My First Coven

We Are Family

 'You didn't need to ring the bell you know.'

'I know.'

'Come in Morrigan, I'll put the kettle on.'

Morrigan walked in to her sister Miriam's house. It smelt clean, almost too clean; of bleach and disinfectant. The house did feel somewhat clinical, Miriam's obsession with keeping things clean since her husband died had never let up. She had a cleaner in at least twice a week and always had cleaning supplies on hand.

'How have you been sis?' Morrigan asked as she perched herself on a high stool at the large granite island in the middle of the kitchen, placing her handbag down next to her.

'The usual, busy working.' Miriam said as she made a pot of tea, brining out a small milk jug and a bowl of sugar. As soon as the kettle boiled, she filled the teapot and left it to brew for a minute.

'You spoken to Maddie recently?'

Miriam let out a long sigh.

'No I haven't.'

Morrican subtly scowled at her older sister.

'You need to speak to her more you know? Whether you think she does or not, she needs her mum.'

'You don't think I know that Mori? I just, I...' Miriam sighed deeply again. 'I don't know, I feel like we've drifted apart since her father died. It's my fault.'

'You're right, it is your fault.' Morrigan stated as her sister had finished pouring some milk in to her cup of tea. She reached over and took the cup, bringing it to her lips for a sip. Miriam looked slightly shocked when her sister told her that, then Morrigan continued.

'Listen, Maddie's a strong kid. It's blatantly clear that she got over her father dying long ago but you clearly haven't.' Morrigan was giving her sister some tough love right now.

'I'm pretty sure she hates me.' Miriam said. 'She's always liked you more.'

'She doesn't hate you. The reason you two have drifted apart is because she thinks you don't have the time of day for her and to be honest, I can understand why she thinks that.' Morrigan was getting irate now. Miriam was the older sister, she should be the one that gave everyone advice and a verbal bollocking once in a while; not the other way round. Miriam just looked at her sister with slight confusion.

'Aw come on Miriam don't tell me you don't know why? Seriously.' Morrigan shook her head in disbelief. ' You ship her off to boarding school as soon as she was old enough. You work all the time even when she's home in the holidays, you don't go anywhere, you never visit her at school in fact, you barely call her or even message her. Want me to go on? And the reason why Maddie and I get on well is because she's my niece and I don't fucking treat her like a child.'

Miriam looked shocked to the point where her eyes were glassing over with tears. She wasn't going to cry though. She did know exactly why her only daughter was becoming more and more distant.

'For real though sis, you need to get over Mark dying. You've had the best part of a decade nearly to get over it. Mourning for that fucking long doesn't suit you.' Morrigan was playing bad cop. She didn't feel that great being this awful to her own sister, but this was probably the only she would listen to her.

Miriam just stayed quiet. What her sister was telling her was true. She had never got over her husband dying and it had ruined her relationship with her only child. Moment of time passed in silence as Miriam casually wiped a stray tear from her eye with the back of her hand.

'So, how did her awakening go?' Miriam asked genuinely wanting to know.

'It went quite well actually considering she knew nothing. She was quite sick in the first week but got better. Her initiation went well too.'