2024 Story Collection

Witch & Familiar Mates VI

Earl looks around. Sofia sits on the couch beside him looking just as confused and he is.

"Where am I?" she asks, looking around. When their eyes meet, his heart skips a beat. "Earl?"

"Sofia?" his voice comes out as a whisper. She looked beautiful in that dress, his jacket on her shoulders.

"Took you long enough," they both turn toward the voice and find the old woman from earlier standing there with her hands on her hips.

"What?" she says. "Don't look at me like that."

She turns and heads into a nook in the large, round room. It looks like a kitchen of sorts.

"You want tea?"

"No, I'm-"

"I'm okay-"

"Okay, two teas coming right up." He laughs at the woman's complete disregard for their answers. Sofia chuckles as well.

"What are you doing here?" Sofia asks.

"That woman gave me a magic note that I fell into and ended up here." He adds after seeing her face, "I know it sounds crazy but-"

"No, the same thing happened to me." He breathes out in relief but then realizes just how strange this whole situation was-made weirder because neither of them seemed to be too bothered by the fact that they had appeared in an old woman's house.

"If you two can have an ounce of patience, I'll explain everything." The old woman snaps, which makes them shut up. She had the aura about her that you don't get on her bad side. No, or else, you just don't.

So they wait in silence as the older woman rustles around the kitchen. He feels Sofia's hand snake itself into his own, their fingers intertwining.

He looks at her and smiles. She meets his eyes with her own and returns the smile before placing a quick peck on his cheek. His smile widens.

"Alright lovebirds," Laverne sets the tea down on the table in front of them and takes a seat in the chair across from them. "Ask away."

"Who are you?" Sofia asks.

The woman smiles. All her teeth are gold.

"I am your grandmother, Laverne." she says. "I am also a witch from the days of fairytales."

"What does that mean?" Earl asks.

"I went to school with the witch from Hansel and Gretel. I was best friends with the witch who poisoned Snow White's apple." She leans back in the chair. "That's what I mean."

"Are you really my grandmother?" There is an edge in Sofias' voice that makes Earl's skin crawl.

"Yes-"

"Then why didn't you come for me?" Sofia asks, tears in her eyes, anger clear in her voice. Laverne's not meeting Sofia's eyes-who are burning a hole in the woman. The room suddenly felt hot.

The witch across from them seems to shrink back into her chair in shame before something flashes in her eyes that looks almost like fire. She sits up straight and puffs up her chest. She takes a deep breath in and breathes out smoke.

"My son never told me he had a daughter or that she'd inherited my power." He feels like he's being burned alive. "Probably because he feared you'd turn out just like me."

"You didn't know," Sofia says, her anger completely gone. "Why didn't he tell you?"

"We didn't always get along that well." Sofia's grandmother says with both sadness and frustration.

"I always believed that killing in some situations was necessary to protect people, and that torture was a necessary evil to get information if it could save lives. If it saved more lives, I would do whatever it took."

"He disagreed. He thought that if we did that, it'd make us no different from the criminals we fought." She scoffs.

"I didn't care if it made me look like a criminal. I never claimed to be a saint or hero. Hell, my friends ate children and cursed princes because of their jealousy. I had no problem being seen as the villain, but your father-he couldn't stand the idea of people thinking he was evil. He wanted to be a hero."

"Still, he didn't tell you?"

"I only found out a week ago," the older woman said, her mind still lost in memories. "Probably didn't want me to corrupt you into being a killer like me."

"Too late," Sofia says, pulling her hand from Earls. "Some people deserve worse than death, but you have to take them out so they never have another opportunity to do that kind of thing again."

"Exactly." A look of understanding and respect passes between the two women.

Earl was sweating, his face red. It felt as if there was a raging wildfire surrounding the small cottage.

"Why am I here?" he breaks the silence after a moment.

Sofia's grandmother looks over to Earl, her face a burning steel. "You two are soulmates."

"So what I read in the note was true?" he asks.

"Yes, I meant every word." she smiles, and he flinches back. It's as if he can fell his extremities being burned. He can almost smell the burned flesh.

"What do you mean, soulmates?" Sofia asks looking between the other two confused.

"You two are fated to be together," Sofia's grandmother says. "Not only romantically, but also as witch," she nods to Sofia, then to Earl "and familiar."

"I'm not a shifter?" he asks, confused.

Sofia looks at him, confused.

"You are a familiar. A very special one. Most only have one form, the larger and more powerful the animal, the more sought after they are by witches, but you can shift into multiple forms."

"Wait, but you're human, right?" Sofia looks lost.

He decides it's better to just show her rather than explaining. So he stands and walks behind the couch and shifts.

After, he hops onto the back of the couch as Midnight.

"Holy shit," she says, her eyes wide as she looks at Earl, who is now Midnight. He nuzzles his head into her neck before hopping down onto her lap and curling up into a ball.

She leans forward, holding her head in her hands. "This is too much information. My head hurts."

He looks up at her and thinks, God, you're beautiful.

Sofia's head snaps up, her hands to her sides. She looks down, her eyes meeting Midnight's.

"You can talk in that form?"

"No, he can't," her grandmother interjects. "It must be your link as soulmates."

He eyes widen impossibly wider. Her hand unconsciously goes to pet him and he purrs so loud it shocks everyone. She pulls his hand back, and he shyly jumps back behind the couch to shift back and put his clothes back on.

It is so awkward that when she speaks again, he is thankful for the change in subject.

"If Earl is so powerful, why would he choose me-aside from the soulmate thing?"

"Oh, darling, you really have no idea how powerful you are, do you?"

To be continued...

January 26, 2024