Page 36 of Witch
“We are so very sorry for what our son has done,” said the man. “Had we known what he was doing, we obviously would have stopped it.”
“We’re sorry to be meeting you under such conditions,” said Nine. The man smiled at him.
“Forgive us, but we’re not disappointed at all. Meeting Irene and Matthew has been, well, I’d say life-changing, but that’s not the right statement.”
“My son was always strange,” said Mrs. Hopkins. “He became obsessed with my husband’s ancestor when he found information about him in a history book.”
“You’ll forgive me for asking, but there was no record of Matthew Hopkins having a wife or children,” said Ace. Michael Hopkins nodded.
“It wasn’t until his own death that his wife and children came forward to denounce what he’d done. He’d threatened them to be silent. He had two sons, who never wanted anything to do with his ideals.”
“I see,” nodded Ace. Hopkins stared at the man and smiled.
“I know what you want to ask. I don’t know my son’s sexual preference. Honestly? If I had to guess, he’s asexual. He never had a girlfriend or boyfriend. We thought he might be a priest one day, but I suppose that was even too much to hope for. If you’re going to haunt our son, scare him into admitting what he’s done, we want to be there.”
“Marie, I know that you all mean well, but this man has proven to be problematic for everyone. You have to understand that he’s kidnapped, drugged, dragged, and so much more, all these women,” said Jean.
“Linda survived,” said Adele. “She not only survived, but David has been keeping her safe.” The women all smiled, and Ian looked at them.
“What have you all done? Irene. What have you done?”
“Me! I’m an innocent ghost, Ian. You’ve been listenin’ to my son for too long.”
“I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that we’re surrounded by more than two dozen ghosts, and everyone thinks that’s normal,” smirked Kade.
“Shut up, Kade,” frowned Gaspar. “There is nothing normal about this.” Kade just laughed, shaking his head.
“It’s normal here, brother.”
“Maybe, but it doesn’t make me any happier about this suggestion,” he growled. Looking at his sisters, they stood close to him, close enough to touch his arms. Behind them were the dozens of wives supporting them.
“Gaspar,” whispered Marie.
“I’ve lost Mama and Pops, Marie. I can’t lose my sisters, too.” She hugged her brother, her sisters coming in for a group hug.
“You won’t lose any of us. You all will make sure of it. You’ll watch him, track him, have the ghosts following him, until the time is right,” she said.
“We could fix this problem,” said Grip. “You just have to ask us nicely.”
“Grip, I swear if you weren’t already dead,” frowned Nine.
“Okay, okay, relax. Using the stealth netting, we can get the girls out the back and into a boat, taking them downriver. You all can enter the house using the netting and wait for him. He’ll be shocked as shit when he arrives and you’re there.”
“I’ll disable his engine on the car,” said Sven. “He won’t be running off anywhere without us right behind him.”
“And if he has a gun?” asked Nine.
“He doesn’t,” said Ruby. “Don’t you think we’ve already been inside that cabin at the store? He ain’t got no gun. He’s got a knife, some rope, chloroform, and a few other things. He ain’t right in the head. Sorry.” She nodded toward his parents, who only gave a sad smile.
“What happens to all of them when this is done?” asked Rafe. “All the new ghosts here. Will they stay?”
“No,” said Gabe. “When this is done, they will be at peace and can leave. They’ll go to where they need to be.”
“And how do we make sure he doesn’t leave that cabin for the time being?” asked Ian.
“Oh, that’s the easy part,” smirked Suzette. “Given the new information that Mama has passed on to all of us, we’ve mixed up some wonderful little potions and had Archie and Eagle Feather inject them into his food.”
“And what do these concoctions do?” asked Gaspar.
