Chapter Thirty Five: Maidens Eater

Lorraine was in front of Bates’ house; she knocked on the door softly and Aiden opened the door right away. She gave him a small smile, “Hey, I wanted to check on John and Sally. How are they?” He moved to the side to let her in. The initial hope that she came for him diminished right away, causing a pang of pain to his heart.

“They’re both okay, they wanted to take a walk around the ground.” Lorraine looked at him worriedly, wondering if it was safe to leave them on their own. “I think they needed to talk about something, privately.” He answered her unvoiced question.

Lorraine nodded her head softly, then her eyes caught three books on the small table in the parlor next to the armchair she occupied. She wasn’t sure how she felt about them, but it was like they called for her. There was that feeling she couldn’t describe. She just knew she needed to open them. In a daze-like state, her hand hovered the one on the top. “Those are the grimoires Cedric brought from Victoria’s house.” Aiden said then stood next to her. His voice pulled her from whatever trance she was in, but she decided to follow her feelings.

When her fingertips touched the cover, she felt something akin to an electric shock that made her pull away. She heard Aiden asking what was happening, but she ignored him and with narrowed eyes she opened it ignoring the sensation coursing through her hand and up to her arm. The first page had a name, “It’s the Jonas grimoire.”

“It is.” Aiden watched her for a moment longer, “Lorraine.” He called hoping that she would look at him; he needed her to pay attention to him at that moment. She turned to him and he uttered exactly how he felt. “I missed you.” Her mouth opened but only incoherent sounds left it. She wasn’t sure what to say with the way he was looking at her. Aiden’s eyes were always full of emotions, recently whenever he looked at her she could see more of them. *“Unlike Cedric’s. His eyes are mesmerizing but they don’t let out much.”* Lorraine couldn’t believe that her mind made that sort of comparison, she didn’t understand why it would. “I miss our talks and how we spent time together.”

Lorraine gave him a small smile, “We don’t seem to have time for anything.” She didn’t miss him, another realization that hit her. One thing she would never do was to lie about her feelings or pretend to feel something that wasn’t there. She knew his feelings for her ran deeper than a simple friendship, and it was decided that she wouldn’t lead him on. “She turned with her full body to his direction, “How are you really?”

He clenched his fists then gave her a sad smile, “I’m okay.” However, he wasn’t. He hated his heart for feeling the way it did. Aiden wasn’t sure how many times he could take her rejections; there were too many. A small part of him hoped that she was confused, that she didn’t understand her own feelings. *“She’s young, maybe give her more time. For now, I can try being her friend.”*

➽───────────────❥

Cedric and Bates arrived at the latter’s house in the late afternoon. The first thing Cedric saw was Lorraine and Aiden sitting next to each other on the couch and talking softly. He clenched his jaws then walked straight towards them with Raymond trailing behind him and Bates, holding the box tightly to his chest. Once Lorraine saw Cedric, she jolted up. “You’re back.” She couldn’t help the way her heart skipped a beat at seeing him. Her eyes drifted to the stranger behind him, who was scanning the house with an impressed look in his eyes.

“Lorraine, meet your no-good father.” Cedric gestured to the man, “Raymond Brown.” She wasn’t sure how to react, should she curse him all the way to hell for how he treated her mother? Or should she be polite? She glanced at Cedric with a questioning look, she wanted to know why he brought him along. Cedric shrugged, “He insisted on coming.”

Raymond stared at Lorraine for a long minute. “Hello.” He said dumbly and Lorraine only grimaced giving a forced nod. Raymond’s eyes averted to Cedric, “I think we should get this over with.” He took a seat on an armchair, his eyes took notice of the grimoires, “You practiced magic?’ Lorraine only shook her head and he hummed under his breath. “To open the box, you must have magic in your blood, if you don’t then it won’t open.”

Lorraine glanced at Cedric, “Why do we need to open it? Why is it important? We can just keep it away from The Brotherhood, right?” She turned to Bates for confirmation, but he said nothing. However, she could see it in his eyes that he agreed with her.

“If we open the box, then we have a better chance at facing The Brotherhood. We will know exactly what they’re looking for.” Cedric stated strongly; he held Lorraine’s gaze, “Don’t you want to know if you’re a witch or not. Would you want to live your entire life wondering and questioning?” Lorraine had a thoughtful look, nibbling on her lower lip for a second before she gave a nod. She wasn’t entirely convinced but she decided to believe in Cedric. *“He’s been helping so far with nothing to gain out of all of this.”* The thought helped her feel more assured about her decision.

“The box is made of special wood. It’s from the African Baobab, an ancient tree with a lot of myth and legends around it. There’s a spell on the box, preventing the lock from being opened or broken.” Raymond’s eyes found Lorraine, “Not by anyone.” She gave him an annoyed look, but urged him to continue nonetheless. Raymond let out a breath. “It’s also known as “Kondanamwali” or the “tree that eats maidens.”

“Please don’t tell me we have to sacrifice a virgin to open a stupid box.” Lorraine said snidely. When she saw the others gave her reprimanding looks, she scoffed, ’What? They always sacrifice virgins.”

Cedric gave a lopsided smile, then shook his head. Raymond continued, ignoring them. Story goes that the tree fell in love with four beautiful maidens. When they reached puberty, they made the tree jealous by finding husbands. So, one night, during a thunderstorm, the tree opened its trunk and took the maidens inside.” Lorraine gave Cedric a look that clearly said, “I told you so.” Raymond wasn’t done though, “Our family used the wood and put a spell on it, so that only the blood of a Vancsura would open the box.”

Lorriane crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a judging look, “Then why didn’t you open it?”

He looked up, “I’ve never wanted to be a warlock. There was never a need to open it.” Lorraine turned away from him; he really got on her nerves. She wasn’t sure if it was because of what he did with her mother, or the fact that he never looked for them. “I’ll need your blood for the spell.” Something about it didn’t settle right with her. *“If it was Vancsura blood he needs then why not open it himself, why does it have to be my blood?”* Her eyes drifted to Cedric, who only gave her a nod. She let out a breath and agreed.