“I’m not obsessive.”
Aveline tilted her head.Her upturned eyes smiled, but her lips did not follow.“You mean you’re not the type to obsess about people like they’re projects?”
Rafa scowled.Normally, he was used to a little sibling banter, but he wasn’t in the mood.“What’s your point, Achi?”he asked, annoyed.
Aveline shrugged.“Just wanna know what you’ve been up to.”
He told her what was on his mind and asked if it made any sense—about the witches, about the spells, and how Cedarthorne and Autumn Town were linked.
Aveline listened patiently as she sipped her morning coffee.Knowing his sister, she was already connecting the dots.
“And then there’s Sal…”
“Ah, your project?”she responded with a knowing grin.
“My fiancée,” he snapped.
“Sorry.What about Sal?”
“She’ll be away for a couple of months because she’s trying to fix a threat against Autumn Town.”He looked down at his breakfast plate, which hadn’t been touched, and then at his coffee that had gone cold.“I just want to help her.”
He peered toward his sister, who was staring thoughtfully at him.“You know…” She looked at him pensively, as though measuring what she was about to say.“St.Stephenshire always creeped me out.”She exhaled softly and then continued, “I always felt like there was something more to that town.”
“How so?”
“Oh, you remember all the bedtime stories, right?The three old witches who lived in the woods and cast a spell making the town the way it is…?”She rested her chin on her palm, looking bored.“What did it say again?There was the forest witch who nourished our land, the lake witch who healed our wounds, and the autumn witch who offered warmth…” she recited.
“Yeah, it was one of my favorites growing up.”
“Mine too.But one summer when we were younger, the local kids found an abandoned cellar somewhere in the woods.Sybelle and I were curious, so when they asked us to join them and look for it, we went.”
“Where?”
“To Cedarthorne, where else?”
“Wow.I didn’t picture you as the adventurous type.”He teased.His sister wasn’t the type to share details that would make her look irresponsible.
Aveline rolled her eyes.“It was Sybelle’s idea.Naturally, I had to tag along to make sure she didn’t get into any trouble.Anyway, we got a little lost in the woods.I think we took a wrong turn somewhere, and that’s when we saw it…the ancient-looking cellar.”
Rafa’s eyes widened.“What happened next?”
“I wanted to leave the moment I saw it.It felt…scary.Like someone was watching us in the woods.Sybelle insisted we check it out.There were locks on the cellar, and vines had grown over it.Like someone chained it up long ago to stop people from getting in—”
“…or keep something from getting out,” Rafa said, finishing her sentence.
Aveline nodded, and her expression grew dark, but she continued, “I really wanted to leave, but Sybelle couldn’t be reasoned with.You know how she gets when she finds something new, right?We got the vines off a little.There were inscriptions carved into the cellar door’s wood.I dunno if it was just my imagination, but…I heard a voice that told me to run.It boomed in my ears, and so I grabbed Sybelle and ran until my legs throbbed.I don’t know how long we ran, but when we reached safety, we promised each other never to go back there.”
Aveline looked at him after she finished talking.“What?”she asked, looking uncomfortable.
“Achi, I think you’ve just told me where to look.”
“For what?”
“For something I can use to help Sal win.”
***
Rafa spent the rest of the day begging his sister in between business meetings to locate the ancient cellar together, but each time he asked, she told him how much she regretted telling him that story.
