Gates of Fire And Gold

Chapter 5

I get out of bed late one morning to find my mom sitting in our kitchen having tea with her.

The Lockworth Queen.

As always, she's glowing and immaculate. And I'm in my pajamas. I haven't even brushed my teeth.

My mom's voice is jittery and nervous. She asks me to come and sit with them. I take a seat as far away from Ida as I possibly can without coming across as rude.

Ida comments on my "cozy-looking pj's" and asks how I've been. She knows about Goldie, and offers her condolences.

"I can remember every pet I ever lost," she says, sounding genuinely sympathetic. "Animals are amongst the most difficult to let go."

Especially if you can talk with them, I think.

My mom leaves us alone to talk. I've been trying to avoid this conversation. I had assumed after such a long period of silence on the Lockworths' end that I was in the clear.

No such luck.

Ida asks me why I deregistered from my program. I tell her I wanted to spend time with Goldie. I couldn't focus on my exams - and that I actually missed one.

She knows all about that, though. She knows everything.

And she makes me an offer. If I come back to Rosewood, she'll have me reinstated in my program at the University. The official story will be that I had a family crisis to deal with. Nothing will ever be mentioned about the missed exam or my grades.

I don't understand why she wants me to come back. I almost killed her son...

"What if I don't want to study English?" I ask, suddenly.

"If you wish to change your program, you are free to do so at any time," she tells me. "You know that."

"What if the thing I want to study doesn't have a program?"

She asks me what it is I want to study. I bite my lip before answering.

"The occult."

She starts rhyming off institutions that offer such degrees.

"I don't want to study it in a scholarly way," I interrupt her. She just looks at me, her eyebrow raised. "I want to study it... in a practical way..." My voice trails off. "I want to be a healer."

She regards me seriously for a moment.

"We'll see what we can do about that."

She gets up and grabs her Gucci handbag. "I'll send a car for you first thing tomorrow morning."

She thanks my mom for her hospitality and turns to leave. Before she's out the door, though, I remember something.

"Oh, I don't have a PA, yet!"

She doesn't even turn around.

"Well I suppose you had better do something about that."