Ancestral

by Kirstie Keatings

  Before she could answer him, Elsie returned with a steaming mug of tea for her and Lila took it gratefully, cradling it between her hands. At that point, the conversation was considered over; everyone started whining that they hadn't gotten a hot beverage, and a few of them traipsed into the kitchen when Elsie told them to make their own, leaving a party of three in the living room; Lila, Elsie and Rose. Rose moved over to sit beside Lila, giving her a one-armed hug. Her features were still ashen, her brown hair only making her appear more unhealthily white.

  “You had us all really worried, by the way. They might not say it but I will. Though that's probably because you're the only one they're treating more carefully than me right now. I'm glad you're awake; I can't stand the molly-coddling.” Rose shuddered, making a face like it was absolutely the worst thing in the world. Which, Lila supposed, it very well could be for a girl her age. Or at the very least, it could feel that way, particularly to girls like Rose who were clearly more comfortable in their own company. “Seriously, I thought wandering around an ever-changing hospital in the spirit realm was the worst kind of torture.” she joked.

  “About that... it's really odd that you remember any of it. Or that I do either, really. I took an accidental trip when I was in the car with Sadie and I don't remember any of it, which is the normal way for me. The fact that it's degenerated this far this fast is a really worrying sign. Or maybe something just tipped the balance. Like you getting pulled out, since you're so strongly tied to your element.” Lila mused, thinking it over. Rose scoffed.

  “Stop being so modest. You and I both know that your connection to your power is equal, if not greater than mine to Earth. Seriously. You strolled in there while your body was legitimately dying and yet still had enough of a grasp on life to bring us both back.” the slight teen punched her in the arm, making her wince instantly. Adam's little sister made no apologies for the bruise Lila could already feel brewing. “Seriously. If you think no one's clocked your subtle uses of a much bigger gift, you've got another thing coming. Just own it already and stop being so embarrassed by it all.”

  Lila gave a self-conscious shrug.

  “It's not something I do on purpose. When you're raised with a spirit gift, you kind of get used to the fact that most people in life are going to find it a little morbid, a lot creepy and they're pretty much going to ostracise you for it. When you add an aptitude for that gift, you get to include your own coven in that. While obviously every coven wants a strong leader, there's a limit to how much they actually like your power beyond what it can offer the coven.”

  “I may not have been raised to become leader, but I get it. Everyone here does. You've all been thrown into the impossible task of filling your parents shoes, and it's ten times harder for you guys than most other leaders. I mean this is literally the first time in history since the witch trials that all of the coven-leaders have been killed all at once. You don't have anyone teaching you the ins and outs. For what it's worth, I used to listen to my mom's ramblings about coven leading while she was dying. I think I know some of it.” Rose confessed, managing to look only slightly uncomfortable about where she'd sourced the information. “I mean it's not gonna be much, but beggars and choosers, right?”

  Lila reached over, rubbing her hand up and down over Rose's upper arm. “Hey, whatever you can remember will be an awesome help. To all of us. Don't feel you have to push yourself, though. It's gotta be hard to talk about.” She reassured her, trying to imagine what it'd be like if someone needed her to recall her mother's murder in excruciating detail – she wasn't sure she'd manage to cope with it. Rose, on the other hand, gave a small shrug.

  “It's hard, yeah, but we all went to counselling during her illness and after it – we were encouraged to talk about it so we didn't feel alone at any point. I mean, yeah you're out-with the usual cancer and family group, but it doesn't really feel any different to me. You literally risked your life to save mine; Don't say otherwise, seriously – helping me get back to my body when yours was dying was really risky, I know that. I'm grateful. I'm not gonna say that you shouldn't have done that, or whatever, mainly because I'm not a total hypocrite. I'm glad to be alive, and I know that it would have been a huge isue to get me no matter when you'd done it. So thank you.”

  For her part, Lila cycled through patient listening, to embarrassment, then finally to awkward silence, which culminated in her clearing her throat. She wasn't sure what to say – especially since she had a feeling that telling the younger girl it had been nothing would result in being punched in the arm. Instead, she was saved by the shout of, “Food!” from the hallway. Both she and Rose sat up so that everyone could huddle in the chairs and on the floor, Adam dancing through with an obviously too-hot box of pizza and tossing it down on the coffee table. When both Elsie and Sadie came through carrying further boxes, and Troy was balancing a smaller tower of polystyrene boxes, Lila could only look confused. “How many are we feeding again?” she asked, earning grins from the boys.

  “Hey, we're all starving, and you three - “ Adam indicated Rose, Lila and Troy “- Are healing up. Also, the rest of us aren't entirely sure when we last ate.”

  Well, when they put it that way, Lila couldn't help but consider the veritable feast set before them as anything less than well deserved. She bent forward to grab some, only to have Rose pin her back. Mildly alarmed, she wondered what she was doing until the girl laughed and Adam came into full view, pizza in his hands. 'Forcing' her to eat, she tried to keep up whilst giggling at the same time. “This is a Dyzek family tradition.” Adam explained. “Rose used to refuse to eat when she was younger, so we'd do this. You're doing better than her already... we used to-.”

  “They used to have to tickle me, like this.” Rose sounded faux solemn, then tickled Lila's sides. The brunette shrieked with laughter, trying to dance away from her fingers.

  Managing to pull free of the pizza, Lila wound up with a streak of cheesy tomato along one cheek. “Aargh! Stop it! Stop!” she howled, tears spilling freely from her eyes, laughter lines catching each droplet as she squirmed away from Rose, who toppled and had to grab the arm of the sofa to avoid landing on Lila's lap. Everyone was chuckling, obviously amused by the scene, a welcome break from all of the serious situations they'd found themselves in recently. It seemed like a simple thing, but when you were at war, it was the little things which mattered, not the big ones.

  After that, they ate in peace, laughing and joking the entire time, though no one attempted to force feed anyone else. It wasn't long after that they fell asleep where they sat, sprawled over someone else, leaning back against the sofa, or having lowered down on to the floor entirely. After what they'd been through, it was a welcome relief.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The next morning, they followed the routine they had back in London, performing the ritual and moving on. Understandably, Lila felt some trepidation every time she got into the car, and she didn't want to drive at all. Her earlier worries about slipping into the spirit world whilst driving felt pitiful in comparison to her new fears of crashing. At least she'd be unconscious in the former case, while the latter came with the intensely terrifying memory of seeing a vehicle hurtling towards her and wondering if these would be the last moments of her life. Even worse than this was the sight of Troy. Every time she looked at him with his arm in its sling, she felt guilty. She hadn't been the one driving, but if she hadn't grabbed the wheel, maybe Troy would have swung them out of the way safely, or the car would have pulled back into its own lane. Of course, there was always the option that they could have been hit head-on, but even this wouldn't have guaranteed that they'd have ended up more or less hurt than they were now. Guilt was etched deep into her soul, and it wouldn't be easy to overcome.

  Heading out of Hamilton, the mood was somewhat sombre, each of them exhausted by the ritual which seemed more draining every time they did it. Not to mention, each of them had yet again pricked their fingertips, something normally reserved
to a few rituals a year – now they had to do it every day for four days. Lila, for one, felt like she was bleeding dry when you considered all of the injuries she'd received in the last week. She was very much beginning to feel cursed – or maybe the impostor in their group was trying to get rid of her. The accident she'd been in had seemed random, but really when you took into account that the spirit world was so close she could practically see it whilst awake, there was no telling what was and wasn't possible.

  Troy was fidgeting beside her in the back seat, with Sadie driving them, and she couldn't help but wonder if he was antsy because they were in the car again, or if it was something else. He'd seemed fine on the way to the coven grounds, so it seemed more likely that it was the destination of this journey, not the journey itself which had him so on edge.

  “Troy, are you okay?” she asked, trying to keep her voice light and airy, as if nothing at all were bothering her. If he wasn't freaking out about being in the car, she certainly didn't want to inflict that panic on him.

  “Uh... yeah.” he answered unconvincingly, biting at his thumb nail and wincing as he shifted on to his other hip. Apparently it was more than just his arm bothering him; he'd done a good job of hiding it, but he must surely be as bruised as she was.

  “We're not buying that, by the way.” came Sadie's voice from the front seat – Lila gave a faint smile; of course Sadie called him out on it. “Spill the beans or I'll pull this car over and tickle it out of you.” Out of them all, Sadie seemed most skilled at bringing out the sun again, metaphorically speaking – though she probably could use her power to move any clouds along. Lila was beginning to feel more and more grateful for her friend, who was a good portion of the reason she'd made it through any of this.

  Troy sighed, obviously realising that he'd been beaten before he'd even started. “It's nothing, really.” he began. “Stupid anxiety over taking you guys to my place. I know you really don't care about the whole having money thing, but every time I've taken someone over, my parents used to make this really big deal about it, talk down to my friends, pretty much try to judge their net worth or potential earnings in one evening. It's almost worse they're not there now, since it's just me and a butler – I don't want your opinion on me to change.”

  “Can I call him Jeeves?” Sadie asked.

  “Huh?”

  “Your butler. Can I call him Jeeves?”

  Finally, Troy cracked a smile, and Lila marvelled at how easily Sadie had turned it all round. Again.

  “Well, you could, but I'm not sure he'd get the joke. His name's Graham, but he insists on being called Lynch.” Troy answered, shrugging with his good shoulder. “I don't know why. Some kind of antiquated etiquette. My parents never had a problem with it, but I just prefer to call people by their actual name.” he chuckled faintly, and Lila nodded in understanding.

  “Have you ever tried telling him that he sounds like he's in the CIA?” Lila spoke up, her tone light-hearted. Sadie grinned at her in the mirror, so she could tell it was something the blonde would have said. Troy started laughing after a moment, obviously figuring it out.

  “Was that an A-Team joke?” he asked, eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face. Lila nodded. “Oh man, I'm definitely going to tell him that one. First things first, though – old A-Team or new A-Team?”

  “Both.” Lila answered, just as Sadie piped in with, “New!”

  “Lila, you get the best bed. Sadie, seriously?!” Troy turned an accusing glare at the girl in the front seat. “I can agree with both, they both have their pros and cons... the original is great because it's a freaking classic, the new one is great because it's got more up to date effects and stuff. Why do you like the new one best?”

  “The casting.” Sadie answered, vaguely.

  “Are you saying the casting was bad on the original?” Troy raised his eyebrow even further, and Lila burst out laughing. They both looked at her in surprise.

  “It's Bradley Cooper, isn't it?” she asked, and Sadie actually blushed, giving a mute shrug. Troy, on the other hand, looked like he was deep in thought.

  “Okay. Fair excuse.” he grinned, and all three of them chuckled. Their conversation led into the events of the newest movie, and soon they were singing “You spin me right round, baby!” at the top of their lungs, the journey passing quickly. Before they knew it, Sadie was asking Troy for specific directions to his house in Brampton. The singing stopped as he leaned forward, pointing out directions and talking her through it. In the car behind them, Adam followed closely, Elsie beside him and Rose in the back seat.

  Sadie followed without question, and they were soon stopping at some tall black gates with an intercom at the side of them. Troy ignored it, reaching over to type in a code in the box beside it. The gates opened with an initial click, the scenery behind them unfurling like a scroll canvas. Sadie started the car again, and they headed up a small hill. As they approached the top, Lila had to hold back a gasp. In front of them was easily the largest mansion she'd ever laid eyes on. If she had to describe it, the only word she could use was quirky.

  The building was made up of many different levels, roofs which faced different directions and was easily comprised of 90% glass, the rest a mix of red brick and grey slate. While in theory it sounded like a train wreck, in reality it was extremely impressive. Nestled in a landscape of green grass and bushes, the only thing which made it look less like a show home was the slushy snow marring the obviously perfectly manicured gardens.

  They pulled up to a gravel-covered courtyard right in front of the house, parking the car at an angle and getting out. There was nowhere for Lila to really put down a crutch, but thankfully her magick had come back to her somewhat. In truth, she suspected that the ritual they'd done that morning had been so draining on everyone because they'd used the opportunity to strengthen her. She let herself slip into a trance, leaning back against the car and relaxing. Pulling gently on one of the threads of spirit power, she wrapped it around her thigh – it would serve as a support to her weakened muscles and speed the healing process.

  When she came out of the trance, Rose was waving her hand in front of her face, looking worried. She knew why without even asking. “Don't worry.” she reassured the younger witch. “Just dipping my toes in to help myself heal.” she explained, and Rose relaxed.

  “Do you need help getting up to the front door?” Rose asked, and Lila shook her head. “Okay. If you change your mind, though...” she trailed off, looking up at the house with a cluck of her tongue. “This place is crazy, right? I thought our house was big, but this just seems excessive. It's just Troy living there, right?”

  “I think he has staff. Don't let him hear you saying this, by the way. He's really self-conscious about it all. It wasn't his choice to get a house this big, remember. He just wants to be a normal kid.”

  “I can understand that.” Rose looked pensive for a moment, sparking Lila's curiosity.

  “What do you mean?” she asked gently, aiming for a judgement-free tone.

  Rose shrugged one shoulder right up to her chin. “I dunno, it's just a feeling I get sometimes. I know I've been given this really awesome power and everything, but don't you ever wish you were a civilian?”

  Lila smiled. “Yeah. I think that's why we call them civilians and not, I dunno – humans. Non-magick. Muggles.” she slipped in the Harry Potter reference with a chuckle. “Civilians. They're separate from us – from our little war. We spend our whole lives learning to control this unbelievable force inside us. It gets really tough, and we're really such a small minority compared to the number of civilians in this world. It can be lonely.”

  The young witch nodded, her gaze intense as she pondered Lila's words. “Yeah. That's exactly how I feel. As for all this, I kind of wish I was one of them, blissfully unaware that our lives are all seriously in danger.”

  “Yeah, but at least we get the opportunity to do something about it.” Lila countered, and Rose's cheek twitched, pulling her lips into an
unsure frown. There were benefits to both sides, it was true, but Lila would feel useless if she ever found out that there were others out there saving her life over and over while she was unaware.

  They began to walk without even discussing it, Lila limping a little but mostly upright. They passed a large water fountain in the centre of the courtyard, spilling its small waterfall even in the cold November air. Lila suspected water magick kept it warm, and she couldn't resist running her hand under the water, confirming her suspicions. Of course, if any of the civilians became suspicious, Troy only had to tell them that it was linked to a hot spring or the heater inside the house.

  Passing the fountain by, she stepped up on to the porch with only minor difficulty, looking up at the overhanging glass shelter with interest. Seeing her looking, Troy waved his good hand, causing water to spill down over the glass. She gasped; the addition of the water created a prism effect, lighting up the shelter with its very own rainbow. “Now that's cool.” she grinned, looking over at Troy who seemed to glow with pride.

  “This is the stuff I like. Minor subtle additions that look like nothing til you add a little water magick.” he confessed, and she nodded.