Electric Blue (12 page)

Poppy felt that surrounding was important to inspiration. She had to be comfortable in her space otherwise there'd be no inspiration. That wasn't the problem today, however. Bad enough her thoughts were distracting her, but the noise had also made her edgy. She knew the house was slightly unstable, that there were spirits and magic in its walls. Noises made her edgy in this house. Knowing she would never be able to paint now with her concentration shattered, she put her brush and pallet down and stood up. She stopped breathing so she could hear the house around her. If she listened close enough, she could swear she could hear the Harrow House breathing. It wouldn't be surprising.

The noise came again, from the side of the attic towards the back of the house. The attic was huge; it ran on top of the house, the entire length, so that it was really one massive room. It only took Poppy a few steps to get to the sound, though. It sounded as if someone was crying. She was standing in front of locked door she had never noticed before. It was hidden in a corner, covered in shadow. The crying had stopped. She stood in front of the door and eyed it critically. She tried the knob. It rattled in her hand, but the door was obviously locked. The lock was rusted, so the door had been locked for a very long time. Getting on her knees, she tried to look through the key hole. She saw a brief flash of something, a flash of white, and then the hole went black. Shaking her head, she pulled away from the keyhole.
Odd
, she thought.

Standing, she dusted off her hands and started for downstairs. There had to be a skeleton key somewhere. She would find out what was behind that door. As she let herself down the attic stairs, she wondered what she would find in her secret room. The possibilities were endless. She felt a little excitement in her belly.
This would be like a treasure hunt
, she thought. In a house full of magic. On the other side of the door, Monica removed her finger from the keyhole and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. She had been crying for Moe, wanting him so badly it hurt. The room glittered around her, silver dust in the air. She was almost done. If that bitch wanted to know what was on the other side of the door, she would show her. Monica smiled to herself, looking at her new body in her mirror. Poppy won't know what hit her, she thought.

* * * * *

Descending the stairs, Poppy looked up at the sun as it played tag across the walls with shadow. She wasn't really surprised about the hidden room in the attic; she was sure there were secret passages in this house that no one knew about. It had been built so long ago and added to, who knew where the original house began and where it ended? She knew the house had more secrets than a hidden room. It was just a matter of finding them. She went into the kitchen to find Alicia frying up bacon, eggs, pancakes and toast. She was making a lot of food. Alicia always fed her guilt and depression with food. There was something wrong. She kissed Alicia on the cheek and hugged her from behind, feeling her stiffen under her touch. "Morning Hon," she said.

"Morning," Alicia said, turning to kiss her. "I made your favourites."

"It looks like there's enough bacon there to reconstruct the whole pig."

"It was on sale. I was going to use the rest for BLTs later for lunch. Would that be okay?"

"That would be wonderful," Poppy said. She could feel the tension between them and was shocked by it. She wasn't sure when it had set in, when it had snaked its way between them. She sighed and helped herself to a cup of coffee. She was so nervous that her mouth felt as if it were full of cotton balls. "We need to talk," she said.

Alicia stiffened. "About what?"

"Several things. Like what's bothering you for instance. You haven't let me get near you for ages."

"Nothing’s wrong," Alicia lied. "Everything's okay."

"You're such a horrible liar, you know that?"

"I'm not lying."

"Yes, you are." Poppy sighed. "Tell me who she is."

"What?"

"You've been keeping secrets from me, won't let me near you. You won't talk to me about what's inside me; you avoid me like the plague. It either has to do with magic, or you're cheating on me. Which is it?"

"Oh, Poppy. . . ."

At that moment, Moe came through the wall. He stopped, took one look at Poppy and Alicia and made to go back the way he had come.

"Sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll be leaving now."

"No," Poppy said, "stay. I have a favour to ask anyways."

Moe turned back. "Favor?"

"Nothing too big, promise."

"For you, anything," Moe said, smiling. He wanted to be out the kitchen as fast as possible. Poppy looked really pissed off at Alicia and he didn't want to stick around and find out why.

"I found a locked room in the attic, towards the back of the house. The door’s locked and I never even knew the room existed. I'm going to look for a skeleton key to get the door open, but could you zip through the wall and tell me what's in there? It's kind of thrilling, like a treasure hunt!"

Moe felt himself pale. He knew which room she was talking about. Monica's room. He blinked and cleared his throat. "A second room?" he said, no trace of nervousness in his voice. "That's exciting." Meanwhile, his secret was eating him alive inside.

"Isn't it?" Poppy said. "I need you to go in there and tell me what's inside; this place is probably full of neat cubbyholes and the like. We can talk about what you found later." Moe nodded. He zoomed through the wall and up to the fourth floor of the house, then stood in the attic, its shadows comforting.

What was he going to do? He shouldn't have kept Monica a secret, he knew that much. Having one ghost (himself) living in the house was quite enough. But he cared so much for Monica that he had come to start thinking of her as his. He knew what he had to do. He would tell her that she needed to come clean, that Alicia and Poppy had to know about her presence in the house. It was going to be hard, but secrets could not be kept forever. His mind made up, he tapped lightly on Monica's door and went through. When he saw her, lying on the bed, he could not believe his eyes. He felt the world blur around him. He had to reach out and grab a hold of the doorknob; otherwise he would have fallen over. "Oh my God," he said.

* * * * *

Downstairs, Poppy turned back to Alicia.

"Alright. Spill it," she said. "I'm tired of secrets. You said there'd be no secrets between us and now it feels as if there is a chasm. What's going on? ARE you cheating on me?"

Alicia looked crestfallen. "Oh, Poppy. . .it's much worse than you think," Alicia said.

Chapter Seventeen

Upstairs, Downstairs

Upstairs, Moe felt the world blur around him. He had to reach out and grab a hold of the doorknob; otherwise he would have fallen over. "Oh my God," he said.

Monica was lying on the bed, but gone was the young child waif of thirteen. Here was a woman, full figured and so not thirteen. Monica's hair had grown to large, bouncy curls that fell just beneath her shoulders. Her lips were large and red and looked wet. Moe found he wanted to kiss them. Her figure had also been significantly improved. Her breasts were round and large and cleavage was poking out from the top of her now form-fitting white blouse. Her legs were long and lean and shapely.

"Oh my God," Moe said again.

Monica smiled. "Do you like it?" she ran her hands down her body. Her nipples, visible through her white top, hardened. Monica smiled. She was making Moe uncomfortable. "I did it for you, Darling."

She brought her hands up to cup her breasts, and watched as Moe grew hard in his pants. "I see you approve," she said, her voice a predatory growl.

"How did you do this?" he asked. Thoughts were racing through Moe's head. He had already been attracted to Monica; it had been one of the reasons he had kept her presence in the house a secret. But now. . .gods, he didn't know what to think now.

"Does it matter?" she smiled a serpent smile and got up off the bed. She came towards him and put a hand on Moe's chest. She could feel his heart beating. "Does it really matter?" she ran a hand down to Moe's crotch. "This tells me it doesn't. The result is the same." Monica leaned forward and kissed him, running her tongue along his lips, fast like lightning. She heard him moan in response and pressed her body to his.

* * * * *

Downstairs, Poppy turned back to Alicia. "Alright. Spill it," she said. "I'm tired of secrets. You said there'd be no secrets between us and now it feels as if there is a chasm. What's going on? ARE you cheating on me?"

Alicia looked crestfallen. "Oh, Poppy. . .it's much worse than you think," Alicia said.

"Oh, really?" she said. "So stop beating around the bush and just freaking tell me already. I'm sick of this. I've known you were keeping something from me since the house quake. What is going on with me, Alicia? I know that you know."

Alicia was silent for a moment. She waited a long time before she spoke. "You are something that we have waited thousands of years for. Your coming has been prophesied."

"Who's this we? You said that we have been waiting hundreds of years for me."

"The Coven."

When Alicia uttered these words, the house began to shake softly. It hummed with magic, vibrated with anticipation. Both girls, intent on the discussion at hand, didn't notice the house and its actions.

"You're part of a Witch's coven?"

"Not just a coven, The Coven. We canvass the world, protecting our own. We are a support network, a community. The Coven looks after its own. We canvass the world for other Witches of the blood who may be in trouble and come to their aid. In the olden days, The Coven was a place of magic and secrets, but it has been disbanded. Only a handful of us remain."

"Am I part of the Coven?"

"No, you are something much more."

"What am I then? Cecelia and Naomi mentioned that I was to have a Guide. . .?" Alicia paled. "You know what I'm talking about!" Poppy yelled. "Tell me what I am. Poppy went up to Alicia and looked her in the eye. "Tell me what I am."

Alicia swallowed painfully before she spoke. "You are a Shape Shifter." She paused and went on. "You are the first Shape Shifter to be born in a thousand years. You are the embodiment of magic."

"And what does this make you?" Poppy asked in a whisper.

"I'm your Guide."

Poppy felt as if she had been slapped in the face. "You're my Guide? YOU are my GUIDE?" she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Yes. I watched over you since you were born. I am the one who is supposed to teach you how to be a Shape Shifter."

Poppy felt her head spin. "How could you watch me since I was born?"

"I'm a lot older than I look. One of the advantages of being a Witch is that you don't age as quickly. But I had help." She swallowed again. "
Orlando
and Karma are also Coven Witches."

"WHAT?" Poppy whispered through gritted teeth.

"I'm so sorry, Poppy. I was trying to protect you, I wanted to tell you, I—"

Poppy stepped back and slapped Alicia hard across the face. Alicia's head spun and spit flew from her mouth, hitting the ground in front of her.

"How could you do this to me?" Poppy felt her world shatter around her. Knowing now that those around her; Karma, Orlando, Alicia, had deceived her was almost more than she could bear. Her heart thudded in her chest, loud and full of blood, and she could hear it in her ears. Her head felt full, stuffed to the brim with what she had just taken in. She wanted to be loved but there was no one she could trust, no one but David. She felt the tears start running down her cheeks. "I trusted you, I TRUSTED YOU!" she let out a sob and ran away from Alicia.

"Poppy, wait!" Alicia called out.

Running away from the sound of her voice, Poppy ran downstairs to the basement, closing the door behind her before Alicia could see the way she came. The darkness was comforting to her tears. She wiped at them with the back of her hand. Something began to glow in front of her. She blinked, though it was not necessary in the dark, and the glow was still there. She edged forward, minding the stairs, until she was behind them. In front of her was a large door. She didn't find it odd that there was a door in the basement she didn't know about. After all, hadn't she found the door in the attic as well? It was rusted but let out a soft white light. She put her hand towards the doorknob and the door opened at her touch. Before her was whiteness. It was so pure, vast and wonderful that it wiped away all the negative feelings running from her. Squaring her shoulders, she stepped through the door, into the light. Into the house.

* * * * *

Naomi felt the ground shake under her feet. It was a curious sensation, as there was no earthquake. The ground under her feet simply began to shake and vibrate and then stopped as soon as it had come. Something had happened. She knew this with certainty. Something horrible had happened. And then she felt it, that feeling in the pit of her stomach that rose to her chest, a pulsating, charging beat that filled her chest. Someone in the Coven was in trouble. Naomi heard a noise and looked up to see Cecelia in the doorway to the living room, a crystal clutched in her hand. She had felt the vibrations too.