Witch Child - Secrets of the past

7 - Family

William Stone awoke to a crash. He grumbled to himself as he rubbed the gunk out of his bloodshot eyes. He looked to the alarm clock on the nightstand but, to his surprise, it wasn't there. Will shot up and took in his surroundings. The bright blue paint on the walls and the polished wood floors did not belong to his unit. Neither did the soft sheets on the metal framed bed. Will felt himself start to panic. Then it all came back to him. His kidnapping, his rescue, the Witch Hunters, his aunt. His Aunt! 

"You awake in there, Will," came a voice through the closed door.

"Yeah," Will called back, flinging the covers off and standing up as the door opened and revealed the aunt in question.

'That's still a weird thought,' Will shuffled awkwardly on the spot.

"Hey there," Crissy grinned enthusiastically, "Just coming to wake you up or else you'll miss lunch."

"Lunch?" queried Will, still waking up.

"It's one in the afternoon," Crissy explained, bouncing over to open the curtains. Sunlight streamed into the wind and Will winced at the sudden brightness.

"I haven't slept so long in ages," Will mumbled to himself, astonished at the time.

Crissy let out a bubbly laugh, "I'm glad to hear you slept well," she placed something on his bed, "Some clothes," she explained as Will went over to inspect them, "I wasn't sure of your sizes, but my son's old clothes should do. Though we should collect your stuff soon." 

"Thank you," Will nodded.

Crissy sighed and sat on the end of the bed, "I'm sorry," she looked up at Will, "I know this is a lot to take in, and I don't expect you to adjust straight away, but just know that I'll answer any questions you have."

"Thanks," Will repeated. Crissy seemed satisfied with that. She stood and headed back out of the room. Just before she closed the door again, she turned and smiled at Will, tears brimming in her eyes.

"I am so happy to finally meet you, William," she pulled the door closed before Will had the chance to responded. Then again, he wasn't sure he knew what to say to that.

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

Gilbert Woodflyn sat at the kitchen table, his plate piled high with bacon, sausage, eggs and toast. He was a growing boy after all. He was just on the process of drenching the whole plate in tomato sauce when Trish, his twin sister burst into the room.

"Guess what?!" the shiny haired brunette bounced in enthusiasm.

Gilbert smiled, not stopping the cascade of sauce on his plate, they'd played this game before, "You have a new boyfriend, and he's so ugly that he got plastic surgery but they ended up making him look worse."

"No way," Trish rolled her pretty hazel eyes in amusement, "Mum let someone stay last night."

That surprised Gilbert enough to put down the sauce, "Who?" Trish opened her mouth to answer, but never got the chance. Their mum entered the room and Trish put a finger over her lips , shushing him.

"Morning Mum," Trish kissed Crissy on the cheek as they both sat down at the table.

"Good Morning, honey," Crissy smiled back.

"It was so busy last night," Trish continued casually, picking at her food, "Lots of money in the bank," she spared a glance at Crissy, "Who was the guy you let stay over?"

Crissy shook her head at her children's efforts and smiled at the twins, "You remember me telling you about my brother?"

"The one that got in a lot of trouble with Witches?" remembered Gilbert.

"The one and only," Crissy confirmed.

"What about him?" Trish furrowed perfectly done eyebrows, "that wasn't him. They guy in the guest room was, like, sixteen."

"Eighteen," Crissy corrected.

"Mum," Trish was exasperated, "Who is he?"

Crissy sighed and put down her fork to look her children in the eyes, "My brother had a son. Last night he was found by some witches and rescued by Nick. We though it safer if he stayed with us for a while."

Trish was thrilled, "You mean we have a cousin we didn't know about!"

Gilbert was less thrilled, "How come we're only meeting him now?"

"It's a long story," Crissy sighed. Trish seemed about to press her, but before she could, the boy in question entered the room. Gilbert had a chance to study him in the doorway. He was very average, thin, pale and with a messy mop of dark hair over his eyes that looked to be annoying him. He held himself hunched and stiff in the doorway, as if unsure whether he was welcome in the room. Gilbert's mother seemed to notice it too.

"Come in," she gestured the boy to a seat, as he moved to take it, she made the introductions, "Will, this is Gilbert and Patricia, my children," she gestured to teach in turn. Trish gave a little wave while Gilbert just nodded, not having decided on whether or not he liked Will yet. 

"Hey Will," Trish spoke enthusiastically, "It's awesome to meet you. We were just trying to guess who you were, but I'll be honest, I did not expect you to be our long lost cousin," she shook her head and shrugged, "It's a bit of a shock."

"Same here," Will finally managed to get a word in, "Good to meet you, Patricia."

"Trish," the girl corrected casually, "The only people who call me Patricia are mum, dad and our Pastor." Will acknowledged the correction with a nod as he sat down. Trish immediately rushed to fill the boy's plate with as much food as would fit, all the while chatting about something, Gilbert wasn't really listening. He was instead studying his cousin. The boy was presently smiling politely as Trish talked, but it was far from relaxed. He seemed ready to run at any moment. Gilbert sighed. Obviously it was up to him to make the kid feel welcome, as Trish and his mum would just seem overbearing.

"So, Will, what happened for you to show up now?" Gilbert spoke up. Trish, who was in the middle of talking nonsense, narrowed her eyes at her brother. Even Crissy looked frustrated at the question. 

"Gilbert," Trish scolded.

"It's ok," Will reassured the girl, giving her a tight smile, "It's a weird situation."

Gilbert scoffed, "You got that right." Immediately two sets of narrowed eyes were on him again. Gilbert just shrugged at the women.

"I don't really know what's happening to be honest," Will confessed, "I didn't know I had any cousins, but apparently some witches are trying to capture me or kill me so I'm apparently only safe here."

"Why are witches after you?" Gilbert tried to keep his demeanour cold and disinterested whilst his mind worked overtime. Were his family safe with Will in the house?

"I dunno," Will shrugged, baffled, "I heard them mention something about a spell on me. Honestly, I don't know." Gilbert was opening his mouth to say more when Crissy raised her hand to stop him. All eyes turned to the woman as she sighed dejectedly. When she raised her head, her steeled eyes met Will's.

"It's because of your father."