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Summary: The gang arrives at Aunt Shelagh and Uncle Beck's cottage and
receives an ultimatum about the cruel dark magick abuser.
PART II: This Place Called Home
~*MORGAN'S POV*~
We had been sitting in the airport rental car for about twenty minutes without moving. Hunter had turned the engine off, the heat had disappeared, and I was pretty sure that my butt was frozen to the leather seat. Why were we sitting in a car in the middle of nowhere without any heat on when England was pretty damn cold that day? I didn't know. Some childhood issues that Hunter and Sky had with their parents/guardians were no doubt the reasons.
"I can't feel my ass," Bree commented off-handedly, giving voice to what I had been thinking about two milliseconds earlier. Hunter gave her a dirty glare before returning his gaze to the road in front of us with his eyes unfocused lazily. Sky was doing the same thing, except she was actually looking at something in the distance.
"Remember the old willow tree, Hunter?" she asked with a slight laugh, her eyes not agreeing with her forced chuckle.
"Like I could ever forget it," he murmured without refocusing his eyes.
"I think we should get out," Robbie offered. "They've probably already seen us sitting out here."
He had a point. We had been sitting outside Aunt Shelagh and Uncle Beck's quaint, two-level brick cottage on the farthest outskirts of London for almost half an hour. Chances were, they had glanced out and seen us sitting here like idiots.
"Hunter, this trip isn't about your relationship with them," I said carefully, trying to phrase my words perfectly so as not to inadvertently cause psychological harm to my boyfriend. "This trip is about stopping the abuse of magick. It's just like any other case that you've worked on."
"No, it's not," Hunter muttered quietly. "It's so much more different ..."
No one spoke for a moment. I think we were all afraid to. Finally, Hunter gave an odd sigh, opened his car door, climbed outside, and slammed the door shut after him. Sky, following suit, opened the back door for Raven, Robbie, Bree, and I, considering that we were too squished in with all of our suitcases and bags to move our hands to open the doors by ourselves. Or move at all. Or practically breathe.
Shelagh and Beck Eventide's cabin looked like something out of a fairy tale. A weird fairy tale. Although picturesque and verging on adorable, even its styled brick walls, apple-tree-lined cobblestone paths, and tiny patio near the front door with wicker loveseats, tables, and chairs, could not hide the fact that all of the plants surrounding the house and in a fifty-foot vicinity were dead.
Yep. Dead.
The flowers and trees that lined the paths were all brown, withered, dead, and fragile to the touch. The grass, while well trimmed and obviously previously well kept, was brown and looked as if it would utter a loud CRUNCH when trodden upon. A large window to the right of the front doors of the cottage looked bare, considering that the edelweiss planter attached to it held nothing but shriveled-up flowers. The apple trees' leaves were gone and the branches looked naked and lifeless; dead apples lined the pathways where they had clearly fallen from the trees. As we carefully walked up the path leading to the doors, all being careful not to step in rotten apple, it occurred to me that all of these dead plants must have been victims of whatever dark magick was sent against Briongloid Radharc.
"This is worse than I thought," Hunter said quietly to Sky, who looked at him with concern in her eyes.
"Yes, but it doesn't appear that much else has changed," she stated unhelpfully. As if to prove her point, she suddenly leapt back with a scream as she nearly stepped on what was, upon closer inspection, the body of a dead chipmunk.
"Gross," Bree said in disgust, covering her nose against the stench that the dead carcass was giving off.
Sky, who was cowering from the sight behind Raven, pointed at the chipmunk with a shaky hand. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?"
"It appears to be a dead chipmunk," Robbie said calmly, stating the obvious.
"You don't say?" Sky asked sarcastically as she sidestepped the rodent with a look of pure revulsion.
When she had calmed down and as the six of us stood in front of the cabin's double hardwood doors, I noticed that Hunter looked a lot paler than he normally does; actually, both he and Sky were practically hyperventilating with nervousness. I gave Hunter's hand a quick squeeze and he smiled at me, grateful for the small gesture of comfort. He reached out and knocked three times solidly on the door, considering that there wasn't a doorbell.
"I can't do this," Sky whispered softly, sounding painfully nervous, her voice shaking slightly.
"Yes, you can," I heard Raven say soothingly to her.
"Just a moment," I heard a man's voice call from inside the house. Hunter gripped my hand so tightly that I had to pull it away with a gasp of pain.
"Uncle Beck ..."
I could see a person vaguely through the decorative leaded glass set into the door and, a second later, the door swung open to reveal who I could only assume was Hunter's Uncle Beck. He was a tall man of average build, slightly balding but still with very dark black hair. His face, uniquely marked by bushy black eyebrows and a prominent nose, split into a wide grin when he saw Hunter and Sky.
"Giomanach! Athar!"
Within seconds, Hunter was pulled away from my side as Uncle Beck gave him a crushing hug that I'm sure would break the bones of a smaller person than him.
"It's great to see you, Uncle Beck," Hunter said, grinning madly now, quite a change from his behavior five seconds prior. "Goddess, you have no idea how great it is." He was released by Uncle Beck only to be immediately replaced by Sky, who rushed into her father's arms with a swish of blonde hair and a happy squeal.
"Hey, Da!"
"Hi, princess." He held her at arm's length and examined her. "When did you shoot up another five inches?"
We all rolled our eyes at the typically fatherly expression as Sky just laughed and hugged him again.
"Come in, please, come in," Uncle Beck said warmly to the rest of us, who were hanging back by the door awkwardly. As we stepped into the foyer of the cottage, I was struck by how I had expected exactly this to be a real witch's home. The only real one that I had ever been inside was Selene's.
This house was much more different than Selene and Cal's, though. The fragrant smells of rosemary, sandalwood, and jasmine incense hung in the air, as did the intoxicatingly wonderful scents of candles and votives. The walls of the foyer were covered in framed photos of Uncle Beck, a woman in her mid-forties with shoulder-length red hair that I assumed was Hunter's Aunt Shelagh, a few recent pictures of Hunter, Sky, and girls that I assumed must be Sky's sisters, and a few older frames, one of which instantly caught my eye against the pinstriped red and black wallpaper. A young Hunter (easily distinguishable because his face had hardly changed at all) was pushing a young Sky, probably six or seven, on a swing set. Young Sky's long blonde hair flew out behind her as she laughed, and I was struck with a sudden sadness for the both of them. They had been through so much together, and seeing them acting so young and innocently, even if in just a picture, was a little strange.
I was jolted out of my reflections by a voice calling, "Beck? Whom are you talking to?"
Hunter and Sky both froze simultaneously and exchanged identical looks of horror as the woman I recognized from the pictures as Shelagh Eventide appeared behind Uncle Beck. When she saw the six of Kithic's members standing there with her husband, she stopped in her tracks and stared at Hunter and Sky.
"Hello, Ma." Sky's voice was barely above a whisper.
Shelagh, stuttering a bit, seemed to be searching for something to say that wouldn't make her sound like she was disgusted to see the two of them.
"Hello, Athar," she said finally, a tight smile on her lips that did not reach her eyes. "Hello, Giomanach."
"Hello, Aunt Shelagh," Hunter said faintly.
After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Bree sighed with disgust (most likely aimed at all of us) and stepped in between Raven and Robbie with a wide smile on her face.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Eventide! I'm Bree Warren, one of Hunter and Sky's friends! It's so nice to meet you," she gushed, taking Aunt Shelagh's hand and shaking it enthusiastically. "I've heard so many good things about you from your daughter and your nephew. And –" She broke off with a sudden gasp. "Where did you get that jacket?"
Aunt Shelagh looked a little taken aback.
"Um ... this little private shop a few miles out of town ..."
"Oh, I LOVE it! The embroidery around the neckline is just so adorable! And- And the sleeve designs! Do you have any others from that place?"
"Oh, yeah, I have a few upstairs. Do you want to see them? My favorite is one that I think you'll like made from woven silk ..."
With that, both Bree and Aunt Shelagh disappeared up the carpeted mahogany staircase while the rest of us stared at them in shock.
"Um ..." was Hunter's response.
"Isn't she great?" Robbie beamed proudly.
"It's actually fortunate that your friend Bree managed to get Shelagh out of our hair," Beck said with a resigned sigh. "I'd like to talk to you two alone (he ostensibly meant Hunter and Sky) about what's been going on here."
"You can talk to the others, too," Sky said calmly. "They want to help."
"Yeah," Robbie said with a warm smile. "Count us in."
"All right, then." It wasn't too hard for me to decide which one of Sky's parents that I liked best.
Out in the backyard, which Beck led us to through a kitchen door, we saw how truly run-down this house had become; all of the plants in the backyard, grass included, were dead as they had been in the front yard. As I walked through the decaying flora, their names came to my mind. Rose. Lily. Orchid. A poor little feverfew bush that had just recently been planted.
"Goddess ..." I heard Hunter say in shock as Uncle Beck pointed out the body of another dead chipmunk lying on the ground.
"The poor creatures have been dying all over our property lately," he said with a dismal expression on his face. "Plants dead, dying even though we water them excessively. And it's not just us. All of the members of Radharc have been experiencing this sort of thing. The plants dying, animals wandering over just to drop ..."
"We'll find out who's doing this, Da," Sky said determinedly.
"Yes," Hunter agreed with a nod. "I'll have the council act on whoever it is that is doing this."
"I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mention the coven around your aunt, Giomanach," Beck said tersely. "She's been ... well, things around here haven't been optimal lately. A lot's changed since the two of you left."
"We know, Da," Sky said quietly.
After yet another moment of uncomfortable silence (I was pretty sure we'd be seeing a lot of those around here), the three of them seemed to realize that the rest of us were there, just sort of hanging back, not wanting to intrude on their family businesses.
"Anyway, on the subject of the dark magick," Beck said quickly, clearly attempting to drive the conversation towards less painful topics, "something needs to be done. Soon."
"Well, tomorrow I'll get started questioning members of the coven and see if any of them have any idea of who could be doing this, and then I'll put some more watch and protection sigils around this house –"
"We've been doing that."
"But it might be better if more of us do it. Morgan can help, too." I gave Beck a wan smile. "And then I think I'll try to scry for any possible –"
Uncle Beck finally interrupted Hunter's out-loud thinking process.
"Giomanach ... we don't have time for all of this. Skip the interrogations and go right to the scrying, please. There's nothing that Shelagh and I can do further. Now, it's in the council's hands."
Hunter looked confused. "Why can't you two do more?"
Beck looked concerned for a moment before reaching into his shirt pocket and pulling out a small, wrinkled, very torn bit of paper.
"Because, five days ago, we received this," he said quietly, handing the paper to Hunter. Hunter took it, opened it, and began to read whatever was written on the note aloud.
"'At this time in a week, I'll kill you all.'"
... "That means we've only got two days left."
A/N: This chapter was kind of setting up what will happen in the next few, which I promise will be more entertaining. *SPOILER* In the next few chapters, Hunter and Morgan search for the witch using dark magick against Shelagh and Beck's coven, and Hunter learns an alarming fact about his guardians that they are afraid to tell Sky.
review, and we'll love you lots!!!
Summary: The gang arrives at Aunt Shelagh and Uncle Beck's cottage and
receives an ultimatum about the cruel dark magick abuser.
PART II: This Place Called Home
~*MORGAN'S POV*~
We had been sitting in the airport rental car for about twenty minutes without moving. Hunter had turned the engine off, the heat had disappeared, and I was pretty sure that my butt was frozen to the leather seat. Why were we sitting in a car in the middle of nowhere without any heat on when England was pretty damn cold that day? I didn't know. Some childhood issues that Hunter and Sky had with their parents/guardians were no doubt the reasons.
"I can't feel my ass," Bree commented off-handedly, giving voice to what I had been thinking about two milliseconds earlier. Hunter gave her a dirty glare before returning his gaze to the road in front of us with his eyes unfocused lazily. Sky was doing the same thing, except she was actually looking at something in the distance.
"Remember the old willow tree, Hunter?" she asked with a slight laugh, her eyes not agreeing with her forced chuckle.
"Like I could ever forget it," he murmured without refocusing his eyes.
"I think we should get out," Robbie offered. "They've probably already seen us sitting out here."
He had a point. We had been sitting outside Aunt Shelagh and Uncle Beck's quaint, two-level brick cottage on the farthest outskirts of London for almost half an hour. Chances were, they had glanced out and seen us sitting here like idiots.
"Hunter, this trip isn't about your relationship with them," I said carefully, trying to phrase my words perfectly so as not to inadvertently cause psychological harm to my boyfriend. "This trip is about stopping the abuse of magick. It's just like any other case that you've worked on."
"No, it's not," Hunter muttered quietly. "It's so much more different ..."
No one spoke for a moment. I think we were all afraid to. Finally, Hunter gave an odd sigh, opened his car door, climbed outside, and slammed the door shut after him. Sky, following suit, opened the back door for Raven, Robbie, Bree, and I, considering that we were too squished in with all of our suitcases and bags to move our hands to open the doors by ourselves. Or move at all. Or practically breathe.
Shelagh and Beck Eventide's cabin looked like something out of a fairy tale. A weird fairy tale. Although picturesque and verging on adorable, even its styled brick walls, apple-tree-lined cobblestone paths, and tiny patio near the front door with wicker loveseats, tables, and chairs, could not hide the fact that all of the plants surrounding the house and in a fifty-foot vicinity were dead.
Yep. Dead.
The flowers and trees that lined the paths were all brown, withered, dead, and fragile to the touch. The grass, while well trimmed and obviously previously well kept, was brown and looked as if it would utter a loud CRUNCH when trodden upon. A large window to the right of the front doors of the cottage looked bare, considering that the edelweiss planter attached to it held nothing but shriveled-up flowers. The apple trees' leaves were gone and the branches looked naked and lifeless; dead apples lined the pathways where they had clearly fallen from the trees. As we carefully walked up the path leading to the doors, all being careful not to step in rotten apple, it occurred to me that all of these dead plants must have been victims of whatever dark magick was sent against Briongloid Radharc.
"This is worse than I thought," Hunter said quietly to Sky, who looked at him with concern in her eyes.
"Yes, but it doesn't appear that much else has changed," she stated unhelpfully. As if to prove her point, she suddenly leapt back with a scream as she nearly stepped on what was, upon closer inspection, the body of a dead chipmunk.
"Gross," Bree said in disgust, covering her nose against the stench that the dead carcass was giving off.
Sky, who was cowering from the sight behind Raven, pointed at the chipmunk with a shaky hand. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?"
"It appears to be a dead chipmunk," Robbie said calmly, stating the obvious.
"You don't say?" Sky asked sarcastically as she sidestepped the rodent with a look of pure revulsion.
When she had calmed down and as the six of us stood in front of the cabin's double hardwood doors, I noticed that Hunter looked a lot paler than he normally does; actually, both he and Sky were practically hyperventilating with nervousness. I gave Hunter's hand a quick squeeze and he smiled at me, grateful for the small gesture of comfort. He reached out and knocked three times solidly on the door, considering that there wasn't a doorbell.
"I can't do this," Sky whispered softly, sounding painfully nervous, her voice shaking slightly.
"Yes, you can," I heard Raven say soothingly to her.
"Just a moment," I heard a man's voice call from inside the house. Hunter gripped my hand so tightly that I had to pull it away with a gasp of pain.
"Uncle Beck ..."
I could see a person vaguely through the decorative leaded glass set into the door and, a second later, the door swung open to reveal who I could only assume was Hunter's Uncle Beck. He was a tall man of average build, slightly balding but still with very dark black hair. His face, uniquely marked by bushy black eyebrows and a prominent nose, split into a wide grin when he saw Hunter and Sky.
"Giomanach! Athar!"
Within seconds, Hunter was pulled away from my side as Uncle Beck gave him a crushing hug that I'm sure would break the bones of a smaller person than him.
"It's great to see you, Uncle Beck," Hunter said, grinning madly now, quite a change from his behavior five seconds prior. "Goddess, you have no idea how great it is." He was released by Uncle Beck only to be immediately replaced by Sky, who rushed into her father's arms with a swish of blonde hair and a happy squeal.
"Hey, Da!"
"Hi, princess." He held her at arm's length and examined her. "When did you shoot up another five inches?"
We all rolled our eyes at the typically fatherly expression as Sky just laughed and hugged him again.
"Come in, please, come in," Uncle Beck said warmly to the rest of us, who were hanging back by the door awkwardly. As we stepped into the foyer of the cottage, I was struck by how I had expected exactly this to be a real witch's home. The only real one that I had ever been inside was Selene's.
This house was much more different than Selene and Cal's, though. The fragrant smells of rosemary, sandalwood, and jasmine incense hung in the air, as did the intoxicatingly wonderful scents of candles and votives. The walls of the foyer were covered in framed photos of Uncle Beck, a woman in her mid-forties with shoulder-length red hair that I assumed was Hunter's Aunt Shelagh, a few recent pictures of Hunter, Sky, and girls that I assumed must be Sky's sisters, and a few older frames, one of which instantly caught my eye against the pinstriped red and black wallpaper. A young Hunter (easily distinguishable because his face had hardly changed at all) was pushing a young Sky, probably six or seven, on a swing set. Young Sky's long blonde hair flew out behind her as she laughed, and I was struck with a sudden sadness for the both of them. They had been through so much together, and seeing them acting so young and innocently, even if in just a picture, was a little strange.
I was jolted out of my reflections by a voice calling, "Beck? Whom are you talking to?"
Hunter and Sky both froze simultaneously and exchanged identical looks of horror as the woman I recognized from the pictures as Shelagh Eventide appeared behind Uncle Beck. When she saw the six of Kithic's members standing there with her husband, she stopped in her tracks and stared at Hunter and Sky.
"Hello, Ma." Sky's voice was barely above a whisper.
Shelagh, stuttering a bit, seemed to be searching for something to say that wouldn't make her sound like she was disgusted to see the two of them.
"Hello, Athar," she said finally, a tight smile on her lips that did not reach her eyes. "Hello, Giomanach."
"Hello, Aunt Shelagh," Hunter said faintly.
After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Bree sighed with disgust (most likely aimed at all of us) and stepped in between Raven and Robbie with a wide smile on her face.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Eventide! I'm Bree Warren, one of Hunter and Sky's friends! It's so nice to meet you," she gushed, taking Aunt Shelagh's hand and shaking it enthusiastically. "I've heard so many good things about you from your daughter and your nephew. And –" She broke off with a sudden gasp. "Where did you get that jacket?"
Aunt Shelagh looked a little taken aback.
"Um ... this little private shop a few miles out of town ..."
"Oh, I LOVE it! The embroidery around the neckline is just so adorable! And- And the sleeve designs! Do you have any others from that place?"
"Oh, yeah, I have a few upstairs. Do you want to see them? My favorite is one that I think you'll like made from woven silk ..."
With that, both Bree and Aunt Shelagh disappeared up the carpeted mahogany staircase while the rest of us stared at them in shock.
"Um ..." was Hunter's response.
"Isn't she great?" Robbie beamed proudly.
"It's actually fortunate that your friend Bree managed to get Shelagh out of our hair," Beck said with a resigned sigh. "I'd like to talk to you two alone (he ostensibly meant Hunter and Sky) about what's been going on here."
"You can talk to the others, too," Sky said calmly. "They want to help."
"Yeah," Robbie said with a warm smile. "Count us in."
"All right, then." It wasn't too hard for me to decide which one of Sky's parents that I liked best.
Out in the backyard, which Beck led us to through a kitchen door, we saw how truly run-down this house had become; all of the plants in the backyard, grass included, were dead as they had been in the front yard. As I walked through the decaying flora, their names came to my mind. Rose. Lily. Orchid. A poor little feverfew bush that had just recently been planted.
"Goddess ..." I heard Hunter say in shock as Uncle Beck pointed out the body of another dead chipmunk lying on the ground.
"The poor creatures have been dying all over our property lately," he said with a dismal expression on his face. "Plants dead, dying even though we water them excessively. And it's not just us. All of the members of Radharc have been experiencing this sort of thing. The plants dying, animals wandering over just to drop ..."
"We'll find out who's doing this, Da," Sky said determinedly.
"Yes," Hunter agreed with a nod. "I'll have the council act on whoever it is that is doing this."
"I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't mention the coven around your aunt, Giomanach," Beck said tersely. "She's been ... well, things around here haven't been optimal lately. A lot's changed since the two of you left."
"We know, Da," Sky said quietly.
After yet another moment of uncomfortable silence (I was pretty sure we'd be seeing a lot of those around here), the three of them seemed to realize that the rest of us were there, just sort of hanging back, not wanting to intrude on their family businesses.
"Anyway, on the subject of the dark magick," Beck said quickly, clearly attempting to drive the conversation towards less painful topics, "something needs to be done. Soon."
"Well, tomorrow I'll get started questioning members of the coven and see if any of them have any idea of who could be doing this, and then I'll put some more watch and protection sigils around this house –"
"We've been doing that."
"But it might be better if more of us do it. Morgan can help, too." I gave Beck a wan smile. "And then I think I'll try to scry for any possible –"
Uncle Beck finally interrupted Hunter's out-loud thinking process.
"Giomanach ... we don't have time for all of this. Skip the interrogations and go right to the scrying, please. There's nothing that Shelagh and I can do further. Now, it's in the council's hands."
Hunter looked confused. "Why can't you two do more?"
Beck looked concerned for a moment before reaching into his shirt pocket and pulling out a small, wrinkled, very torn bit of paper.
"Because, five days ago, we received this," he said quietly, handing the paper to Hunter. Hunter took it, opened it, and began to read whatever was written on the note aloud.
"'At this time in a week, I'll kill you all.'"
... "That means we've only got two days left."
A/N: This chapter was kind of setting up what will happen in the next few, which I promise will be more entertaining. *SPOILER* In the next few chapters, Hunter and Morgan search for the witch using dark magick against Shelagh and Beck's coven, and Hunter learns an alarming fact about his guardians that they are afraid to tell Sky.