Bab 3: Things happen
It was almost midnight when I was awoken from my supposed nap by the sound of the front door being opened and shut.
I just assumed it was my mom coming home late from a covern meeting and payed no mind to it.
My mom is the leader of tharua covern, the largest covern of witches in this side of America. The position of covern leader has been in our family for generations and one day my mom would pass the baton to me and I would carry on our legacy.
She sent me a text earlier in the day saying she might be home late today because the meeting was getting heated and she couldn't get two smaller coverns to become allies with them.
If I had known how wrong I was I would have gone downstairs to what happened but instead I went back to bed not hearing the muffled screams of my mother in the darkness of the night.
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My stupid new alarm clock started beeping rapidly telling me it was time to get up and I was just about to disintegrate it with a spell when I remembered how angry my mom was yesterday.
So instead I opted for turning it off and rolling out of bed. I'm really not a morning person.
"Tabitha play sunflower by post Malone and swae Lee" I said yawning as I made my way to the bathroom.
"Playing music" she did as she was told and I went to take a bath without having to prompted by my mom.
When i got out of the bathroom I asked Tabitha "what should I wear today?"
"I recommend wear your thingh length denim qown and sneakers for a.simple yet stylish look"
I got the clothes out of my closet and put them on. The song had changed to a sad song I didn't remember downloading.
After wearing my clothes I sat in front of my mirror and decided to straighten my bird's nest of a hair.
It took me about half an hour to finally get it under control and lay my edges. I applied eyeliner and lipgloss then unplugged my phone and took a picture before posting it on Instagram with a caption 'life as a red head'.
It was then, I realized I hadn't heard my mom's voice yelling at me all morning. I waved off the thought thinking she was probably tired from her meeting last night.
I wore my smartwatch and strapped on my backpack before making my way downstairs.
The first thing I noticed when I got downstairs was that it was freezing cold. The front door was left wide open all night. My mom might have been tired but she's never this careless.
The second thing I noticed was the absence of the smell of breakfast.
For as long as I can remember no matter how tired she is my mom always makes breakfast be it hand made or whipped up magically with a spell, I always wake up too the smell of breakfast.
But this morning there was nothing on the table and my mother was no where to be found and now I'm really worried.
I threw my backpack down and started panicking "MOM!!!.... MOM!!!"
I ran over to her room and noticed the door was locked. I instantly used a spell to melt the door knob and rushed into the room.
I smelled it before I was it. That distinct coppery smell of blood mixed with the faint smell of the lavender perfume my mom couldn't do without. And there she was on the floor, pale as snow.
Except that woman on the floor isn't my mom, she couldn't be. My mom had eyes which shone and always made the room feel brighter but this woman lying on the ground in the pool of her own blood stared at me with hopeless and lifeless eyes.
She didn't move, her short red hair even darker thanks to the blood. And that's when I noticed it, a symbol drawn around her dead body in the shape of a circle with a trident inside. This wasn't a random murder this had to have been the work of an expert witch or wizard.
I didn't panic, I didn't break down and sob. I simply took out my phone called my grandma and tell her everything.
Then I sat on the floor next to her cold body and waited.
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Less than an hour later my house was swarming with witches dressed like cops trying to decipher the symbol.
They couldn't get the humans involved and risk exposing ourselves so each covern had a division for things like this.
So far I haven't said anything to anyone and neither have I gotten up from the spot on the ground where I sat. I just stared as everything moved so fast. I couldn't move, I couldn't see anything. Everything is a blur.
It wasn't until my grandmother came to me and sat down next to me did I finally look up from the scene before me and break down in tears.
I sobbed, I wailed, I weeped and everything in between, while my grandmother just held me, rubbing circles on my back.
Until finally I was drained "who did it?" I finally said.
"We don't know" she said quietly "the security footage on Tabitha was wiped clean"
"But how's that possible even I don't know the password for that and I'm pretty sure my mom didn't just go around telling everybody"
"Well whoever it was must have been close to your mom or ..." She he didn't say it but I knew she meant she could have been tortured. She quickly cleared her throat and changed the subject "have you had anything to eat?".
I didn't answer instead I asked her "what's that symbol?"
"We don't know yet but we also found it carved unto her back which explains all the blood" she wasn't sparing the details because she knew I'd want to know no matter how gory it sounded "our experts also concluded that he used a power dampening spell witch is why your mom couldn't fight back"
"A power dampening spell, I thought only expert witches or wizards could do this" I said and sniffled "even my mom couldn't do that"
She didn't say anything this time instead she just kept staring forward deep in her own thoughts.
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I slept in an hotel room that night because I couldn't bear to be in that house.
My grandma wanted to book us seperate rooms but I begged her to let me stay in her room.
So that's how I ended up in bed next to my grandma who smelled like peppermint.
I couldn't sleep. Everytime I close my eyes I see her and I'm starting to drive myself crazy.
And right there and then I promised myself and my mother that I would find her killer and avenge her.
With that on my mind I fell asleep and dreamt of delicious blueberry pancakes and my mom.
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It didn't have to be said that now I'd be staying with my grandma.
I never knew my father because my mom never told me of him. I never asked, not wanting to break her heart. It was always me and my mom against the world.
And even now standing in her room trying to pick out what thing of hers to take with me and what to donate I still thought of her.
Her body had been taken away and the blood scrubbed clean but I still felt her presence there.
I didn't realize I had been standing at the doorway for so long until my grandma put her hand on my shoulder making me jump slightly.
"It's okay if you can't do this" she said softly "we could always come back when you're ready or get someone to do it for you"
"No Grandma, I will do this" I finally took a step into the room and headed for her closet.
I decided that all her clothes should be donated except her wedding dress, which she never had a chance to wear since my father left her in the alter. It was folded neatly inside a box labeled my wedding.
I took it out and placed on the bed before going back to search through the closet again. Next I found a box labeled vixen.
I pulled it out of the corner it was carefully tucked in and opened it. It was filled with scrapbooks and trinkets from my childhood.
My first cuddly was there, an old blanket I called mr blanky. It also had old photos of me. Like the one of my first time at the beach were I was smiling widely even without my front teeth, or the one were I just performed my first spell and was covered in flour since I had tried to levitate it.
I recognized everything and every picture she was in brought tears to my eyes. I was about to close the box when I noticed a picture I hadn't seen before. It was a picture of my mom holding a baby wrapped in a blue blanket, she was smiling fondly at the little boy in her hands and he just stared at her intently.
The strange thing about the photo is the that a part of it had been cut off leaving only half of the photo to be seen. At the back scribbled in my mom's clean handwriting it said "Foxx and vixen at one week"
That means the little boy in the picture is Foxx and the other half of the picture that was cut of probably had my face in it. But who is Foxx and why did my mom love him so much as to put him in this box which she was obviously fond of.
I tucked the photo in my pocket and proceeded to he dresser. I spotted her lavender perfume and immediately took it and sprayed, letting myself get immersed in the smell of comfort.
I noticed her gold necklace And also put that on before grabbing the two boxes and her perfume and exiting the room while trying my hardest not to break down in tears.
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I had packed all my things into the moving van outside as I sat on the couch waiting for my grandma to finish whatever she was doing.
"Vixen you have a new message from Ariel everdeen" I almost jumped at the sound of my mother's name.
A new message? How is that possible? Isn't she dead? Tabitha interrupted my thoughts again by saying "should I play or delete the message"
"Play!" I spat out.
There was a beep before my mom sweet voice said "hey vixen" and my heart overflowed "mom".
She sighed deeply "I recorded this message a while ago and if you're listening to this it means I'm ..." She took a deep breath "dead"
"I don't know what went wrong but I know you'll probably have a lot of questions all of which I can't answer seeing as I'm dead" she paused And continued "if I'm correct which I know I am you'll probably be on your way to live with Grandma in Pennsylvania right about now which is perfect"
"Grandma will most likely enroll you in my former high school, when you get there you'll find yourself in a whole new world and meet lots of new people but be careful who you choose as a friend"
I wondered what she meant by that "there's a section of the school with abandoned lockers that been sealed off now, I need you to get in there and find my old locker"
"It's locker 228, I've hidden something there that'll help you with almost everything you need to know and hopefully answer some of your questions" it's just like my mom to always plan everything ahead.
That thought brought tears to my eyes, she sniffled and said "I love you very much sweetheart".
I whispered back "I love you too" even though I knew she couldn't hear me.
I thought the recording had ended when she stayed silent for a while but then she suddenly added "oh I almost forgot, whatever you do never trust the fox"
And with that there was a beep to indicate the end of the recording. "Would you like to listen to the message again or delete it?" Came Tabitha's voice but I barely heard as I pondered over my mom's last words "never trust the fox".
Did she mean a person who behaved like a fox or a literal Fox like that boy from the picture. I mean it couldn't be a coincidence that she'd use that exact word, Right?
Tabitha asked again "would you like to listen to the message again or delete?" Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I cleared my throat before saying "delete it"
"One message deleted"
I heard my grandma shout "vixen honey come on it's time to go".
I wiped the tears making their way out of my eyes and yelled back "I'll be right there!"
"Goodbye mom" I said to the empty house as I made my way out "Tabitha shut down"
"System shutting down" came the feminine voice in a slur.
I turned off the lights and looked around one last time before locking the door probably for the last time and made my way to my new life.
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Writing this chapter brought tears to my eyes
*Sniffles*
Oh well,
who's excited for next chapter and vixen's new life?
And who do y'all think this Foxx guy is?
Flood the comments because I love listening to you guys.
XOXOXOXOXOXO
Jassmin ❤️
Hadiah
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