Hallow's: Witch's Brew

Fourteen

Illenium- Don't Give Up On Me

"Don't go," he reaches for me as he falls asleep. "Please, Gaz. Don't go," 

I sit here looking at him for a while. He looks so tired. Noah had been a beautiful boy. I remember the first time I saw him like it was yesterday. He was scared and everything he believed in had been turned upside down. His hair was long then. Past his shoulders. His boyish features were so pure. He was skinny and short for a boy his age. 

All of that is gone now. His features are sharp. Pretty and no longer that of a boy. His beard is a mess but it doesn't look bad on him. With a little trim and a lineup, he'd be hot. He's taken very good care of himself. His arms are huge. 

The purple marks of his position in the Coven make me angry. His arms are both covered in them. I trace them counting eighteen kills on each arm. He's thirty this year. I turn twenty-nine in December. 

They really fucked us both over and for what? A power none of them will ever be able to use. Without the proper vessel, the power is dormant. Only amplifying the element compatible with it. 

I go back downstairs to clean up. Once I clear everything, I turn off all the lights and sit at my desk to wait for whoever it is that is supposed to come retrieve me. I scroll through my contacts until I get to Cody's name. 

"I was just thinking about you, Gaz," she answers on the first ring. 

"I need your help," I say, pushing my hair out of my face. "I'm home," 

"Home-home? As in at the eye of the storm?" 

"Yes, ma'am," 

"Shit, are you okay?" she asks. I let my tears slip not fighting them this time. 

"No, I'm not. It's a lot worse than I thought it would be," 

"How is your family?" 

"I don't know. We should talk about this in person. I have a meeting in Hellbourne tomorrow afternoon. Think you guys can get here by then? I need you to watch someone for me," 

"Yeah, yeah. We'll head out in a couple of hours. It gives Beverly time to get to me," 

"Thank you, Cody. Bring in the big kit," 

"That kind of mission, huh?" 

"Even if they are pardoned, I'm killing Marianne. I won't leave without her head this time," 

"Tell me what happened. Is it the boy?" 

"Yeah, yeah," I sit back hearing the glass door of the greenhouse through the back door open. "They really fucked him over. I'll let you go. I have company," 

"I'll see you tomorrow, Gaz. Stay safe, Little Mouse," she hangs up. 

The door creeks open and my mother steps inside with another woman behind her. The two of them move inside quietly. They both freeze when I turn the light on. My mother is the first to recover as I place the gun I hid under my desk on the tabletop. The woman tries to go for the door, but I lock it with a tap on to my phone. I lock the entire house down. 

"Hey, Mom," I say. She doesn't respond. "Why don't you and your friend go into the living room so we can have a little chat? The tea is ready," 

She pushes the other woman forward and the two of them do as I ask. I pick up my gun and tuck it into the waistband of my shorts. I serve them tea and take it to the living room where the two of them are waiting for us. 

"How did you know?" she asks when I take a seat with a black teacup between my hands. 

"I got these in Japan," I inform her. "They were a gift from Sebastian Hayashi. He's the man that runs the Yakuza over there now. Very lovely man. Very traditional and humble all things considered. His son makes these. He's magnificent at pottery,"