Aliza never was a fan of supernatural creatures, hell she thought they were all stupid and brood too much. The one time she decided to read a book about them, was the last time of all.
She couldn't understand why on earth would Bella choose to be with a guy who was literally a thousand years older than her or why on earth would Edward go back to high school despite the fact that his family had an impressive bank balance.
'I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him...'
She snorted
Hence the situation where she laughed like a maniac on crack when her parents said something that was beyond unreal in her opinion.
"So you're telling me," She exhaled through her mouth, clutching her sides as she continued, "That you guys are ancient witches? And uncle Vincent is your leader?"
They both nodded.
And the laughing began.
Again.
Aliza covered her face with her hands, taking deep breaths. Laughing so much had deprived her of oxygen. She wiped her eyes and blinked a few times to clear her vision.
"Yeah and unicorns are real and pigs can fly."
Mithila and Rome exchanged glances, they weren't expecting their daughter to react like this. As if this all were nothing but a big, weird joke.
But what were they expecting anyways.
Rome sighed, he knew the only way to make Aliza believe that he was a witch would be to show her. And they already had a good hour-long debate about this.
They watched as Aliza walked towards the kitchen, silently mumbling as she shook her head. She poured herself a glass of water and leaned against the counter. She gulped the entire thing down in one go.
Mithila got up from the couch and turned to look at Aliza. She eyed the glass that was clutched in her hands.
A single blink and the glass was suspended in the air, floating like gas around the room. Mithila watched as Aliza's eyes grew wider and her mouth hung open.
This was followed by Aliza's five stages of acceptance.
Shock
Denial
Depression
Sarcasm
And acceptance itself.
She was somewhere between the third and fourth state.
Probably the reason why she had locked herself in her room and only came out when her parents bribed her with the promise of one litre of strawberry milkshake.
They sat down again, to properly discuss things out. Whatever that's supposed to mean for Aliza. Sure they had the weirdest family debates but this was something out of the world for her.
They sat in the dining room waiting for the arrival of uncle Vincent, her parents' old friend that surprisingly had really good skin for fifty-five years old.
Growing up uncle Vincent was the only person, outside of her mom and dad, that could be called family. He taught her values and morals that helped shape her opinion. But there was always something dark about him.
Not just his skin but the way he held himself. She couldn't quite put a finger on it. But he had this grace and elegance about him. Maybe it was the way he moved his fingers as if he were playing an imaginary instrument or it was the way he walked as if he owned the damn house or maybe it was the way he talked as if he was a king that had walked this earth for centuries and the rest were just mere villagers in front of him.
Or it was all of the above.
Either way, his advice had a special place in her heart.
As the minutes went by the tension in the room increased. It became harder for Aliza to not ask her parents a million questions that were racing in her mind. This was something she never saw coming. At all.
Tick tock tick tock
With every second a new question arose in her head. The entire time her eyes were fixed on the wooden table. The realisation of why everything in her house was vintage-styled and antique connected with her parents being witches.
Huh
Pretty much that explained their beliefs in gemstones.
When Uncle Vincent arrived, he wasn't wearing his usual casual clothes. Instead, he wore a huge black robe that made him look deadly. Though she wasn't sure why that was necessary. Either the robe had something to do with his powers or he was just being dramatic. That with his extra necklaces and rings just added to the effect.
But what was, even more, was that he didn't come alone.
A blond woman followed him. Her eyes were fixed on Aliza the moment she entered the room. An emotion was being held in her eyes as if she finally found something she had been looking for. Or it was just the way her eyes were.
Vincent exchanged looks with Rome and Mithila. His gaze went back and forth between Aliza and the blonde woman who was now creeping her out.
He cleared his throat as he spoke, "This is my friend Freya."
"I didn't know you had friends," Aliza commented.
He narrowed his eyes at her. To which she simply shrugged. It was true on her behalf. He mostly spent his time with her family and rarely talked about his social life. She couldn't be blamed for assuming that.
Vincent chose to ignore her and continued with his introduction, "Freya, this is Aliza."
"But you can call me Ali." She offered.
Freya nodded her head and approached Aliza. She still couldn't believe that she was finally meeting the child. When she found out about her, no matter how bad she wanted this to be true, she still felt the need to confirm about her before she revealed the information to the rest of the family.
But when she came face to face with the girl. She knew it was true. The features were too similar to not be true. That kind smile made her heartache, she didn't realise how much she missed that smile.
And how long it had been since she last saw it.
Centuries, she remembered, it had been centuries.
"Hello," She extended her for a greeting. The moment Aliza's hand touched hers she felt a warmth within herself that made her smile.
After a series of formal introductions, everyone sat down. Vincent took a seat at the head of the table, though it was still unclear for Aliza how he managed to look comfortable in that robe considering the extra fabric and the temperature of the room.
"Did you tell her about us?" Vincent asked, the question directed towards her parents.
They both gave him a single nod to which he turned his eyes towards Aliza. He shifted in his chair, this discussion was more on the awkward side instead of the serious one.
"I'm assuming you have some questions."
She did, she had so many of them. But the only one she could ask at the exact moment was, "What am I?"
And with that, the room went quiet with everyone exchanging glances. And she felt suspicious. For Aliza, they were the least subtle people she'd ever known. The side glances raised eyebrows and an unspoken truth was dancing in the air amongst them.
Freya was the one to speak first, "We need to find that out." She gave her a hesitant smile that made her even more suspicious.
"Am I not a witch?" It would be a fairly obvious thing if she were a witch. The dreadful chronicles of Bella and Edward weren't the only thing she had read.
Come on.
Vincent replied, "You are much more than that Ali. You have a gift. And it's time you know what that is."
The only thing she could do was nod her head. She was slightly disappointed that she didn't have the power to control things with her mind.
Pity, she could've scared the crap out of her friend.
Maybe show off a bit.
Rome spoke after a while, "Freya will be staying here for a few days." He felt tensed as if another word from his mouth and the entire thing will be revealed.
Mithila sensed her husband's anxiousness. She placed her hand on his and gave a squeeze. She said, "Ali, why don't you show her to the guest room."
Aliza took a moment to inspect them. Something was definitely wrong. She could sense it, feel it. If they all were trying to be subtle, they were failing miserably at it. The sweat on her dad's forehead, the tight smile on her mother's lips, the awkward posture of Vincent and the anticipation in Freya's eyes. It was all laid out.
They were hiding something.
And by the looks of it, this something was very important.
So instead of bluntly asking about it, she smiled and got up from her seat. Telling Freya to follow her. She kept glancing over her shoulder to be sure that Freya was following her.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard Vincent saying something about Freya's bags. As they climbed up she watched Vincent walking out of the house. She didn't miss the silent communication they had through their eyes.
Once they reached the guest room, Aliza held the door open for Freya, she looked at her for a second before entering the room. Throughout the entire time, Aliza observed that Freya's attention was solely focused on her. The side glances and hesitant smiles she gave made her realise about the cautious way she was acting around her. She felt awkward, she had absolutely no idea why this woman was being this way.
If it wasn't for her creepy glances, Aliza would've just assumed that she was self-conscious. But that made no sense whatsoever.
"We usually don't have guests. In fact, you're the first." She said, casually shrugging her shoulders in an attempt to ease the tension between them. She hated it, it was surprising that she managed to keep a smile on her face.
Freya stared at her, a little too long, and instead of saying something, she inspected the room.
Bloody hell, this woman was creeping her out. She wasn't even the slightest bit easy to read. For someone who was a stranger, the longing gazes were making her look like a psycho.
"How old are you?"
Aliza was caught off guard by that sudden question and even more with the way Freya was looking at her.
"I'm 10." She replied.
That slow smile that she gave her, did wonder in igniting her imagination. And she found herself questioning.
Is this woman possessed?
The idea wasn't at all pleasing to her. She wasn't very keen on sticking around. She said, "If you need anything, my room is at the end of the hallway."
"Thank you."
She mumbled a welcome and turned around to walk away. She could bet Freya's eyes were on her.
Now she had two things to figure out.
Number 1
What the hell is happening?
Number 2
What the hell was that robe for?