Witchy Days 15: Family Contact

Matthew wasn’t surprised to see Harper when she showed up at the potion shop towards the end of his work day. After his talk with Monica, he was curious to talk to his newfound aunt and figure everything out.

“Hi,” he greeted her. “It’s good to see you.”

“Likewise,” she told him. “How’s it going? I got a certain kind of vibe during our last talk.”

“Yeah, I know. I was surprised because I didn’t expect to encounter family in Moonlight Falls. Especially on my father’s side. I didn’t really know much about my father’s side at all, to be honest. Not until last week.”

“Oh, I see,” Harper understood. “Let me guess. Things between my brother and your mother didn’t end on a good note.”

“Majorly so.”

“Ouch. But I can’t say I’m surprised,” she gave a tired sigh. “Mitchell was a good person, but he was a big idiot in some ways.”

“That’s not the sort of description I expected from you,” Matthew giggled.

“But it’s a true one,” Harper rolled her eyes. “Is everything alright?”

She noticed him side-eyeing Elspeth, who showed up at the shop a few minutes ago. Jedediah was sort of keeping an eye on her, but something told Matthew his employer was actually pretty useless when it came to dealing with his spoiled daughter.

“Oh, I see,” Harper winked, noticing the looks Elspeth was giving him. “Is your work over for the day? Perhaps we can talk elsewhere?”

“I’d love that,” he quickly agreed.

While the aunt and nephew talked, Ophelia observed the situation from afar.

She had warned both Fiona and Jed so many times.

Take care of your daughter. Stop spoiling her. Deal with her problems.

But did they listen?

No.

The way Ophelia was seeing it, that girl was on a certain course to become a goner in a very unpleasant way. Sure, some would probably consider it to be good riddance. But not Ophelia. She was sure that with a little effort, Elspeth could set out on her right path in life.

Of course, that meant she had to survive this summer.

---

“You say he was a good person, but not the smartest,” Matthew prompted her when he and Harper arrived at the park.

“He wasn’t exactly stupid. Sometimes, he just made really dumb decisions,” Harper explained. “Not completely his fault, I suppose. I guess that’s what happens when you have to grow up really fast. Our parents were killed in a pack skirmish when I was little and since then, Mitchell was my only family, even though he was barely fourteen at the time. But he was always a rock for me, no matter what, even though he was probably scared shitless of what tomorrow will bring.”

“Mom says he was always the life of the party and that people flocked to him,” Matt chimed in.

“Oh, he was!” Harper nodded. “Whatever he lacked in common sense, he always made up in charisma. I was a little envious of him at times. I felt like whatever I did would always be overshadowed by him. If only…”

She smiled wistfully, missing her brother.

“What happened to him?”

“He was killed by our old pack,” she told him, her face darkening. “After our parents’ death, we ran from them, but eventually, they caught up with us here. I’m not sure what exactly happened, but our parents had a falling out with their leader and he took a personal offense against our family. Apparently, Mitchell tried to settle things with them by himself, but it didn’t work.”

4 days ago22 notesPerm

“I see,” Matthew understood. He wondered if the skirmish with their old pack had something to do with the scars that laced her shoulder. From what he understood, werewolves had a higher healing factor than regular humans and witches. It must’ve been a bad situation that left her with them.

“You’re at most 20, aren’t you?” Harper asked.

“Yes.”

“Your mother must’ve been expecting already when she and Mitchell had a falling out,” she calculated.

“He told her the relationship meant nothing to him and that there was a rule forbidding werewolves and witches from mixing,” he told her.

“Oh no, tell me he didn’t!” she gasped. “That’s the dumbest crap I’ve ever heard. But it sounds totally within character for him to do if he thought she would’ve been safer away from him. Your mother really loved him, didn’t she?”

“I think so. She was very hurt by this,” he told her.

“I’m sorry, on his behalf and on mine. I had a feeling there was a woman in his life, I just didn’t know who it was. I should’ve reached out sooner, but I wasn’t in any condition to do so at the time and by the time I could, I didn’t know where to start looking for you.”

“It’s all in the past,” he reassured her. Somehow, he believed Harper. She seemed genuine in her behavior.

“I’d love to meet your mother, if she’s ok with it,” she told him.

“That can be arranged, I think,” he agreed.

“Good.” Her attention diverted towards a young kid running into the park. “Mitchell! Young man! It’s nighttime, what are you doing still out and about?”

“But Mooom! There was a cool dog and I wanted to pet it,” he explained. “It was super fluffy.”

“You and your dog obsession… did you finish your homework, at least?”

His cousin’s guilty expression told otherwise.

“Alright, time to go home,” Harper shook her head.

“Ok, but who’s this?” the boy asked.

“This is Matthew, your cousin,” his mother told him.

“I have a cousin? Cool!” Mitchell Jr. quickly warmed up to the idea. “Do you have a dog?”

“No,” Matthew chuckled. “My girlfriend has a familiar cat, though.”

“Oh, that’s ok,” the kid shrugged, disappointed. “What do you do?”

“I work at Aleister’s for now, but I’m going back to school in the fall.”

“What about video games? Do you play?”

“Sometimes, sure,” Matthew smiled.

“Neat! We can play together sometime, right?” the boy asked.

“If your Mom says it’s ok, then sure, why not?” Matthew promised.

“His Mom is ok with whatever he does as long as he stays safe and does his homework on time, rather than chase after strange dogs,” Harper laughed. “Take care, Matthew. I need to take this adventurer home.”

His mind was still on the Bishops when he returned home. Just as per their first conversation, Harper gave off good vibes. He wondered how things went so poorly between his mother and that man.

Terra was already asleep, but there was food in the kitchen. Not that he was hungry. Mostly, he missed her during the day, but lately, things have been weird. It was almost as if Terra was doing her very best to make sure they got to spend as little time together as possible and he couldn’t understand why.

Did he do or say something wrong?

“Hey,” he called quietly, coming into their bedroom. She stirred lightly, moving closer to him. 

“Matt? Come sleep.”

“Coming, coming,” he got in next to her, careful not to wake her. She moved closer until she could hug him. He wondered if she realized she was doing it. In any case, he wasn’t complaining.

---

While he was having the talk with Harper, Lakeisha finally made up her mind and tracked down Monica when she was home. This, in itself, proved to be quite a feat, since the woman was always out and about somewhere.

“Monica, you have a visitor,” Belinda welcomed Lakeisha in. “We’ve met, right? You’re the wife of Addie’ great-grand-nephew?”

“Yes, you have a good memory.”

“Hello,” Monica greeted her, curious about the visit. “What brings you here?”

“Well, this is kind of a touchy topic and you might not be happy to hear it,” Lakeisha warned her. “Basically, there’s a spirit at the local cemetery who really wants to talk to you and apologize. His name is Mitchell and he says he hurt you in the past.”

“Mitchell? He wants to apologize? Wait, spirit?”

“He’s dead,” Lakeisha told her. “This is kind of why he’s reaching out through me and not directly.”

“How long has that been the case?” Monica asked carefully.

“For a while now,” Lakeisha told her, remembering the dates on the gravestone. “Around two decades.”

“Oh…” Monica wasn’t sure what to think. If this was the case, he died very soon after they parted. If this was to be trusted, of course. “This isn’t some sort of a joke, is it?”

“I assure you, it is not,” Addie chimed in, joining the room. “I’ve heard enough, I know what’s up. What does he want from her?”

“He wants her to come to the cemetery and talk to him. I might have to be present there,” Lakeisha told them. “I’m not completely sure how it all works. I’m still new to this.”

“Of course, dear,” Addie understood. “What do you say, Monica?”

“I’ll do it. I’ll talk to him,” she agreed.

If this could give her some closure about what happened all those years ago, it could be a good thing. And after he son asked all those questions, she felt like she needed to hear the answers as well.

“Just say when.”