Witching Lessons Chapter 16
When Ziva woke in the morning, she felt better. She wrapped herself in her grandmother's quilt and made her way downstairs. Arabella sat in a chair reading the newspaper, a cup of coffee cooling on the table. Ziva walked like a zombie to the fridge and pulled out a toaster pastry and popped it in te toaster. While that toasted, she pulled a carton of orange juice out of the refrigerator and poured a glass. She grabbed the pastry as it dinged out of the toaster and sat down at the table with it and her juice.
"Morning, darling." Arabella said, peering at her over the paper. Ziva nodded at her sleepily in greeting. "Morning, Mom."
She and Arabella talked about what the plans for the day were. They both decided that Ziva would go to Sofia's after school, just as she had been doing. Arabella agreed that Sofia's was as safe or safer than their own house. Arabella sent her upstairs to get dressed for school.
Ziva quickly ran upstairs and threw on a pair of cargo pants in a faded green, a black tshirt with a gothic-style Tinkerbell and a pair of black converse shoes with purple laces. She brushed her hair and pulled it back into a quick braid. Just as she finished dressing, she heard a knock at the door. She brushed her teeth quickly and stumbled down the stairs. She opened the door to find Justin, Gabe and Bram standing there.
"Hey Ziva! Gramma asked me to walk you to school this morning. Gabe and Bram joined up too. Did you know they lived just down the street from you?"
"Hi guys. No, I didn't know that, that's cool." Ziva said. She smiled at them. "Be right back, have to go and get my bag." She walked into the kitchen. Arabella still sat there nursing her cup of coffee. "Hey Mom, Justin, Gabe and Bram are here. Justin says Sofia asked him to walk me to school today. I'll see you after Sofia's, alright?"
"Well, if Sofia sent him, I'm sure it's perfectly alright. I'll be home late tonight, it's unavoidable because of a problem at work with a few of the employees out sick. But I'll pick you up from Sofia's after I get off. I'm not sure how late I'll be, so I'll call Sofia and ask her if it's alright for you to stay there tonight if I'm later than I think I'll be. I'll take over some of your clothes during my lunch break. I love you, baby." She stood and pressed a kiss onto Ziva's forhead. She poured her leftover coffee in the sink and headed upstairs to get ready for work.
Ziva worried for a minute about her mom, and then shook her head and gathered her things together for school. She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked over to meet the guys. "Let's go!" She said and they walked out of the house, chattering about the latest episode of HOUSE.
Arabella watched them from her window. Her insides were knotted with worry. She'd felt the presence of Ziva's father all night, sending spells to try and break the barrier around their home and around Ziva. The dark magic he was using was wreaking havoc on her mind.
And now it seemed like she was sensing his magic everywhere. She felt paranoid, but she'd sensed his magic this morning when Justin and the boys had arrived. She put it out of her mind, sure that she was imagining things. And she hoped and prayed that she WAS just imagining things.