emily

On the other hand, she seemed happy for him as he described Sophie. He left out the part about how much of an idiot he’d been at first, how he judged Sophie after he found out she was magical and ghosted her (though he wouldn’t have used that phrasing anyway… Emily would likely be confused). In reality, how he’d initially handled Sophie’s magic didn’t really matter, because now he loved her. After 300 years, he found a way to love someone else and love her magic. It made his curse somehow worth it, despite the hardships and heartache that had come along with it. 

Thackery’s apology for not speaking to her sooner was easily forgiven; neither had known any better. His curse had prevented her from recognizing him as her brother at the same time it made him think he was being haunted by a vision sent from the witches. How could either of them have guessed? “And I thought you a cat,” Em answered, laughing. Her ghostly form steadied as she did, and then resumed flickering as her giggles subsided. “I have to go now.” Her smile turned sad again, and then the veil parted before her eyes, the pull of where she belonged separating her from Thackery again. Before returning to the other realm, she stopped trying to be seen and focused all her essence into being heard so she could leave with a promise he’d hear, her voice lingering in the air after she disappeared. “I’ll come back.”

It was clear though, that despite her happiness she was also confused; she must have had a lot of questions. Thackery did too, though it didn’t seem like he would get many answers from her tonight. A moment of silence followed as he thought of what he wanted to say, his fingers running through his curls before finally settling on, “I hope you haven’t spent all these years waiting for me.” He meant that sincerely — it would hurt to know if that was the case. She had died so long ago; had she been a ghost this entire time, waiting? Did she even realize how long it’s been? He sighed. “If those witches hadn’t cursed me, I would’ve been with you by now..” A long, long time ago. That was something he used to long for, to finally move on from this life and experience peace with his sister, but things changed now that he and Sophie were together. Love reminded him to enjoy the magic of life again. Thackery’s expression softened as his girlfriend crossed his mind.

Her eyes had widened with each new piece of information Thackery provided until they could grow no wider, but Emily managed to suppress her shock enough to find in herself a glimmer of happiness for his happiness. She had never seen her brother in love before. It was unexpected perhaps, but it looked well on him. And if he promised his Sophie was a good witch, she would trust his judgment, no matter how wrong her own had been about the Sanderson sisters. It sounded like this Sophie might also be their only option to lift Thackery’s curse and help his soul rest. Emily smiled at him again as a show of her support. There were so many things she wanted to say, but she couldn’t now. Not until she figured out how to be heard…or he got better at reading the words on her lips. 

Tonight was just a normal night, though. There was no curse interfering, no full moon nearby. Thackery was stopped in his tracks the moment he recognized Emily, her completely unchanged appearance contrasting with their modern surroundings. He felt like an entirely different person standing in front of her, yet it was also as if no time had passed at all; they both remained untouched by age.

Watching as she tried to speak, Thackery's eyebrows furrowed, unable to decipher from reading her lips. "Emily?" He took a step forward, shortening the distance between them as he was able to catch her next attempt at communicating. I'm sorry. He smiled sadly as his heart ached, shaking his head. "Don't apologize.. I'm sorry."

Of course she wasn’t physically here, but what he saw really was her, her spirit returned to visit him. It was no trick of his mind or magic. Just a younger sister whose soul was not yet at rest, wondering what was taking her brother so long to join her so they might finally cross to the other side. She was too happy to have found him to chide him for making her wait. It had taken her long enough to reach him herself; every time she had been able to cross the veil before, she had only found a black cat. Emily didn’t know why she would be drawn to such a creature when she was looking for her brother, but there were so many other questions to contend with, she didn’t let it bother her.