Episode 66: Zach’s House (Aadya)

Indigo had brought Aadya, with Nellie, to the house Zach had bought. She could feel the strength of the structure, even if it looked decayed and broken down. She understood more about Zach in that moment than any other first impression could provide.

The house was blue – simple, calm, peaceful. She assumed it meant Zach wanted to live a stable life. It must have been something he desired.

The building was old, but the foundation was strong. She interpreted it as his own character – he had weathered through life but who he was would never change or waver. He was solidly himself.

The latter was a trait she could easily see stemming from Indigo and Zero, even if Naomi had been in Indigo’s body at the time.

Nellie was running on the seashore, playing with rocks and skipping across the shore.

“This place is a disaster,” Aadya said to Indigo. “It will be fun to see it reborn.”

It would be as invigorating as seeing Nellie come back to life, her body filled with air and joy. Nellie was someone she wanted to have, not because she couldn’t live without her, but because Nellie reminded her that you could survive anything.

She hadn’t actually survived on her own.

There was symbolism in needing help to get through things. Nellie needed her, needed wiccan magic, needed love.

Aadya needed things too. She wasn’t always ready to admit it, but she needed a support system to lean on right now. She was thankful for Indigo’s interruption into her day, even if she suspected the distraction was fabricated.

The house though… Aadya ran her hand across the windworn wood, the chips of paint falling in flecks as she did, the cracks in the wood that represented all of the time and life this house had already seen.

She hoped Zach would let her help him bring life back into it.

“You can see that it used to be nice,” Indigo said as she walked up the porch and pressed her hand down on porch swing. The chains ached with the pressure, and Aadya could see one of the links bending away from itself as she did.

The swing would need new chains, as an exterior improvement.

The wood slats would need some replacements, sanding, new paint… The wind seemed contained on this portion of the island. You could see the peninsula the Lavesques lived on in the distance; it shielded the bay from most of the extreme weather.

“I love the ocean!” Nellie yelled. Aadya glanced over at her; Nellie’s arms were spread wide as she ran across a cluster of large smooth stones. “We flew waaay over it but I’ve never been in it before.”

“We may be here often if you’d like to come and play when we work,” Aadya said.

“And swim?”

Aadya smiled. She loved the innocence of childhood, the way children were growing their own interests and how excited they could be about something most adults wouldn’t bat an eye at.

She wanted to join Nellie in her play, to bring her other children here, but she knew Sylem was dangerous even if this one area felt safe and secluded.

She wondered if safety was something Zach coveted or something he didn’t have before. She was looking forward to meeting him, even if Indigo wasn’t.

Indigo – she knocked on the door. “On the other hand, we may be here five minutes before we’re forcefully told to leave.”

The door opened, “Yeah?”

Aadya stepped forward, so she could see the person behind it. He was tall, about the same height as Zero. He looked immensely like Zero as well; he had dark brown hair, an angled jaw, eyes the color of Shea’s horse, Whisp.

“Hi, I’m Aadya,” she said. Warmth filled her as she extended her hand. “I’m sorry to intrude but I’m also not. This is a beautiful house, and I love projects. I’m friends of Zero and Indigo’s. And Sam’s, I suppose.”

She wasn’t sure Zach would appreciate her adding Sam in, but it was worth it to be open with him. To prove she was a friend. She was freeing Sam that week, or allowing it at least. She wasn’t sure why he was being freed, but Talise was attached to him even more than his son, Spence, was.

Zach looked at both of them, scanning Indigo most intensely, and glancing out on the stones at Nellie who was yelling that she was a bird.

“Hi,” Zach said. He shook her hand.

His voice was a deep baritone; a near perfect echo of the notes Zero’s hit.

“That’s my daughter, Nellie,” Aadya said. She felt more warmth spread through her, naturally this time, and some pride too. Nellie was her daughter. She loved saying it, she loved being part of Nellie’s life – that Nellie had a life.

“Are you guys following me?” Zach asked.

“I don’t actually know whether we are,” Indigo replied.

Aadya had no idea what that meant; they had come to the house in hopes of meeting him. They weren’t following him, they were colliding paths with him.

She thought.

“Okay,” Zach said.

“Do you know much about renovating?” Aadya asked.

“No,” Zach replied.

She could see the struggle for Indigo. Indigo liked working with people that were capable of working with her back, even if it was in heated debated or anger. Zach was a wall that only offered the minimum required to be polite.

He was polite, at least. He had the door closed, protective of the space, but it didn’t feel rude to her.

“If you’re willing to tolerate us, I would like to help,” Aadya said.

She still had projects to do at home, but Indigo needed this.

As they stood there, she felt plans forming for the house. There was enough space behind the house for a small greenhouse if he wanted one. Zero had made a big deal about the greenhouses and gardens in the Dells when they had designed the palace and she knew it was important to wiccans to have the right sun exposure and heat. Sylem tended colder; a solid greenhouse would allow year round fresh spell work.

Plus, if he did like the idea of having Sam in his life, Magenta could populate the garden easily.

Plus, Aadya loved gardens.

“I’m also skilled with gardens, if you would like one. Greenhouses too.”

“How much?” Zach asked, his shoulders tight.

“The whole house and the surrounding land.”

“Money. How much.”

Aadya loathed barterning. She sighed and let her body deflate. She didn’t have anyone to help her navigate this – normally Indigo handled negotiations and at the moment she just seemed content that she was allowed to stay on the porch while they talked.

She also had no use for Sylem money. She knew their gold stores were overflowing.

“I would like,” she began. “In exchange for my help.” she tried to drag it on as long as she could, while she formulated her price.

“Access to your house for Nellie to see the ocean while we work, and possibly my other children and grandchildren, depending on the day, as well as your assistance – for you to be around as your schedule permits while we work.”

“Is that a fair trade?” Aadya asked. “I prefer to avoid money, but I can ask someone if that’s your desired form.”

Zach crossed his arms, in the tough wall way Indigo often did. “Why would you help for free?”

Because she was desperate for something distracting.

“It isn’t free. It’s a trade.”

He studied them, then turned his body so they could enter the house.

Indigo went first, her eyes scanning every corner. “What made you buy this place?”

Aadya turned back toward the sea and called for Nellie.

Nellie skipped across the yard, up to the door, and entered ahead of Aadya. she followed and shut the door behind them.

“Wow. It’s a secret mystery house. I bet you could have the best tea parties here. Haunted tea parties,” Nellie said as her whole head spun with her eyes.

“I just wanted to buy it,” Zach stated, with a shrug.

Straight ahead of the door was a staircase that led upstairs. Some of the railing was missing, and a few steps were broken. to their left was a small window that looked out onto a driveway. To their right was the living room. Aadya walked into it and looked.around, making sure to look at every detail so the eyedrops would work. The living room had the space for a fireplace along the wall, where the small windows could be turned into two larger windows that framed the fire and looked out onto the ocean. Beyond the living room there was a large archway that led to the kitchen. The cabinets that remained were falling off the walls and the stove was full of water from a ceiling leak.

the view from the kitchen was breathtaking. She could feel the sun setting (rising?) in the evening, filling the room with a red hazy glare. A door where the fridge stood and a small patio outside would make the space even more inviting. From the patio they could access the greenhouse.

Aadya turned toward Zach, “What do you see for this house? Do you have any vision? If you can walk around and tell me, I’m using a special spell. The more specific the better.”

Zach walked around the kitchen and looked at the space from all angles – an artist like Indigo. Aadya glanced at Indigo to see if she noticed. She gave Aadya a small smile, urging her to keep going with Zach. Aadya wondered how much this meant to her – was she doing it to help Zero out or did she feel some connection or desire for connection to her long lost son. They would have to talk later.

Zach stopped at the doorway; the best vantage point to see the entire space of the kitchen.

“The kitchen should be blue and yellow, with maybe an herb garden shelf thing with lights for growing them inside. I haven’t figured out the rest yet.”

He hadn’t seen the rest of the place, with the right mindset, yet.

The kitchen was a good place to start. Meals were the heart of many family gatherings. They brought people together and made a house a home, especially with wiccans. Their magic centered around plants and food.

“That’s a start,” Aadya stated.

Aadya looked at the room, and walked it the same way Zach had, so she could see it how Zach had. She could see the space becoming something new and whole. The walls would be covered in a pale blue color, with small dark blue flowers trailing down the wall that was shared with the living room. A small wood table would be there, with the floral backsplash. Some painting, maybe provided by Indigo, with a bright yellow focal point could be placed above the table. The counters would wrap around the outer wall and the back wall, with large windows above a double sink. Zero liked metal sinks that blended into the countertop, so she would give them one of those. The cabinets would be a natural wood, from a native tree that would bring Sylem’s heart into their home and make them more one with the natural beauty of the world around them. The counters could be a creamy white color with an oversized wood cutting board on the edge of the counter nearest the door to the patio. On the wall behind the door, a standing open shelf that spanned five tiers – for power – would have lights under each shelf and above the top one for lighting. The metal could match the sink to bring the room together, and the lights would emit more of the yellow color Zach wanted.

There was a small wall, beside the kitchen, that opened up to the garage. The small wall also backed under the stairway. If they added supports to the stairs, they could add a small pantry under the staircase or even a basement to the house. The basement could serve as a game room, if Zach liked games. She would have to ask him. The basement could double as a game room with plush couches that reclined and a large television screen. Game systems could line under the tv.

Aadya decided she would make the game room as a surprise.

On one side, she would also make a full pantry for larger stocks of supplies. Another set of plants lit by sun mimicking light bulbs with a partial wall dug out from the yard to allow in some natural lighting part of the day, and heat. From there, a staircase could lead outside and you could easily access the basement from the greenhouse if desired. The flooring would absorb mud, to keep the kitchen more clean. She would paint the basement room, with the pantry and plants, yellow. A warm, bright, sunshine yellow.

Back to the kitchen though….

Aadya looked around again, hoping she didn’t look like an idiot for pausing at the wall. Part of the spell Indigo had made would allow these visions for the house to come through in the replicated model that would soon fill her studio.

Zach could walk through it and tell her what she had right, what she had wrong, what he wanted that she had not thought of yet.

She loved wiccan magic, it was why she had formed a bond to Indigo. It was useful. She had broken it instantly.

The basement would have a guest room, too, incase someone wanted to visit. Aadya wasn’t sure what he needed, but guest rooms were always useful someday.

The kitchen… yellow. The wall that led to the basement could be a soft yellow color. The one with the plants on it could be as well. She needed more yellow elements, though, because most of those walls were covered in doors and the shelf. She retraced her mind and remembered some kitchen tools that were yellow: a mixing bowl… possible bright yellow plates in open windowed cabinets.

That was just the kitchen. They still needed to sort out the living room and the other floors, but Zach wasn’t open to the idea yet.

  Aadya turned toward Zach, “Can we try one more thing, as a starting place?”

If she could walk him through her process, someone like him – an artist – should be able to continue from her starting point.

“Okay,” Zach replied.

Aadya left the kitchen, moving slowly and carefully, in the same way that Zach had gone through the kitchen the first time. “Walk through and just describe everything you feel – each room. Tell me what the rooms mean to you.

Aadya hoped that Zach would share bits of himself, for Indigo to learn more about him, while they did this project.

Zach moved ahead of her, and walked toward the front door, “I don’t know. It’s a room. It’s really dark.”

Aadya placed her hand on his arm, and lightly turned him to face the room again. She opened the door, so a breeze could enter the space. “You walk into the room, after being gone all day. Is it light when you come in? Is the light natural? Is it bright? Do you feel happy to be home, relieved? Tense or Anxious? Are you just wanting to move from this room to a different room, and it’s a way to get there?

“I don’t know, I don’t know what it’s going to look like yet.”

Aadya heard, every so lightly, Indigo laugh under her breath.

Nellie ran up the stairs to explore more. Aadya felt bad; she must have been bored by the lack of entertainment.

For Aadya, doing this was uncoiling every knot of tension in her body. It was peaceful and focused.

“Why are you so sure of what you want for a kitchen?” Indigo asked.

“Just a guess,” he said, his hands tucked into his pockets.

He was hiding something; Indigo exchanged a knowing glance with her, eyebrows raised in curiosity. They would have to knead it out of him, with easier questions and a slower pace.

“The bedrooms,” Aadya said. Maybe he knew what he wanted for the kitchen because he knew who he wanted to like the kitchen. “How many would be perfect?”

“We need at least three,” he said, without thinking. “I mean I don’t know.”

Three bedrooms meant a family, which meant a significant other.

Zach was in love.

Aadya looked at Indigo again, and she smiled a little.

“Okay,” Aadya reassured him. “I can make something for the rest of the house if you have nothing else…”

Zach looked around the living room again. “Cozy. A fireplace in the living room, and warm colors in here. Something nice. Hardwood floors. Maybe… maybe small tulip wall paper in the hall.”

The Tulips would match the small flowers in the kitchen well.

Aadya modified the idea of the painting in the kitchen, from blurry with yellow to a bouquet of yellow tulips. Then she worked on the living room. The wall along the staircase going toward the kitchen and up the stairs would be covered in the same pale with tulips running across is as the dining area of the kitchen.

The other walls of the living room would be yellow. The fireplace could could be made of thin grey and pale yellow stones, mixed together and stretching toward the ceiling to create height. A pale blue-grey couch would match nicely, with a large reclining chair under the window that led the porch.

“Do you have a car?” Aadya asked. She could convert the garage into something else, or make a larger greenhouse, if he didn’t.

“Yeah,” he replied.

A shop then. She imagined the space filled with a car and maybe some tools, like Zero used, along the walls. A workbench at the back might add.

“What about a place for a hobby, like welding, pottery, painting, sewing…”

“Yeah, that too,” he replied.

Aadya laughed, “All of them?”

Zach sighed, “A big pantry and a nice big clear spot in the kitchen. And a painting room that catches the light. Maybe it has skylights and windows facing west so the golden comes in. And a playroom for kids on the first floor.”

Aadya looked around the layout…. A playroom for kids on the first floor….

There wasn’t much first floor left.

If the garage was big enough, she could use part of it for the playroom. She could also move the kitchen to encompass behind the garage into part of the space it used now, flipping it from her original design, and make a small painting nook at the back of the house. The rest of the kitchen space, where the table was going to go, could become a small playroom. Built in shelving would make the space easier to use and viewable from the living room.

“How old are they?” Indigo asked.

“Who?”

“Your two kids,” Aadya replied. A bedroom for him and his wife (or girlfriend), and a bedroom for, “A boy and a girl?”

“What two kids,” he asked. He moved his large frame through the room, agitated. “I don’t have kids.”

“You wanted two extra bedrooms and a playroom,” Indigo mused. “We just assumed…”

“A boy and a girl,” he replied.

“What do they like?” Aadya asked.

“She’s barely pregnant. I don’t know yet. Maybe she’s never coming back.”

He kneaded his hands together, and she feel Indigo’s eyes lock on the movement she was so familiar with – from Zero.

“She is coming back,” Aadya promised. “We will make sure she does, and that she has a beautiful home when she does.”

Zach’s hands fell to his side, but he still seemed uptight.

“What happened to her?”

This, more than the house planning, was what Aadya was best at. She could help him navigate the stressor and come up with a plan to resolve it, to bring his family home to him.

She would make sure this house was amazing, something that they could feel at peace in. Something that would make up for whatever was going on.

“She was working for this group. Watching their weird kids. And then she sent a note home saying she wanted to stay there. Maybe they made her stay, maybe not.”

“Weird kids?” Aadya asked.

Everything had crossed back over into her normal job – her queenship.

She knew she needed to focus, but she took a moment to listen to Nellie’s feet pattering above them.

Nellie was hers – just hers.

Zach needed his family back. if she could have hers back, she would do anything… she could help him.

She looked back at Zach, her eyes catching Nellie as she rode the banister down the stairway.

“Some kind of kids. I didn’t meet them,” Zach said.

“Okay,” Aadya said. “We can track her, I believe.”

Zero was capable of many things, things she hadn’t even begun to look into more. He had his brothers and his dad. Sam was also a skilled wiccan.

“Yeah?” Zach said. “Even in another realm? She’s scared of them. That’s why I think they took her, because if she didn’t want me she could have just lived at her house.”

Aadya could feel Zach opening up to them, like everything he had been holding himself in with had been unleashed by admitting he was going to be a dad.

Indigo was amazing at playing the accepting grandma-to-be role.

Zach having twins would just bring their families closer together, like they were meant to be in the same place.

“Which realm?” Indigo asked.

“I don’t know. I couldn’t go outside her room.”

“We can ask Zero,” Aadya suggested. “He tracks the kids everywhere.”

She was almost certain Zero was tired of tracking spells; he had spent his entire morning trying to track Camilla.

He liked to accomplish things though, and if he could find Zach’s girlfriend and open the relationship with Zach up then maybe he would feel a bit more sane about Camilla. He may even come up with a new idea while working.

“Does he track me?” Nellie asked.

“Not yet, but if you want him to he can,” Aadya said, as though she had a choice.

Choices made kids happy.

“Then,” Aadya added. “If you are ever in trouble we can find you right away.”

“I’ll think about it,” Nellie said, with a firm resolve. She looked up at Zach, “I bet she’s dead. But if she is don’t worry, there’s some real nice angels. All in white and all in red.”

In every movie Aadya had seen, a red angel was usually not nice.

Nellie must have been picking up on some other detail, such as clothes or hair.

“Nellie was revived an hour ago,” Aadya pointed out.

If they could find his girlfriend’s body they could bring her back.

“Yeah?” Zach asked. He lowered himself to Nellie’s level and smiled at her. Then, after Nellie smiled back, he looked up at Indigo, “Zero did that?”

“We did,” Indigo said, instead.

Maybe she was worried Zach would shut down again if he knew that Zero had become willing to revive people. Zach had died because he was unwilling at the time, but he had learned new ways to do magic since then; ways that didn’t involve sacrificing someone.

“It was my first time,” Aadya added. She wanted Zach to know she had wicca. She also wanted him to know she wasn’t experienced at it; she had a hunch he didn’t know magic for some reason.

“We had the energy from her death stored. We don’t do the kind of magic that requires a sacrifice,” Aadya added.

“I really don’t care,” Zach said.

She knew it was a lie, because he refused to make eye contact but he had stood, which meant he was interested in the conversation.

“Zero didn’t know it was an option before,” Indigo stated.

It was sort of a plea, but she said it in a calm and informative way.

“I don’t have any magic at all!” Nellie proclaimed. “Can I climb up you and do a flip? I bet you can touch the ceiling from up there.”

Zach looked down at Nellie, and in a motion he offered her his hand and helped her up, so she could touch the ceiling. In that motion, he opened up again.

He was the kind of person she could see being amazing with kids. The kind of person she wished was part of her family, because the task of making sure that there were plenty of offspring was something she didn’t want to force on others.

Nellie brushed her hand across the ceiling then did a flip; Zach made sure she was safe as he turned her around and around. She repeated it a dozen times. While she did, Aadya walked up the staircase to look at the upper level. The the right of the stairs was a short hallway that led to the master bedroom and bathroom. She could open the hallway up with a banister that allowed you to see down onto the floor of the house. Going the other direction, there were two bedrooms and a shared bathroom. There was also a closet for linens.

She could see the master bedroom, with rich beige walls, pale blue sheets, a soft pink comforter, and a floral yellow quilt. The furniture would match the cabinets – natural and native. The bathroom mocha colored tile floors with the same cabinets. A handmade bowl with dark blue designs painted into it for the sink and a dark blue tile backsplash. Yellow walls, a lighter blue tile for the shower… the other bathroom and the small bathroom downstairs would be the same.

She could feel the house coming together. The nurseries should be saved for Zach to paint and decorate with his girlfriend, but she would prepare them with soft beige carpet and clean white paint. Since they were having twins, she suspected the two would want to sleep near their mom and close for awhile. She would make him bassinets like the ones she used at home.

She included them in her vision, so he could reject them if he wanted to.

Nellie looked at Aadya, “My white angel says hi. My red angels says hi to some red guy.”

“Your white angel?” Aadya asked, her heart beating a little faster.

White meant hair.

Red meant hair.

White meant Drey.

She smiled.

“Yep,” Nellie said. “He was all in white. I was going to live with them but they had too many books and not enough playground and no tea party so this is better.”

Somehow, even with her parents in the same place as Drey (she hoped and assumed) Nellie had found Drey; Drey had found Nellie.

She smiled more, even though she knew Indigo had noticed.

She tried to bite it back and breathe through the feelings. She still missed him, but she had assumed the longer he was dead the less he would think of her.

“Did they have a name?” Indigo asked.

“Um. Kendall was the red angel and Drey was the white angel.”

“Kendall was Nell’s dad,” Indigo stated.

They all moved toward the front door, which Zach locked even though there were broken windows.

Aadya turned to Zach, “We can do that spell. The tracking one. I’d enjoy the experience.”

“Yeah,” Zach said, in response to doing the spell. “When?”

“Are you busy?” Aadya asked.

She was avoiding life. She had time.

“Not too busy for this,” Zach said. He picked up a jacket that he had hung on the banister, and rehung after Nellie had knocked it off.

“Do you want to include Spence?” Indigo asked Aadya.

Do I want to bring two brothers together?

Aadya shrugged. “He could use the practice.”

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