The Coven: Book 1

Chapter 18 - Family Matter

“Your familiar scared the hell out of my brothers.” Jin walked inside the living room and leaned his back on the couch as he looked over the situation.

"She has that effect on people.” Lucy mumbled “And since when do you have brothers? I thought you were an only son?”

“We consider each other family.” Namjoon was the one who spoke, now, still frowning at the new arrival.

“Ah! I know the feeling.” Lucy focused back on the twins and tilted her head slightly, Emily going stiff at the gesture “Where’s Amelia?”

“Wait, you need to know something first- “ Mina started, instantly being cut off.

“I need to know where she is.” Lucy looked back to Jin, eyes cold and emotionless “So? Where is she?”

“You should listen to the girls, Lucy.”
To this, the woman rolled her eyes in distaste and scoffed.

“Raksha, find Amelia.”

To Lucy’s stern order, the wolf got up from the floor and looked around briefly, nose in the air as if sniffing the place and then evaporated into thin air, making Hoseok whimper in fright and recoil more into the couch. The ghost like figure of the animal reappeared again in the foyer and Lucy discarded any warnings the girls and Jin were saying and simply turned around to follow Raksha.

Jin winced, cursing.

“She never listens, I swear…”

The twins looked between each other.

“Should we let them talk?” Emily asked, frowning a bit.

Mina looked to the place where Lucy had just marched off to “I don’t think they’ll talk much.”

“Fuck. Lucy, wait!”

Both girls took off at a dead run after Lucy, calling after the woman.

“Who the hell is that?” Yoongi asked, the group following along the three Witches.

“Lucy, she’s the girls mentor. They’ve been under her wing since they were born.” Jin said, hurrying across the mansion “I called her last night, because Amelia seems to be getting weaker. But I think I just unleashed the apocalypse.

Jungkook got out from the library at the same time Lucy passed by him. He just stood there like an idiot, frowning at the foreign woman and then at the twins running and calling after her.

“Oi, Jungkook! Where’s Amelia?” Jin called, grabbing him by the collar of his sweater and pulling him along.

“Amelia? G- Garden, why?”

“Because the house is about to blow the fuck up.” Jin rushed, dragging the oblivious guy with him.

Amelia was still in the garden, her face welcoming the soft, cold breeze and feet still on the grass. Amazing how even without her powers she could still feel such a healing energy by simply being this close to nature. There was a sense of calmness invading her heart now, as if everything had fallen into place…

Shuffling and sniffing behind her made her head whip around, only to have her heart drop to her stomach. Raksha, Lucy’s familiar, was sniffing the grass around the door, perking her ears up as soon as she caught sight of Amelia’s figure, there. The big, white wolf dropped her ears in submission and lunged forward, running around the girl twice before sitting down in front of her, waiting for contact.

Amelia smiled and was about to caress the wolf's nuzzle when she saw who was standing at the opened French doors.

Lucy, in her royal like posture, walked slowly towards Amelia, while still keeping her distance. The twins appeared at the door not long after, stopping dead in their tracks when they saw the tension begin to build. Jin, Jungkook, Jimin, Namjoon and Yoongi came last, now crowding the place.

“Amelia. Where’s my spell book?” Lucy warned, her voice low and cold.

Amelia scoffed and glared at Jin.

“Seriously? You called her?!”

“Amelia, let me explain- “

“There’s nothing to explain, Jin, mind your own business now. I asked you a question, young lady.” Lucy cut in, grey eyes burning into Amelia as she stared ahead.

Amelia shrugged sarcastically.

“I don’t know.” She simply replied, her mood changing drastically.

“You don’t know. You don’t know?! Do you have any idea how dangerous this stunt you pulled was?! And your powers- What on Earth happened to you?” Lucy was slowly but surely starting to raise her voice and it was terrifying “When did this happen?”

“Seriously, this is unbelievable…” Amelia combed her fingers through her hair in frustration.

“Amelia.”

“No, you know what?! You don’t get to come in here and start demanding things left and right. You lied to me my whole life!”

“Oh, for God’s sakes, Amelia, you didn’t even let me explain- “

“Explain what? Why you control every little step I take? Is that because my mom is fucking alive?! Is that it?” Amelia cut in, now red with anger and voice raised towards the older Witch. Behind her, the white wolf was recoiling in fear “Or would you like to explain why you told me she was dead in the first place?”

Lucy was quiet for a second while using her fingers to rub her temples.

“All I did was to protect you- “

“Right! To protect me. Because controlling me in every way is protecting, now…” Amelia made her way to the house, passing by Lucy, who grabbed her by the arm. At that point, Raksha, the white ghostly wolf, disappeared into thin air with a whimper, as if sensing danger.

“Amelia, you have to tell me where the damn book is. If it falls on the wrong hands…” Lucy sighed and closed her eyes for a brief second to regain her composure “This could go wrong, alright?”

“Good luck finding it then, cause I really don’t know. You know what’s funny? I don’t even care if you find it or not. To be honest, I couldn’t care less about what happens if you don’t find it. I'm so done with you that even that doesn’t matter.” Lucy opened her mouth to speak, being interrupted by Amelia again “What else was a lie? Did you lie to the twins too? The Council? Dahlia? Luna? Tell me, is there anything at all that was true? You’re a fucking liar, Lucy! Don’t tell me this whole thing of you raising us was also a lie… What, did you steal me from my mother- “

At that moment time stood still while everyone watched as Lucy quickly raised her palm and dropped it on top of Amelia’s cheek, snapping her face to the side.

All hell broke loose.

Jungkook growled deep in his throat and lunged towards Lucy. The ones that were closest to him, Yoongi and Namjoon, managed to hold him down by the arms, but the guy was seeing red now. Mina cursed when she saw the vampire baring his fangs at Lucy, acting fast to place herself in front of Jungkook and placing her palms near his chest to create a forcefield to stop him from reaching the silver haired Witch.

After slapping Amelia, Lucy went wide eyed, realization hitting her like a pile of rocks. She winced slightly when Amelia glared at her, eyes burning with hatred and hand at her red cheek.

“Fuck you, Lucy.”

Amelia turned away, disregarding the chaos that was now happening, and went inside, beelining for her room as fast as possible. Jungkook was still being held back by his brothers, while Mina was keeping the forcefield up. If Jungkook got close to Lucy, he would definitely hurt her and then Jin would most likely fight back. This was bad.

Lucy attempted to take a step towards the door, wanting to go after Amelia, but Jin was the one to stop her.

“Lucy. You’ve done enough. Jimin, take Lucy to my office. We need to calm Jungkook down before he gets anywhere near Amelia, he's too dangerous like this.” Jin ordered, his face stern when he eyed the woman.

Jimin asked Lucy to follow him and directed her towards the office. He was quiet and frowning when he opened the door for her. He didn’t particularly want to act nice towards her, the woman that hit Amelia.

“Jin will be right here.” He coldly said, wanting distance from her.

“Jimin, wasn’t it?” He nodded at her question “Is that male vampire bonding with Amelia?”

“Yes. I think he fell for her.” Jimin grew colder when looking at her “You should be glad, you know? That it was just Jungkook going for your neck. We all started to see Amelia like a sister, here, so it could have been the rest of us too.”

Lucy didn’t seem fazed by the threat, but rather surprised he would threaten her in the first place. And in regards of Amelia, even. Not that she didn’t value the girl, much the opposite. But if these boys had really connected with her so deeply, this could be complicated. She had no idea if Amelia would live much longer.

Back outside in the garden, Jungkook was pacing around the grass, huffing breaths and brushing his hair back.

“I understand, Jungkook, but I'll only let you go to her after you've calmed down. You’re still too aggressive, what if you hurt her?” Jin kept saying, eyes following his youngest brother, arms crossed.

Mina was now leaning against the glass doors, waiting to see if Jungkook had another breakdown.

“How about you let me help, boyo?” She ended up asking, seeing his eyes still red.

“The only way you can help me is if you let me in that office and murder that bitch!” He grumbled, still very worked up.

“Yeah, I guess that could help too. C'mon, my guy, gimme them hands.” Mina walked to him and extended her hands tentatively, wiggling her elegant fingers, waiting “It’ll help, trust me.”

Jungkook huffed once again and rubbed his eyes, still red from anger, before reaching for her warm hand. In seconds, a wave of soft, calming warmth washed over him, relaxing his muscles and almost making him sag in relief.

“The hell?” He breathed, frowning when he felt the anger subsiding.

Mina smiled deviantly, giggling in the back of her throat and then messing up his hair with one hand before releasing him.

“Told you healing energy was good. You’re good to go, my dude.”

Jungkook rolled his shoulders, feeling strangely relaxed. He was still pissed, just not so murderous anymore. Jin finally let him inside the house, where he went straight upstairs. He needed to make sure Amelia was okay.

So now it was Mina’s turn to be pissed.

The redhead marched towards the office, almost tearing the door out of its hinges and barging in. Lucy had her back leaning on the desk and head down, hand on her face, from where she looked up. Mina was already making her way to her.

“What in the fuck were you thinking?!” Mina shouted, finger pointing towards her mentor “What the fuck, Lucy? You can’t just barge in here, demand things and then slapping the poor girl like that! I told you there were things you needed to know, why the fuck didn’t you listen?”

Lucy dropped her grey eyes to the ground, face blank and stern as she took in the redhead's speech, not even bothering to argue back.

“Did you even care about what happened to her?! Or was that stupid book the only thing on your mind? Her powers are gone, for fuck's sake, the book should not be your priority! How can you so fucking selfish?!”

When Mina took another step towards her mentor, Emily actually took a little hesitant step towards Yoongi, her hand grabbing for his shirt. She was dead scared now, and Yoongi couldn’t quite pinpoint of what. Was Lucy that scary? Or maybe she was scared of what could happen if Mina and her mentor went at each other?

“What happened to her?” Lucy lowly asked, her voice a little hoarse.

“Oh, now you care? Cause two minutes ago you were slapping her.”

To Mina’s accusation, the silver haired woman winced and huffed out, in distress. It seemed she had mostly reacted on instinct when hitting Amelia and was now regretting it. Still, Yoongi hadn’t liked it one bit.

“I’m serious, Mina, I want to know. I'll speak to her after this, if she’ll let me, and apologize. Please, just… what happened to her?”

“She was tortured.” Namjoon was the one who answered, his voice cold and eyes with the same murderous intent that Jimin had while eyeing the woman “We found her barely alive in the outskirts of the forest and with demon traces around. Amelia told us she was held for two months by demons and they tortured her through the whole time and then ripped her of powers.”

Lucy absorbed the whole information, face devoid of emotions. And that just made Namjoon angrier. Jin started to share all the information they had with her and not once did she show some sort of compassion. Mina hadn’t calmed down but she was now sitting on the couch next to Jimin, who had placed a hand on her knee as if to calm her.

“Do you know anything about anyone that would want to hurt Amelia?” Jin finally asked, feeling tired beyond belief.

“No clue. Amelia doesn’t like to hang around other Witches either, especially if they’re from the Council.” Lucy replied, crossing her legs at the ankles.

“Well, then the only thing we have is that Náströg Enterprises. I can’t even get information on it on the internet. Guess I'll just have to ask Taehyung to start digging deeper.” Jin said, sitting in his desk chair.

“That and the dude downstairs. The little bitch won’t talk no matter what.” Yoongi cut in, hand unconsciously going towards Emily’s.

“Dude downstairs?” Lucy frowned and looked at Jin, puzzled.

“We managed to get our hands on a lower demon at the warehouse. Amelia said she could feel her powers from him, that he had been with the demon that stole her powers.” Jin explained “We’ve been trying to get him to talk, but nothing is working.”

“I’ve said this a thousand times, let me go to the guy and I'll make him talk!” Mina said, exasperated.

“Last time you wanted to get a hostage to talk you killed the guy before he could do any talking.” Emily bit back, annoyed “We need him to talk.”

Mina scrunched her nose and grumbled, earning a little smirk from Jimin. Oh, Yoongi saw that! He liked red, huh?

“Can I go see Amelia first?” Lucy asked and Jin was genuinely surprised she was asking for permission.

“As long as you keep your hands to yourself.” Namjoon angrily drawled, pinning her down with his dark stare.

“I will. I won’t touch her that way again.” She calmly replied, nodding towards Namjoon.

The two shared a stare for a while, until Namjoon finally nodded back and stepped away to exit the office. He walked away, still not liking the fact that this woman was going close to his brother’s mate again, but he was settled by the fact Jin trusted her so much.

“Can you find her yourself?” Jin asked when he saw Lucy stand up tall. She smiled and nodded.

Lucy softly tapped her thigh twice, while exiting the office, and instantly wispy ribbons of white formed into thin air and the white wolf appeared again, walking calmly by her owner's hip.

After seeing the Witch walking away with the wolf’s ghostly form, Yoongi looked down at Emily to see her releasing a deep sigh.

“Well, this went alright.” She mumbled, walking towards the couch to sit “Did you really have to call her?”

“You two said you'd call her as soon as shit hit the fan. In case you didn’t notice, that was yesterday. Besides, if not now, it would happen later. Might as well be now, while Amelia is still somewhat well.”

Mina groaned in her seat “Fuck, I think I peed a little when Lucy looked at me, when I was going ham on her.”

Emily snorted.

“I'm actually surprised you didn’t shit yourself.”

Upstairs, Lucy followed Raksha's steps all the way to one specific room. The wolf then wagged her tail a couple times and then looked at her as is asking for permission to go inside. When Lucy gestured for her to go, the wolf instantly went through the door. There was a slight curse from inside and then Lucy waited a while before knocking on the door lightly.

Jungkook was glaring at the wolf, frowning and wondering why Amelia was hugging the enormous animal, hands tugging at her furry ears and face snuggling the soft fur. The soft knock on the door was a bit ignored, as Jungkook was still a little confused to take action. By the scent coming from the door, he already knew who it was.

“Raksha is fine, she won’t hurt you.” Amelia said, seeing his distress.

“What is she?” Jungkook asked, stepping closer.

The wolf sighed loudly when Amelia scratched her neck.

“Lucy’s familiar. She’s not corporeal, Raksha is a materialization of Lucy’s powers. Unless Lucy has a grudge against you, Raksha is completely harmless.”

Raksha looked towards Jungkook, sniffing the air around him and looking him in the eye. It was like staring into a cloudy sky and having it staring back at you. The animal's stare was intense and it seemed almost human. Raksha dropped her ears and took a couple steps to him sniffing and looking at Jungkook intensely. Her cold nose finally hit his hand and Jungkook tried not to freak out as he dragged his fingers through the wolf’s fur, on her head.

“I think she likes you.” Amelia said, smiling softly at him.

Maybe… Raksha nuzzled at his hand and licked it, sitting on the floor while Jungkook started to pet her with more confidence.

“Come in.”

Jungkook smiled down at the wolf and then looked up to see the door opening. Apparently there had been another knock that he hadn’t heard and now Lucy, or whatever her name was, was walking inside. He felt his anger bubbling inside his chest again.

“What do you want?” He asked, a little too loud.

Oddly enough, the wolf didn’t seem too fazed by his outburst and simply nuzzled his hand again, licking it.

“Raksha seems to like you, Jungkook.” Lucy soft said, analyzing how the wolf was now leaning her big head near his side.

He became a little flustered, looking down at the wolf.

“She doesn’t particularly like men, all that much, so it’s nice to see this.” Lucy continued, leaning on the frame of the door “I wanted to speak to Amelia… If she’ll let me.”

Lucy looked back at Amelia, waiting for the girl’s response. When she nodded, Amelia's eyes focused on her mentor, who nodded back and then glanced at Jungkook.

“Would that be okay with you as well? I promise I won’t hurt her again, it was a mistake I wish I never made.”

Jungkook frowned, a little disarmed by her honesty. There was a glint of sadness in her eyes and regret in her voice. That was what made him nod and slowly exit the room, strangely followed by the wolf. When he turned to question the Witch, Lucy simply smiled stiffly and nodded that it was okay. When he was outside, Raksha sat in front of him, as if telling him to 'lead the way'.

So he went downstairs to the game room. And the wolf followed.

Amelia sighed when the door closed behind Jungkook. She was honestly dreading this conversation. She knew Lucy was right to be upset, considering how childish her actions had been. But she also just wanted to be comforted and be told that it would be okay. Amelia missed the woman like crazy, that was for sure.

“Amelia? First of all, I'm sorry for raising my hand at you. I didn’t want for that to happen, I just… I never hit any if you girls and I feel horrible. I'm sorry.”

Amelia nodded, accepting her apology. It was true, Lucy had never raised her hand at any of the girls. It was against her principles and Lucy absolutely hated and was disgusted by anyone that hit their children in such ways. And she raised three very misbehaved and wild women, who happened to be Witches with very unsteady magic. That was already a miracle on its own.

“I know I was harsh with you and I hope you find it in yourself to forgive me.” Lucy said again, still keeping her distance by sitting herself on the ottoman in front of the bed, while Amelia was on the couch near the window “Would you allow me to explain myself?”

The girl nodded again and Lucy's chest tightened when she saw her cheek a little too red. She had to refrain herself from stalking all the way to Amelia and touch her cheek to heal it. She cleared her throat.

“I can’t tell you much about your mother, Amelia. Telling you, would put you in danger, it would make you a threat in the eyes of the Council. And I can’t risk your life like that. After you were born, your mother placed a seal on you. As long as you know nothing from her, the Council won’t know either.” Lucy slowly explained, dropping her eyes to Amelia’s hands that tangled nervously.

“So if you tell me, the Council also knows?”

“Yes. This is the extent of the information I can give you. I'm sorry, I know you’re disappointed, but I don’t want to risk your life… Only the Goddess knows what those sadistic whores would do to you.”

Amelia smiled a bit. Well, it was no lie that Lucy hated he Council. And it was also no lie that every single Witch in there was dead terrified of Lucy. As they should.

“I wish I could tell you more…” A hint of sadness flooded Lucy’s grey eyes.

Amelia sighed loudly.

“It’s not about what you didn’t tell me or what you can’t tell me! Lucy, you lied! You told me she was dead! If you had simply come to me from the start and told me what you’re telling me now, none of this would have happened. I love you, you know that, but I need you to stop hiding things and lying to me, that’s what I hate!”

When she was done talking, Amelia was a little breathless and Lucy was eyeing her a little hopeful.

“Can I hug you?” The woman whispered, afraid to touch her.

“Please do!”

In a matter of seconds, Lucy was in the couch engulfing Amelia in a massive hug squeezing her tight to her chest. Amelia took a deep breath and inhaled the soft scent of oranges and cinnamon coming from Lucy’s neck. Now she felt like home.

“I was worried for you, you know?” Lucy mumbled, her hand grazing Amelia’s cheek and applying healing energy there to soften the redness.

“I know, I’m sorry for leaving like that.”

Lucy bent down to kiss the girl’s cheek a few times before snuggling close to her again.

“Now, I know you don’t want to talk about this, but Jin and Namjoon told me about what happened to you.” The Witch started, fingers combing through Amelia's dull hair “You really don’t know where the spell book is?”

Amelia shook her head, feeling horrible.

“Did the demons who did this to you take it from you?”

“No, they… I never heard them mention the book once. And I don’t think they kept it. That night I ran away- “ Amelia closed her eyes while the imagery flooded her head again “Everything is still a blur, I can’t remember much… I recall one of the demons hitting me that night, because I pushed him away from me. And then I know I managed to get my hands on his keys.”

“So you got out, then?”

Amelia placed her hands on her face, distressed.

“I remember finding my things. My bag, my jacket… I think I was looking for the book, but after that I can’t remember much- “

Lucy cooed when she heard the girl’s breathing become heavy and shaky.

“Breathe, it’s fine. We'll find it in due time, don’t worry about it. I have to find your powers first, okay? Look at me.” Lucy placed her hands on the girl's cheeks and looked her straight in the eye “I will find the one that did this you. You will have your powers back, you hear me? And when you do, you'll kill that demon. Understood?”

Amelia nodded, feeling a wave of relief wash over her, when Lucy hugged her again.

Her family was starting to feel complete, now.

~Sass 😘