posted on Oct, 9 2018 @ 10:33 AM
“It shouldn't be gold, anyway.” Veronica mused aloud “Silver is the moon's metal, it would be more in tune with what we need.”
“But didn't you say we had to do exactly as before but..backwards?” Hugo asked between mouthfuls of yellow rice and sausage that tasted faintly of
teriyaki sauce.
“Oh and you are the expert on how to undo spells I suppose, mister wolfman” Veronica quipped as she teased bits of sausage to the side of her
plate with her fork.
“”Now now, Ronnie, there's no need for that” Maggie cooed, then winked reassuringly at Hugo. “Don't you worry son, Ronnie here is the best
witch you could ever meet, she will see you right.”
The rest of the evening passed with another 3 rounds of drinks which Jenny paid for and the four of them left before things became too boisterous,
though just as they were leaving, Veronica stopped dead in her tracks at the door and said, “Samson, I know you are there and I know what you are
planning. Get along home now, and you leave Hugo alone else you'll be a very bad cat, you hear me?” There was a thump as four paws hit the stone
cobbles and a disappointed sounding “miaow” as the black shape leapt from the low roof of the porch and went off in search of whatever it is that
Tom cats go in search of when they aren't allowed to attack werewolves.
The days passed in a blur of activity as the three witches and Hugo pored through books and websites and made then discarded plans. Lunch times a
persistent lucky dip of world cuisine that invariably involved some form of sausage in the recipe.
Finally, on the day of the full moon, the three witches decided everything was ready and, dressed in the latest hand me downs of a baggy jumper and
blue jeans that had to be rolled up several times at the cuffs, (Even the smallest of Margaret's six sons was verging on gigantism). Hugo was waiting
for the bus while Jenny reminded him not to worry about anything and “Oh, don't freak out when we arrive, ok? It's proper magic and we will be
arriving in a traditional way.”
Hugo hadn't a clue what she meant and couldn't ask as the bus turned up and Jenny bundled him on with a kiss on the cheek and called out to the driver
“Top of tinker's hill for this one Tom, he doesn't know the area so give him a nudge when you get there ok?”
Tom the driver nodded and took the fare from her then Hugo sat down with a bump as the bus lurched into motion, leaving Jenny waving until it was out
of sight around the next bend. Only then did her face lose the confident smile and lines of worry start across her forehead as she turned and marched
back to the shop.
Hugo shivered as he sat on what locals called the altar stone, the grey rock rounded by centuries of weathering and covered in moss. The sky was
black, much blacker than he had been used to back home in Hammersmith and as he looked up, he could see the stars with a much greater clarity than he
had ever known before. Some of this he knew was about more than light pollution, even in the daytime he had become aware of his heightened senses, a
by product of his transformation, the older witch, Veronica had said, “The wolf is always within you” she had said “Not quite dormant, but at
the same time, content to wait for it's own turn.”
He shivered again at the cold, at the gnawing fear of what had happened in the last four weeks...Despite his interest in the occult, he didn't believe
in witches, if he was honest, he didn't believe in these three witches much, but he was desperate enough to accept their help. That's when he saw the
shadow..shadows even. Three of them, flitting across the sky just above the dark edge of the tree tops, his eye followed them only by seeing the stars
vanish momentarily as they passed before them. There was a whoosh, then three thuds and a grumble as the witches landed just to the edge of the circle
“Ooh, talk about splitting me difference” grumbled Maggie.
Then Veronica's harsh voice sounded “Shut up, I told you to ride side saddle, why can you never just do the sensible thing?”
“I told you, I keep slipping off and the last time I landed in old Mister Fosset's outhouse. Right on his lap, too. I thought he was gonna have a
heart attack.”
“Hugo?” Jenny's voice called out.
“Yeah,,,umm, I'm here...ummm, did you really just ...just fly?” He replied, his voice shaking.
“Of course we did, how else do you think witches get around when we don't want the world to know our business?” Veronica interrupted as she leaned
her broom against a small gorse bush and strode into the stones. She paused to look closely at Hugo's face and nodded grimly “Hmm, bit of red around
the iris, moon rise can't be far off, lets get ready, shall we?”
Then she proceeded to wrap silver wire around the head stone in deosil and moving between the others wrapping each in the same way until she had
formed a five pointed star before wrapping the tail of the wire back around the head stone and motioning Hugo to step over the wires and stand in the
centre.
“Ladies?” She called. “You ready?” Then without waiting for a reply she placed her own, black candle atop the headstone and nodded with
approval as Margaret and Jenny topped each of the other four stones with coloured candles to represent the four elements of earth, air, fire and
water.
Hugo's mouth dropped open as she raised her arms to the sky and spoke words of power. Immediately each of the five candles flared into life. The
flames coloured to match the wax they were made from but burning with a strange intensity that seemed anything but natural.
“Now Hugo, just stand there, take your clothes off and leave the rest up to us.”
“Wh..what?” he asked “It's freezing.”
“Oh don't be such a silly sod.” Maggie said “You ain't got nothing we ain't seen before and those are the only clothes you got, so if you don't
want to walk back naked after the change, take them off now.”
“Speak for yourself” Jenny said and Margaret huffed.
“I've seen your browser history, my girl so don't be playing smart with me.” Margaret replied with a smirk and all three turned their backs on
Hugo so as to encourage him to undress.
Naked and shivering, Hugo stood in the centre of the pentagram as each of the witches spoke in a language he couldn't begin to understand but somehow
felt deep in his psyche.
Just as Veronica brought her hand down with the last syllable the first sliver of the moon broke out over the tops of the trees and Hugo fell to his
knees with a scream as the bones in his feet snapped and broke and stretched, knitting back together instantly. His hands were next, the crunching of
his fingers and knuckles loud in the still night air. His fingers bled as the nails lengthened, curled in on themselves and curved into wicked, inch
long claws. His screams became a guttural snarl as his jaw broke, his cheek bones crumbled and his face stretched forward into a snout, his eyes
entirely red now and his back arching. The vertebrae rippling up, tearing at his skin before being smothered with waves of coarse, black hair.
Finally Hugo raised his head to the moon, half over the trees now and bared his teeth as he howled. The sound bloodcurdling to the three witches who
stood outside the tangle of silver wire.
“Well, this is a bit worse than Sam's Sausage Khoftas, if you ask me” mumbled Maggie as she fought to keep a hold on the small glass bottle she
was holding.