Katherine and Marianne approached the car with caution, their shoes crunched against the small rocks in the road with every step. Katherine tried to look anywhere but the woman whose eyes were on her like a hawk. Her heart couldn't bear to face the woman who had a hand in the death of her best friend.
"Katherine, darling, a little Birdie told me you would be here soon, " Amelie leaned her head out of the car, "Between us girls, I'm glad you killed that horrid mans' advisor."
Katherine's eyes snapped to Amelie, then to Marianne whose smile faltered at Amelie's words. Katherine was in much more trouble than she thought, it was no wonder her mother was quick to act sending Adelaide and Mabel to get her from the human realm. Her trial would start in a few hours and it would be a miracle if she came out unscathed.
"I wasn't aware Bernadette had details of Katherine's case," Marianne said with raised brows and surprise in her voice.
"Oh yes, Birdie spoke with your mother earlier and its a good thing she did," Amelie continued, "We, as a coven, are pushing for your charges to be dropped. After all the blood sucker was probably a criminal like the rest of his kind."
Katherine's stomach turned, and her mouth felt warm like she was going to vomit. The vampire had already been dead when she blew him up, but that didn't make the image of his brains spattering the beach any less horrifying. She didn't mean to do it, the magic Dorian had given her was too much for her to handle and she lost control. Why wouldn't anyone believe that she's not a murderer?
"With all due respect Amelie, I'm Katherine's lawyer and we would like this to remain a private family matter," Marianne stated with a fake smile, intertwining her arm with Katherine's.
Amelie's jaw ticked, her eyes sized up Marianne before she pursed her lips. Marianne was bold for blatantly excluding the coven to Amelie's face.
"I shall let you two get back to your leisurely stroll," She remarked, "I'm glad you're finally taking my advise Marianne, and losing that extra weight. You'll be so much prettier when its gone."
Katherine shrugged Marianne off of her arm and took a step toward the car. Sure, Marianne was bossy and annoyed her, but she was still her sister and Katherine wasn't going to stand by while Amelie insulted her. She felt Marianne grab a hold of her sweater to stop her from getting any closer to the car. Katherine looked back at Marianne who was staring daggers at Amelie, her other hand balled into a fist. Amelie let out a boisterous cackle as she rolled up the window, then the car peeled out with a screech and disappeared out of view.
Marianne released Katherine's sweater and made her way to the gate as it was it was closing. She grabbed one side of the gate and yanked it hard to keep it from shutting them out and motioned with her head for Katherine to walk through.
Katherine hesitated, she looked around at the snow frosted pine trees. She almost forgot how different the weather was in The Valley than the human realm. The sky always kept a thick blanket of grey clouds over the sun, and cleared them away at nightfall. She already missed the feeling of the sun on her skin, warming her up like a hug. In that moment Katherine wanted nothing more than to be back at her cabin, lazing on a warm rock next to the river with her fishing pole and not a care in the world. She could feel the soft sting of tears pool in the corner of her eyes, once she walked through that gate her life would go back to the way it was before she moved to the human realm.
She spent the last ten years trying to undo ninety years worth of trauma caused by the coven and her parents, even her sisters. Katherine's legs started to feel like radio static again, her chest tightened and her palms felt clammy. She had the sudden urge to run, and get as far away from the gate as she could. To keep running and running and running until she was some where no one knew who she was or what she was.
"Kat…," Marianne gently called out to her, still holding on the the gate, "The Guard would find you in heartbeat with that witch's chain on your wrist. Come, mother is waiting."
Katherine took a deep breath and wiped the unspilled tears from her eyes. She hated to admit it to herself but Marianne was right, as much as she wanted to there was no running from this hellscape. Katherine dragged her feet through the wrought iron gate and was greeted by a long manicured tree lined street. There were thirteen iron gates in total for each house belonging to a family in the coven, each with their own unique design. Six gates sat equally spaced on each side of the street, while the thirteenth gate was placed directly at the end of the long street.
"Give me your hand, we can teleport now that were through the barrier," Marianne stated and held out her hand for Katherine to take. Katherine hesitated, but Marianne didn't give her the opportunity to say anything and grabbed her hand. Katherine closed her eyes, air rushed past her face and her ears cleared with a pop.
When she opened her eyes again she was standing in the middle of the lush colorful gardens that sprawled the Deighton estate. The meticulously cut knee length hedges lined gravel pathways that served as a guide through the property. The hydrangeas blossomed in bursts of blue and purple, and the soft pink tulips peppered through the property swayed in the crisp wind. It didn't matter how cold it was, the gardens never withered and green grass that went on for acres stayed perfectly trimmed. Katherine turned in circles taking it all in for the first time in years, the grounds were always her favorite place to be when she still lived here.
Katherine set her sights on the stone stairs that lead up to the main entrance of Deighton Manor. She admired the climbing ivy that slithered up not just the main stair walls, but also the whole front side of the manor. Katherine climbed the stairs two at a time with a wide smile, to have a better vantage point of the gardens.
As she reached the top of the stairs, Katherine stopped in her tracks and her face fell. Sophia Deighton stood at the manor entrance with her hands on her hips. Her long black hair billowed with every gust of the sharp wind, and her amber eyes held a ferocity that would make a tiger cower in fear. Her pressed black suit hardly made a wrinkle and her stilettos clicked against the stones as she took long strides to close the gap between them.
Katherine had to crane her neck to look her mother in the face, but that was short lived as Sophia raised her hand and brought it down hard across Katherine's face. The slap echoed out over the gardens as if to remind Katherine to watch her words and actions.
"Where the fuck have you been?" Sophia cursed for the whole house to hear.