Precious Anathema (2 page)

“
Eight pairs of underwear
should be enough, right Mom?” She laughed and her eyes twinkled as
she rolled them at me, pointing to the sock hanging out of my
luggage. She was as always perfectly put together at six in the
morning, while I was sporting a cute pair of sweats and tank top I
had slept in. She handed me a hair tie as I used my mouth to blow
my frizzy hair out of my face.

“
Honey, you are so
beautiful.” I rolled my eyes at her and dropped my bag on the
floor.

“
Mom, did you even go to
sleep?” I put my hair up and she handed me a cup of
coffee.

“
Of course I did, I wake up
like this.” She winked at me and smiled.

ZERO

Ally saw them before I did, but the
gasps were loud behind me, and the chatter began quickly. Ally
tapped my arm and I looked up to see my tan best friend, white as a
ghost and eyes as big as the moon itself. She was looking to the
back of the funeral home, I stood up to see what the commotion was
about and saw three women walking in, who all looked like my
Mother. I almost passed out, was it possible? I turned to look at
the casket, and she was lying there just as cold as ice. I looked
back and blinked a few times to make sure I was seeing correctly.
Sure enough they were walking towards me, warm and alive and
looking just like one another, just like her. Ally took my hand as
they walked closer to us, Wyn looked very angry and stood in front
of Ally and me blocking them from getting to me, but I wasn’t sure
why she would do that. I kept staring at the beautiful women in
front of me. Wyn put her hand out to stop them, and the older of
the three stopped. They were all in black and looked at the casket
with tears in their eyes, they knew my Mom? Wyn started talking to
them but it only made me feel more confused.

“
You know you are not
supposed to be here, she made it clear that she wanted Delilah to
have nothing to do with all of this.” The women looked up and
instead of catching my eye, they looked at Ally. Of course they
did, she had dark hair and blue eyes like them. I let go of Ally’s
hand and stepped beside Wyn, the women still looked past
me.

“
I am Delilah Anathema
Grace.” I put my hand out as I introduced myself and the three
women stopped breathing. None of them would speak; they just stared
at me, my hair, my eyes, my skin, my lack of curves. They just
stared until Wyn spoke up again.

“
This is not the place to
have any conversations about why you are really here. Please be
respectful to your sister and Aunt, come by the house after.” Wyn
grabbed me and we walked past the three women.

“
Wait a minute Wyn that was
my Aunt and cousins?” I looked back at Ally who was right on my
heels as we exited the funeral home to the Limo. Getting inside I
felt like my head had just spun around and the wind had been
knocked out of me at the same time. Wyn looked out the window with
tears in her eyes; she knew I had an Aunt? Mom never told me I had
a whole family out there? So many questions, and Ally looked just
as stunned as I did as Wyn started telling me a story, never
looking at me only staring out the window as we made our way
through the small town.

“
Delilah, you have family.
You actually have quite a large family on the East coast. Just one
of the reasons your Mom was worried about you being in Boston. That
was your Aunt Carna Honey; you actually have two Aunts; Carna and
Kali. The two other women with her are your cousins, Selene and
Eris.” I put my hand up to my face and covered my eyes. I couldn’t
take this today. I lost my Mother, and now I have a whole family I
never knew of. I couldn’t imagine what could be so horrible she
would keep them from me; my Mother was the most outgoing, forgiving
person I ever knew. “Delilah.” I stopped her right
there.

“
Wyn you know I hate it
when you call me that, please don’t.” I only let people call me
Delilah at certain times, and usually it was when something serious
was going on but right now my head was spinning and I just needed
to feel a bit more normal.

“
Ok, Ella listen to me, Mom
didn’t keep them away because they did anything wrong. She kept
them away because they live a certain kind of lifestyle and when
your Mom left she wanted you as far away till you were old enough
to make your own choice.” The limo stopped outside my house and we
all stepped out. I looked up at her window and imagined what she
could have been hiding from me, eighteen years next month to keep a
secret must have been painful and hard for her. I started to cry
again. The sun shone on my face and I stopped crying to smile, it
was Mom kissing my cheek and I knew it would be ok.

“
Ella, Mom left me in
charge of giving you some things in the event they came into your
life, I certainly didn’t think it would be today but I will get
them when we get inside and they can answer your questions better
than I can.” Wyn put her arm around me, and Ally took my hand. The
three of us walked into the house together as cars began pulling in
for the after event.

“
I just want this day over
Wyn; I don’t want to entertain anymore.” She squeezed me and told
me she would get the box for me, and to hide in Mom’s room with
Ally till they were gone. Walking into her room I was overwhelmed
by the smell of her, everything looked as it had the last time she
was here with me. I closed my eyes and let my senses take over for
just a minute and let me live in the fantasy world where Mother’s
don’t die and no one cries.

“
I have no idea what is
inside this box Hun, but Mom was pretty specific that I just give
it to you and all your questions would be answered.” Wyn handed me
a large colorful box. Looked like Mom had decorated herself, I
placed it on the bed and sat down as the doorbell rang and Wyn
kissed my forehead and walked out of the room. I looked at Ally and
took a deep breath as I opened the handmade clasp on the box. An
envelope at the top caught my eye and I picked it up, setting it
aside to read later, until I saw what was underneath it. Beautiful
leather bound journal with the words
Grace
Family
Grimoire
. I looked at Ally and
picked up the envelope before looking any farther. I moved closer
to Ally on the bed and opened the letter from my Mom.

*

My Dearest
Delilah,

If you are reading this
letter let me be the first to say I am sorry the world is so
fucking unfair, you should not have to learn any of this the way
you are about to and I am so sorry I have kept it from you. I am
also sorry I used the word Fuck, but in this case it’s warranted. I
hope that you met your Aunts and Grandmother in a good way Honey.
You are an adult now, and not just because I am gone either, I
should have told you all of this but I didn’t want to spend what
little time we had left digging up the past. We needed to stay in
the present.

Back to the family, I have
two sisters both older who each have a daughter I hope you get to
meet. Your Grandmother is a little crazy and she will be the first
to tell you that, she will also be the first to tell you about the
curse. Our family was cursed by your great, great Grandmother Emma
who was a witch, like your Grandmother, your Aunts, your mother,
and yes even you.

*

I put the letter down and looked up at
Ally.

“
I can’t handle this Ally,
what am I supposed to believe I am a witch?” Ally put her arm
around me and I rested my head on her shoulder and listened to her
voice.

“
Ella, remember when we
were in fourth grade and Steve told you that you were ugly because
you have red hair?” I laughed thinking about how fast he fell from
the top of the monkey bars. “And then in sixth grade when Joe said
that you looked like a boy because you weren’t getting boobs like
the other girls?” I laughed harder remembering the foul ball that
smashed him in the stands at the softball game. His nose still
isn’t right. “I could go on and on all day about the weird things
that have happened to people as soon as they have been mean to you
Ella.” I sat up and wiped a tear away.

“
Are you telling me you
believe this, this isn’t a fairytale for Christ Sake. It’s real
life and in real life there are no witches or vampires and mothers
die.” She shrugged her shoulders and picked up the
letter.

“
I am not saying this is a
fairytale, I don’t know what it is but I am saying I think it’s a
definite possibility Ella.” I took the letter and put it back in
the envelope to read later

*

Ally and I sat on Mom’s bed for hours
listening to the chatter downstairs; I held the book and the letter
from Mom tightly before finally putting it away.

“
You know what Ella? This
is pretty awesome, maybe this is a gift from your Mom so you won’t
be alone without family.” I smiled and hugged my best friend; she
always knew the right things to say to make me feel better. I
jumped off the bed and straightened out my long black dress with a
smile.

“
You’re right Ally, Mom
wouldn’t want me to be alone, and I have so many questions for
them.” A knock at the door stopped me, I looked at Ally and she
jumped up to answer the door. As the door opened my heart seemed to
stop mid beat, a woman looking just like my Mom stood on the other
side, and as she walked in it was like my Mom was coming to give me
a hug like she did every day. I felt my knees get weak again, and
she saw my fear right away and backed up.

“
Delilah I am not trying to
make this harder for you Hun, I can leave if that is what you
want.” I shook my head and sat back on the bed. Ally went
downstairs and the beautiful woman sat next to me. She stared at my
hair, and my eyes very curious about me, as I was about her. “I
should introduce myself shouldn’t I?” I laughed, and it broke the
ice, she smiled at me and ran her hand through my hair, letting the
red strands flow through her fingers. “Delilah, I am your Aunt
Carna, I am one of your Moms older sisters and the other two women
with me are your cousins, Selene, and Eris. Your Aunt Kali stayed
home with your Grandmother so we didn’t overwhelm you too much. I
don’t think it mattered how many of us came though, you really had
no idea we existed did you?” I shook my head and started playing
with my spinner ring I kept on my thumb, I spun it so much most of
the time I didn’t notice anymore, but today I was spinning to keep
from crying, to keep from collapsing. It was all so much to take
in, the saddest day of my life was also the first day I felt like a
normal woman, from a family.

“
I have a whole family?”
Carna smiled at me and a tear ran down her cheek as she put her
hand in mine.

“
We are forever your family
my dear Delilah, forever.” I reached in for a hug and she grabbed
me so tight like my Mom used to do, and wouldn’t let me go. I
pulled away and my head started filling with questions, I didn’t
know where to start. “I know where you can start Hun.” Carna winked
at me and I felt my mouth open as wide as my eyes had. She had
heard me, but I hadn’t said anything at least I didn’t think I had
said anything. “You don’t have to say anything around me now Honey,
once I was able to embrace you I was able to pick up on your
energy. It only lasts a few minutes, it’s not like I can always
read your mind, but it’s a skill I possess.” I should have been
afraid but I felt myself getting excited, would I be able to do
that, does everyone have that? “You can be excited Hun, yes you
could and no everyone can’t do it.” My heart raced and I started
laughing. Carna sat on the bed smiling at me.

“
Carna, the other women
with you are my cousins but you don’t look much older than they do,
although my mom never really looked much older than me I guess. The
red hair made us look different enough, but how is that possible?”
Carna thought for a minute and then smiled at me again.

“
Eris is my daughter and
she just had her twenty-third birthday. Selene turned twenty-two
the week before and I believe you will be eighteen in a few days.
You’re Mother, Kali and I are all a year apart, and just wait till
you see Freya, your Grandmother. She looks about ten years older
than me. It’s something that has been passed along the generations
a long with the reason we all look so much alike and possess
certain qualities, but I don’t want to push all of that on you at
once Hun.” I thought about the letter that Mom had written and the
curse for a moment, maybe I should tell Carna I know about the
curse.

“
You’re Mom told you about
the curse?” I started to wonder how long this mind reading trick
would last before nodding. “That’s great, takes a lot off my
shoulders. I thought I would have to tell you everything.” She
stood up, the commotion downstairs had quieted and I realized I had
managed to stay away from them the whole time, thank heaven for Wyn
taking over for me. Carna and I walked out of the bedroom into the
hall. It was so quiet in the house, and then I heard laughter. I
had not heard laughter in my house in months; it was such a nice
sound.

“
I think that sound means
it is time for you to meet some more of your family Delilah.” We
walked down the stairs and I saw three beautiful dark haired women
on my couch. I knew Ally was in the middle, but found myself trying
to guess who was Selene and who was Eris, they were all talking and
laughing together, Ally was a hard person to get to relax, if they
were not using magic they had my vote already. I sat on the love
seat on the other side of the living room, looking at the room full
of women that looked so much alike, even Ally had more of a Grace
look than I had.