Precious Anathema (5 page)

“
Mom, don’t hug her first
Dammit!” That didn’t stop who I could only assume was Kali from
nearly tackling me and kissing my forehead.

“
We are so happy to finally
meet you; I have dreamed about meeting you for years but never
believed it would happen.” She spun me around taking me all in as
she embraced me again. “You have made this family so happy Delilah,
and now we are whole again.” She took a step back again just
looking me all over, making sure she saw me correctly the first
time, focusing mainly on my hair with wide eyes; she smiled as she
hugged me again with tears in her eyes.

“
I have missed your mother
so much, I am so sorry you lost her honey.” To be honest, besides
the bitch in the backseat I couldn’t figure out why Mom would ever
leave these amazing and loving people, or keep them from me but I
guess that’s what I had come here to learn. I grabbed my bags and
we all walked toward the large double doors to our new home for the
next few months. I dropped my bags by the door and we all stopped
walking, the main room was bigger than the house I grew up in, a
giant double staircase was before me and the world’s largest
chandelier hung between the two. The windows were the size of a
luxury car, and the woodwork looked hand carved, everywhere I
looked I saw more of the same. To my left was a sitting room that
was so intricate I couldn’t imagine actually sitting my ass in it.
To my right was the biggest dining room I had ever seen, with floor
to high ceiling windows and elaborate drapes. This house had to
have over twenty bedrooms easily from the size of it not to mention
we could all see the pool out back through one of the giant
windows. This was heaven, I was officially in heaven. I smiled and
Eris put her arm around me.

“
I can’t believe
we
are going to live
here, that this is
our
families and we are living here!” She squealed with delight
and squeezed my shoulder. Selene rolled her eyes and said something
arrogant under her breath; I paid her no mind as we walked away
from her and giggled, we peaked around doorways to find more hidden
treasures and secret worlds. I looked at Eris and
smiled.

“
We have only been in one
room and I am in love.” She nodded and then Kali yelled to us to
come back to the parlor.

“
We all need to go into the
sitting room so that Ella, as I have been told she
likes
to be called, can
meet Freya.” Eris got a bigger grin and pulled me to the siting
room.

“
You will love Freya, best
grandmother in the world and she has been waiting for you for a
long time Ella.”

*

Pulling into the estate I saw the van,
empty in the drive and continued to our house where I quickly found
him chopping wood by the garage. He lowered the hatchet and looked
up at me, his face was stained with the path of tears that had
recently fell from his eyes, and I knew I didn’t have to tell him.
He dropped the hatchet and walked to me; I put my arms out and
embraced him.

“
Dad, she is here. The
prophecy has begun.” He squeezed me and I could feel his stifled
cries in our embrace.

“
Xander, I have waited for
this day my whole life, we know what we have to do to make sure
this happens and we can escape this hell, right?” He saw my face,
he knew that I was afraid and grabbed my shoulders tight as his
gaze pierced through me. “Xander, my son this is our only chance at
freedom. It is not just them that need to be released from this
evil. You will do what you have to do, just play your part and
everything will be ok.” I nodded and backed away from
him.

“
I need to get these items
to Freya, I will be back.” He didn’t speak again, just let me walk
away carrying bags to the estate. She was inside; I could smell her
perfume as I walked inside. I had already memorized her scent and
her smile in my mind. I just needed to put the bags in the kitchen
and sneak out the back when Freya saw me and smiled. She had always
been so nice to my father and I, it hurt me to know what was to
come. I smiled back at her and Freya walked to me with an
outstretched hand, this was the part where she would no doubt
introduce us with a smile on her face. I had to play my part and
not let feelings get in the way, I could be cold and I would for
the sake of my freedom. I knew the next time I saw her I would
fight the urge to smile and let my heart warm in her presence, I
just feared I was about to lose that fight.

*

I felt very anxious as the two of us
opted to sit on the floor and not the million dollar couch. My two
incredibly gorgeous aunts sat on a loveseat from the forties and
they made it look ordinary. Selene, of course sat in a corner by
herself in an armchair staring out the window having no interest in
what was about to transpire. Just being in the same room with her
was doing some major damage to my high and it pissed me off more
that I let it get to me than anything else. I looked away from her,
convinced myself that she wasn’t in the room and felt uplifted. We
all heard the door open and an eerie familiar, yet new male voice
yelled inside.

“
Freya, I am back from town
so if you need me I will be on the grounds.” A woman’s voice
answered him, but Eris and I still couldn’t see anyone, the parlor
seemed to echo like a theatre.

“
Thank you so much my dear,
I think we are ok for tonight but please come and help an old woman
into the sitting room before you go and you can meet my family I
told you about.” I was nervous and excited to meet the woman that
held so many answers for me. As they got to the entryway of the
sitting room I felt Eris grab my arm and dig her nails in. It was
Xander from the store. The sexiest man I had ever met was living on
the grounds of this house? That’s what he meant by ‘See you over
there’. I could feel Selene trying to kill me from her seat, and as
my eyes met with his, he smiled and winked at me. Carna giggled and
pointed at me as they made their way into the room. I was so warm I
thought I would set the room on fire, I hadn’t even noticed my
stunning grandmother on his arm until she spoke to introduce him to
us. The light from the sun shone so bright into the room suddenly
that Carna got up from her seat to close the drapes.

“
Ladies, this is Xander he
lives on the grounds with his father and is here for anything you
might need.” Eris elbowed me in the gut and snickered as his smile
got even bigger staring at me as my grandmother spoke. He waved at
everyone and kissed my grandmothers hand before walking out of the
room, in the entryway I watched every crease of his pants move as
he walked, and as though he could see behind him he turned and
winked at me again before walking out of the estate. Freya looked
down at me and before I could enjoy the moment Selene wasted no
time being the world’s most dramatic witch and growl as she crossed
her arms. Freya looked at the aunts and they both just rolled their
eyes and waved their hands for her to proceed. My grandmother did
not look anything like a grandmother at all. Not a grey hair in her
black mane, not a wrinkle, her complexion looked better than mine
and she had the body of a twenty five year old. Even when she spoke
I couldn’t hear an older woman. With any luck this is what I have
to look forward too.

“
My dear Delilah, come here
so I can see you.” I stood up and walked to her, she looked me all
over almost like she was looking for something. She waved her hand
for me to turn around and as she saw my right shoulder I heard her
give a sigh. I turned to see her as her fingers touched me and
outlined my birth mark.

“
I have always had that
scar, it’s my birthmark Freya; Mom called it my beauty mark because
she didn’t have a freckle on her and wanted to make me feel better
about it.” Freya smiled at me and then took my hand.

“
Did she ever tell you what
the mark really was Delilah?” I shook my head; no one ever said
anything about it since I tried to cover it up daily. “This mark is
what makes you more special than any of us in this room my dear,
this is the branded mark of the one that can lift the evil from us.
That is why you are beautifully different than the rest of us.”
Before I could say a word, Selene slammed her hand against the
chair and stormed out of the room. Freya watched her walk out and
then waved her hand at the doorway and rolled her eyes. I heard
Selene yell out in pain and I jumped in fear and just then she
walked back in with her head down.

“
Sorry Freya.” I was
stunned; did I just see that happen? Selene sat next to her mother
on the couch, rubbing her ass as she sat down; I looked back at
Freya who gave me a wink and a smile.

“
I am not going to overload
you too much tonight, I am just so happy you are here and we are
complete again my dear, Why don’t you girls go exploring through
the house and pick out rooms for yourselves, just be careful we
haven’t found all the traps yet.” She looked at Selene as she said
that. Why would I have to worry about traps? Mouse traps maybe?
Selene stood up and crossed her arms.

“
Be a
shame
if we lost our new
prize
so quickly
wouldn’t it?” Freya put her hand out and Selene quickly apologized
again. I could hear Eris laughing behind me. I really liked my
grandmother already. I reached out to hug her and a tear fell down
her cheek.

“
Delilah, I have loved you
since you were conceived, and I can’t tell you how much that is but
I hope that this summer you grow to love us as much.” I hugged her
for so long I began to cry. This was certainly one of those moments
you think only live in movies, this was one in life you never
forget.

“
Race you!” Eris grabbed my
arm and pulled me out of the room, Selene blew by us and went
upstairs making sure to stomp on every step having her five year
old tantrum. I grabbed my bag and started up the stairs, pictures
lined the walls, hundreds of them. Some black and white that looked
over a hundred years old and yet every photo looked the same. All
the women looked like the others, I took four steps and stopped as
I saw it, a photo of my Mom when she was my age, or looked my age
anyway. I knew it was her because she had a special smile. I put my
hand out and ran my fingers over her face; I began to cry as I
touched her. I wish she could be here with me, to see how things
have changed, that it wasn’t like it used to be. I felt a hand on
my shoulder, it was Kali. I turned and wiped the tears away giving
her my best fake smile.

“
Your mother was amazing
honey; As are you and you will learn more about her this summer
than you ever learned in eighteen years.” She hugged me and we
walked up the stairs together, hand in hand.

THREE

After walking around the west hall as
Kali had informed me for an hour, looking at old family photos and
touching every piece of art that filled the hall I realized that I
felt different, I couldn’t describe it but since I had stepped into
the house, and we had all been together I felt a strange pulse of
electricity running through my body, the longer I was here the
stronger it was getting too. I tried to take my mind off it looking
at tapestries and suits of armor everywhere I turned, I found
myself beginning to daydream that I was in a real castle somewhere
in history. I wondered if this feeling inside me would ever fade, I
never wanted to get used to this beauty and history that surrounded
me. I walked until I finally stumbled on an open door to a room; as
I walked in I felt like it was a fairy tale and I would wake up
before I was ready, it was unlike anything I had ever seen, a huge
fireplace with large etched windows beside it. A four post bed, my
own bathroom, a sitting area and the world’s largest closet. My
room looked out over the gardens and the walls were a beautiful
green. Each bedroom I had seen seemed to have a color theme to it,
and being that green is my favorite color I couldn’t pass it up. I
opened my windows to let the breeze in, and walked across the room
to lie on my bed, just staring at the ceiling. This was more like a
dream every moment that went by. I couldn’t believe this was my
life now. I heard a lawn mower start outside my window and stood up
to see who was outside. I had to stop myself from falling out the
window as I leaned and saw Xander, with no shirt and his tight
jeans hand mowing around the flower beds. I hid as best I could
behind the drapes making sure I could still peek and watched as the
sweat began to beat up on his face, and run down his back like my
finger suddenly craved to do, and as the sun rippled off his
shoulders, I noticed that it was suddenly harder to see him past
the intense light from the sun. I heard him hit a rock with the
mower and I moved in time from the glare to see it coming at me. I
screamed and hit the floor. The mower stopped running and then he
was under my window, yelling up to me.

“
Delilah, are you ok?” How
did he know it was me? “I saw you over here when I got around the
roses. Talk to me Delilah please I am so sorry.” I had to stand up,
he knew it was me so I couldn’t’ sneak away. I got up and waved as
I blushed. He looked even better up close and sweaty. He smiled at
me, and the glare came back, I could feel the heat on my skin and
it felt like I was instantly burned from the sun, he noticed as
well and wiped the sweat off his face again, I thought I would fall
over this time for real, and found it hard to find my
words.