A small distance away from where they stood, Thea and Sybil noticed a pair of students standing in front of a makeshift, candle lit vigil for Rhianna. Stuffed animals and flowers were abundant in every direction they glanced towards.
“Heh,” the familiar mumbled to herself, rubbing her paw over her head as an attempt to clear off stray dirt from her fur. “I got this one.”
Sybil approached one of the students, rubbing herself along the girl’s leg in a sympathetic manner. Catching her attention, the girl soon leaned over and took Sybil in her hands. Her eyes were glossy and the small smile that formed on her face was weak.
Thea sucked in a shaky breath as she made her way over.
“Is it yours?” the girl asked, noticing Thea. The boy standing next to her furiously rubbed at his eyes, so much so that his skin turned a slight red. “I love your kitten.”
“Thank you,” Thea said, holding out her hand to introduce herself. “I’m Thea Beal.”
“Kim Clark. I was... Rhianna’s best friend,” the girl responded as she continued to hold back tears. Even still, she politely accepted the offer to shake Thea’s hand. She motioned to the boy standing next to her with a tilt of the head. “This is Gage Reynolds. He was Rhianna’s boyfriend.”
“Ex-boyfriend,” he interjected, voice raspy and soft. “We weren’t dating. She was... I was... I’m sorry.” He shook his head, sniffling. “I can’t do this. I’ll see you later, Kim.”
Thea and Kim watched as Gage stumbled away. Pressing her lips into a thin line, Kim turned towards Thea with an apologetic look on her face.
“I’m so sorry for him,” she whispered out. “He’s working through a lot of emotion right now, as we all are.”
“I understand completely. It must be difficult for you, considering how close you were to her.”
Kim nodded her head solemnly. Just as she opened her mouth to respond, her face suddenly turned to stone as she caught sight of someone behind Thea. In an instant, she barked out an angry retort.
“What are you even doing here?” she snapped at the frightened boy with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. “Get out of here. After all the trouble you caused Rhianna? You shouldn’t even show your face near her vigils.”
The boy fumbled out a quick apology as he turned around abruptly and took off in the opposite direction. Furrowing her eyebrows together, Thea was confused by the scene, even more so when she saw how badly Kim was seething with the boy’s mere appearance.
“Who was that?” Thea asked, staring off after him. He soon disappeared from her line of sight.
“Shawn Morgan,” Kim replied through gritted teeth. “He’s an idiot. I don’t even want to talk about him right now.”
Respecting her wishes, Thea didn’t seek to press into the topic further. After a few more moments of light conversation, Kim returned Sybil to her before departing further into the crowd, hoping to organize some of the flowers and candles that were left behind for Rhianna. Although Thea stayed behind for a while to watch, she decided that it was time to head back to her shop.
“Strange stuff,” Sybil commented, once they were far enough from anyone mundane to hear.
Thea nodded, but she didn’t respond. Too many thoughts kept swirling around her head, and she decided to keep most of them to herself in the meantime.
Chapter 4
Thea was already feeling tired from the day’s events. Though the day had just barely begun, she already felt emotionally drained. She let out a yawn as she walked into the craft store, hoping she’d find a moment to be able to sit down. Sybil dutifully followed in behind her.
However, when she saw Max and Mira talking to Jesse at the counter, she became alert once again. She smiled as she walked over to her two friends.
Though Max and Mira shape-shifted into a wolf and fox respectively, they were clearly two lovebirds. Even now, when a solemn air weighed heavy around them, the love and affection radiating off of the two of them was palpable.
“Hey guys,” Thea said as she walked over to the group. Jesse was showing Max and Mira their selection of streamers.
“Hi, Thea. How are you?” Max said, politely asking after her.
“I’m fine. Are you guys looking for anything in particular?”
“We were thinking of making a streamer banner to put on the fence around the high school for Rhianna,” Mira chimed in.
“Oh, that’s really sweet of you two,” Thea said as she got behind the counter with Jesse.
“I still feel just awful about what happened,” Mira said.
“Yeah, it really is a shame,” Max responded. “It makes me nervous for you too, Mira. I hope the killer gets caught soon.”
“Well, luckily she still has a bit before she’s off to college and joining a sorority,” Thea said.
Mira tried to hide a smile. Max grinned as well, not bothering to hide it. “Actually, Mira is planning on graduating high school early.”
“Is that so? Congratulations, Mira. I’m so happy for you.” Thea said. Jesse nodded in agreement.
“Yeah. She’s planning on starting college immediately after. We’re really excited.”
“College seems really great. I have to admit that I was eyeing those sorority floats. I’m thinking of joining one once I finish high school.”
Thea kept smiling, but the mention of sororities made her mind wander back to Rhianna’s murder.
“That’s so great, Mira. You’ll love it. I just know it. What’s better than sisterhood, right?”
“Pippa will always be my favorite sister, but I did always wish I had more.”
“Then it sounds perfect for you.”
Max checked his watch. “We’ll have to head out soon if we want to get everything set up. We’ll take the streamers we talked about.”
Jesse rang up the streamers for Max and Mira. The two waved as they left the store with their purchases in hand.
“So what have you been up to?” Jesse asked, leaning back to stretch.
“I stopped by the high school and spoke to some friends of Rhianna’s.”
“Yeah? Who?”
“A friend of hers named Kim. I also spoke to two others named Gage and Shawn.”
Jesse perked up. “Kim? Kim Clark?”
“Yeah. Do you know her?”
“She was in an art class I taught one summer.”
“Was Rhianna in the class too?”
“No, she wasn’t. But she did meet Kim after class one day. I remember seeing her there in the hallway. The sun was coming through the window and reflected on her hair...”
Jesse began to trail off and get a far-away look on his face. Thea sighed. She knew Rhianna had this effect on men. It seemed that it was true even from beyond the grave.
“Did you know her well? Rhianna, I mean.” Thea continued.
“Oh, sorry. No. I just saw her in passing that one time.” He frowned and started to busy himself with straightening up the things on the counter.
“You don’t have to be embarrassed,” Thea said with a laugh. “You’re not the only one who was wooed by her.”
“Sorry. I just got lost in my thoughts, I guess,” Jesse muttered as a blush crawled across his cheeks.
“Don’t worry. I don’t hold it against you.”
Sybil jumped onto the counter and snickered at Jesse’s embarrassment. Thea smiled at her cat and scratched her under her chin.
She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She saw that it was Blaine calling.
“Hey there,” she said.
“Hi, Thea. Do you have a moment?” Blaine asked.
“I sure do. Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing is wrong. I just wanted to update you on a few things.”
“Okay. What’s up?”
“Well, there was a problem with the security camera footage from the warehouse around the time Rhianna died.”
“Oh? What was the problem?”
“The problem is that it’s not there. It’s been erased.”
Thea furrowed her brow. “Erased? Well that means—“
“That someone else was involved in her death. We’re now investigating it as a murder.”
Thea took a deep breath. She knew that it was possible that this would turn into a murder investigation, but she felt her pulse begin to race anyway.
“I guess that was always a possibility,” Thea said. “If it was a murder, then I think I have something you might want to hear.”
Thea explained her interaction with Kim, Gage, and Shawn to Blaine. He listened carefully to what she said.
“That does all seem like it could be a lead. At this point in the investigation, we can’t rule anyone out. We’ll have to work on finding out more about their relationships with Rhianna.”
“Right. I can get right on that if you’re busy with work.”
“Aren’t you busy with something too?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Isn’t it time for your magic lessons?”
“My magic lessons?” Thea thought to herself. With Blaine’s prompting, she suddenly remembered her lesson with Tiegen.
“My magic lesson,” Thea exclaimed. “I almost forgot.”
Her sudden, loud proclamation made Jesse jump. Blaine laughed on the other side of the phone call.
“If you hurry, I bet you can make it on time. I won’t keep you any longer.”
“Thank you for calling. She would have been furious with me if I had forgotten.”
“I can’t imagine her yelling.”
“It’s not yelling. It’s worse. She’d give me a look that could kill.”
Thea said her goodbyes to Blaine and rushed off to her meeting with Tiegen. Sybil jumped off the counter and ran after her. While she rushed to get to her lessons, the case seemed far away, but the new development meant that danger was that much closer.
Chapter 5
Tapping her fingers along the armrest of her seat, Thea watched as Aunt Tiegen paced behind her desk. Thea was currently sitting in her office, narrowly missing a scolding for coming in a few minutes late. However, based on the concerned look on her Aunt’s face, it was clear that Tiegen was worried about something else that didn’t involve Thea’s magic lessons.
And Thea already knew what it was.
“Can I ask you a question?” she asked suddenly, catching her Aunt by surprise. She sat up straighter in her seat, folding her hands in her lap. “Why did you choose to continue the parade even though a dead body was found on one of the floats?”
Aunt Tiegen perked up a brow at her inquiry, almost surprised that she knew about that in the first place. However, she settled herself quickly. Dusting off some lint on her clothes and adjusting the sleeves of her shirt, Tiegen waved it off as if it were a topic for another day.
Thea frowned, but allowed her Aunt to explain herself before interjecting.
“It was going to be a PR disaster if minutes before the Homecoming parade started, another dead body was found. I wasn’t going to allow that to happen,” she said, shaking her head. “I did what I thought was right. The float was pulled and the event continued on. After the month this town had, I think we all deserved a little bit of happiness in our lives. Don’t you think?”
Still unnerved by the fact that her Aunt acted as if everything was alright when it clearly wasn’t, the only thing Thea mustered up was a half-hearted shrug. “I guess so.”
“Good, I’m glad you’re seeing things from my perspective.”
“But I think it was a bit callous to do in the first place. I mean, a young girl lost her life–”
“Oh, Thea, this is a conversation meant for a different time and different place,” Tiegen cut in, making her way around the desk to stand in front of her. “Instead of worrying about that, let’s shift our focus onto the topic at hand, yes? Your magic. I hope you’ve been practicing at home with Sybil.”
“Of course I have,” she mumbled out, fiddling her thumbs. She didn’t appreciate the way her Aunt treated her as if she was a little kid again.
“Alright, then show me,” Tiegen said. “Show me how you focus. Then I want you to show me one of your shields. I want to see how much progress you’ve made with those two.”
With a small sigh, Thea did exactly what she was told. She demonstrated how quickly she was able to focus on harnessing the energy within herself to detect the magical objects in the room. Next, she whispered the incantation that would create a temporary, yet strong, shield. Tiegen let out an impressed hum as her hand pressed against the shield.
“Not bad,” she said. “There’s definite room for improvement, but you’re heading in the right direction.”
“Gee, thanks,” Thea said in a small voice, watching her Aunt from under her brows.
“I want to talk to you about the importance of wards. In fact, I want to highlight their complexity,” Tiegen began, pulling up her sleeves. “You see, the spell is very simple, yet it can be used in a variety of ways. For example, they can act as walls, gates, or traps. They’re a versatile tool.”
Before Thea knew what was happening, she suddenly felt stuck to her chair. She couldn’t move a muscle. She couldn’t even turn her head to glance down at the rest of her stiff body. Furrowing her eyebrows, she glanced at her laughing Aunt, who was amused by the shock on Thea’s face.
“And as you can see, a binding spell is just a complicated ward. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s designed to stop exterior movement of the body, but the interior processes a person needs to survive continue on,” she explained, crossing her arms over her chest as Thea still struggled with the fact that she couldn’t move. “Your internal organs are unaffected by the ward, but the muscles you need to move certainly are.”
With a wave of her hand, Tiegen lifted the spell. In doing so, she returned life back into Thea. She slumped in her seat as movement returned to her limbs again. She felt at her face, thankful that her motility had returned as well as her ability to speak. The words caught in her throat finally found their way out.
“That was... scary,” Thea admitted, taking a few deep breaths as a way to calm herself down. “I didn’t like how that felt.”
Tiegen smiled. “It’s not supposed to be an amusing spell to cast on someone. And you need to learn to practice it well. If you manage to mess it up, you risk disrupting someone’s internal processes. Taking away someone’s ability to breathe is not a situation you want to find yourself in.”
“Blaine says I do that to him effortlessly,” Thea remarked, which evoked a short laugh out of her Aunt. “But I get what you mean.”
As a way to practice, Thea summoned Sybil into Tiegen’s office. The familiar was irritated, considering she was taking a nap before getting teleported against her will. However, she agreed to help Thea on the premise that she would receive extra snacks that day as a reward.
After a few minutes of practice, Thea realized that the spell wasn’t manifesting as powerfully for her as it did for her Aunt. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in herself or in her own abilities. Instead, it simply boiled down into not wanting to do it. At all.
“Aunt Tiegen, I...” Thea began, wetting her lips as she leaned back into her seat. “I don’t like doing this spell.”
Tiegen clenched her jaw. “And why is that?”
“I don’t like the fact that I could potentially hurt someone by doing this binding spell to them,” she explained, petting Sybil with a shaky hand. “This isn’t the type of magic I wanted to learn.”
“Your wants don't matter in this case, Thea. You need to learn this magic. It’s for your own good,” her Aunt deadpanned. “That’s why you need to learn it correctly.”
Pressing her lips into a thin line to prevent herself from saying anything out of line, Thea didn’t express what she actually wanted to say. She wanted to stop the lesson there and leave her Aunt’s office without a word. However, she acknowledged that her circumstances weren’t as simple as she wanted them to be. She couldn’t just do that, it would be disrespectf
ul.
Besides... the dark look her Aunt sent her was enough to keep Thea planted in her seat regardless.
“Okay, Aunt Tiegen,” she said, swallowing thickly. “I’ll keep practicing.”
Chapter 6
“Did you really have to bring me along for this?” Sybil mumbled out, struggling and kicking in Thea’s grasp. “You know I don’t like that other cat in there.”
“Oh c’mon, Sybil. Captain is very nice and sweet,” Thea reassured her as they neared A Novel Idea.
The familiar was unconvinced, whiskers twitching in discontent as they passed through the threshold of the shop. Thea placed her on the floor, receiving a pointed look from the kitten as she did so. Immediately, Sybil was approached by the cat that she always dreaded seeing whenever Thea took her along to visit Pippa.
“Don’t get near me,” Sybil hissed out, creating some distance between herself and Captain.
“You’re the one trespassing on my territory, you know,” Captain replied curtly, tail batting from left and right at the sight of the white familiar. “You should be the one staying away from me.”
“I don’t even want to be here,” she countered, unsheathing her claws. “Look at you. Dirt under your claws and on your fur. That’s disgusting.”
That comment made Captain conjure up a mischievous idea. Planting his orange body low to the ground, the tomcat looked ready to pounce. Already suspecting what was to come, Sybil’s tail puffed up. She scrambled and raced around the shop with Captain hot on her tail.
The encounter was observed diligently by Thea and Pippa, with the latter giggling quietly at the scene.
“I envy their friendship sometimes,” she said sarcastically.
“Right?” Thea agreed with a playful grin. “It’s obvious that they love each other.”
“I doubt that Sybil’s play date with Captain was the only reason why you decided to stop by,” Pippa remarked, resting her arms on the counter and leaning forward. “What’s up? What are you up to?”
Spooky Magic (Tabby Kitten Mystery Book 4) Page 2
