Something About Septimus

11 - The Dad I Never Had

I stared speechless at the door where Septimus left from.

What was that feeling that overcame me? It felt so weird....but so right. Something compelled me to be close to him and I have no idea what it was…like we were connected somehow. Maybe it has something to do with everything changing as soon as I got here and the curse? Whoa Etta don’t get ahead of yourself here. One step at a time. You know nothing of that curse so don’t even be thinking about it.

I unexpectedly heard some commotion downstairs which brought me out of my thoughts. I quickly glanced at the alarm clock on Septimus’ night stand. It was about 5:30…was I really here for more than 2 hours? I guess since I slept through that whole movie time flew by kind of fast.

I ran out of Sep’s room and down the stairs and into the living room. Sam was on the couch with another woman who look around his age who I’m guessing is his girlfriend. On the other couch was Seth…also with another girl and the twins were poking their head from around the kitchen into the hallway I was in and Spencer was nowhere to be seen.

Seth seemed to notice I was there. “Oh hey Etta. Staying for dinner?”

I nodded my head once. “Yeah I am. Say…do you guys know where Septimus went?”

The twins wandered in from the kitchen and each sat down on a separate couch shaking their heads as they walked.

Sam chuckled. “Who knows with that boy? He always wanders off. He just stormed out the door about a minute ago if you want to go into the woods and search for him be my guest. He always shows up right before dinner so I wouldn’t worry too much.”

Seth gave his brother a scolding look and then looked back at me. “I’m sure he’s OK Etta. Anyway where’s mom with food. I’m hungry.”

The girl beside him patted his stomach and laughed. “You’re always hungry Seth.”

Everyone laughed simultaneously. “Aren’t we all?” Sebastian said and there was more laughter. All I did was stand there awkwardly in the hallway staring at that new girl sitting next to Seth. Her hair was a dark auburn color that was more on the red side, straightened to perfection and long. The girls’ body had curves in all the right places with teeth so white they can blind you. She was wearing denim jeans with tan boots and a black tank top. A tan leather jacket that matched her boots hung over the back of the couch. But what really caught my attention were her pitch black eyes that seemed to scan the whole room and everyone in it. They look so familiar it kind of scared me.

Her head turned to face me and she smiled sweetly.

“What’s your name again sweetie?” She said in the middle of everyone’s conversation, silencing them.

I cleared my throat. “Etta.”

Her smile grew. “Did you know that means 7 in Greek? Technically it’s pronounced Epta but they sound so alike one can hardly tell.” Everyone stared at her in astonishment. “Oh my name is Katrina Faye. But please call me Trina.”

“Nice to meet you Trina.”

She smirked. “Pleasure.”

She turned her attention back to Seth and the rest of the group sitting on the couches and their conversation continued where it left off, laughing and seeming to enjoy themselves…without my company. I sighed quietly and began to make my way to where I thought the kitchen was because I’ve never been in that part of the house yet.

I pushed open the farthest door in the hallway leading away from the living room and I came across a burly man with light chestnut colored hair and brown eyes sitting at the kitchen counter on a stool. He was wearing a dress shirt with khakis and glasses that hung off his nose with a book in his hand. When the door opened his head looked up sharply and his glasses fell off of his face and his eyebrows rose. This man was their father. It was obvious because many of the boys took after him.

“Etta, just the person I was looking for. Here, sit down and let’s talk.” He smiled at me and set his book down while patting the stool next to him. “I’m Silas by the way. We never really introduced ourselves.”

I smiled back uneasily and made my way over to him, sliding onto the stool. “Sebastian told me you wanted to talk?”

“Ah yes. I wanted to talk to you about two things actually.”

I was nervous yet curious at the same time as to what he was going to say.

“I wanted to talk to you about this town first of all.”

My heart rate accelerated and I leaned forward the slightest bit, interested in what he was going to say. Finally after a couple of weeks of waiting in anticipation I get to know a little bit about this town.

“But first…can you tell me why you moved here? Why Hollowvale? I don’t think you have any relatives or connections here.”

I sighed. I knew someone was going to ask this question sooner or later. Spencer already did but I kind of beat around the bush when I answered him. But I figured I could trust this man so I gave him the truth.

“Well my mom and I lived alone in a little apartment and we were barely getting by.” A little redness appeared on my cheeks because I was almost embarrassed to tell this part because no one really knew about it. “My mom was paying all of our expenses. My brother went to Germany to teach there but he didn’t have enough money to support himself so my mother had to send him money every month to cover that and just that was so much money. Then out of the blue one day she gets a phone call and an office somewhere in “the middle of nowhere Hollowvale,” I used to call it that…it kind of rhymed so I liked it.”

He chuckled and nodded. I took that as my cue to continue.

 “Well they promised her a job and when they told her the pay she started packing and they told her they would send a complementary company car with a GPS installed with the location. My mom didn’t even question it and she just told me to pack the essentials and we were heading out the next night. And now I’m here…and I’m confused as to why we got that call. She never applied to any place near here. My mom hasn’t questioned it once and she seems really happy here…so I guess I am too.”

Silas just nodded his head with a confused expression on his face. “Do you know which office this was Etta?”

“It was the hospital actually. Where we used to live my mom managed the records…births and deaths and all that. She recorded them down and organized everything. Every single happening in that hospital she knew…all the pasts ones too. She loved memorizing stuff like that. Like how they died. She feels like she can know someone’s whole life story or predict their life just by reading their birth and death certificate along with surgery logs and everything like that."

Silas nodded his head and smiled at me. "Thanks for sharing that. You are a very strange case Etta and I want to know why you and your mom were chosen to come here. Maybe I can contact the hospital and find out. And I promise I'll tell you more when I find out. You will be the first to know OK?"

"Yeah it is. Thank you."

He smiled at me. "No problem Etta. And you need anything don't be afraid to ask me or my wife or any of the brothers. I'm sure all of them will help you. Except Sam. Don't even bother asking him."

I laughed along with him and thought to myself on how he might become the dad that I never had. I had a feeling I'd be around this house a lot because of Spencer.

The kitchen door swung open and revealed Sarah with 4 boxes of pizza in her hands with 8 very hungry people behind her. Even Septimus was there with a smile on his face.

"Dinner is here."

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asldjfasdjflaseilurasfsdf this chapter sucks major. Sorry about that. It's going to start picking up here soon. So stay tuned!