The Witches on BellaRow Street

38. Okay, Who Wants A New Pet?

*:･ﾟ･ﾟ:*:･ﾟ･ﾟ:*:･ﾟ･ﾟ:*:･ﾟ･ﾟ:*:･ﾟ:*

A light, pit-pattering sound, tip-toes across my bedroom floor, then hops on my bed--without asking--and taps my arm, meowing, purring. He's in a good mood today. Yay me.

When I don't open my eyes, the 'meowing fur-ball' taps my face with his paw, applying pressure until I lift my covers over my head, blocking his attempts.

"Mister Purr, I had a long night..."

It's true. After the Underworld adventure and the impromptu pool hall shenanigans with Cree, I rushed back to my house, texted Zion, 'home,'  told my sisters' goodnight, showered, then plopped on my bed, drifting off to sleep.

And now my annoyingly super clingy cat wants my attention--early in the morning. While Mister Purr is tapping and tugging on my sheets, I relish in the warmness of my comforter, cupping my body and how my pillow it's positioned just right, behind my back.

If only my cat would stop drumming his paws on my face, then I could drift off to sleep, ignoring all my problems. However, he's not stopping anytime soon, so he's either hungry, or my other sisters have locked their doors.

In one swift move, I fling back my covers, huffing. "What Mister Purr? Speak!"

He looks at me smiling, yes, smiling like everything he has done in the past few weeks never happened. Mister Purr steps back, sits on his hindlimbs and points to something on the left side of my bed. I follow his gaze, twisting my neck and squinting my sleepy eyes at what's laying there.

Within seconds, my heart hammers against my chest, triggering my fight or flight moves.

"AHH!" I scream, swiping off a circle of plastic spiders lying on my bed with Zion's key in the middle. "What the fuck, Purr?"

I launch my pillow at him but he takes off, running, laughing all the way out the door. Did I mention he's annoying?

I guess it's my cue to get up, and judging by the commotion downstairs, my sisters are already up. I'll see what they're doing soon, but first, let me pick up the plastic spiders from the party story, brush my teeth, and place Zion's key in my bag before Mister Purr has another brilliant idea. 

"Hello?" My slippers squeak on our wooden floor as I step off the stairwell and unto the family room where Faylayee's wedding stuff and Aunt BeeBee's crime board, papers, and photos merge together like a bad pop-duet on the radio. "Good Morning..."

"Hey, sis..." Junie's by the kitchen counter, eating a bowl of sliced apples, melons, berries, and bananas. A rolled blunt sits by a glass of cold water. "How was your night?"

"I meant to talk ya'll about it but--"

"Don't worry about it yet." Junie scoops up the last slice of fruit, then places the bowl in the sink, leaving the rest on the counter. "Come on. It's time."  

"Time for what?"

She doesn't say anything, only exits out of the kitchen's sliding doors, connected to the sun porch, then opens the screen door, and walks onto our fenced-in backyard.

Passion Flowers, Bridalwreath Spirea, Lemon Beebalms, and other types of exotic plants align our wooden fence.  It's Aunt BeeBee's mini botanical garden, her sanctuary, her peace.

Junie and I stroll over, where Faylayee and Aunt BeeBee's sitting on separate blankets, waiting for us. A silver metallic bowl with the bottom part open, placed between them, shines under the sunlight. 

"Ladies, welcome," Aunt BeeBee smiles. 

"Yes! Yes! Come, and sit! Hurry!" Faylayee waves us over. "Yanni, you sit here. Yep!"   

I chuckle, unsure of what's happening, but appreciating the organic green scenery with my sisters. Junie squats down in front of Faylayee on the left side of me. We're in the same position as my vision when we 'burn down' the house, except this time, we're sitting on the grass.

A few clouds float over on a sunny day while a family of birds chirps in the distance.

Aunt BeeBee breathes out, then taps the silver bowl. "We have seen and done a lot, but the one thing that remains consistent is our loyalty to the sisterhood." She lets the last word sizzle. "I don't know what the future will hold, but whatever happens will be. And on that note, we will not let the Zetish control our actions. Today we're taking back our power."

"Period, sis." Junie's feeling the speech.

Aunt BeeBee continues. "Planet Earth has a way of recycling energy and rebalancing nature. Together, all four of us have the power to siphoned the Zetish out of our system and release it, giving it back to earth. We're not waiting three weeks."

Faylayee gasps. "Will the earth be okay? Will our grass wither away?"

Aunt BeeBee smiles again. "Yes, Zetish is magic. It's a different kind, but all magic comes from the earth. What we're doing is composting the energy."

"Oh, like rotten vegetables! I think some grocery stores give farmers old produce for decomposition. It's the organic cycle of life."

"Exactly," expresses Aunt BeeBee. "Okay, ladies, place your hands in front of the bowl and repeat after me."

One-by-one, we repeat a spell, channeling our inner magic until four streams of dark Zetish light, running down our veins, bursts out of our fingertips and zooms at the center of the bowl. Aunt BeeBee's dark gold, Junie's deep red, Faylayee's royal blue, and my forest green light fuses, fighting the process.

"What's happening?" shouts Faylayee.

"It's fighting for control," Aunt BeeBee belts out. "Now, everyone lifts your hands and push the Zetish into the ground, using your real magic. The bowl will siphon the rest."

We swirl our hand forward, wielding our magic, extracting the negative energy out of our systems.

Once the Zetish travels out of my veins, I feel the old me coming back to life like a breath of fresh air, but this time I'm stronger, self-aware, and ready for action. I feel as if everything is going to be all right.

My sisters and I got this.

The last traces of Zetish travels through the ground and out of our bodies for good. We lean back, propping our hands on the grass, laughing at how far we're willing to go to rewrite our wrongs.

The sun porch door opens, and I peek back, watching Mister Purr touch the grass, then I guess once it's safe to cross over, he comes up beside me, smiling. I'm still mad at him.

"Yanni, I apologize for asking you to remove Cree from our path," utters Aunt BeeBee, looking away. "The Zetish, mixed with my worries, heightened my decision. I wish I..." She hesitates. "I made a mistake."

I peek up, giving her new hope. "Aunt BeeBee, it's okay. I didn't go through with the plan." My eyes falter, recalling the moment. "We struck another deal."

Faylayee claps. "Yes! Thank goodness." She stops clapping mid-way. "Oh, no, what deal?"

After I tell them that Detective Cree wants me to help him with our case, Junie laughs, realizing how low he's willing to go for answers. Faylayee welcomes the new deal, saying we should tell him the truth, and maybe he'll understand. Aunt BeeBee's thinks we need to fix our problem, fast before Cree get too close.   

Junie snorts. "He's unbelievable."  

"Yep," I stand up, feeling much lighter, hopeful since the removal of the Zetish. 

"Where are you going?" questions Junie, but my other sisters are also interested.

"Zion's place..." I add. "He's connected now. He's with us." 

Aunt BeeBee sighs. "I don't know if it's a good idea, but I trust your judgment." She's more receptive after our Zetish cleansing. Good. "And I'll continue looking at Alexander's notes on S.H.A.R Investors and whatever else I may have overlooked."

Junie nods. "There's has to be a clue we're missing..."