Darkness Falls

Chapter 17: (6-11-2022)

The following morning everyone heads to the mystery shack. The entire way there Mabel and her friends can't stop talking about how much they loved the dream world because they could imagine anything they wanted. They did their hair and make up and had a fashion show and imagined cute boys and mermaids and just literally everything they loved. Only to be kind if disappointed because none of it was real so any food or drink they consumed wasn't actually there.

Venessa walked home with Robbie who had his hand full of letters from when he thought he was going to die. "So you're going to tell them the truth?"

Robbie nods. "They've worried for nearly 5 days about whether or not I'm coming home." He pauses slightly. "We all know the risk of using this magic circle. I mean we still aren't sure it's meant to destroy Cipher, it could make him more powerful than ever."

Venessa glances over at him. "He is scared of the zodiac. I don't know if you realized but he wanted to destroy a piece of the zodiac to remove one element or change it in some way. He knows if everyone comes together it will be bad for him."

"Are you sure?" Robbie questions.

Venessa nods. "I'm sure."

Robbie frowns slightly as they approach the funeral service. "Venessa."

She turns to look at him. "Yeah?"

He glances over at her. "If they don't take this well then I don't know what I'll do."

"Take what well?" Venessa asks.

Robbie looks up at the building. "Everything."

As he says this the door opens up and his mom is standing there with big worried eyes and she smiles as he walks up to the door. "Robbie's home?!"

She wraps him such a tight hug he can hardly breathe, but he just stands there calmly.

His dad comes out and joins in the group hug. "Where have you been?"

"You guys didn't get my message?" Robbie questioned.

"We were still worried though." His mom says. She looks at Venessa. "Oh he brought a girl home." She looks at her husband.

"Time for the talk?" His dad questions.

Robbie turns bright red. "Wait! Let's not have this discussion right now. There are plenty of other things we do need to talk about first."

They all head inside where Robbie tells them about everything that happened the last few days skipping over the part where he was possessed and beaten up by Frank.

When he was finished explaining he waited to see their reaction.

Robbie's parents exchange a glance.

"We have something to show you." His mom says. The two lead him to the study where they point out a painting on the wall. "This was your great 5th grandpa." His dad says. "He had this portrait commissioned before his death. Of course he was fairly young when he passed, only being in his 60s."

"Who is that with him?" Robbie asks. Even though he knows because even though her hair was different back then it was definitely Venessa's mom.

"We don't know her name but my grandfather told me she was a witch." His dad says.

"How do they know?" Robbie questions.

"It was just a rumor." His father says. "There is also writing on the back of the painting." He takes the photo down and carefully removes the cardboard backing. "We discovered this when you were a child."

Robbie vaguely remembered running through the room as a child and bumping the picture off the wall by accident. "I broke the frame." He remembered. "It was an accident."