I'm ashamed to say that at that moment I lost my composure and let my true emotions show on my face. I've been always preparing myself for many possible outcomes, but I'd never expect to see her so soon. It took me by surprise.

Am I really going to die in my house? Right a few hours after seeing my mother's remains getting buried?  Such thoughts were wildly rushing through my mind. But what about Lawrence and father? Did she get rid of them first?

I still had my gun with me, but everyone knew that those more skilled witches could cast their spells without even saying a word. She could kill me before I would think about reaching for my firearm.

The two of us stood in silence glaring at each other. When the seconds slowly turned into minutes she coughed dryly and broke the eye's contact between us. After that she said "You must be Ashlyn. I've been meaning to meet you sooner, but there wasn't really a perfect time to do so." She reached her open hand towards me, probably thinking I would shake it.

The audacity of her... I'm not a fool to touch something knowing that it would bring me more harm than good.

"So you have decided to come and finish what you started. And in person, at that. It must've been a really urgent matter for you, you didn't even wait for my mother's death to be celebrated properly." She wasn't even dressed appropriately to the situation, instead of black clothing she wore a rather eye-catching red uniform decorated with golden strings here and there. Well, not only red, to be precise, the trousers were in different color, it wasn't an exact white but something similar to it, like the color of the sour cream we sometimes ate for breakfast with bread at home. Who knows, maybe if my life hadn't changed so much in just a span of a few days, I'd be eating it even at this moment.

She noticed that I hadn't had an ounce of intention to answer to her act of false politeness, but instead started to glare at her from head to toe. Because of that the hand that was waiting for me to shake it, after a while retreated in gloom silence.

She cleared her throat, focused her gaze on the floor and said, "... I wasn't expecting you to already know that I'd be here. I must admit, those news are very shocking to me. It wasn't my intention to hurt your feelings nor disregard the honor of your mother. I'm truly sorry for your loss. However, I'm not going to back away just because of that." She looked at me again, this time fully confident and continued "I believe that Thomas deserves happiness despite the misery that this household recently witnessed."

Why has she suddenly started talking about my father? Did she mean to say that death was the only solution to ease his pain after he lost his wife?

"... It seems that your definition of happiness is too twisted for me to try to understand." I said coldly while trying to hear whether there were any people outside left. Would they come if I made a ruckus? It would be wonderful if someone decided to stay with my father and cheer him up. The more the merrier after all. And safer. 

At those words she stiffened and said "I apologize, but I don't really follow what you meant to say."

"... You don't? I'm sure you do. You just want to feign ignorance and keep on acting. Don't worry, two can play this game." I meant to say even more but when I finished that sentence I heard footsteps behind me. It would be foolish of me to turn my backs on the threat standing right in front of me, so I simply waited for the intruder to identify themselves. There was always a chance that she didn't come alone and that person was her accomplice. I was a goner either way. It was unlikely for a possible savior to come so quickly, we didn't make any noise so no one would know what was happening here and come to check up on us.

"Ashlyn? I didn't know you came back already." The familiar voice belonged to my father. He was the intruder I was so anxious about just a few moments ago. I would feel relieved if not for that we would be dying together instead. She was definitely going to kill us both and finish it quickly,while she had a chance.

"Ooh." He stopped in his tracks and coughed awkwardly. "I wasn't expecting for you two to meet in such circumstances. I wanted to do it in a more amiable way." He said apologetically.

I don't know what's going on anymore. Does that mean that he was expecting her?* Had this woman approached him earlier and casted one of those vicious spells witches usually use? Or maybe mother's intuition was truly on point that fateful night? Instead of going to work he was meeting with that vixen? Did he schemed his spouse's death together with that woman and intended to kill off the rest of his family later? *Were all those years we lived under this very roof a one big lie? Was it all an act?

"We still should all talk it out together, she seems to have some sort of prejudices towards me. I guess my sudden visit is partly to blame for that." She said, still keeping her piercing brown eyes on me. "Or do you prefer to hold it off until your oldest comes back?" Even though this question was meant for my father, she didn't send a glance that way nor anything of the sort.

"We can tell him again later, Ashlyn has the right to know the truth."

"... I already understand everything. There's nothing left to talk about. You betrayed us." If the coldness in one's voice was able to freeze someone, my father would be dead at this very moment.

"I understand that this situation may be upsetting to you, but there's no need to say such big words. Just because I once loved someone it doesn't mean I can't love anyone else until my last breath." He said with a voice full of sorrow. Is he trying to convince me to agree with him or just talking aloud to convince himself?

"Maybe so. But it also doesn't mean that if you grow bored of someone you should get rid of them." Father's face became as white as a sheet of paper and his mouth's movement stopped midway before even a word left his mouth. At that, the woman standing near us quickly said. "Your mother's death was just an accident, nothing more. There's no point in putting a blame on someone, since it wouldn't change the outcome no matter the effort."

Said the person responsible for said 'outcome'.

Father seemed to want to say something more, but the good moment to do so passed before he had the chance. The three of us heard the doors below us open and close. Larry must've come home or someone mistook the tavern as open and cluelessly entered hoping for a drink. If it was the latter, well, they're up to an unpleasant surprise.

"Maybe Lawrence came back. Mr. Thomas, since you're the closest to the stairs, would you be so kind as to go open the door and check if it's him? I'm afraid that if he saw me so suddenly, he would get startled. Since Ashlyn already doesn't seem to be fond of me, I'd rather not take any chances with him and mess up this situation than it already is." The woman said. Even though her voice sounded worried, she couldn't conceal her true intentions before me. It was obvious what she was planning to do.

Father simply nodded at her request and came down to open the door. When his footsteps became muffled by the distance, I decided to strike first and came closer towards this cunning girl. It took her by surprise and she slightly flinched when she noticed how close I came.

I slowly reached my hand towards her but with no intention to touch her. My hand rested on the wall behind the witch and I leaned even closer. She was a little taller than me, so it could seem awkward, but even so, I wanted to show that I'm not scared of those powers of hers and make an everlasting impression.

Her face didn't show any emotions, but I noticed her ears suddenly had a color similar to that of the uniform she was wearing. So she's only acting coldly. Inside she must be seething from anger. She wouldn't be so red otherwise.

I broke the silence with a whisper meant only for us two to hear, "I've got my eyes on you." And with that, I took a few steps back, sent her one last glance and came down the stairs.

When I reached the first floor before I noticed the newcomer I was still hoping for a police officer who decided to visit us and say how sorry he was for our loss and their inability to find out something more. Unfortunately, it was only my brother.

When he noticed me, "Ash." He said solemnly. Is he also planning to stab me in my heart?  Despite the burial which happened earlier today, he didn't have the impression of a person in mourning. Just after a while I noticed Caroline standing next to him. Are you planning to introduce her to our father the same day we said farewells to our mother?

I've always thought of myself as the least sane person in this household, but it looks like everyone today decided to prove me wrong.

Larry's face darkened the moment he noticed another, unknown person on the stairs. "Who is she?" He asked our father. I wanted to say that our mother's murderer, but before I had a chance the witch decided to took the matter in her own hands and spoke, "We weren't planning on revealing such serious information in this way, but since there's nothing we can do now, the only thing left to do is just simply continue." She reached the first floor and smiled. "Today's not the bestest of days to let you know, but it would be impossible to do so later. My name's Renielle and starting today I'm going to live here with you all."