Secret Supernaturals: The Witch

Secrets Kept

- CASSANDRA -

The hallways and foyer were dimly lit when I exited Thea’s room. I felt a bit bad for pestering her for so long but I appreciated that she finally shared her story with me. It couldn’t have been easy having that knowledge and not being able to do anything with it. I could tell it was affecting her a lot too and watched as she slowly withdrew herself even more. I wanted to open up, to remind her that I’m here if she needs me.

Surprisingly, I no longer felt the urge to murder Liam for what happened to him and Thea. I still want to end him for other reasons, but not because of him breaking my friend’s heart. Besides, I could see how that was his initial action, especially since he was exactly the type of person to use violence as the first option.

I headed over to the staircase and noticed that the doors of the main entrance were slightly ajar. The cool breeze from outside was slowly creeping in as I silently went down the flight of stairs. I went over to close it but my ears pricked up at the sound of someone’s agitated voice.

“What do you mean you can’t find them anywhere?” It was a harsh whisper, but I could still hear it clearly.

There was a long pause, and I couldn't control my curiosity. Instead of walking away, I slowly inched closer towards the open doors. The conversation didn’t seem to be going well when I first overheard them, but what the other person said on the other line was definitely making things even worse.

“They’re two full-grown adults! How could you possibly lose them?” It was Mr. Williams, the Wrights’ head of security, who had been with their family for a very long time. I peeked through the glass windows to see him more clearly. He was facing away from the door and was still as stone but even I could feel the anger radiating off him in waves. He was usually a chill person, and seeing him so mad was worrying.

What the hell was going on?

“You were with them the entire trip, no?” Then how were they suddenly not there?” His voice was getting louder now, and I almost felt sorry for the person on the other line. A few more seconds of silence followed and whatever the other person said seemed to surprise Mr. Williams.

“Vanished? Disappeared into thin air? Have you all been on drugs or sleeping on the job?” Doubt and confusion were evident in his voice, and I honestly felt the same.

“Listen. I don’t know what it was, be it negligence on your part or something else.” There was a hint of resignation in his voice, and his shoulders sagged over as he released a deep sigh. “Either way, this better not get out to the press. We don’t want that circus here. Keep things low, and do everything to find them. I’ll contact the boss and keep Ms. Thea in my sight. Call me if there’s any development.”

He ended the call and I took that as my cue to get moving. I slinked back to the top of the stairs, and back into the hallway outside Thea’s room. I made sure to be noisier this time, my footsteps loud enough to wake someone up as I descended.

I was halfway down when the doors fully opened, revealing a tired-looking Mr. Williams. He had deep lines on his forehead and he was gripping the phone in his hand so tightly, I was worried it would break. I gave him a small wave as I reached the bottom, and headed over to the switch to turn all the lights on just as he closed the door.

“Oh, hey Mr. Williams! Didn’t see you there. Are you okay? You seem a little…tired.” He gave a tight-lipped smile and a nod of acknowledgment.

“Ms. Cassandra, so nice to see you again. I just received some bad news, nothing for you to worry about.” He proceeded to look around the room for a few seconds, all the while avoiding my eyes.

“What are you looking for? Maybe I can help.” I offered. He looked hesitant at first, before finally looking in my direction.

“Have you seen Agnes by any chance?”

“Yeah. She came up to tell us that dinner was ready just a while ago. She’s probably in the dining area right now.”

He went ahead and I followed behind him slowly, pulling my phone out of my pocket. When I made it into the room, Mr. Williams was already talking with Ms. Davis. I sat on one of the chairs neatly arranged around the Wrights' long dining table. There was so much space, and I’ve always wondered why because there were only five of them living here. I could see him glance at me from my peripheral vision but I just continued to mindlessly scroll on my phone and reply to messages.

He eventually asked Ms. Davis to go with him outside so they could talk in private. My wide-eyed gaze followed them slowly, watching their every step. As if feeling my gaze on them, Mr. Williams looked back and gave me a knowing look, telling me he knew I would follow them and warning me not to continue. I frowned and settled deeper into my seat, but never took my eyes off of them.

Of course, I had to show some curiosity, it would be suspicious if I didn’t. Unfortunately for him, I already knew what they were gonna talk about. I continued to stare until they were out of sight before yelling out.

“Thanks for the food, Ms. Davis!”

“Enjoy it, sweetheart!”

I heard the front door open and shut, confirming that they were finally outside. I stayed rooted to my seat, scrolling down my contacts. There was only one person I knew who could shed some light on this situation. Remembering our conversation earlier, I prayed that I wasn’t calling at an unfortunate time or else I wouldn’t hear the end of it.

Mom picked up on the third ring muttering under her breath about how she was busy and I was interrupting. I went in before she could further scold me.

“Did something happen at the medical conference?” There was only silence on the other line, and I realized how vague my question was.

“The one Aunt Irene and Uncle Jacob attended. Is there any news about it?” She must’ve sensed the urgency and panic in my voice because I heard her get up from wherever she was. There was shuffling in the background for a while before she finally talked to me again.

“What do you know and where did you hear it from? How reliable is this information?”

“The Wrights are missing. I heard it from their head of security just a while ago. I really didn’t mean to, but I overheard him being furious at someone over the phone. Curiosity got the best of me and decided to listen in.” She puffed out a breath before admonishing me.

“Why are you always being so nosy?” She was tapping away on her laptop and didn’t say anything else. I didn’t know who she was messaging, but it didn’t matter as long as they had the information we needed. It took a few minutes, taking so long, and I was worried that Thea might come down at any moment.

“No news or reports as of now. They were present during the afternoon session earlier and that’s about it. The conference ends tomorrow, I’ll check again and text if anything is off.”

“They disappeared. I’m not sure how legitimate this is, but I heard they disappeared like smoke. I’m not sure whether that’s an exaggeration or not.” Mom went quiet again, and I had to check my phone to make sure we didn’t get disconnected.

“Does anyone else know?” I knew she was asking about one person in particular. but I knew it wasn’t the best time to tell her yet. Not after what she told me.

“No, not yet. I don’t plan on telling her either.”

“Good. Everything is still unconfirmed. It wouldn’t be good to unnecessarily worry the poor girl.” I heard the laptop being shut off and closed then a sigh. “How about you, dear? How are you doing? This is a lot of things to keep to yourself.”

“I’ll be okay, mom. It’s a mess right now, but I have no doubt that things will get resolved… eventually.”

“Ah, always so optimistic. You got that from me.” There was a smile in her voice, and I couldn’t help but smile too. It was such a contrast from a few minutes ago.

“Thanks, mom. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, dear. You can ask me for help any time. I know you think we love your brother-” She was about to launch into a lecture, I could feel it, but I had to cut her off. Footsteps were coming from the stairs and I had to go now.

“Sorry mom, Thea’s coming and I have to go before she sees me. Love you, thanks again.”

“Okay, I’ll text you if there’s new information. Stay safe, both of you.”

“Yes ma’am!” I hung up and slid the phone back into my pocket as I carefully walked out of the dining area.

Thea was sneaking towards the window, her eyes focused intensely on whatever was on the other side. I don’t know why, but I found the sight of her sneaking around in her own house amusing. I felt a sharp twinge of guilt all of a sudden. If we had gone down together, both of us would’ve known what was happening.

Instead, Althea would be kept in the dark, like always.

I tried to reason with myself to ease the guilt that was bubbling up in my chest. I’m not doing anything wrong, at least I don’t think I am. Nothing was clear yet, it would be unnecessary to worry her over something that might have just been a misunderstanding. Things will turn out fine.

I hoped that all the things I thought was right, I don’t think I could handle hiding another secret from her.