[center][h1][b][u]A Spirited Encounter[/u][/b][/h1] [i]Hazel, Wren, & Noah[/i][/center] [indent]Hazel floated towards a voice coming from upstairs. It seemed like this girl could somehow sense her presence- unless there was another dead person here. The way her day was going, she wouldn’t be surprised. A pale skinned brunette, calling for someone she didn’t know. But Hazel felt she could hear her, see her. And that was the first step to figuring out what was going on. “No, I’m not Juniper. I’m Hazel. Can… can you hear me?” As far as Noah had been aware, there hadn’t been anyone named Hazel in the little introductory orientation. Her eyes darted across the foyer, to the other one in this Coven who shared the talent for communicating with the spirits and those who have gone to the next plane. An eyebrow went up, a silent way of asking if she, too, was hearing this or if Noah was simply being exposed to ethereal sounds thanks to her trip to the basement. For her own sake, she hoped it was a shared auditory moment; with her intention to live in the basement of the manor, Noah couldn’t exactly deal with wayward sorts regularly vying for attention. [color=2B5BAB]“No one mentioned any Hazel in the advertisement.”[/color] Noah said, shaking her head with a sideways smirk on her lips. She was aware that the other members of the Coven were likely aware of what a Hedge Witch was…but it still might look a little awkward if they saw her talking to the open air. But at least, hopefully, she wasn’t the only one doing it. Solidarity in spiritual phone calls. [color=2B5BAB] “You can clearly hear one of us,”[/color] Again Noah looked towards Wren, tilting her head to acknowledge the original speaker. [color=2B5BAB] “But what about both of us? What…are you, Hazel?”[/color] Wren remained planted firmly at the top landing of the stairs. Juniper, so it seemed, hadn’t heard her call out; nor was she the cause of the stir that Wren had felt. [i]”Can you hear her dear? Her name is Hazel, evidently.”[/i] [color=bc8dbf][i]“No. I can’t hear her. Mayb--”[/i][/color] [i]“You call yourself a Hedge Witch!? Listen!”[/i] [color=bc8dbf]“Maybe if you’d all shut up for a second, I [b]could[/b] hear the other dead people!”[/color] Wren shouted, craning her neck up to the ceiling as though calling to the sky beyond the roof. [color=bc8dbf]“Sorry,”[/color] she said, looking down towards Noah, and presumably Hazel, with a blushing smile. [color=bc8dbf]“Got the whole damn family on the line.”[/color] She took a hesitant step down the stairs. [color=bc8dbf]“Hazel,”[/color] she started, then fell silent, listening to make sure the choir of ancestors didn’t start up again. [color=bc8dbf]“You can hear us?”[/color] Wren took a second step down; as if getting closer would help her ear across the planes of life and death more clearly. [color=bc8dbf]“Both of us?”[/color] “Yes, I can. The strange thing is that you two can hear me, though.” She stopped, thinking for a second. “This place, you two- there’s something clearly unnatural going on here. I mean, I’m pretty sure I’m a ghost, and you’re talking to me. That’s not exactly normal physics- not that I was ever any good at that particular subject.” She shrugged, waiting for some kind of explanation. Noah was desperately wishing there had been some kind of compendium on dealing with ghosts that she could refer back to. Every ghost seemed different, some didn’t even realize they were ghosts at all, and here this one named Hazel was different still. In Noah’s experience, when she communed with the spirits it was because she was actively seeking out those who wanted to be sought whether they were conscious of it or not. Had there been a ghost that was drawn to a place like a Coven? To those that could understand? It was a mystery, to be sure, and one of those mysteries that meant Noah couldn’t even shoot a knowing smirk towards Wren about having ‘the whole damn family on the line’. Clever. [color=2B5BAB] “Well, at least you’re aware that you’re a ghost. That first step can be tricky for some. Acceptance and all.”[/color] Noah raised a hand to rub at her forehead. [color=2B5BAB]“Well, this is new territory for me, and I’ve been dealing with spirits damn near my whole life.”[/color] There wasn’t frustration in her tone, but Noah’s mind was racing, trying to think of anything that could aid them in this…complicated matter. [color=2B5BAB] “Were you…drawn here? I mean, I can’t imagine you got a summons like the rest of us but…I dunno, why are you here Hazel?”[/color] Noah looked towards Wren and shook her head. This was new territory even for her. Wren quietly descended the stairs and set foot back in the foyer. With the silence of her family, she could properly hear Hazel, and feel her presence; amazing what could happen when her seniors just let her cook. [color=bc8dbf]“We can both hear you because we’re witches,”[/color] Wren explained, detailing Noah’s statements. She drifted across the room until she formed a triangle between herself, Hazel, and her fellow Hedge Witch. [color=bc8dbf]“Specifically witches that have a unique bond with the spiritual plane.”[/color] She paused, and considered a pertinent question: [color=bc8dbf]“Were [b]you[/b] a witch when you were… well [sub]No real sensitive way to phrase it[/sub]… alive?”[/color] Hazel stopped and thought for a second. If they were drawn here, and they were witches… and she was drawn here… then… A famous movie quote ran through her head, slightly altered. ‘You’re a witch, Haz- oh, God.” Noah and Wren would feel the air grow a touch colder as she groaned. Apparently, somebody up there had a sick sense of humor. “I wasn’t but- I have to consider the possibility now. Is there someone who runs this place? Could you take me to them?” Wren’s head turned towards Noah, and then back in the direction Hazel’s ‘voice’ had been speaking from. [color=bc8dbf]“There is someone. Juniper Hawthorne. It [i]is[/i] her home. She’s the one that called us.”[/color] Wren gestured between herself and Noah. [color=bc8dbf]“We could call for her… but I’m not sure if she'll be able to communicate with you the way we can.”[/color] [color=2B5BAB] “Not to mention if we tell Juniper, we kinda tell the whole Coven.”[/color] Noah sighed out, scratching the side of her neck. This wasn’t at all on her list of potential happenings at the Coven, let alone happening so…immediately. [color=2B5BAB] “But I feel like the others ought to know about this, right? What do you think, Wren? You wanna get her or should I?”[/color] [color=bc8dbf]“Uh, yeah. I’ll go.”[/color] Wren crossed through the foyer in search of Juniper. [color=bc8dbf]“Just stay here,”[/color] she said roughly in the direction of Hazel. [color=bc8dbf]“It shouldn’t be too long.”[/color] Wren’s steps took her from the foyer and through the corridor leading towards the kitchen. As she proceeded further, a sense of weight and confinement filled the air around her. The hall wasn’t narrow, per se, but the otherwise open spaces were filled with a palpable energy. The Magic ran deep and hung thick within the Hawthorne home; the essence of generations of Witches echoed across space and time. Wren was surprised there weren’t more conscious spirits roaming the corridors of the house. [color=bc8dbf][i]Maybe even ghosts fade into energy over time,[/i][/color] she wondered to herself. Her thoughts trailed from there, and her mind immersed into energy. A sudden feeling that fate had brought her to where she needed to be began to creep into her heart. She came back to the physical when she caught the trailing end of a line of her coven colleagues following Juniper into the conservatory. She hastened her pace, and entered behind the others. [color=bc8dbf]“Uh… Juniper… we might have a situation.”[/color][/indent]