***Becca's POV***
"Come on! You can go faster then that!"
Kate threw me a dirty look from the drivers seat. But she didn't have much of a window of opportunity for glaring, she had to bring her eyes back to the road quickly.
Despite the dirty looks, she pressed her foot harder on the gas pedal and we accelerated forward.
We were on our way to Hades, to the Council Building. Because, while I was talking to Alex, he had suggested that I go into Austin's head and check on him. I had agreed and popped into Austin's head for a minute, just a minute. I only wanted to make sure everything was alright. But, once I was in his head, the first thing I saw was Princess Aurora's smirking face. I hadn't waited to see what was going on, I just pulled myself out of his head and told everyone. Then, me and Kate jumped in Austin's car and sped towards Hades.
About two minutes ago I had gone back into Austin's head to check on the situation.
Well, the first thing I saw was General Odysseus snarling. Then, felt a sharp stab of pain as the General slapped Austin across the face.
I had pulled myself out of that vision pretty quick too.
And then started screaming at Kate that the General had slapped Austin and that she better speed up.
Now, since we were ignoring all posted traffic signs, we were almost to Hades. About 10 minutes away, since we were planning on going through the car entrance.
Kate was speeding down a road leading to Mt. Marcy, the mountain that housed the city of Hades.
"I'm going, I'm going" she muttered, punching the gas.
"Well, go faster. We need to get there ASAP" I told her.
"I know! That's why I'm breaking the speed limit and kicking up dust . . . which is getting all over the car" she mumbled, distracting herself "Austin's gonna be pissed about that. . ."
"Focus!" I commanded harshly.
"Alright, alright" she muttered, stepping on the gas pedal. The car jolted forward and Kate swerved to cut off a mini-van. The soccer mom inside honked the horn angrily at us.
Now, thats more like it.
"I'm focused" Kate mumbled to herself absently "I'm not getting distracted. . .I'm centered. . .I just ran a red light. . ."
I rolled my eyes at her. . . Who cares about traffic laws when Austin is very possibly in danger?
"Faster" I muttered impatiently.
"Were going over 100 miles per hour!" she exclaimed "This isn't the Indie 500 you know. I can't be going 200 miles per hour"
"You can try" I pointed out. She rolled her eyes, and pressed a little harder on the gas.
I glanced at the speedometer, 120 miles per hour. . .
Suddenly, Kate veered off the main road and onto a side dirt road.
The sharp turn caused me to whip to my left. And then fall back to my normal position when we were going straight again.
I rubbed my temple dizzily. Damn that hurt.
"God" I mumbled "It's like driving with my brother. . . except we haven't hit any mailboxes. . .yet"
"Bite me" Kate muttered, with a slight eye roll.
I rolled my eyes too, and didn't answer. I really didn't have anything to say.
Mostly because it was hard to think like this. We were on a gravelly dirt road so it was a bumpy ride. I was practically vibrating in my seat with all the rocking.
Despite the bad terrain we were still going pretty fast.
We were so close to the mountains that I had to crane my neck to see the top.
We were currently driving parallel to the mountain, I wasn't sure were the car entrance was, so I didn't know if we were getting close or not.
After about five minutes, we reached what I could assume was the vehicle entrance. Although, it looked nothing like an entrance.
There was a tiny shack, similar to the one at the foot entrance. It was unkept and rundown.
Kate parked parralel to the shack, so that the car was wedged between the mountain and the shack.
She rolled down her window, and leaned out a little. The lone dust encrusted window creaked open. A woman poked her head out of the window.
She had skin the color of mocha, and thick dark hair falling over her shoulders. She had high cheek-bones and full pouty lips.
Her exspression was carefully blank, but their was a slight questioning arch to her perfect eyebrows.
"Can I help you with something" she asked cautiously.
"Yes, you can help me to thrive under the watchful eye of night" Kate recited.
"Name" the woman demanded, being smartly cautious.
"Hekate Fotini Karodarus" Kate said, pulling a chain out from under her shirt and showing it to the woman.
The woman nodded, seemed satisfied and a little awed. Then, she ducked back inside the shack and shut the grimy window.
Then there was a lot of creaking and sounds of metal protesting. And then, the ground below us began to descend into the Earth.
Oh my God, this is so fuckin cool! And so fuckin impossible. . .well, then again, everything about my life should be impossible . . .
As should a car sinking into the Earth . . . but it's obviously not. . .
Once the car stopped moving the light from above disappeared abruptly. Apparently the door or whatever had been shut.
We were alone in complete darkness. . . just like the last time I came to Hades. . .except this time I'm in a car.
And cars have headlights. . .thankfully. So, Kate turned on the headlights and began speeding through the dark tunnels of Earth.
It was freaky to be driving completely underground. . .but pretty cool.
We only had to drive for a few minutes, though. Because, we quickly broke into the city of Hades. We were in Bellonna to be exact.
The prestian, Greek-styles Eytopia that I remembered.
Kate didn't pause when we got onto the streets of Bellonna. She just kept speeding, and driving in a manor that was disrespectful to the few other drivers on the road.
Most people around Hades seemed to walk. . .which made sense, if your immortal and undeniably fast and have amazing endurance walking is ideal.
We flew down the streets, swerving around a corner every so often. Which always sent me flying.
After driving recklessly for a few minutes, we were finally there. I could see the Council Building up ahead. I knew exactly what it looked like although I had never been there.
Kate slammed on the brakes in front of the stairs leading to the building.
I flew forward into the dashboard. It hurt like fuckin hell.
I got over it quickly though, and hastily undid my seat belt. Then threw open my door and jumped out of the car.
Kate was already out and pushing past paparazzi to get to the door.
I followed after her, pushing past the paparazzi snapping pictures at random. Hoping to get something useable.
I was used to these people. . .well, Austin was anyway.
"Hekate! Hey, Hekate, where have you been all this time?"
"Hey, Hekate! Why have you denied contact with the Council?"
"Hey, Hekate! Is it true your parents have disowned you?"
Austin was right, these people are fuckin parasites.
Just being around them makes me ground my teeth.
Kate and I shoved and pushed our way to the front door.
Once there, Kate pounded on it violently. She screamed to whoever was on the other side, "Hello!? Open up!"
The door opened a crack, but not enough for us to see who was on the other side.
"I'm sorry. . . but there's a bit of an incident going on right now" a timid voice said, her warning was accented nicely by a loud crash coming from inside, "If you could come back later. . ."
"It's me, Hekate. Now, I demand that you let me in this second" Kate said harshly.
"Oh, oh my" the voice mumbled, undoing what sounding like some heavy locks.
Then the door opened the reveal the vampire secretary, Aldara I believe. . .
Nervously, she brushed her short black hair behind her ear.
"Oh, come in Ms. Karodarus" she said quickly.
Kate and I both strode in, and then Aldara shut the door behind us immediately and locked it.
"I'm so sorry Ms. Karodarous" Aldara apologized "I didn't know it was you-"
"It's fine" Kate said, seeming uncharacteristically focused, "Were are they? Where is Austeralgo?"
Aldara pointed to a set of big white doors. "He was in there. . .but I should warn you-" she began.
"We know" Kate said, heading for the doors. I followed behind her quickly. She pushed open the huge white doors to reveal chaos.
Council members were scattered around, ranting and arguing with each other. They were all so more frazzled then I had ever seen them. I immediately took notice of the Arthasians. The Arthasian king, Princess Aurora, and Princess Fama. They were with a blonde woman who I could assume was the Arthasian Queen. They seemed just as frenzied as the Council. Barking demands at each other, servants, and Council members. I noticed Princess Aurora arguing intensely with the vampire representation on the Council, Analisa. The room was just as distressed as it's occupants. A potted plant had been knocked over, cracking the white pot and spilling dirt all over the marble floors. The long white table in the center of the room had holes in it, and several chairs were scattered around the room. But, no matter where I looked, I didn't see Austin anywhere.
As soon as we stepped into the room, everybody went quiet. They all stared at us silently for a moment.
King Zephuros broke the silence, "Hekate! How lovely to see you, I should-"
Kate held up a hand to halt his babble. "Don't bother with the chit chat" she said harshly "I came here strictly on business. Where is my brother?"
King Zephuros looked a little uncomfortable as he said "Well, there was a bit of an incident with-"
"We know about that" she interrupted "My friend here is Blood Bound to him. . .we know exactly what happened. Now, tell me where he is"
"He's upstairs" the king sighed, defeated, "Cooling off. . .I should warn you though-"
"We don't have time for this" Kate hissed "Take us to him"
Looking distressed, the king motioned for another secretary to help us. She nodded, ducked her head, and headed towards a door on the other side of the room.
Kate and I followed after her, receiving glares from Princess Aurora and the General.
Kate bared her teeth at the general, and I glared back at Aurora.
We followed the timid secretary out of the room and into a room full of stairs. Grand, white, staircases led up and up as far as I could see.
Walking quickly and keeping her eyes on the floor, the secretary began to prance up the stairs.
We followed after her, walking up about four flights of stairs. Until we reached the fifth floor, which was just a small landing and a white door.
The secretary grabbed a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. She waited until Kate and I were both inside, and then shut the door behind us.
The fifth floor was a long corridor of white doors. It reminded me faintly of a hotel. Long clean hallway, plain white doors. . .
There wasn't anybody in this hallway, except for two men in suits standing outside a door at the end of the hallway.
The secretary led the way to the end of the hallway, and stopped at the guarded door.
Once we were closer, I could see that the two gaurds were Lykaios and Domingo.
"Kate?" Domingo asked, seeming confused.
"We came to get Austin" she explained "Becca saw what happened"
"Ah" he said, understanding, "You should know though-"
"Not important" I told him "Just let me in"
Domingo looked like he was fighting with himself, but eventually conceded and opened the door for me.
I smiled smugly at him, and then slipped in. He shut the door behind me.
The room I had walked into was dark, not pitch black. . .but relatively dark. It was cold too, although, it was a refreshing kind of cold. Like hanging out in your basement during the summer to escape the heat. The room wasn't very decorated, white walls, light colored desk, no windows, empty bookshelf, and a plain double bed in the center. Lieing across that white bed was Austin. He was laying backwards, his feet where his head should be and vice versa. He had an arm thrown over his eyes, and the only movement was from the fluttering of his chest.
"Becca, what are you doing here" he asked impatiently. Obviously, he wasn't surprised that I was here, but he wasn't pleased either.
"How did you know it was me?" I asked, sitting down in the plain desk chair.
"Your scent, and the bond" he said, still sounding impatient.
"Oh. . .so, what happened down there?" I asked. I had no idea what everyone was trying to 'warn' us about. He seemed fine to me, a little stressed maybe. . .but, overall fine.
"The General slapped me because I wouldn't let Aurora drink my blood" he said dully.
"And why are you up here and not downstairs killing them?" I demanded.
A thin, dry smirk played on his lips. "They dragged me up here before I got the chance" he said.
"And why aren't you flipping out and trying to escape?" I asked. I'm aware that encouraging violence is a bad idea when I specifically came here to calm him down, but hell they deserve it.
"Because Cybele put some kind of spell on me that mellows me out" he said "I know I should be angry about that too, but I just can't make myself"
"Oh. . .well, if your calm then why is everyone so spastic?" I asked.
"I'll show you" he said dryly, lifting his arm off of his eyes and turning his head to look at me.
Holy fuck! His eyes weren't the sparkling silver they usually were. They were a bright scarlet, and glowing.
"Oh my God!" I exclaimed, automatically flinching back. I was immediately contrite, assuming that I had hurt his feelings.
But, he didn't look hurt. He looked expressionless and unsurprised.
"And now you know" he said dully.
"Why-why-what happened?" I stuttered "Why-why are they red"
He laughed without humor, "That's the funny part. . .we don't know"
Yea, real funny. "Well. . .that's not good" I said slowly.
"No, no it's not" he agreed.
"So, nobody knows why they turned red?" I clarified.
"Well, if they do they're not telling me. Which, wouldn't really surprise me" he mumbled.
"Well, are you okay?" I asked.
"Yea, I'm fine. . .I'll probably become randomly homicidal when this spell wears off. . .but other then that, yea" he said.
"Okay, good. I was worried about you" I told him "I saw what happened with Aurora and General Odysseus"
"Not surprising" he said "Did you see all of it?"
"No, I just saw Aurora's face and then the General slapping you" I told him.
"Oh, well then there's something I need to tell you" he said, composed, "I'm engaged."
"What!?" I exploded. Engaged??????
"Yea, I'm supposed to marry Princess Aurora. . .but don't worry. I'm not going to let that happen. I'd be her Blood Donor forever and wouldn't ever be able to see you" he said "That's hell"
"Okay, kinda impossible for me to not worry about this" I mumbled "But I'll try"
"Okay" he said blandly. He was so mellow that it was kind of freaking me out. He was never this calm, especially when discussing Aurora.
"We should probably take you home" I muttered.
"Okay" he said, getting up. I stuck to his side as we headed for the door.
When I opened the door, everyone braced themselves.
"Relax" I told them, rolling my eyes, "He's fine"
Austin stared levelly at them, proving my point. Kate looked away from his devil-eyed gaze.
"C'mon" I said harshly "Let's go." Kate nodded, and we all began down the hallway. The shy secretary was nowhere to be seen, though.
Domingo and Lykaios came with us, there eyes never straying from Austin. They were just waiting for something to go wrong. . .
We left the fifth floor and descended down the stairs. When we reached the first floor, we walked (unhappily) into the Council room.
Things weren't quite the same as when we left. It was still disorderly, but everyone was relatively quiet. People were still arguing, but in hushed tones.
The first argument I zoned in on was the one involving Analisa, Odysseus, and King Zephuros. They were all arguing with a small cloaked figure. I couldn't see if I knew this person because they were wearing a floor length deep purple cloak, with the hood up. Their back was to me, so it made it even harder. I knew it was a girl though, because I picked up on her attractive baby-ish voice. It was easy to hear their conversation because they were arguing only about 10 feet from us.
"Your making a big deal out of nothing" the small cloaked figure insisted.
"What would you know? Your only the messenger" Odysseus sneered. Oh, so he's not just ruthless to us. . .he's hostile to other people too. How pleasant.
"Prima has seen this hundreds of times before" the tiny figure hissed "It's nothing to get worked up about"
"Oh really" Odysseus challenged, crossing his arms over his chest, "Then fix it"
"I will" the cloaked figure said haughtily, "Like I said, this isn't a big deal"
"When people's eyes turn red with anger it's usually a big deal" the General said.
"They didn't turn red because he was angry" the little girl said as if this was plainly obvious, "They turned red because he was stressed and overwhelmed"
"I've been stressed and overwhelmed many times before and my eyes never turned red" the General retorted.
"Because your not a vampire" the girl hissed.
"Well, I'm a vampire" Analisa piped in "And that has never happened to me before"
"Because you have to be stressed, overwhelmed, and have witch blood in your system" the cloaked girl explained "And I'm guessing you don't drink a lot of witch blood"
Analisa looked resigned, "No. . .no, I don't" she mumbled.
"That's what I thought" the girl said "The combination of stress and witch blood often causes the irises to change color. . .A good nights sleep should turn them back to normal"
The General tried to say something but the girl cut him off with a hand.
"It's been lovely helping you. . .but I do have other business to attend to" she said ""Good day" she said curtly, and walked away from them.
She approached our little group, and stood directly in front of me.
But I still couldn't see what she looked like because the cloak shrouded her face, or at least to anyone taller then her.
Which was everyone in the room, even tiny Kate was about an inch taller.
"Vederela alla casa, Persa Strega" she told me, and I could see a smirk playing on her barely visible lips.
Once she said that, the king rushed over with Analisa and the General hot on his heels.
"What on Earth do you mean by that, young lady" the king demanded "Did Prima tell you something? Did she tell you it was her?"
The small girl smirked, "Arrivederci" she said, and turned on her heel. She floated out of the room without a backwards glance.
"Austeralgo" the king growled, losing his mad-hatter, happy yet scary manner, "Do you have any idea what she was talking about"
"I-ugh, ummm no" he stuttered, seeming flustered. Apparently that calm spell is wearing off, at least he isn't homicidal. . . yet.
he king turned to me, "Show me your shoulder" he commanded.
"Ugh. . . What?" I asked, extremely confused.
"Show me your shoulder" he repeated. Then he grabbed my shirt sleeve and pulled it down to reveal my shoulder.
"Hey! What the-" I protested immediately.
"She has the mark. . ." the king mumbled , sounding dazed "Its really her. . ."
"Don't touch her" Austin growled, smacking the kings hand away from my shoulder. Yep, spell definitely wearing off. Because Austin was definitely starting to get angry.
When he pushed my shirt sleeve back into place he glared at the king angrly. He looked like he was going to rip out someone's throat.
Either the king, the general, or the princess . . . One of theirs.
"We have to go" Domingo said hastily.
Kate nodded in agreement, "Yes, we have to leave now" she chimed in.
She grabbed Austin's shirt sleeve and began dragging him towards the door. He threw the king a dirty look over his shoulder, but didn't fight Kate.
I stood there, staring at the king blankly as Domingo followed after Kate and Austin.
What had the king been talking about? What mark? What did it mean?
What had the girl in the purple cloak said to me? What language had she been speaking, Italian?
A yank on my shirt sleeve shook me out of my thoughts.
Lykaios had pulled my sleeve to get my attention. "Oh, yea, let's go" I mumbled, following him as we quickly retreated from the room.
The lobby was empty except for Kate, Austin, and Domingo standing by the door.
Kate still had her hand around Austin's wrist, as if she thought he would charge back into the room and kill someone if she let go of him.
Domingo had his hand on the door handle, like he was ready to open it at any second.
When we entered the room, Domingo turned the handle to open it.
"No, wait" Lykaios said, stopping him.
"What is it?" Domingo asked. Lykaios walked over to them, and took off his sunglasses. He placed them over Austin's blood red eyes.
"The press already knows somethings up" he explained "Don't need to tip them off anymore."
"Good idea" Domingo said, and pushed open the door.
The paparazzi were all lined up outside, cameras ready. I swear, these people practically live in front of this building.
Domingo and Lykaios stayed in front, pushing past people, carving a path for us. Kate led Austin towards the limo and I followed behind.
When we reached the cars, Kate handed Lykaios the keys to the Maserati. He nodded and went over to it and got in the front seat.
Domingo, Austin, Kate and I all got into the limo. Apparently the driver had been waiting because once we were in, he started driving.
For the first few minutes in the car everyone was quiet. But I could tell Austin was unhappy.
He kept fidgeting and fingering the sunglasses in his hands. His red eyes seemed upset and stressed. They no longer seemed scary, just unsettling. They were still Austin's eyes.
After about a half an hour Austin was becoming really agitated. He kept fidgeting like he couldn't get comfortable and tapping his foot anxiously.
We both jumped when my ring tone went off.
Although neither Kate or Domingo seemed to notice.
I flipped open my phone to see that I had a text message from Kate, who was sitting on my other side.
Why the hell she is texting me? She's like two inches from me?
Curiously, I read the text message:
Austin is so stressed, put a sleep spell on him?
I looked up at her, and she gave me pleading puppy dog eyes.
I raised my eyebrows at her, and texted back:
"Y?"
"Cuz he's obviously uncomfortable, he's better off asleep" she replied.
"Oh fine"I texted back.
It only took me a few seconds to conjure sleep and send it Austin's way. It worked quickly, he was already tired so he wasn't resisting.
He slowly laid his head to rest on my shoulder and was asleep in seconds.
"Good job" Kate congratulated, keeping her voice low.
I rolled my eyes, "Hey, Kate, do you know what that girl in the purple cloak said to me?" I asked. "
Oh yea, she said 'see you at home, lost witch"
"Weird" I mumbled "How'd she know anyway? That I was the Lost Witch"
"I think she works for your grandmother" Kate mused.
"Most likely" Domingo chimed in "They mentioned her by name several times"
"She looked a little young to be working for her. . ." I mumbled.
Kate shrugged, "She was just the messenger though. The Prima Strega refuses to have any contact with the Council, so she'll send someone else to do her bidding with them"
"What's her deal with the Council?" I wondered.
Domingo shrugged, "Nobody knows" he said.
"There's just one thing I don't get about this" I mumbled "Why did that girl tell me she would see me at home?"
"Perhaps she lives with the Prima Strega" Domingo suggested.
"Yea, maybe she's a live in servant" Kate chimed in.
"Maybe" I agreed, shrugging, "She just seemed familiar to me, I guess"
The rest of the ride was relatively quiet. Kate was sleeping, stretched across a row of black leather seats.
And Domingo was mutely staring out the window, stroking Kate's hair absently. He looked kinda tired too, worn out.
I was feeling kind of tired too, it had been a ridiculously long day. I figured I'd just close my eyes for a minute.
Just a minute. . .only for a. . .
When I opened my eyes we were parked in front of my house. Domingo was lightly shaking my shoulder, telling me to wake up.
Kate and Austin were both still asleep.
"Oh, uh-what?" I muttered, dazed.
"Were at your house" he said quietly.
"Oh, thanks" I mumbled, undoing my seat belt. Austin was still leaning his head on my shoulder, so he woke up when I moved.
Well, sort of woke up. He was only half-awake, sleep spells usually did that.
He was looking at me with tired, devil-red eyes.
It didn't scare me though. They were Austin's eyes . . . just a different color. Besides, it was my blood that did that to him.
"Huh? What's going on?" he mumbled, looking around.
"Nothing" I whispered "We're at my house. . . go back to sleep"
"Oh, okay" he mumbled, resting his head on the back of the seat. He fell asleep again, in seconds. Sleep spells aren't that easy to shake off.
"Bye" I whispered to nobody and kissed him on the forehead. Then, I scrambled out of the limo.
I stepped out onto the dark sidewalk in front of my house. I breathed in the clean night air. One of the perks of living in the country.
"Bye Domingo" I called quietly, waving at him. He smiled and closed the door. The limo drove off towards the Kardigan's house.
I walked up the walkway to my house, I looked behind my shoulder paranoidly. There was nobody around, I could tell. But I was still jumpy.
I went up to my front door, and opened it. The only time we locked it was when nobody was home, or at night.
I was half-expecting the little girl in the purple cloak to be sitting in my living room. Waiting for me with a smirk on her shrouded face and saying cryptic comments in Italian.
But, when I walked into the living room, Lydia and Jake were sitting on the couch watching a movie.
"Hey Becca" Lydia chirped, perkily "Where were you all day"
"Austin's house" Jake muttered dryly "That's were she always is"
I shrugged, "I usually am" I admitted.
Lydia laughed, "I wonder why that is . . . " she trailed off suggestively. Jake groaned and covered his ears. Lydia and I laughed at him.
Then, I headed into the kitchen, to find my mom sitting at the kitchen table. She was on the phone.
"Yea, I'll tell her-" when she saw me her tone became much perkier "Oh here she is"
I gave her a questioning look, who was looking for me?
My mom put her hand over the receiver, "It's your grandmother"
I suppressed a groan, I knew I'd be hearing from her soon enough.
"She wants to talk to you" she said ultra-quiet, almost mouthing the words.
She took her hand off the receiver and talked into it "Yep, she's right here. . . Okay. . . Yes, I'll be sure to call. . . .Okay. . . Love you too"
Then she handed me the phone. I faked a smile, and took the phone. Pressing it to my ear, I began to walk upstairs.
"Hi Grandma" I said in the cheery voice I saved for talking to relatives I hadn't seen in a while.
"Hello, granddaughter, it's lovely to here your voice again. it's been to long" a mystical voice said.
"Yea, I know. We haven't visited in a long time" I said casually, walking into my room.
"No you haven't. Your parents are very busy people, are they not?" she asked.
"Yea, their both pretty busy" I agreed, flopping down on my bed.
"Yes, yes. And Lydia? She's in college I believe" she observed.
"Yep, junior year" I confirmed.
"Majoring in advertising, no?" she wondered.
"Yep" I agreed "She's real into it too"
"Splendid" she said "And your brothers? How are they?"
"Their good" I told her "Ken got a scholarship to MIT and Jake's going all the way to Idaho to play football at Boise State. . ."
"So soon you'll be the only baby bird left in the nest" she observed.
Actually, until now I hadn't thought of that. Jake and Ken were going to be leaving home in a few months. . .
Amazingly, this idea made me sad. Like when Lydia moved away to college when I was 13, I had been extremely depressed.
Because she was the easiest in my family to deal with. Because we were both teenage girls, and we could talk about boys and stuff like that. We would fight, sure, but not a lot.
Now, I fought with Jake and Ken a lot. . . but I still loved them. I was gonna be sad to see them go.
"Yea, I guess I will be. . ." I mumbled.
"Yes, so how are you, granddaughter?" she asked sociably "What have you been up to?"
"Not much, really" I told her. Understatement of the century was an understatement. That was an outright lie.
"Ahh, well, tell me, how is dance?' she asked "Your mother says your getting quite good"
I laughed lightly, "I like to think so"
"Yes, yes. And how are you doing in school?" she wondered, as any relative would ask.
"Good. . .though not as good as Austin" I said, not realizing my mistake until I'd already said it. Shit, shit. I shouldn't of mentioned Austin.
"And who would Austin be?" she asked, although she obviously already knew.
"Ugh, he's my boyfriend" I said uncomfortably. Who's comfortable talking about guys with their grandmother? Especially one you hardly know.
"Oh, yes. Your mother mentioned him" she said. Yea, I'm sure that's how you know. . .
"Yea, we've been dating for a couple months" I mumbled awkwardly.
"Yes, yes lovely. . . Now, my dear nipote, I have called to invite you to spend the weekend at my estate with me" my grandmother said kindly.
"Oh well. . .I'll have to ask my Mom" I said awkwardly.
"I already talked to her. . .she thinks it's a wonderful idea" she told me.
"Oh, well, I guess that'd be cool" I mumbled.
She chuckled, "Yes, it will. There's so many things I need to talk to you about, I also have a present for you" announced happily.
I wonder what that could possible be. . . insert eye roll here.
"Oh cool" I said "Should I come over tomorrow?" Tomorrow was Friday. . .and some people don't consider that apart of the weekend.
"Yes, that would be splendid-" she cut off and then her voice sounded farther away, and louder, "Vitani! Put that down!"
I could hear yelling, and crashing sounds in the distance.
She returned to the phone a moment, her voice back to normal volume and tone. "Sorry, nipote, I just had some business to attend to. As I was saying, yes tomorrow would be perfect"
"Okay, well Grandma, I gotta go. I'm really tired. I had a really rough day" I explained.
She chuckled lightly, "I'm sure you have. Well, goodnight innamorato" she said softly "I'll see you tomorrow"
"See you tomorrow" I said, hanging up the phone.
Just like that girl and many immortals I knew, my Grandmother sprinkled her English with Italian. It annoyed me, because I seemed to be the only one who didn't speak Italian.
It sucked to not know what everybody was saying.
Exhausted, I changed into my pajamas and left my room for a brief moment.
I leaned over the railing, looking into the kitchen. My mom was still at the table.
"Mom!" I called "Your driving me to Grandma's estate tomorrow, right?"
"Yep, of course, honey" she responded "And I have the perfect dress for you to wear"
Oh lovely. Grandma was really old-fashioned. Well, at least now I know why. She's the First Witch. . .that's like being the first person. And that's ridiculously old.
It would make sense for her to be really old-fashioned I guess. I would have to wear something nice to see her. If I wore my normal clothes she'd probably have a heart attack.
"Okay, night mom" I called.
"Night sweetheart" she called back.
Then, I went back into my room and curled up under the blankets.
It had been a seriously long day, and I was extremly happy to rest.
I was asleep in minutes.
