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The five of us made our way down to the basement where Jade, Spencer, the other Struzapans (minus Tempest and Priamos), and I often practiced our magic since it was too dangerous for us to regularly attend the coven meetings.
We still had to attend some of them - at least enough to keep Serena and Maya appeased -, but Jade and Spencer especially only attended that many. Priamos and I usually attended more than that. Priamos’ reasons were obvious, but I mostly did the same because my parents were still in the coven and I did my best to keep as close to them as I was able to without outing the Struzapans to them. Jade wasn’t particularly happy with that, but she put up with it.
The basement was dark and dingy - not a place that I liked going to often. Anything that was super dark made me feel ways that I didn’t like. Priamos, Jade, and Spencer (sometimes, he had his moments) were enough when it came to the darkness. I wanted to be the light of Struzapan Manor. Someone had to keep the spirits of everyone in the manor up and if no one else was going to do it, I would.
I knew that the basement was the safest place for everyone to practice their magic, though, so I tried not to complain too much. It kept everything out of the watchful gaze of the other witches and their Synthetics. I would rather die the most horrendous death a witch has ever died than risk the safety of the other Struzapans. It wasn’t even necessarily about my own safety as much as it was about everyone else’s.
In the center of the room stood a bunch of different things to use for divination, including a crystal ball and some tarot cards (there was a set for each witch that was skilled in using them - and those that were learning). My favorite thing was and would always be the runestones, but I knew that we didn’t really have the time to be messing with that (and the runestones didn’t really give insight into the future as much as they answered specific questions anyway), so I just went for the crystal ball. As I was using it, though, I began to slip into my first vision in weeks.
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I was standing in the front row of a massive crowd, watching the stage with bated breath while everyone around me sang along to the songs being sung on stage. My favorite song was being played (“Jailhouse Rock”) and my favorite singer (Elvis Presley) was just a few feet away from me.
The thrill of getting to see him was something I would never forget even though I’ve never been to a concert in my current life and probably never would get the privilege to go to one.
Honestly, getting to watch Elvis throughout his entire career was even more of a rush than just being at his concert. Although, his ultimate demise wasn’t exactly something I cared to remember too often...
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When I came to, I still had that song in my head. Although, I always have a song in my head, so what else is new?
I took a few moments to re-adjust to the “real world”. I didn’t have nearly as many visions as the others did, so it always took me longer to come back that it did for them to come back.
When the world stopped spinning, I looked up at Spencer as he moved closer to the crystal ball that we were all situated around. I didn’t even remember asking a question. Although, according to Jade, I never seemed to be completely out of commission like a lot of the others were when they had their visions. I would blackout and not remember anything I did in the “real world”, but I would still be able to behave somewhat normally. Apparently, the only thing I really did on the outside while I had my visions was staring at the ground for a really, really long time.
Jade glanced over at me, “Are you alright, Nadia?”
I had a feeling that she already knew that I had a vision, so I just nodded and looked back at Spencer, trying to figure out what it was he was trying to do. It was obvious that he wasn’t as skilled in divination as I was, but I just let him try anyway.
“What does this all mean?” Spencer asked uneasily as he studied what the crystal ball was showing.
I looked closer at the ball, then.
Blood, death, and gore as far as the eye could see.
... And a High Priestess Serena standing on top of it all.
I knew Jade told Spencer that something was coming to Wolf’s Hollow, but nothing was coming. It was already here.