Destiny's Witch (BxB)

Chapter 40: Never Alone

Perry

Imagine you are living your life as a regular high school student, and suddenly you are launched into a world of demons and magic. By demons and magic, I mean more demons and ancient witches with a vendetta against humans, not fun magic spells like making your hair and eye color different.

It makes the world a little less starry.

Four days have passed since our confrontation with Tituba at the Domus and, yet again, the world has changed. That night brought the death of my grandmother as well as the resurgence of my powers. I can feel both with an incredible sense of clarity.

I wondered if my world would ever be the same again. It was my fondest wish that I could go back to being Perry Bennet again.

It has never been clearer that my life, as I knew it, is over.

After I recovered from the shockwave my grandmother's death sent through my body, we returned home to find Patricia already gone. Penny was in complete breakdown when we arrived and I joined her.

The spell had taken a toll on Patricia. When everyone else was too tired, she continued the spell. Her voice chanting until the end still haunts me, as if I can hear her in my head still.

A series of mundane events followed her death, such as planning a funeral and working out her last wishes. Penny and Alan took care of all the particulars. The only thing left, besides the funeral, is cleaning out her belongings.

Alan thought it would be a good idea to do so as a family. The weekend brought the perfect opportunity for us to rally together to get the job done.

The house smells of Patricia's perfume and freshly baked dough. It is the first thought upon stepping into the house. While everyone else is moving furniture in the living room, I disappear upstairs to the attic which looks surprisingly like our basement, with more sunlight.

I move from box to box, soaking in the memories. I find a box full of photos, much as I found in the basement at home. There are boxes full of photos, most of Patricia, Penny, and Persephone, with only a few featuring my grandfather.

Penny calls out and I call back, informing her where I am. Penny's footsteps behind me do not distract me from a photo of Patricia, Penny and Persephone. The three of them appear to be happy in the photo.

"Hey! You disappeared and left me with your dad and brother. If I have to listen to another debate about football, I may not survive." Penny says. "I remember that photo."

I smile up at her as I hand her the photo. Her eyes light as she looks over the photo. Penny sits down beside me with a pensive smile.

"Yes?" I ask.

"Are you okay?"

I roll my eyes as I pretend to rummage through the box again. "Everybody keeps asking me that. I just wish—"

"People wouldn't? People care about you. We all know you, and we know when something isn't right." Penny says.

"I'm fine."

"You do remember what happened the last time you lied, right?" Penny asks. "We can't resolve anything if we are not honest with each other."

I nod at her. "You've got a point. I'm just trying to make sense of everything. I keep replaying that night back in my head. I could have done more, but I just didn't know how."

Penny reaches out and grabs my hand. "You are not responsible for your grandmother's death."

"Aren't I? Isn't that what being the Zion means? I'm supposed to be the most powerful such-and-such in the entire blah-blah. So, why couldn't I save her? And Charlotte and Dad almost died, too. I just wonder if that's the thing. What if I can't keep anybody safe? What if that's the new struggle of my life? What if destiny chose wrong?" I ask.