The Forest Witch's Home for Magical Creatures

Chapter 30: The Aftermath

Massie wanted to fall apart on the kitchen floor but she couldn't.

Gael's shaking body clung to her. Repeating, "I'm sorry's" through gasping sobs.

She was falling apart at the seams. All she could see was Wren's face, twisted up in anger and madness but his eyes were filled with terror.

Massie was falling apart. But she held herself together. There would be an After. A time for her to shatter like the glass all over the floor. For now, she had to focus on the boys.

She carefully guided Gael out of the kitchen. He wouldn't let go of her. Jace was silently crying against the wall.

Their night-time routine was a blur of tears. They huddled together in the same bed, Jace still silent and curled against his brother.

Gael's crying slowed but didn't stop. She sat next to him on the bed and ran her hands through his hair.

"I'm sorry. " He said again.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. " She assured him.

"I made him leave. I didn't want him to leave. I just didn't want him to hurt you, Ma." His voice came out begging.

She closed her eyes as the pain flared inside of her. It was the first time Gael called her Ma, while he was scared and crying.

She wiped the tears from his face. "Nothing that happened tonight was your fault."

He opened his mouth to argue but she shook her head.

"Nothing that happened tonight was your fault." She repeated, looking him in the eye so he understood.

The tension left his little body and he sagged into the bed.

"Promise? You're not mad at me?"

"Promise. I'm not mad at you. You were very brave."

She waited a minute, gathering her thoughts.

"Wren was angry. He was angry and scared and it wasn't right for him to act like that."

" I thought he was never scared." He said with all the innocence of a child.

"He was hurt by witches. They hunted him, kept him, and hurt him. For a long time, all he knew was fear."

The boys were silent, focused on her as she talked.

"Witches hurt people?" Gael asked.

"Some witches do. They want more power and they don't care who they hurt to get it."

"You don't hurt people." He stated, with a little hesitation in his voice.

She shook her head. "Never. And my brother doesn't either."

He nodded sagely. "Bird-man doesn't know your brother. He doesn't know your brother is safe so he got scared."

It was oversimplified but it worked.

"Yes, but it doesn't make it right that he acted that way."

She wanted to make sure the boys knew they deserved better, and that they didn't accept fear and pain as normal.

"Will he come back?" Jace asked, his voice rough from crying.

Massie smiled, even though she wanted to cry. "Of course, were his family."

She stayed until the boys fell asleep. She walked her house like a ghost. Quietly down the stairs, past the mess in the kitchen, and out the front door.