The path was covered in that same green ooze. A ghastly howl filtered through the branches of the seasonably multicolored trees and shrubs that dotted the landscape.
I knew exactly where I was going. Anger and confusion filled me, and a little doubt. This could not be happening. How could a Castor be behind all this?
A few minutes later, I stood in front of the mausoleum that bore the name Castorini. My family name, way back before my ancestors had shortened it to better fit in with those who’d settled the new world, had been etched into the stone hundreds of years ago. Generations of my people were laid to rest there. One day I would be placed within its marble walls as well.
A shudder ran through me. I had no desire to die. Not now. Not for a very long time. My eyes found the plaque that bore my grandfather’s name, Alfonso Castor, and I noted the effervescent slime that coated it a day ago was now spilling out onto the ground, and through the entire cemetery.
Fucking hell.
All my fears were coming true. It was like the thing had sprung a supernatural leak. I narrowed my eyes, taking in the rot and the foul stench that came with it.
Whatever was happening, it wasn’t good, and my Grandpa was most certainly behind it. I hardly remembered the man, except fondly. Even if Nonna would often spit on the ground whenever his name got mentioned.
Now, I knew it hadn’t worked before, but I figured now was the time to ask the Goddess for some help. I needed it. The children of Castor’s Corner needed it.
“In this hour,
I ask of thee,
Goddess of all powers that be,
That the sight increaseth in me,
Blood to blood, I call on family,
Today to see and nevermore,
Bring the ghost of Al Castor.”
I waited, worrying my bottom lip between my teeth. My rhyming sucked, but I was polite. That had to count for something.
I looked down at my peach dress and sweater, grateful for the tiny one inch pumps since the green slime was now pooling on the ground in thick, goopy puddles. Darn it. I liked them too. I hoped they survived whatever was about to happen.
“Is that you, Evelyn?” a familiar voice boomed in my ear.
I shrieked and turned so fast I wound up falling flat on my butt. The slime beneath me let out a grotesque squelching sound that had my overactive gag reflex dangerously close to making me heave up my hastily eaten breakfast. The muffin sat in my stomach like lead while I got my heaving under control. My head snapped up as I heard a chuckle from the same voice.
Ohmygawd!
Floating above the mass of graves, with a gaping hole where his nether regions should be, was my Grandpa Al. He looked the same as I remembered. Well, sans manhood of course.
I had never seen anything like it. He had a giant red circle with a line through it right over his crotch. Beneath that was, well, nothing. He was totally see-through.
“Evelyn? That you?”
“Uh yeah. You, uh, look good Grandpa. Um, except for the being dead part,” I muttered.
The whole deceased thing rendered him somewhat see through. But other than that, he had the same white hair, big grin, Roman nose, and appalling taste in clothes. Dressed like a 1970s golfer in horrific lime, banana, and brown plaid pants with a garish lime shirt, enormous square glasses tinted brown, and a stogey hanging out of his mouth, Grandpa Al beamed at me.
“Look at you, bellissima! But then you always took after your Nonna,” he said with a husky laugh.
“Uh, thanks,” I said and stood up, ignoring the wet glops of slime that fell off the back of my now utterly ruined dress.
“Is she here? Where is that wonderful witch? Drove me crazy my whole life. She even zapped my manhood to the netherworld. Killed me with her cruelty, but still, that does not stop my desire for her. What a woman!”
He laughed and shook his head, and I threw up a little in my mouth. The last thing I wanted to picture was my Grandparents and anything remotely connected with sex.
Wait. What? Did he just say my grandmother killed him?
“Hold on a second, what do you mean killing you? Nonna killed you?”
“Evelyn, my love, I may have technically died of a coronary, but how else could a man live without that which made him a man? And who else but she who had my heart would have done this to me?”
He barked another laugh and pointed to his missing junk.
“Nonna zapped your, um, boy parts to smithereens?”
“That’s man parts. And of course she did. What else could she do when she found out I’d slept with her two best friends?” he asked.
“What? You cheated on Nonna?”
“I had needs, Evelyn, please try to understand.”
“Understand?” I ground out, outraged on my Nonna’s behalf.
I knew warlocks were weasels, but I did not know my own Grandpa Al was a lying, cheating, two faced sonovabitch.
“I loved your Nonna,” he said.
“Why did you cheat, then? Why not ask for a divorce?” I shouted.
I shook so hard in my rage, more goo ran off the back of my dress and dripped down my legs.
“It is complicated. But I have been gone for so long, Evelyn. I forgive her for doing this to me. Now, is she here? I want to see her,” he asked, and my heart squeezed in my chest.
“Wait a minute,” I said, shushing him before he could speak. “So, you are telling me that my lovely cookie baking grandmother who taught me everything I needed to know about being a mayor and a witch castrated you and killed you? And you, my beloved Grandpa, who used to bring me pineapples and pinch my cheeks, was a two-timing scuzz bucket?” I said, er, okay, I screamed.
“No! Well, not really. You see, it was a magical castration. She made it impossible for me to, um, well---”
“OMG, please stop talking,” I muttered, swallowing back my bile and shaking my head.
The sound of howling reached me, and I looked up to see a ginormous gray wolf bounding towards me, teeth bared as he snarled at my deceased grandfather. Behind him were a large, lumbering grizzly bear and a fifty-foot python that was easily two and a half feet wide at his thickest.
Holy fuck.
“Shifters? Are they new to Castor’s Corner, Evie? You know what that means for our town,” Grandpa Al tsked.
“Shut up, you,” I replied.
“Evie!” Donny came charging in with an out of breath Maribella behind her.
“We are here to help battle the, um, wait--- Isn’t that your Grandpa?”
“Oh my, how you have grown,” Grandpa Al said, tearing up as he took in the three of us. “Turn around, ragazzi, let me look at you.”
“What are you talking about, Grandpa Al?” I asked my embarrassingly jovial Grandpa.
“You girls have grown so!” he gushed.
“Um, okay,” Donny said, turning to me. “Evie, the two kids missing are Mrs. Fox’s youngest set of twins, Ginger and Nugget.”
“No! But they’re just babies,” I said, horrified.
The two young fox Shifter twins were only in second grade. Castor’s Corner was such a tight community, I knew almost everyone who lived within city limits by first name. This was so not happening on my watch.
“Evelyn?” Grandpa Al called me, but I was more than angry.
Aqua colored flames danced along my fingertips, and my magic was hungry. My powers pushed at me, urging me to zap something or one. Could I zap a ghost? I had no idea. But maybe I was about to find out. I motioned for my friends to move behind me, and I faced my grandfather.
“Look, I don’t know anything about you or Nonna. I am here for one thing only, and though I told them not to, my friends have come to help. These Shifters are my guests in town, and I do not have to explain that to you---”
“You know Shifters and witches don’t normally---”
“Shut it, Grandpa. The only thing I want to know from you is where are the Fox children?”
“What? What children?”
“The missing Fox children,” I stated again.
It was not easy, facing off against my own flesh and, er, make that kin. He wasn’t alive. But he was still family, much as it pained me.
“The only missing children are you three, and my heart has waited for this moment for a long time,” Grandpa Al said.
I noticed his spirit flickering in and out and wondered for a moment why the Goddess granted Maribella and Donatella the ability to see him. With my gift of sight, I was used to seeing the occasional passing spirit. But this was different.
“Evelyn, when Nonna cursed me, it was not she, but my broken heart, that did me in. You see, I was not a faithful husband. I loved life and women. But looking at you, I could not be sorry,” he said, and motioned to not only me, but Donny and Bella as well.
“What are you saying?” I asked, and felt my friends grab my hands.
I needed their support. Appreciated it too. At that moment, the entire world was about to change for the three of us, we just didn’t know it yet.
“Don’t you realize, little one? You three are all mine,” he announced proudly.
My wolf stepped closer to me, pressing against my legs. The show of support necessary as I felt my knees knock under the weight of the bomb Grandpa Al had just dropped. I noticed the bear had moved next to Donny and the giant snake had slithered close to Bella.
“You three are my granddaughters,” Grandpa Al continued. “A powerful trifecta with real Castorini blood pumping inside of your veins! Top that, ha! Who’d even dare?”
“What? That can’t be,” I gasped, looking at Maribella and Donatella, who stood shocked at Grandpa Al’s confession.
“Don’t be such a prude. Warlocks aren’t known for being stand up guys, you know. Your grandmother was the love of my life, but I broke her heart, and she took her due vengeance making it impossible for me to stray again,” he said, pointing to the gaping hole below his abdomen.
“But that was not the worst of my punishment, deserved or not,” he lamented. “Your Nonna, she banished me from town. Beneath that plaque in our family mausoleum is an empty tomb.”
“How are you here now?” I asked, bewildered by the revelations he’d imparted so far.
“Ah, that is where you three wonderful granddaughters come in. I have been trying to get in here for years. Finally, the other day, the wards came down for an instant, but it was enough, and here I am. I have been haunting the cemetery ever since, hoping to get you to come visit.”
“You’re our Grandpa too?” Donny asked quietly.
“Yes,” the ghost replied.
“So, we’re related,” Bella added.
“Oh my Goddess,” I whispered.
“Why do you think your trifecta is so blessed?” he asked, with a bizarre toothless grin. “But here, Evelyn, you know with your sight you can visit the past, and maybe the future, though that is trickier.”
“What can I do?” I asked, stunned by his revelation.
It was true I had not done a lot with my gift. Having the sight was tricky and my own powers were wonky at best.
“Darling girl, your Nonna was the most renowned seer witch in an age. You have the gift. Just learn to trust yourself. The sight is not just predictions, my dear, it is projecting through time, visiting ages. Come, try now. Go to your fondest memory of me and Nonna,” he cajoled.
I wondered if he was right. Did my sight really mean I was a seer witch? Could I use my gift to project through time? The idea was incredible. I started by closing my eyes. Next, I searched for the memory he spoke of. It was right there. I was three and my Grandparents had taken me to the beach in Maccon City.
This was more than a memory, I realized, and felt tears pour down my face. I could feel my Nonna’s kisses on my chubby cherub cheeks. I felt my Grandpa Al hoist me onto his shoulders and run with me down the sandy shore. He dangled me over the waves, and I squealed with laughter as the salt spray covered my tiny body.
“That was incredible!” I gasped, opening my eyes.
“Yes, my beauty. And so are you,” Grandpa Al said, warming me with his compliment.
My besties were absorbing the unexpected news, and I admit, I was too stunned to really comprehend it. But I had other things to fix too. Before it was too late.
“Um, Grandpa? What is it you want?”
“Nonna, where is she?” he asked.
I hated the hope I saw in his eyes because I knew I was about to crush it. This was the part about adulting that really sucked.
“Nonna has gone on to the Next Adventure, Grandpa Al.”
“No! When?” he asked sadly.
“A while ago,” I whispered reverently.
“Then I must meet her,” he said and began to fade.
“Wait! Where are the children?” I shouted, wiping at the tears streaming down my face.
“I do not know about any other children, my bambini. But may I ask you for something?”
“He doesn’t know,” Donny repeated, and frowned.
I knew he was telling the truth. But that didn’t mean I was ready to just give up. Mixed emotions roiled through me, but I tried to keep a lid on it. I mean, it was a lot to take in. I was talking to my dead grandfather. My best friends were really my cousins. And I had a mate. At least, I think so. Plus, I was on a mission to save some Shifter children.
“Sure, Grandpa. What did you want to ask me?”
“I want for you to have my remains excised and brought here. I have paid for my sins. Bring me home, granddaughters. I beg you,” he said.
I turned to look at my two best friends. Bewildered and stunned were the two words that came to mind, but something clicked, and suddenly I was pulling them closer. I threw my arms around both, hugging them to within an inch of their lives. Our magic pulsed and flared, aqua, pink, and gold filling the gloomy graveyard.
“Cousins?” Maribella said with a borderline hysterical laugh.
“Yeah,” Donny said, gulping.
“Cousins,” I agreed, smiling widely.
I couldn’t help it. I’d loved them when they were just friends, but now that I knew they were family, I felt that love grow and bond us even tighter. Turning back to Grandpa Al, I noticed him staring off into oblivion.
“What is it, Grandpa?” I asked.
“Evelyn, there is danger! You must go! Go! Now!”
The funnel cloud started to come closer, travelling at increasing speeds. The fury of its winds wreaked havoc on our little cemetery, and worse, it sucked the ghost of my Grandpa Al, floaty feet thingies first.
“Run! Go now! Run, ragazzi! Be saaaaaaaaaffffe!”
Then he was gone. My heart hurt, but there was no time to react. The three Shifters needed no other warning. Bear, python, and wolf growled and bounded forward. Jaxson yipped at my heels and then his voice was in my head.
“Get on, Evie. We have to leave.”
“Oh fuck,” Donny yelled. “Can you hear them in your heads?” she asked me and Maribella.
We all looked at each other. I smiled widely and nodded at my friends, make that my cousins, before vaulting onto my wolf’s back. His fur tickled my thighs, and I held on while he bolted through the cemetery like the hounds of hell were behind us. Maybe they were.
I looked to see if the others had followed suit. They had. Donatella was on the humongous bear’s back, her arms wrapped around his bulging neck, and Maribella clung to the giant snake. Behind them was a dark black funnel cloud. I gasped as red eyes flashed from inside the whirlwind.
That was no regular storm cloud. And if I ran from it, who was to say it wouldn’t follow me out of the cemetery and into the heart of town? No. I needed to meet this thing head on.
“Stop!” I yelled, pulling on Jaxson’s fur.
My wolf stopped short, and I almost fell off, but a quick jump and shift on his part, and I was suddenly firmly wrapped in his arms. His very naked arms. I frowned and waved my hand, dressing him before my own green-eyed monster showed up. His naked bits were for my eyes only, far as I was concerned.