Hilda smiled sweetly at the two unfortunate guests. She knew what to do but she hoped her two sisters would understand what she was doing and would follow suit. Especially that dim-willed Gilda.
"Don't mind three silly chattering elderly women," she kindly said to Christina. "It's all a misunderstanding. Gilda loves making pranks and jokes. It's her only pastime in her old age. Please forgive her. It's all a complete misunderstanding. Your friend accidentally spilled the nice cup of coffee we served him all onto himself and we were offering to give him some privacy to change into fresh clothes. We are aol lucky he suffered no bad burns, mind you!"
James nodded as Christina looked at him. He did not know where Hilda was going with this but it beat confounding himself in excuses and drowning in Christina's accusations. Meanwhile, Hilda shot a pointed look at her two sisters, intimating them to follow her lead and mimic her attitude. Gilda scowled but quickly took on a smiling and innocent look.
"Yes, yes! My jokes are not always to everyone's tastes but I assure you I did not mean to offend you, young lady! I thought it was all very funny but I completely understand if you think otherwise! Oh, I'll bring some cakes to apologize!"
"And I'll make more coffee!" exclaimed Matilda as if she had not had such a fun activity in a long, long time.
"Yes," said Hilda. "Go to the bathroom to change with your lady love and come back to enjoy the treats and coffee!"
She clapped her hands as if it was all a wonderful party. Christina sighed and went to James' suitcase to retrieve other clothes. She then accompanied him to the bathroom. These women had really lost their marbles with age, it seemed! As for the three witches, they colluded with excited whispers in the kitchen while making coffee, trying to agree upon what to do with these two youngsters. They were fresh and in their twenties. The possibilities were limitless! Gilda was determined to make James her boy toy and to get rid of Christina for good but the other two witches did not share her views. They had other ideas and plans. It was hard to agree between the three of them, which left James and Christina to their own in the bathroom.
"Don't you think these women are weird? Freaky, even?" asked Christina while sitting on the edge of the bathtub.
"Don't worry," mumbled James, attempting to keep her suspicions at bay. "They're just a bit deluded because of old age but they're not dangerous. They're old crazy cooks, that's all. They were probably frauds doing tricks of seeing the future or reading into your hand in their lives and came to believe too much of their own lies."
"That would explain the freaky things around this place," mumbled Christinas.
It made sense but she was still only half-convinced.
"But...You don't feel... attracted by them?" asked Christina with a deep frown, still wary of what she had seen.
"Me? To those old crones? Are you crazy?" laughed James. "Not in a million years! Not if you paid me a million dollars!"
His girlfriend nodded, assuaged for now. They then got out of the bathroom, Christina looking at the different witch-like items on the various shelves.
"Wow, yeah, you're not kidding. They really do believe in all that cooky stuff," she smiled.
She then stopped at a door.
"Hey, what’s there?" she asked.
"No idea," answered James. "They pointed to their rooms, mine, the bathroom but not to others. This door's part of these, I guess."
"Well, let's check it out," said Christina with a tiny mischievous sparkle in her eye. "Maybe they have more kitsch witch stuff inside."
"No, I don’t think it's a good idea because..." started James.
But it was too late. Christina had already opened the door and entered, fumbling to see where a light was.
"Ooh, it's dark here," she said.
"Let's get out, then..." started James as he stepped inside too.
They could get in trouble and he did not want to see what would happen with those three crazy witches! But jus then, the door closed behind them, seemingly on its own accord and plunged them both into a pitch black darkness. The creature inside smiled. Oh, two non-magical innocent preys stepping right into its lair! This was going to be so much fun! It would be the height of its day for sure!