CHAPTER 8: SWEET TORTURE

Mike was having dinner, it was more like he was in a civilized combat with the food. Cooking was definitely not his dad's specialty. He had tried to rush the meal, but he couldn't. He was wondering when and how the night would end, when he heard the doorbell ring.

'I'll get it,' he announced, as he walked to the door.

He unlocked the door and opened it to find Mrs Hope, his next door neighbour. Mike used to babysit her two kids; Alex and Naomi. They were twins. Hope wore a simple flair green dress that matched the green ribbon on her hair. She held a plate of what smelled like blueberry pie in her hands.

'Mike,' she smiled.

'Hello, Mrs Hope,' he said in response.

'Here,' she said before handing me the plate.

'Thanks,' he said as he took the plate from her. If only she knew how grateful he was, since he had close to nothing for dinner

'Is your dad in?'

'Yes, he is. Please come in,' he replied motioning for her to come in.

'Mike, who's at the door?' Derek asked his son asked his son, as he slowly ate his meal.

'It's me,' Hope said loudly as she entered the living room.

'Ah…Hope,' Derek said in a muffled voice as he hurriedly chewed the bits of food still in his mouth. He stood up to welcome the visitor.

'Would you like me to whip up a plate? He asked her.

'Nah, I'm full,' she said with a chuckle, lightly patting her belly. She was no stranger to Derek's cooking.

'I'll be going to my room,' Mike said as he walked to his room carrying a big slice of pie.

The two adults didn't hear him. They were too busy exchanging pleasantries. Mike didn't mind being ignored. He thought his dad needed to go out more often. It was always office, hospital, home for the man. Early last month, he even slept in the hospital with his wife. It was sweet torture.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The drops of water on my skin made the room feel cold, when I stepped out of the bathroom. I had just taken a shower after eating and I was wearing a white bathrobe. I then heard a knock on the door.

'Come in dad,' I said preparing to go to bed.

'Hey,' I heard Meghan say from behind me. I was startled and I was in a bathrobe!

Oh no!

As I turned, our eyes met and she looked away immediately. Was that a blush I saw on her cheeks? She seemed…shy.

'Hi,' I finally said breaking the awkward silence.

'My place is boring, so I thought to come over,' she said as moved the pie plate from the cupboard, placed it on the floor and sat on the furniture.

'You could've just puffed inside.' I said surprised.

'Yeah, I could have. But that would be… rude,' she replied. Her words further surprised me, but she was right I guess.

'So…what are you up to?' she asked moving her hips backwards. She looked uncomfortable.

'Nothing,' I said drying my hair with a small bath towel.

'You can use the chair,' I added pointing to the white chair in front of the desk. Meghan stood up, making no eye contact. Her cheeks were red, she looked so nervous. She played with her fingers and cleared her throat a few times.

'I was hoping we could go to the library.' She finally said.

'The school library?'

'No, the one from my childhood.' She said in almost a whisper with her head still down.

'Oh…okay. And I thought I was the nerd,' I smiled knowingly. She held my left hand and everything went dark.

We appeared in a large seemingly old library. It looked like a mini castle. The light from lamps at the entrance as well as the moon made the features of the extremely large door visible. It had beautiful floral patterns carved on it. It didn't have a doorknob or a handle of any sort. Meghan just opened it by waving her hand.

As we stepped in, I was overwhelmed by the furnishings. The ceiling was a hundred of feet above our heads and every noise we made echoed. As expected, it had very tall shelves filled with a variety of books. The wooden floor looked freshly waxed, reflecting the bright lights that beamed from the top. The light was so bright that there wasn't a shadow to be seen, but it was also not blinding. It was just right. The smell of old paper filled the air as we strode between shelve passageways.

'Is there anyone here,' I asked Meghan in a whisper.

'There should be. There is, I sense someone,' she replied.

'You can sense people?' I said raising my eyebrows in surprise.

'Humans, no. Witches, yes,' she said walking forward with an increased pace.

'Brachia!' she yelled and her voice echoed.

'Brachia! I know you're here!' she yelled again, this time louder.

'What are you doing here?' Someone said from behind me. She had a blue feathery crop-top and white shorts on. It revealed her small waist and a scar at the side of her belly, near her abdomen. She looked fierce.

'Brachia, I came to visit,' Meghan smiled running towards the girl.

Brachia's eyes turned dark. Some books from a shelf floated towards Meghan and hit her hard on her head, causing her to fall.

'Meghan! Are you okay?' I said kneeling beside her.

'You've been gone for five years without telling any of us where you were going and you come back to VISIT. You ran away and left all of us behind!' Brachia said with a look of disgust on her face.

'And who is this?' She said looking at me with disdain.

'A new friend?' She said lifting more books.

'I didn't run away, I had to go!' Meghan said using her magic to dodge the oncoming books.

'Sounds the same to me,' Brachia said simply, while throwing more books at us.

'Lord Araphel and Master Forneius banished me to the human world. He said he wanted to protect me,' she said regaining balance.

Anger and confusion were written all over Brachia's face.

'Why didn't you tell me before now?' she questioned.

'I didn't get a chance to,' Meghan answered breathing heavily with a sad look on her face.

Brachia dropped the books slowly, then she walked towards us.

'Follow me,' she said as she walked passed us.

'Where are we going?' Meghan asked her.

'To the Nest. Everyone's there. I came back to get this.' Brachia replied showing us a key on her index finger, before she disappeared.

'Hold my hand,' Meghan said after opening her palm.

'You want us to follow her? Are you sure we can trust her?' I said surprised at how quickly she and Brachia mended things.

'We can,' she assured me, holding my hand.

We appeared at a restaurant with 'THE NEST' written above its

big entrance. It was a small diner with small round tables and very few customers.

'Here she comes,' Brachia announced nonchalantly. She sat in the middle of two girls, whose eyes were beaming with joy as they saw Meghan.

'Meghan, is it really you?' The one in a green gown asked standing up as a tears escaped her eyes.

'It is me,' Meghan said also in tears as she ran to meet them. They hugged and talked for what seemed to be forever. The ladies recalled various moments from their childhood as they chatted. Even cranky Brachia was smiling.

There I was standing and trying to distract myself while the ladies conversed. After some minutes, I began to shiver. I felt extremely cold.

'Maybe it has something to do with the weather here,' I thought before I realized something was wrong. I was still in my bathrobe!

Shit!

'Uh…Meghan,' I called, approaching the ladies.

'Yeah?' Meghan answered vaguely.

'Can we go back home? My dad might be looking for me.' I said cold and tensed.

'Mike, meet Jade,' she referring to the girl in a blue dress.

'…I believe you've met Brachia. This is Beryl,' she continued referring to the girl in a green dress.

'Guys, this is Mike,' she said, ending the introduction.

'Hello. You don't look familiar. What coven are you from?' Jade asked me.

'I'm not from a coven?' I answered, leaving the girls puzzled.

'Can't you see he's human?' Brachia said looking at me coldly.

'Oooh…can we play with him?' Beryl asked excitedly. Somehow about how she said it made me more uneasy. She looked like a three year-old who saw a toy she liked.

'No, you can't!' Meghan said looking at her sternly. Beryl's alongside Jade's shoulders fell in disappointment.

'He's my friend, not my pet.' Meghan added a bit amused.

'Then why's he dressed like that. Is it a human thing?' Jade asked pointing at me with her eyebrows furrowed.

Meghan's eyes widened in shock. It seems she forgot he was wearing a towel too.

'Guys, I need to go. I promise I'll be back.' Meghan said as she rushed towards me.

'Already? You just came back,' Jade and Beryl chorused. They looked very similar.

'And I'll be back again soon,' Meghan promised before we both vanished.