It's been a few hours since he left the city. He'd never been to the town his mum grew up in. He doesn't know what to expect. He suspects that it's one of those town that are wary of outsides. The kind where everybody knows everybody.
Susie had offered to come with him this morning but he declined. He wants to do this on his own.
'Welcome to Erie. Enjoy your stay' he reads as he speeds past the old sign.
Not too long later, he drives through a very old gate with some of the most beautiful and intricate patterns.
The town has an air of mystery around it. The roads just after the gate are surrounded by full forests. It takes a few minutes before he reaches the first home. After that, more and more they begin to pop out. And so do the people.
It takes a lot of asking around before he finds 8021 Elmwood.
As we walks to the door after parking just outside the small fence, the door opens to reveal a middle aged woman.
He smiles, walks up to him and hugs him tightly. "Emmanuel" she says softly.
"Aunt Theresa?" He asks after the hug is broken.
She nods. "Please come in" she guides him into the house.
It is very quaint. There's all sorts of trinkets and jewelry everywhere. There is a large shelf to the far left with a lot of books. Some of them are on the table and some on the floor. Most are leather bound or hard cover.
On another wall, there are pictures. A picture of Aunt Theresa and his mother catches his eye. They are young. In their twenties if he has to guess. His mother is wearing a familiar necklace.
He hears the door lock and soon she is standing beside him.
"I have seen this before" He says.
"It's very likely that you have. Your mother loved that necklace" Theresa says smiling "Our mother gave that to her when she turned 16. She wore it everywhere"
"I can't remember much about her" His head drops.
Theresa puts a hand on his shoulder.
"I used to dream about it." He continues "That's where I saw it"
Theresa let out a concerned look "Dreams are mysterious things. But we must never disregard them."
"I have so many questions" He said turning to her.
"Please take a seat." She said as she walks to the arm chair. Emmanuel walks over to the couch and sits.
"All your questions will be answered" She says seriously "But I must first tell you a story"
He looks puzzled "A story?"
"Yes. It is important you know your history"
"Okay then"
"Every town has their stories but the difference is that here, those stories are true. Generations ago, a traveler stumbled into our town. A woman. She sat by the lake where she met four girls. They tried to get her help but she was too badly hurt and nothing she said made sense"
'The darkness has caught up to me. My time has come'
"The girls tried to help her back to town but she was bleeding. 'I am unable to continue so you must continue in my stead'. She bestowed on the four women her burden and they became the incarnation of the sources of life itself as the woman once was. Each of the women represented water, fire, earth and air."
Emmanuel shakes his head.
"To prevent the darkness from ever finding the vessels, she willed it that this power will move from one vessel to another through birth and so it has been since."
Emmanuel chuckled.
"That's some story. But I'm sorry, I'm not buying it"
"It's real, it's your destiny. You should know this. Our family has passed on this power for generations"
"This is crazy. You should have been brought up knowing this. You should have been prepared"
"Let's pretend any of this is real, why now? Why didn't you reach out all this time?"
"Mady she... when she left, she hid you" Theresa says sadly.
"What do you mean she hid me?"
"Not physically. She hid your aura. I didn't even know you were still alive"
"You have to see how crazy, this is" He stands up.
"It sounds crazy but it's true. Four families have passed on these powers for years. We are one of those. When your mother got pregnant with you 17 years ago, it was a day of joy. Everything was according to plan. You were the last of the four. The four women that would possess the power of the sources in 16 years had all been born. Then you were born and you were a boy and it was a day of sorrow"
"Why?"
"Only women can be vessels. The belief was that if a male child is born, he had to be killed so the next child, hopefully a female will be the first child."
Emmanuel sat back down. "What happened?"
"The elders pressured your mother to slip a poison into your meal. A silent painless death that had been done before but she would never agree to that. She took you and she disappeared. Blocking both your auras so we couldn't find either of you"
"What about my father?"
"They never saw each other again. He is one of the elders"
"He's alive?"
"No one has seen the elders since then. We have no way of knowing their fate. They just vanished."
"What happened then?" He asks
"There is a ritual, to make another girl the next vessel. It had been done before. When a woman for some reason never has any daughters or when a vessel is killed before she has any daughters." She pauses "But never when a possible vessel is alive"
"I didn't work."
She shakes her head "The girl that was to be the next vessel was suddenly in the most horrible pain. With you alive, we couldn't do the transfer. When my sister died 7 years ago, I was finally able to sense her. With no heir, we expected the power within her to become lose and with the darkness finally able to sense it, gobble it up and use it to track the rest of the sources. We got ready for the fight that we thought was coming. But nothing happened."
He doesn't say anything when she pauses. He just listens intently.
"All that power was safely locked away, in the next vessel"
"How?"
"At first I thought, you died, even if I still couldn't sense you. I thought Mady had another child but recently I started getting small readings and they have only gotten stronger. I started feeling you again and the power that's inside you."
"Wait, you don't mean-"
"Yes. You are the next vessel"
"You said-"
"I know, but it doesn't matter. It is an amazing thing"
"What does this mean for me?" He asks
"There is a ceremony to complete the circle. You and the other vessels are linked and that's that."
"And then I can leave?"
"And then you can leave" she says smiling reassuringly.
"I gotta-"
"Take a drive? I know, I'll be waiting"

After driving for a while, probably in circles, Emmanuel comes up the cemetery. He parks and walks in. It's really clean and well taken care of for an old cemetery.
It's not at all creepy as you'd expect a cemetery to be in the evening. It is calming and reassuring.
There is a small fence and a small arched gate marked 'Vessels'
There are lots of tombs and lots of flowers on them. As he walks through, he notices that some of the tombs date as far back as the 18th century.
Eventually he notices one that threatens to bring him to his knees.
'Madeleine Crowe 1971 - 2006 The Free Spirit'
'Mum must have been using her maiden name" He thinks.
He hates that he never really got to know her. He kneels by the stone and starts crying which he never does.
After a few minutes, someone tapped his shoulder after which he turns. A beautiful girl about his age is standing there. She's wearing a white dress with green flowery patterns.
"You shouldn't lose control like that. Not all folk in this town like our vessel history"
He is confused. She points at the sky and his gaze follows her hand. A thick storm cloud is gathering above the cemetery but nowhere else.
'Did I do that?' He thinks totally shocked 'It's real'
"Before the circle is complete, our powers are unstable, hard to control. It's first grade witch class" She says.
She suddenly laughs "I'm kidding we don't have those." She's smiling broadly "I'm Harriet"
He stands and brushes his knee "Emmanuel"
She smiles again "I was starting to think you're... unable to speak"
She eyes him down.
"So, the free spirit was your mother?" She asks looking at the grave stone.
"Apparently" He replies turning to look at it "I didn't really know her"
"I think that's cool. My mum is the Protector of the Will." She says and then laughs "I know it's cheesy. They give the vessels these nicknames"
"We don't even get to pick our own nicknames? Bummer. Cause I have a few good ones" He says.
She laughs which makes him laugh.
"Sadly not. I'm partial to the Fire Queen, myself" she replies and they're both chuckling. "We're similar, you and I"
"Yeah?"
"I'm you. Without the complications" she replies
"Complications?"
"Everyone who knows about this have been fussing over you. What this could mean, you being a boy. Why couldn't you jut have boobs? This would be way simpler"
He smiles "I wonder why" he says sarcastically.
"I actually think you'll make it work. You wearing the ceremonial dress"
He laughs "I'm not wearing a dress"
"You are if you don't want to deal with the immense pain of the ritual"
"No one said anything about a dress" He replies visibly upset.
"Relax, it'll be fine. Besides, I think you have the right shape for it"
His face turns red. "Gee thanks"
She laughs "I think we'll be good friends. I should go" She starts walking away "See you later" she says turning one last time before disappearing out the small gate.
It's getting cold. He says a mental goodbye to his mother and makes his way out the cemetery.

When he parks his car outside the small gate, the house door opens to reveal Theresa welcoming him back. Harriet had made him more relaxed. This ceremony had occurred for centuries. He has nothing to worry about, he tries to reassure himself.
"A ceremonial dress? Really?" He asks as he enters the house.
"It has only been women. There'll only be 8 of us there, no one else has
to know"
"Still, it's a dress"
"Don't you worry about that now, go take a shower and come out for dinner"

When he comes out for dinner, Theresa is horrified.
"The day's clothes?"
"Yes" He replies but quickly continues "But I have nothing else to wear to wear. I didn't really plan on staying"
"Oh no, take that off this instant. I'll bring you something"

She comes in carrying a bundle of clothes. He picks them up examining them. It is a satin camisole, a large sweater and very comfortable tights.
"I'm not wearing--" He pauses, takes a breath "You know what, thank you"
"At least it's clean" she says.
He smiles reassuringly "It's fine, thank you"
She smiles and leaves.
When he slips on the camisole, it feels weirdly at home. He enjoys how soft it feels on his body. His body hair has never been this light but he doesn't read too much into it.
There are lumps on his chest that he hadn't noticed before. Hardly noticeable if he's not paying attention.
He notices his waist and hips look different as he slips on the tights but it's really not worth any more attention. He doesn't feel like he needs the sweater but he puts it on anyway, if for no other reason than to cover the camisole.
When he shows up downstairs, Theresa doesn't say anything. She just stares at him.
"What?" He asks self consciously holding his right elbow with his left hand.
"Nothing." She smiles "It just suits you"
He smiles and takes a seat "Not a compliment" he says but it did feel like a compliment.
He feels at home here. Like he's never felt before. he feels complete.
Theresa drops a small box in front of him on the table.
"Open it" she says smiling.
He slowly opens the box to reveal the most beautiful necklace. The one his mother wore in the picture.
"Your grandmother gave that to your mother on her 16th birthday. I was so jealous" she laughs and so does Emmanuel "She'd want me to give it to you on yours"
He removes it from the box. It is a dainty thing. Small and beautiful. A thin chain holds a circle with a symbol that looks like water in the middle.
It is a woman's ornament, clearly. But it is his mother's so he can't wait to have it on his neck.
Theresa senses this, walks up to him, takes it and goes behind him. She puts it in front of him and clasps it firmly around his bony neck.
She walks away to get a mirror, returning it and placing it in front of him.
He looks different but that is overcome by the feeling of closeness to the free spirit.
He looks at Theresa who is smiling widely. He starts crying again which is totally out of character for him. It must be this place.
"Oh honey" Theresa says lovingly hugging him.
After a while, the hug is broken. He looks at her "Does my hair seem a lot longer than when I came earlier?"