Silverthorn Read online

  There was a knock at the door.

  Lulu barked and squiggled in my arms, so I set her down. I had no illusions that Darius had returned. Doing so would make him appear weak. Besides, he wouldn’t have lingered, probably too eager to turn more humans into vampires, so he could send them after us. I looked through the peephole.

  Celestina stood on the porch with a worried expression. Behind her, a cab waited at the curb.

  I opened the door and Lulu sprang outside and sniffed at my niece’s shoes.

  Celestina broke into a smile. “You got a dog?” She bent down and threw her arms around Lulu, who took in all of the affection with a grin of her own. Apparently, she needed only a moment to distinguish between those with good or bad intentions.

  “Her name is Lulu. What are you doing here so late?” I asked, frantically looking her over to see if anyone had hurt her. I didn’t see any marks of abuse. Although that settled some of my anxiety, I still figured something had to be wrong. “Are you okay? Come on in.”

  “I’m fine.” My niece stood up and walked into the house as Lulu jumped around her, eager to get as much attention as she could from yet another visitor.

  I motioned for the cab driver to take off. I needed to tone down my puppy’s attention-seeking behavior, so I said, “Hey, Lulu. Chill!”

  She sat down and panted, still wagging her tail, little whines escaping her mouth as though following my orders required the utmost obedience.

  “Good girl,” I said, amazed that she seemed so in tune with me that she understood my commands and followed them. I turned to Celestina. “Now what happened? Why are you taking a cab here so late at night? It’s way past midnight.” Did Alexis even know her daughter had left the house? That question worried me more than Celestina’s unexpected visit. If so, and my sister was at home and happened to check on her daughter, she was probably beside herself with worry. Nevertheless, I didn’t want to bring that up now. Chastising my niece now wouldn’t garner any true confessions; she’d feel judged and unworthy of my trust.

  “Granny isn’t,” she said, “Granny anymore. It’s weird. But I think she’s someone else now. She’s not mean anymore. She doesn’t yell or scream or anything. She’s not nice, either, but she’s not mean. And she talks funny. Most of the time she’s sleeping.”

  “That’s because she’s not your grandmother. Last week, when we last saw each other, after you saved my life, you weren’t able to save her.” Seeing her confusion, I said, “You saved her body, but not her soul. That’s when Zephora, the first witch in our line, entered your grandmother’s body. Now she’s in control of it.”

  “So Granny’s dead?”

  “Yes.” I didn’t feel the least bit of sorrow at her passing, since she had physically abused Celestina, manipulated Alexis at every turn, not to mention collaborating with Zephora beyond the veil in an attempt to return her to the land of the living, so she could rule every paranormal creature.

  “Good.” Her eyes filled with tears, probably out of relief. She lowered her head, ashamed. “She was so…evil! I hated her!”

  I pulled her in close and pressed her against my side, holding her tight, feeling her frame hitch with every sob. I watched as Kendall silently drew Lulu away with a toy, so my niece and I could have some privacy.

  “Mom thinks there’s nothing wrong with Granny, but she slurs her words a lot. It’s because of all the drinking she does, isn’t it? I looked it up on the Internet. That’s what happens when you drink too much. And she drinks too much, well, all the time. She’s…an alcoholic.” Her cheeks flinched and her shoulders protruded, as though admitting those words came with a physical cost she hadn’t expected.

  I didn’t dare contradict her or defend my sister. Doing so could confuse or upset Celestina, so I just held her tightly as she cried.

  “Mom’s never around. She’s always working or taking night classes or exercising. Or out meeting men.” She remained silent for a bit. “Are you mad at me for coming here?”

  That simple question pushed moisture into my eyes. “No,” I said, smiling as I pulled away from her so she could see how much I cared for her. “You are always welcome here.”

  Celestina met my grin with one of her own before turning away, probably feeling shy for revealing happiness.

  That gesture told me that she often hid her emotions from others, fearing that they might judge her feelings. It burned me up inside, although not in the flame-throwing sense, and I took a few moments to regain my composure.

  “So this is your place, huh?” Celestina asked, glancing around my living room. Even though she’d never visited, our line had the ability to sense each other’s presence at any given time, allowing everyone but me (except while astral projecting) to locate each other.

  “Yep,” I said. If Grams hadn’t left me her home, I wouldn’t have had any place to live. “Would you like something to drink? Water? Lemonade?”

  “I’ll take a vodka on the rocks,” she said.

  Shocked, I did a double take, unsure what to say or do at that request.

  “Relax, Aunt Serena.” She grinned. “That’s Mom’s favorite drink…at least when she’s not drinking right from the bottle.”

  I couldn’t help but smile in relief. “Lemonade it is.” I went to the kitchen, opened the fridge, got out the pitcher, and filled up a glass. I held it out to Celestina, who took it and swilled it as though she’d spent the last two days wandering the desert in search of something to quench her thirst. “Have you eaten?”

  “Aunt Serena, it’s, like, two o’clock. I’m usually asleep by now.”

  It was her attempt at trying not to inconvenience me. “How about a ham and cheese sandwich? Or hey, I make a mean peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Yes, please. And milk?”

  “Of course.” I went about setting up a late night snack for her. “And cookies. We can’t forget cookies.” I dreaded asking my next question, but I had to push forward because I needed to know if she could be completely honest with me. “Celestina…I’m really glad you stopped by, but did you sneak out of the house to come here?”

  She lowered her head and nodded.

  At least Celestina knew when she had broken common parenting rules, although I had no idea if Alexis had set…any ground rules. “I’m not upset with you.” I put the peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a plastic plate, set it in front of her on the island in my kitchen where she sat on a stool, and then poured a glass of milk for her. “Am I disappointed in you? Yes. But I’m not upset.”

  “But Mom’s always gone. How could I tell her? Tonight, she came home, slammed the door, and bumped into the walls in the hall until she went into her bedroom. I heard the bed springs pop, so I knew she fell into bed. A minute later, she was snoring.”

  I wanted to scoop her back into my arms and tell her that no child should have to deal with such an errant mother.

  “I can’t leave during the day. Granny…I mean, that woman doesn’t teach me the basics anymore.” Seeing my confusion, she said, “English and grammar? Science? Math? History?” She shook her head. “Now she teaches me magic for an hour. Then she falls asleep again. She’s always tired.”

  I supposed Zephora was tired due to her unfamiliarity with human form, since she last inhabited an individual during the Great Depression. Furthermore, she slipped into a body whose previous tenant may have been a substance abuser, or so I suspected based on an offhand comment Alexis made the other day.

  “What kind of magic does she teach you?” I asked.

  “Stuff I never thought possible.” A wicked smile took shape. “I can do sooo much now.” She caught sight of Lulu, who stepped into the hall and looked in the other direction. “Check this out.” She unfurled an arm and pointed at Lulu.

  My dog’s legs spun around so that she faced us. Whining in confusion, her legs plunked into the carpet in our direction against her will, releasing light howls as she did so in an attempt to break free of the mysti
cism forcing her onward.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, appalled that Celestina would force a harmless dog against her will. “Stop it!”

  “Why?” asked Celestina, puzzled. “I’m asking Lulu to come here. So I can pet her.”

  “You didn’t ask her. You forced her. There’s a difference.”

  “Why are you so mad? I didn’t hurt her. I would never hurt her.”

  “If you wanted her to come, you should have called her. Don’t force her to do something she might not want to do.”

  Celestina took a bite from her sandwich, eliciting a bitter expression.

  “Do you understand?” I asked.

  She lowered her eyes and nodded.

  I preferred not to scold her, but I wasn’t sure if my sister followed up on rules she set up, but instead gave Celestina free reign. Lacking a true parental figure, she might not respect authority, and since I didn’t want her to grow up callous, only to abuse her abilities and harm others. I also wanted to make sure she respected her elders.

  My niece comprehended what I said, but didn’t respond. Instead, she chewed so hungrily that it looked as though she wouldn’t let anything come between her and that sandwich.

  “Hey, Brandon! Can you come in her a sec?”

  He entered the kitchen a few seconds later. “What’s up?”

  “It’s experiment time.” I gestured to my niece. “Don’t think twice about what I’m going to ask of you.” I whispered,” Use some magic…and take that sandwich from her.”

  As directed, Brandon concentrated on Celestina for a fraction of a second.

  The sandwich slipped from my niece’s hands, zipped through the air, and Brandon snatched it in his hands a second later. Startled by that ability, he turned to me with a look of pure joy. “That rules! I can cancel one ability and pick up another one.”

  “Hey,” Celestina said, her brow scrunching in anger. “That was mean!” She raised her hand toward Brandon.

  But I stood in front of my friend. “Wait a minute. Brandon did the same thing you did to Lulu. So why are you so upset?”

  Celestina bit down hard on her lower lip, doing her best to contain her anger.

  Unwilling to get involved, Brandon tapped his thigh, attracting Lulu’s attention. They left the kitchen and headed to the second bedroom.

  I set my gaze on Celestina. “Free will is the one thing in this world that everyone has. No matter whom your parents are or what they do. I don’t care where you live or what situation you’re in, everyone has a right to make their own decisions. Don’t ever take that from them. Even God wouldn’t do that!”

  My niece looked at me, perplexed. Then she looked side-to-side, as though trying to identify circumstances that would allow her to disregard my statements.

  “Hey!” I said. “Are you better than God?”

  “There is no God!” she screamed with unexpected rage.

  I stood in place, for the first time frightened by my niece. My first inclination was to step back and place some distance between us, but if I did, I knew that it she would draw strength from that standpoint, giving her the impression that she could bully others. Instead, she needed a stabilizing voice of reason, and since her mother wasn’t around to fill that role, I took it upon myself to fill the void.

  To avoid saying something I’d regret, I said, “Drink your milk.” Then I turned around, grabbed a package of Oreo cookies from the pantry, pulled out a few, and placed them on her plate.

  Brandon spun around and his eyes grew large. “Oh yeah!” he shouted with great enthusiasm and appeared beside Celestina and I two couple seconds later. He grabbed an Oreo and passed it side-to-side under his nose while inhaling the aroma. “I’ve been waiting hours for this.” He took a bite and closed his eyes, savoring every second of the cookie. A moan lingered in his throat. “Sweet…beautiful…chocolate.”

  “Should we be on diabetic-coma-alert tonight?” I asked.

  “I love sugar,” he said, snapping open his eyes to look my way. “I love sugar so much I gargle with it.” He scarfed down the rest of the cookie, grabbed four more, and then hurried out of the kitchen.

  I jerked a thumb at his departure and said to Celestina. “He’s the guy the Muppets based the Cookie-Monster upon.” I appreciated the intrusion. It lightened Celestina’s mood. “I’m just saying everyone has free will. You should never take that from them.”

  “What about Granny?” she asked, after finishing her sandwich. “Why didn’t she get free will? I’ll bet she didn’t want Zephora to take over her body.”

  “You’re right. But here’s the thing. Your grandmother contacted the other side in order to communicate with Zephora. She wanted to access Zephora’s power, but she didn’t consider the risks of doing so.”

  “Zephora is evil,” Celestina said, trembling with hatred.

  It became apparent that nothing I could do would settle down my niece, so I relied on humor, “The cookies are about six months old, but they should still taste good.”

  Celestina had just taken a bite. She opened her mouth, showing me a crumbled Oreo on her tongue.

  “That doesn’t look very appetizing,” I said. “But thanks for offering to share.”

  She tried talking with an open mouth.

  “Sorry. All I hear is ‘Aunt Serena is my absolute favorite family member.’” I pushed the glass of milk toward her. “Was there something else you were trying to say?”

  Celestina closed her mouth and gave me an annoyed look. She took a sip from her glass of milk.

  “Now as much as I enjoy your company,” I said, “we should get you home.” Seeing her gulping down milk to clear her mouth in order to interject, I said, “Okay, true, your mom is far from perfect, but here’s the thing. She loves you. She makes mistakes. And yes, she’ll continue to make mistakes.” I looked into her eyes for a long beat, hoping she believed what I said. “But she loves you more than anything. She wants you to have a better life than she had. I barely know your mom, but I know that much.”

  Now that Celestina had finished eating her milk and cookies, she had nothing to say. “Okay,” she said, “we can go.”

  Half an hour later, after I dropped off Kendall and Brandon (and made sure no one followed us or lingered anywhere near their apartment), I pulled to the curb across from Celestina’s home. I didn’t intend to awaken my sister, which would surely result in a serious tongue-lashing, so rather than entering the front door, we remained outside and walked to Celestina’s bedroom window. I was shocked not to find any paranormal guards outside, prepared to protect those inside. Then again, Darius might not have had enough time to turn another group of humans into vampires and teach them to serve him.

  “You got out this way,” I said, “but do you think you can get back in?”

  She grinned, removed a Popsicle stick from between the window and the ledge, and hoisted the window open.

  I returned her smile. I bet Alexis had once accidentally let that trick slip in her daughter’s presence. “Next time, come visit me in the daylight, okay…and with your mother’s permission!”

  “Thanks, Aunt Serena.” She gave me a quick hug and then slithered into the house, closed the window, and shut the blinds.

  I scanned the premises, expecting an attack, but none was forthcoming. I contemplated going back to my car, but an unrelenting voice inside me urged me to visit my mother’s bedroom, which I sensed Zephora now resided in, which made sense since the sorceress had taken over my mother’s body. I followed my instincts and when I got there, I found her bedroom window open, a soft breeze pushing the curtain aside every few seconds.

  Inside, Zephora lay asleep with her back to me, a blanket covering her body.

  “What a pleasant surprise,” Zephora’s spectral form said from right beside me.

  “Jesus!” Although I knew she had astral projected, I couldn’t help but jump back from the unexpected disruption, my breath coming quick. Why had she projected if she slept only a few feet away?
An instant later, however, I realized that she’d sensed my presence in her sleep, but probably chose to remain asleep and present her spiritual form because it looked creepy to see two versions of her so close together. Well, she succeeded!

  “Not quite, but close.” A sweet smile emerged as Zephora’s spirit-self drifted around behind me.

  Now I knew why she didn’t have vampires or werewolves protecting the home. She didn’t need them. Who better to protect her home…than her! I glanced at her bodily form on the bed.

  “Ooh,” Zephora said and issued a tsk-tsk. “I suspect intentions unbecoming of a lady.”

  Inside the bedroom, not more than ten feet away, she turned onto her other side. She opened her eyes, saw me, and smiled. Then she yawned, closed her eyes, and went back to sleep. As if I were nothing more than a harmless insect buzzing about outside her window.

  “What’s to stop me from attacking you in your sleep?” I asked her.

  Inside the house, Zephora took in a deep breath, smacked her lips, and grinned, once more perfectly aware of what went on outside her window.

  “Go ahead,” her spirit form said and gestured toward the window. “I won’t stop you. In fact, I can’t since I’m nothing more than a mirage.”

  “But you’re energy. Sort of like a ghost. From the research I’ve done, ghosts, if they’re sufficiently pissed off…can knock an object off a table or push a chair – that sort of thing. So, you’re saying you can’t do that?”

  Zephora unveiled an egotistical grin. “Oh, I could do many things.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “But it would not be quite as entertaining to show my hand before absolutely necessary.” Her creepy grin remained fixed in place. “Now would it?”