Ayla's Supernatural Love Dungeon

Chapter 13

            “I’m sorry,” Althea lamented again when they reached Raven’s apartment.

Raven waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. Your mom’s a bitch.”

Nekros stared at Raven shocked by her flippant attitude about her best friend’s mom.

            “No offense.”

Althea shook her head. “It’s true. She’s hated me since we discovered I was a necromancer.”

Althea and Nekros sat at the kitchen table. Raven walked to the fridge and pulled out the pumpkin pie she bought earlier in the day. She placed the pie on the table and fetched plates, forks, and a butter knife.

            “Everything went downhill after the accident and I had to live with you,” Raven added. She cut up three pieces of pie and placed them on the three plates. She passed out the plates with forks.

            “Accident?” Nekros inquired.

Raven looked at Althea. Her expression asked if Althea wanted to talk about it with Nekros.

            Althea took a deep breath, in an attempt to calm herself down while talking about the tragic event. “Raven and her family were in a car accident.”

Raven froze, mid-bit eating her pie. The reaction caught Nekros’s attention but he didn’t say anything.

Althea continued, “We don’t know what caused it, but they all died. I arrived at the scene and a voice, either inside my head or a ghost of my ancestor, told me what to do. I grabbed my family heirloom needle and recited the words the voice told me. That was the first time that I performed necromancy and Raven returned to the land of the living.” With each word that left Althea’s lips, she trembled at the tragic memory.

Nekros’s body went cold. “How old were you?”

            “We were eight years old,” Raven and Althea said in sync.

Nekros’s heart pounded in his chest and his throat went dry at the mental image of eight-year-old Althea performing necromancy on an injured Raven. Tears formed in his eyes, but he pushed them down.

            “How about we spend Christmas with my family?” Nekros offered.

Raven and Althea stared at him like deer caught in headlights.

            “What?”

“You want us to join you and your family for Christmas?” the two girls asked in unison.

Nekros nodded before he shoved a bite of the pie in his mouth. Althea and Raven shared a glance, unsure of how to respond to the invitation.

            “I should warn you. My family can get… a little crazy during the holidays,” Nekros said.

Again, Althea and Raven shared a look uncertain of what Nekros meant by crazy.

Althea, Raven, and Nekros stood outside of a large home in a rural area of Mayfield. It wasn’t a mansion exactly, but more extravagant than what the girls were used to. The falling snow landed the tops of their heads and lodged themselves in bits of hair. Nekros wrung his gloved fingers together nervous about everyone’s reactions. Raven and Althea stared wide-eyed at his family home. Before Nekros could offer any words of comfort or explain how his family worked, the front door opened to reveal a petite female with slowly graying black hair. Her baby blue eyes briefly scanned the girls before they landed on Nekros.

            “Hi Mom,” Nekros greeted weakly.

The woman immediately wrapped Nekros into a hug. He returned the hug and smiled. After a pause, he pulled away from her. “Mom, I’d like you to meet my friends.” His mom tilted her head to the side and glanced at where Nekros was pointing. “The one with wavy brown hair is Althea.” Althea waved half-heartedly. “The goth girl is Raven.” Raven extended her hand out for a handshake.

Nekros’s mother looked at him and smiled. She lightly pinched his cheek before she made her way to the girls. She wrapped one arm around Althea and the other around Raven and hugged them tightly. The embrace both warmed and chilled Althea’s body. A small pang struck in her chest. Both girls hugged back, pathetically.

            “Welcome. Y’all come on inside,” Nekros’s mother spoke in the most beautiful southern accent Althea had ever heard.

            Inside was heavily decorated in Christmas décor. Two girls hung mistletoe and two more strung popcorn. An older gentleman scoured through vinyl records trying to find the perfect Christmas music to play. The kitchen area and the dining room area were separated by an old wood stove with several pies laid out on top. The Christmas tree was placed in the corner near a fireplace that had nine stockings hung over it. Presents piled high under the tree with bows. Althea guessed that the presents were gifts for everyone and not just decorations like at her mother’s home.

            “Hey y’all Nekros is home and he brought his friends!”

Everyone turned to face the trio. Althea tensed under their gazes while Raven stared doe-eyed at the rustic log interior of the home.

The youngest of the girls bounded her way over and squealed, “Oh my god! I know you!” She pushed her nose up against Althea’s. “You’re Althea!”

            “Uh, yeah,” Althea stammered.

“I’m Eden. I work at the Mayfield Hospital with you.”

Althea moved her head back to take in Eden’s appearance. Eden had black hair and blue eyes much like her brother and their mother. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun. Althea vaguely remembered seeing Eden at the hospital. “Oh, I remember now. You’re one of the few girls attending nursing school to become an RN, right?”

Eden bobbed her head excitedly. “Yup!”

The elder man, who had previously browsed the vinyl records, walked over and wrapped an arm around Nekros’s mom. “Hi, ladies. I’m Mr. Knox, Nekros’s dad. Welcome to the family!”

Althea gaped at the statement of ‘welcome to the family’.

            “Thank you, sir,” Raven replied with a smile that reached up to her eyes.

Mr. Knox returned to finding a Christmas vinyl. Eden went to the kitchen to help Mrs. Knox set up Christmas dinner. The three older sisters stared down Althea and Raven. The oldest crossed her arms. Like the rest of her family, she had black hair and baby-blue eyes. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail. She wore tight jeans and a brown shirt with the letters USMC across her chest.

            “Which one of you is sleeping with my brother,” she voiced flippantly. Althea’s face flushed at the question.

Nekros held up a finger to his lips and glanced to the kitchen to check on his mother. “Shush Maria. You don’t want Mom to hear you talk like that.”

            “I repeat my question.”

Raven squared her shoulders and stood tall. “How is that any of your business.”

Maria smirked. “You got an attitude.” She jutted her chin in Althea’s direction. “I take it that the girl blushing is Nekros’s girlfriend.”

            “I wouldn’t say that exactly—” Nekros and Althea mumble.

            “They are, but they aren’t ready to own up to their relationship yet,” Raven chimed in shrugging her shoulders.

Maria walked closer to Althea and stared her down. “Listen. That’s our little brother. You break his heart and no one will find your body.”

Althea nodded vehemently, scared out of her wits. Nekros rubbed her back which comforted her a little.

            “Don’t take the threat seriously. They mean well but they, especially Maria, take things too far.”

The second stood next to Maria. “To be fair, we’re protective of our family, and like a family, we don’t like seeing members hurt needlessly.” She pushed the glasses up on her face, the white glare blocking out her eyes. “Maria may be military, but I’m a lawyer. If you do anything to hurt our family, I’ll take you to court six ways till Sunday and bury you under legalities.”

            “Calm down Penny! Can’t you see you two are scaring the poor girl,” the last remaining sister voiced. Like Maria, her hair was pulled into a ponytail. Her ears were pierced; two hoop earrings on each earlobe and two helix cuff studs on her right ear. She wore a black shirt with a white logo of Romeo’s Mechanic Shop on the breast pocket and ripped jeans.

Nekros smiled. “Thanks, Nikole.”

Nikole placed her arm on the wall behind Althea’s head. Nikole was only a foot taller than Althea, but her positioning intimidated her all the same. “My sisters have a point. However, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt. If Nekros runs home crying because of you. I have no problem getting an assault charge for beating you with a wrench.”

            “Like I’d let you get an assault charge. With me being a lawyer, they’ll never know you did anything wrong,” Penny vouched.

            “Enough! Geez, guys…” Nekros pushed Nikole away from Althea. He grabbed Althea’s hand and rushed to the kitchen. Hoping that being with his mother would ease the tension. “I’m sorry about them. But I did warn you that my family gets crazy around the holidays.”

Althea stared at the ground. Her heart raced against her chest. Despite having her life threatened, knowing that Nekros’s sisters cared that much for him warmed her heart. “It’s okay. They’re your big sisters and they love you. They just want to make sure you’re safe.”

Mrs. Knox smiled as Nekros and Althea entered the kitchen. “Hope y’all are having a good time.”

Althea nodded. Mrs. Knox’s smile widened and handed a piece of peppermint bark to Althea to snack on. “Usually, we open gifts in the mornin’ but with Nekros bringin’ friends over we held off until tonight. We’ll eat dinner first and shortly after that we’ll open presents. How’s that sound?”

            “That’s fine. Thank you for having us,” Althea voiced with a piece of peppermint bark in her mouth.

Christmas dinner spread consisted of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, sandwich sliders, and many other dishes. Nekros aided Althea and Raven in making their plates. Eden poured everyone a glass of milk. The sound of chit-chat filled the air. Althea smiled as she listened and watched how the Knox family interacted with each other. Raven mingled with everyone making herself at home with everyone.

            “How’s everythin’?” Mrs. Knox asked Raven and Althea.

“It’s amazing!” Raven said.

“I’ve never had a homecooked meal like this,” Althea replied.

Sad expressions crossed everyone’s face at Althea’s statement. Althea, taken aback by their reactions apologized for ruining the mood.

Mrs. Knox waved off the apology. “No reason to be sorry dear.” She peered at Nekros from the corner of her eye. “Boy, I thought I taught you better than that.”

Althea flailed her hands in the air. “Oh no. Nekros is a great cook. I just meant—”

            “We never had this growing up. Althea’s family was…strained after I moved in with them. It became worse when her mom forced Althea’s dad out the door,” Raven deadpanned.

Again, the Knox family shared sad expressions. Althea kicked Raven under the table causing Raven to flinch and drop the bite of food back onto her plate.

            “Are we ready to open presents?” Nekros asked in an attempt to change the topic.

Mrs. Knox handed out the presents that were under the tree. Althea and Raven didn’t expect to get anything, but to their surprise, they got six presents each.

            “I’m sorry we didn’t get you guys anything,” Raven and Althea apologized.

Mrs. Knox waved the apology off. “Don’t worry about it, dears. You guys being here and having a good time is a gift in itself.”

Althea and Raven opened their gifts alongside everyone else. Nikole gifted them a tool kit. To fix cars if they can’t afford to take the vehicle to a mechanic or for minor at-home repairs. Eden gifted them a first-aid kit in case of emergencies. Penny gifted them a two hundred- and fifty-dollar Amazon gift card because she didn’t know what to give them. Mr. and Mrs. Knox gifted them a copy of the Knox Family Recipe Cookbook as another way to formally welcome them into the family. Maria gifted them a compact taser along with a six-week self-defense course for anywhere in Mayfield. The final gift was from Nekros. His gift was a silver frame that had etched mint leaves. Inside the frame was a picture of the trio that was taken at Mayfield College. The mint leaves hinted at the inside joke between the three of them. Althea held the gifts to her chest. The heartfelt meaning behind them warmed her body to her core. She furiously wiped the tears from her eyes.

            “Thank you…for everything. This has been the best Christmas we have had in…ever,” Raven whimpered. She mirrored Althea as she too wiped the tears from her eyes. The entire Knox family got up from their seats and hugged the two girls.            

“Merry Christmas Althea and Raven,” the family said in unison.