December 24, 2002 – 16:00
Sebastian and Stephanie arrived at Louis' house.
"Hey Ray, I wasn't sure you'd be here tonight," said Stephanie.
"Misha's family decided to visit their family in Italy for Christmas and flights to go there are too expensive for me."
"I don't know your situation, so I apologize in advance if I'm out of line… but if she wanted you to come and you wanted to go… could she have covered the cost of your flight tickets?" said Sebastian.
"Don't worry, you're fine. I'm sure she could have, her family has money, but she didn't offer and I didn't ask. I heard Coralis is taking Frank to Scotland tomorrow?"
"Yeah, and she didn't offer either. She just paid for his tickets when she booked them, she knew he wanted to go."
The doorbell rang. Sebastian was still standing by the door so he answered it.
"Hey Frank! Coralis and Audrey aren't with you?"
"They should be here around 6. Their flights from St. Johns got cancelled, they had to take another one that had a layover in Halifax."
"Coralis is going to want a drink when she gets here, that girl isn't used to flying commercial lines," said Stephanie.
"Aunt Lizzy, mind telling me how Audrey got a scholarship to a boarding school in remote Ontario, just to transfer to another one in the middle of nowhere, in Northern Labrador? And why is Coralis the one to pick her up when she doesn't even drive?"
The rest of the family stopped what they were doing to look at each other, then looked at Sebastian and Frank, as they were both handing their winter coat to Linda.
"Well, I am going to justify this one on the ground that Audrey has a very tight-knit family, and given what happened 2 months ago, uh, I couldn't get away with vague answers. Ray, how good are you at keeping international well-kept secrets?"
Everyone laughed, except Raymond. He looked at his family with a puzzled expression.
"What am I missing here? Yes, I can keep a secret, an international one you said? Damn, what have you guys been up to this past year?"
Sebastian sat beside Stephanie and Frank sat on a step at the bottom of the stairs leading to the basement, where the family gathered.
"Before I get started, Louis and Linda, are Rachel and Natacha coming tonight?"
"No, both are with their spouse's families tonight. They'll be coming tomorrow," said Linda.
"I guess I can volunteer to help you out with this, bro," said Frank.
"Ahhhh thanks, bro, I will gladly accept you backing me up on that one, although I believe I did fairly well on my own on my first previous revelation," said Sebastian as he put his left hand on Stephanie's thigh.
"Because I was with you," said Stephanie.
"Yes, my love, and you also helped Coralis when she did it for Frank. All right, so the truth is, Audrey's school isn't part of your official school network. It is registered as a private boarding school, yes… but humans can't enroll there…it is meant for elemental beings… meaning for mages, elves, fays, and some other types of elemental beings."
Sebastian paused and looked at Raymond while Louis opened a bottle of wine and handed glasses to everyone. Molly and Lizzy came back from the kitchen carrying trays of appetizers.
"Wait, you're serious? Nah, you've got to be kidding me."
"Nope, I am not joking about that. The supernatural world is real, although most fantasy and science-fiction movies are indeed fiction."
"Witches, vampires, werewolves, pixies… all of that exist. Fairy tales and movies depict them all wrong, for the most part, but they're still real," said Frank.
"Oh shit, okay, so what is Audrey exactly, if she isn't human? How? I mean, how did you find out and how is it possible? Aunt Lizzy, you're human, right?"
"Yes, I am," said Lizzy after swallowing her bite. "Audrey is a mage, and so was her father. I didn't know it at the time, I found out last spring when Audrey received an admission letter from the school in Ontario."
"Audrey's father? Pier? Did he contact you about it? And that still doesn't tell me why Coralis is picking her up and why Audrey changed school… and why you all knew about it… wait," said Raymond, turning his attention to Sebastian, "you and Coralis work the classified stuff… so that's how you knew, right?"
The rest of the family stared at the trays of food in the middle of the table, remembering when Audrey got kidnapped by Pier.
"He didn't exactly contact her about it. Pier's family didn't follow our laws regarding that type of family situation. Like Audrey, I am also a mage, and so is Coralis… that's how we know about the supernatural and we were the ones to explain what the letter meant when Audrey received it. Your mother was also there," said Sebastian.
"Two months ago, Pier had Audrey kidnapped at school. We were there when Lizzy got the news from the school. Coralis went after him and, well, Sebastian is the one who had to explain to me and Linda what was happening. Coralis has been court-ordered to pick her up from school to make sure that Pier's family wouldn't try anything else," said Louis.
"Speaking of which," said Frank looking at Lizzy, "right as Coralis was leaving for the airport, High Mage Finnas called her, so she will probably have some news on that when she gets here."
"High Mage Finnas has been personally updating her so far, instead of leaving it to the agents in charge of the investigation. This isn't a small family affair case," said Sebastian.
"I have known about the supernatural world for a few years and I work with werewolves. I saw Coralis at work almost 2 years ago and that's how I found out about her. I met Sebastian through her, so I always knew about him. Frank," said Stephanie as she looked at Frank, "found out this last February."
"And you're all okay with this? Audrey got kidnapped?"
Raymond started to freak out, as he was processing what his family was telling him.
"I am more than okay with this, and so should you. Think about it. I've been with Coralis for almost 3 years, and Stephanie has been with Sebastian for about a year and a half. Mages have been in existence for millenniums, longer than humans existed. If they were truly a treat to us, how come we still exist with free will without knowing a thing about them?"
"I know what I saw during the 48 hours that Audrey went missing. I've seen things that should only belong to movies, but it was real. And yes, I'm okay with this. It's not us who should be afraid of them, but those like them who want to annihilate us. Frank's girl is badass. You too, Sebastian, you too," said Louis.
"That girl is an angel, and so is Sebastian. If it wasn't for them, we would have lost Audrey forever. I will never forget the night she saved my life, 2 years ago. To get us back Audrey, she could have died, and she almost did. Neither of them are bad people and Audrey is still the cousin you always known. After what happened, Coralis had her transferred to a different school for elemental beings, hence why she's going to a different one now," said Molly.
The doorbell rang and Frank stood up to answer it.
"So, I hear that you're witches?" said Raymond from above the stairs as soon as Coralis and Audrey walked in.