The Coven [Cadie/Fillie]

»Former Supreme«

1988

"Noni why don't you pull your head out of that book and help your old mother out." The raven haired woman in her early forties with great cheekbones suggests to her sixteen year old daughter, who was occupied with a book on healing herbs. Winona Ryder looks up from the book to see her mother Cherilyn smoothing out more cement on a layer of cinder blocks for their new home.

"Yeah Noni, get off your ass and do something. Just because you're the daughter of our supreme doesn't mean you can't work." Shannen Doherty, a young brunette who had cement all over her forest green skirt and heels snaps at her fellow witch. Winona shuts her book as she stares at her lap for a moment, feeling hurt by Shannen's harsh tone. The others always speak to her like that.

Winona finally stood up and sat her book down on the stool she was previously sitting on to help her mother and her three alumni's. "Shannen, there is no need to be so cruel towards her, you know how sensitive she is." Cher stood up for her daughter as she pour more water in a bucket of powdered cement. Shannen rolled her eyes and went back to putting bricks in place. "Damn it, when are we gonna finish this stupid building?" Kimberly Anne Walker whines as she flips her long, curly and big blonde hair behind her shoulders.

Cherilyn smears the thick goo along the heavy materials of the second story of their home. "Well we'll be done with this part by the end of next week at the rate we're working at, but we still need to put on the roof and shingles. That's where our main office will be." Winona scooped up some cement and spilled it across her mothers work. "Mom I think you added too much water, this seems a little runny." She spoke up.

"Yeah and I think maybe we should have used gloves throughout this entire process." Lisanne Falk concludes as she rubs the the grainy substance between her fingers with a look of disgust. The older lady amongst them was getting tired of all the complaints from the girls. She rolls her eyes as she dumped more concrete mixture into the mixing bucket. "We need more water. Shannen, would you mind?" Noni asks shyly as she saw how low their water supplies was.

The brunette rolls her eyes before looking out in the distance at the pond just beyond the hill. She spun her fingers slowly in the water with concentration as the water started to slowly rise into a funnel. Kimberly had walked past Shannen to gather a handful of cement that kept spilling through her fingers and onto the wood floor boards. This had been happening all day and sometimes the cement piles up and hardens on the floor, making small sturdy mounds on the ground.

Once Shannen had gathered another bucket worth of water, she pointed her finger at it and slowly dragged it across the cold misty field. Lisanne held her light yellow coat closer to her as she could feel the October wind climbing up her sleeves. Cherilyn and Winona were busy carrying bricks from the corner to the wall to lay them in place. Shannen had brought the water much closer to the house and began turning to the right to bring the water over the bucket, which was sitting directly behind the supreme who was struggling to carry a cinder block from the pile.

Once Kimberly had enough cement in her hands, she had walked back to where she was standing before so she could finish the job. On her way back she had tripped on a small concrete mound on the floor that was just beside Shannen. The mixture flew out of the blonde's hands and onto the back of Shannen's green coat, throwing her off her concentration and causing her to gasp and throw her hands up in surprise.

The water the brunette was carrying dropped onto Cherilyn, surprisingly her. She accidentally drops the block onto her foot making her breath stop and her old heart to nearly burst as she was not only drenched in cold water, but her foot had some potential internal bleeding. Winona whipped her head around and noticed her mother's state of shock. Her hand was over her heart as she slowly collapsed to the ground with a groan.

"Mom? Mom!" The sixteen year old shouts in concern as she rushed over to the older woman who was laying on the ground out of breath. Noni sat beside her and held her hand as she began to cry. She didn't understand what was happening to the woman who raised her. "Mom are you okay!? W-what can I do!?" She stutters when she doesn't know what to do.

Unfortunately there was nothing left for the girl to do now because her mother finally relaxed and her heart stopped. Winona just sat there with tears running down her face and her mother's hand in hers. Lisanne, Kimberly and Shannen all stood there at a loss for words as they watch the scene before them.

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The three girls sat on the empty living room floor in silence beside the fireplace. Winona came back into the room with a gloomy expression as she held a book in her hands. "I'm sorry to inform you all that my mother is no longer with us." She spoke rather slowly with fear. So many thoughts and questions were running through everybody's minds. The main question was why and how she died.

"How?" Lisanne piped up. Noni glanced up at everyone and they all noticed the tears in the brim of her eyes. "According to this book I just read, she died of hypothermia and a heart attack. When the water hit her it startled her so she dropped the brick on her foot causing more pain and her heart couldn't take it anymore." Kimberly felt guilt, Shannen felt even more guilt. The two of them curse themselves in their minds.

Winona tries to wipe away a tear that had fallen before looking around the room with a deep shaky breath. "Are we still gonna finish this house? Even the roof and the green house?" Kimberly asks. Shannen thought it was the right thing to do, for she was responsible for Cherilyn's death. "Of course we'll finish and we'll do it the way Cherilyn wanted to do it." Winona felt some sort of anger at the sound of the other brunette's voice, even if what she was saying was actually good.

"Wait, doesn't your mother's death make you supreme since you two are related by blood?" Kimberly began to question with a sense of worry. The other two girls sitting on the floor beside her pray to god that she wouldn't follow in her mother's footsteps and become the leader of the coven. Winona was stunned to hear that question and thought about it for a moment. She really would become the new supreme, but did she want to? She's only sixteen and she doesn't know how to run a coven or even use her magic. Her mother would have wanted her to do this and carry on her legacy and that thought is what really got Noni.

The young girl slowly began to nod as she searched for the other's reactions. They all nod and groan. "Oh god, but you're just a kid. Shouldn't I be the one to take over since I'm the oldest of all of you?" Lisanne said, making Winona fully bring her head up. She put her shoulders back before explaining something clearly to the girls.

"I know I may not have good leadership skills and I'm inexperienced with not only your powers but also mine, but it's something that must be done for I am Winona Ryder, daughter of former supreme Cherilyn Ryder. I'm sorry girls, but it is my destiny and so it shall be."

Kimberly scoffs. "I bet you don't even know what our powers are." She remarks in a snarky tone with a raised brow. Winona did know their powers, she just doesn't know how they work and she's willing to learn. She points to Shannen. "You control water," She then drags her finger over to Kimberly. "You can move rocks," Kimberly rolled her eyes as she not only can break rocks, but create them. As can all the other witches with their powers. Winona pointed at Lisanne and had to quickly remember what she can do with her magic. "You can do mind tricks."

Winona felt proud of herself and that pride motivated her to go on and become the supreme of their coven. "See, I know what you all can do and I'm going to read more about them so I can help you all in the witches world and teach you other cool and useful things you can do with them." The youngest girl smiles. Kimberly put her hands across her forehead and rests her elbows on her knees. "Oh god, I can't believe she's actually going through with this." Shannen felt like her world was crumbling down. She really did not like Noni and didn't want to be apart of their coven if she killed the former supreme, but she really had no other place to go. She would just have to suck it up and do what Noni says, no matter how uneducated the youngest witch is.