“Grandma?”
“Yes, dear one?” Heather responded to her 10 year old granddaughter Dusk Muse. The girl had the red hair of her grandfather, but her own straight hair. She had bright green eyes, that match the twitchy energy of a young creature eager to please. She was tall compared to her twin, Dracon, who had the black hair of his grandmother and the blue eyes of his grandfather.
He was quiet and studious compared to his sister. He had also the short end of the stick and was short. Heather was out shopping for that weekend end with her grandchildren. She had just picked them up from their school. She had decided that going to the market and picking up the children would be a two in one task, and told them the detour. They had been upset about that, because they had wanted to go se their grandpa and practice their magic.“ Why do Dracon and I have to learn about the family tree for school?” The young girl asked dejectedly.
Heather laughed, remembering what it was like to having to go to school. “Because, dear one, it helps you understand who and what you are better. Your grandfather and I had to learn the same thing, albeit in an unusual and very uncomfortable way.”Dusk looked at her in confusion.“Would you like me to tell you the story?” Both her grandchildren nodded.
“ I’ll tell you when we get home then okay?” They nodded, and finished the grocery shopping for the weekend. When they arrived home, they found Alfred, Heather’s husband in the front garden pulling weeds. The kids were out of the cart before their grandma could blink and tackling their grandfather.
“We missed you.” Dracon said once he and his sister were off their grandfather.
“I can tell.” Alfred said standing up stiffly. He stretched his back muscles, nodding to the stable hand who had come to help the coachman with the horses and cart. and led the kids and his wife into the house, all of them carrying groceries in. They all set about putting groceries, the kids knowing where everything went.
Putting away groceries was one of the ways they could practice their magic, and help out the few servants that their grandparents employed. Each child had many talents, and they loved visiting their grandparents because of the huge estate they lived on, and the freedom allowed to them to practice all their talents. There was no pressure to do any one particular thing and they could be themselves. The children also loved the stories that their grandparents shared with them.
Once all the food was put away, the children went up to their respective rooms to cleanup and change into play clothes that were kept at their grandparents house, before starting on their school work. That was the one rule their grandparents had, before Dusk and Dracon could do as they liked and before stories were shared, they had to do their school work. It took only two hours to do all of their work before loud noises and bright lights started to permeate the manor house.
Meanwhile in their private quarters, Heather was filling her husband on her promise to their grandchildren. “ So let me get this straight dear, you promised our grandchildren that we would tell them about our past, their very volatile heritage, all because you had a nostalgic feeling?” Was his response to her explanation.
“Yes and no. Yes….because I was feeling nostalgic, and no. They are getting old enough to know why things are the way they are in this family and why things are the way they are in the world, or did you forget we had a part in that dear?” She replied, looking through the mirror at her cross husband behind her.
He huffed and looked away from the raven haired beauty in front of him. He recalled the first day he had laid eyes on her. She had been sitting beneath a tree reading, waiting for her work shift at the local thrift shop. That had been a few days between when he had started to work there himself and when he had seen her up close. She had the darkest green eyes set in a wide, unassuming face, tan skin, and the blackest hair he had ever seen, and her locker was right across from his. Compared to her, he was a tall, scraggly looking brown haired fellow with bright blue eyes.
He couldn’t forget the day he had been torn apart from her and their separate journeys had begun. The corners of his mouth felt the tug of a frown. He felt warm arms around him, pulling him into towards the warm body of his wife. She was the one person who understood him best. “You know, I had forgotten what you looked like sad.”she mused, running her hand through his hair.
He smiled at that, and said, “That’s because you always seem to know when I am upset, and cheer me up.”
She laughed, replying “ I had plenty of practice you know.”Alfred sighed, knowing his wife was right. “ I am guessing you were planning on telling them after dinner?” He asked, looking at his wife. She nodded, and turned him in such a way she could massage his shoulders.
Later that evening, the four family members sat around the fireplace situated in the family room. They all had a cup of cocoa in their hands, with a table in the middle of them piled high with goodies. Story time was like being in a theatre and camping all at once. Heather was the one to start speaking. “Now Children, this is both a story and your family history, so We need you to listen because this is very important, okay?” The children nodded; they knew there grandma and grandfather were serious when they brought up the fact their stories were historic. Heather waited till they promised verbally they would heed the story.
It was then their grandfather began the tale with “Once, a very long time ago….”
Heather walked through the front door, pulling her headphones off. It had been a long day at work and school. She had been pushed around by a coworker, trying not to react to the taunts of being different. The coworker had found out that she was autistic and had been giving her a hard time about it. “I’m home.” She called out, putting her coat and bag on the side table. She took off her socks and shoes, then headed into the kitchen, where her husband was cursing under his breath. On the counter was a pot with smoke coming out of it. Alfred was trying hide the pot from her as she came through the door. “Uh-Oh, what happened?” she asked as she leaned up against the opposite counter.
“I forgot that I had spaghetti cooking on the high setting, and it burned.” He said, looking down at his feet. Heather lifted her eyebrow in disbelief.
“You, burning food…. What had you so distracted….?” she asked as he looked up at her with his beautiful blue eyes.
“I was….um...Watching YouTube on my...phone...on the couch.” The guilty tone in his voice made her laugh.
“Well, it is nice to know that you are human too.” She pushed off the counter and walked the two steps to the man across from her and pulled him into a hug. “It’s alright you silly man, you. We can just have pizza instead, okay?”
Alfred nodded, pulling away from the shorter woman. He turned and tried to scrub at the pot. Heather tried to look at the pot, but her tall man blocked her. “Seriously dear, why can’t I look at the damage?”
“It’s so crusty, I'd rather use some elbow grease so you don't have an aneurysm. It looks like black ramen grew out of the metal surface” Alfred said with disgust. He pouted a moment, then continued as he scrubbed,”This junk is harder than asphalt. I should know, I’d broken asphalt with a crappy snow shovel when I was 10. It also smells worse than dog food.”
“It can’t be that bad.” was Heather’s reply. “But, I guess it happens. I will go change into comfy clothes and order that pizza then.” She said as she walked out of the kitchen. She went into their room and rummaged through their closet. She decided on a tshirt and exercise shorts for her evening wear. She changed as quickly as she could, for she was hungry from a long day of not eating much. When she was done changing, she went into the living room and grabbed her ipad out of her bag and went to the charger by the couch.
She plugged it in and unlocked it, opening up folders looking for the pizza app to order. She knew what her husband liked, and picked out the toppings and the side. She debated internally for a moment whether she should get a bottle of soda. After thinking about how bad her hubby felt about burning the spaghetti, she decided to get a bottle of soda. After that, she called for her husband to come into the living room, for she had missed him and needed comfort after her long day.
It took a few minutes, Alfred came into the room, sitting down next to her. She cuddled into his arms as he wrapped them around her. “How is the pot?” she asked.
“It is soaking. We will see how it is in the morning.” he responded. “How was your day; You look worn out.” Alfred observed, brushing back her hair.
“Do I have to tell you?” She asked. “If you have to ask, then yes, you have to tell me.” Alfred responded, shifting his wife slightly to get more comfortable. Heather sighed and recounted her day, including the bullying of her co worker.
“Sounds like a rough day. At least you kept your temper to yourself and didn’t share it with your co worker. That would have caused some problem for you and her.” Was all Alfred said before a knock on the door was heard. Heather groaned and got up. She answered the door and grabbed the pizza and soda from the delivery man. She thanked the delivery man and closed the door. She brought the pizza and soda over, and opened the box. The couple ate in silence while they processed the day and food.
After eating his second piece of pizza Alfred spoke. “We were approved for joint ownership of the assets of your grandfather's will today.” Heather looked up from her plate at him. “Were there any special instructions on claiming them?” She asked. Alfred put down his plate and got up. He went into the study and came back holding an envelope. He handed it to her and grabbed a third piece of pizza. Heather laughed at that and opened the envelope.
“What are you laughing at?” he asked through his mouth full of pizza.
“You are adorable and your appetite knows no bounds.” she responded as she read through the contents of the envelope. This caused the tall man to pout as he finished his pizza. “You do know you get even more adorable when you pout right?” Heather asked as she put down the paper and looked at him pouting. According to the paper, they were to meet with the will executor the next day at 1PM to go over the will.
“Am not.” Alfred replied sullenly as he crossed his arms and leaned back into the couch. His reaction caused his wife to laugh a deep belly laugh. “You are doing it now you silly filly.” Was the black haired woman’s reply. “Wha….wha...what did you just say?” He asked, looking stunned. “I called you a silly filly.” Was the response. This caused Alfred to pout all the more and leave the room huffily with the pizza box. Heather’s laughter followed him into the kitchen.
“ Silly woman doesn’t know what she is talking about.” He mumbled under his breath as he heard footsteps follow him. He rolled his eyes as they went about cleaning up their evening mess. After the cleaning was done, they went into their bedroom to go through their bedtime routine, which usually took them the most part of an hour to accomplish. After finishing their routine, they laid down to bed cuddling in each others arms.
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The next day found Alfred and Heather paying a visit to the executor of Heather's grandfather’s estate. Since they lived in a big city and used public transit, they needed to leave a hour and a half early to make it to their appointment on time. When they arrived at the firm that handled her grandfather's estate, they were`surprised to find that there was someone waiting for them. He was a young unassuming man who blended well into the crowd with his attire. He asked them to follow him back to a room for the will reading. As the couple were lead back to their destination, they looked at each other, a bit confused.
The couple were lead deep into the large building to a door. “ This is where you will wait for your attorney.” Their guide said as as he opened the door to a small waiting room. Heather and Alfred went in slowly, not knowing what to expect. After ten or so minutes of waiting the door opened to reveal a tall dark haired man with a strong chin and delicate nose. His eyes were a light blue, and a well trimmed beard. He smiled at them as soon as he was in the door.
“You must be Mr. and Mrs. Ferryn.” He stated, offering a hand first to Alfred, then to Heather. “We are” replied Heather, pulling her hand away after shaking the man’s hand. There was something about him that made her feel uneasy. “I am J.D. Erryn. Normally I don’t read wills, but today was an exception. Most of our staff that handle wills and readings are otherwise occupied. Shall we head to my office so we may proceed.” He offered with the door open. As Heather walked towards the door, she felt a cold draft behind her. It felt wrong, there shouldn’t have been a draft coming from behind her.
As soon as the thought registered, she heard a loud thunk, followed by a scuffle. She turned to see what had caused the shuffle and saw her husband being dragged into a dark purple portal. He had been gagged and was struggling. “Alfred, no!” she yelled, taking a step towards him. She was stopped by J.D.
“Oh, I have special plans for you little missie.” He growled. “I bet you two have no idea who you are do you?” He asked, a dangerous glint in his eye.
“I do not know what you talking about, please let me go to my husband.”
J.D. laughed, tugging her through the door, which was glowing a dark green. Before she was almost through the green portal, she gathered her strength and lashed out with her leg and arm and caught J.D. in the groin and the face. This caused the man to lose his grip on her and fall through the portal. She tried to get out of the portal, but was unable to. She looked towards the other portal and found Alfred was almost through it. She called out to him. He looked at her locked eyes with her. He managed to work the gag off and cried “I will find you” to her as he disappeared into the portal. It vanished.
“No….” she moaned as she disappeared into her portal.
