They passed the turnoff to Westville—Cherish's childhood home—and Cherish felt her heart lurch. She hadn't been home in years, and her grip on Lenora's grimoire, still wrapped in the cloth as it sat om her lap, tightened with every minute closer to home they got.
Why did she call home? She found herself wondering. Why hadn't she just sucked it up and walked right into the local college, demanded an audience with the professor she'd called earlier, and made him translate what he could of the book?
"You doing alright?" Raven asked.
"Yes," Cherish said. She didn't dare look at him. Her emotions were already running high at the thought of seeing her mother and brothers again, and she was afraid of what she might say to Raven if she even looked at him. She was sure a lot of what she might say wouldn't be friendly—and it wasn't his fault she'd made the decision to call home. She could have turned him away before she'd come to that decision.
She let out a shaky breath as they pulled onto the street at the directions of Raven's navigation system.
Raven stopped the car in front of the house and grabbed his plant from the cup holder.
"Are you okay?" he asked, seeing Cherish had made no move to leave the car.
She stared out at the front lawn, up the walkway, towards the front door. She'd grown up in that house, and it felt strange to be staring at it again, almost as though it was a mirage, or some sort of fever dream she'd stumbled into.
It looked the same as it had that night—two stories, with old, windowpanes smoky with countless years of sage smoke etched deep into them. The paint was peeling off on parts of the siding, which made the house look sad, almost like it had given up after the night Cherish left.
There was an odd, concerning energy, too, which made Cherish shudder. It felt familiar, and it gave her a tingling, unpleasant sensation of anxiety in the pit of her stomach. She tried not to focus on what the energy could be, but she wasn't sure if it was because she was afraid of what it could be—or if she was afraid she might be right about what it was.
For a brief second before Raven's words registered, she wondered if the coffee she'd brewed that morning had gone bad, and she was simply hallucinating the whole awful ordeal.
His words shattered that hopeful thought, though, and Cherish broke her gaze from the house to look over at him. It took her a moment to find her voice.
"I'm afraid," she said.
Afraid was a bit of an understatement. She was terrified.
Raven frowned. But got out of the car and walked around to let Cherish out.
"They're your family," he said. "I don't think they're going to hurt you, especially if they agreed to help."
Cherish scoffed at that. "I don't know if you've figured it out yet, but we're witches. They might just hurt me. They might hex me just for having the audacity to call after . . ." She trailed off. She couldn't think about what had happened.
She knew her mother would be able to read her emotions, and she'd been trying to focus on putting up a mental barrier around her thoughts before they'd arrived. Thinking about what had happened would only shatter it.
Raven stared at her. "They're still your family," he said. "I think if they plan on turning anyone into a toad, it'll be me." He paused. "If you're okay with me getting turned into a toad, I can go in by myself?"
"No." Cherish frowned, scrambling out of the car. "I doubt they've changed any since I left. They don't take kindly to unexpected company."
She shut the car door behind her and winced at the sound it made as it shut with a slam that reverberated down the street.
She clutched Lenora's grimoire close, despite the unpleasant sensation it gave her through the cloth as it radiated heat and anger out at her.
Her heart lurched again as she caught movement in the front window—the curtains settling—
The front door creaked on its hinges as it swung wide open.
Mrs. Annabeth Harmond stood staring out at them, a cold frown nearly freezing Cherish to the spot.
"Well?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to come in, Cherish?"
(A/N) Final Chapter Word Count: 744
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Lenora's Grimoire
Paranormal(Former title: Book of Rosethorns) Cherish thought she'd escaped her past years ago--settled down in some forgotten, sleepy town, gotten a steady job at the local library, and subtly hidden the witchcraft books donated from the local covens from the...
