55)

I had guessed right that Miss all powerful witch would head to the front door instead of pulling up to where I kept my truck parked near the side door to the kitchen.

That door was for family, friends, and people I had invited to my home. She was none of those.

She was already barking orders as she pulled up in front and popped out of her car. “Ami get in the car. Sara you and the boy can stay if you want, or you can get in the back. Your choice.”

I would have told her off right then a there… but for a moment, I was just frozen.

In shock at those old feeling and memories. This was Brianna, but it wasn’t.

She seemed shorter, and by more then just a few inches. Her hair was darker too, I think. It had been over forty five years since I had seen her, but this wasn’t her.

Even her voice was different. Brianna was never so shrill no matter how upset I had gotten her.

“Don’t look at him, I’m your Aunt and if your dad isn’t here. You listen to me.”

Rosario, now a different person in my mind, was now glaring, red faced, at my younger granddaughter while pointing at her rental. “Ami, get in the car. Right. Now.”

Right, that’s enough of that. “Miss I would appreciate it if you would calm down and speak in a civil tone when talking to my granddaughter, and in any case you should be speaking to me since their parents have left them in my care.’

That shut her up, for a second.

After starring at me blankly for a moment she began sputtering before she got out. “You, you’re nothing but a dead man once my mother finds out Bree contacted you. And you, are not their grandfather, you’re just some guy that knocked up my sister.”

Then her voice went all weird. “ sO jUst gO InsIdE And rEst Old mAn.”

Well a nap did sound good, so I shuffled around and started heading back inside. Maybe a snack first?

Who’s pulling on my arm, why is Ami yanking on my sleeve. “Go ask your sister Ami, I’m really tired?”

Why is she yelling lazy eight, lazy eight, round and round?

Oh yeah. The figure eight, on it’s side, spinning round, and around until it crosses itself, with a twist, a flat ribbon in a circle. Outside in, and inside out...

Things began to get a bit clearer. What did that witch do to me?

I turned, the bones in my arm going hot as I pushed Ami behind me and pointed my now clawed furry finger at her aunt just as she was stepping up to grab Ami and drag her off.

“Bene gesserit witch!”

Okay, maybe not the best time for a science fiction quote. But I was digging my way up from somewhere deep in my head, and it just sort of came out.

And utterly confused all three girls for like half a second, which wasn’t enough time for me to think of anything clever to do since mentally I still wasn’t quite there. For one thing I hadn’t even been thinking about changing my hand, and my newest concern was what if I had changed the hand that I had just used to snag Ami behind me with into a weapon and had hurt her.

Nope, thank god, just the same old withered skin and roughly trimmed fingernails.

As I began to lower, and change my...warformed? My weaponized hand back to normal, the witch suddenly realized what she was up against. “Holy crap! A werewolf! slEEp!”

I felt something hit the lazy eight in my mind and start to slide off to one side even as it began to push it’s way through. Up until I focused on spinning the twisted strip faster and faster, keeping it a flat twisted ribbon in my head, until what had to be a spell slipped away entirely to the side.

For a second I glanced down at the two kids to make sure I hadn’t pushed it toward one of them somehow. But they looked fine, the two of them. Two. I began looking around for the boy, only to see him off to one side poking at Ami’s phone. When had he gotten a hold of that?

Sara saw something in her aunt panicked look as the witch danced back and brought up her hands.

She got between us and shouted “Don’t hurt my grandpa!” and then her aunt was flying back from my granddaughter who stood in front of me with her hand thrust out flat in front of her.

I could see the side of the car buckling in before the witch hit it. Glass shattering, airbags going off, and metal crumpling as the car slid back with “auntie” never quite coming into contact with it until she hit the ground flat on her butt and slide the last few inches into the side of the wreaked car with a stunned look on her face.

Which quickly became one of shock. “Sara. You hit me?” Then anger. “Sara, you hit me!”

Sara shuffled her feet, and closed her hand into a fist. “Dad told me to hit you with everything I had if I even thought you were going to hurt my family.” She jerked her head towards me “He’s family.” I felt really touched at that. “More then you anyways.” Okay. a little less touched now.

The witch got up, mad as hell. I could feel something pressing down on my land as two little red ball of light swelled into existence in her hands.

Then Aran walk up to her and held up Ami’s phone. “Dad want to talk to you Auntie.”

She stared at the boy. I stared at the boy. Sara sighed and Ami yelled. “Hey, that’s my phone.”

I could hear my kid’s voice calling from the phone, and sounding pretty pissed off. “Rosie! We need to talk about my house!”