Page 25 of Night of the Vampire
Aunt Judy was the only one who had the decency to look ashamed. "You're absolutely right, Lizzy. I'm sorry. This is your decision as much as it is ours."
"Maybe if we showed her," Alice suggested.
"I agree," Aunt Judy told her. Then she took my arm and turned me toward the back of the shop. "Come on, honey, there's something I need to show you."
Angel stepped to the side, blocking our path. "I don't agree with this, Judy."
"Noted," my aunt responded. "Now, get the fuck out of my way."
For a moment I was too shocked to move. Not because of what she'd said, but because of the authority and strength in her tone. And by the way Angel's eyes widened in fear before she obediently moved aside.
"Come on, Lizzy."
My curiosity was piqued as I followed her back to the storeroom, both about this relative I thought I kinda knew and what she was about to show me. The rest of the group fell in silently behind us. Aunt Judy flicked on the light, then made her way between the shelves filled with boxes of items for the store. For a minute, I thought she was leading us out the back door, but instead, she squeezed between the wall and the end of a rack of shelves.
"Alex?"
He stepped around the girls and took a hold of the other end. Together, they moved it away from the wall. My aunt took a key from her pocket and inserted it into a lock in the wall I'd never noticed before. Only it wasn't only a lock, it was a door, perfectly disguised within the wall.
"Judy..."
My aunt's head whipped around. "Hush, Angel! This is happening. It needs to happen before she accidentally hurts someone. Lizzy has been out of our reach for too long. And if you can't get on board with that, then you are welcome to leave."
I had the distinct feeling she meant something much more than just leaving the store, for what little color Angel had in her face drained away until she was as pale as a ghost. No one else dared to protest that ultimatum, and after that Angel kept her head down and wouldn't look at me.
Great. As if she didn't already hate me enough. Not that I really cared. But it would make things even more uncomfortable if she was going to make a habit of meeting up with Mike here.
Aunt Judy turned to me. "Lizzy, all I'm asking is that you keep an open mind and hear me out. Then you can make your own choice about what you want to do with the information I'm about to give you. Deal?"
"Deal," I agreed. There was no way I was missing whatever big family secret I was about to be exposed to.
I didn't see her open the door, but suddenly I was looking into the inky blackness of some sort of secret room. My aunt walked into the darkness and candles flared to life, revealing a long rectangular room that ran parallel to the side wall of my store. It was wide enough for everyone to fit inside, yet narrow enough that it wasn't a noticeable flaw in the building from the street.
"Come on, Lizzy."
I looked up to see Alex beside me, waiting for me to proceed him into the room. The others were already inside standing to either side of my aunt. There was a table against the far wall with a chalice in the center. A wooden bowl and pestle sat beside it. Dried herbs hung from the ceiling. Large white candles lined the back, the light of their flames casting shadows on the brick wall behind them.
Next to the big table was a smaller table. A large, black, hardbound book took up most of its surface. The other side of the room contained a few high shelves with more candles and jars filled with various items. I couldn't even begin to try to guess what was inside of them. "What is this?" It looked like some kind of séance room. All it was missing was the Ouija board and Tarot cards. Or maybe a crystal ball. I couldn't believe this had all been back here all this time and I didn't know it.
"Lizzy, this rowdy crew I brought here with me today is your family. Cousins, to be exact. Alex and Alice are your first cousins from your Aunt Charlotte, my sister. Talin and Angel are more distant, but still family, nonetheless."
Family. The word meant little to me. As I'd learned from my mother and father, blood did not make you family. My father had never been in my life. He left us when I was an infant and no one knew where he was now. And my mother, though she had loved me and I her, had always kept me at arm's length. We never really connected, and it had only gotten worse the older I'd become. I'd mourned her when she'd died, but I'd never really missed her. I didn't feel guilty about it, it just was the way it was. And I think she would understand.
So, this big reveal did not have the shock value on me I think my aunt was expecting. It didn't flood me with emotion, or hope, or some kind of instant love. "Okay. Nice to meet you all again." I didn't know what else to say. But they were all staring at me so I felt the need to say something.
Aunt Judy tilted her head, her expression thoughtful. I was beginning to feel like I didn't know her at all, and that bothered me. Out of every relative of mine, she was the only one I'd ever felt remotely close to, even with all the years we'd spent apart.
"I'm going to be blunt with you, hon. I think that will be the best way to do this."
"Please," I told her. But once that was decided, she appeared to be at a loss for words. "So, I assume this room isn't some Halloween joke? A tourist attraction? Some weird séance meetup place?"
"No, hon. This room is warded against anyone who might want to overhear what we're doing in here. We could literally be screaming our heads off and no would hear us."
"Not even if they were standing right there in the storeroom?"
Aunt Judy shook her head. "This is the safest place to have these kinds of discussions."
I rubbed my forehead and pushed my fingers into my hair. "Ok, so, I get that you think you're all a bunch of witches—"
