Chapter 19
Amity POV:
I awake to quiet shuffling noises that fill the dark room, sounding just at the edge of my consciousness. I think about just ignoring it and going back to sleep, but when a loud thud sounds from near the window, curiosity gets the better of me, and I open one eye.
I let out an audible gasp at the sight I see before me. Luz stands, backpack slung over one shoulder, with one leg half out the open window.
“What are you doing?” I ask her, a little too loudly, and she jumps back into the room.
She first shushes me before walking hurriedly towards the bed. “I’m going to the night market.” she tells me in a hushed tone. “You can’t tell Eda, she’ll have my head.” She lets out a quiet chuckle before turning back towards the window.
“Wait, Luz!” she turns her head back to face me, raising an eyebrow. “Can I come?”
I’ve been at the Owl House for weeks now, and I’m running low on entertainment. Despite occasional jabs of pain every now and then, I’ve been feeling much better, certainly well enough for a late night adventure.
Luz is clearly following the same train of thought, as she eyes me for a moment, hesitant. “Okay, I guess.” she says eventually. “But you have to be quiet.”
I nod excitedly, slipping out from underneath the covers. It doesn’t take me long to pull on my day clothes and shoes, tying my hair up to complete the look.
“You ready?” Luz asks me from where she stands waiting at the window. I nod again, accepting her outstretched hand as she helps me out of the window. I blink at her with surprise as I watch her straddle a wooden staff.
“Isn’t that Eda’s?” I ask as I board the staff behind her.
“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” Luz tells me, a hint of mischief in her voice. “Hold on tight!”
I do as she says, wrapping my arms around Luz’ stomach as we take off from the roof.
The Boiling Isles seems so much smaller up here. The houses below are so far away, like I could hold each one between my fingers. The trees become just distant blurs in the darkness as Luz takes us higher. I clutch her waist tightly, my fear of falling stronger than my fear of rejection. She doesn’t reject me though. She doesn’t even try.
The wind whips through my hair, stinging my cheeks which I’m sure are already pink. The moon glows big and bright behind us among the starry night sky, like the perfect backdrop. All at once, I’m not so afraid anymore.
I look away at the sight of Blight Manor, sitting tall and proud upon the hill. I’m not sure why, but I can’t bear to look at it, so instead I look down at the other houses below me. As I scan the empty town, my eyes fall upon a small house, unkept and slightly off from the others. There’s a light on in the window, telling me he’s still up.
“Luz,” I call over the wind. “Can we stop here first?”
She looks over her shoulder to me, clearly a little confused, but does not question my request.
It’s beautiful up here, and I wish this moment would never end, but soon enough, Luz is directing us back to the ground. As our feet touch down on the paved streets of the market, I find myself heading towards the door of the unkempt house before Luz can even get off the staff.
“Hey!” she calls out in a hushed voice, jogging to catch up with me. “Where are you going?”
I don’t answer, instead stopping short at the door and knocking quickly. There is an unsettling silence from the other side of the door, and I let out a disappointed sigh.
I turn back to Luz with a shrug of my shoulders, but she isn’t looking at me. Her eyeline is aimed slightly above me, and I turn around slowly to see what she’s looking at.
The green haired boy that stands in the doorway looks the same as he did a year ago, if not, a little tired. He’s surprised at the sight of me, but smiles nonetheless.
“Mittens?” he says, almost in disbelief as he pulls me into his arms. The hug is strange, but necessary, and I don’t even stop him when he ruffles my hair. “What are you doing here?” he asks when we eventually pull apart. His eyes glance up for a moment, falling on Luz who stands just behind me. “Luz, you’re back! Am’, is this your girlfriend?” he asks with a smirk, laughing when I turn a hundred different shades of red.
Luz waves awkwardly from where she stands, adjusting her rucksack for something to do. “Hi,”
A noise from further down the street grabs our collective attention, and Edric is quick to usher us all inside.
The front door opens out into the living room, lit up dimly by a small fireplace in the corner. A wooden table and four chairs sit near the window, decorated with books and potions. Almost everything is wooden, the floorboards, the old-fashioned ceiling bars, aside from the knitted rug that lies on the floor in front of a small sofa. Although this place is smaller than the house Edric grew up in with his sisters, he has clearly made the best of what he has, decorating the room with autumn-scented candles that smell of spices.
Edric watches out of the front window for a long moment, closing the curtain over the glass when he’s done. Luz has made a home for herself, awkwardly perched on the edge of the sofa.
“I haven’t seen you in, what, a year?” Edric tells me as he pulls three glasses from a small cupboard by the door. “How have you been? How’s the Coven?” he asks, pouring apple blood into each cup.
“I wouldn’t know.” I answer, taking the cup he offers me. Luz accepts hers with a polite smile, even though I know she won’t drink it. “I left.”
Edric’s eyes widen and he stops what he’s doing almost immediately. “You left?” he repeats. “What did mother and father say?
I shrug, taking a sip. “Nothing yet.” I tell him once I’ve swallowed the sweet substance. “I haven’t been home in a while.”
He nods, his eyes full of understanding. A silence passes between us, not awkward, but necessary.
“How’s Emira?” he asks me eventually, his eyes growing dark.
I swallow the lump that has formed in my throat as I think of what to say. “Better.” I lie. “She misses you.”
Edric nods, his face sad, but he doesn’t cry. I wonder if he will once we’ve left. I’ve only ever seen my brother cry twice- once when Emira was too scared to come home, so she tried to run away. Our parents found her two days later, camped out in the woods, cold and wet and very tired. She was only eight. The other time was just over a year ago, when he moved out. I say moved out, it was more like he was thrown out. Our parents didn’t want a son who refused to live up to the Blight name.
“It’s getting late,” I say to Luz after a long moment of silence. “We should get going.”
She nods, standing up. Placing her undrunk cup of apple blood down on the table, she heads for the door, Eda’s staff clutched between her fingers, while I say goodbye to my brother.
“You’re going to be alright, aren’t you?” I ask him, silently hating my naivety.
He doesn’t answer, instead reaching his arms out to me. He hugs me again, but I’m okay with that. When we pull away, he is all smiles, which I am less okay with.
“Stay safe, okay?”
I nod, returning the smile he is so desperate to fake. “I’ll try.”
Blights don’t cry, Blights don’t cry, Blights don’t-
“I love you, Mittens.”
I want to break, an oak giving up to the storm, but instead I weather and simply reply, “I love you too.”