother up at first. Jenna feels scared about what she is going to do. “Is that you honey, come to bed, I’ve missed you.” Jenna doesn’t say anything, her mother’s eyes are obscured by a sleep mask. Jenna straddles her mom between her legs. Her mother reaches out to touch her. “What, you’re not Stephen.” She slips off the sleep mask to see Jenna sitting on top of her. Confused, she tries to sit up. “What are you doing Jenna?” Jenna doesn’t respond. The next thing she knows the knife is coming down hard. It hits on the forehead. At first, there is only a trickle of blood from the impact point. The mom’s body shakes and trembles like a rag doll in the wind. Jenna watches as the singular blood drop trails down the face past her eye, looking almost like a tear.
Jenna pulls out the knife. Blood erupts from the impact point like a geyser. It covers Jenna, she feels it’s warm sticky fluid congealing on her skin. “The blood is good, more blood,” the voice says. Jenna pulls back and stabs again. Her mom’s body lifts up with every impact and falls back down as she pulls out the knife. The bed is a mess of red, gash wounds cover the mom's body like tattoos. Jenna looks down at her trembling hands. The feeling she has is both one of ecstasy and horror. It was easy, too easy, she wonders why she hadn’t done it sooner.
Her dad is in the study. She can see the light pooling out from underneath the door. She feels like a huntress out for the kill, her body dribbling with the excess of her last victory. With her mom she had been coy, shy, concerned even. With her dad, she felt nothing if not ready. She flung open the door and pointed the knife at him. He shot up from his computer. At first, he was angry and then he saw her. “What the fuck are you covered in?” Jenna doesn’t answer, she lets him stew with the fact that this is the end. “Jenna, you don’t want to do this, if you do this you don’t get any of the life insurance money. I can help you cover up the death of your mom, no problem, just don’t kill me.”
Jenna cocks her head to one side and stares at him in disbelief. “You think I’m doing this because of money? I don’t want your fucking money. I’m doing this to be a part of something greater.” She begins to walk towards him, he is visibly quivering. All she sees is a blur as she plunges the knife into his chest and watches him bleed.
He slides himself away from her before resting his back on the wall. “Please, don’t kill me. Please, I’ll do anything.” He wraps his hand around the knife. A searing hot pain shoots through his body. Jenna can’t believe he is really dumb enough to remove the knife himself. He does, the last action he takes is to pull out the knife his daughter implanted. The blood starts fighting its way out in steady bursts. The ceiling, the walls, the desk, all become covered in his viscera.
She walks over and takes the knife from his faint hand. “I just wanted you to be present. I just wanted you to be available. I don’t need you anymore.” She turns to leave as his body slouches over and hits the floor. “Good girl, you did what you needed to. You did what was required. You are set to join the coven,” the voice said.
Agnes is waiting for her in the living room. Jenna doesn’t make eye contact. Having Agnes there makes her feel wrong, like what she did wasn’t a victory but a bout of insanity. “How do you keep showing up?” Jenna asks. The frustration is audible in her voice, as Jenna makes no attempt to hide it.
“I’m a witch. I can go wherever I want to. There is no limit to where I can just appear. It’s a benefit you will have soon enough. I want you to know that I’m proud of you. I know it was something that maybe doesn’t feel like a huge deal right now, but when you look back on this moment, you will feel so empowered.” Jenna ignores all of Agnes’s sentiments.
The reality is coming back to her, and she feels sick to her stomach. “What’s next, what do I need to do next?” Agnes comes closer and moves a strand of hair, dripping with blood, from out of Jenna’s view. “All you need to do is go on about your day like nothing is different. Once Sarah has taken this path, the two of you will join me, and we will have started our coven proper.” Jenna takes a deep breath. “I will make sure Sarah does not drift from the path. Now please leave, I’m going to wash off all this goddamn blood and go to bed.”
