Chapter 2: Hawthorn

Hawthorn is a small, quiet village located five miles from the coastline on the southern end of the county. Its population is about one hundred people max. It is the halfway point between our hidden valley and our coven's temple, which is just through the woods.

Whenever my mam went to the village to get groceries she would leave me at home.

When I would ask her why I couldn't come with she would tell me that the villagers would kill me if they found out about me. She said they would fear how dangerous I could become and they would kill me.

 It was a ridiculous excuse; I mean I could kill one of them with a blink of an eye by the time I was ten years old. But I sucked it up and stayed at home. 

When I was left alone I used to daydream about what the village looked like. I used to imagine large, elegant houses with well-kept gardens riddled with bright flowers that would cover the village like a sea of colour during the spring.

I imagined men laughing and whistling with their friends as they walked to work. Children running around laughing with their friends or going to school. And women having morning tea with their friends as they talked up the latest town gossip.

However, my high expectations were not met.

It was a dry village surrounded by gravel. The houses are small, cramped and in need of a serious lick of paint. Dead, shriveled up plants surrounded the houses, there were no gardens insight. Large weeds were the only living plants' insight. I wasn't surprised they were surviving, especially after the amount of rain that fell last night. 

Men grumbled as they went into the forest to chop wood for the winter, which was vastly approaching. Their sons' silently trailing behind them, their backs hunched from the weight of the axes.

Women wore ragged, slightly torn dresses. Prominent stains from sweat darkened the sleeves under their arms as they hung up the washing. Some women groaned as they carried large buckets of water, their backs will soon be permanently bent from the strain of the heavy buckets. 

The daughters were either peeling vegetables or caring for their younger siblings. The elderly sat on old wicker chairs outside their front door, the creaking of the old wood swinging back and forth filled the air. 

Nobody was laughing or smiling- except for the younger kids who had nothing to do-, the village felt sad. But the sadness quickly changed to fear when they saw us coming. 

They immediately stopped whatever they were doing and looked at us. Pure terror edged on their faces.

 They obviously knew my mam, in fact, I'm sure she has done some terrible things to some of them. When their eyes landed on me they seemed more confused than scared. 

The staring was kind of making me uncomfortable, I didn't like feeling uncomfortable, so my feeling changed to unbridled rage.

" What are you staring at!" I yelled at them.

The anger sent electricity surging through my body. The veins in my neck began to bulge. I enjoyed this feeling of power, it was one of the few things I do enjoy.

They all jumped back at my outburst, but they continued to stare. A few of them were trembling with fear. Some of the younger kids began to scream like banshees. A few of them could give a banshee a run for its money. 

" I'm sorry maybe I wasn't clear." I scowled at them.

I raised my hands conjuring all the power I could muster and the earth beneath our feet began to tremble. The higher my hands went the more the ground shook.

Large loose bricks and some roof sheets began to fall almost squashing the people under them. The villagers began to scream and run away like headless chickens. Doors banging shut caused more bricks from the walls to fall.

I felt electricity surge through my veins, the power was more than I have ever felt. I peeped into a small mirror on a stand, my green eyes have turned a bright yellow, dark veins have pooped up around my eyes, I looked evil.

Unexpectedly my mam spun around, her eyes shone bright yellow as well.  She conjured her own spell and made mine completely ineffective. 

The earth stood still once again. I lowered my hands, the electricity stopped flowing and I could feel my eyes go back to their normal green.

The villagers stopped screaming. They froze in their spots. Their eyes went wide with fear as they waited for our next move. I chuckled at the stench of their fear.

"Let us just go, these puny mortals are not worth our time." My mam growled.

" Fine." I spat, I didn't want the fun to end yet, but I didn't have a choice, I need to get to my testing. 

We continued walking down the gravel path, only to be stopped by a priest.

He was tall, not as tall as me but he towered over my mam. He had dark hair with lots of white stripes, dark brown eyes, and tanned wrinkled skin, he must be in his late fifties. He wore the usual priest uniform, the black pants, and shirt with the white square in the collar. He held a small copper cross in front of him like a shield. 

"You witches are vile creatures. You and your evil offspring shall not pass through this village." He spat as he glared at us.

A very unpriestly way of stating something if you ask me.

I almost wanted to laugh at the priest. I mean what is this puny mortal thinking, going up against me and my mam. But at the same time, I also admired his courage and bravery. There aren't many- if any- people out there that would go against a witch. 

I expected my mam to do something wicked to him. Instead, she smiled - a fake smile- at him and we kept walking down the path. A small smirk played on my lips at what my mam did, I personally would have killed the priest.

Enraged by us not listening to him, he charged at my mam. A bible wrapped in shiny black leather raised above his head, preparing to bring it down on my mam's head. I was about cast a spell, but my mam beat me to it.

She spun around and cast her own. Right before he could bring the bible down the priest froze on the spot, his skin went a sickly pale and like a dead weight, he fell to the ground with a thud. A small mushroom of dust flew into the air. Gasps arose from the villagers.

" What did she do to father Lanik?"

" Is he dead?" 

" Let's get a move on Tobias."

We quickly left the village.

 As we left I saw a large crowd surround the priest. Two burly men picked him up and carried him away to the church. Another man that looked like a younger version of the priest rushed over to them. This boy was most likely his son.  

" I thought you taught me all your spells. I've never seen that one before." I said, turning back to face my mam. 

" My boy there are still things many I haven't taught you. But don't you worry in due time I will."

We followed a trail through the forest, at the end of the trail was a large open field. In the center of the field stood the temple.