Witch Trials // Closed

"Well, my cousin here is from Corbin Springs. I live in the neighboring town, and he was simply escorting me," Cyrus explained, quick to clear it up as she motioned towards Smith. The story was quite believable since she was rarely out, grounded by her aunts and the coven…for participating in a certain ritual and other events. There were only a few gaps, and would only be noticed if the other two payed attention.

"Exactly. It got dark quickly and we stumbled into this cemetery," Smith added on with a small shrug, as if the whole situation wasn't that big of a deal. He had always been carefree anyway, so it went along perfectly.

Marla frowned, but nodded. Something about the moonlight.. it seemed to have brought her back to like from the shy, quiet being she normally was. The silvery glow was admittedly intoxicating, rich with unasked questions and untold futures. The moon was the beginning too all Seers… Her mother’s words came back to her.

But as much as the moonlight had energized her, it was clearly doing the opposite to the Smithers girl, who appeared to be more and more in pain by the minute. Knowing that she wouldn’t appreciate attention, Marla trained her gaze on the supposed cousins. “Oh. I see.”

(Oof I came late, what's happened?)

(There’s not a lot, basically Nessie’s two characters were trying to summon a familiar in a graveyard at midnight, one of my characters read her own fortune, pulled Death from the deck of Tarot cards, and went to the cemetery, my second character followed, they disrupted a ritual involving Satan, the four characters are talking now. That’s a bad description sorry, you’d probably understand more if you read back)

(Yeah, that about sums it up. There aren't too many posts, but they're a bit long, so you might want to read through each of those.)

Marla frowned, but nodded. Something about the moonlight.. it seemed to have brought her back to like from the shy, quiet being she normally was. The silvery glow was admittedly intoxicating, rich with unasked questions and untold futures. The moon was the beginning too all Seers… Her mother’s words came back to her.

But as much as the moonlight had energized her, it was clearly doing the opposite to the Smithers girl, who appeared to be more and more in pain by the minute. Knowing that she wouldn’t appreciate attention, Marla trained her gaze on the supposed cousins. “Oh. I see.”

Cyrus nodded, brushing a few strands of wavy hair behind her ear as she watched the petite girl. She didn't seem like too much of a threat, though something about her wasn't completely…human. "Are you two out to see the moon tonight? It's the first full moon of November after all," she added, intent on filling up the silence as she studied the two girls. The darker skinned woman seemed as if she was in some sort of pain, and Cyrus' brows drew in thought at that, trying to pin point what the cause was.

Fara finally dared to speak, despite the consequences that she knew would come. “If you stumbled in here by accident, why is there a perfectly placed circle of salt on the ground?” She gestured to the fine white powder, which seemed to shimmer slightly in the moonlight, her voice slightly hoarse with pain. It was not as visible to the regular eye, but she was a witch, protective salt circles were easily recognizable to her. Which meant that the two Satanists were.. not Satanists?

Cyrus' expression became a bit grim at the mention, knowing that the girl in front of her was onto something. Sooner or later, these two women would find out about what was happening. It was nearly inevitable. All Cyrus could do was pray that they wouldn't tell the rest of the town.

"Oh, the salt? We were told by our great aunt that it could protect us in the case of a graveyard. We always thought that it was a superstition, though it couldn't hurt to try," Simon explained, trying to fuel some sort of fake story to the taller woman. Maybe they would pass it off as some sort of church belief or tradition in the Adler family…unless they decided to link it to witchcraft as well. It almost seemed as if the two continued to dig their own grave as they spoke.

(Should we wait for the others?)

(yeah, probably. I have to go out for a bit, but I'll be back later)

(Kk)

Lyra walked out of her house, Aquos trotting beside her. She made her way through the forest, humming, and putting some basic ingredients in her pot. She continued walking north until she found d herself in the graveyard. Still humming, she walked over towards a darkened area under a tree and set her pot down. Aquos lay down around the pot and his fur lightly glowed red. She sat down and waited.

(Sorry I haven't posted in a couple days. Some personal stuff came up. Also, because why not, James is going to be extremely sensitive to magic)

James' eyes were wide as he watched the four in front of him. His skin itched from their acts of… of what exactly? Magic? He had never thought the witches to be real and yet he couldn't deny what he had just seen. But, how could they? How could they act like they were innocent; like they were human? He took a step further into the shadows, terrified. He flinched, violently, when he heard a stick crack beneath his foot.

"Don't make a sound, Pretty," someone hissed into his ear. Their hand flew over his mouth, stifling his yelp as he was pulled backwards and into the cover of the trees. James whipped around, staring at the woman in front of him with wide eyes. Callista stared back, unimpressed. "What are you doing in the cemetery, Pretty? It's an odd place to find yourself."

"There- there are witches. I saw-" James cut himself off. The woman seemed off, somehow. Her presence seemed to intensify the feeling of wrongness deep inside him. He just needed to get out of there. "I didn't see anything," he said, quickly. "Please, don't hurt me. I won't tell anyone; I promise."

Callista rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you." As far as she could tell, wiping a person's memory never hurt them. Those witches were lucky she was doing this for them. "But they might if you don't keep your voice down!"

Lyra peeked through her eyelashes at some moving shadow and lowly growled, there were other witches nearby and she had t seen any of them. She stood up and walked over to the group of witches.

(That's fine @Brokenchipmunk! I hope everything's alright.)

Cyrus gaze flickered towards a part of the woods towards her left, a sudden movement and scuffle catching her attention. Were there more people? With that troubling thought, she promised herself that she would never come outside at this time to look for a familiar again. She continued to watch the leaves, looking for a figure, though she couldn't see anything. What would happen if more people came? Would they hurt Smith? Her cousin's aunts would never forgive her if that happened. She wouldn't forgive herself if that happened.

"I'm afraid that my aunts are waiting for me at home. It's awfully late…I wouldn't want them to worry," Cyrus spoke up, the first words that she had said in a while. Her voice was a bit quieter compared to her usual brashness, and some sort of caution and fear was evident. Would these two women let them go or bring them to the police station…or the church?

"You're right, cous'. They've been waiting for us since twelve o'clock," Smith added on, using the nickname that he had called Cyrus for quite some time, though he had never stopped, even with all of her complaining about it.

Lyra appeared in front of the people "well hello loves." She said softly. Aquos sprouted his wings and lay himself a rosy her shoulders, growling lowly at the others.

(Is this still open? )

Marla flinched back whenanother person appeared, fear beginning to stir in her heart. This was a bad idea— is this some kind of a coven meeting? Have I gotten mixed up in some ritual? A sacrifice? Her thoughts went wild as she took a stumbling step away from the group.

The woman next to her, Fara Smithers, stood stock still, staring at the rapidly unfolding scene. After a beat, she held her hand out in front of her and narrowed her eyes at the newcomer with the beast on her shoulder. “Who are you?” A command was threaded between her words— almost a song.

(Is this still open? )

(yeah, it's still open. We haven't gotten very far so you can jump in when you post your template.)

Cyrus grimaced at the sight of a new person, her eyes immediately drawn to the small animal on the girl's shoulder. A familiar. At least, she thought it was. A heavy frown replaced her initial expression when she realized that this women might as well be another witch in Corbin Springs. What was she doing revealing her identity so brashly? Did she not know what the consequences could be?

"Yeah, who are you exactly?" Cyrus repeated, though her question was less of a demand, carrying more of a curious tone. Perhaps they were another old family from this town, or new too…since she didn't know the threats that came along with being a witch.

Smith shot his cousin a look, a little concerned that she was asking so many questions and drawing attention to herself. All they needed at this point was a distraction, perhaps a memory spell, and they could leave this graveyard, go home, and pretend none of this even happened.

"I'm known as Lyra, i live in the nearby Woods. What are you all doing here? Isnt it Taboo for so many unknown witches to be gathered at a certain place togather? Especially tonight?" She smiled, teeth gleaming from small gaps in her lips.

James' flinched away from the woman, from the witches. His skin crawled; something deep inside him was reacting, badly, to all of them. He froze when he heard the word "witches." He stumbled backwards, his hand flying to his mouth. "I'm going to die," he muttered, almost hysterical.

The woman stilled. "Pretty, do you think I'd let that- RAT!" She hissed, her eyes going wide. Callista watched as her familiar trotted, almost joyfully, towards the foreign witches. He's going to get himself killed! "Rat!" She hissed, torn between pursuing him and staying hidden. "Love, come back!"

This was his chance. James attempted to creep around her. His breathing was ragged; he sounded like a dying man. Callista whipped around, her gaze fierce, and grabbed his wrist. Her hand felt like a hot brand. "Please," he muttered, "please, just let me go."

Lyra head rustling and let out a low whistle. Aquos growled and flew toward the bushes, his fox tail rubbing against the leaves. he sniffed around, growling lowly once again when he caught a whiff of 2 more outsiders.

She turned back to face the others yet again, "Now, where were we?" she asked, fingering her storm crystal necklace she kept around for emergencies.

Name:alex evans.
nickname L.

Age: 17

Sexuality: lesbian
Species human?)
Gender: female pronoun/nonbinary
they/she

Personality:
sweet and kind to others
anxious shy curious witty
despite trying to mask their worries
and act brave for eveyone els.

can seem inroverted around large groups
intelligent not great at school still enjoys it.
protective of friends loyal
will fight to protect if necessary.

Appearance: short dark brown hair,
dark green eyes, pale white skin,
Usual Casual Outfit: dark blue pants, long sleeve button up,
light blue flannel black long jacket. ,black doc martens,
silver hoop earing,
Familiar( )
Background: grew up in Corbin Springs
raised by nuns?(if they have them.)bullied

Other flirts with girls a lot.
(sorry its not very long)

(looks good @jaz!)

Lyra. The name came with a frown, though Cyrus wasn't sure where she had heard it before. The woman didn't provide her with a last name, so she couldn't pinpoint what witch family she had come from. Though, now that this Lyra had just called them witches, it added even more unwanted attention that Cyrus was fervently trying to get rid of.

"I think we're at the part where we part ways. Our aunts are expecting us," she answered after a few moments, her voice closed off as if she wouldn't let anyone argue. Perhaps, if they just left, the other witch would leave them alone…and not say anything. Though, she doubted it would work that smoothly.

Next to Cyrus, her cousin, Smith, was looking around the woods, part of him hearing a voice that seemed to belong to another boy. Were more people coming? What is with everyone coming to the graveyard tonight? He furrowed his brow in concern, tugging his longer sweater over the marks and vitiligo across his hands and wrists, hoping that they could leave soon. This was just getting worse and worse.

Cally watched with a look of dread as Rat approached the witches. He stopped in front of one of them (Cyrus) and looked up at her curiously. He made a loud sound at the back of his throat before glancing back at Callista.

She cursed under her breath. She turned back to the boy. "Keep your head down; don't make eye contact with any of them. I just need to grab Rat, then we can go. I don't know who they are or what they'll do to you if they find out you're human, so just stay by me, alright? I'll have us out of here quick." Then I can erase your mind and we can both be on our merry way.

James nodded, a strong sense of terror clouding his mind. He stumbled after her, yelping a bit when she pulled them out of the shadows. His feeling of wrong only seemed to intensify as she dragged him closer to the group. He felt like he was going to throw up.

Cyrus glanced down towards the mangy, brown cat that approached her feet, the animal quickly distracting her from the others in front of her. She raised a curious brow, debating whether or not she should crouch down or continue to look around the tree line, trying to see where this cat actually came from. Or…was it another familiar? At this point, she couldn't be sure. There seemed to be witches everywhere.

"Cy…what is that? A graveyard cat?" Smith spoke up, glancing down towards the odd animal as well. It could just be a simple, stray cat, though it seemed to be sending the taller boy an odd feeling. What was happening tonight?

"I–" The woman started, though was quickly cut off when she looked up and noticed two new figures emerge from the trees shadows. More people? Witches? Smith followed her gaze, his sharp, hazel eyes quickly studying the other boy across from him, a curious look flashing across his features for a few moments.

(Ack I missed a bunch, I thought I posted something but it apparently got deleted, I’m not quite sure how to re-insert my characters into this)

(maybe fara or marla could try to leave or comment? I think anything would work)

(Thanks Nessie, sorry)

By now, Fara’s fear of both being found out as a witch and getting tangled in a complicated cult ritual had mounted into a tsunami that was repeatedly crashing up against whatever was left of her composure. She took a stumbling step backwards, still clinging to the other woman’s arm, her lip moving to whisper a hoarse prayer to Sol. The moonlight coated her bare skin, summoning welts and red rashes visibly to everyone else, which only added to her panic. I have to— I have to get out. She turned to leave.