The day after my date I was sat in the diner in town with my Aunt enjoying brunch, showing her all the photos I had taken of my time at the wildlife park with Duncan. I even got a few of Duncan too as Katie and Victoria would absolutely hang me if I didn't have one of him to show them. Lucky for me though, I asked one of the staff members at the park to take some photos of both Duncan and I when we were hanging out with the Red Pandas, who were the cutest things ever and strangely polite almost. Thankfully the staff member I had asked got some really nice shots. I showed them all to my Aunt who genuinely seemed to be happy I had actually gone on this date.

But when I had finished showing her the photos and talking her ear off about how cool it was and what other animals we got to see, she sat and glared at what I had ordered for brunch. A large black coffee and a huge slice of cherry pie.

'What's wrong?' I asked her as I drew the cup of coffee to my lips. 'Ooh that's good coffee.'

My Aunt was attempting to stifle the grin that was forming on her face and was failing badly at it.

'Were you meaning to go all Twin Peaks on me there or do you not realise what you've done?'

I looked at her then looked at my coffee and pie, then back to my Aunt. The penny had dropped and I just had to say it.

'That's a damn fine cup of cof...' I barely got the sentence out before I started giggling and it wasn't long before Auntie M did too. I spoke again when we eventually stopped chuckling.

'I must admit, we are in a sort of Twin Peak-esq situation don't you think?' I asked. 'I mean, the murders, the weird supernatural stuff going on, even the setting we're in.'

'There are similarities I suppose but thankfully we don't have any government agency intervention, giants giving you clues in dreams or old ladies carrying logs around.' Auntie M scoffed.

'Shame really, we could do with an all knowing log.' I added half jokingly.

'True. I suppose we can sort of learn from that show in a weird way.'

I cocked my head to the side with a raised quizzical eyebrow.

'See everything seems quiet right now.' Auntie M took a sip of her own coffee. 'But we need to stay aware of the fact that there are always things happening that we don't know about, with everything and everyone around us whether they're directly involved or not..'

'I think I understand what you mean.' I said, watching my Aunt tuck in to her blueberry pancakes. I then dug in to my own cherry pie which tasted absolutely amazing. 'What do we know up to now?'

'Well, the killer tracking spell hasn't pinged us as of yet and I can't tell if that's a blessing or not. The spell your old teacher did around the school and grounds seems to be holding up for the time being but that will need addressing soon. Arne and his clan have been keeping watch for us and they haven't come up with anything yet.'

'Wow Auntie M, it could be better though. We should be getting somewhere.'

Even just saying that out loud made me feel a little bit sad and even a bit useless. Auntie M had picked up on my mood and gently placed her hand on top of mine.

'I know sweetheart, but there's things out there that even we can't control or predict. You shouldn't get so down over it.'

She leaned back and took a long gulp of her coffee. Auntie M was right as per usual.

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'C'mon, eat your pie. There's no use moping it'll just make you feel even worse. I've told you before something will turn up, usually when you least expect it.'

I nodded and ate my pie.

Auntie M dropped me off outside the girls dorm then headed back to her accommodation, saying she had to get her stuff ready for the new school week and sort out her class plans. She said sort out her class plans but I knew that she had a basic plan and just winged it most of the time. I had spent most of the time on the ride back trying to ready myself for the incoming onslaught about my date with Duncan from Victoria and Katie who had returned from their trips home for the weekend. I wasn't expecting to be literally dragged in to our room as soon as I turned the doorknob. The screeching and screaming and giggling coming from those two was something I'd never heard before and I wasn't sure I liked it. They demanded photos and all the details which of course I obliged to.

'Maddie, does he have a brother?' Victoria asked.

'Does he have two brothers?' Katie followed.

We all ended up giggling for some reason. Then I remembered that yes, Duncan sort of did have brothers. In fact he had a whole family in a sense even though they were well, all vampires. Not like I could tell Katie and Victoria that one piece of information. Heck I couldn't tell them anything that had been going on with me recently and it sot of got me down sometimes. They were my best friends and all we ever did was talk and tell each other absolutely everything.

Eventually after catching up, we made our way down to the main building to go get dinner. A proper Sunday dinner; roast beef, three different types of veggies, mashed potato, Yorkshire puddings and a liberal dousing in the most excellent gravy. I didn't realise how hungry I was so my huge roast dinner didn't last very long and looking at my friends, theirs didn't either.

'Hey there's Auntie M.' Katie mumbled through her last mouthful. I looked over to the serving counter to see my Aunt wander over to our table with her dinner on a tray.

'Hey guys, you all okay?' She asked us as she sat down beside me, putting her tray down and picking up her cutlery to commence shovelling. We greeted her with "hiyas" and "we're goods.'

'Here we'll take these back.' Katie said as she stood with Victoria and began clearing our plates. 'Panna cotta for pudding Maddie?'

'Oh cheers, thanks.' I smiled. My friends left leaving me with my Aunt who wasn't looking particularly amused right now.

'So err, I've just spoken to your mum.'

I nearly said something, but I stopped. I didn't exactly have any words.

'Oh.' I managed to croak out.

'I seriously don't know how that woman is my sister sometimes. Anyway...' Auntie M shoved some broccoli in her mouth, chewed then took a sip of water.

'Anyway, she's decided to tell me I'm coming round for Christmas this year.'

'Hang on I thought we were round at yours this year?' I asked.

'Yeah I reminded her. First of all she sounded relieved you know what's she's been like around Christmas since your dad died.'

I nodded. Mum's not exactly been "present" since dad died, almost like she's been in a world of her own which I can understand. Whilst I've come to terms with my father no longer being with us; I think mum hasn't even begun to try and get over it and dad died years ago. She threw herself in to her business dealings and shipped me off to this place. I always thought it was because she didn't want to deal with me on her own which to be honest, made me feel like shit. I didn't have the best relationship with my mum any more.

'Well seeing as I'm hosting Christmas this year and you're now a fledgling witch... I can open up the rest of my house to you.'

'The what?' I asked.

'The rest of my house. I have a bunch of other rooms and a basement that I keep magically hidden, they got all my witchy stuff in them.' Auntie M continued.

'I thought you hired your house out when you're not in it? Y'know like an Airbnb kinda thing.'

Auntie M was genuinely never in her house as the work she did took her all over the world for lengthy amounts of time. I loved her house though. It felt private and secluded but it wasn't that far away from anything like shops or pubs, which were all within a five minute walk. In fact her house felt like it was in the middle of a forest, surrounded by miles of trees in each direction but you could see the main road from the front door. But it made perfect sense to me now why it felt as strange as it did, with all that magic I now knew was in and around it.

'I do. Four point nine six rating. Earns me quite a bit of money actually.' Auntie M grinned. 'Either way, you can have access to the whole house now, whether your mum likes it or not.'

Oh God, my mum. I haven't really spoken to her since my awakening and to be honest; I didn't tell her myself that it had happened. I hadn't even asked my Aunt if she had told her. I suppose she may have an inkling herself what with her technically being a witch too. Or lapsed witch should I say.

The thought of telling her wasn't making me feel that good. No wait, that maybe something else. It might be vomit.