Himora Clarke
Despite being in the body of a child, Raven moved like the elderly, wanting to get her purse, and put a few things one may need. I stood patiently by the front door and glanced at the gold watch with bursts of sun in the center. Something Trevor gave me as a Mother’s Day present.
I didn’t care for the cold hardware on my wrist but once I learned of its properties and the way it can help manipulate doors without having to knock, I conceded.
I’m only just now wearing it, but it would tell me when a door was nearby or how long would it take for a door to become working.
It was more of a timed charm of a trinket, decoration for the wrist but the little bursts of sunrays beneath the glass on the face, matched my hair as my father stated.
“I’ve never been down there! I hope I don’t run into nothing crazy.
I don’t like all that ghetto mess. I’ve seen the videos of how they live down there!
” Raven let out as she hurriedly shut the lights off in the kitchen.
“Felix! Come on! Bree, don’t let these chirren and pups run my yard ragged now! ”
“I hear you, Mama! You know it ain’t no white people down there!”
“I don’t know what’s down there! I only know what’s up here and how I’m living and watch my stove! Don’t burn my damn house down!”
“Okaaaaaay Mama! Damn!”
“Call yo Daddy and tell him to get over here! Somebody took the baby back to Savannah, right? Where is the baby?!” Raven panicked.
“I got her!” Vanessa yelled out as she packed her things. “Y'all call me when it’s done. I got a few people I owe in the Underground and uh,” coughing hard, “warrant for my arrest. Me and Audrey will be by the phone if you need us!”
I watched Nessa carry my daughter in one arm, scooping her up against her chest while grabbing the duffle bag to drape over her other shoulder.
With a wave of her hand, you could see the sprinkle of black dust fall as my daughter looked up in awe, gurgling at the site before both swirled into the air and disappeared.
By her first birthday, she would be well traveled, and more versed in moving through doors than her own father.
Trevor still didn’t like the thought of magic despite what he is.
Alright,” she sighed as she tugged at her black dress. With one hand on her sister, she nodded towards me. “I done made my calls to my people. Everyone knows what the drill is. I’m ready. We are going to get your daughter back, sister.” She patted Ms. Norwood’s arm. “Don’t you worry now.”
Cynthia Norwood was too distraught, and while the father was on the phone making calls to his connections in the Underground, I instructed two of the grandchildren to watch him closely.
Unfortunately, they were still children so one stood in front of him, staring him in the eyes to the point of harassment while the other was upstairs playing the game.
I studied my watch, seeing the tiny hand spin once while the second hand ticked three times before stopping. Perfect.
“We’re ready,” I stated.
“Now hold on now!” Raven let out with her small voice. “This ain’t dropping us off in the middle of some…mess, now, is it? I don’t like all that gangster rap stuff–––”
“Mama, would you stop?!” One of her daughters called out from the other room. “It’s not like that!”
“Well I don’t know!” Raven yelled with a defiant tone as she pouted. “I just want to be prepared!”
I ignored the two as I opened the door only to see the front yard of her home. The evening sky was setting in and I could hear the screams from the TV where the rest were glued to the games.
“What happened?” Raven asked as Cynthia groaned impatiently.
“Reginald!?” She croaked. “Get me to the Underground, now!”
“Oh now you want my help when it concerns our child!” He barked back.
I closed the front door again, waited then opened it again but it was the same. Raven poked her head out from underneath my arm but that’s when I noticed her small purse draped over her shoulder. I could see the Glock sitting on top of everything in the bag.
“That can’t be taken to the Underground,” I stated. “That is why the door isn’t working.”
She looked up at me with an incredulous stare before looking down as if she hadn’t noticed.
Had she been with Trevor, he would have found a way as he’s always carrying a gun with him undetected.
I didn’t care for it as it brought unnecessary attention to us, but he never cared for the Underground in general and rarely visits outside of work.
Had I not gotten to know Trevor Coleman, I would not have noticed the growing number of people who see the Underground as an “other worldly” place that was either dangerous or just not a place anyone would want to settle for too long.
I couldn’t imagine life without it. Trevor says it’s not realistic but for people like me with my bodily limits, it was perfect.
“But I take this everywhere with me–––”
“Mama, I know you didn’t bring Rudy with you!” Bree yelled.
“I don’t go anywhere without my Rudy Pete!”
“You and Ms. Norwood can find a way to get to the Underground. I am going to go ahead–––”
“Wait!” She blurted out before taking the gun out to plop on the table with a grumble of words no one could hear but her. “I’m ready.”
With a single nod in confirmation, I waited for another moment before shoving the door back open.
The two quickly came behind me as we stepped into a dimly lit hallway filled with cold air and the faint smell of citrus.
I could hear a woman talking in the distance and see the light at the very end of the hall coming from a room but to my knowledge, this wasn’t the dome. We weren’t even outside.
“Are we in somebody’s house?” Raven whispered, but I quickly motioned for her to stay silent as I looked around the somewhat prestigious hall. That’s when we heard the voices.
“This is unacceptable, Joy!” A woman shrieked from down the hall. “It’s ridiculous that it’s even coming to this!”
“You said all I had to do was play the role of a dean! Not be responsible for death of hundreds of–––”
“YOU DO AS YOU’RE TOLD! You belong to my family! Under my name! Your mother would be–––”
“My mother would be what?! She was a slave to your family and familiar slavery have long been outlawed in the Underground since the 80s! I didn’t sign up for this!
They are all going to die in that arena at this school!
I am the face of this school and you’re going to make me take the fall!
? You wanted Maggie Grey gone; I did that for you. What more do you want from me?!”
We heard something like furniture clashing.
A woman rushed out of the office with her belongings and looked startled at the sight of us standing in the hall.
A petite woman with a short hairstyle. She wore jeans and a school t-shirt, but the feline features were not hard to miss on her face.
She was attempting to shift but nothing could stop Cynthia.
She darted in her direction with a single step of being here behind me one moment, and in the woman’s face in the next as pictures on the wall tilted in her direction.
She wasted no time as the woman attempted to scream before pinning her down to the floor by the neck while the second woman came out.
Her eyes bolted out of her head before she ran back into the office with us coming in right behind her.
She slid across the large desk to grab what looked like a silver wand of some sort before yelling into it.
“THE FIRST FAMILY IS ON THE GROUNDS! I REPEAT! THE FIRST FAMILY IS ON–––”
Raven darted towards her as she caught the woman in her neck with her own nails, gripping into the skin as blood splattered out.
The woman attempted to try and yell before she clamped down on her vocal cords.
I dug into her desk to see who this belonged to.
Just from the smell matching that of Marvin Holmes, I knew this used to be his office.
The woman’s body dropped to the floor as Raven continued to feed aggressively on the neck with a jolt and shake of her head.
I began going through paperwork, seeing different spells, different charts about lineage and Southern Five families before zoning in on one particular name that belonged to the sixth witch family that was said to be extinct.
Closing my eyes briefly, I felt the pinching pain along my spine as if someone was standing behind me with my wings twisted in their grip.
When it stopped, I released a shaky breath and continued to search as I pulled out a small wooden stick, no bigger than a pill capsule before watching it expand to the length of my arm.
Hand made from the finest wood in the Woodlands with petals engrained from a nightshade plant that only bloomed once a year, and bits of crystals shaved within the wood.
It was my very own wand given to me as a Mother’s Day present from my team.
Vanessa thought it was amusing that witches use a wand but Audrey being our only human and self-taught witch, showed just how useful it can be.
“What’s wrong?”
I looked up at Raven came in, helping her sister drag the limp body of the dean back into the office. The blood smeared along the fine rug until her head fell with a thud back to the floor.
“Close the door,” I commanded. “Another door will appear shortly. We need to be ready.”
“What’s wrong?” Raven asked again with her hand on her hip. The blood covered most of her chin when she slid the chair closer to the desk and climbed on top to peer at the papers and files.
“Trevor is calling for me,” I said as I inhaled another hit of pinching pain along my spine. Using the wand, I gently tapped the side of my pointed ear and heard the connection instantly as if a call was placed on speaker. “Audrey, can you hear me?”