The Adventures of Gwendoline: The Blackwood Witch

Chapter Eight: Once Upon A Dark Baptism

"So let me get this straight," Luke began. "Your mother was a full-blooded witch and Lady of the Coven. She was exiled by the coven because she fell in love with a mortal and gave birth to you?" he asked as we walked hand in hand through the woods outside of Greendale. It was dusk, and I knew Uncle Blaise would surely be overheating by the amount his warlock blood would be boiling. There was no doubt in my mind he knew where I was, and that I was with Luke. 

But ever since the moment in the street only a few hours ago, I didn't care about pleasing my coven nor about Uncle Blaise's harshness about my life. I felt something different. The time I was sharing with Luke wasn't like our drunken antics a few nights before; it felt real. I gave Luke a sad smile in clarification of what he had just said. 

I had no idea of what my mother was truly like, nor did I know anything about my father other than the fact he existed. I'd had been lying if I said I wasn't curious, but Uncle Blaise made sure to drill that they were both dead into my brain, among other things. 

"And now, you have to sign your name over to the Devil?" Luke stopped as he asked with a hint of humour in disbelief in his tone. 

"The Dark Lord, yes. Magic is considered to be dark, and very powerful. People were killed if they were thought to be a witch or a warlock. If we sign ourselves over to the Dark Lord, we get rewarded with unbelievable power. They try and sell it off as freedom, but it isn't." I explained. Luke grew sad. 

"But you sacrifice your freedom to be your own person. Don't you have a choice in the matter?" Luke stopped in his tracks as he stared at me with a glint of hope in his eyes that maybe I did have a choice. I wished that I did. I could just revoke all my magic at my Dark Baptism, but I knew my Uncle Blaise would never allow it. My eyes welled with tears. Luke placed his callused fingers underneath my chin, lifting my head up slightly so my eyes met his. Eyes that I could have been lost in, forever. 

"I can't do this, Luke. It's what I'm destined to be." I pulled away from Luke full of the deepest sorrow. I looked to the sky to see a setting sun. It was almost time. I looked Luke dead in his gorgeous eyes. "I need to go now. You need to forget me." Despite everything I felt in the last twenty seconds and everything Luke made me feel, I knew I had to make the right decision. 

If I revoked my magic at my Dark Baptism, the coven would exile me. I would be homeless, and I would have nothing. The coven would erase my memory and I wouldn't even remember the time I shared with Luke. Besides, Luke deserved more than an excommunicated ex-witch with no memory of him. He deserved so much more than that. Going through my Dark Baptism wasn't for me, it was for him. 

"I'm not letting you do that spell on me again, Gwen. I want to remember you." Luke smiled sadly coming to the realisation of the harsh truth of my dooming nature as a half-breed. He was right in a sense. I couldn't do the spell again as it would more than likely not work anymore, given it had already been broken before. "I am not going anywhere, Gwen. In the time I have known you, I've never felt more at ease. I don't care what you are. I don't care what it all means. I want to be with you. I will follow you anywhere and every where." His voice wavered as his tone began to fill with desperation. 

"If I can't make you forget me, I'll just have to make sure you can't find me then." My voice hitched as a tear fell from my eye, slowly making what seemed to be an eternal descent down my left cheek.  I took a step back from Luke. 

"Teleport me now. Now is the time for me. Now, so please - mote it be." I whispered before I could feel my body slowly fading into time and space. I thought of my room at the house. 

"Gwen, wait!" Luke called out, reaching for me. 

"I'm sorry, Luke. This is for you." 

~ 

I sat numbly on the edge of my bed for what felt like eons. All I could think about was the mortal. Even if I could bring myself to be involved with him after the baptism, the coven would curse him to die if they ever found out. After my Baptism, I was going to teleport to somewhere remote. Somewhere he would never find me. Ever. 

I stared at the dress Uncle Blaise had picked out for my Dark Baptism as it hung on the edge of my bed. It was a dark blood red colour with long lace sleeves. I sighed heavily as I looked at the clock nearing midnight. 

Suddenly, there was a knock at my door. "Enter." I said, bluntly knowing that it was more than likely Uncle Blaise ready with a spitfire of yelling and criticism. The door creaked open. Sure enough it was Blaise. His face didn't read as I anticipated. Instead, his eyes looked sympathetic with a sad frown upon his face. The mattress creaked as he took a seat next to me on the bed. 

"Are you ready for the Baptism tonight, Gwendoline?" he asked. 

"Yes." I chocked as I lied through my teeth. I couldn't bare to think about it. 

"I know you're not okay, Gwen." Blaise looked at me in the eyes. "I know you feel something for this mortal. It's foolish, but I know. I can feel your energy. You did the right thing. Your mother would be proud." I looked away at the mention of my mother. 

Would she be proud of me? What was there to be proud of? A half-breed defiant daughter who is also a high-key raging alcoholic that was whipped for none other than a mortal is nothing to be proud about. 

"Put on your dress, I'll see you in the woods in twenty minutes. Please don't be late, Gwendoline." Blaise stood up and walked to the door and closed it shut. 

"Time to get this fucking show on the road, I guess." 

~ 

The dress flowed past my knees. The hemline and several layers of chiffon and tule kicking forwards as I made my way down the staircase to the main foyer. I looked at the grandfather clock, an item that once belonged to my mother. "11:54pm, Fuck! I'm late." I darted out the door and down the driveway, taking a sharp left into the clearing of the woods. An arch made with old vines and branches from a willow tree stood at the beginning. As I walked through, the scene painted itself before my eyes. Before me stood the entire coven, including my Uncle Blaise and the covens High Priest, Father Demitry. I smiled at Uncle Blaise as brightly as I could, showing him I was ready for proceedings. He didn't smile back. I slowed my walk, growing confused as I walked along the forest floor. "Greetings, Miss Blackwell." 

"Hello, Father Demitry. I am ready for the proceedings of my Dark Baptism now." I said as I bowed slowly to the Priest. 

"That is excellent. However, there is first one thing we must get out of the way. Boys, bring out the mortal." Father Demitry exclaimed with misplaced delight. My confusion turned to concern, what did he mean, the 'mortal'? Behind me, a struggle occurred. As I turned around, my eyes widened as I saw two of the Priests guards holding a gagged and rope bound Luke. 

"Father please let him go. He has no place here." I pleaded. 

"You are indeed right, Miss Blackwell. A mortal does have no place here, as he also does not have a place courting a witch." My heart stopped. This is exactly what I was afraid of. How did the coven find out? I left things. I left Luke in Greendale. How did they find him? "Did you, or did you not, engage in relations with a mortal, Miss Blackwell?" Father Demitry walked towards me slowly. I gulped, not giving an answer as I'm sure he already knew. "Did you?!" he yelled as he struck me across the back of the head and I fell to the ground onto the damp soil.

"Please, don't hurt him." My cry came out as a whisper as I looked Luke in the eyes. He was scared. I could feel his fear. 

"I'm afraid it's too late for that my dear. I call on my son, Harrison, to execute this mortal." I looked to my right as a young warlock stepped out from the crowd with a knife. I reverted my gaze back to Luke. 

"Luke, please. No." His eyes were no longer filled with fear, but instead they were filled with warmth and love. He had accepted the fate. "Don't do this, please." 

Blood poured from Luke's now lifeless body. It felt like a nightmare. My relationship with Luke was like a fairytale, and now because of what I am, I'd taken everything from him. Harrison had blood dripping from his hands and walked over to his father, as if he didn't just kill somebody. 

I felt numb. I wanted to throw up. I wanted this all to be over. I didn't know what to do. I sat there, motionless. 

"Okay, Miss Blackwood," I heard Father Demitry say, "Let's get this over and done with, hmm?"