Himora Clarke
Nobody was sure how long it would take for the spell to be broken.
With the last bit of dirt covered the evidence of a body being in the backyard, we stood around in neutral silence.
The men were tired from digging then replacing the dug-up dirt back.
The women seemed drained emotionally and the one child that was brought here was apparently in the house trying to use the bathroom.
“How long before we know the contract is broken?” Namir asked as he picked up the shovels.
“We won’t know until we come back,” Solomon said with a wipe of his forehead.
“Does it really fucking matter at this point?” Bellamy asked in the corner of the backyard. “It’s not going to work anyway.”
“Instead of pouting like a bitch and bringing everyone else down, why don’t you go sit in the car?” Namir asked.
“I’m the strongest mythic here,” Bellamy cracked as he blew cigarette smoke through his teeth. “You all wouldn’t know how to defend yourselves if you were attacked.”
“I beg to differ,” Harvey said as he stepped back into the backyard. “Souxie is awake by the way.”
That was the cue for everyone to walk back into the house and question the succubus witch who sat at the dining room table holding her head.
Her eyes returned back to its natural color as well as her pale skin, regaining some of her melanin back to her face.
I looked at the time, looked back at the pile of dirt collecting like a mound in her backyard before it suddenly shrunk into the ground, as if relaxing from the weight of the dirt.
Solomon and I were the only ones left to see it as we shared the same look.
Bellamy sucked his teeth as he walked in with a new attitude, but it was obvious to anyone with eyes, he was growing more anxious by the second.
“I got the chance to say goodbye to her,” Souxie could be heard saying. She nodded her head with a small smile before looking up at the nymph. “She was so happy to see us.”
“Did she say anything about Maggie?” The nymph asked. “Did you get a chance to ask her about Maggie?”
Souxie’s smile slowly dropped as she shook her head.
“I heard her say, where is Maggie? That’s when everything went dark,” she admitted with a sniff. “She was so happy at first. Her usual excitable self just as we first met her. It felt like…finally, you found me.”
She began to blink back tears while Namir walked towards the kitchen with his hands on his head trying to think. A toilet flushing suddenly broke the silence as Professor Birdie Jones came out of the bathroom with her son as they took a seat on the couch.
“Okay so what’s the plan now? We can’t just sit in this woman’s house. She’ll have to return some time, right?”
“And probably kill us all,” Bellamy muttered. “Just put me out of my fucking misery.”
“What’s the matter with you?” Namir asked, annoyed. “We’re doing this for you too, you know.”
“No, you’re doing this to satisfy some dog shit ego you have where everything–––”
“He’s scared of rejection from his mommy,” Seth pouted with a poke of his lips. The three began arguing with Birdie attempting to stop it. I quietly stepped back outside into the backyard as the dark night sky began to smear with hues or pink and orange in the distance.
“What did you do with the jar?” I asked. I didn’t have to look over my shoulder to know Trevor was standing right behind me.
“I have it here in my hand.”
He held the mason jar out which looked painted black from the inside. The contents remained hidden as I stared back at the pile of dirt again. The way the dirt slumped down told me there was no longer a body buried.
“We need to leave,” I told him. “Now.”
“What about the body?” He asked as he followed behind me. “Himora?”
“There is no body to collect, and I think Vanessa knew that. She said if the body is still there by sunrise, it worked for the most part.”
“So what about the jar?”
We stepped into the house where everyone was sitting around waiting for the next move.
They made themselves comfortable in this woman’s home.
The professor and her son were just coming from the bathroom in the hallway.
Namir and his brother were in what I could only assume was Maggie Grey’s childhood room.
Solomon made himself comfortable with the girls as it was his nature to be surrounded by feminine energy.
Harvey stood by the window looking through the curtains while Bellamy openly smoked in the corner of the house, becoming recluse, shrinking himself as anxiety ate away at him about meeting his birth mother.
“We all need to leave,” I said.
“Aye!?” Trevor yelled as he swiped his keys off the counter. “Everybody let’s go! We need to go!”
“Did it not work?” Solomon asked.
“We won’t know until we come back but we need to go. Aye!? The fuck are they doing in there?” Trevor asked as he stormed off down the hall. “Aye!? We’re leaving!”
I looked up at the flickering light above the dining room table and noticed the blinking stove clock 3:33.
Adjusting my glasses, I counted exactly 60 seconds.
Even with the wrong time, it would still go on as if it was correct, but this just remained 3:33…
The sudden surge of power buzzed as the home suddenly flashed like a bright light before bursting as the power shut down, causing the home to go into complete darkness.
“Too late,” I murmured.
“Somebody just pulled up to the house,” Harvey said.
“Shit, shit shit!” Trevor hissed as his heavy footsteps could be heard stomping throughout the house.
He grabbed my arm ready to drag me through the back and out of harm's way when the lights flickered for a moment. Providing a brief source of light for everyone to take their places. Bellamy grabbed the little boy who was on the verge of crying while taking the hand of the mother to bring her towards the back of the house. The wolf brothers slowly crept out with one on all fours growing behind his younger brother’s back legs, waiting and ready for whatever now that we’re plunged back into darkness.
“It’s now or never at this point,” Namir whispered, keeping around the corner with a heaving chest. I crossed my arms over my own chest, listening to the keys jingle before they paused.
It was the mother, there was no doubt about it, and she knew there were a handful of people in her house. She just didn’t know how many.
“Let me do the talking,” Souxie whispered. The keys were inserted into the lock as a woman’s voice could be heard on the other side.
“I know somebody’s in my home,” Ms. Norwood said with a warning tone.
When the door opened, the shadowy figure of a tall woman with thick curly hair sitting above her shoulders stood in the doorway facing the front yard.
The sunrise was taking its time from the east, but you could see her big purse on one arm and a gun aiming down in the other.
Nobody moved at first until the lights flickered back on and the startled look on her face couldn’t be described.
She stumbled back out of the doorway, eyes wide with her mouth open as she looked at everyone, trying to adjust. She wore college sweats with a large t-shirt, Crocs and silver streaks in combed through her hair.
She dropped her purse on the ground. Her eyes were searching through every face, reading everything in real time, taking everything in before managing a deep swallow.
“Who…what…. what is this?” She asked. She was scared and rightfully so.
She may not have an aggressive bone in her body, even in her true nature, she was still docile.
The fact that she held a gun instead of relying on her own strength was telling enough.
She spent more time with humans above ground the same way Trevor did.
His attitude towards mythics and his comfort level with the most basic of things above ground was the same.
“Somebody start to say something,” she said. She wasn’t sure who to look at but when Souxie stepped up, she smeared the last bit of tears from her face.
“My name is Souxie Lafayette,” she greeted. “I am a second-year student at Drew Collins University and your daughter…”
“Maggie,” she said, finishing the sentence for her. “What about her? Is she alright? What’s going on and how did you all…”
She stepped back into her house and I can tell she was feeling dizzy just from the way her eyes suddenly looked around.
She held on to the door just as Solomon crossed the room to help her.
Namir immediately came to the other side of her before closing the door, but her eyes naturally fell on a quiet Bellamy who held the whimpering child against his chest. Seeing as Souxie was incapable of leading a conversation let alone completing a sentence, I decided to step in.
“My name is Himora Clarke. I am the head of the Mortal Affairs Department along with my husband and partner, Trevor Coleman.” I turned to introduce Trevor who gave a small nod with a warm charming smile. “You are the daughter of Marvin Holmes, yes?”
“What is going on?” She asked. “Can somebody explain why you’re all in my damn house?”
“You may want to put that gun down first,” Professor Jones managed to say. “No one here wants to hurt you.”
“A body was buried in your backyard in order to place a very complicated spell on your household,” I stated. “It caused you to forget about your children.”
Her eyes remained on Bellamy with furrowed brows, and a pinched expression until she heard me say the word children.
“Is Maggie–––”
“She is fine. Yes,” I cut in. “We are only here to break the spell and make sure you are aware and up to date on everything happening.”
“My mom–––”
“Ms. Poette Davis should be coming to, same as you are. I’m sure you have a few questions for everyone first.”