He looked like the type who would enjoy the sport of speculating based off of others’ misery. He had short greying hair, a potbelly, and a fidgety sense about him. I didn’t recognize him from our coven, but there were many other visitors from surrounding covens. I tried to let the ointment do its job, feeling his intentions run through me. It seemed he had some sort of interest in being here. The sense I was getting from him was that he showed up to do a job, and that job was possibly reporting back to someone. I could only see his profile, but I was hoping he would turn toward me, so I could get a better glimpse. It would be nice to see what the person looked like who thought I was about to be put in the loony bin.
One of my cousins, Tammy, started talking to me, bringing me out of my fog.
“Hey, I think you’ve done a fine job of holding it together,” she started, patting me on my knee.
I looked at her and smiled. If only she knew.
“Thanks. It doesn’t seem that guy over there thinks so,” I said pointing at the potbellied gossiper.
“Aaah, you heard?” she asked, squeezing her lips tightly and shaking her head.
“Yep. I might be needing a straightjacket any minute,” I said, trying to force a smile.
“Don’t mind what these people are saying. A lot of them aren’t even from our coven. I think they are only here to satisfy their curiosity because of…” she stopped herself.
“No, I get it. I keep reminding myself not to get bitter. It’s only natural, I guess. But I’m still confused how we even got to this place. None of our family wanted a memorial yet. However, here we all are.”
One of our neighbors, Nancy, held her hand up in a slight wave, with her lips pursed. I waved back at her and nodded as a thank you. At least she was giving me some space.
“Well, as much as you’ve heard on the gossiping end about you, I’ve been hearing that many from our coven had the same reaction as ours about the memorial. You’re not alone in that thinking. A lot of people can’t understand what the hurry is about. I know my mom has been struggling with it, but she’s been hoping the coven would provide the support needed for you if she went along with things.”
“Poor Aunt Vieta.” I shook my head.
“So is that Logan?” Tammy asked, already knowing the answer. “He’s certainly grown up,” she purred.
I rolled my eyes. “We both have.”
The first group of mourners came over to offer their condolences, and I knew I was in for many more hours of the same. Virginia and Sofia were the first in line. Virginia was dressed in a beautiful black dress with a royal blue scarf, which really set off her brilliant red hair. Her eyes held the kindness I had seen many times before. Sofia was her daughter and was blessed with the same hair color and fair skin. She had just graduated from college. I didn’t know her well, but they were both coven members. Standing behind them was a couple that I didn’t recognize. They were an older couple. The wife had pale blond hair, bordering on white, and her husband had a cane in his right hand. Going by my gut and the little bit of magic I employed, I felt relieved that not everyone was out to snoop. After accepting their condolences, I was immediately inundated with the next batch, one of whom was especially chatty. She was apparently my preschool teacher from the coven. I didn’t remember her, and she seemed a bit skittish, but I couldn’t put my finger on whether that was her regular personality, or if she was shady like the heavyset man who felt it was his obligation to commit me.
The night continued on in very much the same manner, and I was greatly relieved when the last group of people departed, leaving me with my family and close friends to digest what type of whirlwind just happened in the name of my mother.
***
I finally allowed myself to be grateful for the support that the community was giving our family, but I might have been feeling like that mainly because everyone was gone, and I had a night to sleep on everything. Whatever the reason, I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn’t their fault. These people probably did believe my mom passed away. I just didn’t. Something in my gut told me she’s still on this planet. Unfortunately, I never did get to greet the man who had such an opinion on my state of being, but something told me I would have the chance someday.
Logan was in the kitchen with me. I was sitting at the kitchen table, and he was making us orange juice. Ellsy was in the living room with my aunt. I could hear their voices get louder and then softer as they were undoubtedly talking about me. My cousins had left before I woke up. They were all in college taking summer classes and had to drive back in several different directions in the state. I was secretly relieved. I loved my cousins, but they had different priorities than I did right now. First of all, they had priorities. I was still in a fog.
“So how long do you think you guys might be able to stay?” I asked Logan.
He spun around with an orange in one hand and a knife in the other, looking so much older than I could really grasp. It was hard for me to get used to the idea that this was the same guy who had been my best friend before high school hit, and the distance of his move took over. It was amazing what just a couple of years did for him.
“Uh, well that might have changed. I’m not really sure,” he smiled at me with a look that was as if I asked him to divulge some huge secret.
“That’s okay. No pressure,” I said, laughing.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just that … well before everything happened, my mom and your mom had been planning something that they were going to talk to you about. And that didn’t happen so things might not be following the plan,” he said, his lip curled slightly.
“Huh. That’s a complicated answer. I was just thinking days or weeks?”
“You know what? Rather than continuing to look like a blubbering idiot around you, which keeps happening, I’ll tell you what I was told.” He tossed the orange back on the counter, along with the knife, and walked over to where I was sitting and plunked down. He had this energy around him that was so enticing. I wanted to immediately scoot closer to him, but I restrained myself.
“I’m going to college out here in the fall, and to save money, I was going to live with you and your mom in the extra bedroom.” A little smile appeared at the corner of his lips. “Not sure that’s really going to be happening now,” he finished.
My stomach started going crazy. I couldn’t believe my mom hadn’t mentioned this to me. This was pretty big news. Maybe that was what she was going to tell me on the beach.
“Are you still planning on going to Bastyr?” I asked, trying to shift the focus of the conversation.
“That’s the plan,” he said, catching my glance. “Hey, I don’t expect the housing arrangement to stay the same, but I just wanted you to know what your mom was thinking. And my hunch is that my mom and your aunt are in the other room right now trying to figure what they’re going to do.”
“Oh, brother,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I wonder if they remember that I’m eighteen.”
“Yeah, you’re almost eighteen, but you’ve somehow managed to lock yourself in a non-locking cooler in the last week. I think you’ve given them some things to chew on.” He gently touched my cheek, and a flutter began in my stomach again, which I forced away. The reaction was ridiculous, especially given the circumstances.
To hide my embarrassment, I jumped out of the chair and followed the voices into the family room. My aunt and Ellsy only had one of the red Tiffany lamps on, and they were both on the long couch, sitting with their legs underneath them. Both stopped talking immediately and looked at me.
“Hey, so I’d really like to start talking about everything. I have no idea what you guys are really thinking about me or about what I think has happened to my mom.”
Ellsy had put her dark hair up in a ponytail, and she had changed into one of the staples we all adored, yoga pants. She looked nervously at my aunt and then began.
“We’ve got so much to cover that I don’t think any of us even know where to begin.” Sh
e glanced at my aunt again.
“Well I say we start with me getting trapped in a cooler and witnessing some sort of creature darting around our floral shop looking for something. I’d say that’s a good one to tackle first.”
Logan came into the family room with a tray full of orange juice he had been so diligently working away on. His eyes searched mine for some sort of hint as to what topic I brought up. Winking at him, I think he was relieved it wasn’t the housing situation.
I sat down on the short couch, wanting to get as comfortable as possible for what might be on the agenda. My aunt shifted on the couch, so she could face me. Logan sat next to me, and we all quietly sipped the juice until Logan spoke up first.
“Well, I believe her,” he announced, grinning.
I wasn’t sure whether to start laughing or to thank him, but since my aunt and Ellsy started laughing, I joined in too.
“Well that makes two of the four,” I said, patting his leg, and I felt that stir again.
“Honey, it’s not that we don’t believe you. It’s that what you’re telling us could bring really grave consequences to how we perceive the world we live in,” my aunt replied.
“I don’t deny that. I grew up not believing that black magic was really out there to this extent. In fact, because of that choice, I couldn’t even come up with a protection chant and in my panic started rubbing the oils of any plant that was minutely connected with protection. Listen, you know that I don’t believe my mom is gone, gone. If you move along that line of reasoning, these other things could fit somewhere in the scenario.”
“Not finding a body has placed doubts in all of our hearts, Triss. But if she did get taken by the sea, her body could turn up anywhere at any time,” Aunt Vieta whispered.
“I understand that. But not only did my mom love the ocean, she respected it. There wouldn’t have been a reason in the world she would have gone into the ocean. I know this beyond a shadow of a doubt. Not to mention that the outfit she was wearing was on the beach with all of her other belongings. I know my mom was a free spirit, but she wouldn’t be swimming half-naked in our frigid waters. We live in Washington, not San Diego. I’m sorry, but she wasn’t off doing some crazy ‘I’m one with the water’ type of thing,” I said, shaking my head. “That’s not her style.”
“If we are to let our minds go down that avenue for a few minutes, there is something else I should mention,” Ellsy began. “I don’t want your mind going off in all of these far-fetched directions, but she made a couple notes in her planner about a week before her disappearance.”
My heart started pounding.
“Well, what did they say?” Logan blurted out on my behalf.
My aunt grabbed the planner that she apparently had shoved beside her on the couch. She opened it up and began reading.
“If you are reading this then I’m unable to communicate any more. Things aren’t as they should be any longer in our world. The Lonely Souls have been summoned.”
“That’s as cryptic as could be. Why would she write something like that in her planner? Why does she think someone else would be reading her planner?”
“I think it might be telling us something else that we didn’t want to think possible,” my aunt said.
“Like what?” I snapped.
“Maybe she was in far more pain and sorrow than we realized. With that reference to the Lonely Souls.”
“Stop it!” I yelled. “I can’t believe you’re saying that to me. My mother would never take her own life. How could you even suggest that?”
Logan was by my side instantly, holding me tight. I let the firmness of his arms wrap around me. I didn’t know why, but I wasn’t fighting it. Instead, I promised myself I would do my best to find the truth, and the only way to do that was to stay calm and rational.
Looking back up at my aunt and mom’s best friend, I pulled away from Logan.
“I’m sorry. I can understand why you would think that with the note. However, the realm of Lonely Souls is something my mother and I often spoke about. It’s a very real place with extremely troubling consequences. My mom was keenly aware of that. She always told me that after my father left her, I was what saved her from the Lonely Souls. She wouldn’t have joined the realm of Lonely Souls. I think that’s just a warning.” I did my best to sound reasonable and calm, but there was a fire running through my veins. I knew my mom didn’t leave me on purpose. I saw Ellsy look down at the floor. I knew she understood exactly what I was talking about. She’d lost her husband, Logan’s dad, only a couple years ago.
“What’s the other note you found?” Logan asked.
I noticed he moved a little closer to me on the couch, and for some reason, I didn’t mind.
“The other note was written on the day she disappeared,” my aunt said.
She grabbed the planner and tossed it to me.
I opened it up to the date of my mom’s departure from my life, and there were the words waiting to be dissected.
“The cottage in the woods might hold the answers,” was scrawled in my mom’s familiar handwriting.
Logan looked up from the words at the same time as I did. I closed the planner.
“Well, I think this little scribble debunks your thought from the other note. She knew something was going on and was warning us,” I said emphatically.
“I agree with Triss. Do the authorities know about this yet?” Logan asked.
“Yeah, they do,” Ellsy spoke.
“Here’s a question for you. Why is it that the police have rules about missing person cases and declaring people dead, yet our coven was so set on showing the world my mom is gone?” I asked.
My aunt shifted around on the couch, and Ellsy caught Logan’s eyes briefly. I turned to look at him, and he instantly looked away.
“I don’t think now’s the time to be suspicious of one of the greatest support groups we have,” my aunt said.
This wasn’t like my aunt. I knew I was onto something, and I think Logan knew I was too.
“What about that opera that was played at the memorial, Aunt Vieta? It took you by surprise,” I asked, waiting for her to come clean.
Ellsy and Logan looked at my aunt, both questioning her with their eyes.
“What one was it?” Ellsy finally asked.
“She chose Dove sono I bei momenti,” my aunt replied.
“Oh,” Ellsy said her voice trailing.
“What is this telling you that it’s not telling me?” I huffed.
Surprisingly, Logan was the one to speak. He seemed wise beyond his years.
“Some of the lyrics make mention of the countess’s husband and jealousy and rage.” He looked at his mom. “I’m guessing that is the part she wanted us to take notice of.”
“Does this have to do with my father?” I asked, never having communication with him made me doubt my question already.
“Doubtful, sweetie,” Aunt Vieta said, her lips tightening.
“But if she chooses a song that deals with a husband, wouldn’t you think she’s talking about her own?” I blinked.
“Probably more with what he was into,” Aunt Vieta said cryptically.
I knew so little about him that I wasn’t even sure what she was getting at.
“Do you think he knows?” I asked.
“I’m guessing wherever he might be, the word has reached him,” Ellsy replied curtly.
I never had a curiosity about him. He left my mom before I was even out of infancy. I figured any man who would leave his partner and first child, without a word ever again, wasn’t worth knowing. Now with my mom gone too, I wondered if I made a mistake never trying to reach out to him.
“Does he practice?”
“Yes, he does,” the voice next to me answered, which completely surprised me. Why would Logan know more about my father than I do?
“Huh,” I responded, squinting at him.
“I wouldn’t go down that path,” Ellsy said.
“What path?” I aske
d.
“Trying to reach out to him,” Logan finished.
“Okay. Well, we’ll see where that leads eventually. Right now, though, I really want to hear what you guys think about everything.”
“I think if what you saw is real,” my aunt started, “then we’ve got some leads we need to investigate.”
“I think we should go with the assumption what Triss experienced was real.” Logan grabbed my hand, which completely threw me. “Tell them exactly what you saw.”
Not letting go of his hand, I looked up at him and nodded. His eyes had turned to a softer blue.
“The creature almost blended in with the surroundings. The light in the front was turned off so it was hard to catch his movements at first. The thing was a dark grayish-black, in a way, but it was almost transparent. It hovered and moved without legs.” The more I spoke, the crazier I sounded. How do I add something to this to make it seem more conceivable?
“It went under and over things. It picked up items we had on the display and then placed them back down. It was definitely searching for something. On one hand, it was smart enough to lock me in the cooler, but on the other hand, it had a problem knowing to slide open the glass door rather than swing it open. That’s probably what saved me. When it looked at me, I could see through it, but I could still see the face. If I categorized it, I would say it was a ghost, but that doesn’t seem like a possibility.” I looked at Ellsy first whose facial expression seemed perplexed, and then I looked at my aunt, who was grimacing a little. She always prided herself on being able to read people, and I was throwing her an obvious curve.
“I believe that you believe what you saw was real,” my aunt began. “Beyond that, there isn’t much use in debating the credibility of it. However, I don’t think what we’re discussing should leave this room.”
Witch Avenue Series (The Complete Set) Page 4
