Witch Child - Secrets of the past

4 - The Pub on Owl Street

Will sighed to himself and, a bit unwillingly, followed the practical strangers into the back of a dark 4WD, cursing at himself for his current predicament. He found himself in the middle, wedged between Lisa and Nick.

"Let's go," Lisa tapped the drivers seat in front of her. The car moved off as everyone settled into place.

"Is anyone going to talk to me about just what happened back there?" Will crossed his arms over his chest, as much as his position in the back would allow, "Who are you people?" Lisa seemed to grimace, but the expression was gone when she turned to face him. Will thought he had maybe imagined it.

"It's a long story," Nick spoke up. Lisa, looked over Will's shoulder at the man and narrowed her eyes slightly. Will turned to Nick, but his expression was blank. Lisa settled back into her seat.

Will furrowed his brow, "That answers neither of my questions."

"Well ask them one at a time and maybe I'll answer them directly," Nick smirked, lounging back in his seat.

Will found himself more and more on edge with the increasingly relaxed attitude of his present company, "Who are you people? Assassins?" 

Nick smiled and pulled out his handgun from the holster on his belt, "Notice Betsy here, did you?" 

"I'd be a fool not to," Will acknowledged. Nick seemed to smile brighter at that and turned the gun over in his hand, admiring it.

"Betsy has gotten me through some tough times, let me tell you," Nick grinned, beginning to swing the gun around on his finger. Will flinched back.

"Don't worry, it's not loaded," came the most adorable voice Will had ever heard from the front of the car. Will looked over to see a small Korean woman peering over the front passenger car seat at him.

"Who are you?" Will blinked a few times thinking the woman must be a construction of his imagination. There was no way the woman in front of him was real. Her voice was ripped straight from an anime Lolita, with the big doe eyes to match. And she was wearing cat ears on her headband, for goodness sake. 

The woman gave a tinkling laugh, "I'm Lily. Nice to meet you, William."

"It's Will," the confused teen mumbled to himself. This day was not going how he expected. 

Lily seemed to have heard his comment and smiled at him, "Will it is then." The woman winked at him and disappeared behind the seat again. Silence fell over the car as Will tried to process all the sudden information he had thrust upon him in the one night. 

'Wait. I haven't been given any information,' Will frowned and shook himself out of his haze, "Are you bad guys?" 

Nick, who had finally put away Betsy, looked shocked, "We're the good guys."

"What's with all the guns then?" Will pressed, determined to get his questions answered this time.

"They're for protection," Nick shrugged.

"And killing vermin," Lisa sneered from her corner.

"Like rats?" Will wasn't convinced.

Nick scrubbed a hand over his face, "Basically we're hunters. Lisa just calls the things we hunt 'vermin'."

Will began to get a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, "What do you hunt?"

Nick winked at him, "Now you're asking the right questions."

"Where here!" Lily called out from the front of the car. Will jumped, startled, and leaned to peek out the window.

"The Owl Street Pub?" Will frowned.

"Come on, Will." Nick was already out the car, "We'll take you to meet Crissy."

************************

The pub was bustling with activity, being late in the evening, most of the patrons were drunk at that point, and spending too much money on bar food. Lisa lead the group around the crowded tables. Lily latched onto Will's arm. He looked down at the woman who smiled back and practically skipped through the pub, long auburn ponytail bouncing after her. Will found himself being dragged along, stuck in her deceptively strong grip. Nick followed last, seeming watchful, as if he knew something was going to happen. 

"Crissy," Lisa nodded to a woman behind the bar. The lean, curly haired woman in question put down the glass she had been wiping and faced Lisa with a blank face.

"Lisa," she greeted coldly, leaning a hip on the bar as she casually took in the other woman, "What brings you here?" Lisa tilted her head to indicate Lily, Will and Nick behind her.

Crissy's gaze passed quickly over everyone until it settled on Nick, "Slater!" In a motion that was almost too quick for Will to follow, Crissy launched herself over the top of the bar and rushed into Nick's open arms. 

Laughing, Nick squeezed the woman, "I see you're still as spry as ever, Christina."

Crissy moved back from the hug and winked, "Not bad for forty, eh." Nick smiled at the woman and pulled her into a side hug, arm around her shoulder. 

"Now that's over," Lisa rolled her eyes and moved over to stand next to Will, "We've brought company."

"I did notice, Lisa," Crissy almost sneered the woman's name, before smiling at Will, "New recruit?"

"Ah," Will shook his head, "I don't think so..."

Crissy pulled away from Nick and leveled everyone with a perplexed stare, "Who is this boy?"

Will had enough of this, "Excuse me, but I'm not a kid," he folded his arms, Lily having let him go, "I have no idea what is going on here, or who you people are, but I've had enough and I'm going home." Will began to make his way out of the pub when his arm was caught by Crissy as he tried to move past her. He was getting tired of this.

Wide-eyed, Crissy's grip tightened, "What is your name?"

"Will," he tried to shuffle away from her grip, but the woman was moving for no-one. 

"Will who?" she asked quietly. Will stayed stubbornly silent.

"William Stone," Nick supplied, just as quietly. Crissy's face softened and her eyes began to well up with tears. She pulled Will to her chest and embraced him tightly.

"Oh, my boy," Crissy sobbed, "I thought I'd never find you." Will finally managed to pull himself out of her grip.

"Who are you and how do you know who I am?" Will's mind was reeling.

Crissy steeled herself, wiping her tears, "We need to talk, but not here," she gestured for the group to follow her, but Will hesitated.

"I'm not going anywhere without an explanation of how you all know who I am," Will stood his ground. The group shared a look. Crissy sighed and stepped forward.

"Will," she grasped his hands and looked into his eyes, "My name is Christina Woodflyn, formerly Christina Stone. Niel Stone was my brother," she smiled through new tears, "I'm your Aunt."