Chapter Forty Three: A Scheme

Aiden had been in The Tavern for hours, the number of shots he consumed was lost on him. He didn’t know a better cure for his aching heart than drinking. He couldn’t help feeling bad with how Lorraine seemed to have caught feelings for Cedric. Even the thought of him brought a scowl to his face. He gulped another shot, then he felt someone tapping his shoulder. “I didn’t know that Ben served drinks to minors?” Judy’s cheerful voice got on his nerves, but she gave no reply and just turned his head back towards his glass. She took the seat next to him on the bar, grabbed the bottle in front of him and gestured for Ben, the bartender, to give her a glass. “So, what brought you here? Girl trouble?”

“Isn’t it way past your bedtime?” Aiden grumbled under his breath. He wondered why she came to him, especially that he knew that Mark was hanging around her. He wasn’t sure what Judy knew or didn’t know, but he knew that he ought to be careful with what he would say to her.

Judy shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly, poured some scotch in her glass, and said, “Misery loves company, so tell me what’s wrong?” When he still didn’t answer, she urged, “Is this about Lorraine?”

He turned to her with a raised eyebrow, “Why would you say that?”

Judy let out an exasperated sigh, “Everyone knows you’re into her. The whole school is talking about it.” When Aiden turned away, once more, giving her no answer, she began to feel discouraged. The thought of getting up and leaving crossed her mind, but she wouldn’t. In fact, it felt more like she couldn’t. There was one thing that she knew she must do, a fairly simple plan. “Empty the vile I have in his drink, and then leave.” Somehow, the thought didn’t sound like her own, but she knew she had to do it.

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Tuesday morning found Huxley waiting anxiously in his study. His wife, Eleanor, entered with one of the maids trailing behind her, carrying a tray with cups of coffee. Once the maid placed the coffee on the desk, she closed the door with a soft click. Eleanor sat on a chair before his desk, crossing her legs over each other, “Any news?”

“Gregory Wilmut demanded to see us.” He retorted tightly.

“If Father Wilmut wants to see you then it must be bad.” Eleanor stiffened in her seat, and worried lines marred her face. She looked up at him, “What do you think happened?”

“Since vampires made their presence known, I knew things would get bad.” He got a cigarette and lit it, taking a long drag, “I knew things would never go back to normal.”

“But it has been years.” She shook her head. She looked down with a thoughtful look on her face, “Did you call Steven?” The Mayor shook his head, and she sat straighter, “Benjamin, you have to. Melissa has the right to know.” She stood up, “I’ll go call her myself.”

The mayor stood up and held her by the arm, looking straight at her eyes, “You will call her when I tell you to call her, Eleanor.” The finality in his tone rendered her speechless. She knew that look on his face, the threatening one, the one she hated the most. There was a knock on the door, and the couple moved away from each other. The maid entered, announcing the presence of Father Wilmut.

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When Lorraine woke up in the morning, the first thing that popped up in her mind was what had happened with Cedric the night before. She had half a mind to stay in bed, hide under her covers for forever, if possible. However, she knew she couldn’t. After taking a quick shower and changing for the day, she went downstairs only to find that her mother had already left. She let out a sigh and texted Suzan to check on her.

She arrived at school and went to class. She shared a look with Bates, wondering where Aiden was, but he only shook his head. She was surprised to find Judy entering the class with a skip in her steps. They hadn’t talked since forever, and Lorraien thought the girl was avoiding her. Judy wrapped her arms around Lorraine, “Oh my God! I missed you so much.”

Lorraine hugged her back, “I missed you too.” When they pulled away, she furrowed her eyebrows, “I tried texting and calling, but you’ve gone MIA on me.”

Judy nodded her head with a small smile, then took the seat next to her. “I know, and I’m sorry. I just needed some time alone.” Her eyes turned slightly sad, “You know with what happened to Mike and all of that…”

Lorraine nodded her head firmly, “Yeah, of course.” She wasn’t sure how to approach the subject of Mark, but she needed to be as subtle as possible. “Uhm… So, who’s that guy you showed up with yesterday?”

Judy’s grin widened, “Oh, that’s Mark. We kind of have a thing going on.” She wiggled her eyebrows playfully and Lorraine gave an awkward chuckle.

“Where did you meet though?”

Judy glanced towards Bates and when she found him checking a paper on his desk waiting for the rest of the students to arrive, she turned with her full body towards Lorraine. “Remember when I came over to your house? I was a mess and I told you I’m heading to The Tavern?” Lorraine nodded her head, “Well, I met him there. He’s so charming, Lorraine. And very sweet, and the sex is great.” She giggled at the end of her words.

Lorraine bit her lower lip, “But are you sure he’s a good guy? I mean what if he’s some whack job?”

Judy waved her hand in the air dismissively, “He’s Aiden’s brother. I mean he didn’t even tell us he has a brother.” She scoffed at the last part. Her eyes lit up again, then she caught Lorraine’s eyes, “So, what’s going on between you and Aiden?” Lorraine really wanted to tell her everything. She needed to speak to someone about Aiden and Cedric and her becoming a witch overnight. But she knew she couldn’t. She opened her mouth to utter some stupid excuse, but fortunately Bates decided to start the class. Judy rolled her eyes with an annoyed breath, “How about I come over after school and we can talk about it.” Lorraine only nodded her head hesitantly, but she agreed nevertheless.

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The school day was finally over, and Bates was heading towards his car when Lorraine jogged to him, “Hey.” She said slightly out of breath, then her eyes looked around as if checking for someone, “Uhm… Judy is coming over to my place today. I’ll try to figure out more about the whole Mark thing.” Bates nodded, but noticed that Lorraine had more to say. He saw her hesitancy and the way she nervously bit her lower lip, and he guessed it must be about either Cedric or Aiden. “Bates, I need to talk to you about a couple of things. I have no one else to talk to, and …”

Bates gave her a small smile, “Of course. How about we meet later tonight? You can come over and we can talk.”

“Sounds good. Uhm… can you just make sure that neither Aiden nor Cedric are around?” Bates nodded his head, and Lorraine's eyes averted to someone behind him, “I’ve got to go.” When he turned, he saw Judy waving at Lorraine to come over.