Voodoo Doll // cth

two

"I'm home!" I call through the house as I close the front door.

My mom and dad are usually home when I get home, which helps me mentally. Dad goes away on business trips sometimes, but he's usually working from home.

Dad was always the first person to check on me. He always called me his other half, so did mom. They both seemed to feel prideful in the fact that I was their daughter. It's a shame that it was all thrown away.

"In here!" My dad calls from upstairs. I assume they're in mom's room where she keeps all of her supplies for her spells.

I make my way up the stairs and I find dad standing in the hallway, outside mom's spell room. She calls it her safe place, the room where there's no judgement.

"Where's mom?" I ask quietly, setting my bag on the floor outside my bedroom. I fold my arms over my chest as I stand beside him, looking into the room.

I see incense burning in the corner and candles lit around the room, but mom is nowhere in sight. I furrow my eyebrows and look up at dad when mom falls from the ceiling in a fit of laughter.

The joy that filled that room feels like a distant memory now, despite only being a few months ago. I almost didn't recognize it when I saw the photos, it almost felt as though it wasn't even my house.

I flinch harder than I've ever flinched before, staring at the scene as if she's insane. Dad begins laughing as well, placing his hand on my shoulder as he moves past me.

He pulls her off the floor and looks at me as she looks at the ceiling. "Your mom wanted to try something new."

"Hey, I'm trying to heal my inner child!" She argues, making the three of us laugh. She places her hands on her hips and looks back up at the ceiling. "I think we need to lower it a bit."

She always wants to do something insane and out of the blue. One time she insisted that we have a pillow fight with bean bag chairs, and dad ended up getting a chipped tooth.

She's very competitive.

That must be where I got it from.

Dad rolls his eyes, a smile still on his face as he looks at me. "How was your day at school?"

"Same as any other." I shrug, my smile falling as I look at the ground. "I have a new partner in one of my classes."

Dad gasps and I look up to see a hopeful spark in his eyes, making me feel bad. "Really? Who is it?"

"I bet it's a cute boy." Mom mumbles in a sing-song voice.

"Is it a cute boy?" Dad raises his eyebrows and I shake my head.

"He's just a boy. Not one that you have to worry about though, no one here likes me." I shrug, letting out a small laugh.

He was definitely someone to worry about, but that's not important anymore.

"So, he's not a cute boy?" Dad tilts his head and I groan.

"Dad, I want to worry about school right now. I don't need a guy in my way." I shut him down before he can ask anymore questions. "A 'cute boy' won't get me into a good college."

"Oh, sweetheart I need you to do your journaling right now because we're going out for dinner so we won't have time." Mom walks out into the hallway and begins walking me towards my room, grabbing my bag. "Remember; positive affirmations and-"

"Manifestations." I finish her sentence for her, rolling my eyes. "I've got it, mom. I've only been doing this since I knew how to write."

She gives me a proud smile, squeezing my arm and pulling me into a hug. She mumbles in my ear before pulling away. "You're my favourite child, I hope you know that."