Chương 160: Interlude 36 – Thirteen Months

=::= Melanie's PoV =::=

"Y'know, I'd have been happy with just a toilet and a sink down here," I commented as I checked my hair in the mirror. "A shower stall would have been a nice bonus. All this feels like overkill."

My girlfriend was standing next to me, putting the finishing touches on her lipstick while her tail wagged happily behind her. As soon as she was done applying the bright red gloss she flashed me a wide smile in the mirror and asked, "You're not complaining are you? I know it's a lot more than we were expecting, but I love it!"

"Nah I'm not going to complain," I laughed. "Not a chance. I said it was overkill, but I never said I didn't like it."

We were standing in our new basement bathroom, and it was easily big enough for the both of us without anyone feeling crowded. It was every bit as large and luxurious as the improved washroom upstairs, but this one was all ours. We had a wide counter with two sinks and a big mirror across the back, plus a second full-length mirror hung on the back of the door. There was a toilet of course, and we had a tub and a separate shower, and both of them were big enough to fit two people in them at once.

The whole thing was off to one end of the basement. It appeared at around three o'clock Wednesday morning, the same time Cassandra made the whole house a little bigger.

Cass and Kaylee's bedroom was large enough to fit the small demon's furniture and clothes and everything alongside all Cass's stuff. Sasha's bedroom got a bit bigger too, while the spare room was now big enough to qualify as a large bedroom. The upstairs bathroom got bigger as well, and it was furnished exactly the same as the one Cerys and I now shared.

My girlfriend and Willow both insisted on being there to watch when it happened five days ago, but sure enough none of us were able to actually see the house grow. The freaky thing was even knowing the place was bigger we couldn't see any obvious changes. Like from the outside, all the bricks looked the same age, same with the shingles on the roof. The house was three or four meters longer than it used to be, but looking at it there was no way to tell it hadn't been that way all along.

"I was thinking again about our supernatural neighbour," my girlfriend commented as she brushed her hair. "What if she's some kind of woodland creature? That'd explain why her scent's all over Island Lake."

Cerys had already mastered the art of brushing around her wolf ears, while I'd long since given up and just accepted that my hair would always be a little messy. Then again, since Sasha and Cass gave her that enchanted collar Cerys had been focusing more on her looks again.

Not like she did before, she wasn't spending ninety minutes a day getting her Touhou cosplay just right. But she wasn't trying to copy my butch tomboy look anymore either. This was more like a happy medium, she was highlighting her femininity while also embracing her sporty athletic body.

I continued watching her for another few seconds before I finally shrugged, "Maybe? I'm no expert on that sort of thing, but you can always mention it to the others. Maybe Willow or Sasha will know about that stuff. Or Kaylee, she reads a lot so she might know."

We still hadn't actually met our new backyard neighbours yet, but we knew the petite one with purple hair wasn't human. Her scent was distinctly supernatural, but neither me or Cerys had ever encounted it before.

Then on the night of the full moon the two of us discovered our neighbour's scent was all over the conservation area. It was almost like she'd been visiting it daily or something, and she'd been in the areas visitors weren't supposed to go. We didn't find anything suspicious though, and our magical sight didn't turn up any stray enchantments or whatever.

So for now we were just sort of keeping an eye on the three girls who lived across from our backyard, but hadn't confronted them about anything yet.

"Speaking of Kaylee I still can't believe she's part demon now," Cerys grinned. "She's pretty cute though. And fun to tease."

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't hide the smile that forced its way onto my face. "Just don't forget even if she's tiny and doesn't weigh anything, she still has the demonic strength thing going for her. And once she's learned more demonic spells she'll have that magic going for her too."

My girlfriend was right about one thing though, the tiny redhead was definitely fun to tease. We had to get a step-stool for the kitchen, and another one for the upstairs bathroom, just so she could reach all the shelves.

The thing that made me laugh the most was how easily I could pick her up and carry her around. She made a big fuss every time I did it, but I was positive she enjoyed it. At least the way her tails all started happy-wagging whenever I picked her up made me think she liked it.

"Ok all done," my girlfriend finally announced. "Let's go see what the gang's up to."

It was mid-afternoon on Sunday and I didn't think there'd be much happening as we headed up the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Hey look who's finally up! Good morning you two," Willow teased us as she helped herself to a can of cola. "We're all out back enjoying the sunshine. Or most of us anyways. Cassandra and Sasha are up to something in Cass's room, but they said they'd join us soon."

I wasn't surprised to find the cute sorceress there. Even if she hadn't officially moved in she was still spending as much time with us as ever. I was positive she only went home every other day so she could shower and put on clean clothes.

"Hi Will," I replied, while Cerys fired up the fancy coffee machine to fix us both some lattes. "We'll come on out as soon as we've got something to drink."

That was another thing I wasn't going to complain about, but when Cass was doing all her goddess stuff to the house she also got us some pro-level coffee gear. Now we could get all the fancy caffein we wanted, without having to leave the house and waste money at a cafe.

It was a few minutes before the lattes were ready, then me and Cerys headed out into the backyard with our mugs. We found Willow out there with Kaylee and Nina, the three of them were sitting together on some plastic chairs in the middle of the yard where the sun was shining on them.

My girlfriend and I grabbed a couple chairs from where they were stored against the back of the house, then headed over to join the group as we greeted the two small demons.

"So what are Cass and Sasha up to?" Cerys asked as we got seated.

Kaylee shrugged, "Goddess stuff I guess? Or maybe they're working on their plot to overthrow the world."

"They're not taking over the world," Nina insisted. "They just want to defeat the status quo."

Willow smiled, "Considering how easily Cassandra kicked the council's ass, I don't think she'll have too much trouble with the other thing."

Nina shook her head, "It's not the same, trust me. It's very different, and dangerous, and it's not going to be easy."

"Whatever," the newly-minted demon kitsune shrugged. She had a gulp of her orange soda then added, "Anyways they'll probably come join us in a minute or two."

I just nodded as I enjoyed a gulp of my latte, then I leaned back in my chair and smiled as I soaked up some of the nice warm mid-July sun. I was just starting to relax when I caught a familiar scent in the air. It was one I hadn't come across in over a year, but I recognized it immediately and it had me on full alert.

I practically jumped to my feet as I looked around, in time to see her round the side of the house and step into the backyard. She stopped there as our eyes met, while behind me I heard both Kaylee and Cerys gasp quietly. Then the others all got to their feet as well.

Standing a half dozen meters away from us was none other than May Hawthorne.

She hadn't changed at all since we last saw her, she still had the frizzy black hair and bright green eyes. She was dressed in a dark grey tunic top over a pair of tight blue jeans, and she had sneakers on her feet. Basically she looked like any other young woman in her mid-twenties. She was dressed casual enough that she looked like she'd just stepped out to do some grocery shopping or something.

Except we all knew she was a goddess, and the last time we saw her she tried to disband Club Luna. And worst of all, when she left it wasn't under good circumstances. She got caught out for messing with us, she sent Cass to the hospital, then she took off instead of apologizing. So needless to say, we were all pretty wary as we faced her.

"Hello again girls," May greeted us as her eyes flicked up and down over all of us, one after another. "I can see quite a lot has happened here while I've been gone."

She sounded calm, but her tone and body language and scent told me she was just as wary as we were. She was sort of guarded too, like she wasn't sure how we were going to react.

My girlfriend took a step forward. She was obviously treating this as a Club Luna incident, and she was our leader. She sounded a little confrontational as she asked, "What are you doing here? What do you want with us?"

May raised her hands slightly, almost in a 'surrender' gesture as she replied, "I promise I'm not here to cause any trouble Marissa. I'm just here to talk, if that's all right? Is Cassandra about? I understand she's staying here now as well?"

"Call me Cerys," my girlfriend stated. "I don't go by Marissa anymore. And what makes you think Cass will want to see you?"

Our former teacher nodded once in acknowledgement, "Very well Cerys. I'm sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect. You've obviously changed a great deal since the last time we met. Are you girls keeping the club going? I take it you're in charge now?"

"And Kaylee you've changed even more," she added as she looked to the small demonic foxgirl. Then she glanced at Nina and Willow, "I'm afraid I don't know either of you, but I assume you're also members of the club?"

I finally spoke up, "Just get to the point ok? Why are you really here?"

Miss Hawthorne looked at me for a second, then she seemed to hesitate. Finally she sighed, as she lowered her hands and her shoulders slumped. "I came to apologize, Melanie. I owe all you girls an apology, but yourself and Cassandra most of all. May I join you, so we can talk? And if Cass is here, I'd like to see her as well please."

Cerys and I looked at each other, but before either of us could say anything the back door of the house swung open and Cass stepped out. The moment she did that both she and May Hawthorne turned to face each other, and both of them looked sort of startled. It was more than just surprise though, there was also a kind of recognition in their eyes. I wasn't sure what it meant for Cass, but I was positive May just realized that her former student was now a goddess.

You are reading story Club Luna at novel35.com

Then Sasha emerged from the house as well, she stepped out behind Cass looking curious like she wanted to know what was going on. The fallen goddess got about two steps from the door then stopped in her tracks as she spotted May Hawthorne standing off to the side of the house. And May's eyes bulged even wider as she obviously recognized the pretty white-haired girl.

The next second or two everyone was just silent, like we were all holding our breath waiting to see what was about to happen. I had no idea if we were going to see a fight or something, like I'd never even stopped to wonder what might happen if a couple gods met. Especially after Cass declared this to be her turf, when those council jerks were here.

In the end it was May who broke the silence. Her eyes looked watery and her face had started to get splotchy as she stared at Sasha. In a wavering unsteady voice she asked, "Is it really you? You're back? But how?"

"Hello mother," Sasha replied. She looked and sounded just as emotional as May. The fallen goddess continued, "Yes it's really me. Cassandra saved me. She took my place as Chaos, but then she saved me and brought me back."

Another three or four seconds ticked by while the rest of us just watched in silence. May Hawthorne and Sasha kept staring at each other, both of them looked like they were about to burst into tears or something.

Once again May was the first one to react, when she dashed towards her daughter and wrapped her arms around the former goddess. She pulled Sasha into a tight hug while the rest of us just watched.

One thing I thought was kind of wild, but I was positive I'd seen more emotions come out of May Hawthorne in the last ten seconds than in the entire six months I had her as an English teacher.

By the time the mother and daughter were finished hugging Cass had moved to join the rest of us, and she dragged a few more chairs over too. We were all still on our feet though, even if it seemed like May wasn't here to cause trouble we weren't ready to lower our guard around her yet.

"You were saying something about an apology?" my girlfriend spoke up, finally breaking the silence again.

May turned towards us and wiped her eyes as she nodded, "Yes Cerys, that's right."

"Why don't you come and have a seat then, so we can talk?" Cassandra suggested. "I'm sure we all have a lot of catching-up to do. We should also do some introductions, as I believe you won't know a few faces here."

I could tell it was her by the calm confident voice, and the fact that she wasn't cringing or blushing or anything like that. She was a goddess, addressing May as her equal.

Miss Hawthorne agreed as she came and sat down, "Thank you Cass."

At the same time, Sasha ducked back into the house for a moment, then returned with a few bottles of water. She hurried over and took a seat between the two goddesses, then offered them each one of the water bottles before moving on to do the introductions.

"Mother, this is my old friend Nina," Sasha said as she gestured to the small demon. "And Nina, this is my mother May Hawthorne."

Nina still seemed a little uneasy as she nodded, "Hello ma'am."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Nina," May responded politely. If she was wary or uncomfortable about Nina being a demon she didn't let it show.

Then Cassandra added, "My parents adopted Nina last summer, she and I are sisters now."

Miss Hawthorne seemed surprised to learn that, but she didn't freak out or anything. Instead she looked to Willow next, and the sorceress introduced herself.

"Willow Pearce," the ravenette said. "You were my English teacher for grades nine and ten, but I looked different and had a different first name at the time."

That was all May needed to figure it out. She just nodded, "I understand. It's nice to see you again Willow, I'm glad you found your true self."

After that Miss Hawthorne exchanged a few words with both Kaylee and Cerys. If she was surprised about my girlfriend becoming a werewolf she didn't let on. She had to know I was the one who turned her, but May didn't comment on that either. She was surprised by how Kaylee had changed, and even more surprised to find out that the small redhead had become a demon, but she didn't freak out about it.

She didn't even make a fuss when she learned about Sasha's new name, or when her daughter explained how she'd lost her divinity and title and everything.

"So this is Club Luna," May finally said as she looked around at the seven of us. "You've come so much further in thirteen months without me than you ever would have done with me around. It's quite remarkable, and I commend you all. What of Brooke and Paige? Are they no longer with the club?"

My girlfriend shook her head, "They both resigned earlier this month. Paige is leaving for university next month, and Brooke's focused on her college stuff. We're still friends with them, but they've decided to step back from the supernatural and focus on their lives as normal humans."

May nodded, "Good for them. I'd thought about visiting them in person later, but knowing they've moved on I think I'll leave them be. Perhaps I could impose on you to relay a message to them on my behalf?"

"We'll see," Cassandra replied. "Now you know how things have changed here, maybe you can tell us what brought you back? Why are you here May, why did you come to see us?"

Miss Hawthorne had a gulp of her water as she seemed to collect her thoughts. Then she took another deep breath and explained, "I recently met another goddess, and she helped me to understand a few things. She helped me see what I've been doing wrong all these years, and she made some suggestions for how I could be a better person going forward. I've spent the past few days thinking about everything she told me, and I came to realize that before I can move ahead, I need to make amends for the past."

"That's why I'm here," she finished with a little sigh. "I came back to apologize, and to ask for your forgiveness."

She paused again for a sip of water, then our former English teacher, former club sponsor, and current goddess of magic and witchcraft took a deep breath and stated, "Cassandra, Melanie, I am sorry for how I treated you two, how I lied to you both. And Cass I'm sorry that my carelessness caused you injury."

"Cerys and Kaylee too," she continued, "I'm sorry for abusing your trust and taking advantage of you, along with Brooke and Paige and all the other former club members. I'm sorry for lying to all of you about who and what I am, and for withholding the truth about what Club Luna really was and what your participation in it meant for me."

When she was finished we all just sort of sat there in silence for another few seconds. I had no idea how to respond or what to say, like I wasn't used to grownups apologizing to me for anything really. Having an actual goddess do it was even weirder.

Cassandra responded, "Thank you May. I'll need some time to think before I'm ready to forgive you, but I accept and appreciate your apology."

"I'm going to need some time to think on it before I accept it," Cerys stated, because of course she had to be the one to try and antagonize a goddess. She added, "Were you going to stick around, or was this just a little visit before you disappear again?"

Fortunately Miss Hawthorne didn't seem to take offence at my girlfriend's words or her tone. She just nodded once then replied, "I heard your school is in need of another English and Creative Writing teacher? Apparently my replacement has already moved on. It looks like my house hasn't sold yet either, so I thought I might move back in and return to teaching again."

"Are you going to start a new Club Luna too?" Kaylee asked warily.

"No," May shook her head. "Club Luna belongs to you girls."

She added, "I will probably continue to teach some students magic, but I'm going to be a lot more open and clear about it going forward. They'll know up front what they're getting into, who and what I really am, and what I gain from their participation. Then they can decide for themselves whether or not they're comfortable learning my magic."

Cassandra smiled, "It sounds like you've changed almost as much as the rest of us. Now I'm curious to meet this other goddess, the one who helped you change course."

"I might be able to arrange that meeting if you're serious," May replied. "But for now, if it's alright with the rest of you, I'd very much like to spend some time catching up with my daughter?"

Sasha smiled, "I'd like that too mom. C'mon inside, we can talk in my room for now."

We all watched as the fallen goddess led Miss Hawthorne in through the back door, then once they were out of sight I let out a big sigh of relief. I slumped back into my chair then gulped down the last of my latte before it got too cold.

Then I commented, "It never gets dull around here, does it?"

"Nope," Cerys replied as she shook her head. "I don't know what it is about this town, but there's always something weird going on."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way," she added with a big excited grin.

~ End of Book Three ~