Chapter Text
The sound of twigs and early Autumn leaves crunching underneath your boots was beginning to irritate you. You’d listened to it for half an hour now, cursing as you tripped over larger sticks and stones in your way. It didn’t help that the bright moonlight and slight breeze kept throwing the shadows of the trees in all sorts of different directions on the ground, eerily making the dirt path feel as though it were alive beneath you, and throwing off your balance if you looked down too long.
You had been walking for some time now, following the constellation in the sky your friend had told you to look for. It resembled a lion, or was it more like a wolf? You couldn’t quite place it. You looked up at the clear sky and searched for it again to confirm you were still heading in the right direction.
Sure enough, the two brightest stars in the constellation that served as the lion/wolf/beast’s eyes shone in the clear sky, pointing you west. This constellation was only visible one night a year, your friend had told you. It so happened to be tonight, on this the night of the Primal Moon. You kept on, and remembered what your friend had said to you.
It’s a ceremony, the dance of the Primal Moon! We celebrate the coming harvest, that it will be fertile and bring abundance to our lives. We celebrate the primal side of ourselves. The deep, ancient, animalistic energy and magic within us. You’ve GOT to come! Your friend had caught your wary look and interrupted you before you could say anything. You don’t need to be part of a coven to join this ceremony…All witches are welcome.
All witches welcome. Well that was nice to hear at least. You missed out on so many witchy evenings and events solely because you weren’t a part of a coven yet, and it really bummed you out sometimes. You could have belonged to the one your friend was a part of, but the vibes just weren’t there to be honest.
Soon enough you reached a point on your walk where you could hear a rhythmic low thumping ( drums?) , and smell the air that was thick with a spicy-sweet perfume. You walked another quarter of a mile, and it led you to an opening at the end of the wooded path. The opening led into a large field lined with small bonfires around the edges, and an absolutely massive bonfire in the middle, that had witches gathered around it.
There were witches everywhere , talking and laughing loudly, some eating food, some playing instruments. That explained the drums. A loud whoop had you scanning the crowd to see your friend in the middle of a large group, waving frantically. A grin slid onto your face as you watched her elbow her way out of the group and jog over to you.
“You made it!” She breathed excitedly, her eyes dancing. “I didn’t think you were gonna show!” She said, jabbing you playfully in the side with her finger.
You jumped at the contact, immediately clutching your side, and rolled your eyes. “I told you I’d come. Besides, it’s one of the only witch parties I can come to, not belonging to a coven and all.
“Yeah, about that” your friend glared at you. “When are you going to get over your weird vibes , and just join my coven already?” She questioned, her fingers air quoting around weird vibes.
“Well, when the vibes stop feeling so weird I guess” You offered innocently with a smile.
“Hm. Whatever. The point is, you’re here! And you’re gonna have an amazing time, TRUST me” She said, waggling her eyebrows and grinning. “I have some lame coven stuff to get through before the main dance with everyone, so go on, mingle, eat some good food, drink some wine, have fun!” She threw her arms around you in a quick hug before jogging back to her coven, where they were painting symbols and markings on each other’s faces and arms.
You suddenly felt a bit lost and overwhelmed at being alone amongst such a large gathering of people you don’t know. The only person you did know was off doing her own thing with her own friends and you didn’t want to lamely tag along. Besides, you’d feel rude butting in on a coven’s rituals when you didn’t belong to them. You sighed. Hopefully one day you’d find your place.
You quickly shook off your anxiety and began to delve further into the clearing, passing through clusters of witches, making your way to the food and drinks. You’d feel more at ease with a cup of wine in your hand, that's for sure.
As you made your way to the refreshments, you passed one of the smaller, outer edged bonfires, and sitting next to it was a witch that wore a cat mask. It covered the top half of her face, and had pointed ears. Her eyes were made up heavily in smoky blacks, and sparkly greens. She smiled at you deviously as she fed the fire a rolled bundle of leafy things.
The smoke it produced floated up, thick and yellowish-white. With the same heavy perfume you had smelled wafting in the woods. The smell was so much stronger here. You noticed several more bundles at her feet, waiting to be fed once the smoke from this current one had died away. Your eyes swept the edge and you saw each small bonfire was being attended to by a witch with a mask, feeding the fires the curious bundles.
You didn’t know what was fueling the fires, but you guessed it wasn’t your average kindling. Still, you were no stranger to the perks of inhaling smoke from leafy plants, so you closed your eyes and took a long deep breath through your nose and waited for the relaxing haze to fill your brain.
Instead of the warm fuzziness you were familiar with, your body began to tingle a bit. You could feel it in your toes. A slight buzzing. You shivered as goosebumps broke out in a wave across your arms, the tiny hairs standing on end. You suddenly felt very aware of your body.
“Nice, isn’t it?” A voice mused from somewhere beside you. You opened your eyes, and to your left stood a witch with dark, wild hair, and an alluring smile that made your mouth go dry. This wasn’t just any witch. It was the witch. It was a powerful, infamous witch, from the OG Salem days. It was the gorgeous, scarily intimidating witch you spent your days researching and revering. It was Agatha Harkness standing there, eyebrow raised, waiting for your reply.
“Oh, I uh-” you sputtered. “Yeah, nice. Yes, it’s…very nice. A bit intense, but…nice” you finished lamely. Gods, how many more times could you have said nice, you idiot.
You took in Agatha’s appearance. Her blue eyes had a manic note about them. Her wavy hair was absolutely untamed. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. She wore an old, simple black dress, the cut low on her chest, the sleeves a tad billowed, and the bottom of the dress fluttered in the gentle breeze, ending a few inches above her ankles. Ankles that led to bare feet, slightly muddied from the field. Your eyes traveled back upward, a necklace whose pendant bore the symbol of Hecate, the three faced goddess, the maiden, mother, and crone, nestled just above her delicate cleavage.
“Intense indeed, I wouldn’t linger too close for too long actually” she pursed her lips and gave you a once over. “You seem new. Young. Too much of that smoke could really do a number on a sweet thing like you”
“I can handle a lot” you replied, a tone of defiance in your words. Agatha’s eyebrows rose, face amused.
“Is that so?” she taunted, eyes raking over you once more. You thought you could actually feel their path leaving warm tingles across your body. You buckled slightly under her gaze.
“Um, but, so like, what exactly is it though? The stuff they’re burning?” You questioned, ignoring her challenge.
Agatha smiled playfully and shrugged. “Secret recipe I'm afraid, doll face” she said with a scrunch of her nose. “Enough about that though, can I get you something to drink?” Not giving you a chance to say yes or no, she grabbed your hand as she swayed away with the flair of a hostess, pulling you toward a large flat boulder that was serving as a table, with several crystal bowls of dark looking wine sitting upon it.
Agatha grabbed a clear plastic cup and a ladle that was sitting on the edge of one of the bowls, scooping up a serving of wine. She fixed her gaze on you, and did not look away as she held the cup low, and the ladle up high, tipping it so the wine flowed perfectly into the cup. Your breathing stuttered a bit at the impressive flourish of it all. She handed the cup to you, but snatched it back the second you went to take it from her.
“Hang on sweetness, I should check to see if it’s poisoned” she said, eyes widening with mock aghast. “You can never be too careful, what with all these sneaky witches around” She said the last part loudly, looking around to catch the eyes of a few witches who were near you both. They rolled their eyes at her, mumbled their annoyance, and went back to their conversations.
You felt your face flush as she put the cup to her lips, taking a deep sip and giving you a wink. She finished with a dramatic “ahhh” and smack of her lips.
“Delicious. And, poison free I might add. Here you go hon” she purred. Little bursts of tingles zipped to your hand as the tips of you and Agatha’s fingers touched when she handed you your cup. The rim of the cup was stained with Agatha's deep mauve lip gloss. The pace of your heart beat kicked up a notch.
Agatha stared at you as you looked at your cup, waiting. Another challenge. You smiled softly and stared back at her as you put your mouth directly on the glossy stain and took a gulp of the sweet, sweet, wine.
“Delicious!” You proclaimed, earning a delighted laugh from the older witch in front of you.
“You’re fun, doll face. Come! Walk with me” She pinched your cheek and quickly set off toward a little seating area closer to the middle of the field. You followed, eyes trailing down Agatha’s body, enjoying the way her backside swayed in her dress. She stopped suddenly, whirling around fast, her hair whipping you in the face from your close proximity. You barely had time to drag your eyes away from her ass let alone stop walking. You ended up colliding into her with an, oof !
Her hands grabbed your waist so as to steady you so you wouldn’t stumble backwards. Her nails dug into you slightly.
“Oopsie daisy” she murmured with false innocence. The sweetness of wine on her breath mingled with the heady smokiness in the air was doing strange things to your body. Your thoughts become jumbled. “Care to have a seat and chat a bit before the big dance?” Agatha simpered, her expression expectant.
You were struggling to form words. She was still right in your face. And gods help you, she was still holding onto your waist. Her eyes darted from your eyes to your mouth and she tsked at you.
“Come now” she said, finally stepping back and releasing you. “I won’t bite y’know” She said smirking as she fluidly settled herself down on a sort of chaise lounge. Lying on her side, crossing her ankles, and leaning her head into her hand on her propped up elbow. “Well, I won’t bite hard ”
You’d gladly get bitten by Agatha Harkness, any day of the week. And twice on Sunday’s. You sat down on the cushion closest to the low chaise that Agatha was reclining on. Your whole body was starting to buzz and tremble slightly, your eyes flitted back and forth quickly between Agatha’s enticing form, to the other witches around you. Who were all starting to get a bit louder with their laughs, a bit more free with their voices, as the sound of the drums began to beat faster.
The smoke was hazy in the air, you inhaled deeply again, and felt yourself becoming slightly unhinged.