Paul reluctantly took Abby to Old Quil's so she could meet her cousin. He enjoyed the time he got to spend with her, but now, it was time to get back to patrolling and training the new shifters.
He walked her to the front door, gave her a quick hug, told her he would call her later, then was running to the forest.
Abby pushed the door open and walked inside.
It was quiet. Too quiet.
Rounding the corner, she found them sitting at the table. Old Quil's body would shake a little as he held in his chuckles, Charlie was a beautiful shade of puce, Bella appeared to be in shock while Quil...Quil. Quil. Quil.
Abby made her way to him and smacked him as hard as she could in the back of the head.
He looked to her quickly, "what the hell?"
She had both hands on her hips as she glared at him. "You jackass! You're scaring the piss out of her. Could you try to be less creepy?"
"What?" He demanded.
She wondered if he was really that dense, and decided, yes he was.
"Jesus Quil. You're grinning at her like you're an escaped mental patient. All you're lacking is the white coat."
"Hey, I would make an awesome doctor." He cluelessly pointed out.
She pointed a tiny finger at him before clarifying, "I'm not talking about a doctor's coat. Yours would definitely have the freakin' buckles on it. In the back."
He shook his head sadly, poking his lips out, "that's harsh Abby." He returned his goofy smiling face to Bella.
Turning away from the idiot, she made her way to Bella, intentionally blocking Quil's line of sight.
Holding her hand out, she greeted her cousin, "hey, I'm Abby."
Quil, not to be deterred, leaned to the side of his chair and promptly fell to the floor, causing everyone to turn their attention to him.
"Isabella," shaking her head, trying to clear it she smiled and said, "but I prefer Bella."
When their hands clasped the were surrounded by a colorful swirling of air. It started as green, then changed to indigo, violet, red, orange, and yellow. As the colors changed, they were lifted higher off the floor.
Old Quil, Charlie and Quil watched in wonder as the air started churning and changing colors around the girls who were rising higher. They couldn't move. It was a though they were tied to their seats.
They watched as the colors faded, the wind dissipated, and Abby and Bella were lowered to the ground.
Both girls had looks of awe on their faces and were smiling widely.
"What was that? That was so cool!" Bella exclaimed.
"I don't know! Were you seeing what I was seeing?" Abby asked, jumping up and down a little, still holding Bella's hand.
"I don't know? I didn't recognize some of the people." Bella told her.
"It's okay. If you saw the same thing I did, you'll meet them eventually." Abby gushed.
Old Quil stood and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.
"Young ones, are you okay?"
Both girls turned to him and nodded, still smiling.
"What just happened?" Charlie wanted to know.
"It would appear that the Swan girls are more powerful as a team. They both have their individual powers, Abigail's being the most powerful, yet, together, they will be formidable," he rubbed his chin in thought, "Isabella will need to attend the training sessions with Abigail. If they are both carrying the magic gene, they would benefit training together."
The girls were smiling and hugging. It was as if they were long lost friends.
Charlie looked resigned.
Quil was wide eyed in amazement. His imprint was the shit.
Soon, Charlie had the girls in the car and was headed home. Neither wanted to sit in the back alone, so he was chauffeuring them around as if they were criminals. He had to admonish Abigail when she made the siren go off and the lights start flashing.
When they arrived at the two story white house, the girls grabbed Bella's bags and rumbled up the stairs, bypassing the bedroom and heading for the attic.
Charlie laughed at their antics, thinking, "it's just like having two little girls in the house."
Once they were upstairs, Bella stopped and looked around quizzically. She wondered why Abby would bring her up here. There was nothing but bare floors and walls.
"I know there's nothing up here, but, there could be." Abby explained.
"What do you mean?"
"Bella, I can decorate this attic anyway we want. Unless you'd rather have your old bedroom."
Bella looked around the attic slowly. She could imagine the two of them up here, talking and doing their school work together. She was beginning to like the idea.
"We'd have our own bathroom?" She smiled.
"Yep. Let me show you what I can do. I've always wanted a room with blues and teals." She thought for a moment, closed her eyes and with a wave of her hand, she had the bedroom she'd always dreamed of.
"Oh my God!" Bella squealed, "that is so damn cool!"
Abby nodded, smiling. She then turned to Bella. "Okay. It's your turn. Remember, you're not an old lady. You need a teenage girl's room. Think hard. If you don't like it, we can have a do over, k?" Abby was thinking back to the conversations she's had with Charlie about Bella. He described her as being a middle aged teenager.
Abby was determined to change that. Bella was only a year older than she was. She needed to be a teenager. She needed to act a little crazy and be more self confident.
"Anything? You're sure?"
"As long as you're not wanting a bed made out of a truck or something like that."
She described her ideal bedroom. Ironically, the colors were similar to Abby's. With a wave of her hand, Bella had her dream bedroom as well.
Bella covered her mouth with her hand and made her way over to the bed, where she flopped down on it and began rolling around, giggling.
Abby added a small bathroom and a sitting area. The girls stood back and looked at their living arrangements.
They may have just met, but it felt like they had known each other forever. It was as if they were sisters.
After finding nothing worth throwing together, Charlie decided the three of them would be eating at the diner tonight. He headed up the stairs and stopped at the bottom of the attic steps, calling up to the girls to come on down so they could get something to eat.
Bella looked down the steps and waved Charlie up. "Dad, you've got to see this!" She squealed.
Climbing up, he could only imagine what he would find. He knew Abby had been spending a lot of time up here, doing Lord only knows what.
He was not prepared for what he saw when he topped the steps. "Whoa." He looked around the room, his eyes wide.
"Abby, I don't think this is what Old Quil meant when he said for you to practice."
"I know, I know. This is only the third or fourth time I've done anything not necessary." She thought about what she had done today alone and frowned.
Dropping her head, she said, "I guess I did get kind of carried away." Looking up at Charlie, she apologized.
"I didn't think about what I was doing. I just figured, it would be better if we had our own space and our own bathroom. I can change it back." She explained.
Bella looked around the room then at Charlie. He could see in her eyes, she wanted this. Hell, she and Abby probably needed this. Shaking his head, he pointed at both of them. "It can stay this time, but both of you need to understand, your powers are not toys. They are serious and can cause damage to people and things. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir." Both girls said.
They waited for him to hit the bottom step before they began laughing.
"Is it really too much?" Abby asked.
"Nope. It's perfect." Bella smiled.
The customers at the diner couldn't believe what they were seeing. Charlie Swan, better known as, Chief Hardass, was laughing and cutting up with the two young girls that had come to live with him. One his daughter, the other, the daughter of his late cousin. They couldn't help but smile at their antics and wonder how in the hell he was going to survive two teenage girls.
Bella and Abby talked him into stopping by the grocery store on the way home, letting him know that they knew how to cook and it would be cheaper, not to mention healthier for them to prepare meals at home.
That was one stop he didn't mind making.
He was relieved that they were getting along so well. He tried to give them space and not listen to their conversations. He figured there were just some things he did not need to know, especially when it came to teenage girls.
When they got home, Charlie told them that he had to go to the station for a little while. He was reluctant to leave them, but he had some files he needed to look over and sign off on.
They reassured him that they would be fine, they would lock the door, not let anyone in, and would not do any magic.
He waited until he heard the deadbolt click before making his way to the patrol car.
They made their way to the revamped attic and plopped down on the sofa in their little sitting room.
Abby took Bella's hand and asked, "you okay with everything that's happened? I know it's a lot to take in, trust me. It hit me the same way it did you. All at one time."
Nodding, Bella said "yeah, it is a lot. I mean, I was just happy to be getting away from Phoenix, living with dad and meeting you. I wasn't expecting to find out I really wasn't losing my mind, but that I have magical powers, and then I meet my 'soul mate.' All in one day."
They shared a laugh and started telling each other about the strange things that had happened before they met Old Quil and found out about their powers.
Abby started.
"As far back as I can remember, my mom, dad and I were always shunned. At school, the kids would follow me around calling me a witch, demon, devil. That's hard for an eight year old to take, ya know? After I was punched in fifth grade by a seventh grader because his sister said I put a spell on her, my parents pulled me out of public school and started home schooling me. That just added to the rumors."
Bella took her hand but didn't interrupt.
"The night they died, they were on their way home from the store. I was supposed to go with them, but I wanted to finish a book I was reading. The police were knocking on the front door about two hours after they left. Some sleazy children's services guy was with them. I swear, from the time he got there until Charlie and I left, he was rummaging through the house. Like he was looking for something. I think he followed us here. I know it was him I saw speeding away after Sam and I figured out someone had been in the house."
"What was he looking for?"
"Journals. My parents had some old journals from the ancestors. I gave them to Old Quil after we realized someone was looking for them. He and the other elders figured out there were some missing. We don't know where they are or who has them. All they could tell me and Charlie is that whoever has them has enough information to be dangerous."
Bella thought a minute.
"What was the guys name?"
"Victor Smithton."
"Oh my God! That's the name of the guy that came to Phoenix and offered me a scholarship. Mom wasn't supposed to tell me, but she did. She thought it would be a perfect opportunity for us. Well, she said she was thinking about me, but, I knew. She wanted to go on the road with Phil and I was holding her back."
"What do you mean?"
"This Victor guy told my mom that I had won some kind of anonymous scholarship, but I had to live in Washington in order to receive it. She was all too willing to accept it. It meant I would have to move in with dad and she would be free to travel."
"You didn't want to move in with Charlie?"
"I did. That's the thing. I'd been trying to get her to let me move for years. All of a sudden, this random guy shows up and she's got me packed and airline tickets bought. She never questioned what he said. After she told me about it, I looked into it. Obviously, she doesn't know you can google anything and get information. Some of what he said was true, but most of it was total bullshit. I didn't tell mom because I didn't want her to change her mind about me coming to live with dad."
"So, what kind of dreams have you been having?" Abby inquired, trying to change the subject. She pretty much formed the opinion that Renee was a self centered bitch.
"It's hard to explain. Now that I've met you, I know you were one person in them. My dad's there and Old Quil. I'm not sure who the others are though. In most of them, you and I and someone else are in a circle doing something. I can't make out what it is. It feels like whatever it is...well, it's strong and it takes three of us to do it. I have seen some guy in a couple of them. Now, I'm wondering if it's this Victor."
"You haven't seen him?" Abby asked.
Bella just shook her head.
Grabbing her phone, she pulled up a photo she had snuck of him in North Carolina, and showed it to her.
"Abby, I don't mean to state the obvious, but I don't think Victor Smithton is with children's services." Bella snorted.
"No shit."
They decided to do a little investigative work on their own.
Grabbing the laptops Abby had made sure to include in the attic makeover, along with notebooks and pens, they got busy.
Two hours later, they found that Victor Smithton was indeed not an employee for children's services, however, he was using his real name. He was a private investigator, not of good standing by any means. If you had enough money, you could hire him to do almost anything.
"Told you he was sleazy." Abby told Bella.
"I believe you. Now, we need to figure out who he is working for. Who would have knowledge of the journals and know that there are more?"
By the time Charlie came home, they had itemized and prioritized their notes. They needed to get his input, and hoped he didn't think they were crazy.
They gave what they had to him and waited for him to look it over. He read and re-read every page. He was impressed.
"If you girls ever get tired of this witch gig you got going on, you could always come to work for me." He kidded.
"Ooooh. We'd get guns Bella." Abby laughed.
"No. No guns. I do need to get you girls some pepper spray though." Charlie grunted