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Author's Note: Here's Ch.13, The Coven scene that everyone was waiting for. I'd like to thank djkauf for the editing and everyone else for loving my universe so much.Oh and Happy New Year everyone :)

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Ch.13

I followed Mr. Wilkes out to his foreboding black car. It was a sedan but that wasn’t the freaky thing. What freaked me out most was the tinted black windows. I stopped when he opened the door and turned back to look at the house, Constance was standing in the doorway. The look on her face scared me too. It was the look of a woman who was afraid that they might not see their child again. I definitely did not like that look. Unfortunately, I was committed to this thing now and as such, I climbed into the car. He shut the door and walked around to the driver’s side. I couldn’t see him get in though because there was a partition separating the back of the car from the front.

A moment later though, the car started and then slowly drove around the half circle toward the gate. We let the grounds after that, heading east. East surprised me because I knew for a fact that the town was to the west. There was nothing east but the woods. Eventually the road wound its way around to the airstrip, but besides that, there was nothing. But who was I to complain. So I sat there and watched as we drove into the middle of nowhere. A small part of me wondered if it was too late to open the door and take off into the woods. If I went wolf there was no way anyone could catch me. I could be halfway to Canada before anyone knew the wiser. Of course, a run like that would have been crazy and probably would have taken several days. It was an option I was going to keep open though just in case things went sour.

I tried to occupy my time by watching the trees. I tried to count them but that got kind of tedious, I lost track somewhere around two hundred or so. I decided to rummage in my duffel after that, wondering if Constance had been nice enough to pack my iPod but she hadn’t. In fact, in my haste, I’d completely forgotten to bring my purse. So I was musicless and phoneless apparently. The only thing I did have apparently was a word puzzle book and a single pencil. I groaned but seeing as I had nothing else to do and lots of time, it was the only option. I started on the easy puzzles but they were too easy. I started to move through the book pretty fast after that, surprising the hell out of myself actually.

I zipped through the book actually. I used to dabble in word puzzles before, something I sorta did in my free time but I wasn’t very good at them. Of course, most people were ok with the easy ones but it was when things got harder that I found out how much of a moron I really was. Today though, I was breezing through the damn things. I was like an idiot savant with it, solving one puzzle after another. It amazed me how fast I was doing it too; it had to be some kind of record. The worst part was that I wasn’t even thinking about it. I was just doing it, just like with Math or taking notes. It would seem that my weird and freaky new “powers” worked on word puzzles too.

In no time flat, I went through the whole book---a first for me.

I looked at my watch and groaned. It was nearing two in the afternoon now, which meant I’d been in this car for about an hour already. That surprised me a bit. Was he really taking me out this far and to where? There was nothing out here, at least not anymore. At one time, this area used to have houses, there were still some old foundations but most of them were swallowed back up by the forest. Hell the only house out this far was the old Crowley place. Just thinking about it sent shivers down my spine. It was one of the oldest houses in Ravencrest, built in 1911 when the town was officially founded. I didn’t really know the story all that well but apparently Thomas Crowley was a business partner of Ravencrest, the two of them founded the town together. Crowley was a bit of a recluse though and didn’t want credit for any of it so instead of settling with everyone else, he built his home way outside the town border. He never married and apparently lived in the house for ten years before his untimely death.

Mary, Greg and I used to ride our bikes out to the Crowley Manor all the time. It was surrounded by this black wrought iron fence. The house itself was built way back in some trees, mostly obscure. Greg was convinced it was haunted because apparently Old Crowley died in there. It was a bunch of crap, of course. Greg always thought every old house in Ravencrest was haunted, including mine believe it or not. Of course, that didn’t stop us from riding out there though. It was kind of cool to look at the old brick house and wonder what it must look like inside of it.

Thinking about Mary and Greg made me think about food. Those jackass Lions interrupted Mary and me before we could actually eat. I couldn’t help but wonder what Clara thought when she got back to the table with our food and we weren’t there. I was so going to have to call her later, whenever that might be. I tried not to think about it. Instead I found myself looking out the window some more. There was nothing but trees as usual but then I spotted something up ahead. It was an old horse hitch post, a crumbling stone column half swallowed by foliage. I knew that post; it marked the corner where you turned to go to the Crowley place.

The car approached the hitch and the turn appeared out of nowhere. It was one of those old dirt roads, barely visible from the road. I knew it well because we used to ride our bikes up and down it all the time. When we reached it, the car actually turned down it. Shit, were we going to the Crowley place? I tried to look farther but I couldn’t, the trees were everywhere, in fact, they were nearly over the road. As we started down the dirt road a feeling of uneasy swept over me, followed a moment later by some lightheadedness and a tingling. It passed just as quickly as it came but it still left the hairs on my arms standing on end.

The car slowed a bit as it moved down the road, Wilkes was probably taking his time. From what I could see out the window---which wasn’t much---the driving most have been hell. It was a little bit exciting, like going through a jungle. I’d be more excited if I didn’t know what was on the other end. The Crowley house gave me the creeps. We drove another ten minutes or so before the car came to a complete stop. I looked out the window but there was still nothing but trees. I near this path by heart, the house was still at least another ten minutes away.

I heard the driver’s side door open and then Mr. Wilkes walked around to my door, opening it.

“Why are we stopping, we’re not at the house yet.”

He nodded. “No one is permitted to see anything beyond this point until we get to our destination.”

I groaned. “But I know where we are, I used to come here as a kid.”

He nodded. “I don’t make the rules but I have to enforce them.”

I sighed. “So is this the part where you smack me over the head with a club or something?”

He chuckled. If he wasn’t so creepy that might actually make me feel more at ease.

“Nothing as sinister” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a black piece of cloth. “I’m going to have to blindfold you actually.”

“Seriously?”

He nodded. He did a lot of nodding.

So I stood still and let him wrap the blindfold around my head. My world suddenly went pitch black, which was definitely scary. He shut the door after that and a moment later, the car started to move again. I’m not sure how much longer we drove but I could hear the wrought iron gate open not too long after that and then there was more driving. When the car finally stopped, I thought maybe my darkness might be over but it sadly wasn’t. A door opened then closed and my door was opened, cold breezes buffeting me.

“Your hand, miss,” said his voice.

I held out my hand and he took it a moment later.

Want to scare someone more than anything, try blindfolding them and leading them somewhere. After we left the car and started walking, I was totally freaked out. Mr. Wilkes helped when he could, telling me to step here, move this way or that. I couldn’t tell you how many flights of stairs I walked up or how many doors I went through. There were a lot though. I felt like I’d been walking forever too, darkness all around me. It was a bit frightening. Finally, though, it came to an end and not a moment too soon.

I heard a door open and was led into the room. After about five steps, the blindfold was finally taken from my face. The light was blinding at first. I snapped my eyes shut before slowly opening them again. When I did, the room came into focus. The first thing I noticed was its size, it was definitely bigger than I expected. It had large oval topped windows, a huge canopy bed and furnishings that looked to be more than a hundred years old. There was a nice flowery smell in the room though and everything was so clean. I walked over to the window and looked out, seeing a large courtyard below me. It looked a lot like the one back home, it even had hedges. The only thing different was the fountain in the center.

“This will be your room for the duration of your stay,” said Mr. Wilkes, who was standing by the door.

I turned to him. “Are we at Crowley Manor?”

He nodded. “My family has been tending this home since its construction. I hope you find your stay comfortable.”

“How is this possible?” I asked, waving my hand about. “This place was a dump; I used to come here all the time.”

He smiled. “Don’t always trust what you see, your eyes can deceive you.”

With that, he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

I turned and looked around the room. Everything was old and ornate, very expensive looking. There were a few rooms in our house that looked like this but we didn’t use them. I think they were for show more than anything, Dad kept them around because his grandfather would have liked that. Something like that anyway. I felt like I was in an old movie, the gorgeous heroine in her massive estate. There was even an armoire; I didn’t even know I knew the word until I saw it. I walked slowly over and opened it up but there was nothing inside. I went around the room anyway, opening all the drawers and doors I could find. It was kind of fun actually. When I was done, I flopped down on the biggest bed I’d ever seen. The comforter was super soft and I practically sunk into the mattress, it was great.

I could spend forever in a room like this.

A moment later, there was a slight knock on the door. I sat up and before I could say anything, the door opened. A girl about my age entered, carrying a tray of food. At her feet came a golden retriever. The dog stopped in the doorway though, giving me a strange look. I stared right back before looking at the girl. It took me a moment to realize I knew her: she was Maggie Wilkes; she was in my Bio class. As soon as I put a name to the face of freckles, I realized what she was doing here. She must have been related to my driver.

“Hi” I said as she set the tray on the bedside table.

She smiled. “Miss Locke.”

I laughed. “Maggie, you’re my age, you don’t have to be so formal.”

“Freckle girl shy” said a female voice in my head.

I looked down at the dog and smiled. “And what’s your name?”

The dog nearly did a double take. I think I scared her.

“Buttercup” she said a moment later.

“Nice to meet you Buttercup, I’m Tracy.”

The dog walked slowly into the room. She walked up to me and sniffed my hand. Then sat down in front of me, wagging her tail. I reached over and started to rub her ears.

“That’s amazing,” said Maggie “Buttercup never warms up to strangers like that.”

I smiled. “We’re kindred.”

Maggie’s eyes widened. “So it’s true then, what they say about Weres?”

I smiled. “That we can talk to dogs?”

Maggie nodded. “That’s so awesome.” She blushed slightly. “Can you really turn into a wolf too?”

I laughed. “Yes but I have to get naked to do it.”

That only made Maggie blush more.

We both fell into silence after that. Then Maggie seemed to remember what she was there for.

“I brought you something light to eat. Dinner won’t be for another few hours. I always get a little hungry before then…ummm….you do eat fruit right?”

I looked at the assortment of fruit on the platter. I was so hungry that it didn’t really matter. So I smiled and nodded, Maggie sighed. She was a bit nervous and she wouldn’t stand any closer to me as if she was afraid I was going to bite her.

“Maggie” I said, she nodded. “Am I the first Were you’ve ever met?”

“No” she said quietly. “but you are the first one I’ve been alone with.”

I laughed. “I’m not going to bite you. That’s a bunch of movie crap. We have class together every day, have I ever tried to bite anyone then?”

She smiled. “I figured you had good self control.”

We both had a laugh. After that, she loosened up. She and Buttercup stayed with me for a bit, I shared my fruit with them. Maggie started to tell me a bit about the house and her family. Apparently, after Crowley died, everything was left to her family. Thomas was apparently a prominent member of the Witch community in Ravencrest. After his death, the home and all the lands were left in the hands of the Coven. Ever since, it’s been their base of operations. Her family were Caretakers of the estate. I was surprised to find that she actually lived on the grounds.

“I thought the place was abandoned?”

She laughed. “It’s an illusion, a spell to keep people from prying too closely. The Coven likes their secrecy.”

“Do they live here too?”

She laughed. “No, they’re normal people, well as normal as people like them come I suppose. They live in the town, leading normal lives actually. I’m not really sure who they really are though, they shroud themselves in magic, hiding their faces from others, including themselves I think. It’s all kind of mysterious and cool.”

I nodded. Creepy too but I didn’t say that aloud.

We talked a little bit more before I asked my big question.

“So, do you have any idea what I’m doing here?”

She looked down at first, waiting a moment before looking at me directly and answering. “We’re never told Coven business. We just tend to the house and my grandfather collects whoever the Coven wishes to see. They don’t meet very often but when they do, it’s always something important. This is the third meeting this year actually, it’s kind of rare. I’ve only seen them a handful of times since I’ve lived here. Something big must have happened though.”

“Why’s that?”

She bit her lip and then said softly. “There’s a lot of people here, more than ever. And the Inquisitor is here too.”

“What’s that?”

She shook her head. “I’m not allowed to talk about it. Just hope you’re not in a room alone with her, she’s really scary.”

I’m not sure I liked the sound of that.

Maggie and I changed subjects after that, instead talking about me. She wanted to know all about me and Weres. I told her as much as I could. It felt kind of nice actually, talking to someone and not having to lie. Of course, I talked to Maggie and my family about things but it was nice talking to someone who didn’t really know me. Maggie was nice to talk to, real polite and not sarcastic. She didn’t have a little comment about everything either like Mary sometimes did. Not that I didn’t like hanging with Mary---she was my BFF after all---but it was nice to talk with someone who wasn’t being snarky all the time too. I’m not sure how long we talked though before Maggie finally gasped.

“Crap, it’s almost dinner time.”

That kind of surprised me.

She jumped off the bed and ran to the door, Buttercup followed. I got up to do the same but she shook her head. “You can’t,” she said forcefully then in a nicer tone. “You’re not allowed to leave your room until after the Coven hearing tomorrow.”

“I’m stuck here?”

She sighed. “It’s stupid I know but I promised my grandfather I’d keep you company.”

She smiled. It was pretty clear she didn’t have a lot of friends, save maybe Buttercup of course. It made me wonder if Maggie herself got to be out much, besides school of course.

Maggie left the room quickly after that, her dog following. She showed up about ten minutes later with another tray, this one with a steak so rare it was practically mooing. She stayed and watched me eat, standing near the door as I dug in. I felt a bit like a lion in the zoo but I tried not to let it bother me. After I ate---the steak was fantastic---Maggie opened the doors leading to the in suite bathroom.

“Trust me, once you get into this tub you’ll love soaking.”

I smiled. She left me alone for a while after that. I undressed and drew myself a bath. The tub was huge, like the green room back home. I soaked in it for about an hour before my skin started to get all pruny. When I got out there was a bathrobe waiting. In my room, there was a sheer white nightgown on the bed. I dried off before donning it. About twenty minutes later, Maggie knocked on the door before coming in. She was dressed in a similar gown but it was pink.

“I hate to impose but do you think we could have a slumber party” she said with a smile and then said softly. “I’ve never had one of those.”

I smiled. “Neither have I actually.”

Hey new girl here, learning new things every day. A slumber party actually sounded kind of nice.

“Really?”

I nodded. Her face lit up.

The rest of the night, we did girl things---makeup, hair, nails. She had a bunch of magazines that we read cover to cover. We did a lot of talking too. She asked me about a possible boyfriend and I told her about just breaking up with Chris. She was a bit surprised that I went for the slacker type but when I told her about his other side, she kind of smiled. We talked for hours after that, most of the stuff nonsense. It wasn’t long before my eyelids started to flutter. Maggie could barely keep her eyes open either. She actually yawned, stretched out on my huge bed and dropped off to sleep.
I was too tired to even care. Before I knew it in fact, I was yawning too.

I must have fallen asleep because I don’t really remember much more than that.

When I woke up, I was tangled in a heap of blankets. It took me a moment that they weren’t in fact my blankets. I blinked a few times, confused as I looked around the room. I hate those mornings when you’re momentarily disoriented when you wake up. It was even harder when you woke up in a place you weren’t familiar with. For a split second, I had no clarity but then it all came back to me. I was in the Crowley house, here to meet with the Coven. As soon as that came to me, I remembered a bit of last night. Maggie Wilkes and I stayed up all night talking and it appeared I dropped off to sleep without realizing it. That part was still a little fuzzy.

I untangled myself and looked around. The first thing I noticed was that Maggie was gone. I could have sworn she fell asleep in my bed last night. I crawled over to the edge, just to make sure she didn’t roll off or something----I tend to toss and turn. But she wasn’t on the floor either. Looking around, I found a note on my bedside table. Reading it, I realized it was from Maggie. She had to get up early to do morning chores and apologized. Then she thanked me about a hundred times for the best night of her life. It saddened me to think that a girl our age was denied some of life’s experiences. Greg and I used to have sleepovers all the time when we were younger. Of course, they were nothing like last night but to never have even one, that was a travesty.

I trudged through the room and into the bathroom. Sadly, it didn’t have a shower so I had to resort to taking a bath. I got the water ready and pulled the nightgown over my head. I wasn’t the least bit fazed by my body any longer. I guess I was used to looking down now and seeing a pair of boobs hanging off my chest. In fact, I think they might have been a tad bit bigger. That would have scared the hell out of me last month but I think I was getting used to it. It scared me a bit that I was adjusting so quickly to things though. There were even times that I completely forgot about being Trevor. Ok, so not completely forgot but didn’t really dwell on it.

I sat in the bath no longer than I had to then I found a robe and went back into my room. As soon as I did, there was a light knock on the door. Before I could say enter, the door opened and Maggie came in, Buttercup following at her heels. She was all smiles again. She was also holding a white garment; I think it was a dress.

“Oh good, you’re awake. I was asked to bring this to you.”

I stared at the dress. “What is it?”

“A Novice gown, the young practitioners wear them. Apparently the Coven requires younger guests to wear them as well.”

Maggie carried the dress into the room and laid it on the bed. Buttercup walked over to me and sat in front of me, staring up at me.

“Boomer is Lady’s dog?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yes, Boomer is my dog. How do you know Boomer?”

“Boomer is Buttercups’ new friend.”

I looked at Maggie. “Is there a German shepherd here by any chance?”

She nodded. “He arrived shortly after you did. “

What the hell was Boomer doing here?

“I gotta get going now. There’s still a lot of stuff that I need to do before the others arrive.”

“The others?”

She nodded. “The rest of our guests of course.”

She didn’t say anything more than that before leaving. As soon as she and Buttercup were gone, I slid out of the robe, allowing it to drop slowly to the floor. Once again, my naked body didn’t bother me in the least. I took my towel and dried off quickly before grimacing at the dress. It felt like my dreaded worse enemy was staring back at me. Though Dana and Clara had talked me into a skirt or two, I’d been drawing the line at dresses. Looking at the foreign interloper, I wanted to scream and run the other way. I avoided it for the moment as I slipped into my underwear before turning back to the evil thing. I still wanted to run but instead I bit my lip, grabbed it and pulled it quickly over my head.

I was surprised at how light and airy the material was. It fell to just above my knees and swished when I turned to look in the mirror. It was a sleeveless thing and actually didn’t look all that bad. I’m not saying I was going to make a habit out of it but I was dreading all of this and it was nothing. I even smiled but only for a second. I turned this way and that, admiring how it flattered my figure and the way it flipped around was really cool. Not that I liked that sort of thing.

As I was admiring myself, I caught a slight scent moving toward me. Maggie always walked softly and smelled a bit like lavender.

Whoever this woman was---it was a woman because I could hear her heels---she smelled like a blend of different flowers, all trying to overpower one another. I turned to the door just in time to see it open to a severe looking woman in a black pantsuit. Her graying blonde hair was piled high on her head and she had these triangular framed glasses that made her look downright scary. Not that the glasses were needed to make this woman scary, she did that all by herself. She looked me over, scrutinizing me with her eyes. Those eyes drilled into me like a hawk sizing up a mouse. I couldn’t help but shudder.

“Tracy Anne Locke?” she asked in a stern tone, I nodded. “My name is Grace DeWitt; I am the Inquisitor for the Coven.”

Shit. This woman was the Inquisitor, the one Maggie warned me not to be alone with.

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss DeWitt,” I said, trying to hide my fear with politeness.

“No it’s not but that’s nice of you to say.”

Damn. I just knew it was going to be one of those mornings.

“You’re judging me but you don’t even know me?”

“That’s my job dear.”

“We’ve just met.”

“You’re a Locke. You are your father’s daughter, the first female Werewolf in nearly two hundred years. You come from a long line of privilege and you are no doubt used to getting things your own way. Am I even close?”

“Not at all actually.”

She waved off my reply. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not here to read you. I am here however to ask you a series of questions, questions I hope you will answer in honesty.”

“I have nothing to hide.”

“We shall see.”

Yep, definitely one of those days.

Miss DeWitt walked to the far side of the room where she grabbed the chair in the corner. She lifted it with one hand and carried it over to me. I thought perhaps she was going to sit down but instead she pointed at it. I figured it out quickly and sat in the chair. As soon as I was seated, she pulled a pad from the inside of her coat.

She cleared her throat. “Tell me in your own words about the events of Saturday, September the third.”

“Ummm, what about it?”

“Just answer the question, Miss Locke.”

“I’m not sure what the question is?”

She looked down at me, slightly agitated. “Allow me to refresh your memory. Saturday, September 3rd, two days before your birthday…”

Oh. The night with the barking. Now I understood. “I was home in bed, trying to sleep. But I couldn’t because the neighborhood dogs were keeping me up barking at the gate.”

“And you left the house?”

I nodded. How did she know this stuff?

“I left my house and went outside. I wanted to scare the dogs off, maybe get some sleep. When I got there, only Boomer---the Thompson’s dog was there. I petted him through the bars then he bit me. It startled me and I accidentally bumped the bars, setting off the silent alarm.”

She nodded. “The dog was covered in blood, am I correct in assuming that?”

I nodded. “How did you know that?”

She didn’t answer the question. Instead, she asked another one. “When did you actually go to the Thompson home?”

I sighed. “That night, after it got dark. I went by it earlier in the day because I didn’t see Mr. Thompson out watering his flowers like he usually does on Saturdays. I went to the front door but no one answered but it was real late.”

“You saw something there though, something that scared you?”

I nodded. “There was a big dog; at least at the time I thought it was a dog.”

She nodded, even slightly smiled believe it or not. “Are you sure it wasn’t a dog?
”
I nodded. “I’m positive.”

“Tell me about Sunday night.”

I sighed but I told her. I told her about Greg not going to the party, how Mary and I figured he might have gone to the Thompson house. Then how we---along with Dana Stiles---drove out there to find him. I quickly summarized the events at the house: finding Greg in the tree, finding the house empty and then phoning the police before going home. She nodded through the whole explanation as if she already knew what I was going to say. When all of the questioning started, I had no idea what was going on but now I had a pretty good clue as to what this was all about. They were looking into the murders, trying to find the culprit responsible. I suppose that made sense. It also made sense that they would want to talk to me as well.

Her next questions were about the second incident I witnessed. Well not actually witnessed but was present during. She asked me more specific things about the second time: the car, the body, the things I smelled and all that. I thought about holding back about the thing I saw but I wanted to get it all out in the open. So I told her about the thing in the woods and then trying to chase it. How I lost it and how my little brother started screaming. When I told her what he claimed to have seen, she raised her eyebrow slightly.

“You believe it to be the same animal you saw that night at the Thompsons?”

I shrugged. “It’s hard not to think that, it was at two of the murder scenes after all.”

“Do you think it might have been a Werewolf?”

I shrugged again. “I suppose it’s possible, there are other Werewolf families in Ravencrest, isn’t there?”

She sighed and shook her head. “No Miss Locke, there are not.”

Shit wait. Did that mean? “What are you saying?”

She stepped away from me, closing her notepad. I looked at the book for a moment, confused. She didn’t even write anything down and now it seemed she was done.

“Is that it?”

She nodded. “It’s all the questions I have for the moment. Thank you for your cooperation Miss Locke, you’ve been most helpful.”
She gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze and when I looked at her face, I saw almost sadness in her look. She held my shoulder a second longer then turned and walked toward the door. What the hell was going on?

“I don’t understand what just happened “I said as I got to my feet.

She turned to me before leaving. “You need to remain here, Miss Locke. Someone will be by in a moment to take you to the Hearing.”

She didn’t say another word before stepping out of the room. I rushed to the door and grabbed the handle, determined to follow her. But the damn door was locked. I cursed and slumped to the floor. I was flabbergasted. I’m not sure what just happened but whatever it was, I felt violated somehow. I felt used too, like I did and said something I shouldn’t have. What did she mean when she said there were no more Wolf families in Ravencrest? No, I knew what she meant but what did that mean. Ok, I’m being a little thick; I knew what it meant I just couldn’t really grasp the concept.

I slowly pulled myself off the floor and dragged my sorry ass over to the bed. I was in a numb state of shock as I dropped down on it. I tried to cry but I couldn’t. Instead, I rolled over onto my back and lay there, staring at the canopy above me. I’m not sure how long I’d been staring but finally there was another knock and the door opened slowly. I raised my head and saw Mr. Wilkes standing there.

“Miss Locke” he said softly. “The Coven is ready to see you now.”

After leaving my room with Mr. Wilkes, I was immediately blindfolded. He took my hand once again and led me through what I could only assume was a meandering maze of halls and corridors. When we finally stopped, my numbness from before was all gone, replaced by utter fear. When he took the blindfold off, all there was was darkness. Ok, so not all darkness. He was holding a torch---I’m not talking about a flashlight either, I’m talking about a fiery stick. It was kind of creepy and not at all like a horror movie.

He held the torch up, illuminating the large wooden door in front of us. He knocked on the door three times. I heard a click from the other side, telling me that the door was unlocked.

“Beyond this door is the Hearing Chambers of the Coven. Enter at your own risk.”

I turned to him, squinting in the dim torchlight. “You’re not coming in?”

He shook his head. “Humans are not permitted to enter the room, only the Unseen and Sacred may enter.”

Sacred? What the hell were the Sacred?

Unfortunately, I didn’t have any time to ask, so I made a mental note to ask Mary about it later. Instead, I turned away from him and took a deep breath, grasping the large metal ring that appeared to be the door handle. I gave the ring a tug and the heavy door slowly creaked open. A hand came out of the darkness and grabbed the door, scaring the hell out of me but keeping the door only open so much.

“You” said a gruff voice. “Enter and be quick about it.”

I took that as an invitation and slipped through the opening. As soon as I did, the door was closed behind me.

It was dark in here too but that darkness was cut into by wall sconces. They were situated around the whole room so I got a good look at things. It was a good sized place, circular with a shallow ceiling. In the back of the room there appeared to be wooden bleachers where people were seated. I tried to scan faces but they were all obscured in darkness. Instead, I turned to the front of the room where a large judge’s bench sat. There were seven people there, six of whom sat at the same level. The seventh sat slightly forward and elevated from the rest. All of them were wearing black robes with hoods but I couldn’t see their faces even though I tried. There was something about their faces actually; they were somehow covered in thick shadow. It was strange because I could see them but not see them, like they were hiding from everyone.

Did that mean the Coven didn’t even know who their own members were?

The One in the Elevated Chair turned to me. When he…ummm…she…it spoke, its voice scared me. “Miss Locke, you may be seated.”

The voice sounded like the Wizard of Oz.

The Elevated person---person sounds good I think---pointed to the bleachers. I looked, squinting in the dark. I slowly made my way, hoping I was going in the right direction. I was fumbling around like an idiot, wishing I was a wolf right now so I could see a lot better. When I thought I was close however, a hand came out of the darkness. It grabbed my wrist. I almost screamed until I felt the length of the nails. They were like talons almost. The hand pulled me down and I found myself sitting next to the person on a wooden bench of some kind.

“Kind of creepy isn’t it?” whispered a familiar voice.

“Mary?”

“Shhh, we’re not supposed to be talking.”

I smiled. I felt a hundred times better knowing that my best friend was here with me. I decided not to let go of her hand though which I think was fine by her.

The Elevated person raised a steel ball in their hand and banged it on their podium. “Bring forth the Accused.”

There was some murmuring from around me then everyone seemed to turn toward another set out doors. When they did, the doors opened and Miss DeWitt came in first. She walked slowly into the room until she was standing next to the elevated podium. Behind her came two black robed individuals dragging someone between them. The person was a man, I could tell that by his build and the way he was dressed---in a scruffy, dirty three piece suit no less. An expensive looking suit too, one that looked a lot like---no it couldn’t be.

His hands were shackled in front of him and his head was covered in a black bag of some sort.

The two men dragged their captive across the room to a wooden chair in the center. They pushed the man down into the chair roughly and then pulled the bag from his head. Everyone around me gasped, hell I gasped. The man in the chair, the man in the three-piece suit was no other than Theodore Tobias Locke the Third, my father. What the hell was going on here? I leaned forward in my seat and Mary squeezed my hand even tighter.

Dad looked like hell. I should have been happy, considering the last time I saw him he treated me like shit but I felt concerned. His hair was unkempt, his face scruffy and unshaved. His eyes were slightly blood shot and he was squinting. He turned to the bleachers and scanned them as if looking for something or someone. He gave up after a moment though, probably not able to pierce the darkness.

“Theodore Tobias Locke, do you know why you have been summoned before this Council?”

My father nodded. “Yes, High Councilor” he said, his voice weak. He cleared his throat, straightening up as he did. “I am here to answer for crimes you believe that I have committed.”

Crimes he committed. Oh god, they thought my Dad killed everyone.

“Mr. Locke” continued the High Councilor person. “Can you tell me your relationship with Mr. Barry Levine?”

“He is or rather was my lawyer.”

“What about Maury Goldsmith?”

“He was a real estate agent in my employ.”

Mr. Goldsmith was connected to Dad too. I remembered something then, something extremely trivial when I heard it but rather important now. The morning before my birthday, Dad came into the room talking to someone named Maury. He didn’t seem too happy about something from the sound of the conversation. It had completely slipped my mind until now.

“What about Dolores and Gerard Thompson?”

“They lived down the street. My sons used to do yard work for them.”

“You were trying to purchase the Thompson’s home were you not?”

Dad nodded, The High Councilor continued. “The deal was being brokered by Mr. Goldsmith was it not?”

“That’s correct.”

“And Mr. Levine was handling the legal arrangements?”

Dad nodded. “Barry handled all my real estate buys.”

There was some murmurs from the people around me. My heart was racing, this didn’t sound very good.

“It has come to the attention of this Coven that you were trying to buy the Thompson property and that they were refusing to sell. It has also come to the attention of this Coven that you tried to buy their property through other less than respectable means so you could develop the area into suburban housing.”

My father didn’t say a thing. He didn’t have to; it was clear on his face. I knew Dad was ruthless but this was awful. What little respect I had for him---that which was left---was all gone now. Over the last month or so, I was truly shown what kind of monster my father truly was and this only sealed the deal. He was trying to steal the Thompsons’ house from them. How low could you get?

“And when they purchasing of their home failed on both fronts, Mr. Locke what did you plan to do?”

Dad said nothing again. The High Councilor nodded to Miss DeWitt. She stepped forward and took out her little notebook. I groaned. I groaned even more as she started to read off, word for word, one conversation after another. Apparently, she was a busy woman, having interviewed several persons of interest, including Greg, Dana and Boomer---I’m curious how that last one went. When it got to me, she started reading off the things I said. She mentioned more than once the gray black wolf spotted at two of the three crime scenes. All I could do was bury my head in my hands. I think I just further incriminated my own father without realizing it.

I couldn’t even look at Dad. Mary squeezed my hand even tighter.

The high Councilor spoke again. “Are the representatives of the four other Were families present and accounted for?”

“Yes High Councilor” said Miss Dewitt.

One by one, people started to stand up around me. I couldn’t see their faces until they walked out into the center of the room, what I saw shocked the hell out of me. I was only half expecting to see that smug bastard from earlier, the Were Cougar Damien. What really startled me was the appearance of three other faces I didn’t expect: Mr. Corday, Mr. McC and Mr. Harper. I looked at my vice principal and groaned. Did that mean that he knew I was Trevor when I was sitting in his office? I felt like such an idiot now. I felt more like an idiot when I looked at Patrick Harper though. God, if he was a Were then that meant---Chris was too.

“Mr. Cross” said Miss DeWitt, surprised. “Why is your father not present?”

That smug jackass Damien stepped forward. “My father is unavailable at this time but I speak for his behalf and the behalf of my family.”

He turned around slightly, scanning the crowds. His eyes flashed slightly and stopped right on me. When he looked at me, he smirked. Mary put her arm cross my chest, keeping me from charging and tearing off his smug little head.

“The Elder Council has heard the charges laid against Mr. Locke?”

The four men nodded their heads. Charges, what charges? What the hell were they talking about?

“Tobias Locke, stand and be judged” said the High Councilor. My father stood up. “It is the decision of this Coven that you be stripped of your title as Head of the Elder Were Council and put under house arrest until the full investigation has ceased.”

My father said nothing. There was quite an uproar though, mainly from behind me. Lots of shouting, I think I might have distinguished some of my uncles in there. I turned and tried to see but of course, I couldn’t. Instead I watched as the two men from before grabbed my father. They turned him around and slowly pushed him toward the door. I stood up, my feet acting on my own. I rushed to the edge of what I thought were the bleachers and shouted “Dad.”

He stopped in his tracks and turned. For a moment, our eyes locked. His face was stone cold but there was something else there. Sorrow? Anger? I couldn’t tell. He turned away from me after that and allowed the men to lead him out of the room. I felt Mary at my side; she put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I gently leaned into her. She turned me around after that and led me toward the door I came through before.

Once again, I was totally numb. I think I just got my father condemned for murder.

I felt sick as I left the Hearing Chambers and into that dark hallway beyond.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF

Picture Credit: Actress Jane Levy

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