Twenty-One
Callum
Part of me was compelled to stay, listen in on their conversation to ensure she wasn’t going to devise an escape plan with Harrison. But the look of fondness mixed with hints of devastation laced her features, and I decided against it. It wouldn’t matter if she chose to run. I will always find her.
I form a portal in front of myself, twisting streams of black and green together until the spiral of never-ending colors appears before my eyes. This is a risk. A huge risk. But I have no other options. Kallie needs to be safe, somewhere they won’t look for her, and I know the one person who is excellent at hide and seek.
Stepping through the portal, I think of home. There’s a tug at my chest, willing me not to go, but when I begin to transport, the portal closes behind me, and the unrelenting pull ceases.
When I step through to the other side, my senses are immediately overcome by the sweet aroma that is my father’s bakery. The shop is bustling with customers, genuine smiles reach from ear to ear, laughter surrounds the space, and the smell of my father’s infamous forest buns brings me a sense of peace.
Gods, how I’ve missed being home. I haven’t been back in so long. I was afraid that things would have changed, but to my relief, everything is the same. From the vibrant colors painting the walls, the glass case that displays all the baked goods, along with the scribbles on the employee’s side of the counter I made when I was young. Mismatched tables and chairs cover the front floor, and the wall behind the counter is lined with ceramic cups that rattle every time the front door opens. I hear him before I see him, chatting with the customers, asking about their family and how everyone is doing.
“Rose! I saw your garden on my way home the night before last. How is it holding up?” my father asks, genuinely curious about the garden.
“Oh, Benny, those dang hydrangeas never want to fully bloom, and those pesky scurriers are always trying to get to them. It’s been a tough time keeping it together, if I’m being honest,” Rose replies, defeat imminent on her face.
“Not to worry. I’m sure my wife has plenty of tips and tricks up her sleeve that can help with that, especially those scurriers. I believe she was having some trouble with those a time ago. Tell you what, you take these”—he hands her the box full of her order—“and deliver these to my wife at her shop, and we’ll be even. Let her know that I sent you, and she’ll get you all set up.” My father hands Rose a smaller box, giving her his honest smile.
“Benny, you’re the best! Thank you so much. I’ll make sure these get to her,” she says, raising the boxes in her hands.
“Don’t mention it. You have a good day.”
“You as well.” With that, she leaves, the cups on the wall rattle, and my father continues doing the same thing down the line of customers.
After the last fae receives their order, Pops wipes his forehead with a rag that was previously nestled inside the pocket of his apron. I step out of the doorway that leads to the kitchen with a shit-eating grin painted on my face. “Hey, Pops, staying busy?” I ask, joy layered over every word.
He whips around to face me, and the minute the shock wears off, his face mirrors mine.
“Callum! My boy! You’re back!” he exclaims, rushing toward me, arms spread wide open, ready to give me one of his signature hugs. “What are you doing home?” His question contains hints of worry, but I pretend not to notice.
“Just thought it was time.” It’s vague enough to not raise any flags, but a promise lies underneath my words, hinting that we need to talk. Pops clasps his hands on my arms before hollering over his shoulder, “Sorry, folks, there’s been a change in plans, and I’ll be closing for the rest of the day. Please take your sweet treats to go, and tomorrow, everyone gets a forest bun on the house for the inconvenience.” My father has always been a generous man. He loves our city and the fae that inhabit it. Nobody objects, all leaving with the same smiles as just moments before as they all exit the shop, and my father locks the door.
“Do you think Mom would mind a visit? I know she hates being interrupted during business hours.” I shoot him a wink.
“I’m sure she’ll make an exception,” he replies, untying his apron and removing it from around his neck. I follow him to the kitchen where he hangs it on a hook just inside the doorway. He proceeds to give the staff the rest of the day off after they finish their cleaning and closing duties.
Pops follows me out the back door and locks it behind us. “It’s good to have you back, son,” he expresses and clasps his hand on my shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. I’m bigger than my father in almost every sense of the word. I have at least a foot on him. and where my muscles are defined, his are hidden under years of sampling his products.
“It’s good to be back.”
We don’t have to go far. My mother’s shop is just four doors down. I haven’t been home in so long, and it’s reassuring that it all looks the same, maybe a paint job here, updated displays there. The same bell dings over the door as we step into Belladonna’s Bouquets —my mother’s flower shop.
“Be right with you, dear!” her voice carries from the back, and I stand there admiring the greenery that surrounds me. Plants cover every inch of this place. Vines hang from the ceiling, different types of flowers sprouting from pots. Stands with rows and rows of flowers looking for their forever soil, vibrant and inviting. I’m taken back to when I was just a boy, bouncing between their two shops, thinking life couldn’t get any better than that.
“Callum Bellmore, you better stop running around, because if you knock over one more plant in this place, I’ll plant you in the ground next!” my mother yells while chasing me through the shop. Being here with mom is always a blast. These flowers are my friends, I think. They listen to every story I tell them, but I don’t mean to hurt them.
“I keep telling your father to stop giving you all those sweets, but does he listen? Nope,” mom mutters somewhere behind me, but I’m just trying to focus on not bumping any of the plants. There are so many! There are blue ones, pink ones, orange ones, purple ones, red ones, but my favorite are the black ones that Mom keeps in the back. I ask her why they aren’t out here with the others, but she just tells me they’re sick and need help.
“It’s like a jungle in here!” I exclaim, zooming through one more aisle before a shatter rings out behind me. “Oops.” My eyes grow wide. I don’t want to be put in the ground. Before I face my mother’s wrath, black tingles start sprouting from my hands and wisp around the broken pot. Just like that, it’s fixed! Before I get too excited, I see Mom standing before me, eyes wide and shiny.
“Callum, honey, what did you do?” She doesn’t seem mad, so I just shrug my shoulders and say, “I don’t know,” because I don’t. That was the first time I’ve seen those things, but it was kinda cool. Mom’s hands have green come out of them sometimes.
“Are you mad at me?” I have to ask. I don’t like it when she’s mad at me.
“Of course not, honey. You fixed it, but I think your powers are here.” I thought she would be more excited, but she seems sad. “Listen, why don’t we close up shop and go see your pops.”
The memory pulls away from me at the same time my mother walks into view. She’s holding a vase full of freshly picked flowers, looking down at them in admiration.
“Sorry that took so long. These pesky suckers didn’t want to leave.” She looks up on her last word, and the smile she previously wore drops and is replaced with a face full of shock. The vase she carries slips from her grasp, plummeting to the floor. Before it reaches the ground, shadows shoot out of my hand, wrapping around it, carrying it safely to the counter before it could shatter.
“I told you she doesn’t like to be interrupted during business hours,” I jokingly say, turning my gaze toward my father.
“Callum? Is that really you?” my mother asks hesitantly.
“Nope, I’m actually his twin brother.” My voice drips with sarcasm.
“Ha ha, you still have the same sense of humor, I see.” She moves swiftly and wraps her arms around me. “You’re still an asshole. I can’t imagine where you got that from,” she whispers against me.
“The mystery will never be solved.” She pulls back and whacks my chest with the back of her hand.
“So, to what do we owe this pleasure?” she asks skeptically.
“What? A son can’t just come home and see his parents from time to time?”
“Not when that son is you. What’s going on?” my mother questions. She’s never been one to beat around the bush ironically.
“Donni, give the boy a break. He’s home. That’s all that matters.” My pops tries to reason with my mother, but she gives me “the look.” Her head tilts to one side, and her eyebrows slightly raise. “Why don’t we go to the back and have a seat?” my father suggests, gesturing toward the back. Pops locks the door behind us, and we all make our way back to the table that’s nestled by the black flowers.
“There’s been a…development,” I state, dreading having to tell them everything that’s about to come their way.
“What sort of development?” my mother questions.
“One I’m going to need your help with.” I proceed to tell them everything that’s happened this far, aside from a few details.
“She’s alive?” The rhetorical question comes from my mother. I give a curt nod.
“This is what you’ve been doing the entire time?” That question comes from my pops. When I told them I was working with the king, they didn’t understand. Nobody did. From that moment on, everyone saw me as a traitor, so I fled and never came back.
“Callum, you can’t just walk up to the king and say you want to work for him!” my mother announces, panic setting in on her face.
“There is something going on here, and nobody is doing a godsdamn thing about it!”
“What are you expecting? They won’t let you in a one thousand-yard radius of him. What’s the plan?”
“I’m not worried,” I state matter-of-factly.
“And what if he decides you’re a threat and just kills you on the spot?”
“Then at least I died trying. Trying to stop something that’s been going on for years. People are going missing, Mother, disappearing into thin air, never heard from or seen again,” I seethe.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Benny, help me out here.” My mother looks pointedly at my father, who is just listening to us argue.
“Your mother is right. You don’t know what you’re walking into,” he expresses.
“You’re only taking her side because she’s your wife!”
“Don’t you dare disrespect your mother. Do you understand me?” My pops pierces me with a glare, making me feel like I’m just a bug beneath his shoe.
“This is ridiculous! I’m going to Astralis, and there isn’t anything either of you can do to stop me.” I turn on my heels and head toward the door. Vines wrap around my arms and ankles, attempting to hold me in place. “Real cute, Mother. Nice parlor trick. Have you seen this one?” Inky black smoke snakes out of me, twisting around the vines that try to hold me captive, constricting it like a boa with its prey. The vines disintegrate, just wisps of green specks floating in the air. Neither of them say another word, and neither do I as I walk out the door.
That was the last time I saw my parents. Part of me thought they wouldn’t forgive me, especially after rumors began to circulate about me. But here we are, like no time has passed.
“Well, you know we’ll help in whatever way we can. I’m just so happy you’re here. Alive,” she rejoices.
“I’m sorry how I left things. I—”
My apology is interrupted by my father. “The past is in the past, son. Like your mother said, we’re just happy you’re home.” Tears hide in their eyes as we sit here. “Now, go get the girl, and we’ll get the rest settled.” She reaches across the table and squeezes my hand, looking at the connection, trying to process what’s about to come. In this moment, it’s easy to believe everything will be okay, but this is only just the beginning.