Witch Doctors Inc: SEASON TWO (Ongoing)

Part 2.10

"I can't believe your dad was friends with Big Boss," Addy pouts.

Maya mirrors my frown. "It's odd that they felt the need to keep that from you."

"Very suspicious," Ruby agrees.

Onyx is glued to the window, where a mini hippopotamus stomps its way around a bed of roses.

"You'd better not be bullying those hippopotamuses," I growl.

Onyx turns to me with wide eyes. Lily! I would never. His ears perk up as another mini hippopotamus waddles across the lawn. If a fight should ensue between myself and a hippopotamus, I assure you it was the hippopotamus who started it.

Addy rests her head on the side of my guest bed. "I'm so glad you're finally opening up to us, Lily," she says. "I was worried about you."

I cringe. "You guys didn't buy the headache excuse?"

Ruby snorts. "Do you think we're that dumb? You visit a haunted house, then suddenly you have a headache? Please."

I'm not in the mood for Ruby's conspiracies. "Why did you pretend to believe me?" I ask Maya.

She gives me a sly smile. "I thought it was better to let you cool down. Then I planted two potted acanthines outside your door. I've been checking them every few hours for signs of the dark power."

So that's what those were for. Acanthines absorb magical energy, so any residual energy in the atmosphere would build up in their leaves and stems. I though Maya was just decorating.

"What's the verdict?" I ask her.

She chuckles. "They're not any feistier than usual. I didn't find any evidence that you'd lost control of the dark power, or I would have kicked your door down."

"I was in on the plot," Ruby feels the need to say.

Addy picks Onyx up and sets him in her lap. Stroking him between the ears, she says, "I wonder what's in that basement."

It is not a ghost, Onyx assures me. And you did not harm your mother, Lily. I watched you closely when you were small. Your innate connection to magic had not developed sufficiently for that.

Something clicks in my mind. "You!" I point a finger at the accursed, conniving cat. "You were there when Big Boss would visit the house! You knew he was a family friend."

All eyes turn to Onyx.

That was many years ago, Onyx says. I cannot be expected to keep a mental dictionary of every human I have ever met.

"So when we moved into the Witch Doctors Inc building, you didn't happen to notice that the guy in the boss's office was the same uncle who brought me toy cauldrons as a kid?"

He may or may not have looked familiar. I did not give it any thought.

I glare at him.

"Are you going to check out that basement, Lily?" Addy asks. "We could come with you."

"I'm not ready," I say. "I need to get a grip before I go back. I've got to play it safe with the dark power being so unpredictable."

Ruby rolls her eyes. "Meanwhile, the fires keep appearing. The next time you see your stepmother, she'll be a ghost."

The next time you open your mouth, I think , you'll join her.

I will go, Onyx says. No one is suspicious of cats.

"They should be," I mutter.

"I don't like you going alone, Onyx," says Addy. "You're just a small kitty. It could be dangerous."

I am more than I seem, Adamantine. I will go to Lily's house and see what is in the basement. If anyone tries any fishy business, they will regret it.

The cat might be infuriating, but I'm glad he's going and not me. Despite all the logic in the world, I don't want to face what's in that basement. I'm still not strong enough for the truth.

*

Me and Addy sit in the grass, the warm breeze ruffling our hair, under a sky painted with flames. A mini hippopotamus bounces over to Addy. It shakes it ears happily, then peers up at her with large, hopeful eyes.

"Here you go," Addy beams, holding out a rose for it to nibble on. The hippo swallows it in one big gulp, then lets out a rosy burp.

"You shouldn't be feeding it," I say."It's a wild animal. It'll bring all its friends, and then no one will have any rose bushes left."

Addy scratches her chin sheepishly. "It's just that he's a bit smaller than the others, and he can't balance on his hind legs very well. It's hard for him to get the roses that are higher up."

I sigh. The hippo rests its chin on Addy's knee. Addy feeds it another rose, and its eyes fill with sunlight-speckled tears. I swear it's deliberately playing up the cuteness, and Addy's falling for it without so much as a fight.

"Why is Onyx taking so long?" I grumble.

Addy giggles as the mini hippo chews on her finger. "Maybe he saw some food and got distracted. He's going through the kitchen after all. Wouldn't it be funny if he comes back with a full belly and no answers?"

Funny? I'd have him executed.

Maya brings out a plate of scones. I cringe at the sight of them. I'm going to see scones in my nightmares.

"Do mini hippopotamuses eat scones?" Addy enquires.

The little hippo turns its cuteness on Maya.

"I don't think so," she replies. "Their diet consists of flowers and grass."

The hippo stomps its foot.

"Now don't be like that," Addy chides it. "It isn't good for you."

Maya settles into the grass next to us. "Have you been to see Onyx yet?" she asks.

"He's still mucking around at Emmeline's place," I say.

"No, he isn't. He's upstairs. He's been here half the day."

Me and Addy exchange a glance. "Has he said anything?" I ask Maya.

Maya shakes her head. "He was in a terrible mood when he trotted in. I tried to give him a scone and he said 'Maya, please do not bother me with pleasantries', then went upstairs to sulk. I thought you'd know by now."

I frown. "He didn't say what he found in the basement?"

"No, he didn't. I didn't pester him about it because I thought he might scratch me."

That blasted cat. He's been sitting on important info for half a day? Because, what? His fur got rubbed in the wrong direction?

I leave Maya, Addy and the hippo, and stomp upstairs.

Onyx, I know you're up here, I say telepathically.

Silence.

"What did you find in the basement?"

I do not wish to speak to you.

I find him huddled on a windowsill, his fur drinking in the evening light. Warmth emanates from his body. His eyes, however, are cold.

"You found out what was in the basement, didn't you?"

Onyx simply looks at me. There is an undead hostility in his gaze, a black fire that freezes the skin on my arms.

I did, comes his quiet reply.

Panic starts to rise in me. Onyx is looking at me like I'm not his friend, or the girl he's stood by for centuries. He's looking at me like I'm someone else, someone he despises.

Do not ask me to help you, he says. I will not. You are not deserving of it. You have caused an unforgivable amount of pain. You, and you alone, will face what you did.