Satan's Sorority Girls 2, page 3
She was such a bitch.
Once Fiona knew that I didn’t need a drink, she ran off to the kitchen to get a glass of water for Robyn and a bowl of Takis for Mo.
“Oh, yeah!” Mo cheered as he threw a handful of spicy chips into his mouth. “Okay, I’m happy now.”
There was somewhat of an awkward silence as everyone took their seats, and the only noise came from the constant crunching from Mo’s snacking.
The three of us sat on the largest couch, and the sorority sisters made themselves comfortable around us. Julia and Fiona were cozied up on a small couch beside mine, Samantha had taken the armchair, and Willow and Tasha brought two chairs over from the sunroom.
But as soon as Willow took her seat, the black-haired, gothic witch continued to stare down at the carpet and pulled her long sleeves over her balled-up fists. The billowy black skirt she wore stopped at the top of her black studded boots, and she rubbed one toe against the other as she kept her head bowed.
Apart from the small fraction of information I knew about the girls, I still had everything to learn, and I was curious to learn why Willow was so guarded, quiet, and shy. And I wanted to know what happened to her, and how she ended up with a fierce burn that spread across her neck and onto her face.
But I had far more important questions to ask first.
It was quite funny to see the witches all sitting in a line around me, though, because I didn’t often see them all together. And even though they were all completely different, they also looked incredibly similar, and they all fitted together perfectly.
Whether that was Julia with her multicolored hair, Tasha with her yellow raincoat and yellow boots, even though she was dry and inside, or Fiona in her red-and-black outfit, and her green eyes which always looked as though they were sparkling.
“Okay,” I said when none of the girls started the conversation. “Can you tell me what happened this evening? How did we end up at this house when we hadn’t even planned on coming here?”
“You say you hadn’t planned on coming here…” Fiona smirked.
“What does that mean?” I frowned. “I was dizzy, tired, and seconds away from throwing up. We just went outside to get some fresh air, so, no, we hadn’t planned on coming here.”
“And how do you feel now?” Julia asked as she cocked her head to one side.
“I’m… fine,” I told the pastel goth honestly. “I don’t feel tired anymore, and I certainly don’t feel sick.”
“I thought you’d say that,” Julia giggled, and she twisted strands of her blue-and-pink pigtails around two fingers. “But now that you’ve told us, I think it’s only fair that we try to explain what’s going on.”
“I mean, we’ll do our best to explain,” Tasha said as she chewed on the end of her lollipop stick. “This is new to us, too, and it was the first time we ever performed and succeeded with a ritual such as this, so we need you to understand that.”
“Okay…” I nodded my head slowly.
“Alright,” Tasha paused again, maybe to think of the words to use. “Basically, according to what we’ve read in books, when a coven has an entity like you around, you essentially become one of us. Our very beings sort of… charge you. From what we’re aware, the longer you’re away from us, the weaker you’ll become, and vice versa.”
“But… what does that mean?” I frowned. “I’m… what, tethered to you guys? Or to the house?”
“Yes.” Tasha nodded as she combed through her long blonde hair. “Think of it like a phone charger. The phone is running out of battery, it’s weak and lacking energy. But then you connect it to the charger and it instantly comes back to life again. It’s the same with us. We’re the phone chargers in this scenario. We give you the rush of energy you need, and the longer you’re away from us, and maybe even the house, too, the weaker you’ll become. To the point where you’ll practically force yourself to be around us, even when you don’t realize it.”
“Like I said earlier, bro, that’s some paranormal shit,” Mo mumbled.
“It’s satanic, but close enough.” Fiona shrugged
“So all of that happened this evening because I’ve been away from you for too long?” I asked for clarification. “Even though I literally saw you on campus earlier on?”
“Yes, but use the charger analogy,” Tasha replied. “If your phone was running low on power, how much charge was it going to get by plugging it into the charger for less than five minutes? It probably wouldn’t do anything. You saw us in the hallway, sure, but then we walked away again a couple of minutes later. If it was even as long as that.”
“Okay…” I frowned as I took in all of the information. “So does that mean I’ll need to come by the house every couple of days if you guys are all here? And do I need to be in the house, or could I be studying in the library and charging my… body at the same time?”
“You’ll need to be in the house,” Julia said as she coughed back a light laugh. “And, er… I mean, coming to the house might work. But… In order for you to be as strong as possible, you’d kinda need to… live here.”
“What?” Robyn shrieked. “Live here?”
“Huh?” I frowned. “Why?”
“Dude, this is a sweet fucking house,” Mo mumbled as he licked the Taki dusting off his fingers. “I’d move in here tonight if I could. Snacks and babes? Hell yeah.”
“But Grayson has a home in Jefferson Hall,” Robyn said as she drank back the last of her water. “Why does he need to move here?”
“Because we need to think about everyone here,” Samantha grumbled. “We can’t be fucking selfish. It’s not just Grayson who’s involved.”
“Says you,” Robyn scoffed. “If I remember correctly, you were the one who couldn’t wait for Grayson to arrive, so you summoned the energy yourself. Were you thinking about the rest of Hartry when you did that, or were you just thinking about yourself?”
It was the first time Robyn had really stood up to Samantha, and I had to admit, it was hot.
“Alright, Disciple,” Samantha snickered. “Why don’t you run off to your fucking Bible class, or whatever. You can preach some bullshit lie about a dude in sandals while we talk about what’s really import–”
“Enough,” I said forcefully. “Robyn’s right. We’re all in this mess because you didn’t know how to be patient. Now, let’s get back to what we were really talking about. Julia, why do I need to move here, why can’t I stay in Jefferson Hall?”
“Well…” Julia adjusted the horseshoe piercing through her septum. “You could stay at Jefferson Hall, of course, but your energy levels started to drop the second you left this house on Friday, so you kinda need to be here in order to keep yourself at a healthy level. But we also need you, too. You see, we are a part of you since we summoned the energy into this plain in the first place, so there’s a tether between us all now. We also need to take the history of the house into consideration. It isn’t just four walls and a roof– this house holds much more power than you might believe. So with the six of us together, in this house, we’ll all grow much stronger, much quicker.”
“Right…” Robyn whispered, and she sounded just as confused as I was.
But I was still surprised she was sitting beside me, and she hadn’t taken the first opportunity to run, so I was just grateful to still have her hand in mine.
“But don’t worry, Grayson.” Fiona smiled. “Robyn and Mo can come by the house whenever you want. You don’t have to cut off your old life.”
“Yeah, we want what’s best for you,” Julia said with sincerity. “You’re our master, and your happiness is our happiness.”
Samantha sighed ridiculously loud at this, but I noticed Robyn send Julia a soft smile.
“Good,” I snorted. “What about Pippin, my hamster? Because I’m not going anywhere if he can’t go with me.”
Samantha opened her mouth as if to say something, and her green-blue eyes narrowed, but I jumped in before she could speak a single word.
“Whatever you have to say, I don’t want to hear it,” I told her, which made some of the sisters snort. “Because you might think of yourself as the leader of this sorority, but I’m technically in charge here, so I don’t even know why I asked about bringing Pippin with me. It would be my decision, after all.”
Samantha just rolled her eyes, and then she scoffed before she stood up and walked out of the room.
“Who pissed in her cereal?” Mo snickered.
“You’ll get used to her,” Tasha said with a light shrug.
“But back to what you were saying, Grayson, of course, Pippin can stay, too.” Julia nodded. “I love hamsters.”
“Me, too.” Fiona smiled. “In fact, I once had a mouse called Frankie, and I adored that little thing. So I’d be more than happy to look after Pippin if you’re not here to do it.”
“Yeah, hamsters are awesome,” Tasha said as she unwrapped a fresh lollipop, but the other girls looked at her with obvious confusion.
“Have you ever even seen a hamster?” Willow mumbled.
“No.” Tasha smirked. “But Grayson likes them, and if my master likes it, I like it, too.”
She finished this statement by popping her sucker between her thick lips and sending me a wink, and I suddenly found my palms getting clammy.
Then I cleared my throat and looked back at the other girls.
“Thank you,” I replied. “Also, do I need to move in here, like, now? Or can I stay at Jefferson Hall while I get used to everything? Because as long as I’m with you guys often enough, I should be okay, right?”
“I imagine you can stay at Jefferson Hall for now.” Fiona shrugged. “Again, this is very new to us, and we’re still learning, too. However, I expect you’ll probably know yourself when it’s time for you to move here. Either the decision will come naturally to you, or you’ll find yourself getting weaker, and your body will literally bring you here like it did this evening.”
“Okay, that’s fine,” I said, and then I caught the small smile on Robyn’s lips. “I’m comfortable in my dorm room, and making a big move across town wasn’t something I’d planned on doing… ever.”
“We get it, Grayson.” Julia smiled sweetly as she twirled some of her blue hair around her finger. “It was hard for us, too, when we first learned who we were, and we needed some time to process it. So for you, someone who had no connection to a magical and mystical world until now, it would be even harder for you to digest. Which was why we gave you that time over the weekend, and you don’t have to pack your bags and leave Jefferson Hall right now.”
“But that leads me to a question no one’s asked yet,” Mo said as he placed the empty chip bowl on the table beside him. “Can Grayson even live here in the first place? After all, we’re in a sorority house.”
“I suppose no one has to know he’s here…” Fiona shrugged.
“Yeah, we don’t have a sorority mom or anything like that,” Willow added.
“He could keep some of his stuff in the dorm room,” Tasha said with a nod. “And if you show your face often enough, Grayson, no one will know you don’t live there anymore.”
“But what about the RA?” Robyn asked. “Our resident assistant checks the rooms, and the students who live there, a couple of times a week. Sure, we can explain that Grayson isn’t in right now, or whatever, but he can’t do that every time the RA stops by.”
“That’s something to think about,” Julia replied. “I’m sure we can keep the RA away, or stop them from becoming suspicious. Maybe, if you overheard the RA making rounds, you could message Grayson and see if he could make it back to Jefferson Hall before they reach your room? I don’t know, it’s just a suggestion.”
“I have an idea.” Mo raised one hand. “It might not work, but I think it would be pretty cool.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
I had a feeling Mo’s suggestion was going to be something outrageous. A totally Mo thing to suggest.
“What if you guys can create a spell?” His brown eyes widened with excitement. “You could make everyone in Hartry believe that Grayson still lives in Jefferson Hall, and then we literally won’t need to worry about anyone. You could also tell the girls on campus that I’m extremely handsome, the perfect gentleman, and the one to go to when it comes to snack ideas. What do you think?”
“I’m not sure that’s possible,” Tasha laughed. “But it was a good suggestion.”
“Why not?” Mo asked. “Surely one of your spell books has a spell like that.”
“Because it doesn’t work like that,” Julia giggled. “We also can’t just throw eyes of a newt and, fucking, left testicle of a horse into a cauldron and mumble a few words.”
“I’m glad you aren’t running around cutting off horses’ testicles,” I chuckled.
“We’re also slightly hesitant to mess around with spells that could potentially affect the entire town,” Fiona added. “People could have died in that storm if we hadn’t filled the void in time, so the only spells and conjuring that’ll take place will be aimed at us and no one else.”
“Good.” I nodded in appreciation, and she blushed and smiled like I’d just praised her for a very well-written paper.
“I mean, that’s a fair point.” Mo nodded. “And girls can totally see how handsome I am with their two eyes, anyway. But, like, let me know when you do learn that spell, ‘cause I need to witness that shit.”
“I think we’ll be just as shocked if we learn it, too,” Julia giggled. “But who knows what’s going to happen to our gifts when we start getting stronger? Literally anything is possible right now.”
“Could you tell me more about your gifts?” Robyn asked. “If you don’t mind, of course. I’m just curious to know how they work. Was it just a case of waking up one morning and noticing a change?”
I was so proud of Robyn for asking, because it showed courage, but also that she wasn’t completely against the sorority sisters, and she was curious to know more.
But as soon as she asked, Willow subtly reached up and ran her fingers across the scar that was permanently etched across her neck. For a second I thought she was going to go into detail about her own gift, but then she dropped her hand and continued to pull at a loose thread on her sleeve.
“Of course, I don’t mind talking about it.” Julia smiled, but then that smile turned into a smirk. “In fact, I’m happy to share it with you all. But how about we show you instead?”
“Show us?” Robyn asked with a hint of dread in her voice.
“Holy shit, this is what I’ve been waiting for!” Mo cheered. “And I might need to ask for a refill on these Takis, ‘cause I’ll need a snack for this shit.”
“You always need a snack,” I laughed, but then I turned my attention back toward the sorority sisters. “Ignore him. What would you like to show us?”
I had to admit, I was just as excited as Mo was. I knew a little about their gifts, how Julia was telekinetic, Willow could light a candle with the tip of her finger, and Samantha was a clairvoyant, so witnessing that in person was going to be awesome, but I didn’t want to appear too eager, either.
“I think we should give you all a clearer insight into our lives,” Julia replied. “But for that, we’ll need to go down into the basement.”
A rush of anxiety washed over me as memories of the basement played through my mind on a constant loop. I pictured the shadowed figures who danced throughout the underground room, and the way their bony fingers curled around my own as they dragged me away from my friends.
“Grayson?” Julia’s sweet voice brought me back to reality.
“Are you okay, Master?” Fiona asked with pure concern written across her face.
“I’m… fine.” I nodded. “We, uh… We need to go to the basement?”
“Yes,” Julia replied. “We’ll explain everything when we’re down there, but that’s the best place for this to happen.”
“Julia and I will go down first to… get everything set up,” Tasha said, and then she looked over her shoulder at the gothic witch who was still staring at the floor. “Do you want to come with us, Willow? Your gift might make this a bit easier.”
Willow’s left foot tapped anxiously against the black carpet, and the silver studs and buckles on her boots jingled like sleigh bells. Her fingers grazed across her burn once again, and then she stood up from her chair with such force that she almost knocked the furniture onto its back.
“No,” Willow mumbled, still with her head bowed. “There are matches in the kitchen that’ll do the same job.”
“That’s okay.” Tasha smiled at her coven sister. “Remember, you never have to feel forced to do anything. You always have the ability to make the final decision.”
I glanced back and forth between the two witches, and even though it was nice to see Tasha so comforting and supportive, because Willow was clearly struggling with something, it still left me with a lot of questions.
However, even though I was “Master” now, I didn’t feel like that gave me the right to force Willow into telling me her life story.
Willow nodded her head, and then she stormed out of the room and up the stairs.
“Is she okay?” Robyn asked, but her whispered voice was barely audible.
“She’s okay.” Julia smiled. “Anyway. Come on, Tasha.”
Julia and Tasha headed toward the basement, and Mo, Robyn, Fiona, and I stayed in the living room for a couple more minutes. Once Fiona decided we had given the girls enough time to prepare, we also headed for the door hidden behind the staircase.
My anxiety thumped away in my chest as we descended the spiral stairs I’d only just witnessed in my dream, but fortunately, the only shadows I saw were those of Julia and Tasha. Their silhouettes flickered in the light cast by the ten large candles dotted around the room.
The pentacle was still painted in white on the floor, and I imagined that was never going to change, and it was nice no longer having two unconscious bodies on the floor. Fortunately, Tasha and Fiona were now very much safe and well.
But one big difference I quickly noticed was that the closet wasn’t glowing blue like it had on Friday.
