Unforgettable (OLD COPY DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 25

Astrid tenses next to me as she summons a ball of purple flames, the fire casting light across the walls to reveal the house to us. Her hand tightens around mine as I shiver at the thought of being trapped.

The entryway is nearly as wide as a basketball court and almost just as big as light flickers across the tiles. An enormous, spiral staircase rests at the end of the entryway, a woman in a stiffly pressed suit-jacket and skirt ensemble standing at the base of it.

She has a thin, pale hand resting on the railing as she balances in a set of black heels. A smile trembles across her lips as she starts walking towards us, Astrid visibly shrinking away from her as she holds up her palm threateningly. Her aunt doesn't seem to be aware of this as she strolls over to us, a dark set of sunglasses framing her face and obscuring her eyes as she hums idly.

She darts out a hand once she stops in front of us to cup Astrid's chin as she grins at her.

"Oh Astrid, you always were my favorite, give your auntie a hug," she murmurs.

As her fingers cup Astrid's face, I can see that her nails have been chewed down to nothing, not even a sliver of white marking where her fingernails are. Now that she's closer, I can see that her silver hair is slightly tangled in a few patches, like she hasn't brushed it in a while as Astrid flinches away from her touch, her eyes narrowing suspiciously as she takes a step back.

"Aunt Magnia...what happened to you?" Astrid says in a low voice.

The woman's lips quiver as she pulls them back into a smile that falls more along the lines of a snarl as she bares her teeth. She reaches up and pulls off her glasses and I flinch at what lies on the other side.

Her eyes are nearly white, like someone has smeared glue across her eyes as she blinks several times like the light is hurting her. I can scarcely see one of her pupils, the other one a grayish color as they stare right through me.

She can't see us, I realize as horror twists within me.

Astrid freezes at the revelation of her aunt's eyes, her hand letting go of mine as she rests it on her wand and lets the fire in her other palm fizzle out.

"They took them away from me, I have to see them...I have to know that they're safe," her aunt whispers as tears begin to well in her eyes.

"We should get out of here," Tessa's silent voice suddenly urges us as she takes a small step backwards. "She must be using spells to look into the prisons that Eleanora and Clayton are being kept in."

Horror washes over me then, using such spells is known to have side effects and blindness is just the beginning, beyond that is madness.

"Wait," Astrid warns her. "Aunt Magnia...," she then says aloud, but is quickly cut off as her aunt continues to ramble.

"I didn't know what they were doing, Clayton never told me anything," she turns and staggers a few steps away from us as she sets her sunglasses down on a small table at the edge of the entryway.

She slips off her heels, her bare feet stepping down onto the tile as she cups a hand over her mouth. Her shoulders hunch as she turns away from us before she gestures a hand in the air.

"All of this is mine but I have no one to share it with anymore, I want him and Ellie back but what they did...how he murdered those children and was shaping Ellie to do the same? And how many other people he could have possibly killed?" she says, her voice echoing hollowly as I realize just how big this house is. "But I still love him, deep down, I still do," she rasps."I just don't love the person he decided to become." 

There have been investigations of course and the police have managed to pin two more murders on Clayton that lead all the way back to when he was still in high school. I can still remember watching the broadcast on that and how all I felt was happiness that people were getting the justice they deserved.

I just hadn't expected that people could still feel something towards Clayton.

"I heard about the Heartwood murder, I know that you must be thinking that this all comes back to the Hallewells but I assure you, I am not my husband," she says as she turns around and almost seems to make eye contact with Astrid. "I just can't say the same for the rest of his wretched family," she hisses.

Her hand reaches for her throat then, her hand shaking as she cups a small, crystal ball that is hanging on a necklace. She looks into the ball, her eyes streaming tears as she sniffles. The trinket is obviously the tether that she uses to see into the prisons as it glows when she stares at it.

"Please visit Ellie, please tell her that her mother still loves her," she pleads as she looks up from the ball and I can feel my heart beginning to break even though Eleanora had tried to kill me.

"I promise," Astrid tells her as she offers a hand to her, which her aunt takes.

"Thank you," she whispers as she pulls Astrid into a hug and stares sightlessly over her shoulder.