Don't Open That Door - GoM 1

Echoes - 5

A sweet, warm silence filled the empty church. The sun came in through the stained glasses portraying the Archangels. They were what Alex liked the most about the place. Bold Peak had been born as a Catholic settlement for pioneers come from Ireland and some French that had changed sides, so Alex and Claire had been raised as such, like everybody else in town. They weren't really into religion, though, but they believed in God and loved Father Jason dearly.

As Old Bootter's apprentice, Alex knew angels and demons did exist, and that was why she liked Father Jason's church, full of angels instead of the usual Catholic gore of tortured saints and bleeding Jesus images.

She strolled down the aisle, enjoying the calm the church radiated. It always acted on her as an open invitation to breathe deep and let go of whatever concerned her. She sat at the second pew, in front of the life-size Sacred Heart statue, to wait for the priest. And while she waited in the stillness of the empty church, she knew what she had to do about the request Father Jason was about to make.

The door to the priest's office opened a couple of minutes later, and Father Jason came out with Kat Logan. He shook her hand with his trademark warm, understanding smile. Kat was unable to smile back. She hurried out keeping her head low and wiping her teary eyes, not even registering Alex.

"Alex, thanks for coming," said the priest, approaching her.

She stood up, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. "What's wrong with Kat, Father?" She saw he was about to change the subject and anticipated him softly. "We ain't doing nothing next week, Father, so we don't need to discuss it. Now, what's with Kat?"

Father Jason looked like she'd just thrown a bucket of cold water at him.

"Nothing? But, Alex, it's the—!"

"Tenth anniversary, yes. But Claire and I don't feel like shaking hands and accepting condolences on that date."

"But I was thinking—"

"A small, simple service, I know. We thank you so much for your concern, Father. We know you mean well, but we wanna keep it private, and we expect our wish will be respected."

Father Jason nodded right away, hiding his disappointment.

"Of course, Alex. We'll do whatever you girls decide."

"Thanks, Father. I knew you'd understand. So, what's with Kat?"

Father Jason sighed and motioned for them to walk down the aisle.

"Looks like Neil left her deep in debt. She may even lose the house."

Alex recalled what she'd just seen at the bank and nodded for him to go on.

"I'm meeting with the charity group in a while, to see what we can do to help her."

"Well, you can count us in."

"Thank you, child. She also needs a job, desperately. But I don't know how can she get one, if she's never had one before." Father Jason shook his head. "However, right now, Kat's real concern is Felicity, her daughter. Kat says she doesn't seem to be mourning her father's passing, and she's acting oddly."

"Children don't mourn like grownups, Father. Not to mention it's kinda hard missing someone like Neil."

"Yes, you're right."

"I get that Kat's all down about his death, but why would her child be? I don't think that little girl had any reason whatsoever to love him. Not mourning over the cause of violence and fear in one's life sounds rather healthy, don't you think?"

"Sure, but that's actually the least of Kat's worries about her." Father Jason paused, picking his next words carefully. "Had I not known Bootter, I would've never paid attention to what Kat just told me. But I did know him, and he taught you enough for you to understand me now. That's why I'm sharing this with you."

They stopped past the last pew, near the heavy wooden gates. Alex waited, puzzled by the priest's hesitation. He breathed deep before going on.

"Two weeks ago, Kat's mother gave Felicity an old music box. The child's grown so fond of it, she wouldn't suffer to be parted from it. She told me Neil dropped dead like struck by lightning, and while she waited for the ambulance, she found Felicity watching her dead father without a tear, holding the music box and moving her lips as if she were talking to it."

"If the music box is a present from someone she loves, maybe it helps her feel safe, Father."

"Yes, I saw her with it at Neil's funeral, and she told me her guardian angel lives in there. Not any fairy, not a goblin, not any random angel."

"Her guardian angel. A protective being."

"Yes. But it doesn't end there. Yesterday, while Kat and her sister jean looked into Neil's finances, Jean's daughter fought with Felicity over the music box. Felicity wouldn't let her touch it, even when the other child got rough, pulling her hair and scratching her face. Later, Jean's little girl woke up screaming in fear and pain in the middle of the night. Jean found her sitting up in bed, no lights on, with the palms of her hands heavily burned."

"Come again?"

"Jean swears there's nothing in the child's room that could hurt her like that. Yet there she is, pool little girl, in the hospital with three-degree burns. It will take her months to recover from the burns alone, and then, she will need several surgeries to try to get some touch and mobility back to her hands. Even so, she will never fully recover from these injuries."

"Kat thinks somehow Felicity had something to do with both events? And you agree?"

Father Jason shrugged with a quick grimace. "Bootter taught us that many things we always took as fairy tales are actually real, didn't he? Well, Kat thinks it's got something to do with the music box. But I wonder, is there any chance that the upset of Neil's death had caused Felicity to develop unusual abilities?"

"You mean like Claire's empathy."

"Yes."

Alex looked away, taking her turn to pick her words carefully.

"According to what my Grandpa taught me, I'd bet on the toy, like Kat. Grandpa used to say there's no such a thing as superpowers in ordinary humans. If anything like that shows, you only need to dig in their genealogy and you'll find that, at some point of history, the family blood got mixed with something that wasn't human."

Father Jason frowned. "You mean you think Claire's not completely human?"

She shrugged. "Who know, Father? My sister Rosalind spent two whole years away from home. She came back with child to never leave again, named her child after our mother, gave her our family name. And she never ever said a single word about Claire's father. So yeah, chances are Rosalind fell for some charming human-looking creature, and when she found out, she freaked out and ran away, banning him from her and Claire's life. Why not? People have no idea that most of non-human creatures living among us are good and caring, and that they actually spend their lives protecting and helping those around them." Alex smiled. "I don't know and I don't care, Father. Full or half human, Claire's my blood, and the person I love the most in the whole world. You know I'd take a bullet for her anytime."

Alex's plain, firm statement replaced the priest's surprise with a smile.

"Speaking of Claire," she said. "I'll ask her to check on Kat's child, if we can come up with an excuse to get close enough to her. And I'll look it up in Grandpa's books."

"Thank you so much, Alex. I still hope these are but unfortunate coincidences, but knowing you're helping makes me feel better."

"Anytime, Father. I'll keep you up."

"Thanks. And about the other thing—"

"Don't, Father."

"Just sleep on it, okay?"

"Look, Father, there's a hot guy over there, with a beard and a handsome smile, and he's staring at me as we speak. I'd feel awful if he saw me lying to you."

The priest frowned. "Hot guy with a beard?" He looked back from over his shoulder and only saw the Sacred Heart statue. Alex's fresh laughter made him blush. "Alexandra! How could you!" He tried to play offended, but ended up laughing with her. "Go, go! Or I'll keep you here, praying on your knees until midnight!"