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  Chapter 9 – Guardian.

  Nina flew across the room at Mindy, then embraced her.

  "Oh my gosh," Mindy shrieked. "How long has it been? You still look deliciously dead and mysterious as you always do, without the decomposing stink, of course." She held Nina at arm's length to look at her. She turned around to look at Alexandria, then leaned over and pushed her chin up with the tip of her finger. "Close your mouth dear, you'll catch flies."

  Alexandria shook her head in disbelief. "You know each other?"

  "Good heavens, yes. We go back a long way." Mindy wrapped her arm around Alexandria's shoulders. "Did she pull the jumping off the roof trick on you, too? I bet she did. You did, didn't you?" Mindy asked, looking back at Nina, who merely shrugged her shoulders in response to Mindy's questions and Alexandria's scowl. "Has nothing changed?" Mindy continued. "You were always such a drama queen, making dramatic entrances, scaring people half out of their wits in the process."

  Kat hopped down off the kitchen bench. "So you're the vamp I've read so much about. The one Aunt Mindy and my mother went to school with?"

  Mindy and Nina looked at each other, then stared back at Kat, puzzled looks on their faces.

  Kat bit her lip. "Oh, did I forget to mention that I found my mother's crusty old grimoire in the attic?" She put her hand on her hip. "Am I bad?"

  Mindy looked back at Nina. "I think that's why we were summoned. What else would bring us both back here at the same time?"

  Nina spirited across the room until she stood just inches away from Kat. "Your mother doesn't know that you have her grimoire, does she." It was more of an accusation than a question.

  Unnerved by the vampire's closeness, Kat endeavoured to take a step backward, but her feet wouldn't budge. "No," she murmured, leaning backward to distance herself from Nina. She turned her head towards Aunt Mindy. "I could use some help here, please," she whispered, struggling to lift her feet off the floor, but to no avail. "Please," she asked again.

  Alexandria moved silently across the kitchen and into Andrew's arms. "Please don't hurt her. She hasn't done anything wrong," Alexandria pleaded. "She saved me when Vera attacked me. She wouldn't have been able to do that if she hadn't read her mother's book. And why shouldn't she know who she is? What she is? Her mother has lied to her, her whole life..."

  Mindy placed a hand on Nina's shoulder. Immediately Kat's feet were free, and she ran quickly to Alexandria's side. "Because it is dangerous to use magic without knowing what you are doing," Mindy said. "You don't know who, or what, you may have attracted to Ferntree Falls. There are those out there that would like nothing more than to see you both dead. Your mother knew this. That's why she's kept the truth from you. From both of you." She placed her hands lovingly on Kat's cheeks, her fingers brushing away a tear. She wrapped her arms around both girls, pulling them close. "I could never live with myself if anything ever happened to either of you. I know you have both come into your own now, the Saken Circle was activated the moment Alexandria walked back into the house, and there is nothing any of us can do about that now. There's no putting that cat back in the bag. You coming back to Witchwood was always going to happen, it was only a matter of time." She released the girls, holding up her finger. "But, will you both promise me you will be careful? When your mother gets back home, Kat, we will all sit down and have a talk about all of this, okay?"

  Alexandria and Kat both nodded wordlessly.

  "Good. Well, that's that. I don't know about anyone else, but I need a cup of tea." Mindy walked over to the kettle, picked it up, and filled it at the sink. Through the kitchen window she could see the old cottage out the back. "Oh, and by the way, I'll be moving into the cottage. You'll need a guardian, Alexandria. With school starting, and everything else that's happening around here, you're going to need a hand."

  Nina sniffed, giving Kat a warning glare, making her cringe. "All this witchy drama has made me absolutely ravenous," she purred, heading towards the back door.

  "You can't just throw food at a problem every time a situation comes up that you don't want to deal with, Nina," Mindy said, watching her friend take down a black parasol hanging on a hook near the door, and popping it open as soon as she walked outside. She was the picture of a genteel lady of a manor house, going on a late afternoon stroll in the woods to gather wildflowers.

  Nina twirled around, her long skirts sweeping across the patio. "Don't be so judgmental, dear Mindy. You have no idea how much money I have saved, swapping retail therapy with food therapy over the years."

  "My horse is not on the menu," Mindy called after her. Nina waved her hand in the air dismissively. "So not my preference..." Seconds later, she was gone, vanishing into the forest.

  "At least she doesn't sparkle," Alexandria murmured. "That has to be a good thing, right?"

  "Animal blood. Disgusting," Kat cringed, shaking her head.

  Alexandria stared at her in disbelief.

  Kat shrugged. "Okay. What I really mean is, any blood." She started tapping her foot, deep in thought for a moment. "She might be a total bitch from hell and all, with that whole mind control thing, but I really dig her boots, and that dress, wow. She totally rocks that whole gothic, emo, vintage look thing." She turned to look at Mindy. "Do you think she would let me borrow her boots sometime?"

  Mindy tilted her head and looked at her.

  "Yeah. I didn't think so. Oh well, wearing dead people's shoes would be a bit weird, I suppose."

  Alexandria shook her head. "I've got things to get out of the car... I'll be back in a sec."

  Mindy leaned against the kitchen bench, a spoon busily stirring her third cup of tea. She looked at her watch; outside the sun was melting into the treetops, and within an hour, it would be dark. "For dinner tonight, I've decided to cook us all a roast chicken dinner, with your Grandma Savannah's potato and rosemary bread, and my famous blueberry cobbler."

  "I'm up for it," Andrew replied eagerly. "I can't remember the last time I had a roast dinner, or blueberry cobbler for that matter. I'll help you cook, if you'd like. I can be a bit of a wiz in the kitchen, or so my mom used to say."

  Kat nodded from her seat in the lounge room as she flicked through the latest edition of The Ferntree Post, Ferntree Falls' daily newspaper. "Sounds good, Aunt Mindy. I've always loved your cooking." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Why not just grab a pizza, though? A roast will take forever." She turned the page. "Oh. Shoe sale starts Wednesday. Diabolical. Do you want to come with?" she asked Alexandria, her eyes never leaving the page.

  "What?" Alexandria asked from the kitchen as she finished unpacking the groceries.

  "Shoes, sale. Wednesday after school," Kat murmured.

  "Maybe," Alexandria replied, piling Andrew's personal items neatly on the breakfast bench. "One tube of toothpaste, mint flavour. One toothbrush, medium. Shaving cream and razor. A packet of chocolate-chip cookies, and a loaf of bread. A jar of crunchy peanut butter. I think that was everything on your list."

  "Great. Thanks, Alexandria. I owe you one," he said, tearing open the packet of cookies and biting into one.

  "You don't owe me anything, what with all the work you have done around here. I could never have done so much on my own."

  He offered the packet of chocolate-chip cookies to Alexandria, who declined. "More for me," he said, gathering up the toothpaste, toothbrush, shaving cream and razor. "I'll just go put these in my room," he mumbled with a mouth full of cookie. Walking to the blue door leading into the small bedsitter off the kitchen, he balanced himself on one foot and pushed the door open with his foot. A few moments later, he returned, brushing crumbs off his chin.

  Mindy smiled as she retrieved the still twirling spoon from her cup of tea and took a sip. "Don't you worry about the time, Kitty Kat. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that you can't even begin to imagine. Dinner will be ready and on the table by eight. One of the reasons your mother didn't want me hanging around Ferntree Falls, she didn't want you to have anything to do w
ith magic. All I can say is I wouldn't want to be you when she discovers what you have done."

  "I can handle my mother," Kat replied, momentarily lifting her head out of the newspaper.

  Mindy took another sip of her tea. "I hope you're right." She turned her attention to Andrew. "I have a few groceries for dinner in my wagon out front, but I'll need a few extra ingredients. Would you mind coming into town with me, Andrew, so I can pick them up?"

  "Happy to," Andrew answered. "Just let me grab a clean t-shirt, and I'll be right with you. I'm looking forward to getting out of the house for a while. I've been cooped up in here all day, surrounded by paint fumes."

  "Lovely," Mindy replied. "Can I take your car, Alexandria?"

  "Of course." She handed Mindy the car keys from her bag.

  "Thank you. And while Andrew and I are in town, you two girls need to talk." She rinsed her teacup out in the sink. "The energy in the house between you two is electric, and I don't mean in a good way."

  "Talk about what?" Kat asked, dragging her eyes up from the newspaper in her lap to look at Alexandria.

  "Bran," Mindy said, walking out of the kitchen with Andrew following in her wake as he pulled a black Guns N' Roses t-shirt over his head, leaving Alexandria and Kat staring at each other.

  Chapter 10 – Wizard, Warlock, or Sorcerer.

  "So let me get this straight," Mindy said, taking her eye off the dark road for just a moment to look at Andrew silhouetted in the passenger seat. "Your corporeal body disappears as soon as you step foot in the sunlight, is that right?"

  Andrew pointed at the road though the windscreen. "There's a bend coming up," he said nervously.

  Mindy turned back to look at the road, taking the bend in the road a little faster than she had intended. "I'm used to horse speed," she confessed, then continued. "The sunlight..."

  "What?" Andrew said, holding onto the dashboard with two hands as the vehicle slid around the sharp bend in the road.

  "Your body and the sunlight," she reminded him.

  "Oh, right... Not exactly," he replied. "I disappear as soon as the sun comes up. I don't have to actually be standing in the sunlight."

  Mindy looked at him quizzically. "But today. In the house, during the day..."

  "As long as I'm in the Witchwood house, it appears I'm fine. Alexandria thinks it's because the curse doesn't work when I'm in the house. Like the house's power is more powerful than the witch that cursed me."

  "I can understand how that would work. Harvey witches have resided in the house ever since it was built by Desmond Harvey for his bride, in the 1700s. They lived in the cottage out the back when they were first married, but moved into the house as soon as it was completed. More Harvey witches have been born and died in the house than I can count. When I was a kid, it was nothing to see a Harvey ghost walking the halls in the middle of the night."

  "Desmond Harvey was a witch? Don't you mean wizard, warlock, or sorcerer?"

  Mindy laughed, a smile stretching across her face. "A male witch is still a witch, just like a male nurse is still a nurse. You're not alone in your thoughts, though. Lots of people believe that male witches are called warlocks, but the word warlock actually means traitor, scoundrel, monster, oath breaker. It's degrading in some circles for a male witch to be called a warlock. The original meaning of warlock is derived from Old English, wǣrloga, meaning oath breaker."

  "Witch, warlock ... sorcerer, whatever," Andrew shuddered. "We met some of them the first night in Witchwood. They weren't all that friendly." He remembered how long, creepy gray arms had materialized from the walls of Witchwood, wrapping themselves securely around him and River while Alexandria lifted Kat effortlessly off the floor, her hand squeezing Kat's throat, and slamming her into the opposite wall.

  "They must have sensed that Alexandria was in some kind of danger. That is the only reason they would show themselves to strangers. No one was hurt, I take it?"

  "No, but it sure did scare the crap out of us. Actually, Alexandria scared the crap out of us more than the Harvey ghosts did. It was like she was controlling them somehow with her mind."

  "Alexandria is a very powerful witch, or at least she will be. More powerful than even her mother was, and that's saying something. She has the ability to draw on the power of other witches, and communicate with them, the living, and the dead. There is always one witch in the family that is gifted with more power than all the other siblings put together. In our family, out of Aradia, Felicity and myself, it was Felicity who was the most gifted. And because Alexandria was an only child, she received all of her mother's power when she died."

  Andrew was impressed. "That sounds like a good thing. At least she will be able to look after herself." He looked out of the window. "That is one hell of a full moon out there tonight," he said in an attempt to change the subject.

  "Is there something you're not telling me, Andrew?" she asked, taking another bend in the road too fast, throwing Andrew against the car door and banging his head.

  Mindy cringed apologetically. "Whoops. Sorry about that."

  Andrew rubbed his head with one hand, the other still gripping the dashboard. "Do you even own a driver’s licence?"

  "Of course I do," she retorted, looking as though the question was a direct blow to her integrity. "And stop changing the subject," she added quickly.

  "Other than when Vera attacked Alexandria, and when Kat nearly killed her trying to protect Alexandria's power, no, nothing."

  "Yes, she did happen to mention that incident." They drove in silence for a moment. "You know you can trust me, Andrew. If there's anything I should know, or something you want to ask me about, you can."

  "Why did Alexandria's family abandon her when her parents died?"

  "You mean why did I abandon her, when her parents died?"

  Andrew nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's what I'm asking."

  "Like I told Alexandria, we did it for her own protection. There are witches out there practising black magic that would kill her for her power, to possess it for themselves. Had she been living with Aradia or me, she would have been a sitting duck. There was no way we could have protected her, and if Alexandria had known that she had other family out there somewhere, she would have tried to track us down before she was powerful enough to protect herself. Trust me when I say it was safer for her this way. Safer for everyone. Her mother wanted it that way."

  "I'm not sure Alexandria agrees. And what about the Barnabys? Do they know about all this, too?"

  "The who?" Mindy asked, shooting Andrew a questioning look.

  "You know, the Barnabys, Alexandria's guardians for the last few years," he said, returning her questioning look.

  Mindy nodded sternly, then laughed off her confusion. "Silly me. Of course I know who the Barnabys are. Lovely old couple, truly lovely. And of course they know about all this, it's why they took her away from here. To keep her safe. And Alexandria will understand that too, when she learns how important she is, not only to the survival of her own Harvey witch bloodline and clan, but to the other clans that also rely on her for protection against those that practise black magic."

  "Like the Bloodthorn Clan," Andrew interjected, nodding his head.

  Mindy shot him a sideways glance. "What do you know about the Bloodthorn Clan?"

  Andrew shrugged, cursing himself under his breath, remembering Alexandria telling him not to talk to anyone about what she had discovered in her mother's book. Not knowing who they could trust. "Alexandria mentioned it in passing the other day. She didn't elaborate. Why, who are they?"

  "The Bloodthorn Clan want to control all the witch clans, and those they can't control, they endeavour to destroy, and usually succeed. Originally, there were seven clans. Today, only five remain. Only one of those clans practices black magic."

  "The Bloodthorn Clan," Andrew repeated.

  "Yes, the Bloodthorn Clan. With the power the Bloodthorn witches have stolen over the years, they are a force to be reckoned with. A force not
to be underestimated in any way, shape, or form."

  Andrew frowned, a chill running down his spine. "What exactly do you mean, shape or form?"

  "With black magic and trickery, the Bloodthorn witches are masters of changing their shape and form at will. Animals, birds, bugs, people. Anything, really."

  Andrew thought back to his last bus trip to Ferntree Falls, when he had first met Alexandria. He thought about the dream he'd had about Eden, and how, in the blink of an eye, Eden had transformed into an old woman, before changing again, into a dark cloud of black bats. Perhaps it hadn't been a dream at all. "I think I've met a Bloodthorn witch," he said, the blood draining from his face.

  The car swerved on the road as Mindy swivelled in the driver’s seat to stare at him. "What did she look like?"

  Andrew frowned, dropping his head, contemplating the question for a long moment. After a moment, he looked at Mindy and shook his head slowly. "I have absolutely no idea."

  Mindy nodded, a worried look on her face. "Definitely a Bloodthorn witch, and a powerful one at that."

  "How do you know?"

  "The fact that you can't remember what she looks like, other than that she was old, is a pretty good indication."

  "I think she was old... The more I think about her, the less I seem to be able to remember about her. How is that even possible?"

  "Like I said, black magic and trickery. There isn't anything a Bloodthorn witch wouldn't do to—"

  As Mindy turned onto Main Street, the wail of a police siren and flashing lights cut her off mid-sentence.