Salem Falls

Maggie held the bouquet of flowers in her hand, as her fingers tugged at the soft petals. She kept her head down, with her mother and her father by her side, as they made their way up to the front of the funeral home.

She didn’t know Yaser well – didn’t even know who he was until her father announced they were going to his funeral – but that didn’t stop her from being upset about his death. She knew Yaser had left behind a wife and a son about her age, and it brought about floods of thoughts of losing her own father. She couldn’t imagine the pain the boy was feeling, and she certainly didn’t want to.

“Why have I never heard of the Malik’s before?” Maggie whispered to her father, who then looked down at her with his hand against her back.

“I told you, honey. They’re work friends. Yaser did a lot of work for this community and he came into the station quite often.”

Nodding her head, Maggie looked back toward the ground, electing to drop the conversation that was heading into too personal territory. She didn’t assume a funeral was the best time to be asking who the departed was, and she’d have more time to ask about the Malik’s later.

For now, she held tightly onto her mother’s hand, while her father guided them to a heavy eyed boy at the front of the room. It seemed as though everyone else in the room was staring at him, with their eyes wide in both shock and disgust, and the only time Maggie saw eyes like that was when she was around someone her father had locked up. She could feel their stares burning holes into her chest, but had no idea why they were looking at her that way. There were very few people in Salem Falls that disliked the Snow’s and she supposed she landed in the one room filled with them.

When they arrived at the boy, he was sitting in a chair, with his elbows against his knees and his head in his hands. It was terrible to think that he’d lost his father at such a young age, and Maggie wanted nothing more than to comfort him, though he had dozens of other people there to do just that.

“Zayn,” her father said, holding his hand out to the boy. He looked up at Mark with his dark eyes, as his mind struggled to match a name to the face. Her father answered before he had a chance to ask. “Sheriff Snow.”

At that, the boy nodded, shaking his hand quickly. He stood from his seat, standing eye to eye with Mark Snow, as he patted down his clothing. “Sheriff Snow, thank you for being here. I know it would mean a lot to my father.”

“Of course,” the sheriff answered. “Your father was a good man. Always helped out at the station. I had to come pay my respects.”

Zayn nodded, before shifting his eyes over to Maggie. His gaze fell to the flowers in her hand, which she was toying with. He’d been given hundreds of flowers that evening, but none like the ones Maggie held.

Noticing his look, she quickly held them out to him. “These are for you.”

He paused for a moment, giving her a look over, before taking them slowly from her hand. The way he looked at her gave Maggie chills, and not the good kind. His dark eyes took her in, judging her for reasons she didn’t know, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. She passed it off, smiling instead, like her mother had always taught her to.

“They’re lilies,” she said. “I wasn’t sure what would be appropriate, but they’re my favorite so – “

“Thank you,” he replied shortly, before turning back to Mr. Snow. “And thank you, again, for being here.”

All his life, Zayn had been taught to converse with those outside the coven as little as possible. He was taught to look down on people that weren’t members of the Sixth Circle, and that behavior carried on, even when he didn’t intend for it to. He knew that before his passing, his father had always made peace with Mr. Snow, even though he wasn’t a member of the coven, just because he was Salem Falls’ sheriff.

When anything suspicious happened, Mark never looked to the Malik’s because he knew Yaser so well, and anytime his suspicions went to other members of the coven, Yaser could lead him in other directions. Zayn knew that he, like his father, should make connections with Sheriff Snow, but it didn’t seem like the time to reach out to the older man. He wasn’t quite ready to accept his duties yet.

Zayn stepped to the side, clearly making his attempt at escaping the Snow’s presence, but Maggie’s father was quick to stop him, being as forward as he was.

“Zayn,” Mr. Snow said, placing a gentle hand on the boy’s elbow. “My wife and I would love to have you and your mother over for dinner. Just whenever you get a chance.”

Zayn nodded, letting out a heavy breath. “I’m sure my mother would love that.”

His mother probably wouldn’t enjoy dinner with the Snow’s, but not for the same reasons he wouldn’t. Zayn could just imagine the look on his mother’s face as he watched the happy couple serve dinner in their home, something she’d never again be able to do with her husband. Zayn knew that Mr. Snow hadn’t meant any harm by it, so he shook it off, and immediately decided that he’d go it alone, not even telling his mother about the dinner, so he could work on making the connections that his father had.

He wasn’t quite ready to take on the leadership role his father had left him, but he was going to give it his best shot.

He gave Mr. Snow one last solemn smile, before stepping away to talk to some of the other patrons. As he walked by, his shoulder bumped against Maggie’s, just hard enough to send her stumbling backwards. She caught herself, though, as she was much more coordinated than she looked, but his hand had placed against her back to help her before he realized that she did.

“You alright?” he asked quickly, his dark eyes meeting her blue ones. She had sweet, soft eyes that clearly held no pain in them. It was obvious she didn’t see what was going on all around her. Like the other members of Salem Falls, she was blind to see the changes happening within the town. The Sixth Circle had inherited a new leader, and it was affecting the coven in more ways than one.