Chapter 5
Valerie stretched out on the twin bed. The pile of blankets was wonderful. Whatever Ms. Spellman put in the tea was helping her cough. She curled up under the blankets, like a caterpillar in its cocoon.
"Ah…." she sighed. "This is great."
She drifted off to sleep. She didn't know how long she slept, as there was no clock.
"Hey, you're on my bed," a man's voice said in her ear. "Get up. Hilda and Zelda want to talk to you."
Valerie opened her eyes, thick with sleep. "C'mon sleeping beauty, up and at 'em," said the same voice. She looked around but the only other living creature in the room was a black cat. It was on the window seat, looking at her sternly.
Valerie stretched. She felt so much better. The sleep really helped her cold.
"Hey, honey, how are you feeling?" Zelda asked her when she came downstairs. "You look better. Almost like your old self."
"Much better, thank you," Val answered.
"Hilda and I have talked it over," Zelda continued. "We know you can't go back to your home, and we never would ask you to. We know you aren't safe there. So we were wondering, how would you feel us about being your foster parents?"
"Don't we have to go to court for that?" Valerie asked. The thought of seeing her stepfather terrified her, the thought of seeing her mother broke her heart. She just wanted the whole ordeal to go away.
Hilda and Zelda looked at each other. "Well, yes. I took pictures of your back when I was putting lotion on it. We will get a lawyer. Chances are very good you won't have to see your family."
"I can't imagine they'd care," Valerie said. For the first time there was bitterness in her voice. "I've been gone more than a month and they never came looking for me. Sick, starving and sleeping at school and they don't even care." Valerie threw her hands up and a clap of thunder shook the house. She jumped. "What is with all the thunder?"
"Valerie," Zelda said very gently. "We need to talk to you about something. Do you know anything about your biological father?"
Valerie shook her head. "I don't even know his name. My mom never, ever wanted to talk about him. She would get upset. My stepdad said he was my father now and not to ask questions about him. So I didn't."
"You never saw a picture or looked him up anywhere?" Hilda pressed.
Valerie shook her head. "No. Never."
Hilda and Zelda looked at each other again. Valerie noticed they were doing that a lot. She suspected they could communicate in a way she didn't understand. She wanted to know as she knew it had to do with her.
"Have you seen your birth certificate?" Zelda asked.
"No. Why does this matter? I never met my real father and I certainly don't need to now."
"Valerie, we have something to tell you. It's going to seem strange, but trust us. We aren't going to hurt you."
Valerie paled again. "You want me to leave, right?"
"No, no no no!" Zelda and Hilda said together. "No. Valerie….you're a witch. That is why we wanted to know if you knew who your father is."
"I'm a witch?" Valerie repeated in disbelief. "Like Samantha on Bewitched?"
"Great show," Hilda said. "Little fake though. No self respecting witch would have let Darren suppress her like that."
"Hilda, please," Zelda said, annoyed. "I'm a witch too, Valerie. Hilda's a witch and our niece Sabrina who is coming next week is a witch although she doesn't know it yet."
"Why are you messing with me?" Valerie asked. The look of shock and hurt on her face greatly upset Zelda.
"We're not messing with you, honey. I know what you've been through and I can't imagine how you're feeling. We are witches."
"That's why your creepy stepdad couldn't hurt you on your sixteenth birthday," Hilda chimed in. "A witch comes into her powers at sixteen. So when you pushed him off, he had to stay off. You can't rape a witch."
Valerie got up and paced around the kitchen. She clawed her dark hair with her thin hands. Her mind was racing. "It's true he couldn't hurt me that night. But that's the night I left. Who knows if he would've next time?"
Zelda looked at Hilda and shrugged. "We'll have to prove it, I guess. Would you like some tea?"
Valerie nodded. Zelda pointed at the table and with a flash of purple sparks, a steaming cup of tea appeared. Valerie's eyes about popped out of her head. Hilda helped her to the table.
"Sugar?" Hilda asked and zapped some up.
Valerie was so pale Zelda was sure she was going to faint. "A witch," Valerie murmured. "If you can do that, why are you teaching high school chemistry?"
"I love to inspire the young," Zelda answered. "There is another realm, a supernatural one. But Hilda and I have lived here for over two hundred years."
"How old are you?" asked the stunned Valerie.
"Oh, we're a lot older than you think," Hilda answered brightly. "I just turned six hundred and forty. Zelda is-"
"Never mind how old I am!" snapped Zelda. She took Valerie's hand. "Honey, our petitioning for custody of you is going to be in the Other Realm Court. I took pictures of your back to use in court. I hope you don't mind, but I know they like visuals."
An image of a cockroach flashed through Valerie's mind. "Could you actually turn my stepdad into a cockroach?"
"Oh yes!" Hilda said cheerfully. "In fact, I just wanted to do that and skip the court hassle but somebody-"she tossed a pointed look at her sister, "wouldn't let me."
A witch, Valerie thought, I'm a witch. That's why he couldn't hurt me. "Do you think my mother is a witch too?"
"We don't know. That is why we wanted to know who your biological father is," Zelda said. "Being a witch is genetic. Usually at least one of the parents is a witch, but sometimes it skips a generation. In very rare cases, it can happen centuries after the last known witch in the family."
"Can I fly? How do I use my powers? What-?"
"Slow down," Zelda laughed. "We'll teach you everything you need to know. You're in good hands."
Valerie smiled. She knew her days of being a punching bag were over.