Chapter 10: The Magical Delights of Stevie Nicks
Melanie and Kyle watched as Fiona shut the door behind Marie, and the Supreme and Voodoo Queen began ascending the stairs. Melanie narrowed her eyes, wondering what Fiona was up to. She briefly considered the far-fetched idea that Fiona may have recruited Marie to help her get rid of potential future Supreme candidates, but she couldn't see the coven's long-time enemy agreeing to do her a personal favor any time soon. Squinting in the dark, she realized the arm Marie was holding was wounded, and there was blood leaking through her fingers. Had she come to them for help? That seemed equally unlikely. Melanie tensed when they drew close. Kyle noticed and took that as a sign to get ready to fight.
"All right, you two can quit gawking," Fiona said when she spotted the two kids. "And you can relax. Marie is here as our guest. So why don't you make yourselves useful and fetch her some tea and that silver flask Cordelia keeps in her desk. Bring them up to the guest room." Melanie didn't relax, but she nodded to show that she would comply with the request, and she and Kyle let the older women pass. They probably couldn't have done much against two such powerful opponents on their own anyway. So Melanie and Kyle went downstairs to do as Fiona asked. They brought the tea and flask to Fiona on a silver tray. "Good. You two can go back to bed now," Fiona said dismissively, about to close the door in their faces, when Melanie stuck her foot forward.
"Should I let Cordelia know?" Melanie asked, concerned.
"No. I'll take care of this. No sense in waking her or anyone else. They'll find out about it tomorrow," Fiona replied. Melanie searched her expression for any signs that she might be lying. It was hard to tell, but, for the moment, Fiona didn't appear to be planning to kill them all in their sleep just yet. Melanie removed her foot, and Fiona shut the door. Kyle watched while Melanie pressed her ear against the door for a couple of minutes to listen. Her eyes widened in surprise at what she overheard. Fiona had just said that Marie 'lost everyone she knew'. Melanie immediately thought of Queenie. Did that mean that she was dead? Marie had come to them wounded, so a third party must have attacked her. If Fiona was taking her in, then it must be a common enemy they both shared. Witch hunters.
Melanie straightened up and turned to face Kyle, taking him by the hand to lead him back to their room. "Come on. I don't think we have anything to worry about tonight." Queenie was either still alive, or she wasn't. Worrying wouldn't bring back the dead, and they needed their rest. If the witch hunters had raided Marie Laveau's place, it was probably only a matter of time before they came for them, too.
Unfortunately, Madison appeared to have other plans, because they found her waiting for them on the bed. "Where have you two been?"
"Making tea," Melanie replied. Madison raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm not in the mood tonight, Madison."
"Well, then I guess Kyle and I will just have to amuse ourselves, then," Madison said, leaving the bed to approach him. She placed a hand under his chin and gave him a deep kiss. Melanie tired very hard to ignore them as she headed for her bed. She and Kyle might love each other, but apparently the deal to share him was still on. That really steamed her.
"I'm tired," Kyle said, breaking away from the kiss. Madison scoffed at him in disbelief. She glanced between Melanie and Kyle.
"Whatever!" Madison said, stomping out of the room in a huff. If they didn't want to screw her, then screw them!
Kyle climbed into bed with Melanie and put his arms around her. She didn't pull away, but she didn't look at him either. Kyle frowned. He knew that he had hurt her again. His jaw tensed as he thought about how stupid he had been to let Madison kiss him again. He still had trouble controlling his impulses. He kissed Melanie's hair and silently promised to work on that. Whatever temporary distractions came his way, she was the one he wanted to be with.
Everyone was shocked the following morning when they learned that Marie Laveau had come to them seeking refuge in the middle of the night, and Fiona announced that they were now allies. The story about Hank's assault on her salon had made the news, but they hadn't identified him or released the names of the victims yet. Melanie—who had dressed for the day in a soft black pullover sweater, a slightly flared black miniskirt with a thin white plaid pattern, black tights, and black ankle boots, a black headband, and a black velvet choker with a plastic black 90s choker—was surprised to hear that he had been the culprit. After breakfast, she, Zoe, Madison, and Nan were sent out to Cornrow City to assess the damage and see if they could learn more about what happened from the locals. Cordelia sat at the kitchen table with her mother and their once long-time enemy while they watched the latest news program. "Here's an update on the shoot-out at a hair salon in the Ninth Ward yesterday," the newscaster announced. "The police have identified a man seen here in this video surveillance footage. If anyone has any information…"
"It's my fault," Cordelia said sadly, feeling guilty. "All of it. I told him I was filing for divorce. He was so angry." Fiona took out a cigarette and tapped it on the table, put it in her mouth, and lit it with her lighter. "He was determined to be a hero. He had this look on his face. I should have seen it."
"It ain't on you," Marie said, looking at her. "It's on me. I hired him."
"What are you talking about?" Cordelia asked.
Marie turned a little to face her better. "Your husband was a Witch Hunter." Fiona glanced sideways at her daughter. This was news to both of them. "Showed up at my place, runnin' his mouth 'bout how he been killing witches his whole life, 'bout how he had all this access, how his mother-in-law was the Supreme." Marie glanced at Fiona. "Ooh, he hated your ass. But he gave me a fair price, so…" Marie scoffed when she saw the stunned and angry look on Cordelia's face. "You were my sworn enemy," she said in her defense as Fiona stood up and began to quietly pace the kitchen.
"You hired him to kill me? To kill my girls?" Cordelia asked incredulously, loosing the battle to keep her voice from breaking. Hank was an even bigger bastard than she thought.
"Uh-huh. But he was too soft on you, he couldn't do it. He was tryin' to protect you, all right. From me. Lucky for y'all he was a stone fool." Marie said. Fiona suddenly turned and swept toward them. Marie's eyes widened when she saw the furious look on her face and tensed, ready for a fight, but Fiona moved straight past her and gave her own daughter a back-handed slap that was hard enough to knock the poor girl out of her chair. Cordelia cried out in pain and shock as she hit the floor. Marie stood up, startled.
"You're not just blind, you are willfully blind," Fiona yelled at Cordelia, glaring down at her. "You married Hank to prove some childish point and brought a viper into this sacred house."
"It's all water under the bridge now, mama," Marie said, stepping between them. "Come on, come on, come on," she told Cordelia, keeping her eyes on Fiona while she helped her crying daughter back onto her chair.
"But Hank was not some… lone assassin with a grudge," Fiona said. "Witch Hunters never act alone. They are part of an ancient order of men whose sole purpose is to rid the world of witches. Black or white." She pointed her finger at Marie and shook it to emphasize her point, while Cordelia wiped the tears from her face. "Now w… we don't have to waste our time with worker bees, what we have to do is to find the hive." The doorbell rang just as she finished her speech. "Excuse me," Fiona said and left to answer the door. Marie sat back down, and Cordelia stared at the floor, feeling shocked and distraught. How could she have been married to Hank for so long and not known what he was? How could he betray her like that? Was he responsible for tipping off the Witch Hunter who had tried to kill Melanie? If so… then a very large part of her was glad he was dead.
"That's not all," Cordelia said, when Marie stood up again to leave. "One of our girls was abducted, and she barely escaped with her life. Thanks to her, we now know that they've discovered a way to suppress our powers."
"How?" Marie asked with a frown. Only another witch could pull something like that off.
"Drugs," Cordelia replied. "Apparently there's a certain combination that can temporarily block a witch from using her powers."
"Well, I don't know nothin' 'bout that," Marie said grimly. Hank had just gone straight to shooting when he came to slaughter her friends and allies. "But if that's true, then we need to weed this problem out at the root. What happened to that witch hunter?"
"She killed him," Cordelia said quietly. "She destroyed the body and the crime scene in a fire and dumped his car in the swamp."
Marie raised an eyebrow, impressed. "That so?" If she wanted to avenge her fallen comrades, then maybe she had come to the right place, after all. Cordelia watched Marie walk out of the room and turn the television off as she passed it, silencing the story that had begun about the abduction of a baby from a local hospital.
"Well, that was a morbid field trip," Madison said as she and the others returned from their attempt to scout out what was left of Marie's salon. The bodies had already been removed before the young witches arrived on the scene, and the building had been sealed.
"Queenie's dead," Zoe said, wishing she would show a little more respect, as they passed through the school's gate. Nan glanced at Melanie. Melanie had been very quiet ever since they had heard about the assault on Cornrow City, but her mind was loud with concern for their ex-classmate.
"We don't know that. They haven't released the names yet," Madison said. "She could be at the Souplantation. You know how much that bitch loves a bottomless bowl. Should we go to the morgue?"
"No," Zoe and Nan answered together, while Melanie shook her head, and the four of them walked up the steps leading into the house. Melanie could faintly hear music coming from inside.
Madison sighed. "For witches, you guys are such squares." When they entered, Melanie realized the music she heard was an acoustic version of Stevie Nicks singing Rhiannon along to the piano. That wasn't so unusual. What was unusual, and very surprising, was when they went into the sitting room and saw the real thing sitting at their piano. Fiona was lounging in one chair, while Misty sat in the other, gazing at her hero in awe. Melanie marveled over the unexpected scene while she and the others slowly and quietly walked over to stand by the couch and listen in. Stevie kept singing, not the least bit bothered by the abrupt widening of her small audience. Misty stood up and moved a little closer, leaning against a white support column, while she watched Stevie with star-struck eyes. Madison moved away from the others to approach Fiona.
Madison leaned down to talk to her and kept her voice low. "I'm a huge Eminem fan. When's he get here?"
"Marshall? You're not his type. And more importantly…" Fiona said, turning her head to look at her, "you're not the next Supreme." Misty started twirling with her shawl when Stevie reached the last lines of the song.
"What about the Seven Wonders?" Madison asked.
"I have no doubt she'll pass every one," Fiona said. Madison shook her head as she watched the ditzy swamp witch finish twirling and grab the column because she had made herself busy. Misty giggled and hugged it, keeping her eyes on Stevie while she sang the last verse as she moved to join her on the piano bench. She looked like she was having a hard time containing herself now that she was in such close proximity to the White Witch. Everyone applauded the performance after Stevie finished the final chord, and Madison quickly bounced over to Stevie at the Piano.
"That was amazing," she praised the famous musician with a big smile.
"Thank you, honey," Stevie said humbly with a small smile.
Misty immediately stood up again, feeling compelled to explain why the song and Stevie were both so wonderful. "She wrote it in ten minutes. She heard the name Rhiannon, and she got inspired, sat down and wrote the song. I know everything about you," she added, looking back at Stevie.
"I'm honored, Misty," Stevie said kindly. "Thank you."
"Did I get the shawl twirl right?" Misty asked nervously. "I real… I want to get it right."
"Perfect. It was perfect. Thank you." Stevie said. "But let me show you something." She stood up and moved from behind the piano to grab her own shawl off the back of chair. "One twirl."
"Okay. Yeah," Madison said, quickly moving out of the way when they both started twirl, and she nearly got hit in the face by Misty's shawl.
"Go that way," Stevie directed Misty.
"Okay," Misty said.
"Whoo!" Stevie said, wrapping her shawl around herself with a smile as they finished. Misty laughed and clapped, saluting her hero with a curtsey. "So, this shawl has danced across the stages of the world, and now it's yours," Stevie said, holding up her shawl as she faced the younger witch to drape it over her shoulders. "And now it's yours. And good luck with the Seven Wonders." She hoped the sweet girl made it.
Misty threw her arms around Stevie, unable to contain her joy any longer. "Thank you, thank you, Stevie, thank you." Stevie smiled and returned her hug.
Madison was fuming as she stomped into the room she shared with Zoe. "That swamp bitch can't even spell her own name, and now she gets the keys to the kingdom?" She made a sound of disgust as she threw he fur coat onto her bed and sat down to pull out a cigarette. Nan, Melanie, and Zoe entered the room behind her, and Zoe made sure to shut the door so Misty wouldn't have to overhear the drama queen complaining. "I mean, I came back from the dead."
"Yeah, Misty brought you back," Zoe reminded her. Madison gave her a humorless and sarcastic laugh in response as she sat down the bed beside her.
"I could be the Supreme," Nan said, sitting on Zoe's bed with Melanie.
"Yeah, the mind reading's a real trick, Mumbles the Clown," Madison said dismissively, lighting up her cigarette.
"My powers are growing," Nan insisted. "I can do mind control."
"Prove it," Madison said.
Nan looked hard at her. "Put out that cigarette." Zoe and Melanie watched while Madison immediately did as she was told without even blinking. "Now stick it in your vagina."
"Whoa!" Melanie said with wide eyes, covering her mouth when Madison actually started to do it, and Zoe had to immediately jump up and grab her hand to stop her.
"Nan, stop! Both of you skanks, enough!" Zoe said sternly, while Nan flashed Madison a smile packed with sass. "And by the way, you can't be the Supreme—you've got a heart murmur," Zoe reminded Madison.
"Hm. Not anymore, bitch," Madison retorted confidently with a tilt of her head. She stood up. "My little trip to the afterlife cured it."
"I don't believe you," Zoe said. Nan stood up and crossed the room to put her ear against Madison's chest, and Madison uncrossed her arms to let her.
"It's true," Nan said after taking a couple moments to listen to her heart.
"It was clearly my destiny to die and be reborn, just like our Lord and Savior," Madison said sassily. "So let's schedule the Seven Wonders, me versus Misty, and we'll see who the next goddamn Supreme is." She grabbed her cigarettes and left the room, slamming the door behind her. Melanie shared a concerned look with Zoe. If Madison really was the next Supreme, then the coven was most likely doomed.
After some intense searching on the internet for more information about the man she thought she had married for connections to other Witch Hunters he might have been associated with, Cordelia asked her mother and Marie to come to her office. She turned her laptop around to show them what she had found. It was the homepage for Delphi Trust. The portrait of the man in charge stood out prominently on the screen.
"Okay, so who is he?" Marie asked.
"Harrison Renard. CEO of the Delphi Trust, an asset management company. One of the richest men in the country. And… apparently, my father-in-law," Cordelia answered with a nervous glance at her mother.
Fiona let out a soft, sardonic laugh. "I thought Hank didn't have any family."
"No. What Hank didn't have were any customers. No real ones, anyway," Cordelia said.
"You're sure this man is Hank's father?" Fiona asked.
"Renard. The French word for 'fox.' And this." Cordelia said, walking around the desk to open another tab that showed a page full of images of Harrison and Hank together. "His name really was Hank. Well, Henry. Henry Renard, the only son of Harrison Renard."
"So, tell me about this company, Delphi," Marie said.
"It grew out of the Renard's family business. They used to be carpenters, furniture builders, dating back to the colonies," Cordelia explained.
"Salem," Fiona said.
"Now they specialize in private equity. Last year they managed over $50 billion in assets," Cordelia added.
"So, where do we find them?" Marie asked.
"Corporate headquarters are in Atlanta," Cordelia replied.
"Hell, that ain't nothin' but a hop," Marie said. "So what we waitin' on?"
"Well, before we hop on our broomsticks, let's think this through," Fiona said. "This is a multibillion-dollar corporation. We've got to be smart about this."
They moved to the sitting room, where they set up everything they would need to bring their wrath down upon the Witch Hunters and cripple them where it would hurt the most. Fiona and Marie set wads of $100 bills down outside the white maze they had created, arranging them in a circle to encompass the whole thing. "They pray to one god—a green, merciless god. Money. So we cut off their supply, bring them to their knees, make them crawl to us and beg for mercy." Fiona placed a mousetrap baited with cheese inside the maze. "Here, I can do that," she told her daughter, going over to the table where she was preparing the herbs they would need for the ritual.
"I want to help," Cordelia said, continuing to crush the herbs with her mortar and pestle.
"No. You're tainted. You let them get inside your head," Fiona said, taking the tools from her.
"We can fight about this for the next ten years, but right now I want to help you," Cordelia said earnestly.
"No!" Fiona screamed at her. "Don't you understand anything?" she whispered. "You can't help me. You can't help anyone. You're worthless, hopeless. Get out of my sight." Cordelia looked at the contemptuous expression on her mother's face and left.
"Madison can't be the Supreme," Zoe said as she rode the elevator up to the ICU floor with Melanie and Nan. Nan had purchased a balloon and flowers for Luke at the hospital's little gift shop on the first floor.
"She's selfish, and she's a whore," Nan said while Melanie played with the ends of her braided pigtails, picked a loose thread from her striped shirt, and smoothed out the skirt of her burgundy corduroy overall-dress. Melanie couldn't stop her nervous fidgeting. She even tugged at the tops of her black over-the-knee socks, and she couldn't stop staring at the smudges on her white converses.
"You okay?" Zoe asked her.
"Yeah. I just hate hospitals," Melanie replied tightly, managing to keep a straight face.
Thankfully, Zoe didn't press her for details. "I didn't realize this before, but we can't survive on our own. The sisterhood protects each of us." she said a little abruptly. Melanie raised an eyebrow at that. Hadn't Zoe been the one who rallied them to join forces after Fiona killed Madison?
"If I was the Supreme, I would only do good," Nan said.
"I believe that," Melanie said with a small smile.
"Yeah," Zoe agreed, also smiling, as the elevator dinged and the doors opened to let them out on their floor. "You don't have a mean bone in your body. Maybe you're the kind of Supreme we need." Nan smiled and laughed.
"You would certainly be an improvement over Fiona or Madison," Melanie added.
Nan's smile was replaced with a look of confusion. "I think they moved Luke. I can't hear him," she said, heading straight for the nurse's station.
"Can I help you?" the nurse asked as Zoe and Madison joined her, closing the binder she had been looking at.
"Yes. Uh, we're hear to see Luke Ramsey," Zoe said politely. The nurse turned to her computer and searched for his chart. Melanie furrowed her brow with concern while she and Zoe glanced at Nan when she suddenly gasped and started panting with a horrified expression on her face.
"I'm so sorry," the nurse said sympathetically, standing up to face them. "Luke died yesterday."
"I want to see him," Nan said anxiously.
"The mortuary came and took the body away," the nurse said.
"I want to say goodbye," Nan cried, leaving the flowers and balloon on the nurses desk as she walked off, too upset to stay still. Zoe and Melanie exchanged a concerned look. Poor Nan was so obviously heartbroken, that it was painful to watch. Melanie sighed, knowing what was coming next.
"We're just going to pay our respects," Zoe reminded Nan as they headed over to the Ramsey's house with a plate of cupcakes for a peace offering to Joan. "You can't mention Luke's dad or anything like that, right?" It had been unusually hot that day, so they had decided to shower and put on a change of fresh clothes after they had finished baking the cupcakes. Melanie was now wearing a vintage blue jean jacket over a short-sleeved plaid shift dress, black tights, and her white converses again. Her hair was pulled back in a single braid, and silver pendant shaped like a cratered full moon hung on a long chain around her neck.
"I'm not stupid," Nan said as they hoped up the steps to the porch.
"We need to know the name of the mortuary. Once we find out, we can get Misty to help us bring him back," Zoe said.
"And I can be with Luke forever," Nan said while Melanie rang the doorbell.
Getting in the door proved surprisingly easy. "I think the fondest memory I have of Luke was when he was nine," Joan said, serving the three of them some of the cupcakes they had brought. "He had made the most adorable little cross out of driftwood."
"Where's his body?" Nan asked. Zoe's kind smile fell as she glanced at Nan.
"She meant to ask, where you plan to hold the funeral. We would like to pay our respects," Melanie said quickly and coolly.
"Well, there will be a service in our church, but Luke is here… now," Joan said, surprising them. The girls shared a glance while Joan turned away to retrieve a metal urn. It made a heavy thud as she set it down on the counter. Melanie felt her throat grow dry as she glanced at Nan out the corner of her eye. Nan looked like she was going to be sick. "I had him cremated. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."
"You… bitch!" Nan yelled angrily, glaring at the woman as she stood up.
"I think it's time for us to go," Zoe said. She and Melanie quickly stood up to leave with Nan. But Nan wasn't going anywhere.
"You killed him with that pillow," Nan said, staring daggers at Joan. Melanie's eyes widened and then narrowed as she and Zoe looked back at the woman.
"What are you talking about? What are you talking about!?" Joan said, raising her voice as her anger and panic began to rise. She gasped when Nan thrust her hand out, holding her index and middle fingers together as she pointed at Joan. Zoe and Melanie watched, startled and amazed, while Nan moved her hand and forced Joan to fall to her knees on the kitchen floor.
"Nan, what are you doing!? Let her go!" Zoe said sternly when Nan yanked open the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a bottle of bleach. Zoe tried to take the container from her before she did something stupid. "Stop!" Zoe gasped when Nan pointed her fingers at her next and sent her sliding backwards across the floor into the other room, slamming into the wall. Nan kept her held there while she put the bleach on the counter.
"Let them go, Nan," Melanie said.
"She has to pay!" Nan screamed furiously.
"This is a dark road you're about to go down. If you do this, you'll never be the same again," Melanie told her seriously. "Are you absolutely certain you want to do this?"
"Yes," Nan said, making Joan grab the bleach. Luke's murderous mother stared up at her with fear in her eyes.
"Nan!" Zoe screamed. "Stop her, Melanie!"
Melanie clenched her fists, and clenched her jaw. "I can't do that without one of them getting hurt." Besides, did we really have any right to stop her? Joan had not only murdered her own son, the love of Nan's life, but she had made certain to destroy the evidence by having his body cremated. They had no physical proof of Joan's crime. Even if they reported her, she would never be arrested, let alone charged and convicted.
"You have to be… cleansed," Nan told Joan, repeating the same words she had used to torture Luke, as she made her drink the entire bottle of bleach.
"Nan!" Zoe screamed again, struggling to break free as Joan began foaming at the mouth and collapsed to the floor, choking to death on the burning chemical.
Cordelia was in the greenhouse, trying to focus on mixing a potion, while Myrtle stood near the end of the long table, playing a strange instrument that sounded like the eerie music from early sci-fi movies. "Could you please stop playing for a minute?" Cordelia asked, losing her patience. "I need to focus."
"No, no, no. Sit. Listen to the celestial tones." Myrtle told her. She continued playing her strange, electric instrument.
Cordelia sat down and tried to give it another chance, but she just couldn't. "What is that thing? It's hideous and weird."
"Don't be a hater, dear," Myrtle said softly. "It's a theremin. I cannot tell you how playing this instrument soothes my soul in tempestuous times."
Nothing could soothe my soul," Cordelia said sadly. "I have nothing to offer this coven anymore. Who am I? What do I do?" She asked, standing up and walking over to face Myrtle.
"You buck up, is what you do!" Myrtle said. "Face reality headlong and carry on."
"But how?" Cordelia asked. "I have no one, and my powers are gone." Her late husband had been a lying, cheating murderer, and she felt that the way she was now, she would only be a burden to the rest of the coven.
"Your salad dressing is absolutely magical. Maybe you could bottle it. Cordelia's Conjured Coriander Condiment. Or if you'd like a little getaway, maybe a job as a hostess on a cruise ship," Myrtle suggested. "You've got a lovely personality, and you're always well groomed."
"Myrtle, are you trying to push me over the edge?" Cordelia asked, on the verge of tears.
"I'm trying to give you une demi tasse de realite, darling," Myrtle said. "Let's be honest. Living in Fiona's shadow is a challenge. What are your options when your mother's Hilary Clinton? Between us chickens, no matter how hard I worked at it, I never felt special, either." Cordelia turned away. "But with my reemergence from the flames—look at me, I'm fabulous! Reinvigorated! One never knows what the universe has in store for us!"
"Oh, stop! Stop talking!" Cordelia screamed as she spun back around to face her. "You are insane! My God!" she grabbed one of the potted plants on the table and threw it on the floor, where it shattered with a crash. Myrtle flinched, a little startled. "I am an absolute failure! Everything that Fiona says is true! I don't belong here anymore. I don't belong anywhere!" Myrtle flinched again when Cordelia started grabbing more breakable things to throw, moving on to her glass beakers and test tubes. Myrtle sighed and started playing her theremin again in an attempt to stay calm while Cordelia wailed and continued to destroy her lab to vent her frustrations.
Kyle looked up when Melanie entered the room they shared with an upset Zoe hot on her heels. Nan had retreated to her room to mourn Luke in private the moment the girls returned to the school.
"Why didn't you stop her!?" Zoe demanded.
Melanie frowned. "I told you. I couldn't do anything without hurting them. You saw how powerful Nan was. The amount of force required to counterattack with telekinesis or concilium would have broken bones or caused brain damage. And using my pyrokinesis as a distraction to break her concentration wouldn't have worked, either, because Nan would know I wasn't really aiming to hurt her." Zoe stared at Melanie for a while with a frown on her face. Then she turned and left without another word.
"Rough day?" Kyle asked after a moment of silence.
Melanie flopped onto the bed, burying her face in the pillow, with a tired sigh. "No more than usual. How was yours?"
"Trying," he answered, joining her on the bed. "Myrtle's really strict." The older witch had him practicing the various duties his new role at the school would entail. With Spalding MIA, Kyle had inherited many of the butler's duties. Today they had covered how to dress and the etiquette that would be expected of him as an employee of the academy. A bright spot in the day had been learning that he would be receiving a paycheck from now on in addition to free room and board.
"Yes, she's a stickler for manners," Melanie said, peering up at him with a small smile. They looked up when the door opened, and Madison strolled into the room.
"All right. Let's go," she told Kyle, making a beeline to the bed so she could straddle him and start unbuttoning his shirt. She was ready to jump his bones good and hard after the day she'd had.
"I'm tired," Kyle said, shifting away from her, as he cast an inconspicuous glance at Melanie. He knew she didn't like it when he did this sort of stuff with Madison instead of her, and he didn't want to do anything that would hurt her.
Madison scoffed in annoyance and crossed her arms. "You're always tired!" she exclaimed, glaring at him in disbelief. No other boy would ever have turned down an opportunity like this. She glanced at Melanie with a frown on her face. Madison decided it was probably her fault. She must have said something Kyle, or maybe he was tired because the two of them had been screwing each other left and right when she wasn't around. "Fine. It'll just be us girls tonight," Madison said, casting a sly, mean-spirited glance at Kyle as she switched targets. Melanie furrowed her brow in confusion, startled when Madison suddenly kissed her, while Kyle tensed, clenching his jaw.
"No," he said immediately, before Melanie had a chance to ask Madison what she was playing at. "She's tired, too." Madison frowned, bitter that he was so jealous of Melanie when he wouldn't even touch her. But she also felt a tinge of satisfaction knowing that she had paid him back a little for rejecting her.
"Fine. I guess we'll just sleep tonight. Ugh. So boring." Madison said, laying back on the bed, making it very obvious that she had no intention of leaving. She wasn't about to let them have any more time alone together. If they wouldn't have sex with her, then she would make it so they couldn't have sex with each other either. The three of them ended up sharing Melanie's bed, with Kyle in the middle. He lay on his side and wrapped his arms around Melanie protectively. She could feel his hands still shaking a little from the effort it took to control himself when Madison kissed her in front of him. Melanie stroked his hands gently with her thumbs while she held them and turned her head to give him a light kiss on the neck once the lights were out. Kyle kissed her hair and moved closer until their bodies were molded together as one. But then Madison put her arms around the two lovers to remind them that she was still there.
They finally had some time alone together the next morning, when Madison left to get ready for the day. After some mild but very sweet canoodling, followed by a very steamy shower, Melanie and Kyle realized they couldn't put it off anymore and started getting dressed, too. Melanie pulled on a jean jacket over a burgundy babydoll dress, sheer black tights, and her vintage floral Doc Martens. Her gold triangle necklace hung from her neck. She had just finished applying her makeup and pulling her hair up in a half-bun, when Kyle stepped into the bathroom, holding his tie. "I can't remember how this works… something about a rabbit and fox," he said, frowning and furrowing his brow as he stared at it. Myrtle had explained it yesterday and made him practice, but now he couldn't figure out how to tie it to save his life. "It's really bugging me."
Melanie smiled sympathetically and took it from his hands, placing it around his neck. "Here. The fox chases the rabbit around the tree… and down the hole," she explained, tying the knot for him. "Learned that trick from a movie."
"Nice," Kyle said with a smile as he smoothed down the front of his tie and tucked it into his jacket.
"If there's nothing else going on today, maybe I can help you and Myrtle with your training today," Melanie suggested a little coyly, straightening his lapels. Kyle smiled and leaned in to kiss her. He'd never had any plans to work as a domestic servant, and he never would have pictured himself as butler, but serving Melanie might not be so bad. He kind of liked it when she took charge.
"Your wish is my command," he said with a slight smirk, stroking her cheek with his thumb.
"Good. Because I'm parched," Madison said, drawing their attention to the fact that she had returned. She sidled up to Kyle, looping her arm through his. "So how about you fix me a drink?"
"No alcohol, Madison," Melanie said with a frown, crossing her arms. They were still technically underage. The absinthe shots had with the others been okay since they were meant to be symbolic, and they each only had one. But Madison and recreational drinking were not a good combination with her addiction issues.
Madison rolled her eyes. "Whatever, mom. God, you're worse than Cordelia."
"Maybe you are the next Supreme," Zoe told Nan, having spent all night thinking about what Nan did and what Melanie had said. The two witches were hanging out in Nan's room to avoid the cold war that had begun to spring up between Melanie and Madison. "I mean, the way you got inside her head, only ever seen Fiona do that."
"Fiona's a bitch. I'm gonna be a nice Supreme," Nan said. Her smile fell. "I hear something."
"Yeah. You always hear something," Zoe said. Nan got up and left to follow whatever it was.