Chapter 213: Family Angst
Bleary eyed and grumpy, I trudged to the bathroom door, reaching for the knob before thudding full on into the wooden barrier with my entire body. Locked. Locked? Oh yeah, my little sister was back from camp. I'd gotten used to not sharing a bathroom with her since she'd been gone all summer. And since she'd barely said two words to me since she arrived home yesterday, and with the whole Quaid worry thing on my mind, I'd forgotten I was back to waiting on a nine year old to do her stuff.
Hang on, make it ten. Meira had a birthday just before she left, right? I sighed and leaned my forehead against the door. My whole life ran together in a mix of disaster and every day, so much I could barely keep anything straight.
"Hang on!" Wow, that sounded snippy. I backed off, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over my chest.
"Sorry." A yawn gaped. "I forgot you were home."
Way to be mean to your sister, Syd. I winced and rushed on. "Want to go for ice cream after school? You can tell me all about camp." She'd missed out on the summer's festivities, what with the Dumont's visit and the attack on our coven and all.
The door unlocked, swinging open. I found myself staring, shock freezing my brain, but not my tongue.
"What the hell happened to you?"
Again, not the best thing to say. But my surprise was understandable. Since when did Meira, my adorable and sweet little sister, wear makeup? Eyeliner, mascara, eye shadow, blush... she looked like a perfectly painted doll-child on one of those beauty queen shows. Even her normally curly black hair was poker straight, a thick fringe of bangs hanging over her fluttering lashes. She made ten look like twenty.
From the anger in her blue eyes, I'd stepped in it.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She stuck out one hip, hand artfully resting on it, like she was posing. My heart skipped, stomach clenching. She reminded me of the mean girls at school.
No, no, no. Not my sister. And wait a minute-was that my sweater she had on?
"Since when do you wear makeup?" It was hard to move past the flabbergast I found myself caught up in. I barely wore the stuff and I was seventeen.
"Since I decided to start." She tossed her head, hair rippling. It was so much longer now that it was straight. "Like it's any of your business."
Shock left. Anger took its place, yup yup.
"It's my business when you're wearing my clothes." She actually flushed a little. Hang on, she flushed? But... that's when it hit me. My sister, like myself, was half demon. Only she had the added gift of looking like one. Amber eyes, reddish skin, cute little horns. Meira only disguised her real self when she had to leave the house, preferring to just be Meira.
So why then did she look human?
"Fine." She spun away from me, flouncing down the hallway to her bedroom. The door slammed before opening a moment later, my sweater thrown down the hall at me before she slammed it closed again.
I tried to be mad. But sad found its way to the surface. As I bent to retrieve my sweater from the floor, I found myself wondering what the hell happened at the damned camp. And what did they do to Meira?
I was showered, changed and ready for school and I still hadn't decided what to do about her. I found myself looking at my reflection in the mirror, my ponytail, the basic makeup I wore barely making it past mascara and lip-gloss. Meira used to look up to me. Now I felt like I'd missed something important.
There was no sign of Sassy so I couldn't ask him. If he didn't sleep with me, he was with Meira. I knocked on her closed door, peeking in when there was no answer, but her room was empty. Fine, I'd track down the furball later and find out what he knew.
In the meantime, I had to get to school.
Sunlight poured into the kitchen, almost too warm. It seemed unfair to have to be stuck in class when the weather was still so amazing. I found Mom at the table in her usual flowing skirt and blouse, sipping a cup of coffee, her gaze far away.
"Mom." I kissed her cheek on the way to the toaster. "Have you talked to Meira?"
She ignored me.
"Mom." I waved a little. "Hello, Mom."
She finally glanced over, as if startled to find me there. "Syd. Good morning, sweetheart."
I frowned at her as my pair of toast popped up. "You okay?"
She immediately smiled, her old coven leader smile, the one telling me she was about to lie her face off. "Fine, honey. What are you up to today?"
Oh boy. Something was really off. My frown took on definite scowl properties as I pointed at her with the tip of my peanut butter covered knife. "Don't hand me that crap. Something's up."
The skin around her eyes tightened. Button successfully pushed. "Not everything is your business, young lady."
"It is when my coven leader is worried." No way was she keeping me out. "What's going on?"
Mom's anger simmered just below the surface. So weird, really. We hadn't been fighting lately. And her present state of mind seemed less because of me than aimed at me as a convenient target. "Don't you have school today?"
Nice. So classic. "Way to dodge me, Mom," I snapped. "Really grown up."
That sent sparks through her blue eyes so bright I worried her head might explode. "Have fun on your first day, dear." The edge to her voice sounded like an order. Mom stood up and left without another word.
No she did not. I sighed and roughly abused my toast with the knife until I had a crumbling mess on my plate. Yum. Appetizing. It didn't matter. I wasn't hungry anymore.
I was scraping the remains into the garbage disposal when Dad walked through the kitchen door. I turned to him, realizing he'd probably just dropped off Meira. Perfect, someone I could ask who wasn't in bitchy witch mode.
"Hey, Dad." He glanced up, offered a little smile, blue eyes catching the light of the sun. It always amazed me how poised he seemed, despite the eternal sadness I saw in him. It hovered around him, growing thicker and more tangible every day. I found myself going to him, hugging him, wishing the hug he gave me back had more enthusiasm behind it.
"Did you talk to Meira about camp?" I looked up, met his eyes, but his were as empty of the present as Mom's. "Dad."
His chin dropped, gaze meeting mine again. "Have a great day, honey." Dad left me there, going straight to the basement door and down the stairs, out of sight.
Ignoring Syd seemed to be a family pastime this morning. I turned away, switched on the disposal, looking out the window into the blue sky and sunshine. Maybe school would go better.
As I turned around, I came face to face with Gram. I let out a little shriek, clutching my chest with one hand, heart pumping. She grinned at me, faded blue eyes sparkling.
"Jumpy," she said, head cocked to one side.
I wanted to be mad at her, but there was something about my grandmother that always disarmed me. Instead of being annoyed, I found my heart swelling as I reached out and hugged her, planting a big smooch on her cheek. She giggled and tickled me and I pulled away, but she couldn't hide the tears brimming in her eyes when we parted, both laughing.
Then the idea hit me. Mom wasn't mad at me. But she was mad at someone. And I was pretty sure now I knew who had flipped her anger switched before I had the chance to.
"Gram," I said, "did you piss off Mom again?"
Her eyes rolled, lips quivering as she did a little flapping dance with her hands. "It's too easy," she whispered before cackling.
That made me giggle again. "You should warn a body," I said.
Gram shrugged, looked away. Her shoulders tightened as she crossed her thin arms over her chest. "Things aren't going my way," she growled, her sudden shift in emotion not shocking, considering I was used to her mercurial ways. Didn't mean it didn't bother me.
"I hate it when that happens." My tone was light, but I meant every word.
Her head whipped around, eyes locking on mine, mouth in a thin, grim line. "So do I, Syd." She sighed then, deep and long.
It wasn't hard to guess what they fought about, so I took a stab at it. "You know you can't just go after the Dumonts, Gram."
She made a tsking sound and bounced on her toes. "Hush, Miriam." She winked at me though, so I knew she wasn't losing it again. "I'm very well aware of what I can and cannot do, thank you. But I wonder if your mother is aware of how much danger we are still in. All because she won't let me act."
Blue fire snapped in her gaze. Good thing I was sort of on her side. Not that I wanted a war or anything. But if the Dumonts met a messy end, Quaid would be able to come back.
Gram gnawed a nail. "Circumstances are changing," she said softly, as though forgetting I stood there in front of her. "Events that could shift everything."
"Did something happen?" I held my breath, fear for Quaid surging in my heart.
Gram looked up again, expression smoothing out until she appeared almost saintly.
"Syd," she said, both thin hands rising to grip my face, the edges of her long nails pressing into my skin ever so gently, "you know I love you, girl?"
I nodded, but didn't speak. Ever since Gram took her power back we'd shared a powerful connection and she'd regained her sanity. Well, most of it. Which is why I didn't find her actions odd. Gram was the epitome of eccentric.
Until she spoke again. "Sister soul," she whispered. "The things I do are for you. For me, too. They need to be fixed, by someone who knows how. You see?"
I found myself nodding, her power gently holding mine, as my magic welcomed her in, an old familiar feeling returning without the need to send hers away.
"Good," she said. "I knew you would." Her touch slid free, hands dropping to her sides. It was like I'd been wrapped up in some kind of spell only she had the power to break. I felt around inside me to be sure she hadn't done something because who knew with Gram, really. But everything seemed to be inside the unordinary.
She bounced on her toes then, clapping her hands together like a little girl before spinning and dancing her way out of the kitchen, fluffy pink socks silent on the tile floor.
My family was so weird.
Shaking my head, I went to school.
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