Chapter Text
“Alrighty kids, we made it!”
Before Mom could even finish her weak attempt at enthusiasm, Courtney and I were already flinging open the car doors in a desperate attempt to escape the stagnant air. Ten hours. The four of us had been trapped in that putrid Pinto for a little over ten hours after Dad woke us all up at five in the morning. He insisted that traffic would be hell if we waited too long, and treated us to some garbage fast food breakfast before hitting the open road. Sure, there were gas station rest stops and emergency bathroom breaks in between. But for the most part, the Babcock crew had been breathing each other’s air for far too long. Courtney’s were the first pair of feet on the pavement as she immediately flipped open her phone in search of other human contact.
“Oh my god, this place has, like, no bars. Mom, do you know the wifi password? I need to talk to my boyfriend and let him know that I’m okay!”
Dad shifted all of his weight into leaning and rolling out of his seat, slamming the driver’s side door as he did, causing me to stumble onto the carpeted floor while I was trying to grab my backpack. He let out an exasperated sigh and responded before Mom could.
“Courtney, it’s been a day. Not even that. If he really needs to talk to you that often, then he has issues.”
“Perry, drop it. Honey, let’s focus on settling into the house first. Okay?”
Mom and Dad had been arguing nonstop ever since this new boyfriend came into the picture. I mean, they argued all the time regardless, about the pettiest subjects that you could imagine. It was asinine how insignificant their topics were, but this time around I could actually understand their concern. As soon as Courtney first introduced us to Josh, we all got the impression that he was kind of possessive. He would talk about her as if she was carved by angels just for him, call her all sorts of annoying pet names, kiss her whenever and wherever – no matter how uncomfortable it made anyone around them – and call her practically every hour that they spent apart. Much to Courtney’s dismay and to our delight, his calls started dropping a few hours into the trip.
She groaned as she popped open the back hatch and reluctantly helped Mom unpack. Unable to pull my backpack out of the car without it getting caught on something, I sighed and awkwardly put it on one arm before finally shimmying my way out. The weather was downcast and the occasional chill wind teased a storm on the way. The sun would peak through the thick clouds every once in a while, but I’m pretty sure we could all sense that getting our things in the house as soon as possible was the best goal at present. We all awkwardly stood on the porch with our things as Dad gave the front door a firm knock, the first noise we heard being the shrill barking of a greyhound from the other side.
“Hold on a sec while I put Abby in her kennel!” came a womanly voice from within.
She swiftly opened the door with a slightly disheveled look to her, jewelry laying the wrong way and chocolate brown hair tied up in a messy bun, but the most noticeable thing about her appearance was her uncanny resemblance to Mom. Yup. Definitely the aunt. Regardless of her state of disarray, she greeted us with a smile like any good host would for their guests, presumably in anticipation for some fun family bonding time. How unlucky for her.
“Sandy! And Perry, Courtney and Norman, I presume. Welcome to the Bennett home! Please, come on in. Just leave your things in the living room for now. Anywhere is fine, really. I can’t wait for you to meet the kids. It’s been too long, sis!”
The two of them chatted right there on the porch while the rest of us made our way inside. It had been ages since our families had reconnected, and I’m pretty sure that I was a baby the last time I was here. Burgess, Pennsylvania. A town whose history was stained with the blood of countless pilgrim settlers who struggled every year just to get by, and yet celebrated for their stubborn founder and his quest for striking it rich with gold. Just last year I presented my research project on this very town in school so it’s still pretty fresh in my mind. Literally the only reason why I chose it was because of ghost stories surrounding the gold mines, my familial connection being the catalyst of discovery. My parents only really started to accept me and my interest in the undead after the “bizarre tornado” incident of 2012, known only by the people of Blithe Hollow as the final season of the witch, the fateful night where I was just barely able to survive the wrath of Agatha Prenderghast and set her to rest for good. Courtney had actually come around a bit quicker than they did. Shocking, I know. Don’t get me wrong. We still despise each other, but in that weirdly loving way that siblings do. I still can’t stand her, but I can also count on her to be one of the first to have my back, second to Neil. What a goober. Glad to have him around.
Mom and her sister finally joined us inside when the wind picked up a bit, and after Courtney badgered her for the wifi password, I sent a quick update message to Neil while she sauntered away to make smooching noises at Josh over the phone. Our aunt tried to beckon her back with no avail, and that’s when I noticed her own kids coming down the stairway. Our cousins. The ones I’d never met before. She let out a defeated sigh before moving to place a hand on the back of each of them and turning her attention towards me. Her presence was warm and gentle.
“I don’t know if you remember anything about me, but I’m your Aunt Charlotte, your mom’s little sister. And these are my kids, Jamie and Sophie.”
Charlotte didn’t need to prompt them to greet me because they appeared to already be brimming with energy and curiosity. Sophie immediately made excited toddler noises and ran up to hug me, clearly seeking attention, while Jamie waved in my general direction and chuckled.
“Sorry, she’s only five so that’s pretty normal for her. I’m almost thirteen though! Just a few more days.”
I offered a small smile and returned the hug, both in an effort to be polite. In all honesty, I had no idea how to respond to all these new family members so suddenly, so I simply nodded in response to the information that I already knew.
“Oh, yeah. August 22nd, right?”
He nodded back enthusiastically with a toothy grin.
“Yeah! Although finding out that I have more family than I did before is already an awesome gift! I don’t think that anything else can top that.”
I followed the two of them upstairs while the dog barked and the grown-ups continued to catch up, Sophie practically dragging me along and Jamie giving me the Cliff notes version of the tour. Even though I couldn’t find it in me to even come close to matching their energy – especially after the hellishly long car trip – I found that the interests of Jamie and I were a bit more alike than I initially thought they would be. He definitely kept up that perky attitude, but he too was fascinated by mythological creatures and dark urban legends, something that I could appreciate. While Sophie danced around his room pretending to be a fairy or something, Jamie and I shared our theories about Bigfoot while he showed off his anatomically-correct dinosaur figurine collection. Every time I wanted to interject with something more supernatural in tone, I either stopped myself or simply changed the subject by asking him another question. I figured it would be pretty insensitive to bring up ghosts and the undead since, well… his dad had died shortly after Sophie was born. At least that’s what Mom told me. So, in a way, he reminded me of Neil with his curious yet also positive nature. But that’s okay. It was nice to have at least one more person to share spooky stories with. Hours flew by before we even realized it, because when his mom called us down for dinner, the sight of his windowpane was already pitch black and beaded with rain.
Since the dining table didn’t have enough space for all of us to sit together, Aunt Charlotte had set up a folding table for us kids to sit at, while my sister and my parents joined her at the “adult” table. All Courtney could talk about these days was how much she just loved being an adult even though she had only graduated high school about a year ago. Charlotte kept most of the conversation going with the usual questions, like where would she be attending college, what’s Josh like, all that stupid boring stuff. But Courtney practically snarfed down her food so that she could escape to her guest room and go back to talking to her friends over the phone. From that point on, Mom and Dad talked to Charlotte about things that I didn’t understand or really cared about. Until her deceased husband came up. I could tell that Jamie had gotten used to such discussions, but I still noticed his face fall from subtle contentment to quiet resignation as he ate. His mom asked us to clean up after Sophie, which I thought was cruel and unusual punishment since she’d been feeding the dog Abby most of her unwanted food, as well as make a complete mess of her side of the table. But Jamie didn’t hesitate. I watched as he carried all of our dishes to the sink and started loading the dishwasher – even though he was a bit short and needed a stool to do so – and I contributed by wiping the table clean to the best of my ability. As well as thoroughly washing my hands afterwards. I would have to share a room with these two since the house simply wasn’t designed to shelter all seven of us, so it would be best to stay on their good side for the duration of the trip.
It would just be a week.
Only a week… right?