Chapter 103 - Diana And Her Relatives

It didn't take me long to feel like I wasn't welcome here. The closer I got to 'elite' part of the camp, the more frowns and looks of contempt were thrown my way. Like a rich kid in a bad neighbourhood, it would only be a matter of time until someone stopped me and asked for a smoke.

Well, in this case, I was someone from a poor neighbourhood in a rich area… And locals wouldn't care for my phone. I caught glimpses here and there. The people around here came with lackeys, expensive watches and latest iPhones. Even here, ten kilometres away from the nearest civilised place.

But until I got shooed away by any of the glowering security people—they WERE official security people, as the red ribbons on their forearms told me—I explored the best I could. I didn't even try to start a conversation with any of the unfriendly people around, but maybe there would be just some opportunity…

"Lady, please, return to your coven. Your presence distresses the honourable guests."

Aww, shucks, here it was. I turned to the hulking security witcher with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I didn't know this was a restricted territory. I'm first time here."

My eyes slipped past the man towards a group of relaxing women. Two of them looked at me with disdain, while the third appeared shocked—and awfully familiar. I did a double take. That couldn't have been right. She had no business being here, except—

Magic was hereditary. If I didn't get it from my dad, then I got it from my mom or somewhere in her line. All my mother's line could've been witches.

As I put that together in my head, the shocked woman walked up to me and peered into my face with disbelief.

"Diana! Is that really you?" She grasped my cheeks and turned my head left and right until I forcefully pulled out. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, so there isn't a problem here, ladies?" the security man asked, looking back and forth between the two of us.

"No, no, go away." Aunt Lisa shooed him off with a flick of her hand. Then she gave me another stare, one that glazed for a moment, letting me realise she was checking my aura. She gasped. "Oh, dear! When had you Awakened, Diana?"

She was firing a second question, and I didn't even have a chance to answer her first. So typical. That reminded me why I had never missed Aunt Lisa much ever since she stopped coming to Petersburg to visit. It was an eight hours long train ride from Moscow to my place. I wouldn't have bothered to visit her either.

She didn't call even once, though, either—and that was much harder to forgive. Aunt Lisa was my only connection with Mom… But then, she wasn't around much when Mom was dying in her sickbed, either. She only came once then, and after that checked in around once a year to ask me questions, she didn't wait for me to answer.

Even these visits stopped when I turned nineteen. Now it turned out Lisa was a witch all that time and told me exactly nothing about it. I really wanted to glower at her, but I forced my face into a smile. This was the opportunity I was searching for. Still, I couldn't stop myself from stopping back.

"Aunt Lisa, it's so nice to see you again. Hey, how about we sit down somewhere more private and chat? I have sooo much to tell you about!"

Aunt Lisa smiled with some condescension at me and reached out towards my face again, but I deftly dodged this time by stepping towards Lisa's girlfriends, who came to see what all the noise was about. "And you are Aunt Lisa's friends? Nice to meet you too. I'm Diana."

"Ah, you are Lisa's niece? We thought you were a common, but it turns out you were just a late bloomer!" One of them said, smiling. They still looked at me like I was some gopnik.

"Oh yes, my girl is full of hidden talents." Lisa smiled proudly and grabbed my shoulder. I couldn't walk away from this one without appearing to run away, so I bore it. "Sorry to leave you now, but we have little time before sunset, and I'd like to spend time with my niece until then."

"Of course. Have a good time, you two."

Lisa's girlfriends waved their goodbyes and Aunt Lisa pushed me by my shoulder towards one of the houses. "Oh, the gossip spreads so fast around there! No doubt by sunset everyone will hear about the addition to our family. You are so lucky we've met again, Diana, so you could be welcomed into the fold. I thought you were lost to us when you didn't Awaken by your nineteenth birthday."

The time when Aunt Lisa stopped visiting me. Right. "Yes, I was so lucky."

She didn't the slight note of sarcasm I couldn't take away from my words, too engrossed in her own. "To come here, you must've found some other witch to teach you basics. Did you get into some mutt coven? Ah, don't worry, soon you will be given what you rightfully deserve, my dear. Well, let's settle down for a start. This is my cabin. Come, it's much cooler inside than in this awful heat, and there's a mosquito-repelling spell, too."

Aunt Lisa led me inside of one of the miniature houses. It was about as big as a room in a college dorm, but it was enough to host a bed and a table and couple chairs. The air was cool and free from insects, just as promised, which was the key selling point for me. I let out a breath of relief.

"Now, now," Lisa said, sitting down in a chair. Her eyes inspected me from head to toe like I was some sort of item she wanted to buy on a market, but didn't want to let the shopkeeper know so he wouldn't raise the price. "Is this a first time you came to a gathering like this, my dear? I think I'd see you before if you didn't. Does that mean that you Awoke just recently, Diana? Was it… was it after this winter?"