Orpheus

1

Grey would have lost himself under the train, but his brother called right before the bliss could hit. The incessant buzzing in his pocket scared away any feelings of introspective solitude.

He let out a huff of annoyance and waited for the thunderous locomotive to pass him. It took about five more minutes, but when the sun zeroed in on his sensitive eyes, he pulled his phone out. His slender finger hit the call back button, and he tried to differentiate between the phone's ringing and the ringing in his ears.

"Hello?" his brother asked. His voice was timid, sweet.

"I'm coming, Gentry." Grey's voice was biting, angry.

Sitting up from his place on the tracks, he cut the call and let out a whispered curse. There was no point in being loud if there was no one to hear it.

Initiation was in an hour, and though the guys in Orpheus were like his brothers, he wasn't really up for being around people at the moment. Grey felt as if he could run forever, never stopping until he jumped off the edge of the Earth and became part of the stars; he was restless.

But he had to be there to help introduce the newcomers, just as the others in the coven had done for him.

His left hand creeped its way to the artificial scar on his right collarbone and shoulder as he thought about Orpheus. Initiation was something strange, surreal. The revelation of actual magic was startling. Grey would never forget the day of his, Gentry's, and Elm's entry into Orpheus.

Slowly, the young man stood, brushing the back of his pants off and ignoring the wave of nausea knocking at his stomach from the adrenalin high. He was almost used to the sickness by now, with how many times he'd come to the train tracks. Elm insisted that Grey only went to the tracks when he "was in a dangerous mood" but if that were true, Grey decided that meant his whole being was dangerous. He'd be down at the tracks every day if he could be.

Which he guessed wasn't a totally inaccurate conclusion. It would be safe to say that Grey's emotions were very volatile, multiple storms swimming behind his eyes. His mind and his heart were violent creatures. They drove his twin, Gentry, crazy, as Gentry could feel the emotions of others.

But Gentry would never get upset about it; he would only calmly beg the older twin to gain control of himself. The two were polar opposites, and it was logical to assume that they would fight. The only thing was that they were so different that they didn't fight.

Gentry was docile, letting things go and mostly sticking to his own thoughts. He may not agree with Grey on many things, but he never fought back, knowing full well that he didn't have to listen to Grey if he didn't want to. Grey was overbearing, assertive, and mean, to put it simply. He didn't care if Gentry didn't listen to him, because the younger twin never defied him or attempted to argue, only ignored Grey silently. The two were both laws unto themselves, but it was because of this that they worked so well together.

Grey stepped slowly over the train tracks, his phone tucked back neatly in his pocket. His deck shoes crunched the gravel under his feet as he headed towards the trees by the tracks, the sound filling the afternoon air. It was still a comfortable warmth outside, even as fall approached ever so slowly.

Grey missed winter; it was his favorite time of the year. It was easier to be cold and get warm than it was to be on the verge of heat stroke and get cool. He liked the sensation of losing feeling in his extremities from cool air, not to the point of pain, but just enough so that any heat felt was enhanced.

His lengthy arms reached out and moved tree branches out of the way as he began the trek to his car. The young man had been gangly in his adolescent years, knobby-kneed and awkward, but he'd grown into his height in his teens. He now stood at a height a little bit over six feet, well proportioned to his long arms.

Soon enough, the black car came into view, and Grey quickened his pace, finally reaching the vehicle and sliding into the driver's seat. He searched in his back pocket for the keys and heard the familiar jingle. After finding them, he put the key in the ignition, and music immediately blasted from the radio. The bass thumped heavily, causing the mirrors on the sides of the car to vibrate slightly. Grey put the car in reverse and peeled off the side of the road into the street.

The evergreens seemed to swirl outside Grey's window as he made an illegal U-turn on the highway in order to head back to Hensington U's campus. It was interesting how much the young man had begun to notice nature once he was initiated into Orpheus. Apparently, it was something with warlocks to be more "in touch" with nature. They were more "connected" as Will stated, and Grey guessed he knew what he was talking about since he was the one with the grimoire. Plus, Grey had seen the evidence through his own experience; he took much more pleasure in just being outside now.

As he drove, Grey wondered about the new initiates. Did they know that they were joining a coven? He wouldn't put it past Roman or Kennedy to invite the new guys to the meeting without telling them what was really going on. Or were these newcomers just curious? Maybe skeptical?

When Grey had joined, he'd been skeptical but curious of what may occur in the infamous Society of Orpheus meetings. Chauncey, the one who had invited him, claimed the society was built around magic, and when Grey and Gentry entered the meeting, they'd both been equally freaked out when everyone removed their shirts to reveal the exact same scar on each of their shoulders. The whole situation had been uncomfortable and was something Grey used to view as dreadful until he became accustomed to the brotherhood that was Orpheus. Now, after being in the coven for a year, he wasn't bothered by the thought of having to see another initiation. Sure, it wasn't something he was looking forward to with elated enthusiasm, but it wasn't something he thought would be uncomfortable.

The initiation was symbolic mostly. Different covens had different ways of entry, but Orpheus was something completely and utterly different, as the people who entered the coven were not born with magic.

Will, the leader of Orpheus, had been an artist who found a grimoire tucked away in the closet of his dorm room. Inside, he found a map with a circle drawn around the lake on the campus. Apparently, it had been a previous coven's nemeton — something a coven chose to symbolize its power, such as trees, lakes, caves, meadows, etc. The previous coven was in peril, so they left their magic in the lake in order to hide from . . . Whatever, but it didn't work, and their magic stayed. Will was able to find and share that magic with people he chose from Hensington's campus.

So the actual initiation had to include the lake, as the magic came from that source. Initiates would walk into the lake, carrying a white peony from one of the bushes near the water, and would wade out until they couldn't touch. They would drop the peony there. Then they swam under water all the way back and walked to Will, who would give them their scar on their right collarbone and shoulder. It didn't involve any actual slicing and dicing; Will could manipulate human perception of appearance and beauty. So the scar was never actually there; it was more like an illusion, but it represented their coven all the same.

Personally, Grey thought initiation was a bit over-done, but he wasn't the one who founded the coven. There could have been parts of the initiation that Grey could have wanted done away with that needed to be there for the transfer of magic. All Grey could remember really was that he felt confused, uncomfortable, and skeptical during the whole ordeal.

If the initiates tonight didn't have an inkling of what they were getting into, then they would be feeling what Grey had felt, but only ten times worse.

And since Grey was the one with the ability to manipulate emotions, he had his work cut out for him tonight.

~~~~~

Song: "Colors Pt. II" by Halsey because it just sounds like Grey

What do you think of Grey?