Leah Carpenter thought being the only witch in her local high school was hard. That was until she inexplicably found herself in the past running from an angry mob, which turned out to be much harder. Lionel, the man in charge of the mob, holds a grudge against a girl he calls Arabella. He thinks she’s Arabella.
Luckily, just about the time it looks as if she’s done for she pops back into her century. This gets her in trouble at school, but at least she has an understanding family. What happens in the past can hurt her.
The whiplashes covering her body are proof enough. Her Nana believes she has to right a wrong in the past to stay in the present and go out with her crush, Dylan. What she discovers in the past is an evil so pure that it makes her blood run cold. She might not ever make it back for geometry class or more importantly a possible date with Dylan.
Character Interview with Leah Carpenter
Today, we are talking with Rayna Noire, the high school heroine of Initiation.
What do you consider your most pressing issues?
RN: Well, uhm, there’s school. Not that it is that hard, but the social part is always hard for me to navigate.
Why is that?
RN: There are all the cliques and unspoken rules. By the time, I discover who to avoid, we move again. Not that I blame my parents entirely for the moves it’s a pagan thing?
What do you mean it’s a pagan thing?
RN: (Exhales deeply, puts out hands about a foot apart.) Well, it’s hard to explain if you’re not pagan. My family is Wiccan to be more exact. We never mention this when moving into a neighborhood because of what might happen.
What has happened to you?
RN: Our landlord asked us to leave after Nana put a pentacle on our front door. He just told us it would be best if we left.
Didn’t you try to fight it? That’s illegal.
RN: Technically, yes, but after someone left the dead cat on our doorstep, we decided it was best to move. My cat, Theodora could be next.
Why do people do these things to your family?
RN: I wish I knew. Shows their ignorance. If they understood that being Wiccan is about honoring all life, then they might understand it’s a good thing to have a Wiccan family in the neighborhood.
How can people be educated in regards to the nature of Wiccan?
RN: There’s the problem. For centuries, people have believed things that were not true. Such as witches were evil and worshipped Satan. The only way I can see of correcting some of these tales is going back in the past to stop them where they started.
You can’t go back in the past.
RN: Well, (bites bottom lip before speaking) I thought that too. It appears the past wants me and keeps pulling me back. My only problem, besides the local villagers trying to burn me as a witch, is why I am drawn back into the past. Nana, that’s my grandmother, believes if I can figure out the problem, then I can solve it, and remain in the now.
As witches, can’t you just wiggle your nose and make it stop.
RN: See, there you go, television witches. Nope, this is my destiny I just have to figure out how to stay alive…and that will take a major dose of magick.