Ember reached the edge of the first tent; only then did she stop to catch her breath. It was at that moment she spotted her grandmother. The old woman looked at her curiously. Probably wondering where she had been, noticing that she came from outside of the perimeter of the festival.

Ember didn't feel like explaining the strange interaction that she had in the clearing with the dark-hooded man. It sounded silly to even think of it, much less say it out loud to someone. On top of it, thinking she had heard the sad call of a wild cat. There were no big cats in this neck of the woods, not unless you found one at a zoo.

She waved at her grandma as she grabbed a drink and once again took a seat at an empty table.

It was still fairly early, but Ember was ready to go home. She was contemplating how to tell her family that she just wanted to call it a night without ruining the rest of their evening.

Someone sat beside her, breaking the inner dialogue tumbling around in her head.

"Hello." A deep voice said.

She glanced over and thought she recognized one of the guys from the group that she met earlier.

'Great' Ember thought, 'Let's see what this is all about.'

"Hi. You were sitting with Willow and them earlier right?"

He smiled, "That's right. You ran off so quickly before, so I'm not sure if you caught my name. I'm Conor."

Ember looked at him and smiled, her eyes softening. He seemed like he was trying to be nice. She shouldn't act like a bitch based on past experiences.

"Well, Uhm," he fidgeted nervously beside her, "would you care to dance with me?"

Ember's laughter tinkled through the crisp night air like small silver bells.

"Sure, I would be honored." She replied placing her hand in his outstretched one.

Maybe this would take her mind off of the mystery man. Maybe she could still salvage what was left of the evening.

Conor lead her through the crowd, away from the table, and more importantly away from the field where somewhere out there, her mystery man had disappeared to. He spun her gently, her dress swirling around her, before pulling her towards him, into his chest.

"So," Conor said, looking down at Ember, "You just moved here? Is your aunt opening the new shop in the village?"

"Yeah, that's right. I'm helping her with the shop. It's what we did before we moved here as well."

Conor hummed in response, twirling her around again, making her laugh.

"Do you know why your aunt and your grandma are taking you up to the hilltop for your birthday, Ember?"

His question made her stumble. Ember stopped dancing, her pulse speeding up involuntarily.

"Why are you asking me that?" Ember stammered. "Look, all I know is what my family told me, which isn't much. It's tradition for every woman to have a ceremony of some kind. Welcoming her into 'being'. I don't even know what that means. I figured it was some coming-of-age thing, right? So, why are you asking?"

Conor shifted uncomfortably, running his hand through his tousled hair.

"I was just wondering, honest. Come on let's dance. I didn't mean to upset you."

Ember sighed, not sure if she believed him or not. Something seemed off. It was almost as if he knew more than he was letting on. Like the ceremony wasn't a surprise to him and Ember found that odd.

"You don't sound surprised that my family wants to have some weird ceremony for my birthday. Why?" she questioned, crossing her arms, ignoring his request to dance.

Conor looked around quickly at the couples dancing around them. He grabbed her arm and began leading her off of the dance floor, stopping once they were underneath a nearby tree.

"Ember, you really need to be asking your grandmother these questions. They should explain to you what the ceremony means. It's not my place to tell you." Conor whispered, the distress clear on his face.

Just then Selia appeared beside them, her blue eyes shining.

"Hey, guys. What are you two whispering about?" She asked casually sipping from a bottle.

When neither of the two answered she looked from Ember to Conor, an eyebrow raised.

"Conor?" She once again prompted.

Conor gritted his teeth, running his hands through his curly chestnut hair.

"Conor!" Selia said sharply.

"She doesn't know, Lia. Her family didn't explain to her what the "ceremony" is. They told her that it was a tradition that all the women in their family participate in, to welcome her into being," he paused shaking his head, "and she has no fucking idea what that means."

Selia hissed, glancing at Ember, eyes narrowed, "What! Did you tell her anything?"

Ember looked between the two of them, her mouth hanging open, not understanding anything they were talking about. Her heart hammered in her chest, and the cryptic conversation that she seemed to be the topic of didn't help matters at all.

Conor shot Ember an apologetic look before turning his attention back toward his sister.

"No, Selia. I didn't tell her. It's not my place to tell her."

"Excuse me. I'm standing right here." Ember screeched, finding her voice finally, waving her arms emphatically towards herself. "Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on and please explain why shit just got extra weird? You two are freaking me out."

Selia snorted, "You're freaking out now? Just wait until you are at the ceremony."

She sighed then, "I'm sorry Ember that was uncalled for. I just can't believe your family is doing it this way."

"Oh my god! Doing what? Just tell me! Or, is this some joke? You guys finally figured out my last name and this is some sick prank, so you and your friends can laugh at the weird Midnight family?" Ember spat out, crossing her arms defensively, glaring at the two dumbstruck-looking people standing in front of her.

"You know what, I don't care," Ember growled, "you can both go to hell!"

Straightening her back, Ember turned and stalked away angrily. Leaving Selia with her mouth hanging open.

"Ember! Wait! Come back please!" Conor yelled after her.

"This isn't a prank!" Selia called out. "But you are going to wish it was!"

Ember didn't stop, even when she heard them calling for her.

How dare they! She would have expected this from that bitchy girl, Deidra. She didn't think that the others were that way though. She obviously had been mistaken. 

God, why did it always have to be like this with people? No matter where she went. Her last name and her family's business always caused people to act the same way. 

The shop selling herbal remedies, concoctions, amulets, tarot cards, crystals, books, and anything else having to do with the path that they followed. People labeled them "witches", and after years of dealing with it, she didn't try to correct them anymore.

This made people act like assholes. 

You would think in this day and age people wouldn't discriminate so much. It wasn't like her family ran around claiming they could cast spells and fly around on brooms. Everyone knew that magic wasn't real, but her family wasn't Christian, and Ember was beginning to see that no matter where they lived that was all it took to label her as a freak.

 Well, fuck every last one of them.

Ember slumped down into the chair, trying to make herself disappear into the canvas-like fabric.

'Fuck them all.'

"Here," she heard her Aunt's voice from behind her. A bottle appeared over Ember's shoulder, slick with little bits of ice from where it had been stored to keep cold. "You look like you could use one of these."

Ember grabbed the cold bottle, drinking deeply of the sharp, earthy golden liquid.

"Thanks, Aunt Arwen." She mumbled once the woman took a seat beside her.

Arwen tilted her head, studying her niece.

She hummed, "You look pissed. What's happened?"

Ember glanced at her Aunt out of the corner of her eye, debating on if she should tell the woman why she was so angry.

"Just the usual routine. Some local kids, finding out I'm a Midnight and trying to fuck with me because of it. 'Cause of the shop, of us being what we are. Trying to scare me about the ceremony tonight. Claiming that I don't know what it is. That you and Gran were keeping some mysterious details from me about it. Like it was some big thing. I don't know," Ember sighed, frustrated, not seeing her aunt's eyes go wide and her face pale, "they were just being the usual assholes."

Ember took another pull from the bottle, closing her eyes. She was beginning to get a headache.

"There ye two be." Ember heard her grandmother say. "S'almost time fer ye birthday celebration, lass."

Ember opened her eyes and smiled up at her grandmother, trying to bury the irrational burning anger she felt. She chugged the rest of the beer, quickly setting it on the table behind her when she was finished.

"So, it's time then?" She questioned, hating the faint waver she heard in her voice.

Her aunt looked at her briefly before standing.

"It is," Arwen confirmed. "Go on and fetch our lanterns, please. I need to speak to your Gran for a moment. We will be ready by the time you return."

Ember nodded, leaving the two women standing beside the tent.

Once Ember was out of earshot Arwen turned to Nori, a panicked look on her face.

"Ma, we should have explained everything to her. Some kids she met, I don't know who told Ember that her birthday ceremony was something more. She was so angry, and I don't know if the binding will hold once we finish tonight. They told her we were keeping things from her about what was going to be happening on that hill. She isn't going to take this well at all."

Nori looked at her daughter calmly, an eyebrow slightly raised.

"Wen, tis how we hafta do. She canno know before. Tis too risky. Tha binding will hold, and Ember will be understandin everythin. Them kids will be to helpin her. Let us be glad she did no find out anything more. We canno be delayin it." Nori took her daughter's hand and squeezed it gently.

"Ember's draíocht must be give to her tonight."

Arwen started to object further but was silenced as Ember appeared before the two women.

"Let's get this over with," Ember told the women, her eyes flashing.