Halloween Town

Chapter 9 : Vampire hood

When Raymond left me at my aunt's house, Alice was not there yet. School time was over for today. Alice told me earlier that she wouldn't be here when Raymond and I would be back from "witch school", she needed to speak with the community for my ritual.

I thought about snooping around the house again. But I remember that last time I didn't find anything. Expect glasses or old papers and stupid things that didn't say anything about being a witch. For now, I just knew a little bit about the history of Halloween town and some parts of being a black witch. But I felt that it wasn't enough for me. I needed more than this, I couldn't have left my mom just for some small pieces and gave myself to a community I didn't know much. The only part that kept me going, ignoring these questions, was that here felt more at home than ever. Here, I knew that in time, I would have all the answers, I just needed to be patient.

A knock on the door stopped me from thinking about the dark side that was supposed to spread in me like a tumor and how my mom was after I disappeared. I didn't know if I should open the door. What if it was another person that I shouldn't be talking to? The knock was louder, now. So I opened it, annoyed by it.

"Hailey. How was your day ?" Bishop was waiting for me with a big smile. I wanted to close the door briefly, I remember how Alice seemed to not like the presence of vampires too. I knew that she was angry that day she picked me up at Lisa's house. Even if we didn't talk about it. I knew that she didn't like the vampire.

"Nice... But Alice is not here..." I paused for a minute, trying to get him a look inside the house, to prove to him that I was not lying. "I'm not sure that I can help you with anything, or maybe you can wait with me for her to come back." I tried to close the door harder, even if I had told him to wait with me. I preferred him to wait further away from the house. I didn't want Alice to be annoyed by the situation again. Nonetheless, with his shoe, he blocked me. I couldn't close the door on him. And Bishop was older and stronger than me, a poor human.

"I'm not here for Alice. Lisa wanted me to pick you up. She wants you to meet her other brothers." Her other brothers? Lisa never told me about them. I didn't know if this was a trick. However, it was true that I was bored, waiting in this house, and that nobody would teach me any magic. So I decided to follow him. Curious and annoyed by this long wait.

"Okay, but I need to come back before Alice does." He nodded, and through our eye contact, we knew exactly why I needed to get back before Alice. I also hoped that nobody in town would see us again. But I was not stupid, I knew that they all judged me for having Lisa as a friend and vampire.

We took the same path as the last time, going into the redwood, where Raymond told me to not wander again. I kept close to myself his ring, but I felt that Lisa nor Bishop would hurt me. I was a friend of their family. I knew that I should have listened to Raymond. But I trusted Lisa, we were really good friends now.

When The house appeared, I was still amazed. It was so well hidden from the witches, or maybe it was just hidden from my human eyes. Bishop opened the large wooden door, and let us in. I wondered if I had the strength to even open that door. I knew that in my dream I was able to. But here for real, I felt that the door was heavy. We walked through the same corridor, and there again Lisa was sitting by the couch. When we saw each other, her smile seemed bigger, as if she waited for me the whole day.

"Hailey, I'm so glad you're here." Lisa left the sofa at high speed, hugging me. I thought that the ring would affect her. But she didn't seem to notice it.

"I want you to meet my brother Damian." She let go of me, showing me her brother, seated in one of the old wood chairs around the round table. His blue eyes were very intense, and I felt timid, next to him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you finally, Hailey. Lisa always speaks nice of you." He smiled politely, he seemed to be a gentleman from an old time.

"I'm sad that Aidan couldn't be here today," Damian added looking at Lisa. I wondered who was this Aidan. Could it be possible that he was the same man as the one in my dream ? I glanced at Lisa curiously. Hoping she would say more about this Aidan. But deep down, when Damian said his name, I was so sure that he was the man of my dreams. My last reverie was even here in their house. That couldn't be a coincidence.

"That's one of my brothers. That's too sad, Aidan is not here. You would have liked him too. He is a sweetheart." She giggled, taking my hand, and taking us back on the couch.

"Really how he is liked? Tall, dark, and handsome." I smiled, making Lisa laugh again, followed by Damian too.

"You were right, Lisa. She is one funny witch." Damian malicious smile reminds me of Aidan one. I was sure now, without any doubt. That their brother, was my Aidan. However, I was now more afraid than ever to see him again. I was not ready to see him in real life.

"So, tell me more about vampires. I was with the witches today, and I felt really stupid being your friend and not knowing anything of your kind." I tried to change the subject, to be more comfortable around them, I didn't want Lisa to know about my dream with Aidan. Besides, Raymond made me realize I didn't have any info on vampires.

We spent the last hours talking about Damian and Lisa's history, and how they were connected by blood even though, they had different mothers while they were humans. The afternoon was lovely, until Bishop came back, announcing to them that it was time for me to go. I didn't try to bargain for more. I knew that I didn't want to have Alice mad again.