Forsaken

Episode 8

Aldrich POV

The old witch dying did not happen at a good time, according to Aldrich. Quite the opposite actually. He had been planning and scheming in the background for years, to prepare his son to take over as the coven Head. It was rarely a man that was chosen, but he had laid out a good foundation for a change. However, he was counting on having at least ten more years until a new head were to be chosen. His son was merely 13 years old and was in no way ready or old enough to be considered. All these years of hard work went straight down the drain. He had made sure his son befriended the current Heads' youngest daughter, who was expected to take over from her mother. But the youngling was only 8 years old. The plan was for his son to become the personal guardian of this youngling, and take over the coven until she came of age. Then they could produce a strong heir or two, and Aldrich could easily get rid of the witch after that, securing the position for his son as Head for years to come. But of course, the old hag went on and died a little too early. Even earlier than Aldrich had planned out. Now it could be anyone's game coming out on top. Even worse was, that the older daughter of the old Head would have many supporters now. She had always claimed she never wanted the position, but she might change her mind now that her mother had actually passed.

He cursed in his mind over this unwanted situation. He would probably have to try and take the position for himself now. But it might result in a bloodbath if others claimed the position as well.

While he was deep in thoughts, a message came to his office, announcing the death of their leader and called for a meeting that would take place in just three hours. As the message dissolved into smoke, he cursed yet again, but quickly pulled himself together. He hurried to make a message of his own to send out to his most trusted allies. He would have to call in a few favors too. There would be no going back now.

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Harper POV

Harper had quickly instructed Nylah in a few house rules and asked her to take care of the bakery and craft shop, while she was gone. It might not be needed, but this situation could easily escalate and take up more time than anticipated. She had seen her mother a few times when visiting the coven, but they hadn't really spoken in years. Her mother had always nudged her to take over as coven Head, even though Harper never wanted to. When Harper had turned 18 some years ago, she had finally whole-heartedly refused to become Head of the coven. It hadn't been well received by her mother, and they spoke less after that. But now she was dead, and Harper didn't even know why or how. Witches live a lot longer than humans and can grow to be a few hundreds of years. Her mother hadn't even reached 100 yet! Something didn't feel right about it. The worst part of it however, was that it left her younger sister without parents.

"S**t!" Harper thought for the umpteenth time.

"I have to be the parent now.." She concluded. It could not have come at a worse time. She might even have to get a new place if she were to house both Nylah and her little sister. She could NOT just throw Nylah out to live on her own again. That girl had clearly been through hell and she was finally sharing little bits of her mystical life. No, there was only one solution. She would have to find room for both Nylah and Haizea.

After having thrown some clothes and toiletries into a bag, she bid her new roommate goodbye and opened up a portal to the portal room in her coven, where every portal traveler had to go, in order to not just arrive sudden and unannounced anywhere. The last thing she saw before closing up the portal again, was Nylah's face of wonder over seeing this little bit of magic. It made her smile to herself, taking a personal note to show the girl more magical things.

She arrived in the portal room along with several other witches and warlocks. Before she was let out of the building, she had to go through a check point for security measures.

“Harper Willard” She announced her name to the guard at the check point.

“Miss Willard! Good to see you! I am sorry for your loss. Are you here to claim the position?” The unknown guard asked her. Apparently, she was known more here than she would have preferred.

“It is not my intention, no.” Harper politely said and was allowed access into the coven after her identity was quickly confirmed.

“A shame”, the guard mumbled, barely audible.

With an hour and a half still left until the meeting, Harper decided to go in search for her younger sister. Since every adult was supposed to partake in the meeting, the younglings would probably be kept in the school with a few supervisors, so she decided to go there.

It was slightly chaotic in and around the school. Parents were buzzing around the place in order to either get their children to stay there, or to take them home, letting one parent care for the children and one attending the meeting. It was allowed for a household of at least three to choose only one to participate in such meetings.

Harper got fairly quickly inside, by zig-zagging through the crowd in long strolls. Being an earth witch had always made her quick on her feet, and she could easily sense the best passageway to follow, in order to get to her goal. In the foyer, a teacher stood in the middle handing out documents stating where every class would be and who would be their supervisor during the meeting. In order to allow most of the staff to enter the meeting, two or three classes had been stuffed together into one classroom with only one supervisor.

“Hi, I am Harper Willard, I am looking for Haizea Willard, I don’t know which class she is in.” Harper addressed the teacher with the documents, who first looked at her documents and then sighed.

“We don’t have their names listed on these papers, only the classes. One moment please,” she said, while handing out a few more documents for other concerned parents. Then she opened a communication-link to the teacher’s office where the headmaster was.

“I have a Harper Willard here, looking for her sister Haizea Willard.” She told the headmaster.

“Ah! The Willards! Well, she is not here. She went home with her friend and his dad.” Came the answer.

“Why?” Harper blurted out.

“Young miss Willard often goes home with her friend, Alaric Crowley and his father, Aldrich Crowley. Loosing her mother suddenly today, we assumed it would be best handled by people she knows well.” The headmaster answered.

“Aldrich Crowley..” Harper muttered.

“The Crowley mansion, I suppose?” She asked.

“That would be correct,” answered the headmaster.

Harper hurried out of the school in direction of the mansion. She had already wasted half an hour, and now she was certain that her sister had already been informed of their mothers’ death. She could only hope that this Aldrich Crowley-guy was a comforting person.

Arriving at the mansion, she had expected a little less chaos than at the school, but that was not the case. She even recognized a few of the witches and warlocks that seemed to be coming and going out of the mansion. It wasn’t anyone she knew well, but she had seen them before in the headquarters. These were influential people. A worry started to take form in her chest. Why would they come here?

At the door, she was stopped by a man, who she assumed was a butler of sorts.

“Mr. Crowley is rather busy today, do you have an appointment?” He asked.

“Not exactly, but..” She started, but was cut off.

“Then I must ask you to leave the property and come back another day. The coven meeting will take place in an hour, you should find your way to the great Willow Hall, Miss..?”

“Willard” She smirked at the dismissing man in the door. Her name had had the exact effect she was aiming for, and she saw the mans’ eyes widen in realization.

“My apologies, Miss Willard! I will let Mr. Crowley know that you are here.” He said and whispered a few words paired with a hand gesture, and the message was sent upstairs immediately.

“Harper Willard!” A loud voice coming from upstairs sounded.

“My deepest condolences!” It continued as a man came into view. He had olive-colored skin and dark brown hair with a few silver streaks on the sides. He wore traditional warlock clothes with a modern touch, keeping the extravagance a little more low-key.

“What brings you to my humble establishment?” He asked.

“My sister.” Harper replied coolly, not buying into his fake warmness.

“Ah! Of course! Young Haizea is with my son Alaric in his room. She is mourning our great, great loss.” He said.

“Let me escort you to her.”

Harper nodded and followed Aldrich back up the stairs and down the hall. It didn’t go unnoticed by her that the first door on the left was being closed as they passed it. Before it was closed, she got a small glimpse of the inside. It looked like a big room with a lot of shelves and books. Probably an office or a meeting room. It was currently full of people, who conveniently lowered their voices until the door was shut. Shaking off the unsettling feeling she started to have, Harper turned her attention to Aldrich instead.

“Were you the one to inform my sister of my mothers’ passing?” She asked him. He answered without sparing her a glance.

“Yes. I came early to the school, right after I got the news, as part of your mothers’ council. She and my son have always been close, and with me being an official councilmember and close confidant to your mother, I and the headmaster decided it was best that I were to deliver the devastating news to her.”

“No one thought about contacting me to do it?” She asked, raising an eyebrow in annoyance.

“We did not know you had an interest in your younger sister and the coven in general miss Willard. You had denied being the heir, and so we thought you wouldn’t care much.” He bluntly stated.

“I do not want to be the next coven Head, Mr. Crowley, but I assure you, I DO care!” Harper answered as they stopped in front of the last door in the hallway.

“I am glad to hear it,” Aldrich said, though his expression seemed bored with the conversation and not at all “glad” like he supposedly proclaimed to be. He opened the door into a large children’s room and on the bed was a little girl with her head buried in her hands, and a little older boy sat beside her with a hand comfortingly on her back. The little girl looked up, and momentarily she forgot her sorrows and smiled.

“Harper!” She squealed and jumped from the bed and straight into her older sisters’ arms.