Hubert Trains Evelina's Mind

Evelina stood before Hubert Dufort. She shivered under his gaze, aware of how absurd it would seem to a casual observer that the short moustachioed man scared her. But Evelina was aware of the man’s power. Power that rivalled her mothers. Power that she craved.

“We are going to leap right into things.” Hubert said, moving over to a cabinet and stooping to pull something out of a bottom drawer, “Your pre-awakening education is as I feared completely inadequate.”

“What pre-awakening education?” Evelina peered around the short man’s bulk to try and get a glimpse of what he had pulled out.

“Theory, meditation, physical discipline. Your mother has failed you by not taking your education seriously!”

Evelina opened her mouth to protest but the words died in her throat. Perhap Hubert was right. The man was clearly powerful and no one in the lodge denied he had an incredible grasp of magic and arcane knowledge.

“H-how…can we rectify this, master?” Evelina asked, pushing the disapproving face of her mother into the back of her mind.

“Theory can be picked up through intense study. Physical discipline through exercises. Preparing your mind however, will require something…special.”

Hubert showed Evelina then what it was he was holding.

It was a necklace. Made up of a series of small metal plates about the length of a fingernail, each connected together by a small loop of the same metal. It was made of something like silver but caught the warm lights of the room and gave off an ethereal blue shine.

“This is a particularly valuable artefact of mine. Paid far too much for it from that conman Hamilton Stanley.”

“What will it do?” Evelina asked, looking down at the piece of jewellery. It did not look particularly valuable but she knew that magical artefacts came in many forms. Many not betraying their true nature.

“Upon wearing this you shall enter your own mind. There you will open up pathways through your thoughts for magic to enter.” Hubert explained, holding the necklace up and running each of the plates through his fingers like he was checking it for any defects.

“How will I know what to do?”

“I cannot say. Everyone’s experience will differ. It builds on your **** thoughts. Your desires. Your fear. Love and hate. What lies within your mind is your own.”

“I understand.” Evelina nodded.

“Good.” Hubert Dufort gave a toothy smile. He pulled on the end of his moustache before pointing back towards his desk, “Take a chair and sit. You won’t be in control of your body while under the necklace’s power.”

Evelina did as Hubert suggested, dragging over a chair from the table and sitting on it. Hubert stepped in front of her and leaned around her so that he could hook the necklace behind her neck. She could smell his body. All unwashed sweat barely hidden by a sweet smelling perfume. She expected to be revolted by it but there was a sudden flash of heat, on her tummy and over both of her breasts and despite herself she inhaled the smell deeply.

“Good.” Hubert said, finally stepping away from Evelina. The necklace was heavier than it looked and weighed down hard on her neck, “Now prepare yourself.”

Before Evelina could say anything Dufort pointed a meaty finger at her and said…something. She saw his mouth open but before anything came out, her world went completely white.

It felt like time stopped for Evelina and she was no longer in Hubert’s office, floating in a void of nothingness. Slowly she became aware of her body and when she looked down she could see her nakedness. Wiggling her toes she felt sand beneath her feet and when she looked down, it spread out from her. First an expanding field of sand and then springing from the sand columns and arches like the ruins of ancient Greece and beyond that the ocean, the clearest blue and unending towards the horizon.

It was beautiful on that island and Evelina took a moment to take it all in. There was a gentle breeze that pulled lightly on her hair and tickled her bare skin and the sand beneath her toes was soft and warm.

Opening her eyes she looked around the small island. On closer examination the columns and arches had images and words carved into their side. Evelina focused on one and was shocked to see it begin to move. The image was of her Awakening ceremony. Hubert Dufort standing in front of her as he dabbed the rune on her forehead. She looked to another symbol and it was of her and Colin in bed together. He was sat against the bed’s back board with Evelina between them drawing her tongue up and down the underside of his shaft.

“Fuck.” Colin groaned, “I love you so much“

Evelina looked away from the images and turned to her left. There was a statue half buried in the sand. A statue of Colin. The statue looked weathered and damaged, with chips of stone broken away and lying in the sand.

She needed to open the pathways and had no idea how to achieve that. Closing her eyes she made a snap decision and moved.

Evelina examines the statue //Evelina approaches the water// Evelina Looks Into the Moving Images