They both paled, with Mr. Bancroft looking green around the edges. Their mouths opened and closed like fish gasping in water. Finally, Mrs. Bancroft said, “Vampires aren’t real.”
Carol took a step closer to them. “How do you know? Did you ask him any questions? Did you do anything to help him before you threw him out on the curb?” Her words were no longer cold, they were filled with venom.
Mr. Bancroft sighed. “Dear girl, I understand that you're confused and frustrated, but our son lost his mind. After everything we did to raise him well, he turned out, frankly, wrong in the head.”
“If you believe in the supernatural you’re wrong in the head?” She asked, and the glint in her eyes worried me a bit.
Mr. Bancroft scoffed. “Well, of course. You shouldn’t be so angry. Once upon a time children like Bryan were locked up and forgotten. By kicking him out, we did him a favor.”
Carol lifted a hand and their fluffy dog floated up into the air. It looked down at the ground and wiggled its legs. Not at all like it was troubled, but more like it thought flying through the air was the funnest thing it had ever done. The little fluff ball looked like it was trying to swim. Carol continued to lift him until it was level with their faces.
Both of their mouths dropped open.
“Is this supernatural? Seeing a flying dog?”
Mrs. Bancroft lifted a hand and pressed it against her mouth. “This isn’t happening,” she whispered softly.
Mr. Bancroft stared, his face pale, his eyes wide.
Carol moved closer, reached out, and touched the dog. Suddenly, its fur turned a bright shade of purple. “What about this? Is this supernatural?”
“Impossible,” Mr. Bancroft murmured.
Carol smiled. “Should you two be thrown away, kicked out of your home, or locked up? What’s your preference?”
They both looked at her, then at the dog.
"Pick one," Carol said through clenched teeth. “Bryan is an amazing guy. I understand that believing in magic and vampires and the supernatural is hard, but a parent who wouldn’t give their kid the benefit of the doubt is a pretty awful parent. What you need to know is that I’m a witch, most of my friends are witches, and Bryan is a thousand percent a vampire. Also, vampires aren’t as scary as the media might lead you to believe. Regardless, Bryan is your son. You did him wrong. You broke his heart. I don’t know if he can ever forgive you, but if I were you, I’d spend the remainder of your lives trying.” She lowered the dog. “His color will return to normal in a couple of weeks. I'd change it back now, but you need a reminder that this happened."
She turned away from them and sniffed as she walked toward the house we'd come to visit.
"Yeah," I said so suddenly and loudly they both jumped. Smirking, I followed my incredible friend. When we reached the other side of the road, I hurried to her side and said, “Remind me never to piss you off.”
“Oh, that was me very controlled,” she said, eyes flashing in a way that made me a little afraid. “If I'd done what I wanted to do, well, I'd no longer be a good witch.”
I almost asked her what she wanted to do, but then decided that I didn’t want to know. Beth waited for us in front of the little tan house, staring at us in confusion. I mouthed that I’d tell her later, and she nodded. Bryan’s parents had turned back the way they’d come, now walking double fast. At least if they asked themselves if it all really happened, they had a purple dog to remind them that it most certainly had.
“Ready?” Beth asked, nodding toward the door. “You’ll need to keep your karma senses open to figure out what’s going on.”
“Of course,” I said, even though I was a little thrown off after our little kerfuffle with Bryan's parents.
Beth took a deep breath, then knocked on the door. A second later, a young brunette woman in her twenties with a messy bun opened the door. The bags under her eyes said she needed a nap. The box of donuts and a bag of chips in her hands said, well, I wasn't sure what.
"Mia Davis?" Carol asked.
Mia nodded and reached around the bag of chips and pulled a donut out of her mouth. “Is it ten already? Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. When I got her to sleep, I had to have some comfort food and then I forgot and—” The first tear rolled slowly down her cheek, but then it was quickly followed by several more.
We all rushed out our reassurances. Carol was beside her in an instant, giving her a side hug, telling her that having little ones was hard, and that she shouldn’t feel bad. "Come on now. This is difficult. You did a good thing by reaching out to us. We can help you."
“Besides, pairing donuts and chips?” Beth said. “Genius. I’m literally going to go home and try that out.”
Mia pushed away her tears the best she could while holding everything and said, “You can have a donut.”
Beth smiled and took the box, and Carol led her inside. I followed behind, my senses tingling. Something was off in this house, but I couldn’t quite figure out what. My karmic powers had a way of surprising me. Sometimes I thought the unexpected changes were just my powers growing stronger with time, but sometimes I wasn’t sure.
We led her to her couch where she dug into the chip bag with one hand and grabbed another donut with the other hand. It reminded me somewhat of the day I became Karma, which, of course, made me feel bad. I'd been in such a bad spot that day, trying to process my cheating ex, his new partner, and my impending divorce. This woman had it worse, worrying that her child wasn’t her actual child.
That would be awful.
