Conjuring Cupcakes, page 8
“Charlotte, I know—”
“You know what?” I cut in, already done with her presence in my house. “I don’t want to hear whatever you have to say. It’s five years too late, so thanks for coming, I guess, but you can leave now.”
I folded my arms and turned away, facing the wall behind the couch I stood in front of and blinking the hot tears out of my eyes. Why was I crying? It irritated me even more, and I blinked rapidly until I’d managed to get rid of the tears that had built up in my eyes. The method didn’t always work, but the universe must have been smiling down on me, because in a few moments my eyes were somewhat dry again.
I didn’t hear any footsteps or anything that would indicate that my mother was leaving, so I turned around again and eyed her with annoyance.
“Is there a reason you’re still here?” I asked. She opened her mouth to respond, but it was Detective Grey who stepped in and spoke to me.
“I know you’re angry, Charlotte, but I think we need to sit and listen to what Tiana has to say. It might be important.”
I raised my eyebrows at him. He was supposed to be on my side, but I pushed that thought away a moment later. It was too childish, and as much as I wanted to resent him for asking me to do the exact opposite of what I wanted to do at the present moment, I recognized that he was right. My mother, as flighty as she was, wouldn’t be in my house without a concrete reason.
After all, if all she wanted to do was apologize to me, she could have just called or texted me, and I would have been fine with that. There was no reason to come all the way down to Picklesquare.
Unless she was being sincere, a voice in my head reminded me… a voice that sounded suspiciously like my grandmother’s. I swatted the thought away mentally. I preferred to think that she was here for something more important than apologizing to the daughter she’d been cold to for years.
“Fine,” I said finally, and they both relaxed subtly. I took two steps backward and plopped myself on the couch behind me, watching as Detective Grey and my mother did the same.
When everyone was settled, I asked again, “Why are you here, Tiana?” She winced at the use of her name, but I wasn’t going to let her think we were still fine by calling her “Mom.”
“Charlotte, I—”
I held up a hand to stop her, and when she paused, looking confused, I shook my head at her.
“I don’t want your cheap apologies or anything. I just want to know why you’re here, and it had better be for a good reason. Also, what is Xenovex, and how did it turn up in a teacup at Helena Parkson’s tea party?”
She sighed and leaned back in her chair. It suddenly struck me how much older she looked. There were more lines on her face than I remembered, and more gray hairs than she’d had previously. It made me a little sad to think that she was growing old, and that in decades I’d probably be burying her, but I quickly buried that under my anger. Don’t go soft, Charlotte.
“Well?” I prompted her after moments of waiting for an answer that wasn’t coming anytime soon. She shot me a look that would have made me quake when I was fourteen, but all it did now was make me settle down just a bit.
“I’m getting to it, Charlie.”
“Don’t call me that.” I couldn’t stop myself from correcting her. She fixed eyes on me and took a sip from the tea cup she cradled in her hand.
“Charlotte, then. As I was about to say, I’m sorry about Diana, but I don’t know what happened that day, or why it would end up at Helena Parkson’s party, of all people,” she said, muttering the last bit under her breath.
“What do you mean you don’t know why? Casper said the last of the Xenovex was in your possession.”
She shook her head. “Maybe it’s not where I left it anymore. Charlotte, I don’t carry it around. I never thought that it would go missing or someone would steal it. It was so obscure and only a few people besides myself and Casper knew I had it.”
I wanted to let out another barb and say that maybe if she’d been more careful Diana would still be alive, but it would be dumb to keep on antagonizing the person who might have answers to some of my questions. I was still irritated at her for just popping up out of the blue and expecting that we would go back to the way we’d been before she’d left me to my grandmother, but I was also tired of everything—of being angry, of the hoops I’d had to jump through just to find the Dark Stone, of the sadness that still simmered in my gut and the gaping hole in my chest that hurt whenever I thought about Diana.
So I let the rage flow out of me with one exhale, and then, calmer than I thought I could be, asked, “And you have no idea who would want to steal it? Or why they would be interested in Diana?”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Charlotte. It’s obvious how much she meant to you. I promise I’ll do everything I can to help with whatever you’re doing.”
I shook my head. The offer was nice of her, but I didn’t want to be around her more than I had to.
Detective Grey finally spoke up.
“You still haven’t told us why you’re in Picklesquare,” he said.
She took another sip from her cup and placed it, saucer and all, on the small square table beside her armchair.
“I was getting to that, but yes, I’m not just here to see you, Charlotte.”
Oh really? I couldn’t tell.
The look on my face must have said what I was thinking, because after meeting my gaze she looked away, choosing to focus on Detective Grey instead.
“I’m in Picklesquare because I needed to speak with you, Charlotte. Two days ago, Elena Appleman was in my dreams, and then I saw her in real life. She said you’re in danger.” She turned to me, looking concerned. “And that you might need my help. So,” she smiled at me awkwardly, “here I am.”
I really didn’t want to accept any help from her, but the thought of Diana and Detective Grey’s raised eyebrow at me said rejecting the offer of help would be the most foolish thing I’d ever done in my life. Also, my mother seemed to know more about the supernatural than I did. It would irritate me endlessly when I eventually ended up asking for her help at some point, but it was unavoidable.
I sighed. I could feel the tension in the air, like they were both holding their breaths, waiting to see what choice I would make. To accept my mother’s help, or to snub the outstretched hand because I didn’t want to work with her?
It wasn’t even a choice for me. There was only one option I could go with.
“So what do you know about Xenovex?” I said finally.
Her face brightened up, and I hated myself for the brief burst of warmth that bloomed in my chest after seeing her smile at my acceptance of her help.
She leaned back in her chair, thinking over what to say. Then she sat up again and looked between both of us.
“Well, I can’t say much, which is as much of a disappointment for me as it is for you. I can’t tell you who gave it to me, or why, but I can tell you what I know about the poison. The name itself is a recent thing, and quite modern. It was named in the 90s or the 80s, I can’t quite remember.”
She paused to take a sip of her tea, and then went on.
“No one alive knows how it’s made, and if they do, they’re keeping the secret of making it to themselves. It has been passed down from person to person, and it eventually came down to me. I have no idea what the criteria for choosing the holders of the poison are—only that they have to promise not to use it.”
That doesn’t mean much. People break promises all the time.
“It’s odorless, but causes some color change in whatever it’s added to. I’m sorry that you had to find this out the hard way, but it also kills extremely fast, usually before any sort of medical help can arrive.”
I sunk further into my chair at the reminder of Diana’s death. Fortunately, she changed the topic quickly.
“I do know that it’s been a subject of much interest among certain circles in the scientific community and among those who know. In the underground markets it would sell for quite a lot if anyone intended to sell it off, although I can’t imagine why they would do that. Also a lot of supernaturals are interested in it, though I don’t know why.”
Thanks, Tiana, but none of this has been actually helpful.
“What else?” I asked, before I could stop myself. My mother raised an eyebrow at me.
“What?”
I sighed, loud and irritated. “I asked what else? What else do you know? Because none of what you just told me will help me find Diana’s killer.”
She pursed her lips like she always did whenever she was trying not to say something she would regret or she was trying to do both.
“Charlotte…” She sighed again, trailing off. She took a deep breath and started again. “Your great-grandmother appeared to me, and if my guess is right, she’ll want to speak to you too.”
“So you don’t know when exactly she’ll be coming?”
She shook her head. “No, but I can tell you it won’t be long. I know you don’t want to even breathe the same air as me, but you’ll have to wait for a bit for Elena.”
I considered the idea. I didn’t want to wait. We’d already found the Dark Stone, and all that was left was to contact the mysterious caller and see what they said. Then again, Elena Appleman might know a lot about everything I wanted to know. All in all, it was best to wait for her. The Dark Stone wasn’t going anywhere, after all.
I huffed and slouched in my chair. “Fine, I’ll wait. Just don’t expect me to be happy about it.”
13
Elena Appleman
We were doing a bit of catch-up, Detective Grey and my mother doing most of the talking. Who was I kidding—they were having a conversation with each other while I stewed in my anger over in my corner on the couch. I’d cooled down a bit as the time passed, but I still wasn’t okay with my mother being in my house. How had she even gotten in?
I appreciated that they both realized I wasn’t in the mood for small talk, with everything that was going on and the strained relationship with my mother. Detective Grey didn’t have any such problems with her, though, and was happily telling her what his father was getting up to as an amateur ghost hunter/ghost-whisperer.
At some point Pearl sauntered out of the kitchen, where she’d been devouring the can of tuna I’d gone to put out for her when she started meowing so loudly Detective Grey and my mother could barely converse. I put out my arm and she jumped onto my arm, as I quickly brought my other arm around to support her weight before placing her on my lap.
My mother paused in the middle of the story she was telling Detective Grey about his father to stare at Pearl.
“That cat feels extremely familiar,” she said. I shook my head at her. “You haven’t met Pearl before?”
She waved the question away.
“It’s not that,” she said. “It just… this might sound strange, but that cat feels like my mother.”
Detective Grey and I looked at each other. I couldn’t stop the corners of my lips from lifting in a small smile.
“Well, sometimes Grandma possesses the cat, so I guess you’re not completely wrong,” I replied.
My mother looked shocked, for whatever reason. I was about to tell her that it wasn’t the end of the world, and then I realized she wasn’t even looking at me. She was looking behind me, at something that made her stiffen.
Detective Grey wasn’t as shocked, but there was something definitely surprising as his eyes widened, and he too, looked behind me.
I turned around immediately. There was a woman standing in the kitchen doorway. Her hair was white and pulled back into a tight bun, and her clothes looked like something out of an 80s’ magazine. The most striking thing about her, however, was the fact that I could see the white of the kitchen countertop behind her through her body.
She smiled at us, so I relaxed. She didn’t seem to be malicious, and I had an inkling of just who was standing before us. It was my mother’s reaction that confirmed it. She stood up from her chair and walked a few steps forward until she was standing in front of the ghost.
“Elena?”
I got to my feet too, much to Pearl’s displeasure.
“That’s Elena Appleman?” I looked at my mother, who nodded.
“I can speak for myself, thank you very much,” Elena said. We all turned back to her, and Pearl meowed from beside me.
“Hello to you again, Tiana,” the ghost said, smiling at my mother and looking as demure and fancy as a wealthy woman in her time period would look.
She turned to me and nodded, but she wasn’t looking at me.
“And hello to you too, Melinda,” she said to Pearl. My mother whirled round to stare at Pearl too.
“Is my mother in the cat?” she shrieked. I couldn’t tell why she seemed to have such an issue with it, but thankfully, Detective Grey answered for me.
“It’s kind of complicated, but yes, Melinda’s the one in the cat now. She only possesses the cat when it’s important, though.”
My mother shook her head at him. “That doesn’t really answer any of my questions, but there are more pressing issues at stake right now, aren’t there?” she said, turning back to where I stood, facing the ghost who was inspecting me with such enthusiasm I was starting to get worried.
“And you must be Charlotte,” Elena Appleman said. I mustered up a smile even though it felt like dragging an object out of rapidly hardening concrete.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
She nodded back, and then clapped her hands loudly.
“Now that the introductions are over with, let’s get back to the real reason I’m here—has Tiana told you anything?”
I sneaked a glance at my mother, suddenly realizing that she might have met Elena in the flesh when she was much younger. They certainly don't act as awkward and distant as Elena and I. My mother shrugged.
“I told her only what you asked me to, that she might be in danger and might need my help. You didn’t give me any more information, so I did my best.”
The ghost nodded at her and turned back to me. “Have you accepted her help?”
“Well, yes, but I don’t even know what I need her help for—”
“That’s wonderful. I’ll get to that now.” She paused. It was weird to imagine the thought of a ghost looking unsure of themselves, but she quickly grew confident. I guessed ghosts and human beings just occupied different ends of the same spectrum, but if I wanted to be sure I’d have to ask George. I filed that thought away as something to do much, much later when all of this was done and dusted. I tuned back into the conversation.
“Well, this might be unbelievable, but please hold any questions you might have until I’ve finished explaining. Do you understand?” She looked between us, “us” not including Detective Grey, for whatever reason. I nodded, following the action with a “Yes” and my mother echoed my words a second later.
Elena nodded, satisfied. “You might want to be seated for this,” she said. I headed back to my spot on the couch next to Pearl, starting to get frustrated at the suspense. Just tell us what it is already!
When we were all settled, she took a few steps forward that brought her into the room, and took a deep breath, something I didn’t think ghosts needed to do. It must have been a subconscious action, because without even exhaling she began to speak.
“I assume we all know by now that I used to be a witch.” She looked around as all of us, even Detective Grey, nodded, then went on, “Well, I can’t say whether it was by choice or that I was manipulated into choosing to become one, but looking back I can’t say that I regret the choice.”
“How to say this? Tiana, Charlotte, even Melinda—you all inherited my genes, and of course, my magic. Meaning, of course, that you’re both—”
“Witches,” my mother and I said simultaneously. Pearl meowed a second later.
“Yes,” Elena said with a nod. She looked at me, probably trying to gauge my reaction. I didn’t know whether to apologize for a lack of the shock she’d probably expected on my face. So many things had happened since I’d come to Picklesquare that some things, like being told by the ghost of your great-grandmother that you were a witch, didn’t really faze me as they should have.
There was also the fact that I had no idea what being a witch even entailed, so I didn’t know whether to be excited or to be disgusted. All I knew was from books and movies, and there were so many different interpretations of witches. Would I turn green and have numerous warts all over my face while I stirred the bones of children in a large cauldron? Would I have to move into the forest and live in a cottage while swanning around in black robes and bare feet?
“Oh,” was all I could muster. My mother gave me an affronted look.
“‘Oh’? Is that all you have to say?” she asked. I shrugged. Why is she taking it so personally?
Elena saved me from having to answer. “There’s nothing wrong with not being overly enthused about this revelation, Tiana. Leave the girl alone.”
It felt strange to be called a girl after so many years, but I supposed I was indeed a girl compared to Elena.
“And it’s not like she has her powers at the moment either, so there’s no use in getting excited about the revelation.”
“What do you mean I don’t have my powers?” I had to ask. “But you just said—”
“I know what I said, Charlotte,” Elena replied sternly. “Your powers are dormant, however, which is one of the reasons I asked Tiana to come to Picklesquare.”
I glanced at my mother, confused.
“What do you mean? What does her presence here have to do with anything?” I asked.
Elena shook her head. “I can’t tell you why, because I don’t know the answer myself, but her presence near you is a crucial factor in waking up your powers. It’s probably due to the magic being inherited, but I can’t give you any other reason as to why.”
