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An interlocking web of hemlock, cedar, and spruce encircled the clearing and suffocated the little sunlight that had managed to slip past the clouds. Jessica took in the subtle sweetness of decaying leaves and wet earth, and listened to the distant trills of bird song.
This was the perfect spot to summon their familiars.
It was distant enough from Forks that they didn’t have to worry about getting caught, and the ground was still soft enough to etch into. They wouldn’t need to weave sticks and dry grass into runic shapes.
She just hated that Bella had to be the one to find it.
Angela cleaned the fog from her glasses, and whistled in appreciation, “This is incredible! How’d you find a spot like this?”
“Late night hikes,” Bella shrugged as she pocketed her earphones. It was irritating how the trek through the woods barely winded her, whereas Jessica— captain of the volley-ball team— was sweat-slicked and heaving. “For that project I was doing on how astrology improves the accuracy of divination in comparison to other mediums like cards, gems, and teas.”
“I still can’t believe you went traitor and turned your back on cards,” she hoped her laugh sounded casual as she watched, on the outskirts, as Bella and Angela shared a conspiratorial grin.
“What can I say? Ang convinced me to join the dark side.”
Jessica let her backpack slide off her shoulders and hit the ground with a wet slap. After wrestling with the zipper, she pulled out three bundles of dried sage— it had taken her a while to fish out three smooth stones from the ocean so that she could tie them to the bundles with russet string— and a worn, rusted bell. The metal flaked into the grooves of her fingers. Despite knowing that it was not for her ears, Jessica gave it a ring. The clapper knocked without sound.
There wasn’t a sigh deep enough to ease the nausea and fear.
“Jess?”
She hadn't realized she had closed her eyes, until she was blinking away the spore-like dots from her peripheral. The bell rolled from her grip. It never got to hit the ground as Angela stepped forward to catch it.
“Let’s get going before the frost sets in,” Jessica refused to acknowledge the furrow in Angela’s brow as she brushed past her, “Grab a stick and start drawing.”
There was something oddly vindicating about the crack of wood splintering as she broke a branch off one of the trees. The leaves jerked with the motion, spitting water at her.
Working in a clock-wise rotation, Jessica stabbed the runes into the ground. It didn’t matter how quietly the others whispered, she could pick out insecure in an anechoic chamber. Shame curdled in her chest when the others joined her. When the circle was complete, Jessica heaved back her stick before throwing it as far into the bushes as she could.
“Alright, Angela take center point!” Jessica clapped the dirt from her hands. She refused to look down at her friend's textbook perfect work.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go first?” Angela asked.
“I don’t want the hours we spent on MSN discussing summoning order to be for nothing,” Bella said, though the words were uttered softly. Like she was trying not to further startle a spooked doe. “We open with you.”
Angela twisted the bell in her hands, as she stood in the center of the circle. Bella stood at her back with the bundle of sage in one hand, and the stone in the other. Jessica observed them both from the northern point, heart hammering against her chest. She didn’t know what she would do if this didn’t work.
The aroma of the sage was pungent, and burned with supernatural speed. Goosebumps rippled up and down Jessica’s arms as the magic, so similar to static electricity with the way it zipped around, fanned the smoke into a spiraling fog that blurred the edges of the clearing until they were all submerged in a void. Angela rang the bell in three equal beats. She cleared her throat before speaking out. Despite her initial warble, the words were perfectly recited.
“I call upon the moon; the northern and southern winds. Bring me my aid, and bind us in blood, spirit, and magic!”
Bella siphoned Angela’s power into herself, and Jessica braced waiting for the impact to then hit her. It was hard to take on another’s magic, especially during rituals of this caliber. That’s why familiars were so important. They were made to hone in and magnify. A witch wouldn’t get anywhere without them to help carry the burden, but they wouldn’t come for just anyone.
You had to be special.
Jessica gritted her teeth as Angela’s magic began to pour into her. It was heavy, and surged with enough energy to lock her limbs into place. But the growing elation on Angela’s face made the effort worth it.
The familiar swooped in with the suddenness of a lightning bolt. It was a rolling mass of shadow and void that grew feathers of brown and cream the closer they got to Angela, before solidifying all at once into an owl. They perched themselves on one of her shoulder’s, beak nestling into the curve of her ear.
Angela caressed her familiar with reverence and said, “This is Ben. He says he’ll be my guide. He’s happy to meet me.”
“Nice, cool to have you on board Ben,” Bella’s voice was strained. Maybe it was wrong, but Jessica was relieved to see the pallid exhaustion on her face.
“You both suit one another,” Jessica said. There would be time for hugging afterwards, but that didn’t stop her from squeezing Angela’s hand as they rotated their roles.
The grooves of Angela’s shoe prints were inlaid in the mud and Jessica stepped onto them, barely filling the space. She wondered if Angela could feel her trembling where they were pressed back to back.
The bell was warm in her hand. It was her last saving grace.
“Ready whenever,” Bella called out.
Jessica rang the bell, counting the seconds between each ring, and tried to grab onto her magic. It was weak, and writhing. Every time she thought she had a hold of it, it slipped through her fingers. There was nothing to project as she pleaded:
“I call upon the sun; the northern and southern seas. Bring me my aid, and bind us in blood, spirit, and magic!”
There were swollen black pockets in the fog that threatened to burst before submerging back into place. Slivers of forest were beginning to peek through the spell. Jessica’s heart pounded uselessly as time stretched onward. Bella was staring at her as a tear escaped down her nose towards the warbling pucker of her lips.
“Stop being so depressing. I needed time to get here,” a slight, squeaky voice grouched.
Jessica nearly snapped her neck looking down. The familiar was sitting on one of her shoes, small enough that Jessica could hide them in her jacket pocket. Her knees buckled as she leaned down to hold her familiar. Tiny claws pinched into her skin as bones formed into muscle, formed into fur, and all at once she had a chipmunk in her grasp.
“I suppose you'll do,” her familiar carefully nipped at her fingers. “I’m Lauren. I’m basically your boss, so listen well.”
“They are so cute, Jess,” Bella said, and Angela whipped around to hold onto her arms. She rocked Jessica as she jumped, “Introduce us! I need to know who this lovely being is!”
“This is Lauren,” Jessica brushed a thumb against the chipmunk’s cheeks, “And she’s mine.”
“I’m not a thing to own,” Lauren scoffed. Then she jumped out of her hand, and scurried up her arm until she could hide herself in Jessica’s hair.
“Your turn Bella,” She tossed the bell over, laughing as the other girl flailed in her attempts to catch it, “Try not to kill us.”
“Yeah, I’d like to actually hand in my potions assignment tomorrow,” Angela laughed and went to grab the last bundle of sage for Jessica.
“Thanks guys. Love the optimism,” she could practically hear Bella rolling her eyes as they stood back to back.
Jessica gripped the sage in one hand, and the stone in the other. At the first lash of Bella’s magic, she pulled the stone until the string unraveled and sparked. It was hard to stay on her feet as Bella’s magic swelled around her. It was hard to breathe.
Thunder rolled in, deafeningly loud.
Bella kept her tone casual as she recited her verse.
“I call upon the stars; the northern and southern skies. Bring me my aid, and bind us in blood, spirit, and magic.”
What remained of the sage flew from Jessica’s grip, and turned to ash in the air as Bella’s magic exploded with the final word. The ground beneath her feet broke, and then she was sent flying through the air. Jessica reached for Lauren and cradled her before she slammed, back first, into the trees, followed by her head. Hard bark scratched through the fabric of her shirt as Jessica scraped against it. The back of her neck throbbed.
“You should have protected your skull,” Lauren whipped her tail against Jessica’s face, “I am made of magic. This could not have hurt me!”
Jessica groaned as she sat up. She reached a hand to the forming goose-egg, and her fingers were tacky with blood. Her stomach flipped as she tried to get her bearings.
“Is everyone good?”
“Holy shit,” Angela gasped. She was trying to claw her way out of a thicket of bushes. “Bella, don’t move!”
“Hey, you guys need to calm down!” Bella said. She was standing in the middle of a small crater with her hands raised like a referee as if that would be enough to stop the two stalking predators from attacking one another.
A mountain lion and a wolf.
Of course. Bella was just that extraordinary.
Lauren hissed into Jessica’s ear, “...I haven’t seen that before.”
“Congratulations Bella,” Jessica choked out, words seeped in bile as she slumped back against the tree, “It’s twins.”