Witching Tree (Alice Gray Book 1)

66

                 
I stumbled to the door and made my entrance, ready to confront whoever it was that had thought it appropriate to dress me without asking.

Thomas and Ben were sat at the coffee table around a chessboard, mid game by the look of it. Anne and Emily were in front of the TV, a large bowl of popcorn propped between them. Stephen was on the armchair, laptop on his knee, notes strewn all over the floor around his feet.

They all stopped and looked at me.

Looking down, I cringed.

Clothes were twisted round my limbs. My hand gravitated to my head. Yep, hair sticking right out at all angles to complement the sticky sensation of dried drool on my face.

"Glad to see you're well rested," Emily sniggered.

She, of course, was her usual impeccable self. Long blond hair flowing down her back, trendy jeans and fitted black t-shirt.

"Uh huh," I replied, brain struggling to make sense of the party going on in my living room, "What's going on?"

"Well, a chess tournament and a movie marathon. We've only just started Terminator 2, if you want to join?" Anne said, with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Right, but why is it going on here?" I asked again, trying to smooth my hair down.

"You've got an annoying habit of bailing every time the going gets tough," Anne said. "Sorry to disappoint, but that's not going to cut it anymore."

Anne turned back to the TV as though that little bit of an explanation was enough. I looked around the room, everybody went back to their respective occupations. No-one was paying me the slightest attention.

Charming.

It wasn't as though I enjoyed being the centre of attention, but here they all were, in my apartment, and it was like I was invisible.

"Erm, guys, my stuff's at the cottage. I need to get cleaned up."

"Check your bathroom," Anne said, without even turning to me.

She must really love Arnie.

There was a neat pile of clothes laid on the bathroom counter, along with towels and my make-up bag and toiletries. Ok, maybe I was being a bit hard on them.

I revised my level of gratitude when I unfolded the short black body-con dress.

I was going to kill Anne.

Towel drying my hair, I tried to tame the curls the best I could as I blasted it with a blow-dryer. After applying a little concealer, mascara and lipgloss, I was ready to face the posse in my living room again.

Just one more thing, I fastened the garnet pendant around my neck.

This time I didn't pause at the door. I was hungry and I seriously needed coffee. I couldn't remember the last time that I had eaten a proper meal. My eyes flickered around the room quickly as I made my way to the kitchen.

Only Stephen looked up, his eyes bulged as he took in my outfit. A massive grin spread over his face.

Bastard.

My phone was sitting on the counter fully charged, "Anybody interested in pizza?"

With that taken care of, it was time to address the large, tan, green-eyed elephant in the room.

"I didn't get a chance to thank you for your help," I said, kneeling at the coffee table with Ben and Thomas.

Ben glanced up from the chessboard and smiled. His eyes crinkled at the corners, sparkling with kindness, transforming his face into thing of beauty. He looked ten years younger than the forty-odd that I guessed was his real age. "I should thank you Alice, I've not been in my true form for years. Plus, anything for Evelyn's daughter."

"You knew my mother," I said, a realisation dawning on me. I'd only seen an old grainy photo of the man I'd always thought was my father. "You're the boyfriend that she left home to be with."

His smile faded, "That was the plan. We were young and foolish but we would have made it. I know we would. We never got the chance to try. Jonathan saw to that."

"What, you mean you guys didn't leave together?" Anne interrupted.

Everybody was listening now.

"Evelyn didn't show up at the rendezvous as we had arranged. I didn't see her until six months later. I thought that she'd stood me up, that she'd had second thoughts, maybe she couldn't leave her mother after all and decided to stay with her family."

Ben's face darkened with anger. The rich green of his life-force intensified, spitting little acid-green daggers into the air. A feeling of dread settled in my stomach as I tried to prepare myself for what was coming.

"She was pregnant," I forced out.