Dad paced the ground outside our house. It still was unclear what was going on. There were no flames coming out of windows, or from the roof. I was disturbed, nonetheless.
Nona squeezed my arm. "Shouldn't be much longer."
I patted her hand. "I'm glad you guys are here."
"Where else would we be sweet pea?" she said, tugging at my hair. "When is the last time you got a haircut?"
I wrenched my hair from her claws. "I like my hair this way." Man, she really knew how to ruin a moment. "What I meant was I am glad we live near you and Claude. It's nice to have family around at a time like this."
Nona dropped her arm from around me as Jesse approached. I hadn't seen him in forever. He sauntered over, clad in nice fitting jeans and a gray t-shirt.
"I'm sorry to hear about the house. Do they know what the cause of it was?" he asked Nona. He nodded his head in my direction, a stern tight smile on his lips. I felt the awkwardness from only feet away from him.
"Thanks," I shot back. Nona tugged me next to Jesse.
"Jesse has been dancing at the new studio. He says they are looking for singers to perform at the café." Nona told me. Jesse reluctantly nodded his head in agreement with Nona. He looked me in the eye, almost cringing. As if it pained him to lay eyes on me.
"Clive is looking for local talent. He prefers Ashwilder alumni, but he is willing to make an exception for Nona." Jesse looked away.
Nona jabbed me in the ribs. My house might have been burnt to a crisp, but she wanted me to discuss a career in singing at a café where they served subpar coffee and odd-shaped cookies. "Thanks, Jesse and Nona, that's nice of both of you."
Jesse drug a hand through his smooth hair, he shot Nona a toothy smile. She squeezed his shoulder and sent him on his way.
"So we will talk to Clive about having you at his coffee house." Nona informed me. "Now let's go calm your poor papa before he shits himself." She tugged me by the arm to the house.
Elliot and Easton were tossing a football. And Dad was wearing a path in the sand while Lynette stood waiting, being his rock or whatever you wanted to call it. She smiled at Nona and I.
"Neil. Come here. You're wearing a hole in your shoes pacing around." She scolded Dad like a little boy. The way I was sure she did when he was younger.
"Mom, I don't want to hear it. Everything we own is in that house." Dad snapped. He sighed.
"As opposed to where? Everyone keeps their belonging in their home. You act like I expected them to be spread out along the beach." She slapped him in the arm. "Pull it together. I am rich. I can buy you new stuff."
"You can't restore our family's memories, Mom." He griped. Lynette joined us. Dad slung an arm around her shoulders. She crossed her arms.
"Your mother's right, Neil," she said. What did she know?
"I was under the impression you hated your memories. And your wife," Nona muttered.
"Ex-wife," Dad pointed out looking at me with a pained expression at the mention of my dear mother.
Nona wagged her head back and forth. "Yes, yes, ex-wife. Don't make a habit of divorce, as I get older I forget just about everything, and keeping track of the next woman to ruin your life gets harder for me." She shot Lynette a warning glare and traipsed off toward Claude as he started in on a game of catch with the boys.
I blushed, but on the inside, I was laughing. Nona made my week with her insult.
The firefighter came down the steps, his face glistening with moisture from the equipment and the humidity outside. "Sir, it's all clear. You can go inside."
Dad whirled around on his heels. "Excuse me, what did we lose?"
The firefighter's expression was a bit confused. "Sir, I don't know what your kids were doing in there, but all there was, was a hell of a lot of smoke. We couldn't locate a fire." He started down the path to the fire truck, telling his men to pack it all up and roll out.
I looked back at him. It seemed like he was a bit disturbed. The expression on his face said a lot. I looked at Dad. He too noticed. He shook his head heading up the stairs. I followed on his heels eager to see the big deal.
Nona hurried after us.
"What the hell?" Dad exclaimed, coming to a halt in the kitchen. My body slammed into the back of him. Nona all but fell on her face taking a chair with her. I looked over Dad's shoulder shocked to see black ashes in the shape of a pentagram on the floor of the kitchen.
I helped Nona up from the floor. She plucked a pair of reading glasses from her bra and stared at the mess on the floor. "What the hell is this?"
Elliot and Easton came to stand next to me. "That looks like the necklace in the movie we saw last weekend."
Dad and Nona spun around to face them. "What do you mean?"
Lynette looked curiously between them and Nona, she ran her hand up and down Dad's back trying to calm him.
"There was this old school gore flick on TV last weekend, a bunch of blood-thirsty witches running around slaughtering people, the head witch wore a pentagram." Elliot told everyone.
"Not to mention all the hot chicks running around in skimpy bikinis," Easton pointed out. That fell on deaf ears. I swallowed the panic coursing through me.
Dad scratched his head confused. "Why is this on our floor? Did you guys have something to do with this?"
Elliot and Easton shook their heads. All eyes fell on me now.
"I was in bed. They woke me up and told me to get out of the house." I gaped, shaking my head to get my point across that I wasn't involved.
"Maybe it was just some kids in the area or something," Lynette suggested, she watched me. She smiled with concern at me.
"Why are you smiling at me? I didn't have anything to do with this." I snapped.
Dad shot me a warning glare.
Nona clapped her hands together gaining everyone's attention. "Let's not fight. I'm sure it can all be explained. We all know witches don't exist, unless of course, you count Sheila."
Everyone stared at Nona. She waved a hand. "I'm kidding. She's not a witch. She's just a big bitch."
I eyed the pentagram again. The image of that tall man raced through my mind. It all made perfect sense, but why? I was sure the pentagram was a warning for me.
Claude cut through the mass and held his phone out. Damn technology I thought to myself. Dad took the phone.
"Says here this is an inverted pentagram, known to be used by Satanist in the 20th century, it was adopted as their personal symbol." Dad read to everyone.
"Cool," Elliot said in awe. They snapped pictures of it with their cell phones. Nona swatted them away.
"Don't take pictures of it. Heaven knows what kind of juju is in this house now." She looked at me. "What about that boyfriend of yours and his friends?"
I raised an eyebrow not following.
"Slash or Slain, what's his name?" She shook her head, trying hard to get it together, "Slade. They wear an awful lot of black and those tattoos. Do you think they would have done this as a joke, Hope?"
I was sure everyone saw the blood draining from my face. My throat constricted. I wished I knew a spell to get them all to shut up and forget all that they saw.
"No matter, the house is in one piece. Your dad can stop worrying about his memories with that shrew in Georgia and get on with his life now." She looped her arm through Claude's preparing to leave. "And I will see you at five."
I stabbed a finger to my chest, and raised an eyebrow. "Me?"
"Yes, you, we are going to see Clive. He is going to have you famous in no time." She pinched my cheek and headed for the door. "Wear something girly, I hear Clive likes the beautiful women."
I sighed. Dad grabbed the dustpan and started cleaning the ashes from the floor.