Chapter 39 Danni
DANNI
I was naked under my cloak.
Naked. On Main Street. In public.
Okay, technically, it was the middle of the night and the witches of Hidden Hollow had gathered for the All Hallows Eve ceremony where being "skyclad"—a polite witchy word for butt-naked—was apparently a requirement.
So at least I wasn’t the only one. Still, the chilly autumn air kept making me shiver in places that hadn’t seen the light of day in years.
When Goody Albright and the others had first arrived, I’d been bundled up in boots, jeans, and a knit hat as well as my adult-sized kid coat.
But then I realized I was the only one wearing anything underneath her coat.
Everyone else—Harmony, Goldie, Willow, Celia, Sarah, and even Goody Albright herself—was completely bare beneath the flowing cloaks and swirling capes they wore.
I’d gaped until Harmony, cheeks pink with cold, leaned over and whispered,
“It’s a tradition—you have to be skyclad for big rites. It shows trust, vulnerability, and openness to the magic.”
“Oh,” I’d said faintly, thinking I didn’t feel magical—I just felt embarrassed.
Luckily, since my little cottage sat right at the end of Main Street, it only took me a minute to sprint home. And, as if it knew what I needed, the cottage had anticipated me again. A thick, forest-green wool cloak was waiting on a hook by the front door, smelling faintly of clove and pine.
I stripped fast, knocking my elbows into a towering stack of boxes in the process.
I’d opened a few earlier in the day to kill time before the ceremony and discovered that—sure enough—they were filled with exactly what I’d asked the Wishing Tree for.
Yarn in rich jewel tones…crystal-clear glass jars for buttons…
a fancy espresso machine…even a shop sign that read THE WITCH'S STITCH in curling black letters were all waiting for me.
My wish had come true…but it had cost me everything.
I was tempted to throw it all away—I probably would have if I hadn’t had hope that I might get Shadow back again.
But if he was lost forever, I was going to move away from Hidden Hollow, I told myself.
I didn’t want to be here without him. I’d go home and live in my car in the Human World.
But hopefully that wouldn’t be necessary.
Now, I stood at the center of the cobbled street, barefoot on the cold stones, wrapped in my new cloak and trying not to shake. Whether I was shivering from the cold or my nerves, I couldn’t tell.
Goody Albright stood before us, regal in her deep purple cloak and silver cat-eye glasses, holding a large white pillar candle in both hands.
“This meeting of the Hidden Hollow Coven will now come to order," she said in her usual calm, ringing tone. "Tonight, we have two orders of business—first, we will strengthen and renew our town’s guardian bubble. Second, we will be opening a door to the Shadow Lands."
There were murmurs of surprise around the circle.
"Why are we doing that?" Sarah asked.
"One of our number has lost someone dear to them," Goody Albright replied. "We will only be calling the door into existence—it will be her responsibility to open it and bring him from the other side."
My voice wavered, but I forced myself to speak.
"It’s me. I…I lost the monster under my bed."
The admission hung in the air like fog.
God, I sound ridiculous. But it’s true—he was mine and now he’s gone.
Harmony squeezed my hand.
"I’m so sorry—you should have said something," she murmured.
I shook my head.
"There’s nothing to say. I just hope I can get him back."
"You will," she promised, and I wanted—desperately—to believe her.
"All right, now that we all know what we’re doing, let’s call the circle," Goody Albright said, lifting the candle.
She closed her eyes and raised her face to the night. The moon, round and silver, hovered just above the rooftops, and the stars overhead sparkled like diamond dust on black velvet.
"Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East—Powers of Air and Invention—hear us!" Goody Albright’s voice was powerful and sure.
Sarah picked up the chant next.
"Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the West—Powers of Water and Intuition—hear us!"
"Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South—Powers of Fire and Feeling—hear us," Celia intoned.
Goldie finished.
"Hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North—Powers of Mother Earth—hear our plea tonight."
As she spoke, the white candle in Goody A’s hands sparked to life, the flame curling up like a serpent, catching fire without even a match.
Goody Albright nodded. "So mote it be—the circle is sealed. Now for the spell for renewing the town’s protective bubble. Repeat after me, please."
She chanted:
By moonlight bright and witches true,
We bind our town with magic new.
No darkness enter, no evil stay,
Let light and love protect our way.
We all repeated the lines, voices mingling in the cool night air. As the final word left our lips, the sky overhead exploded in light.
I gasped and looked up in surprise. What in the world?
What I saw almost made me smile.
Magical fireworks burst through the night sky in arcs of color—shimmering golds…
rich purples…glittering blues—they all formed protective symbols and runes before dissolving into sparkling mist that rained down on our heads with the sweet scent of cinnamon and cloves.
I gasped and ducked instinctively before Harmony leaned over and whispered,
"Don’t worry. It’s just the bubble renewing itself."
The light show went on and on, leaving me breathless. It was better than any Fourth of July display I’d ever seen, but finally, the sky went still. The last sparkles fell silently like enchanted snow and dissolved when they hit the ground.
"The bubble is renewed for another year. At this point, we would normally disperse," Goody Albright said. "But as I mentioned before, we have a second order of business. We must call a door to the Shadow Lands. Please repeat after me."
She began the chant:
Veil of shadow, thin and wide,
Open now and part the tide.
Call the one we seek tonight,
Bring him through by love’s true light.
We echoed her, our voices rising together. As we chanted, something began to stir in me. A tingling sensation deep in my chest—like something old and long-buried was waking up.
Is this my magic? Is it finally answering me?
I didn’t know but the feeling kept getting stronger and stronger until it felt like my whole body was humming with some invisible power. The air in the center of the circle shimmered, but nothing else happened. For a long moment, I thought it wasn’t working—that my love wasn’t strong enough.
That I’d failed.
Then—
A swirling shadow appeared in the very center of the circle. It widened and lengthened, until a massive black door loomed there, framed in mist and light.
I stared, wide-eyed. My heart was beating like a wild thing in my chest. The door—it had worked! That must be the door to the Shadow Lands!
Goody Albright turned to me, her face grave.
"Well, go on, my dear,” she said. “This door is for you. If you can’t open it, no one can."