Esperance || Paul Lahote

.xxvii.

"you long to be just honeyed skin and soft curls but beneath it all, your blood boils fiercely.
you were born with heaven and hell already in you."
w o r d c o u n t : 1,352

From the outside, one would simply walk right past their home and not think twice. Broken windows revealed nothing but an empty skeleton of what once appeared to be a grand building.

But the second they passed through the doorway, the scene melted away, revealing an astonishing inside.

Tapestries covered the walls in different colors and designs, leaving small spaces for candle holders that lit the room with a soft amber glow. Thick rugs covered the concrete floor, all mismatched yet playing perfectly into each other. In one corner there were pillows and blankets built into a seating area facing a large T.V. Witches laid about lazily, flicking grey powder into the air and watching it spark different colors.

Taking up almost half of the space was a large oak table laden with mortar and pestles ranging in sizes, bowls made of various materials, and bound and dried plants and herbs riddled a large bookshelf that stretched from one end of the warehouse to the other and stacked with various bottles and tupperware full of powders and potions.

It was almost like a dream, the entire place wrapping them in comfort as, no matter how hot or cold anyone got, it was the perfect temperature.

"Ezra Pierce!" A chubby man stumbled down the stairs, catching himself at the very last moment and bouncing up. Diarmuid O'Connell was a talented witch for only eighty years old. He was already the head of his own coven, making him the youngest head of a coven in their era. Mirrored aviator shades sat high on the bridge of his nose, obscuring his eyes. He had a startling amount of layers, starting with a black leather jacket and down to an outdated graphic T. "It's so great to meet you! I've been having Hui Yin read your research papers to me. I know you've only been writing them to make a bit of money but they're very in depth." He explained eagerly, clasping his hands together. "I seem to have forgotten myself. It's a pleasure to meet you in person, I'm the one you talked to on the phone."

Ezra shook his hand firmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you in person. This is my friend, Rosalie Hale."

Diarmuid smiled nervously, not offering her a hand to shake. "Usually we don't allow vampires in here, even shifters are a bit of a rarity to see around here."

Rosalie didn't respond, watching Diarmuid with a harsh stare. "Rosalie is perfectly fine I assure you. She's been vegetarian her entire life." Ezra assured him, shifting his bag to his other shoulder.

A young woman seated in a bright yellow wheelchair wheeled into the room. Her hair hung to her chin in a silky onyx curtain, gliding with her every move. " Diarmuid, stop interrogating them and offer them a place to put down their things." The woman scolded. "Here, I'll take that bag from you." She offered and Ezra shifted nervously. "C'mon sweetie, don't worry about it. I'm stronger than I look."

Ezra handed her the bag, watching as she took it over to the large table full of materials and unzipped it. "This is the love of my life, Hui Yin." Diarmuid introduced. "I'm assuming you've already noticed, but many of us are disabled. I'm blind and Hui Yin has osteogenesis imperfecta, meaning she has very brittle bones in her legs. All lot of times children with disabilities are cast out because we're not worth much. Our parents won't get much in terms of price. We're practically sold off to the highest bidder by eight but no one wants a disabled kid no matter how capable we are. I can sense everything around me, a young deaf boy is one of the best crafters I've seen Hui Yin take down five men twice her size. Our kind doesn't have a very good outlook when it comes to disabled people."

Hui Yin began to rifle through the bag. "Are these all self-grown?" She asked, glancing back at Ezra. "They're absolutely amazing."

"Thank you so much. I grow them myself." He grinned as she pulled out a bound stalk of ember flower. "This place is absolutely amazing."

Diarmuid laughed. "Thanks, Hui Yin is an amazing help. We founded this place together after she was cast out of her coven and I abandoned mine. You're welcome here any time at all. This is a safe haven. You don't need to commit to the coven to be accepted. You just have to do your part."

Ezra couldn't help the smile tugging at his lips. It was an option. An amazing one. This place was amazing. "We should get down to business."

Diarmuid nodded dutifully. "Of course. We can't talk here." He beckoned them through a thick oak door and into a large office with two reupholstered couches facing one another and a large desk with an archaic computer. There was a single chandelier with large candles dripping wax that disappeared before it could hit the desk. Books were stacked haphazardly on a much too small bookshelf for the number of books. "Knowledge can be especially dangerous, especially in the wrong hands so in here I keep the more dangerous books. Powders and potions that are much worse than a simple acid powder or temporary blinding solution." He sat down, sinking into the couch. "Have a seat, please."

Ezra obliged, sinking into the couch all the time while Rosalie remained standing, her hands clasped tightly behind her back. "So what can you tell me about Aloysius?"

Diarmuid shuddered and threw himself up from the couch and began to pace. "Aloysius Heraut Reinald the sixth, Head of the Northern Elko coven. Great great great great great great grandson of first Council member Aloysius Reinald the first." He recited, seemingly from memory. "He's a spoiled brat who thinks he's entitled to everything due to his ancestry. There's no way in hell that he'd ever get chosen. It's the duty of the members of the last Council to chose who will replace them. Since there are no Council members left, the process is a bit, difficult."

"Why does he think the Council will be reestablished in the first place? And why does he think I'd have anything to do with it?" Ezra demanded, swallowing thickly. "He killed an innocent girl."

Diarmuid clasped his hands together. "I'm so sorry for your loss. But there was a very vague prophecy stating that when Shades started reemerging the vampires would fall from power and the witches would retake it. The question was, would the Shades retake power or would tradition. All it said was the witch was rare and they didn't grow up in covens. So when you appeared, naturally we thought it was you. But there was something the Elders left out, I think to throw them off the trail. But you are important. A Western witch is meant to lead the chosen down the right path."

Ezra swallowed thickly. He'd like to believe that Nik didn't die for nothing. That he could actually do something to make a difference and better the world with her death. But it was so damn hard chasing nothing more than ghosts and whispers and trying to piece together mysteries. He had to find the 'chosen one', figure out where the Shades were and guide the 'chosen one' down the right path when he couldn't even protect his best friend.

"What's the prophecy that I don't fit?" Ezra asked, watching as Diarmuid came to an abrupt stop.

He snatched a mug of coffee off the table, drinking deeply for what felt like an hour before he let it clatter to the table, brown liquid sloshing over the side. "You're not the child of one of the last Council members."