Damned

Chapter Three

Dolores was at the door. Dolores, as in our long lost aunt. She looked different than how I imagined. She was only a year or two younger than mom, but she looked really young. She wore skinny jeans and a t-shirt with an 80's band on it and a ratty hoodie over the top. Her dirty blonde hair was cut short and layered. Her make up was minimum, but her hazel eyes shone. They were green and brown, but the green was pale, almost the shade of green mine were.

I saw similarities in me and Dara in her. Dara and she had nearly the same color of hair before Dara bleached hers almost white. Dolores and Dara were both short, probably only a couple of inches different. Dolores and I had the same swimmers body frame with absolutely no curves present. My mom and Dolores had the same arched eyebrows.

I didn't doubt that this Dolores was the same Dolores I had seen on our family tree. This was my aunt. The hidden aunt we didn't know about. I had never met this woman, I was sure of it. She knew I recognized her name because her smirk deepened.

"Ah, you know who I am." She smiled, showing gums.

"Yeah," I replied curtly. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Dara stare at me. Dara didn't know about Dolores. It was a family secret that only a few new. I had found out accidentally that Evanora had another daughter. "You're our aunt," I added for Dara's benefit. Her eyes widened. Then, she stared at Dolores.

"I wondered if your mom told you two about me." She chuckled to herself, seemingly impressed with this information.

"She didn't," her smile deflated. "I found out." Our eyes met and I searched in them for answers. 

"Oh, well I guess I'm not too surprised. Dorothy always hid her family. Tell me, where is good ole Dors?" She put her hand on her barely-there hip, look around us, inside the house. Out of instinct, I tried to fill the doorframe with my body, discreetly shutting the door an inch. I didn't trust Dolores. My mom and Gran had kept her a secret for a reason.

"She's not home." Dara's eyes were zoomed in on Dolores. She didn't trust her either. "Neither is Gran, so maybe you should go. We're not supposed to let anyone in. You understand." As much as I didn't trust her, I felt bad for keeping her out. If she was family and I believed she was, I felt bad for being so cold.

Family was family.

She sighed and took a step backward off the porch.

"I understand," her tone told us she didn't understand. "I'll be back later, for dinner. You figure they'll be back by then?" I nodded. Honestly, I didn't know if either of them would be back for dinner, but I knew the second I closed this door I was calling them. I didn't understand the tone and body language coming from Dolores. 

Her tone was playful, bordering flirtatious, but her body language told a different story. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I didn't trust her. There had to be a reason my mom had kept her away from us. 

"Catch you around girls," she waved and then turned on her heel. I watched her walk back to her car, a Porsche Cayman in the newest model. I had hung out with Erik enough to know this was an expensive car. It purred to life, then she quickly backed out of the driveway. I shut the door, then locked it. 

I didn't think she would come back until dinner, but I felt safer knowing the door was locked. We lived in the outskirts, but that didn't keep weirdos away. 

"That is our aunt?" Dara screeched, grabbing me by the shoulders. My ankle throbbed.

"Yes," I sat down on the couch. 

"W-what do you mean? How do you know?" Her reaction surprised me.

"I found out at the library. Daniel and I went to try and find out who our ancestor was in Salem if we had any. It was for a project. That's when I found out about Sarah Good. I saw a family tree that Gran had submitted and under her name was "Dorothy" and "Dolores." When I asked her about it she confessed that she had another daughter. Then, mom walked in on us talking and threatened to take us away if Gran told me anything more about our family. It was before I knew about Witches." I told her everything. Her eyes widened with realization.