A Horrific Fantasy

Chapter 12

Neither Charlie or Vaggie could focus much in class the next day. They were still so very curious and confused about visiting Mystique Hollow. At first they both thought that it had only been a dream, but they quickly learned that wasn't the case once they met up and talked about it.

"So what did you tell your mom about last night?" Charlie had asked Vaggie as they walked to the cafeteria together.

"Nothing. She wasn't home when I got back. She was working late again and she slept in this morning, so there was no opportunity for me to tell her anything. What about Stolas?"

"The whole court case with Stella has him so distracted lately. He didn't even notice when I came home. Do you think Levana really did call him and your mom, to get permission for us to stay for dinner last night?"

"She probably did call but neither one of them picked up. Given the circumstances, I'm not surprised."

"Should we ask to confirm?"

"If they don't say anything, then we shouldn't anything. After all, suppose they didn't pick up, found out we had a dinner with a stranger, and blame us even though it was technically they're fault for not picking up."

"Good point. Stolas has blamed me for things beyond my control once or twice. Usually when I babysit Octavia, and she sneaks off to mess with his plants. Yes I know I was supposed to be watching her, but I also had to study for an important test that night, I managed to get to Via before she touched anything, and she knows better than to go near his plants. But who got grounded? Me. I swear, whenever he's not around, he expects Octavia to become my responsibility, and don't get me wrong, I love Via. But she's not daughter and she's not my sister. So why do I have to look after her when he's gone?"

"Beats me."

"I have my own life you know. Just because I'm not a popular, social butterfly, doesn't mean I don't have make any plans, or need any down time."

"Well at least Stolas has an understandable reason for keeping you busy all the time. My mother just wants me to focus on school and homework. Nothing else. She never says or does anything to encourage my art. She's so sure that I'll fail at it."

"Hey ladies, what's shakin?" Angel asked, joining them.

"Not much. We're just talking about how our parents suck." Vaggie said. "You know like all teenagers do."

"Gotcha." He replied with a laid-back tone.

Truthfully though, Angel hated listening to Charlie and Vaggie complain about their folks. Not it wasn't that he didn't understand how annoying family could be, after all his family was full of circus performers, con-artists, and astrology obsessors. Hell, he vented about them all the time. But Charlie and Vaggie vented about their families non-stop and they talked like Stolas and Mrs. Ramirez were the worst parents or guardians in the world. When he himself grew up being battered by his father and Blitzo was sold by his. Okay, so Stolas and Mrs, Ramirez could be overbearing and sometimes they didn't consider things from the child's point of view, but Angel could tell that they loved their kids. They weren't bad parents, they were human parents who would make mistakes but were trying the best they could. Why couldn't these lucky broads see that?

Still like any good friend, Angel kept his true feelings a secret and allowed the girls to vent to him.

"After school, my mom is going to take me shopping for notebook to use in class and she was forbidden me to do any doodling in the new one, because that's what I've done with all my other notebooks." Vaggie explained. "Nevermind that drawing helps me relieve stress."

"Stolas is supposed to be home tonight so I'm going to talk to him about letting me try out for the upcoming school play." Charlie said.

"You think he'll go for it?" Vaggie asked.