Salem Falls

Upon her mother’s request, Maggie was getting out the Snow’s good china, which was reserved only for special occasions. She wasn’t quite sure why having dinner with Zayn Malik, a boy who was barely older than her, warranted bringing out their good dinnerware, but she wasn’t want to argue, so she put a smile on her face, and set places for her, her father, her mother, and of course, Zayn.

Only seconds after she’s set down the last plate, the doorbell rang, and her mother called to her to answer it. They both knew it was Zayn arriving ten minutes early, but they didn’t mind, and Maggie was sure her father would want to spend a few minutes talking to Zayn anyway.

Putting a smile on her face, Maggie opened the door and was met with Zayn’s dark eyes yet again. They weren’t as sunken in as they were the day of the funeral, and Maggie assumed that the week since then had involved less crying. She only hoped that he was beginning to heal well.

“Zayn,” she said, grinning at him. “Please come in.”

He nodded, stepping through the door with a vase of flowers in hand.

“These are from my mother,” he said, as he passed them to her. “To say sorry for not being here.”
Maggie’s mother entered the room, responding before she could.

“Oh, she didn’t need to do that,” the older woman said, taking the bouquet from Maggie’s hands. “They are lovely though.”

Zayn chuckled. “They all look the same to me. My house has been full of them this past week.”

A flash of pain passed through Zayn’s eyes, as his teeth tugged at his bottom lip. Maggie felt sorry for him, as she’d spent many nights wondering if her father would make it home from his duties as a cop. Salem Falls was a small town, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t violence. Maggie only hoped she wouldn’t have to go through the same thing Zayn did, and he wouldn’t have wished it upon anyone.

“Zayn,” Mark said, as he bounded down the stairs. “Good to see you.”

The two men shook hands, smiling at each other briefly.

“My wife’s an excellent cook,” Mark continued. “I hope you like steak.”

“Of course,” Zayn said, nodding his head with a smile. “Anything that isn’t casserole would be lovely. Everyone seems to keep bringing them by the house.”

Most of what Zayn said seemed to involve his father’s death in some way, and Maggie assumed it would be like that through much of dinner. She didn’t mind, though, and she knew her parents wouldn’t either. They could only imagine how hard things must be for them, and they only wanted to make it better.

Luckily for Maggie, her father kept the conversation going through the entire dinner and managed, most of the time, to keep things away from Zayn’s father’s death. It was clear the boy was pleased by it, as he spent most of the dinner laughing at Mr. Snow’s jokes.

To Zayn’s surprise, the Snow’s were the exact opposite of what he expected them to be. All his life, the members of the Sixth Circle – the coven he was now leading – had told him about how rude non-mages were and how it was impossible to talk to them. He had been told they were awkward, annoying, and difficult to get along with, but the Snow’s were anything but.

He’d only gone to the dinner in hopes of making connections with Mr. Snow, as his father had before him, and he was pleased by the fact that they weren’t a total bore. It was strange to him that normal people could be so welcoming to him, when he’d always been told how awful they were. He found himself wondering if his father felt the same way about the Snow’s and had never told him. He wondered how many different things there were about his father that he didn’t know and wouldn’t get a chance to.

When Mr. Snow finished telling a story about one of the town drunks getting himself stuck in a bush, the entire table laughed, with Zayn so distracted by it that he didn’t have a chance to give anymore thought to his father’s relationship with the Snow’s.

“You should tell him about the murder,” Maggie said, as she took a sip of water. “The one from yesterday.”

Maggie, having spent most of her life with her father as the town’s sheriff, was used to hearing the countless stories about the crime that went on in Salem Falls. It was normal dinner conversation for them, and she hadn’t realized how strange it could be for Zayn. It wasn’t often a murder happened in Salem Falls, so she thought it was interesting enough to talk about.

Mark gave a quick pause, before nodding his head. “It’s a strange one, that case. Lots of blood.”
“Mark,” her mother drawled. “No talk of blood at the table.”

“Zayn’s a man, Cindy. He can handle it.” He looked back to Zayn. “We found the body in the forest out past the Wilson’s. We’re hoping to get a few suspects before the press catches wind of it, but so far we haven’t had much luck. This guy’s a monster. Chopped off –”

“That’s enough,” Cindy interrupted, as she glared at her husband. “We don’t want to make anyone sick before they’ve finished their dinner.”

Mark rolled his eyes, as Zayn and Maggie tried to suppress their laughter. The older couple reminded Zayn so much of his mother and father, who always bickered about little things but balanced each other out so well. He suddenly became overwhelmed with feelings of his mother, and knew he’d spent too much time away from her.

“I actually think I better get going,” Zayn said, as he placed his napkin on the table. “I need to get back and check on my mother.

The Snow’s nodded, while Mark stood up and shook Zayn’s hand. “Of course, Maggie will walk you out.”

Tucking her chair behind her, Maggie guided Zayn out of the dining room and towards the front door, even though she was certain he knew where it was. Having her show him out was her parents way of being polite, and the Snow’s prided themselves on being polite.

“Well, I hope you had lovely dinner,” Maggie said, as she held the door open for him. “We enjoyed having you.”

“Thank you,” Zayn said simply, flashing her a small smile.

She smiled back, and with that, he turned away, stepping down the Snow’s front porch. The wind was cool, and he was thankful that he had elected to walk instead of drive, as he was left with a lot to think about, and it seemed like walking was the only thing that allowed him to. When he sat still, his thoughts raced in a manner that he couldn’t keep up with, but when he walked, he was able to sift through them like a library book.

Taking a deep breath, Zayn shoved his hands in his pockets, as he turned off the Snow’s lawn and down the sidewalk. Before he could get to the end of the street, Maggie called behind him, stopping him dead in his tracks.

She was trotting through the lawn, her bare feet padding against the grass. Her curly hair bounced behind her and he was so distracted by it that it seemed she reached him in only seconds.

“Zayn,” she said, staring up at him with soft eyes. “I’m really sorry about what happened to your father. My dad said he was great man.”

Zayn nodded, smiling at her. “He was.”

She let in a quick breath, before moving forward and wrapping her arms around Zayn’s waist. Her hug caught him off guard, and he stood there for a few seconds, before wrapping his arms around her shoulders. He wasn’t sure if she always hugged people to make them feel better, or if he was just a special instance, but he was thankful for it.

He’d been hugged many times since his father’s death, but none of them seemed as soft and sweet as Maggie’s.