Chapter 7

Ritual

'Ritual: An organized form of magic, in most cases there are more than one practitioner involved as most rituals are so complex and powerful that one practitioner does not have the strength or endurance to perform it. Ritual usually involves more than one form of magic at the same time.'

Katy set at the breakfast table with her orange juice and bagel. She also had the newspaper which she was searching for any mention of the things that had happen the night before. The paper was basically empty. Not even the Police Blotter page where all police reports were listed had any mention of dead bodies. She looked at the tip of her left middle finger. There was a slight scar. So it really did happen.

So all she had to explain was being outside very early in the morning with blood on her nightgown. Simple, yeah that should be easy she thought.

"Katy? Are you okay?" Her Mom asked as she entered the kitchen. She looked at her Mom, who was staring at her.

"I woke up with a different nightgown on then when I went to bed. I don't remember changing it. So I am not sure Mom."

"Eh, I did that about four this morning dear. We, I and your Dad found you outside with blood all over your gown. Someway you had cut your finger."

She came over and set near Katy then she grasp her left wrist turning her hand over showing the scar on the middle finger.

Katy squeezed the finger tip. "It doesn't hurt."

"I washed it with peroxide and then alcohol you did not even flinch." Her Mom told her.

"Why was I outside that early Mom?"

"We don't know dear. We thought we heard a disturbance so I and your Dad went to check on you. You were not in your room. The porch light was off we could see no lights through the windows, so we were checking outside. The light on the porch came back on just as we reached the door. It was still locked; but I was going to look at that porch light.

"When we open the door there you were just about to step onto the porch. We must have scared you cause you fainted."

Katy said nothing just drank some of her juice and nibble on her bagel.

"Do you know how crazy that sounds Mom?"

Her face got very thoughtful for a minute. Then she tilted her head and looked closely at Katy. Then after sipping her coffee she asked.

"Just how crazy does that sound Josh?"

"Pretty crazy I would hate to have a witness telling that story." Her Dad step through the kitchen doorway and got some coffee. Taking a sip he then joined Katy and her Mom at the table.

"However, we are not in court and none of us are on a witness stand."

Katy hand went to her bosom where the pendent hung. Had her mom seen that while changing her nightgown this morning?

"So the questions start with why were you outside that early in the morning? In your nightgown, how did you cut your finger?" Her Dad took another sip of coffee and reached over and tore off a piece of Katy bagel.

She looked from one to the other thinking what should "I" do. It was best she decide to be honest and maybe truthful.

"You will never believe me." She snaps her finger and pointed at the aromatic candle setting in the middle of the breakfast table. There was a whoosh and the candle lit itself. Her Mom coffee cup froze in mid-air with her mouth open. Her Dad hand with the piece of bagel stops at his lips. He recovered first as he bit a piece off.

"Now that interesting; a lot more then hearing my teenage daughter was into drugs or sex."

"Josh! That is not funny" Mom head turn to face Dad.

Her Dad reached forward and snuffed out the candle and pull up on the wick to be sure there were no ember left.

"Katy would you do that again?" he lean closer to watch the candle wick.

"Okay Dad." Once more she snaps her finger and pointed. The candle wick burst into flames.

"How in the world are you doing that? Have you invented a sound activate chemical in your lab?"

Mom was now leaning close to the candle flame.

"Nope, watch." With that Katy snap her finger pointed again and this time the flame on the candle went out.

Her Mom jerked back in her chair. "Okay that is getting very interesting; an instant fire extinguisher." Dad said calmly. He took a huge drank of his coffee.

"How did you do that?"

Katy was still not sure how to explain what had happen to her since her birthday. Magic book, ritual spell that made her grow, evil spirit and Goddess from pagan myths. No she did not know where to start. Then she saw the broom leaning into the space beside the refrigerator.

She began to chant.

'Broom light, broom in flight

Broom fly to me will be alright'

She snaps her finger and reached out with an open hand.

The broom scooted out of the space then flew through the air to her open hand. She turns toward her parents holding the broom.

"Magic"

With that she ate the last of her bagel and finished her orange juice.

Later after her brother and sister were gone she set and listens to her Mom and Dad debate. The topics flew from one to the other.

"What about Psi ability, your family, my family, what about your uncle Ted? Nah, he just strange he doesn't have any unusual abilities." It was almost like watching a tennis match as the ball went from one side of the court to the other.

"Magic" Katy repeated.

"There is no such thing as magic." Dad stated.

"I don't believe that any PSI has ever been proved." That was her Mom.

"Humm, well let see I used a spell to make my body grow up. I can use a spell to make a fire and not just light a candle. Another spell just to put the flames out. I can use a spell to help me find things. I warded the house and think the Goddess for that last night. Some evil entity tried to get into here but got stopped. I met the Goddess last night, or one of them. She was one bad ass broad. So I am sure Magic is the answer." Katy stated in a quiet voice

Both her parents stop talking and turn to look at her. "What?"

"The day after my birthday I began to learn magic. If you know what it is, and how to do it magic can be pretty easy to learn. The religious aspects just seem to come with it. It seems that all together belief has a lot to do with it."

"I know you and Dad are not real big on church going, but I got to say I think that if you had been and really believed I would of never had learn magic that is other then the Churches. Did you know that almost everything about the church is about magic? Mainly ritual magic though, not cantrip and spells."

"Oh my God." Mom said.

"Church magic?" Her Dad asked.

"Yes, church services are loaded with magic. There's baptism, christenings, communion, conversion, and redemption all of those are forms of magic. But mainly like I said ritual magic that involving more than one person.

"The spell I used to kick starts my puberty and to mature my body was a massive ritual and I was almost not strong enough to do it."

"And just like the church there are commandments mainly just one. Do as you will, with harm to none. What you sow will return three fold to the sower." Katy said.

"The point being do harm to none. Whatever you do with magic will be return three fold. That means that Debbie who hates me and is always picking on me is safe. If I cast a spell to get vengeance it would be done three times to me. So I won't turn her into any old frog."

"What this Goddess business, girl?" Dad asked.

"Well that a good question. I mean I seen some of the new agers especially now that I have, experiences, and just posing, using the expression 'Goddess Bless you' but I think they have no idea. You see I think there's more than one Goddess. I did some research on the internet before everybody got up."

"Just in the Celtic Pantheon there are a bunch and those are the ones most people uses. A lot of the old pagan gods and goddess were mixed together. I found my Goddess last night. Most witches' coven is implying worship of the earth goddess, or in the Celtic Danu the mother goddess to all the other Gods."

"Your' Goddess Katy?" Her Mom asked.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm not sure who she is, but I called a great spell out last night and she appeared. I could not find one Goddess that she matched but I did find like 3-5 that together would be her. I also found that many of the old pagan Gods and Goddess were like that. Mine is the Goddess of Magic and she is the Huntress. That makes her Diana the moon and hunter, Hecate Goddess of Magic. I just call her the Huntress."

"You could just be having delusion."

Katy pulled her pendent from under her sweater and let it hang from her neck. "Take this off me Mom."

Her Mom waited a minute then slowly lean forward and took the chain in her hand lifting it up the back of her neck.

"OWH!" she dropped the chain and jerked back from Katy. She began to blow on her hands.

"What the heck? It burnt me."

"Let me try." Her Dad pulled a pencil out of an inside pocket of his suit coat. Then he pushed it under the chain. Gently he pulled the chain up the back of her neck. The pencil broke with a loud snap. He set back staring at the end of the pencil where it had broke. It looked like it had been cut.

"The Goddess took this from around her own neck and put it on me. Then she used her dagger to pierce my middle-finger." She held up her left middle-finger. "She did the same to herself and then put her finger to mine. She mixed her blood with mine. Now that hurt. I think I might have fainted from that cause the next thing I knew I was on the ground"