Witch Demigods: The Kidnappings

Where is Everybody?

Mia's POV

I turned my back on Lucy and skipped away down the sidewalk to my home. I hummed to myself as I thought about what I might encounter when I arrive. May, our maid, would probably be there, as she comes on Thursdays. My stepmom might also be there. I shudder at the thought. If she was home, I might not be able to have Lucy and possibly Clara over to study! My grade would sink like the titanic and then my dad would be disappointed in me too. My stepmom already was.

Seeing my house and landscaping makes me grin though. Plants and nature always makes me feel better. I couldn't wait to dig my fingers through the soft soil and plant more in the garden.

My dad always loved to garden, but since it's planting season, I don't see him much right now, leaving me stuck with my awful stepmom, whom I call Isahelle the Terrible.

I got her name from Ivan the Terrible, a dude we learned about in History. But since her first name is actually Isabelle, I changed it to better fit herself.

I push open the gate leading to the house landscaping, and walk down the stepping stone trail that Dad and I made together when I was little.

That thought makes me smile. I remember pestering him about my mom. When he finally got fed up with it, he had said with a dreamy look on his face, "I remember that she was beautiful, in her own unique way. She had your hair, and loved farming and gardening more than anything. But she couldn't stay," he finished, his face falling.

"But why not?" I had questioned. If she really loved him, why did she leave? Why couldn't she stay?

I remember his sad smile as he answered. "I really have no idea. She was very busy though, and didn't have time for a family." With that, the conversation had ended, leaving me wondering why she didn't want us.

SMACK! My head and body collided with the front door. Laughing at my clumsiness, I open the door and step inside, rubbing my swelling head.

"I'm home!" I scream at the top of my lungs. Yelling in the house was one of Isahelle's pet peeves, so I made sure to do it a lot.

"She's not home," a voice says. May comes out of the shadows, nearly scaring the living daylights out of me. Her short jet black graying hair came down to her chin, and she has her regular T-shirt and jeans on, with an apron and multiple cleaning supplies sticking out of the pockets. I like May. She's one of my few friends, even though she's in her mid 40s.

I breathe a sigh of relief.

May nods. Really the only thing we have in common is that we hate the old bat, but it's enough for both of us.

"She left around 1 o'clock this afternoon, without even saying where she was going."

I frown. That's strange. Normally my terrible stepmom likes to torture us with her wealthiness by bragging about all the important people she meets and the fancy places she goes. For her to leave without any explanation is not like her at all.

I push the thought aside for now though. There's one person I want to see right now, and that's my dad.

"That's odd," I say, trying to sound interested. "But hey have you seen my dad? I was hoping he might get done in the fields early today."

May shakes her head. "Haven't seen him all day," she says. "He didn't even come in for a lunch break."

Now that's weird. Dad values lunch above all other things. For him to skip it is insane.  Maybe things got really close to getting done and so he stayed an extra hour or so but then realized that he had more to do than he thought. It seemed preposterous, and completely unlike him, but it was the only theory I had.