Immortal Awakening

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Twenty-nine

"Dad!" Laura said. "Have you ever heard of knocking? You curl your hand into a first, and with several thrusts of force, you hit your knuckles against the door repeatedly."

I put a hand over my mouth to keep from giggling. "Hello, Mr. Queen," Kaitlyn and I said in unison. She climbed back up onto the bed.

"Who's the new face?" he asked, leaning against the door frame. Mr. Queen was about 5'9 with light brown hair like his daughter, and they also shared the same brown eyes. Laura was practically a female replica of her father.

"Her name is Nina. For the love of God, Dad, don't embarrass me," Laura said putting her head in her hands.

Mr. Queen smiled and slowly walked over to me. "Did you know that the name Nina coincides with the Spanish name for little girl?" he asked.

"I know," I said.

"Do you speak Spanish?" he asked.

"Yes, I do." He didn't need to know I was so out of practice that I sucked at conversation. I only hoped he wouldn't start speaking to me in Spanish.

"So does Laura. She speaks it fairly well for someone who wasn't raised in Columbia where she was born. My baby girl." He got a faraway look in his eyes. "I remember when she was a little girl and she used to-"

"Dad!" Laura interrupted.

"Fine, fine. Nina, why don't you come downstairs and meet my wife?" he asked.

"I really should get going," I said softly.

Kaitlyn held my hand. "My mom's nice, I promise."

I wondered if Kaitlyn's mother was like her. I could already imagine a short, older woman, with hair just as long and thick as Kaitlyn's. Was being a witch hereditary, or was it a gift bestowed upon random people? Did Kaitlyn tell her about me?

I let her lead me downstairs with Laura chastising her father on our heels. I wasn't big on meeting the parents of my friends. It made me feel uneasy and unlike myself. Joshua's parents didn't exactly approve of me because of my reluctance to be in the spotlight all the time, and Natalia's mother didn't like me at all for a reason I still didn't know. Shelby's parents loved me and considered me family, and so did Zayne's parents before they died.

We entered the kitchen to see a small woman in capris and a tank top, busying herself around the kitchen, unpacking plates and silverware, and putting them into drawers and glass cabinets. She was short with short black hair, and curves to die for.

"Malaya Cho Queen, we have a guest," Laura's dad sang as he made his way over to his wife and hugged her from behind. Their height difference was at least a foot.

She hugged her husband. "Andreas Queen, why do you insist on calling my full name?"

"Because I love the sound of it," Mr. Queen replied, kissing his wife's forehead.

Laura and Kaitlyn cleared their throats simultaneously. "Can you two be all sugary and sweet when we're gone? Like, not standing right here?" Laura said, getting their attention. "Hey, this is Nina."

"Hello, Nina. Call me Malaya. You should stay for dinner. We're having an early dinner since I'm sure Lau and Kait want to go out tonight, and I never see them otherwise." She came towards me and I smiled when she put her hand out to shake mine.

I reached out to shake her hand and flinched back suddenly, cradling my hand to my chest and looking at Malaya in shock. As soon as I had touched her hand, it was as if she repelled me. A small force of energy had pushed me back. She looked up at me, brown eyes wide, and I knew she had felt it too. Laura, her father and Kaitlyn stood around us, knowing something was indeed wrong.