Witchery

Chapter 9

I feel startled for a second, my face clearly also showing puzzlement, before I pull myself together. 

“What is it?” Asks Ari. 

 “I just remembered. It is my birthday today.” I answer, completely lost in thoughts on how I remember this so clearly all of a sudden. 

“Really?” Adriel sounds as surprised as I am. 

“Out of all the things you would remember, I had not seen that one coming.” Says Ari.  

“No… me neither.” I confess. 

After a moment of confused silence, Aria opens her mouth again.

“Happy birthday then, girl!” 

“Well, thank you!” I say, uncertain on how to react. 

“Yes, happy birthday, my darling!” 

Adriel has a smile on his face. 

“We need to get cake then!” 

I chuckle, a wave of heat spreading through my veins. 

“I guess this could be useful information as well. I mean if we were to dig up more about my past.” 

“Definitely!” Adriel says brightly. 

The air is filled with an awkward silence, no one really knows what to say or do with this new information. I go back to looking out the window. Adriel takes a turn to his right, going up a small road, both sides hosting tall, green hedges, hiding the fairly big houses that lies in this neighborhood. He pulls up to one of the houses. In front of it is a spacious driveway, leading up to a closed double carport. On either side of the driveway the hedges run, leaving me no peek into the garden surrounding the house. The house itself is built in grey coloured bricks with a hint of brown in them. Both the garage doors and the front door are painted white. The roof is pitch-black. I get out of the car, all of a sudden feeling very nervous. My hands are sticky, and I hastily wipe them on my black jeans, before Adriel gets to take my hand. I hesitate a bit before following him and Ari over the doorstep. 

“Don’t be nervous.” Adriel whispers in my ear, before calling out loud, 

“Mum, we’re home.”

He lets go of my hand to take off his black leather jacket and disposes of his boots. Today, he is actually wearing a white t-shirt for a change, although it is still plain. He never seems to wear long-sleeved shirts, like he never really freezes. 

Ariana is wearing loose, mum-fit, light blue denim jeans, although still sitting fairly tight over her hips. Along with the jeans she is wearing a mint-green hoodie, her hair is half-up showing a pair of silver hooped earrings. 

I get rid of the denim jacket I am wearing today, also leaving the white sneakers in the hallway. Following Ari, we enter the kitchen. 

It is a roomy place with white cupboards and a black fridge. Everything looks very modern. A smaller table is set against the wall to my right, the cooking area facing two big windows from where you can see the garden and, behind the hedge, the road which we came from. You can hear birds tweeting outside the window, but else, everything is very silent. 

From the kitchen, a small hallway leads to the living room. It is facing the other side of the house and you can see another part of the garden through the windows, which goes all the way from the ceiling to the floor, letting the afternoon sun in. The light wooden floor is perfectly shining, only a small rug in front of the garden door breaking the wood. A very big, black couch is standing against the wall to my left, facing the rest of the room. In front of it is a coffee table made of glass. In the middle of the room, a long wood table is standing, surrounded by leather chairs.   

All around the available walls are bookcases leaning, reaching up to the ceiling, and books are lying here and there, on the sofa, on the coffee table, even in stacks against the window. Except for more books, the bookcases are also stuffed with gems, small figures and articles, cut out from newspapers or magazines. One of the walls in the far end of the living room is entirely filled with vinyl records, a gramophone standing in the corner against the window, having tall speakers connected to it. A soft melody is playing from them. Right next to the speakers, a rocking chair in wood is standing, and a woman is sitting in it. 

She has short, brown, shabby-looking hair. A few white stripes are beginning to show here and there. She is wearing a long, grey sweater dress, a shawl in dark green rapped around her. The shawl is the only colour on her, actually, her face having a greyish tone to it, her dark eyes sunken in. Her hands are resting in her lap, a closed book underneath them. She looks up as we enter, not showing any surprise in her eyes. 

“Mum.” Says Adriel. 

The woman finally moves, getting up from the chair, walking closer. 

“Mother!” 

Ariana runs over and gives her a hug, closely followed by Adriel and me. Adriel hugs her too, then gestures to me, saying, 

“Mum, this is Esme, my fated mate. You know, I told you about her?” 

A tinkling sensation runs down my spine hearing him saying ‘fated mate’, my wolf growling, almost possessively, in my ears. I smile and step forward, giving her my hand. Until now, she has been silent and shown no emotions. But as she takes my hand, her face lights up, and she says. 

“Welcome Esme, I am Sera White, Adriel and Ariana’s mother. I am very pleased to meet you.” 

“Thank you, I am very pleased to meet you, too.” I answer, feeling myself letting go of a breath I didn’t know I was holding. 

“Come in, sit down. I’ll make some coffee.” She says, gesturing to the table. 

“No mum, don’t think about it. Adriel can make coffee, I’ll go buy cake, it is Esme’s birthday today.” 

Ari stops her, before she makes it to the kitchen.

“It is? Why didn’t you tell me, Adriel?” Sera scolds. 

“Because I didn’t know, she just remembered it herself in the car.” 

“Mum, remember, Esme can’t recall her past.” Ari reminds her in a low tone. 

“Oh, that is true, I am sorry my dear. Please sit down.” 

This time, she gestures towards the sofa, and I sit down with her. Adriel runs to the kitchen, Ariana takes the car. 

“I am sorry if I seem a bit confused to you. I just… my mind...” Sera trails off. 

“No don’t worry, I am not the most lucid person either.” I laugh.

“And I know what happened to your husband. I am truly sorry to hear.” 

I feel eternally sad for her, not knowing what I would have done in her situation. I don’t even want to imagine a day without Adriel. 

He comes back with a can of coffee and three cups. My stomach is still too fragile for coffee, so Adriel goes back to the kitchen, getting me a glass of water. 

He sits down beside me, taking my hand. 

“So Mum, Esme will move in with you in the house for some time, what do you think about that?” 

“Yes, I remember you told me that. I would love to have you around, Esme.” 

She smiles at me. 

I nod gratefully, taking a sip of my glass of water, not really sure what to say. But before I can think up anything, Adriel asks:

“How have you been, mum? I am sorry I haven’t been here for a while; I promise to make up for it.” 

“That sounds lovely, Adriel. I haven’t done much. My neighbor planted some tulip bulbs, they are budding now. I have just cleaned the house.” 

“Yes, I can see that mum, your floors are shining as a diamond.” 

He speaks to her in a gentle, carrying voice, but I can hear the sadness behind the words. I stroke his hand with my thumb, encouraging. 

“Yes, I also cleaned up a room for you, my dear, Adriel’s old, actually.”

“That sounds lovely, Mrs. White.” I say, trying to keep my voice bright. 

“Maybe you could give her a tour of the house, mum, what do you think?” 

“Yes, that is a good idea.” She gets up, Adriel and I with her. 

“Come along.”  

The house is very big compared to the fact that she is the only one living here. And very quiet, like the floors and walls are soundproof. Even though Sera has clearly just cleaned all the rooms, you get this feeling of dust and aging when you walk around.

Back in the small hallway between the kitchen and the living room, another two doors are visible. The one on the left leads to a generous bathroom, containing a big bathtub and a shower station, everything looks very new and modern. The middle door leads to the back of the house where a staircase is situated, going to the first floor. Upstairs, the first room you enter is a tv room. It has some low couches and beanbags gathered together around a large tv hanging on the wall. An opening to the far right shows yet another hallway. This one has three, separated doors on the left plus one at the very end of it. The first room turns out to be Ariana’s old room. There is still a bed in there, light blue curtains, a shelve with some books, both schoolbooks and literature, scattered about. Ari has a few pictures, both of art and school friends, hanging over the bed. I recognize her and Elise in one of them.  There is a desk standing against the window, and a very pretty chair with a woolen rug hanging over it.  Left of the desk is a huge space where her wardrobe probably used to be. Next to the door we came in from, is a full-body mirror hanging, and I catch my fragile reflection. My cheekbones still look too pale. At least I somewhat managed to hide my shabby hair in a massive bun on my head. 

The next room is Adriel’s room, the one I am going to borrow. It is quite different from Ariana’s. Where hers was light and open, Adriel’s is darker. His old bed is bigger, made of some sort of metal, painted black. In one corner, an old speaker is hiding. He also has a desk in wood; however, it is painted black. A smaller mirror is standing on the table, and a few small pictures of some rock bands and Adriel with some friends, are hanging on it. There is still a wardrobe left in his room, standing right next to the entrance, but it is almost empty, only containing a few, worn black t-shirts. The curtains and bedsheets are black too. Adriel chuckles when he sees his old room and picks up an old cd lying on the desk, clearly lost in memories for a second.

“I can change the beddings to a lighter colour, if you’d like?” Sera says, standing in the doorway. 

“No this is great. Don’t worry.” I answer, not willing to admit that this room definitely reminds me of Adriel, a thing I really don’t mind now that I have to live separated from him for some time yet. 

She nods, leading the way back to the hallway. The next room turns out to be the guestroom. It is smaller than Ari and Adriel’s rooms and sparsely decorated, a sofa against the right side of the wall, and a small closet standing next to the entrance. There is also a small bedside table besides the couch, on it a small green plant is standing. 

“You can of course also have this room or Ariana’s room. I just thought you might want to have Adriel’s.” Sera whispers, not really addressing me or anyone in particular, clearly also lost in thought. 

“No Mrs. White, Adriel’s room is great.” I answer politely. 

“Just call me Sera.” She says, before floating out of the room. 

I smile to myself, already feeling much better at this comment.

The last room, at the end of the hallway, turns out to be the master bedroom. It is very tidy, a big king-sized bed in the middle. It is placed under a wide window. She has an enormous wardrobe, placed left of the bed. There is no desk, but next to the bed is a bedside table holding multiple books, some of them lying open, front up, some of them closed with a bookmark sticking out from the pages. It seems like the only thing that is allowed to be messy in this house, are books.

“Mum really enjoys reading.” Adriel says, before hurriedly taking my hand and drags me out, back towards the staircase. 

“I think Ari is here with the cake. Are you coming, mum?”

Sera has stayed behind, as if glued to the floor, inside her bedroom, starring out into the air. She slowly reacts to Adriel’s words. Coming back to her senses, she turns around, closes the door and follows us downstairs, where Ariana has just made it to the kitchen with a gigantic cake in her hands. 

“I asked Elise to join us, else I don’t think we will be able to finish this thing.” She says. 

“Did you have a look at the house?” 

Adriel and I both nod, instantly feeling the mood changing, having Ari back in the house. 

It sure is a big cake. It has three layers, all chocolate, with strawberry cream between the layers. On top of it, it has chocolate frostings and strawberries to decorate it. Ari starts making more coffee, explaining she went to this bakery a few roads down, where she and Adriel used to come a lot as children. 

“The woman who runs it is getting pretty old, but she still recognizes me or Adriel any time. I just told her Adriel’s girlfriend is turning 23 years old, and she gave me this monstrous thing of a cake, she didn’t even want payment, I had to just leave a bill on the counter. 

“She is so sweet. I talk to her from time to time.” Sera says, having made it back downstairs as well. 

I can’t help but smile at the words ‘Adriel’s girlfriend’ even though I am not sure I would actually call us that just yet. I have only known him for one week and a half, after all. But the words won’t leave my mind. 

Elise comes over shortly after Ariana has come back with the cake, and we all sit down around the table in the living room to eat. Adriel has changed the vinyl record from the soft tunes his mother was listening to, to playing to this old, British rock band called The Beatles, that I am told by everyone I should know off. The cake is amazing, it melts on my tongue. Elise and Ariana’s endless chatting soon makes everyone in a great mood, all of us joining in on the conversation. Ariana is complaining that they closed the gym that lies in the same building as their apartment. 

“I mean, it was due to the fact that it was pretty noisy, but now we have to go to the next block to work out.” 

“You know I was one of the complainers, right?” Asks Elise with a grin. 

“You aren’t helping.” Pouts Ariana, but Elise just gives her a kiss on the mouth. 

“On the other hand, I think they are now going to open up a gallery instead of that noisy gym of yours, so it isn’t all bad.”  She says.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.” Sulks Ari. 

“I really have to see where you live.” I say, intervening before they start up a discussion. 

“Yes, you really have to come visit us soon!” Ari agrees, forgetting about the closed gym. 

“And you also have to see where I live.” Says Adriel. 

I have to admit that I am, in particular, looking forward to seeing his places. 

The rest of the afternoon goes quickly by. I have a great time talking to the four of them. They start reminiscing their school times. It turns out Elise was a few years above Ariana in school, and that she had always noticed how Ariana got into trouble with Adriel, admiring this on a distance. All the girls in Elise’s year had had a crush on Adriel, but Elise had always been more interested in Ariana. However, they first started talking when they coincidently met in a thrift shop and then, shortly after, in a night club, where they ended up going home together. They have been together ever since. I really love their story; it sounds really sweet how Elise has always noticed Ari being troublesome. The three of them starts talking about their old teachers, Sera voicing her opinions from time to time. I listen, but I don’t really have much to tell myself, not being able to remember my own school attendance. Or if I ever even attended school. I catch myself feeling a bit impatient to see this witch about my memories. A strong feeling of wanting to be able to talk about trivial matters as old schoolteachers, overwhelms me. Adriel notices my empty stare and kisses my cheek, making my head return to the conversation.

It is truly a lovely birthday. I listen to several Beatle’s records and also one by another British rock band, Queen, which I recall Adriel showing me at the hospital, too. I especially find the number “Bohemian Rhapsody” to be interesting. Ariana then insists that I also get to listen to a Swedish band called Abba. They, however, make pop music, but it soon has the four of us dancing around the living room, Ari, Adriel and Elise bawling along the lyrics of “Dancing Queen”, me just swaying to the rhythm. Sera is sitting in the couch, laughing and clapping of us. I also get an outdoor tour of the garden, but it mostly has tall Birch trees in it and a big terrace, where we sit and eat dinner. The house is fairly shielded from the wind by the hedges and other houses surrounding us. But we do sit with blankets and Sera has turned on the terrace heaters too. It is a lovely spring evening, a smell of freshly cut grass in the air, birds tweeting, and a blue sky above us. 

Elise and Ari leaves after dinner, driving home in Elise’s small city car. Sera watches them leave from the kitchen window, before asking us what we want to do next. Adriel suggests a movie night, and Sera and I both agree to this. 

We make popcorn and bring tea with us upstairs, sitting in the couches. I lean against Adriel, Sera sitting more comfortable in one of the beanbags. The movie Adriel picked is called ‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’, and it is supposed to be the first in a very long movie franchise that I also really have to watch to be a normal person, or so I am at least told. Also, it isn’t really the first movie of the series, it’s the fourth if you look at when they were made. But, plot wise, this is the first. I have to admit I am kind of confused. And tired too. I eventually fall asleep against Adriel’s chest, first waking up when I feel him lifting me up, carrying me to his bed. 

“Goodnight, baby.” He whispers before giving me a kiss on my forehead. “

And happy birthday. I really hope you have had a good day. I will sleep in Ari’s room tonight, but I will probably be gone before you wake up tomorrow. I promise to come back for dinner, though.”  

I nod weakly, too tired and satisfied with everything to be able to answer. My eyes close when he leaves a second kiss on my cheek, and I barely hear the door closing, before sleep takes me again.