Katherine climbed out of the tree hollow as she pocketed the key. She was still in the forest but now she could see the end of the tree line with a sign in front of it. The once bright sun was now covered by thick dark clouds.
She made her way to the forest exit and passed by the wooden sign that read 'Seabright Forest Trails'. It was only a short walk from the forest to the town center of the human coastal town of Seabright.
Almost two years had passed since Katherine had come into town and it was still as dreary and quiet as she remembered. The cold ocean breeze cut through Katherine's sweater and her hair whipped around her face as she walked through the town. She pulled her hood over her head to tame her wild hair and keep her face hidden. With another glance to the dark grey sky, she could feel it in her bones.
A storm was brewing.
As Katherine continued down the main road to the small town center, nostalgia and sadness flowed through her freely. She used to come into Seabright a lot when she first moved to the forest. To the towns people she had met she should look in her early thirties as she started coming into town ten years ago, but Katherine didn't look a day over twenty thanks to her witches' blood. It made her wonder how Dante had gotten away with living here for so many years before her application to live in the human realm was approved.
Katherine stopped in front of a tall brick shop that advertised exotic herbs and spices. The Youngblood's owned a small international market, sandwiched between two empty buildings downtown.
She hesitated in front of the shop, the anticipation from before turned to feelings of remorse. She knew she had to face them one way or another, and as the two Youngblood children were once her students, they could help her figure out where her magic went.
Katherine pulled the shop handle but it didn't budge. She looked around the street before she pulled the skeleton key from her pocket and unlocked the shop door with a click like she had done many times before.
When she pushed the door inward, bells attached to the door rang out. Inside the shop was dark but she could still make out the silhouette of white shelves lined with packaged human products in languages she couldn't understand. She wondered if everyone was still in the upstairs apartment preparing for the storm.
Katherine made her way to the back of the shop where the door that led to upstairs was. On the way she passed by a freezer filled with ice cream cones. It had been forever since she had chocolate ice cream. She stared into the frosted glass that brought up memories of Dante Youngblood who, at one point, made her try every flavor to find her favorite. She placed her hand on the cold glass, her heart ached for her late best friend.
Katherine thought about turning back and leaving when she felt a dense object hit her in the back and fall to the floor with a slap.
She whipped around and found a bag of packaged rice on the ground next to her. She looked up right as another bag lobbed over the shelf next to her and smacked her in the face.
"THEIF!" Someone shouted from the other side of the shelf. Katherine watched a gangly teenage girl jump in front of the aisle entrance holding a wooden mop like a spear.
The girl looked not much younger than Katherine, appearing to be in her late teens. Her blonde hair was pulled back into two short braids and her blue eyes glinted with furry as she charged at Katherine with the mop.
Katherine pulled her hood off and grabbed the mop end that pointed at her from the girl before she could get a hit in.
"What do you think you're doing, missy?" Katherine scolded with raised eyebrows.
The young girl stared at Katherine with frightened doe eyes n her before realization came over her face.
"KITTY KAT!" the girl shrieked as she jumped on to Katherine like a Koala. Alice clung to Katherine as if she was afraid she would disappear. Katherine dropped the mop and hugged Alice back as tight as she could while she spun her around.
"Okay, Alice you're getting too big for me to spin," Katherine laughed as Alice released her iron grip. It had been two years since Dante's death, and all of the guilt Katherine tried to repress started to creep back up at the sight of Alice.
"Geez Kat, I could have killed you." Alice said snapping her fingers for the mop to return to her hand.
"C'mon, I'm tougher than a mop." Katherine said raising her arm to flex it at Alice whose bright blue eyes sparkled in admiration like no time had passed since they saw each other last.
"Is your mom here? I need to speak with her about something." Katherine said in a nervous voice. Even though she came for Alice's help it would be wrong to not get Cassie's permission first.
"She's upstairs but you'll be in trouble if she catches you trying to eat ice cream before breakfast," Alice warned putting her hands on her hip.
"I didn't plan on eating any, miss freezer warden." Katherine said sarcastically. She waved her hand back and forth at Alice as she made her way to the apartment stairs past the freezer. This was dangerous, she thought, immediately slipping back into her place with the Youngbloods as if nothing had changed would only leave them hurt again.
"Kat..," Alice called out for Katherine to turn back around,"You didn't have to go away, you know."
Katherine stared back at the girl who's eyes glistened as if tears threatened to spill over any second. She gave Alice a reassuring smile as she nodded her head before she headed through the door.
Taking the stairs two at a time like she used to, she stopped right before the apartment door to contemplate turning back around to not face Cassie. The image of Death flashed into her mind. She didn't like the idea of dying without owning up to what really happened to Dante. Whether she liked it or not, she needed their help, but she had to tell them the truth first.
When she opened the door, she was met with a cozy brick walled apartment. The dreary grey sunlight peaked out behind the heavy curtains of the tall windows and small lights twinkled randomly above her magically. The main living area was split into two defined spaces, the living room and the dining area that shared space with the kitchen.
Katherine walked further into the apartment when she heard the shuffling of pans in the kitchen. A woman with blonde hair still in her cream-colored night robe, had her back turned at the stove as she started to sing in a language Katherine didn't know.
Katherine's emotions welled up inside of her, the Youngbloods had treated her like a member of their family, unlike her own. Cassie and Dante deserved a better friend, and the children deserved a better mentor.
Katherine's mouth turned dry and her throat felt tight, tears started to pool in her eyes as her repressed emotions spilled over. She forced herself to take small steps toward the woman even though her legs felt like lead.
As Katherine entered the softly lit kitchen the woman turned her head, no doubt expecting Alice to be there instead of Katherine. The woman dropped everything she was holding and let the heavy frying pans hit the floor making dents in the hardwood. Cassie closed the gap between them wrapping her long slim arms around Katherine.
"I'm sorry, Cassie." Katherine breathed out as tears streamed down her face and they both crumpled to the ground.
"Katherine where have you been? We thought you were dead, or worse in The Valley." Cassie said with worry as she stroked Katherine's long black hair. Katherine let all of her emotions run rampant, she sobbed uncontrollably into her hands as Cassie held her tightly.
"Breathe Katherine, you're okay now." Cassie said softly trying to get Katherine to calm down. Katherine tried to steady her breath to speak.
"I'm so sorry.. I.. Couldn't save him." Katherine sobbed a shaky voice. Cassie pulled Katherine's chin up to look at her face, but before she could say anything, another set of arms wrapped around the two women on the floor.
Katherine turned to look at the young teenage boy who had appeared out of no where, his blonde hair, that was just long enough to curl at the ends, was covered with a black knitted beanie. His red plaid jacket looked two sizes too big, and his pale face had splotches of red on it from the cold outside.
His eyes were closed but Katherine knew they were as blue as the sky on a clear day just like his sister and mother. He looked so much older now, so much like his father, Katherine thought.
"It wasn't your fault, it was the Creature Council, or whatever its called, that killed Dad." Dorian said in a soft voice.
Katherine shook her head vigorously at Dorian, tears continued to stream down her face as she looked at the young teenage boy. Had he been born with darker hair and eyes he could have passed as his father, their facial features were near identical. It made it that much harder for Katherine to face him.
"You don't understand, it was because of me Dante died," Katherine buried her face in her hands before saying, "I'm the one that killed your Father"