Malefica; Stiles Stilinski [3]

Chapter 12

Cassie got off the plane, looking for her mother anxiously. Her breathing was short and quick, and her hands were shaking.

She couldn't describe how nervous she felt. There were so many anxious thoughts running through her mind. What was her mother going to say to her? What was she supposed to say?

Her eyes finally found her mother. She froze in place, her eyes never leaving her mother.

Cassie thought she had been over it by now. She thought she had been past what her mom did. But as soon as she saw her, all the memories came flooding in. And suddenly, she couldn't get the feeling from before shaken off her.

She quickly looked away when she realized her mother had found her. Katherine came up to her, nervousness bouncing off her.

"Hi, Cassie," Katherine greeted. "I'm really glad you decided to come."

"Yeah, well, um, I can't really say the same," Cassie replied honestly. "Before we get into any of the mother-daughter bonding stuff, just know that I'm only here to figure out things about my powers."

She nodded, understanding her reasoning. "Yeah. Got it. First thing we'll do tomorrow is run a few tests and if I'm right, then I know someone we can go to for help."

"Can't we do it today? 'Cause there's something going on back home, and I can't let my friends deal with it themselves."

Katherine looked almost stunned when she heard Cassie's impatient tone. She couldn't blame her of course, but she just expected Cassie to push what happened aside for her own sake. After all, she didn't know the real reason she died.

"Yeah, we can do it today. I just thought you'd want to rest for a bit before getting started."

"Then you thought wrong," Cassie replied coldly. "But I have to give you the benefit of the doubt, right? You did miss ten years of my life."

Katherine was shocked by what she had said. Before she could defend herself, Cassie walked off to get her luggage. She sighed, walking off after her.

It was definitely going to take a while to get their bond back.

--

Cassie stood in the middle of a pentagram made of crystalized salt. Four tall candle stands stood by her side: two on her left and two on her right.

"There are four types of magic witches practice," Katherine began, walking to the candle stand that was on Cassie's far right. "Ancestral magic which is magic channeled from the witch's ancestors. Usually, witches who were born use this type of magic."

She lit the candle with a simple blow to the wick before walking to the other one. "Then, light magic. Witches who use light magic are mostly known as the protecters of the innocent."

She lit the candle the same way before walking to the candle on Cassie's right. "Then, dark magic. Witches who use dark magic are mostly known as the punishers of the guilty. And because of that, most of us are exiled."

Cassie furrowed her brows. "Us?"

"Yes, Cassie." She blinked, and instead of her brown eyes, they were tar black all around. "Us."

She blinked again, her eyes returning back to brown. She lit the candle before moving onto the last one.

"And lastly... the outcasts," she continued. Cassie swore she saw her mother's eyes get teary for a second. "The witches that practice two types of magic."

"What's so wrong with practicing two types of magic?"

"Witches can easily turn evil, and with two types of magic, they're more powerful which makes them more dangerous," she explained, not meeting Cassie's eyes as if speaking of the topic upset her. "And usually, witches that use two types of magic are born from two different witches which is forbidden."

"That's why they're called outcasts," Cassie realized.

"You got it," Katherine replied somberly before lighting the candle.

"So, would I be considered practicing dark magic since you do?"

Katherine sighed as if hesitating to tell her something. "Not exactly. You practice both light and dark magic."

Cassie furrowed her brows in confusion. "So, was dad a witch too?"

Katherine turned to her. "Cassie, I have to tell you something. Something that I should've told you a long time ago... Harold isn't your real father."

Cassie got hit by an overwhelming amount of shock. "...what?"

Katherine's eyes swelled with tears. "You remember I used to be a photographer? One day, I had this man as my client, and somehow, we just immediately hit it off. One thing led to another, and the next thing I knew, we were having an affair-"

"You... you cheated on my dad?"

"Flower, he isn't your real dad-"

"Don't you dare call me that!" she shouted; her shock being replaced by anger. "He was good to you. He was good to you, and you do this? How long was this affair going on for, huh? Did- did dad ever find out?"

"I was going to tell him! But then your father, he-"

"No. He is anything but my father," she cut off. "He didn't raise me, and I never knew about him. Blood or not, he will never my father."

"Do not talk to him like that," Katherine said in a threatening tone as she stepped to Cassie. "He died for you. He died for us."

"Maybe I would've been a bit more grateful if I actually knew who he was."

"You were a child. How was I supposed tell my child she has a different dad?"

"You tell her by actually divorcing the dad she grew up with first instead of killing yourself."

Some tears slipped from Katherine's eyes. "I thought you'd be mature enough to get past that by now. You don't even know the reasoning-"

"Then tell me! Because I would just love to know why you decided to leave me by shooting your brains out instead of divorcing my dad like a normal person."

"I did it to protect you!" Katherine yelled.

"Bull shit! If you did it to protect me, you wouldn't have let me find your body."

"I didn't intend to do that-"

"Intending to do so or not, you did nothing to protect me. Do you even know how much I suffered because of you? I was eight. Eight. Fucking. Years. Old. And I was having constant nightmares and panic attacks. Because of you. But you didn't know that did you? Because you were too focused on making sure no one you knew found out you were somehow alive like the selfish coward you are."

"You don't know what I was going through."

"And you don't know what I was going through," she countered. "Now tell me why you really killed yourself."

Katherine hesitated for a moment before giving it. "Caleb's parents found out about our affair, and they didn't approve of me because I practiced dark magic. So, they lied to me and told me he was dead. And I was such a mess that my powers were out of control. And I know what I did wasn't the smartest idea, but I killed myself out of fear that I would hurt Harold, Charlotte, or you. And when Caleb found out, he used forbidden magic to resurrect me and killed himself in the process."

Cassie scoffed, even more anger for her mother overwhelming her. The shadow in her dream was right. Her mother was a coward.

"He should've just let you stay dead," Cassie replied, a few tears falling from her eyes. "Then maybe I would've too."

Her words pierced Katherine's soul. She never would've imagined Cassie saying that to her, but when she did, it killed her.

Cassie didn't say anything else as she just went upstairs to the main floor where her temporary room would be on.

Cassie knew she should've regretted what she said. But she didn't. Instead of regret, she felt... good. The look on her mother's face made her feel so satisfied as if she knew her mother had finally felt the years of hurt Cassie had felt.

Either way, the anger towards her mother was winning which meant so was her shadow self and she couldn't let that happen.