Disappearance of Roselei Hawthorne

Chapter Twenty-One

"Hello Kallen." There she was. Kallen's mother, The World's Greatest Witch, Roselei Hawthorne. She held out her arms, welcoming him into a hug. He walked towards her cautiously. His steps were small, and slow. He was scared. He didn't know what to say. Obviously, there was no need to introduce himself, but how else was one supposed to start a conversation?

As soon as Kallen approached her, Roselei wrapped her arms tightly around him, embracing him in a hug.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you." She said softly as she held him close.

"I... I'm happy to see you too." Kallen said nervously. Roselei pulled away so she could get a better look at him.

"You look like your grandfather." Roselei smiled and laughed. "I only ever saw a few pictures of my father from when he was young, but you're the spitting image, I swear it."

"I can't believe you had to choose between me, Auntie Lillia, and StellaLuna." Kallen looked down. He felt guilty. He felt like it was his fault that Lillia didn't get to see Roselei.

"It was a difficult choice to make, but I know that it was the right one." Roselei said with a sigh. "Come, let's sit."

"But... there's nothing to sit on." Kallen said as he looked around at the bare room that surrounded them. From the ceiling to the floor, there was nothing but plain stone. Except for the small, circular, pool of water in the middle of the floor. The water had a strange glow to it, a similar glow to that of a spell that had just been casted.

"Well, there isn't right now, but watch this," Roselei smirked, and then snapped her fingers. Two wooden chairs popped out of thin air, and dropped onto the floor. "This room is bridge between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead. Its the only place where I can use my magic."

"Is that water the entrance? The entrance to the realm of the dead?" Kallen asked, pointing to the small pool.

"You catch on quick." Roselei smiled proudly. "Yes, it is. When the moon sets, I will be forced to return there."

"How long do we have?"

"It doesn't matter how long we have. It will never be enough." Roselei said, frowning. "But we might as well make the most of the time that we do have, right?"

"Right." Kallen nodded slightly.

"You've grown into such a fine young man." Roselei smiled again.

"R-really?" Kallen blushed slightly. Lillia would say things like that to him all the time, but it felt weird to hear it from Roselei. Even though she was his mother, she felt like a stranger.

"Of course." Roselei leaned back in her chair. "Tell me, how is Lillia?"

"Auntie Lillia? She's doing okay. She was pretty upset when... well, when she found out you hid all that stuff from her."

"I had to hide it from her." Roselei's smile faded once more.

"I know. And she knows. But... it still hurt." Kallen averted his gaze. "You were really important to her."

"I know." Roselei chuckled. "And she was really important to me. I loved her. And I trusted her more than anyone else in the world. That's why I left you with her. I knew she'd be the best person to take care of you."

"Why did you leave?" Kallen looked up.

"I had to. I... I found out something I shouldn't have." Roselei looked away. "It all started when I received a letter from Greyson After-Frost. This was a while back, just before his son, Gabriel After-Frost, became the head of the After-Frost family."