Chapter 108: 84. Family Matters

Paige apologized, "Sorry to put you on the spot like that Cass. But we all felt it at the end of our last club meeting. And after what you told us about defeating Brian and Socha, it wasn't hard to figure out what that meant."

"Yeah," I sighed as I cringed into my big hoodie. "I really don't want to make a big deal out of it though, ok?"

Pretty much everyone was staring at me, except Kaylee and Nina. Then Melody grinned, "You don't want us to make a big deal out of it? You're a real live Goddess, Cass! I think that's a pretty big deal!"

That just made me cringe a little more as I mumbled, "I'm still just me, just Cass."

"Can we at least see some kind of divine magic or something?" the shape-shifter asked. "What sorts of stuff can you do?"

"She said she doesn't want to make a big deal out of it," Kaylee stated as she came to my defence. She slipped an arm around me and pulled me into a side-hug as she told the others, "Maybe we should all let it go? She's obviously embarrassed and doesn't want to talk about it."

Paige apologized again, "Sorry Cass. I wasn't asking out of idle curiosity or to try and get you to do some magic for us. I wanted to know what that does for you, in terms of your status within Club Luna? Like we all know each other's strengths, we know what we all contribute to the club. And for the last couple months we've known you could use some demonic magic, and of course we know you've always been able to see magic and enchantments. I just wanted to find out what sorts of stuff you can do now? And I suppose, if you're willing to use any of those new powers or abilities during club investigations and stuff like that."

I was still blushing as I replied quietly, "I get it, it makes sense when you put it like that. For now though I'd rather stick to the other stuff? Like before, I can use demonic magic and I can see magic. And um, I guess it's obvious I have the demonic speed and strength stuff too."

"I could learn other magic too," I added just as softly, "Like fae magic or whatever. And I could use all the magic I learned in the club, except it's probably a conflict of interest or something, because those spells are all tied to May Hawthorne? And I don't want her to know about me. So um, I still won't use her magic. But it's safe for all of you to use it around me."

Melody frowned, "Aww c'mon Cass? Can't you at least give us a little demonstration? Show off some of your new divine skills or something?"

"I'd really rather not," I mumbled as I shook my head.

It looked like our newest club member was going to ask again, but Melanie cut her off. She didn't sound angry or anything, but her voice was kind of firm as she stated "How about we don't risk making the new Goddess angry? Especially not in my basement? If you want to keep pushing her to start throwing her divine magic around, maybe invite her over to your house and do it there."

"Or better yet don't," Cerys added. "She said no, she said she doesn't want to talk about it, so let's just let it go."

That was enough to get Melody to back down. She apologized, "Sorry Cass. I didn't mean to get pushy with you, I let my curiosity get the better of me."

"It's fine," I replied quietly.

Paige took over again, "Thanks Cass, and sorry again for putting you on the spot. I guess let us know if or when you do feel more comfortable talking about that stuff? Or if there's anything we can do for you."

"Moving on to the other reason for the early meeting," she added, then turned to look at the blonde wolfgirl. "You asked me to call an early meeting Cerys, so you're up. What did you want to say to the group?"

With everyone suddenly focused on the younger werewolf she actually cringed slightly. Part of me was hoping this meant she was getting back to her old interests again, like I figured maybe she'd started scouring social media and monitoring for any supernatural events the way she used to.

"So um," Cerys sounded awkward and embarrassed as she started, but Melanie gave her a gentle reassuring squeeze. The young blonde continued, "My mom contacted me a few days ago. She wanted to know if the stuff dad said was true, like if I was really a witch and really had magic powers and stuff? I didn't confirm anything, but um, the reason she was asking is because she says there's some weird stuff happening at the house lately. In her words, she's being haunted."

She hesitated again before adding, "At first I was going to just ignore her? Like I thought maybe it was some sort of scheme to get me to admit being a witch or something? Except the stuff she said wasn't really... Like if she was trying to expose me as a witch, it doesn't make sense she'd claim to be haunted. Why not claim to be cursed or something, or maybe ask about spells or magic? Haunting seems like a weird way to approach it."

Brooke asked, "Maybe she just wants to talk to you again, or maybe she's hoping you'll move back home? Have you talked to her at all lately? Did you see her over the holidays or anything like that?"

"If she just wanted to talk, why would she make up a story about being haunted?" Melanie responded. "And like Cerys said, why go for a ghost angle? If she thinks Cerys is a witch, why not go for a witchy angle?"

Melody shrugged, "Some folks think all that 'supernatural nonsense' is the same thing. Unless they have some reason to look into it, they just lump anything and everything in the same category. And usually they call it 'evil' and blame it on the devil or something ridiculous like that."

"I haven't seen either of my parents since the trial," Cerys replied. "That was in November. My dad was sentenced and sent to jail, my mom's all alone now. And I haven't really spoken to her since then either. I've barely even seen her since August."

Paige suggested, "It's possible she's just lonely? I can imagine being alone over the holidays wasn't easy for her, it could be the haunting is just an excuse to talk to you? And Melody might be right about why she picked ghosts instead of something more witch-specific."

Cerys sighed, "I don't know. And I don't know what to do about it? If something really is going on then she definitely needs help? But if this is just some sort of scheme to get me to see her or something..."

"You already know how unlikely it is for a haunting to just start up suddenly like that," Brooke pointed out. "We pretty much just went through this sort of thing at Potter's Tavern, right?"

The young blonde grimaced again as she nodded, "Yeah I know. And I'm pretty much positive there weren't any ghosts or spirits or anything like that around when I lived there. I mean, obviously I used my magic sight a lot, and I practiced a lot of spirit magic when I was there."

"What sort of stuff did she say was happening?" Kaylee asked. "Like what's happening that makes her think she's being haunted?"

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"That's the other thing," Cerys replied, "If she's lying then she's done some homework? Because what she described follows a progression. The only strange thing is it's been escalating very quickly."

She took a deep breath then elaborated, "According to my mom it started towards the beginning of December. She had to get up to visit the washroom in the middle of the night, and thought she saw a dark shadow or figure in the bedroom when she came back. At first she dismissed it as just shadows or seeing things, or being half asleep? But it happened a few more times, and according to her it's been getting more solid."

"Then towards the end of December it got worse," she continued. "My mom said she started hearing noises, like someone was in the kitchen opening cupboards and things? Then she said when she got up the next morning, she found a few of the kitchen cabinets were opened."

Cerys sighed again, "And the worst part was on new years. She woke up in the middle of the night to those sounds in the kitchen again, only this time she heard something being smashed? And in the morning when she went downstairs she says she found the cabinets open again, there was a glass missing, and broken glass scattered around the kitchen floor."

Kaylee pointed out, "You know how unlikely that is, right? From fuzzy shadows to smashing objects in a month?"

"Yeah I know," the wolfgirl responded with a frown. "And I know that makes it sound more likely that she's just making stuff up? But if this is for real then she could actually be at risk."

She sounded conflicted again, like there were definitely a lot of signs pointing to this being either a hoax or her mom just looking for an excuse to see her daughter again. But like she said, if it was real then her mom might be in danger, and I knew she wouldn't want to see her mom get hurt, no matter what kind of personal problems the two had with each other.

I suggested, "Why not arrange to meet her somewhere public? And not alone, bring a few of us with you. Or maybe we could all be there? Then you can hear her out, without having to go back to her house and without being alone with her."

"I'll be there if you want," I added. "I'm happy to back you up and provide moral support. And I'll do what I can to keep you safe too, if you want."

"Me too," Nina added.

Kaylee volunteered next, and after that the rest of the gang chimed in as well.

"If that works for you Cerys, then why don't you reach out to her and set something up? Then let the rest of us know, and we'll be there to help," Paige suggested.

Cerys looked a little emotional as she blushed and smiled, "Thanks girls. I appreciate it. I can text her right now if you like? Maybe we can make plans before the meeting's over."

"Sounds good," our club leader nodded. Then while the young wolfgirl was doing that, Paige glanced around and asked "Does anyone else have any club business they want to bring up, while we're all here?"

No-one else had any club business, so instead we all talked about whether or not we were going out for dinner or if we'd just go to the cafe, or maybe we'd skip the social part of the meeting completely this time around.

That took us all at least ten minutes to come to a consensus, and by then Cerys seemed to have finished texting with her mother.

She looked up from her phone and said, "Mom's agreed to meet with me and Melanie for lunch tomorrow, at that restaurant in the same plaza where the two of us work? The one at the south end of the parking lot."

It turned out Brooke and Melody were both going to be busy, Brooke was working and Melody had other plans that she couldn't change at short notice. The rest of us promised to be there though, and we all made plans to meet at the restaurant a half hour early. Cerys and Melanie would get a table and wait there for Mrs. Ainsley, while me Nina Kaylee and Paige would get a table nearby. That way we could keep an eye on things, and maybe listen in on the conversation.

We also agreed on a signal either Cerys or Melanie could use, to indicate if the rest of us needed to get involved.

That was the end of the official part of the meeting, so Paige brought things to a close. And for the first time in more than half a year, I reached out and touched the circle to dispell it. The magic flowed into me without any chills or fanfare, it was just another drop in the ocean of power stored deep inside me. Then Melanie and Cerys put out the candles and we all helped move the furniture back to its usual spots.

Once everyone was ready to head out we split up into two groups and climbed into Brooke's and Melody's cars. They drove the eight of us over to the big plaza next to the highway, where we ended up in the same restaurant May took us to for my very first club meeting way back when.

The place was busy, it was Friday after all. Luckily it wasn't too late yet, only about six o'clock so it wasn't completely packed. We had to wait five or six minutes but they pushed a couple tables together then we all got seated.

While everyone else was looking at their menus or talking to each other I took a moment to look around at all my friends. I couldn't help thinking back to how things were at the start, compared to how things were now.

Less than fifteen months ago there were six of us, including Miss Hawthorne. I was new to the club, new to being a girl, I didn't know any magic, and I was completely overwhelmed.

Since then we'd lost May and we sort of lost Marissa, but we gained Melanie, Cerys, Melody, and my little sister. We went from four experienced witches and a newcomer to four experienced witches, two werewolfs, a shapeshifter, two demons, and a goddess. And I had more magic power at my fingertips than the rest of the club combined, except maybe my demon sister.

I took one more glance around, but instead of my friends I was sort of looking around the rest of the dining room. I couldn't help wondering what all the humans would think if they ever found out what they were sitting next to as they ate their dinner.

Luckily I wasn't tempted to find out.