Strange New World Chapter 5

8/9/2019 Strange New World Chapter 5

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STRANGE NEW WORLD V5TERA CASHEN

Chapter 5

I slipped out of the house when Rose went to her room. Alex had already

disappeared with the van, so it wasn’t that hard. Emma didn’t ask where I was going,

and Mona hadn’t come home yet. So I stole Rose’s keys off the rack and started her car

as quickly as I could before she had a chance to come out of the house and yell at me.

I’m sure she heard me leave. Her motor was quite loud, and a couple minutes later, my

cell phone was ringing. I turned off the ringer.

After dinner, I had looked up the location of the restaurant on Google maps but

couldn’t find it. The aerial view showed forest and fields where the restaurant should

have been, and street view, which had been done recently, showed me pretty much the

same thing. That should have made me afraid, but if the Yellow Pages said it sat on St.

John’s and Leslie, then it was curious that it wouldn’t show up on Google maps. If

curiosity killed the cat, meaning me, I’m sure Rose would be able to say ‘I told you so’,

but I had to find out.

First, I drove by the address that Edward Hunter lived at. Kennedy Street was

filled with fancy houses, and this one was no surprise. Even though it was dark, I could

see the house quite well considering how many lamp posts the driveway had. Upscale

and very classy. It reminded me of the house my parents had owned before they died.

They had lived in the rich part of town as well, but we’d had to sell the house after their

death and move in with Grandma. The money from the sell lasted us, but not as well as

it should have if there’d only be three people living together.

Then I drove to St John’s Sideroad where the restaurant, which was called Forest

Glen Bar and Grill, was. I looked carefully at all the landmarks and house numbers as I

drove past, following them until I figured I was close to the restaurant’s address.




At first I didn’t see anything different. Perhaps in the daytime, I would have been

able to see it more clearly, but at night, the corner of St John’s and Leslie looked

crowded with forest. Guardrails began on either side of the road close to the

intersection.

Then I noticed a gravel road on my left. I turned onto it out of curiosity. Again, all

I saw were trees crowding on either side of the car with the gravel road seemingly

disappearing into tree roots. Then something happened. I couldn’t tell exactly what had

happened, but one moment the trees were there, and the next street lights were flooding

into my eyes.

I stepped on the brakes and shielded my eyes from the light. When I dropped my

hand, I noticed that everything was different. Ahead of me was a huge plaza. It sort of

looked like a village of houses, but the houses were businesses. Almost like St Andrew’s

plaza on the other side of Aurora. The parking lot surrounding the businesses was

almost full.

Someone honked behind me. I turned around and noticed another car waiting to

come into the plaza behind mine. I moved forward through the lot in front of the stores,

searching for the Forest Glen restaurant. It wasn’t far from the entrance of the plaza.

There was only one available parking space in front of it, so I quickly took it. The person

who’d followed me into the plaza drove further down in search of another spot.

I locked the car and started towards the restaurant. Through the large windows, I

could see that the restaurant was packed. Not good. I’d be lucky if I could get a seat.

I’d passed a van sitting directly in front of the store when I did a double-take. The

van was still running. It was an old Chrysler Town and Country and I recognized it. I

checked out the plates. Then I looked at the driver still sitting in the front.




I raised my arms. “What are you doing here?” I asked incredulously. I started

towards the driver’s side just as the van’s engine turned off.

Alex opened the door and got out, just as surprised as I was. “Same thing you’re

doing here, I guess,” she told me, grabbing her purse. “I wanted to check it out.”

“So did I,” I said. “You know, you could have told me you were gonna come. Then

we could have driven together and I wouldn’t have had to steal Rose’s car.”

“I didn’t know you were going to come,” Alex said. “What am I? Psychic? You

could have said something to me.” She paused. “You took Rose’s car?” I pointed the old

Honda out. She looked at it and grinned. “Rose is gonna kill you!” She laughed.

I rolled my eyes. “Mona wasn’t home when I left, so it was either that, or take the

bus and then walk up here,” I said.

“Yeah, that would be the last thing I’d do,” Alex agreed. She looked up at the

restaurant. “Too bloody cold to walk this far up.” She looked at me. “So are we going in?

Or are you going to say that we should come back later?”

“Well, we could always get dessert,” I suggested.

“I don’t have any money for it,” Alex said.

“You just got your cheque last week,” I said.

She shrugged. “So?”

I sighed. “Fine, I’ll pay for dessert.” She grinned again.

When the van was locked, we went inside the restaurant. There hadn’t been much

noise outside, but inside, the sound of people talking and the loud music blended

together. We waited behind an older couple at the maitre d’ station. When the maitre d’

showed up, she glanced at Alex and I curiously, almost as if she recognized us.

When the couple was ushered away to a table, Alex asked, “Can I get a beer?”




“No,” I said firmly.

“Why not?” she asked. “It’s not a school night. I’ll only be sleeping in tomorrow.”

“You have to drive the van back, that’s why,” I said.

She shrugged. “I could leave it here,” she suggested. “Ride with you, come back

for it tomorrow.”

“No,” I said again. “We shouldn’t risk the car getting stolen.”

“Who’d want to steal that piece of shit?” she asked. “It barely runs, especially in

this weather.”

“No foul language,” I told her, then I turned away and looked around.

She mumbled something about me being a tightass but I ignored her. The

restaurant was tastefully decorated with lots of deep colours. There were tables with

cushioned benches against the walls and a myriad of tables, large and small, in the

middle of the room. Along the far wall was a long bar with a large screen TV hung above

it. All of the bar stools were taken. The waiters wore white dress shirts and black pants.

There were a couple of families with young kids too, not just adults. Everyone must have

been enjoying the food because the maitre d’ didn’t come back for awhile.

When she did come back, she approached cautiously. I wondered briefly if she

knew who we were, but struck that thought down. How on earth could she know? This

plaza seemed to be part of the supernatural world, if the entrance to it was any

indication. We hadn’t yet visited the supernatural world, so how could she know us?

The maitre d’ beamed at us and settled behind her booth. “How can I help you

tonight?” she asked.

I considered asking for a table, but that might take awhile, and my patience was

dwindling. So I said, “We’d like to see Edward Hunter if he’s available.”




She looked a little surprised but said, “He’s in the middle of a business call right

now. May I ask who is asking for him?”

“Liz Barstowe,” I told her. Her eyes widened. I was starting to reconsider her

recognizing us. “This is my sister, Alex.”

She nodded too quickly and stumbled over, “Right away.” Then she hurried off,

her long ponytail swinging in agitation.

I turned back to Alex. “I get the feeling that that girl knows us,” I told her. Alex

shrugged, like it wasn’t a big concern for her. But I was starting to have my doubts, as if

Rose was right. Maybe we should have waited.

The maitre d’ came back almost immediately. She gave us another big smile.

“Edward will see you now,” she said. As she led us through the maze of tables, she asked,

“Would you like anything to drink?”

“Beer?” Alex began, but I covered it with, “Just two coffees please.”

The maitre d’ led us to the back of the room where there was an entrance to a

hallway beyond. When we got into the hallway, the noise dimmed considerably. Now we

just had to listen to the conversation and clanging coming from the kitchen. The maitre

d’ gestured her arms up as if showing off the hallway.

She pointed to the kitchen. “That obviously is the kitchen,” she began. We passed

another door. “Our break room.” I could see a waitress sitting at a small table reading a

paperback novel. She glanced up at us curiously. The maitre d’ waved to her, then

moved us on to a closed door further down the hall. “This is Edward’s office. Just

knock.”

“Is Edward the owner of this place?” I asked.




“No, he’s the manager,” the maitre d’ said, smiling. She opened her mouth to say

more, but a deep voice from inside boomed out, “Come in!” She opened the door for us.

We were escorted into a large, fancy office. The colour scheme was the same as

the dining room, but here the walls were panelled in a deep wood colour. A large

painting of a forest took up one wall. A leather couch sat against another wall. The desk

was huge and took up the centre of the room. Two visitors’ chairs sat on one side, and on

the other, was a thick manager’s chair. I noticed the computer was high tech and

impressive.

The man sitting behind the chair immediately got up. He was a bit taller than me

and medium-built. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin, even though it was

winter. When he spoke, his voice was low and delicious and made my insides

somersault.

The maitre d’ closed the door behind us as the man said, “Hello, I’m Edward

Hunter. Come sit.”

Alex and I sat down in the visitors’ chairs. Edward sat back down when we were

comfortable, watching us intently. I fought not to squirm under his scrutiny.

“So, how can I help you?” he asked.

I considered what to say. ‘Hi, but your phone number randomly appeared in my

sister’s handwriting’ wasn’t exactly a good opener, especially since I had no idea who he

was and what he was. For all I knew, he could have been human, though I doubted it.

So, I started with the basics. “I’m Liz Barstowe,” I said. “This is my sister, Alex.

We found your home phone number in some of our mother’s belongings.” He nodded

slowly. I glanced at Alex for help. She shrugged indifferently. I sighed, then spat out,

“Are you a supernatural?”




He blinked. For a moment, I felt really stupid. Maybe I’d been wrong to think that

his phone number in our mother’s grimoire would mean that he was a supernatural. He

could have just been a good friend.

Then he said, “Yes, I am. I take it you have found out about your magic.”

I nodded, relaxing a little. “Our mother had left a video for us that we only

discovered recently,” I told him. His eyes widened. “On it she told us we were witches,

all five of us. Oh, um, there’s actually five of us sisters, but—”

“I know about your family,” he said. For the first time, he looked down at his

hands. “Jasper, your father... was my best friend before he died, and I got to know

Amelia pretty well. When your grandmother took you in, she didn’t want you to know

about your magic yet, so I, and several of your parents’ friends, stayed away.”

“You knew us when we were little?” I asked, surprised.

“A little bit,” he told me. “Your parents didn’t want you knowing about your

magic either, so I only saw them sporadically.”

I nodded, thinking about it. He was young enough to be in his mid-twenties, and

yet he knew us when we were little. I didn’t remember any handsome teenagers hanging

with our parents.

“So you know we’re witches,” Alex said. She frowned at him, assessing him.

“What are you?”

He smiled. “I’m a werewolf, or a wolf shifter.”

“Seriously?” Alex asked, disbelief in her voice. She considered him again. “You

turn into a wolf? Do you howl at the full moon?”

“Shifters don’t need the full moon to change into their animal forms,” he told us.

“We can change anytime we want.”




“So you could change right now?” Alex asked.

He nodded cautiously. “But I won’t change, so you don’t have to worry about

that.” He looked at me as he said it.

I admit, my heart beat had sped up when he said he was a werewolf. Popular

culture portrayed werewolves as dangerous creatures who shifted into monstrous beasts

and killed humans. But then again, there was a growing counter-culture that depicted

werewolves as protective leaders. I wondered which side he stood on.

To break the silence, he asked, “Did you find your parents’ grimoires?”

We nodded. “They were in our grandmother’s room,” I said. “We’ve started

reading them, but learning about all of this is daunting.”

“I can understand,” he said. “But your grandmother was set on your growing up

normal. Ease the transition better. But I guess she got too sick in the end to teach you

your magic properly. I went to her funeral. I’m sorry you lost her, and I’m sorry she

didn’t give you a chance to learn your magic before she died. That must have been very

hard on you, losing your parents and your grandmother.”

“It’s even harder when people remind us of it,” Alex muttered darkly.

“I’m sorry,” he said, acquiescing. “I shouldn’t have talked like that.”

“It’s okay,” I lied. I pushed thoughts of Grandma from my head and concentrated

on the present. “Well, since we’re here, can you tell us—”

Alex interrupted me. “Do you know how she did it? How she kept us from being

witches?”

“I think it’s a spell,” he replied, frowning. “I don’t know much about it, except

that it binds your magic, stores it someplace else. When the person who casts the spell

breaks it, then your magic returns to you. Or if the person dies, then the spell breaks.”




“Do you know how quickly we’ll be getting our abilities?” she asked next. “Mom

said we would get individual abilities.”

“Yes, you will. Each of you will have a different ability or magical gift. The witches

call them craft-casts. Your mother was a necromancer and your father was telekinetic. I

can’t remember what your grandmother was, but it may have been telekinesis as well.

You won’t find out what abilities you have until you actually get them.”

“Is there somewhere we can go to learn more about our magic?” I asked. “I know

we have our grimoires, but if we don’t get a mentor or someone to teach us, we might

perform everything wrong.”

He hesitated. At that moment, the door opened and the maitre d’ came through

with a tray. She sat it down on Edward’s desk and filled the elegant green mugs with

coffee.

“This is Tilly by the way,” Edward said.

Tilly beamed at us, seeming genuinely happy to see us. “Tilly Rochester,” she

added. “It’s really nice to meet you girls. Will your other sisters be joining us?”

I shook my head. “Not yet anyway,” I told her. “You know we’re...?”

“Witches?” she finished. She nodded. “I didn’t know your parents, but I knew of

them. A lot of people did. Your family is kind of like Harry Potter in his wizarding

world.” Edward cleared his throat. She looked surprised, but said, “Anyways, I’m a

shifter. A coyote shifter.”

“Huh,” Alex murmured, brows raised.

“Well, enjoy your coffee,” she told us. “You need anything, just whistle.”

She bounced out of the room.




When she was gone, I turned back to Edward. “So... people know who we are?” I

paused. “Is that why our parents and Grandma bound our magic?”

Edward looked like he rather would not have spoken about it. “Yes. To explain

why, I should explain something to you about witches. Reproductive cycles of witches

and shifters are different. Most witch families are lucky to get one child, but to get three

is a miracle, whereas shifters don’t have that problem. Some shifters can have up to five

kids at a time. When your third sister, Mona I believe, was born, people were surprised,

but not suspicious. But then the twins were born.”

“Me and Emma,” Alex said. “That was bad?”

He nodded. “Not that your parents weren’t happy to have you as well,” he added

quickly to her. “But when other witches found out, speculation began flying around as to

why Amelia had five kids, when most witches only have one. I won’t get into the details

of what these witches said, but witches are in a position of power. They have been in

power for thousands of years, perhaps since the beginning of the supernatural world’s

existence. They began to cut your parents off from other witches.”

“It was unnatural for them to have five daughters?” I asked.

Alex shook her head. “What kind of jacked world is this? It’s not our parents’ fault

they had us.” She paused. “Well, maybe it is, a little bit, but people shouldn’t hold us

against them.”

“I agree, it’s not right,” I said.

“I should clarify that most witches are the ones who spurned your family,” he told

us. “The rest of us don’t really have a problem with it. When your parents were cut off

from the witch community, they began to work with us, with shifters, fae, kinetics, and

clairvoyants. Your parents found a lot of new friends, and I’m proud to say that we




sheltered them. Then they... died...” I had a feeling he’d been about to say something

else, “and your grandmother backed away from the supernatural world almost entirely. I

admit, I was disappointed. I wanted to meet you, keep in touch with you, and so did

some of your parents’ other friends. But we respected your grandmother’s wishes. So, in

the spirit of friendship and community, I offer my protection, at least, to you and your

sisters. I can talk to my acquaintances, find someone who will be willing to teach you.

“But for the meantime, until your abilities show up and you get a handle on your

magic, I don’t think it would be wise to enrol at Sandstone.”

“What? What is that?” I asked.

“It’s a school for supernaturals,” he replied. “It caters mainly to witches, which is

why I’d be wary of it. It’s called Sandstone Finishing School. You can take it part-time,

or take full-time studies, replacing your current education with it. But it would be hard

for you. The witches who know of you would make your education hard. If you want, you

can enrol when the new school year starts, but I think you should learn more about your

magic before then, to be prepared.”

“To be safe,” I added. He nodded. “We’ll think about it. For now, we should learn

how to use magic.”

“I’ll ask some of my friends if they’d be interesting in helping you,” he told us.

“For now though, would you like something to eat? Perhaps dessert? On me.”

Alex grinned. “Absolutely,” she said.

He grinned back at her, making him look even younger. “I’ll give you bags to take

some dessert home to your other sisters,” he said.

“Thank you,” I murmured.




We spent the next few minutes deciding what kind of dessert to have. When Tilly

came to take the orders and bounced away, Edward leaned back in his chair. He looked

much more relaxed than he had during the whole interview and I wondered about that.

Then he folded his arms over his chest and said, “Now, about this place—”

Alex cut him off. “How’s the food here?”

He smiled. “It’s quite good actually,” he told her. “I used to cook here, so most of

the recipes are mine. But when I took over management when your father died, I hired

some really good chefs and they have made the food amazing. We’ve drawn quite a

crowd since then.”

“I thought Dad was a journalist,” I said, frowning at him.

“He did work for the Toronto Star for a time,” Edward admitted, “but after the

twins were born, he started writing for the Daily Moon, which is our shifter-oriented

newspaper, and he started this restaurant as a side project.”

“Really?” Alex asked, interested.

“It used to be a cafe, but we’ve expanded since then,” he continued.

“Rose would be interested in that,” Alex murmured. To Edward, she explained,

“She works in a cafe and she wants to own one.”

Edward suddenly smiled. I got the feeling that there was something he knew that

we didn’t. “Well, that will be easier than she suspects,” he said. “When Jasper opened

the cafe, he opened it with a couple other shifters. After awhile, those shifters went on to

different projects and he was left with the majority of the share, along with another wolf

shifter, James Larkin. When your parents died, your grandmother decided to keep the

investment.” (I have decided that the sisters won’t find out about the investment until later, so for now

ignore this next bit)




“Oh my God,” I breathed, realizing where he was going.

He nodded, still smiling. “So, when your grandmother died, this restaurant

belongs to you now.”

“What about the returns on this place?” I asked. “Where is that money?”

“It’s in an investor’s banking account,” he told us. “A lawyer should have

contacted you about the money, but if you didn’t know...”

“Do you know how much it is?” I continued.

“I don’t want to speculate because I haven’t seen the actual figures,” he said

cautiously, “but I can tell you that it is a lot of money.”

“Define ‘a lot’,” Alex growled.

He paused. “Half a million,” he said. I gasped. Alex stared at him, dumbfounded.

“At least.”

“Oh my God,” I breathed again. “How did we not know about this?”

“I can quit my job,” Alex murmured. “I can drop out of school, see the world.”

“You’re not dropping out just yet,” I told her.

“Oh come on,” Alex complained.

“But you can quit your job,” I told her, “if this is really true. I can pay back my

loans.”

“I can get my own car,” Alex added.

“Rose can pay back her loans, so can Mona,” I continued.

“We could move,” Alex said. “Get a bigger house.”

I frowned at her. “I wouldn’t go that far. Our house is fine.” I sat back, still

thinking about it. The possibilities were endless when you had half a million dollars. The




twins could pick any colleges they wanted, and Rose could get a new car. There was so

much potential.

Edward had a small smile on his lips as he watched us figure it out. Tilly came in

then with two plates of triple chocolate cake and sat them down in front of us. Alex

nearly gobbled hers down, but I ate more slowly, still thinking.

“I’ll find the paperwork for you that shows proof of ownership,” Edward began.

“I’ll bring it right away so that you can access the account more quickly. I should get

your phone number and address in case they’ve changed.”

There was a tentative knock on the door. I straightened as Edward called out,

“Who is it?” If he heard the answer, he had better ears than I did because then he said,

“Oh, uh, come in.”

A man entered. His hair was as dark as Edward’s, but his eyes were bright green.

He wore dark clothes, right down to the motorcycle jacket and cowboy boots. His eyes

looked Alex and I over, then settled more firmly on me. I tensed, but fought not to look

away.

Edward cleared his throat. We both looked at him. “This is James Larkin, the

other shareholder of this restaurant,” he told us. “James, this is Liz and Alex Barstowe,

Jasper’s girls.”

James nodded politely at us. “Nice to meet you,” he said smoothly. He turned to

Edward. “Sorry to interrupt, but I have to discuss something with you. In private.”

“Right,” Edward murmured, his frown deepening. He shifted uncomfortably.

“Sorry ladies, but I’m gonna have to kick you out now.”

“No probs,” Alex said, jumping up. She’d already finished her cake, but I hadn’t.




Edward noticed and smiled at me. “I’ll get Tilly to put that in a bag for you. And

I’ll make sure to find those papers tonight and bring them over tomorrow, Sunday at the

latest.”

“Alright, thanks,” I said, getting my coat.

Edward escorted us to the kitchen entrance with my plate of dessert. He

disappeared inside and we waited outside in the hall. Alex chattered about all the things

she’d like to buy with the money while I stood against the wall, brooding about that

man, James Larkin. He’d been polite enough, but I got the feeling he didn’t like us. And

when Edward had mentioned the restaurant, a sense of unease took him over, like he

didn’t like the idea of owning a restaurant with us.

Edward returned with a couple small gift bags in his hands. “Here you are,” he

said, handing them over. “I’ll see you soon. And thanks for coming to speak to me. I can

imagine that it would be hard seeking out someone you don’t know about this sort of

thing. You have my phone number if you need to ask a question. Don’t hesitate to call.

Have a good night.”

“You too,” we returned. Edward stayed where he was, watching us go. We made it

out of the restaurant before I shivered, and not from the freezing air.

Alex insisted on riding home with me and leaving the van there. I didn’t

complain. I was too busy thinking. How was I going to tell Rose any of this, especially

since I snuck out despite her orders?

“Well...” I began, as I turned out of the parking lot back onto St John’s Sideroad. I

couldn’t finish the sentence. I didn’t know what to think.

“Well what?” Alex asked, stretching her legs out.




I still didn’t say anything. Alex glanced at me a couple of times before staring out

her window. Then I said, “What should we tell Rose?”

“Nothing,” Alex said. “She’s going to be in bed when we get home.”

“And if she’s not?” I turned the heat up. “She’ll probably be excited about the

money, but she’s going to flip when she hears where we found that information.”

“So what?” Alex murmured, turning the heat back down. “It’s not our problem.

Scratch that, it’s not my problem. It’s yours.” I spluttered. “You’re the one who’s worried

about it. There’s nothing to worry about.”

I shook my head. After a moment, I said, “Check my phone for me. See how many

calls she’s made.”

Alex rifled through my bag and took my phone out. As she flipped the display

open, the phone vibrated. “She’s calling right now,” Alex said, chuckling. “You are so

screwed.”

“We’re screwed,” I muttered.

“Nope, just you. I told you, I don’t care what she thinks. I don’t care what you

think.” She paused once the phone stopped vibrating. “Seven calls. Half hour between

each.”

“Dear God,” I breathed, “she’s gonna kill me.”

Alex chuckled and stuffed the phone back in my purse.

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Strange New World Chapter 5