Witch Alpha

I closed my bedroom door leaning against it as I took some steadying breaths and held the thick manila envelope to my chest.

My parents. They were only ever a fleeting thought when I looked over how shitty my life was but never had they felt so real. I’d never had to deal with anything regarding their death because I was only six months old when it happened. I never had flashbacks or visions and despite being a part of my plan after I was eighteen; they were never a part of my life.

I locked my door and then hesitantly walked over to my bed and moved my suitcase to lay on my bed and just started putting my clothes, accessories, and toiletries into the pockets and things I’d held onto over the years and then I knelt on the floor and opened the envelope. And shook the contents onto the bed. The biggest item was a folder that had papers in it. It was plain black with ‘S+C’ written on the inside in a feminine handwriting style. It almost looked like my handwriting. There were also the papers the matron said, my birth certificate, my parent’s death certificates, and also their marriage certificate.

But there were also pictures. There were a few ultrasound photos, a wedding photo, and two photos of kids. One was of two little girls both blonde but one had blue eyes and the other had purple eyes. Must be something wrong with it. The other photo of the kids was of two boys and a girl. The two boys had a hold of one of the girl’s braids and seemed to be sword fighting each other with them while the little girl had a look of exasperation.

I chuckled, I could only assure one was of my mother and the other had my dad in it since none of the three girls looked alike.

I turned my attention to the wedding photo. The man and woman in the photograph were nice looking and they looked very happy. I didn’t recognize the location but I recognized similarities between two of the kids and the adults. The woman had purple eyes and was dressed in a beautiful white dress that hugged her chest exposing some cleavage and flowed down her body, hugging her waist as it went. Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail with a few white flowers tied together to make a halo. Her arms covered in lace were around the man’s broad shoulders. The man had brown hair and green eyes and was wearing a black button-up shirt and jean pants and was smiling like he was the happiest man in the world.

I felt tears come to my eyes and I bit my lip to try and keep them from falling. In all three there was so much life in their eyes. Now at least two of the people in these photos were dead.

I heard footsteps in the hall behind my door. I wiped my eyes and hid the pictures under the folder and turned my back to the bed and grabbed an ornate locket.

Someone knocked and then opened my door a crack. “El? Can I come in?” Elizabeth’s voice said. I grunted and she took that to mean yes and entered.

I turned the locket over in my hand it had ‘SC’ carved into the front and then had what looked like a blue diamond on the back. I wondered briefly if it was real before I tried to open it. It wouldn’t budge.

“Hey El.” Elizabeth said getting down on the floor with me. I just kept trying to pry the locket open. “What’s that?” then when I showed her she gasped.

I looked up at her. She had a misty look in her eyes, she looked like she was about to cry.

“You ok E-beth?” I asked using the nickname I’d given her.

“Can I see that?” she asked. I nodded and handed it over.

She traced her finger over the ‘SC’ and muttered something that sounded like Latin. Then turned with a click she opened the clasp.

I stared in wonder, “How’d you do that?” I asked looking at the locket.

She smiled at me but it wasn’t her usual smile, more of a sad smile. “My moth-” She stopped and back-peddled. “My aunt who raised me was really old fashioned and taught me and my sisters to speak Latin.” she ran her finger over the locket’s outline. “I had one of these when I was a kid and every time it got stuck all I’d have to say is ‘patefacio sursum’ and it’d open up for me.” I repeated it to her and she smiled, “It means ‘open up’ in Latin. One of the many ways to say it actually.”

I nodded “It’s a really pretty locket. I bet it belonged to my mother.”

She nodded, “Probably.” Then she and I both looked at the picture inside.

On the left side was a mirror and on the right a picture of the two same girls in the other photo but this time they were sitting with their backs together holding two gems for the camera. The girl with the purple eyes had the same blue diamond that was on the back of the locket and the other girl had what seemed to be a regular diamond.

“Do you know what that stone is?” Elizabeth asked turning the locket over to show the blue diamond. I shook my head. “That is what’s called Zircon. It comes in all sorts of colors and in the Middle Ages, it was thought to drive away evil spirits and promote honor and wisdom. I think blue is my favorite though.”

I nodded. “This must have cost her a fortune.” I said reaching for it and looking back at the picture inside. “I wonder if this is her sister or a friend.”

“They must have been close.” she said softly, “For her to keep their picture inside.”

I nodded then closed the locket and put it around my neck. It hung there feeling a lot lighter than I would have expected and it felt almost warm. Then I reached on the bed behind me and grabbed the watch.

It had leather straps and it was obvious that the watch was worn often. The golden hands on its face weren’t moving. I smiled as I saw that it seemed to have the phases of the moon along the top from full to new moon and on the bottom new to full.

“Must be your dad's.” Elizabeth said not quite hiding a sort of bitterness in her tone.

I looked up at her and she was playing with her pinkie again. She always did that when she had something on her mind.

“I’m gonna miss you.” I said leaning my head on her shoulder. “You’re like a mother to me.”

She leaned her head on top of mine. “Don’t you worry Ellie. We’ll see each other again. You’ll be eighteen tomorrow after all. You’ll be an adult and can go wherever you want.”

I nodded. And after a while she and I stood up and she helped me finish packing.

Everything was packed and was loaded into the sleek black Sedan. The guy sure wasn’t from a car service, he barely got out of the car to load my bags into the trunk before getting back into the driver seat and waiting for me to get it in.

The police officer just stopped by to drop off a white box with his business card taped to the top. He opened it to show me there were bags of clothes and a case file with the word ‘Cold Case’ stamped on the front. It was a copy for me and my grandparents and his card was to get a hold of him if I ever needed anything. Then he left after wishing me well.

I shook hands and thanked the matron for everything. She smiled and went back inside. She and I were never close. Next, I hugged and held onto Elizabeth.

We hugged for a lot longer than I would have normally but I didn’t know when I was going to see her again. Finally, when we separated she whispered in my ear “See you soon.”

I wasn’t so sure since she had work and I didn’t know where I was going but I just smiled and nodded.

Lastly, there was my goodbye with Mitch.

It was so strange that Mitch seemed almost happy that I was leaving. He smiled and hugged me then walked me to the car.

“I’ll see you soon ok kiddo?” he said leaning against the car.

“Why does everyone keep saying that? I really don’t think it means what you all think it means.” I said rolling my eyes.

He laughed and closed the door.

“We ready to go?” the gruff car driver asked.

I sighed taking one last look at the only home I’d ever known. “Yea. I’m ready.”