Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
KENNEDY
One minute, I’m hovering next to Theo in Vanderbilt House, and the next I’m surrounded by fog. The space around us is muted like foggy glass, but we haven’t moved. The front door is just to the left, and I can see the fireplace around the corner.
Theo looks the same, both of us still in our spirit forms. He starts walking toward the door, then glances over his shoulder. “Let’s go.”
I follow closely beside him as we traverse through this secret world that mirrors our own. Nothing but fog stretching out before us, and I don’t know how Theo has any clue which way he’s going. But soon I see glimpses of light flickering in the distance.
“Are those the street lights?” I ask.
“No. They’re souls.”
I’m awestruck. As we get closer, glowing orbs surround us on all sides, and I have to wrap my head around the fact that these are people. Going about their day, minding their business. One day, without any warning, their souls will be freed to travel the void, just like ours.
An archway appears just ahead of us, and I recognize the outside of Kiki’s Cafe.
“This is where we pass through,” Theo tells me.
He ushers me through the glistening portal, and then I’m standing in—a bathroom?
“What the hell?” I let out in shock.
Theo appears behind me in his physical body, as if stepping through mid-air. “Someone must have died here.”
I whip around to face him. “What?!”
“It’s how these passageways are formed. Don’t worry. I doubt it was recently.”
This calms my rattled nerves only slightly, but now Theo seems to appear distressed. He attempts to sooth himself by rubbing his hands together, but his eyes are wild with fear.
Showing himself to whoever is out there is clearly eating away at him, so I take his fidgeting hand and hold it tightly. “I'm right here.”
I count out loud so he can mentally prepare himself, but before I say three, the bathroom door swings open.
“Heavens to Betsy!” A woman with a bob of dark brown hair grabs her purse and clutches it to her chest. “I only have twenty dollars in cash!” she pleads.
I’m momentarily caught off guard, but Theo is frozen in place. His face has turned pallid, and his grip on my hand is unrelenting.
He’s afraid.
The woman releases her bag and adjusts her glasses. Her mouth falls open as she draws her head back in shock. “Theodore Vanderbilt?”
The bathroom suddenly feels incredibly small, as if the walls are pressing in on all sides. I can feel his panic, and I need to take charge of the situation.
“Hi there,” I greet her awkwardly. “We were just…umm—we’ll get out of your way.”
But she steps in my path as I make for the door.
“I didn’t believe Simone when she told me you were in the movie theater the other day.
” Her tone is full of wonder as she takes us in.
Only she’s not really looking at me. Her focus is entirely on Theo.
“But it’s really you. My, you haven’t aged a day. ”
This woman clearly knows Theo, and by the sheer panic on his face, it’s obvious that he knows her. Slowly the puzzle pieces start to fit themselves together. She mentioned Simone, so is this another witch from the coven? Is she perhaps the girl who used to live in Vanderbilt House?
“Moira?” I ask.
A slow smile builds on her face. “That was my mother.”
That’s right. I forgot that Moira passed away. But if this is her daughter, that must mean she passed on stories about the time she spent living in the house.
“My name is Birdie,” she introduces herself. “Can we talk? We can maybe find a table out there. I’d rather not have this conversation in the bathroom.” Her nose scrunches as she winces.
Birdie. This is Raegan’s mother.
I’m about to answer on Theo’s behalf, but he’s somehow managed to pull himself out of his stupor. Hearing his voice sound so steady takes my breath away.
“I would like that.”
Hands still clasped, we let Birdie lead us into the dining area. The cafe isn’t as busy as it was yesterday, but since it’s Sunday, a lot of people might be at church. We take the first booth right outside the bathroom, and Birdie looks as if she might protest, but she thinks better of it.
Sitting across from us, she gingerly places her purse down beside her on the bench. She keeps her hands tucked in her lap under the table.
“I never thought I’d be able to do this,” she says earnestly.
Theo’s profile appears weary beside me. “Neither did I.”
I sit quietly and wait for one of them to say something else, but silence stretches across the table.
Eventually, Birdie speaks up. “My mother told me everything.”
Theo’s shoulders tense, and I drop my hand to his knee.
“I know why you’ve hidden yourself away for all these years, but I want you to know it isn’t necessary.”
While half of me is concerned for Theo, the other half is listening intently, eager to finally understand what happened so long ago.
Birdie eyes me skeptically. She must realize I don’t know what they’re talking about, so she glances back to Theo, asking for permission to divulge his secret. Theo places both hands on the table and laces his fingers together, then nods solemnly.
It feels wrong having someone else tell Theo’s story for him, but at this point, I don’t believe he’s capable of speaking it himself.
Birdie opens her mouth to speak, but she’s interrupted by Kiki coming over to the table. “Bridgette, I thought you were leaving.”
Birdie presses her lips into a polite smile. “I’ll take another iced tea, if you don’t mind, dear.”
Sensing the tension at the table, Kiki dips her head and goes to grab a cup of ice and fills it to the brim with a pitcher of sweet, iced tea. She places it with care in front of Birdie then leaves us to our business.
Birdie takes a long drag of her drink, then clears her throat.
“My great-grandmother, Agnes—Genevra’s mother—was the founder of the modern coven here in Shadow Hills.
” She’s speaking directly to me, so I sit up straight and listen.
“It was a time when paranormals were in hiding. Especially witches. It was a grave sin to be caught using magic. Men dedicated their lives to hunting and killing anyone who was different, and if you were a woman?” She scoffs. “Well, you already had it coming.”
She takes another sip. “There were men with magic too, but they struck a deal with the witch hunters. By giving up a woman with magic, they kept their life. So, as you can imagine, many men took that offer.”
Theo hangs his head in shame, and my heart stops.
Birdie looks to him with reverence. “What your father made you do was heinous,” she states matter-of-factly. “Anyone in your shoes would have done the same.” Then she pulls one hand out from under the table and places it on top of his. “I don’t blame you. And neither did Moira.”
He meets her steady stare. “But Genevra—”
“She had more reason to hate those men than anyone else,” Birdie admits. “I don’t think there was any room in her heart for forgiveness at that point. That's why she took Moira away.”
Theo shutters beside me, and I catch a glimpse of a single tear streaming down the side of his face. “I hated myself…for so long.”
Birdie’s features soften into empathy. “I really hoped I’d get the opportunity to tell you that before I passed, and I’m so glad I did.” She eyes me playfully. “There’s no way I’m sticking around this watering hole in the afterlife.”
I laugh obnoxiously without meaning to, but it breaks the tension.
Theo wipes his face. “Thank you, Birdie. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”
She pats the table once then slides out from her side of the booth. “I certainly didn’t expect to run into you in the women’s bathroom. Luckily it was empty. You could have scared the kids.”
Her passive comment sobers me. I was beginning to think that Simone was right, and Raegan’s mother wasn’t as bad as she made her out to be. But that little comment puts things into perspective.
Abandoning her unfinished glass on the table, she heaves her purse over her shoulder and exits the cafe without so much as a goodbye. Or paying for the tea.
Theo chuckles. “She’s got Genevra’s prickly spirit.”
Even without knowing the woman, I couldn’t agree more.
Theo looks as if he’s shed an enormous weight from his shoulders.
“Is that what you had planned when you brought me here?” I tease him.
His laugh bellows across the cafe. “No. I wanted to get you pancakes.”