Sky Mothers (Born of Shadows Book 4)

by J. R. Erickson

  "Abigail, you practically gave me a heart attack," she gasped, setting the laundry on the table. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your unannounced visit?"

  "Mom, you look great," Abby told her honestly.

  She looked like the mom that Abby remembered from her childhood. The bags under her eyes and the puffiness of her face had dissipated. She looked tired, but healthy.

  Becky pawed at her hair self-consciously, but offered Abby a smile.

  "I feel better, to tell you the truth. Ever since that spa weekend, I don't know." She looked flustered and Abby wondered what her mother remembered of the weekend.

  "I'm so happy that you feel better, Mom."

  Abby strode across the room and hugged her. She breathed in the familiar scent of her Dove soap and the unfamiliar scent of Chanel perfume, the perfume that Sydney used to wear.

  "Abby." Her mother pulled away and looked down at her body. "You've gotten fat!"

  Abby burst out laughing.

  "Mom, I've gotten pregnant, not fat."

  Becky's eyes opened wide and she stared at Abby's stomach for an instant before returning her gaze to her face.

  Her expression was unreadable and Abby fought the urge to apologize for something, though she did not know what.

  Becky sat down roughly in a chair.

  "Mom?" Abby asked.

  Becky looked up at her, troubled.

  "Pregnant? You're in graduate school. What about college?"

  Abby almost laughed. She had told her parents that she had moved to the Upper Peninsula to get her master's degree. She didn't think she had ever specified a major or a career intention. Her mother knew that she had not moved to go to college, but suddenly Abby wondered if the previous several months had vanished from Becky's mind completely. Had she forgotten about Grandma Arlene's special box? Had she forgotten that Abby was no longer an ordinary young woman?

  "Mom, what do you remember about the last few months?"

  Becky frowned and Abby saw the effort as she searched her mind.

  "You left and then Sydney died." Becky gestured with her hand as if that small movement encapsulated everything she hadn't said, but of course, it didn't.

  "Do you remember meeting Sebastian?"

  "Sebastian was the name of the boy who used to visit Sydney. There was a boy and a girl, and their parents too. They died, all of them, except the boy," Becky murmured, remembering. "How sad. I remember when Sydney called to tell me, she just cried and cried."

  Abby listened intently. Her mother had never told her that story. Her mother had never told her much of anything.

  "They were friends of your grandmother Arlene originally."

  "Same Sebastian, mom. He and I are getting married."

  Becky stared hard at the table in front of her.

  "Yes, I think I do remember," she said suddenly. "Very pretty blue eyes."

  "That's him. He's in the car right now."

  "Here?" Becky looked up sharply. "Well at least let me get this laundry to the basement before you invite him in."

  Becky's tone sounded irritated, but also satisfied as if it were only appropriate that Abby should bring her fiancé home.

  "Let me help," Abby said picking up the basket.

  "Oh no, you don't. I miscarried twice before I had you, and I won't be the reason for some great tragedy befalling you. Lord knows I've suffered enough as your mother."

  She swept the basket from the table and hurried for the stairs.

  Now, this was her mother. Abby felt oddly hopeful. She realized that a part of her fear about healing her mother included finding a Stepford-Wife style mother wearing an apron covered in little cherries while she baked cookies in pink high heels. Instead, the magic had seemed to return Becky to her former self, maybe a little softer around the edges too.

  Abby opened the door into the garage and found Sebastian waiting just inside.

  "I wasn't spying, I swear," he said holding up his hands. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

  She kissed his cheek and nodded.

  "Everything is good, better than good."

  "Really?" he looked skeptical as he followed her inside.

  During their last visit, the house had been trashed and Abby's mother had acted nuts.

  "What happened to Cody, I wonder?" Abby whispered as Sebastian surveyed the kitchen, referring to the strange young guy that Becky had invited to share her home.

  "Is this the same house?"

  "One and the same."

  "Hello there!" Becky called, coming up the basement stairs.

  Abby was delighted to see that Becky hadn't stripped off her mom clothes in lieu of a ball gown in the basement.

  "Hi, Mrs. Daniels. Really nice to see you again."

  Becky studied him as if trying to remember.

  "Would you like coffee? Or I have tea. Only the herbal kind for you, missy," she directed her comment at Abby.

  "Herbal would be great," Sebastian told her. Abby knew he was a coffee man through and through, though at Helena's urging, Sebastian now made copious amounts of raspberry leaf tea. Abby was growing sick of the stuff.

  Becky boiled water and ushered them into chairs. Abby watched her in quiet awe and felt the hard lump of trepidation finally beginning to dissolve. This was her mother. The woman she had spent the first eighteen years of her life with. This woman was not perfect-who was, after all? But she was her mother.

  "Are you buried in snow up there?" Becky asked. "In the UP?"

  "Actually, we bought a house in Trager City," Sebastian told her before Abby could stop him.

  Becky paused with her back to them and Abby held her breath.

  "Okay, I think I remember you said that, Abigail. Hmmm, I don't know what's gotten into me. Lately my mind..."

  She returned with their teas. Abby recognized one of the old mugs. The other two were new and shiny with glittery gold foil butterflies on the side. They were pretty.

  "These are beautiful, Mom. Where did you get them?"

  Becky touched one of the mugs and frowned.

  "The QVC?" she said, but she clearly did not remember.

  "Delicious," Sebastian lied. Sebastian hated jasmine tea, but he drank it, smiling. Abby squeezed his knee appreciatively.

  "Mom, we're getting married in a few weeks," Abby blurted.

  She had been contemplating how to tell her mother, how to gently deliver the news. The problem was that Becky loved weddings. Abby knew her mother had always envisioned a big fluffy wedding filled with calla lilies and lace for her only child's big day. Abby, unfortunately, was not the bridal type. The thought of a large wedding made her skin crawl. She had intended for a soft delivery of the news, but nerves got the best of her.

  Becky's eyes opened wide.

  "Three weeks? Impossible! There's no time." Becky stood up, looked wildly around and started for the living room.

  "Mom," Abby patted Becky's chair.

  Becky narrowed her eyes and glanced at the chair.

  "You're going to elope? You're getting married in a courthouse? You will strip me of the honor of watching my only daughter walk down the aisle?" She burst into tears.

  Abby stood and hurried to her mother.

  "No, no, we're not eloping. We just want a small wedding, okay Mom? Small. It will still be a wedding with a dress and flowers and all the fun stuff, and we have the most beautiful location already picked out."

  Abby paused, unsure how to go forward. She had expected a crazy version of her mother who at least remembered the magical aspect of Abby's new life. This version seemed to barely remember the day of the week. Cloaking and concealment spells would hide the more magical aspects of Ula and the island, but the wedding would be different. There would be no additional family members, no planning for Becky to do at all.

  "There's an amazing place where we spend a lot of time." Sebastian broke in. He gave Abby a little nod as if to signal that he had this. "It's called Ula. Have you heard of it?"

  Becky co
cked her head to the side and then her shoulders sagged as if remembering.

  "Yes, perhaps."

  She wandered into the living room and settled into a chair in the darkness. The shades were drawn and the room smelled of lemon furniture polish. Abby and Sebastian followed her. The boxes, leftovers, and jumble of furniture were gone.

  "Mrs. Daniels, I know this is a lot to take in and I can see that you're disappointed. What can we do? How can we support you right now?"

  Abby smiled at the earnestness in Sebastian's voice. She thought vaguely he should have been a therapist.

  Becky looked at him with cloudy, sad eyes.

  "I had forgotten. Forgotten it all, I guess. My mother and the bonfire and the monster in the woods."

  "What?" Abby asked, trying to make sense of her mother's words. "The monster in the woods?"

  "It was a long time ago, Abigail. I...I never told anyone. After a few days, I didn't even believe it myself."

  Becky paused and smoothed her hands down the front of her shirt. She looked around the room as if she barely recognized it.

  "It's strange here without your father. It's so empty, not that he filled much space. Your grandmother Arlene once told me that I could fit all your father's opinions in a teaspoon."

  Abby wanted to direct her mother back to the monster, but recognized the tangent unfolding. She could feel Sebastian beside her. He wanted Abby to be quiet so that Becky could tell the story in her own time.

  "It was Sydney's fault," Becky hissed in a girlish voice that Abby had never heard. A shudder moved over Becky's features, and for an instant, Abby thought she could see her as a girl, scared, and filled with resentment.

  "Sydney ran into the woods that day. We were camping. My parents and Sydney loved to camp. Maybe I did until that trip. After that, I never wanted to go again. She ran into the woods and I chased her, but then she must have doubled back. I lost her. I found this tree, this terrible, amazing tree. It was bright red. A bright red weeping willow."

  Abby gasped and put a hand to her mouth to keep from blurting out the name of the witch who lived beneath that tree.

  Becky looked at her, thinking that the response referred to the insanity of a red weeping willow.

  "I know, it was unreal. Maybe it really was unreal."

  "It was real," Sebastian told her. He watched her intently.

  Becky looked back at him and her eyes widened in surprise as if finally registering that he too knew that the tree existed. He was not merely humoring her.

  "I saw the monster then. Sagging skin and a horrible twisted body like a dead thing."

  Becky closed her eyes. When she opened them, she turned to Abby.

  "I went back. The next night, I woke to her calling for my mother. She called my mother Ra. My mother went to her and I followed. I was so scared. I've never been so scared. The monster wanted something, but my mother wouldn't give it to her. She walked away, she left me there."

  Becky started to cry and then sob. Her shoulders shook and she hung her head as if ashamed that her mother had abandoned her in those dark woods.

  "She called to me and I tried to resist. I wanted to yell out to my mother. I wanted to run away, but I couldn't. My body wouldn't listen. I crawled out from behind my tree and across the dewy ferns. She reached for me and took my hair in her hands. I thought she would eat me. I kept waiting, but she didn't. She told me things. She told me horrible things," she paused and looked at Abby. "About you."

  Abby rocked back, surprised.

  "About me? But, I wasn't even born yet, right? You were a child?"

  "She called you by name. She spoke of a curse."

  Abby felt as if the air had left her lungs. Sebastian sensed her distress and moved close to her, pressing his hand firmly into the small of her back, steadying her.

  Becky stood and went to the kitchen, filling a glass of water. She took a long drink and then splashed more on her face.

  "I'm not sure where this is all coming from."

  "Keep going," Sebastian urged.

  "You believe me?" she asked, and her voice sounded so small and so scared. Abby stood and wrapped her mother in a hug. Her stiff, cold mother, who usually loathed hugs, leaned into her. Abby felt her body softening, and Abby drew on her element to fill her mother with warmth and tenderness.

  "Yes, Mom. Yes, we believe you."

  "She told me that you would become just like her, that I was powerless to stop it, that you would abandon me for the dark shadows that live in your blood, our blood. She told me that your own child..." Becky pulled away and looked at Abby with such fear that Abby struggled to stay close, to not pull away. "That your child would be the ultimate sacrifice, your child would end the curse, and the witch who created it would rise again."

  Sebastian moved into the kitchen. His eyes were dark and angry, but he took Becky's hand and turned her to face him.

  "That's not going to happen. The witch who told you those things was evil. She was sick and deranged and now she's dead."

  "But it's happened, so much of it has happened," Becky shrieked. "You are Abby, just as she said. She knew your name, your fate. You left me, you're one of them, and now, now..." she gestured helplessly at Abby's rounded belly.

  "Mom." Abby gripped Becky's shoulders. "That witch was afflicted. It is true that she saw things, but she didn't know what the future held. She was angry and filled with hate. She wanted to poison you against your own child. Maybe she even did, a little."

  "No, no, I didn't remember Abigail. Until, not until the spa. Why?" She narrowed her eyes at Abby. "You did something? It wasn't a spa."

  Becky turned and fled through the garage door and onto the lawn. Abby and Sebastian chased after her, but Becky didn't stop. She jumped into her car and locked the door before Sebastian could stop her. Becky started the car and reversed down the driveway. Tears covered her face and she looked terrified.

  Abby closed her eyes and summoned her power. She went into the engine. She knew little about cars, less about engines, but focused on the battery. In her mind, the water in the battery evaporated. Becky backed the car into the street and it stalled. The car drifted. Becky looked at them, shocked. She tried to start the car again, but it didn't make a sound. Abby watched her mother try again, and then defeated, she rested her head on the steering wheel.

  Sebastian pushed the car back into the driveway. After several long minutes, during which Abby and Sebastian could hear Becky sobbing against the wheel, Becky climbed out. Her face was puffy and her eyes were swollen. She did not speak to them, but walked, resigned, back into the house.

  For a moment, Abby wanted Helena or Elda to come and soothe her mother. She felt inadequate as a witch. She had powers and potions at her disposal, but standing in her childhood home, she felt helpless.

  She looked to Sebastian, expecting her own distress to be mirrored back to her, but instead he looked calm and ready. He guided Becky into the living room and settled her into a chair. He brought her a cup of tea and tucked a blanket across her lap. Becky let him. Though she shot furtive glances at Abby.

  Abby went to the sink and ran her hands beneath the cold water. Eyes closed, she allowed the water to climb up her wrists. The energy filled her like a cool, invigorating mist.

  "How do I help my mother," she whispered under her breath.

  She didn't expect an answer. Abby had learned to detach from her emotions when she needed answers. Get out of your head, out of your story and into the essence of all things, the energy of the universe. That's where truth lives, Elda had once told her.

  Abby realized that she had to tell her mother everything.

  She almost crushed the thought. How could she possibly tell her everything? Could her fragile, moody mother handle such a blow to her concept of reality?

  Chapter 20

  Abby took a deep breath. She sat on a leather footstool and faced her mother.

  "Mom, I'm going to tell you some things. I would really appreciate it if you'd wait un
til I'm done talking to ask me any questions."

  Becky had closed her eyes and her lips were set in a grim line. She nodded.

  "Last summer, I left Lansing because I was really unhappy. I didn't love Nick, I loathed my job, and everything around me had begun to feel suffocating. I packed a bag with a few things and drove to Aunt Sydney's house. I knew that Sydney and Rod were spending a couple of weeks in the Cayman Islands and I wanted to clear my head."

  Sebastian returned with a mug of tea for Abby and then sat on the couch. He nodded, encouraging her to go on.

  "I met Sebastian at Aunt Sydney's."

  "Julia," Becky murmured.

  Abby saw Sebastian's face perk up at the mention of his mother's name, but he didn't interrupt.

  "The day after I arrived at Sydney's house, I was walking in the woods and I found a dead body."

  Becky's eyes shot open and she looked at Abby, startled.

  Abby held up her hand, signaling that she was fine.

  "It was terrible. I missed you so much. That was probably the moment I most wanted to race home and pretend I never left. The girl, Devin Blake, was close to my age. Sebastian and I started to investigate her death and we were attacked by the people that killed her. The thing is, they weren't people. They're called Vepars. They're like demons in human bodies."

  Becky stared at Abby with horror and disbelief.

  "We escaped. Sebastian's little sister Claire had also been killed by Vepars, two years before."

  "Claire?" Becky asked.

  "You knew her?" Sebastian cut in, he couldn't help himself.

  "I met her once. You didn't visit Sydney that weekend. Claire and your mother came alone. It was a girls' weekend. She showed me her collection of paint-brushes. They all had names."

  Sebastian laughed.

  "Groucho was her favorite."

  Becky smiled.

  "Claire had a journal that described a secret island in Lake Superior." Abby continued. We went there and found the Coven of Ula."

  "Ula..." Becky breathed. "I heard my mother speaking of it once, whispering to my father."