The Witch from The Human Realm

15 Bidding Goodnight

After Crow's attempt to liven things up, which made Reina worry more, Madeline helped the woman clean things up. They listened to the soft melody being played from upstairs as they did so.

'I don't get why she snapped at Reina because of a necklace. But, then again, I don't know them yet,' Maddie thought, wondering why the dark-haired teen snapped at her mother earlier.

But as she dried the plate she was holding, a thought came to her.

'Where is Raven's father anyway?' she thought.

Maddie looked over to the frowning woman, and decided that woman had dealt with a lot of drama than she possibly could handle in one day. So when they finished up, and when Reina already bid her goodnight and went upstairs, Maddie approached Crow.

The raven had been on his perch inside the kitchen for the past thirty minutes that they had been cleaning up. And she was sure that she heard the bird snore at some point.

But he was now gazing out the window, so the risk of making him mad at her for waking him up or interrupting him is not likely.

"Hey, Crow," she said, getting the bird's attention.

"Hm?" the bird asked, still not averting his gaze from whatever he was looking at.

"Can I ask a question?"

"You're asking one now, but go ahead."

Though the response was supposed to annoy her, she just let it slide and went on.

"He didn't join us at dinner tonight, so… Where is Raven's father?" she asked, making Crow immediately turn to her.

"Don't ask that!" Crow whispered at her. He then put both the tips of his wings on either side of the girl's face. "That should be the last thing you should ever ask."

Maddie raised an eyebrow in utter confusion. "Why?"

Crow looked around to check if someone was lurking about. And with the music from earlier gone, Maddie had to deal with the uncomfortable silence.

The bird then turned to her. "He's gone," he whispered.

"Like 'went away' gone, or…?" Maddie asked, her nervousness clearly heard from her tone.

"He's…" Crow shut his beak. And Maddie could clearly tell that if he was a human, he would have been pursing his lips together in hesitation and in discomfort.

But after a moment, Maddie used her index fingers to put down the bird's wings.

"It's okay," she said. "If I think what happened is really what had happened, then I don't want to pry anymore. I shouldn't be that curious about other people's lives."

Crow just nodded. But Maddie could tell from the way that his eyes lit up when she finished speaking that he appreciated the cautious step back that she did.

She looked around, looking once more at the door of the unused dining room and looked back at the bird once more.

"Well, uh… Goodnight," she said with a nod.

"Goodnight, Madeline," the raven said.

Maddie walked out of the kitchen, only to stop by the staircase when she saw how spotless the floor was. She even cautiously walked up the stairs, not wanting to drop particles of dirt on the surface.

But when she had stopped in front of the room she was supposed to stay in, she heard the sound of running water from the dark-haired teen's room. That was when she realized that the girl was wearing the exact same clothes when she had come down to eat.