MATT MIRACLE

CHAPTER ONE#awitchmustnotlive.

The Wilder family was in the middle of a bonding moment; a charming and quite expensive wedding anniversary.

Oliver and Kate were the lucky couples and their kids celebrated alongside them. The Wilders weren’t just the fortunate celebrants but also the only couple with both partners having no divorce history in the town.

This town held up to an odd standard that placed divorce as a means to suffice an ear-ached husband and nag machinery of a wife.
But Oliver and Kate managed to pull their relationship together for 30 years straight without a single scandal popping up on gossip charts.

It could be easily discerned that the Wilders didn’t lack a quantifiable dime judging by the looks of the glamorous event and the caliber of invited personalities flooding in. Various assorted drinks and neatly garnished meals lined the surface of tables and palms of waiters.

The children of the couple were occupied around their fellow wealthy peers, not slowing down when it came to flashing costly accessories and educated suave.

Mr. Wilder stood next to some commissioners at the eastern part of the large hall, discussing issues not far from developing the next money magnet.

Mrs. Wilder stood next to a punch stand having a swell time with her female co-workers. They all laughed cheerfully as they sipped the content of their cold glass.

“Nice party you got going, Kate” a lady draws close to Mrs. Wilder, wearing a smile on her face as she shakes the ice in her drink.

Kate Wilder looks up at the approaching guest with a smile and embraces her warmly, “Just filling the loopholes we can reach, then leaving the rest for the almighty,”

The women present before Kate were more than just co-workers, but they were like an extended branch or pillar to the family.

They held Kate close and stood by her through the rough patches that occurred in the family through the years. Countless unfortunate events happened in the past but nothing on the list hit them hard than hospitalizing their third son due to a motor neuron disease. The family visited every hospital in the state and beyond, but none of them could deliver an operation to save their son. They finally landed on the decision to hospitalize their son permanently after overhearing doctors say the word “impossible” to his condition.

“Well, don’t leave all the work to the lord now,” the lady speaks with a smile after they both disengage the hug.

“Speaking about loopholes” another lady in the small gathering speaks, lowering her voice down a bit to the hearing of her co-workers “How’s Matthew’s case coming. I heard the situation skyrocketed in the hospital yesterday- probably minor convulsions or seizures. I just hope he’s okay”

The small pack of women remained quiet. They turned their heads to Kate slowly to see her reaction to the news, because it shocked them too.

Kate wore a confused look on her face. She almost dropped her glass, lost in deep thought
“When did you hear this?” she said

“Dr. Melvin called me when he couldn’t reach your line. He spoke about something relating to burns and shit like that… nothing beyond the ordinary though” the informant replied.
She stuffs a grape in her mouth and watches curiously as Kate stared into thin air.

Kate was worried as hell right now. She wasn’t sure if it was the punch that made her palms sweaty or her skin pores just expanded abnormally. Fear engulfed her body like an invisible blanket- a thick and stuffy one. Nothing was audible to her but her thoughts ringing in her head.

Her palms moved towards the chaplet hidden in her dress. She squeezes it and says inaudible prayers, her lips clamping together as tears began to roll down her eyes. Her co-workers enveloped her, trying to form a soothing wall of comfort.