craftfield 01 - secrets untold (13 page)
Read craftfield 01 - secrets untold Online
Authors: brooklyn shivers
Lily faltered. How did they know? “She hit her head on the glass case… she died.” She took a shaky breath, tears still coursing down her face. “We had her funeral yesterday.”
Aunt Jess let out a strangled sob.
“What a horrible thing to joke about.” Martha glowered. “It’s not funny at all. Did your mom put you up to this?”
“It’s true.” Lily held out her hands. “Believe me, I wish upon everything in this world and the next that it wasn’t.” Her voice hitched. She would do anything to save her mom, even trade places with her if she could.
Shock and grief raced across her aunts’ faces. All three huddled together on the floor, hugging each other and crying. Why had her aunts not responded when she tried to reach them? Why now? And showing up like they were almost ill?
“I’ll fix you both some tea.” Lily wiped her eyes. Her aunts would need time to process this. To mourn. There would never be the four of them laughing and eating ice cream when a storm passed through and their tubs had melted. Never again would they sing along with the radio while her mom sung the wrong words while business was slow.
“Who did it?” Aunt Jess frowned, her brown eyes narrowing. “Who killed her?”
“W-What?” How did she know that? Wait, they said they had bad feelings…did they have visions too? Was it a hereditary thing? “How do you know it was a murder? I never mentioned that.”
Martha patted Lily’s shoulder. “It’s unbelievable that your mom would slip. You know, she was a dancer all through school.”
No, she hadn’t known that. Still, something about the look the two exchanged said there was more to the story than they were letting on. “What’s going on with you two? Yes, a guy shoved Mom because she wouldn’t sell and she slapped him. But why are you acting like you’re in a spy ring or something?”
“You were here when Betty fell?” Aunt Jessica’s shaky hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my poor thing. Was she conscious after she fell? Or no, it was instant wasn’t it?”
A shiver rolled through Lily and she took a faltering step backward. “I-I wasn’t here.”
“How did you know she slapped him?” Martha cocked her head. “Did he confess that? Seems strange that a killer wou—”
“Not exactly.” The words slipped out before she realized she’d spoken them aloud.
“Tell us.” Aunt Martha focused on her as if Lily were a bug she was debating to put into a jar or not.
Should she confide in them? They might call the lunatic society and have her committed.
Lily sunk down into the nearest chair. “It’s a long story.” She shivered and pushed down the sorrow that welled up inside her, threating to choke her. “Before Mom died, I had a horrible dream… and the feeling like I didn’t want to leave her alone. But everything was fine that day and I felt like I was being silly. The next day, while I was at Joe’s to get a part for the freezer, I got this vision of something bad happening to her.” Neither of her aunts said a word, but stared at her, unmoving. Lily rushed on, “I couldn’t get ahold of Mom. Not on the shop’s phone or her cell.” Her voice hitched. “I panicked and called the police, but by the time they got here, it was too late. She was dead just like my dream and vision.” Her body shook. “So am I crazy or what?”
“Honey, that’s terrible.” Jessica stepped forward, and pushed back Lily’s hair. “But sometimes people have weird dreams and call them premonitions. It’s just coincidence.”
No, it wasn’t. Lily shook off her aunt’s affection and stood. “I don’t believe that. It was too precise. The blood, the glass.” She gasped. “And the picture frame. In my dream it was broken exactly like it was at the crime scene.”
“Have you ever had these… dreams or visions before?” Martha leaned forward on the edge of her seat, her hands fisted in her lap.
“No.” Wait, that wasn’t entirely true. “Yes. When I first touched that picture frame at Michael’s store, I saw it shattered and blood everywhere.”
Her aunts exchanged a look she couldn’t discern.
“What? What is it?”
“We thought the gift skipped you.” Martha looked up at her. “We’d no idea it would manifest this late in your life. Usually it comes by your seventh birthday and when you showed no ability, we thought you were like your mother.”
“You mean you both have dreams and visions?” Maybe it was hereditary and she was a late-bloomer. “Why didn’t you tell me we have prophetic dreams? If I had known, I-I could’ve saved Mom. She’d be alive right now.” Sobs tore through her.
Jessica reached toward her, but Lily stepped backward.
“Don’t.” She pushed away. “Mom is dead because of your secrets. And what were you two doing that we couldn’t contact you? ‘Cause I’m pretty sure you weren’t in the Bahamas or anywhere near there.”
“We don’t have the gift of dreams or visions.” Martha sighed. “If I’m in the same room with someone, I can control their bodies. But only for two minutes.”
Jessica gave a soft smile. “I can move objects with my mind.”
Her aunts were crazy. And that meant Lily was going out of her mind too. Maybe that’s where they disappeared every winter and why they had no tans; they were at an asylum for medicine and counseling. All the years that she remembered them going and returning, they’d been tan. Had they done fake spray-on ones before this and she hadn’t noticed?
“You don’t believe us?” Jessica shook her head.
“Well,” Lily crossed her arms, “if you could move objects, why didn’t you unlock the door earlier?”
“I couldn’t. My nerves where frazzled from the ride back to the States and I felt like something was wrong.” She wiped the corners of her eyes. “I couldn’t concentrate enough to open it.”
Lily turned to her other aunt. “And you? Controlling people? I don’t believe it.” Suddenly, Lily’s arms unfolded and she marched to the register, pushing buttons. What the hell was going on? Her body wasn’t obeying her commands. It felt like she was sleepwalking, but she was wide awake. Almost as if she watched herself do these things, but had no control over them.
“Believe us now?” Martha tilted her head to the side.
“It’s a trick… like hypnosis or something.”
Aunt Jessica shook her head, then her brow furrowed as all the ice cream drums lifted out of the case and danced around for a few seconds before settling back down. “No, our gifts are real. And now you’ll come with us for training.”
“What training? Look, I don’t want anything to do with this stuff.” She wanted her Mom. “I’ve got college and…” a new boyfriend. Now wasn’t the time to bring him up.
“Lily,” Aunt Martha shuffled toward her as if afraid of what Lily would do, “you’re like us. We thought that you were just a human like your Mom, our sister, because you never displayed any abilities… until now.”
“Yes, we watched you.” Jessica nodded. “Even though your Mom was magicless, both your grandparents possessed abilities, along with your Dad, so we were surprised you didn’t show any…”
“Wait.” Lily held up a hand. This was news to her and her head was spinning. “My dad? No, he died in prison, remember? The bad guy that Mom fell for.”
“He was bad, but he’s in a magic prison.”
Lily stumbled back. “A-Are you saying he’s alive? All this time, my Dad’s alive?”
“Yes. Your mom agreed that we’d tell you part of the truth, him being in jail. She wanted to protect you from what she went through.”
“And what was that?” Dread coiled inside Lily’s gut like a cobra waiting to strike her down.
“Being a human in a family of witches.” Sympathy or some other similar emotion filled Martha’s face. “She wanted you to have a normal life without worrying about your Dad or magic or anything out of the ordinary from what a human girl would experience.”
“I-I’m a… a…” She couldn’t say it. It was insanity on crack.
“A witch.” Jessica finished for her.
“If I had this power, why wasn’t it enough to save my mom?” When she’d had the dream, she’d pushed it aside as silly when nothing had happened the next day. If she’d known she was having premonitions, real ones, her mom would still be alive.
“No,” Jessica’s eyes filled with tears. “It would’ve happened eventually.”
Lily refused to believe that. The future wasn’t set. It couldn’t be. Believing that meant believing that no one had any choices. No way to fix wrongs. She couldn’t help her mother, but Lily was going to learn all she could about her gift and how to use it to help others. She was going to become the best witch on the planet.
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