1. One #2
Evan chuckled, reading my mind. Then he sobered when he realized Aunt Tillie was glaring at him.
“I agree with Tillie,” he said, drawing himself up to his full height.
He had a grace about him that most humans didn’t possess.
He was full of sneaky sarcasm and snark too.
I liked him a great deal. “Margaret is at a tipping point. We either have to get the state involved because she’s no longer showering or feeding herself or we have to intervene ourselves. ”
It was the food and shower information that tipped me over the edge. “Fine. We’ll do it. If things go wrong, we have to be prepared to reverse the spell and get the state involved.” I needed that caveat thrown in. “We can’t let her suffer.”
“I could let her suffer and not feel a shred of guilt,” Aunt Tillie replied. “There’s no joy to be found when I’m unable to torture her.”
“Then let’s do it.” I was resigned. “I really hope this doesn’t backfire on us.”
“Have a little faith,” Aunt Tillie replied. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”
MRS. LITTLE DIDN’T COME LOOKING FOR us when we let ourselves into her house. I stood in the doorway between the kitchen and living room and stared at her hunched figure as she hunkered under a blanket in the living room, staring at the television.
I violently disliked the woman. Often, I thought there was no punishment great enough for her transgressions. This was just sad.
“Let’s not drag things out,” Evan whispered as he appeared at my side. “We need to lull her so we can get the potion in her.”
He was right. Dragging things out would just make it worse for all of us. I started singing a lullaby, weaving magic through the words as I made my way into the living room.
Mrs. Little didn’t react to our appearance. She remained focused on the television.
“Give me the potion,” Evan ordered Aunt Tillie, holding his hand out.
Aunt Tillie balked. “Why would I do that?” she demanded. “It’s my potion. I’ll give it to her.”
Evan’s expression said he was done playing games. The vampire moved fast, snagging the potion from Aunt Tillie’s pocket before she even registered what was happening.
“Oh, now you’re on my list,” she hissed as she scrambled to keep up.
Evan ignored her, offering a kind smile to a dazed Mrs. Little as she clutched her blanket to her chest. “I’m not here to hurt you,” he assured her. “I’m here to make things better.”
Mrs. Little didn’t respond. Her hands shook, and she pressed her eyes shut, as if waiting for the worst. In her mind, we were angels of death.
“Be fast,” I instructed Evan. “This is painful.”
He slid his arm around Mrs. Little’s shoulders, tugged her close, and uncapped the potion bottle with one hand. Before she could resist, he poured the contents of the bottle down her throat.
She went lax in his arms.
“Do the magic thing,” Evan ordered Aunt Tillie. “Hurry up.”
“Last time I checked, I’m the boss,” Aunt Tillie growled.
“Do it,” I snapped at her. “This is just cruel.”
“Aunt Tillie gets off on being cruel,” Thistle said as she looked over the china plates that had been affixed to the wall via garish metal holders. “They’re all birds,” she said to me. “Why would she choose birds? Birds are boring. Even cats would be better than birds.”
“You’ll have to ask her,” I replied, jolting when Aunt Tillie engaged her magic.
It was a big ball of pink and she aimed it at Mrs. Little, who was already lost in her own mind. The magic swirled at a fantastic rate, and as it started to work, Mrs. Little’s memories were projected around us.
“You know how some people are born with tails?” an Aunt Tillie from the past asked Mrs. Little—they looked to be thirty years younger than they were now. “Well, I’m going to give yours back.”
The memory version of Mrs. Little gasped. “I never had a tail.”
“You did. Your mother tried to teach you to wag it. She gave up because you weren’t smart enough and had it lopped off at the vet.”
I glared at the back of the real Aunt Tillie’s head. “You just can’t stop yourself from being nasty, can you?”
She didn’t respond. It was the concentration on her face that made me realize she didn’t have control of the spell. “Seriously?” I strode forward and engaged with the magic so I could help direct it toward Mrs. Little. “When you need help, ask for it,” I barked.
“I didn’t need help,” Aunt Tillie shot back. “I had it.”
I shook my head, then did a double take when I saw two of her. It had to be another memory. Both women—the real one and the one from the past—glared at Mrs. Little with the same obnoxious dislike.
“She’s the Devil,” the memory Aunt Tillie said. “Do you know what should happen to the Devil?”
“He should be drowned in a lake of ice,” the real Aunt Tillie replied.
They both dissolved into laughter.
“Well, that’s creepy,” Thistle said, her jaw swinging back and forth. “That is just uber creepy.”
“Why are there two of them?” Clove complained. “Isn’t that a sign that the world is ending?”
“That’s the answer to the riddle,” Thistle said. “The apocalypse won’t come with rain or fire. No zombies or sickness. It will come in the form of Aunt Tillies.”
“You’re definitely on my list,” Aunt Tillie hissed. “You’re such a little pain in my butt.”
The magic grew again, and I had to exert more power to rein it in. “Focus,” I ordered her. “Finish this. You’re just being difficult now.”
“You’re all on my list.” Despite the threat, Aunt Tillie kept working. It took five full minutes for the spell to return to the size it was meant to be, the second Aunt Tillie disappearing during the process. Then it was inserted in Mrs. Little’s head.
She didn’t watch any of it. She was down for the count.
When we finished, everybody left the house but Evan and me. We tucked Mrs. Little in and turned off the television.
“Do you think it worked?” he asked me.
I shrugged. “I hope so.”
“Because you want to torture her again too?” Evan’s eyes twinkled.
I shrugged. “Anything is preferrable to what we just witnessed.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw a hint of movement through the window.
Aunt Tillie was doing a little dance on the lawn.
All I could do was shake my head. “We won’t know until tomorrow.
We’ll let her sleep and see where things go from there. ”
Evan slung his arm around my shoulder and grinned. “Come on. Let’s see what sort of retribution you get for being on Tillie’s list this time.”
“Don’t encourage her.”
“I have to. I’m her number one sidekick.”
“Not for long. Crusty is coming in hot.”
“Yeah, I’m kind of curious how that is going to work out.”
He wasn’t the only one.