Something Wicked This Way Comes

Chapter 5

"Wait, before you go." Oldos said, descending the steps of the dais. "Carter, there's someone who wants to talk to you."

Carter looked confused, and mildly suspicious. Douxie's grip on him tightened microscopically. "Who?"

Oldos gestured to one of the large doors that was tucked away in the corner of the room. It opened and a fuzzy silhouette floated into the room. It walked... well, floated, closer to the Trollhunters. Slowly the ghost's features became more solid and real, until a middle aged woman with curly blonde hair and emerald green eyes was standing before them.

Carter inhaled sharply. "Mom?"

Lily Howard smiled at her son, tears misting in her eyes. "Hello, Carter."

There was a beat before Carter tore away from Douxie, meeting his mother in a tight embrace. Lily held her son close to her, cradling the back of his head, tucking her face into his shoulder. Carter was shaking as he hugged Lily, tears finally slipping past his closed eyes.

"My son," Lily whispered, laughing through her tears. She gently cupped Carter's face, wiping the tears away from his eyes. "My beautiful baby boy. Oh, my love I've waited so long to see you."

Carter covered her hand with his own, staring at her with disbelief. "I...-- Mom, I can't... believe this. How are you here? I thought-- I thought that I'd never see you again." His voice broke on the last sentence.

"I know," Lily said, stroking his cheek with her thumb. "I'm so sorry, Carter."

His brows furrowed. "What for?"

She sighed. "For not being able to protect you better. I should have known what he was up to. But I was... I was so stupid and naive. I thought he loved you. I thought he wanted the best for you, just like I did."

Carter blinked. "You knew what Dad was the entire time?"

"In a way," she admitted sadly. "I knew he was different. And before he left he promised he'd come back for you." Her brows furrowed and her nose crinkled in the same way Carter's did when he was mad. "I spent years trying to find out what he was. Who he was. I got so close and then..."

Carter's eyes widened as he remembered what his father had told him.

"I find it ironic that I kill both you and your mother."

"He's the reason you got sick," Carter felt like he couldn't breathe. "He told me--" he swallowed thickly, grasping his mother's hand. "He told me you were getting too close to the truth. He's the reason you died."

"Sweetheart," Lily reined him back in, keeping his eyes on her. "I would have died anyway. I wasn't like you," she smiled softly, brushing his hair behind his ear. "I wasn't special like you. You were always going to outlive me. Besides, you fought back. You did for yourself what I couldn't do for you."

Carter huffed a laugh and gently kissed her hand. "You did plenty for me, Mom. You did protect me."

Lily's smile fell, her eyes getting a far away, sad look. "Never when it counted..." she pursed her lips. "I wish I could've done more, my love. That I knew what you were earlier so I could have prepared you for the life you'd end up living."

"You knew?"

"That you were a demigod?" Lily smiled sheepishly. "Yes. I finally figured it out a month before you were drafted into the war. And by then it was too late. I couldn't have told you."

Carter's brows furrowed. "Mom, I asked you when I came home on leave. Why didn't you tell me then?"

"I don't know," she admitted, voice a whisper. "I was going to, but something stopped me. There were so many times when you were home that I wanted to tell you I knew."