I stared at my brother in shock. Gavin left California two years ago after we got into a heated argument. We were supposed to meet up almost a month ago, a mini family reunion. At the last minute he bailed on us.

Now here Gavin was, unexpected, without warning.

At my apartment.

All the way from Washington State.

“So you ride now?” was all I could manage to say. “What happened to Dad’s pickup truck?”

He looked at his bike, then back to me. “Sold it. Got this Triumph 1000cc instead. It’s a 2010, but runs like new. Always wanted one,” he said, getting off the bike.

“Aftermarket exhaust?”

He chuckled. “Yep. Can I park next to Dad’s Fastback?”

“Sure,” I motioned for him. “I’ll see you inside.”

I noticed he said Dad’s, and not your Fastback, even though I’d had it for two years. At least I still had a piece of Dad with me. I turned on my heel, leaving him in the dark and walking at a brisk pace to my apartment.

My mind raced with a million thoughts. Why was he here? Why didn’t he give me a heads up? I had so much to tell him. So much to catch up on.

Or did I?

Nehemiah had wiped my mom and kid brother Aiden’s memories to keep them safe. Why was Gavin any different? Why did I need to tell him anything that happened in the last month? Not only would he not believe me, but what good would it do him to know?

I thought about the last conversation we had over the phone two weeks ago. He called me at a bad time, right in the middle of Nehemiah, Rob, Tain, and I trying to end the Sluagh problem and rescue my girlfriend. Gavin was really bothered by something, bothered enough to call me out of the blue. According to him the phone call had to do with why he bailed on the family reunion. But the phone call cut off after I moved through a magical mist. So why hadn’t he called me back since?

Quite frankly, I hadn’t given it any more thought until this moment. I opened my front door and walked in. The place smelled good actually. Rob had cleaned the whole joint yesterday. Even Eddy, my roommate and the guy the apartment actually belonged to, noticed and liked the change. I took all the credit of course.

But there was a foul odor coming from me. I glanced down at myself. Filth and grime covered my tattered clothes. Leaving the door ajar, I moved over to my dresser and quickly scrambled to find something to change into. I didn’t want Gavin to see me like this. It would raise too many questions, explanations that I didn’t want to talk about right that second.

I settled with a white t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts. Since the living room was my living quarters I jogged into the bathroom just as Gavin entered. “Help yourself to anything in the fridge,” I yelled.

“Where’s Eddy?” asked Gavin.

“Dude works graveyard now. Sleeps all day and works all night. I barely see him,” I said.

Locking the door I stripped down to my boxer briefs and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My torso was a mass of small cuts and bruises. Scabs lined my forearms and knuckles. My hair was getting long and messy, like a stringy orange mop. I really needed a shower. I decided Gavin could wait a few more minutes. What’s five minutes compared to two years?

After rinsing off I felt better physically, but I still had no idea why Gavin was here. What could be so important that he needed to drive all the way down here to see me personally? Obviously he hadn’t seen Mom or Aiden yet. If he had, they would’ve called me out of pure excitement.

Taking a deep breath, I braced myself and entered the living room. Gavin slouched in one of the kitchen chairs kicking back a tall glass of milk. He sighed appreciatively as I entered. He set the cup down on the table and we looked at each other awkwardly.

He looked different. Two years will do that to you. He was still taller than me which was disappointing. I hoped that I’d grown a few inches. Maybe we both did. Yeah right.

His hair was cut short on the sides and thick on the top, combed back, probably to fit better in a helmet. His short beard made him look like a model girls would re-pin on Pinterest, and it grew thicker than mine, I hated to admit. I was the older brother, but you’d never guess that in a million years. Later in life that would be a good thing. But not in my twenties.

I helped myself to a glass of milk too. When he didn’t speak up I finally asked him point blank, “So uh...what brings you down to the Bay Area?”

“Felt like it was time.”

“Time for what?”

“I took a few days off for an extra-long weekend so we could have a family reunion. But I gotta be back by Monday.”

“We had a reunion. A month ago. And you missed it.”

“Yeah…” he said. Then his eyes lit up. “Oh, while I’m here we have to hit up Bud’s Burger. I really miss that spot.”

“Sure thing,” I said.

He shifted in his chair fiddling with the empty glass, twirling the drops of milk in the bottom of the cup so that they spun around and around. “Mom told me what happened that night.”

I knew what he meant. THE night. The night that my life had changed. The night that I’d met Nehemiah, unlocked my latent Luck magic, and defended my family against a raging psychotic Banshee.

But I knew that Gavin knew nothing of the Banshee herself. My mom and brother’s memories were wiped and replaced with what they rationalized. They both thought we’d been attacked by a drug abusing crazy woman hopped up on PCP. Only I knew the truth. Well me and Tain. But dogs can’t talk.

“I wanted to make sure you guys were okay,” said Gavin.

I shrugged. “Yeah we’re fine. It was crazy. Shocked everyone. But we pulled through, like O’Farrells do.”

He smirked at that. It was something our dad used to say. Pull through like O’Farrells do.

“Well I’m glad someone was here to protect Mom and Aiden. From what I hear, you saved the day.”

I cocked my head. “Well I had help from Tain and a neighborhood Samaritan.”

“The nice black man,” said Gavin, mimicking Mom’s voice.

We both chuckled at that.

“So what happened man? Give me your side of the story,” said Gavin.

And there it was. The point of no return. Did I tell him MY side of the story? And if I decided to tell him the truth, how would I even begin? So much happened, so many things I could say that would be built upon assumptions. I was steeped in a new world now and to try and explain that to an outsider would be like talking a different language.

Before I even started the front door opened and Rob the Hob strode in as an orange tabby. He hopped onto the counter and then shifted into his hobgoblin form, talking all the while. “Looks like the magical pawn shop will be coming to town soon. Word on the street is—”

Then he noticed my brother and the horrified look on my face. He let out a yelp, fell backwards off the counter and tumbled through the air, levitating there.

“Whoa!” said Gavin, dropping his glass. It shattered on the floor.

After a while I recovered and said, “Yeah...about my side of the story.”