Be Careful What You Witch For (Unexpected Witchcraft Book 1)

by Ava Day

  “That eyesore?” Nate says. Joy’s eyes narrow at him.

  “So, you’re moving to Spring Valley?” Brent asks.

  “We sure are,” Joy replies. “I’m Joy, by the way. Nice to meet you.” They shake hands and Nate goes to the back of the pickup to reluctantly retrieve the hammer. “Well, we should really get back to exploring our new building.”

  “Here you go,” Brent says. “We're on our way out for the night, but I'll just swing by tomorrow and pick it up.”

  “I'll see you tomorrow then.” I grin at him.

  “Sure thing. Have a good night,” Brent replies while Nate hands me a sledge hammer. Dang, this thing is heavy. I hope it's not too heavy to swing.

  “He’s a lot cuter than you described,” Joy whispers as we wave and walk away.

  “Shut it, Joy.”

  “I’m just saying. You really didn’t do him justice.”

  “I was fifteen.”

  “Not anymore…”

  After lugging our borrowed implement of destruction back over to the Beacon, Joy and I decide the best way to destroy the wall without hurting ourselves is to swing it like a pendulum between us and hit the wall lower down. The first few times we try it, we don’t get enough force to break through but we do manage to put some cracks in it. Third time’s a charm! We rest the hammer against the wall next to us and kneel down to peer into the hole.

  “Take that, wall!” Joy proclaims as she pumps her fists in the air. Using the light on my phone once again, I stick it through the opening to see what's there, but all I see is darkness.

  “Alright, we're pretty awesome but let's get the hole a little bigger before we start celebrating.” I'm just as excited as Joy, she just lets it show more. We get the hammer ready and steadily work around the hole, making it bigger with each swing. Finally, it's big enough for us to crawl through. I gesture to Joy to go first. She loves diving into the unknown.

  “I'll pull you out if you get attacked by a rat, but don't count on me if there's a monster from the 80's in there,” I say over her shoulder as she's crawling into the auditorium. She hesitates for a split second before wriggling the rest of the way through.

  Chapter 3

  Tucking my phone into my pocket, I kneel down and shimmy through the wall. Standing up on the other side, I am awe struck by the architecture in the auditorium. Every surface is covered in ornately carved woodwork. They just don’t make stuff like this anymore.

  Joy can't contain her giddiness and wraps her arms around me. This purchase is starting to feel more and more right with every section we explore. I marvel at the intricate details of the posts holding up the balcony. Snakes, birds, and elephants make up a small portion of the animals carved. It's breathtaking to discover a piece of art that has been lost to the world for so long, even walled up.

  Looking out at the rest of the space, I see the movie screen sagging badly from a tear. Also, there are no seats. The auditorium has been cleared out to make room for rows upon rows of shelves. I step out onto the concrete floor and look up to see the light of the setting sun flooding through a large hole in the roof.

  “Well, that’s less than ideal,” Joy says.

  “Less than ideal? This will cost a fortune to repair!”

  “Which is why we have a flexible renovation budget. At least we’ll be able to see by the light of the moon in a bit.”

  Stepping gingerly around piles of dirt and leaves, I make my way over to the racks positioned in the center of the auditorium. Like everything else in this old theater, dust coats the tiny bottles, boxes, and other bizarre trinkets that appear to be meticulously organized. Curious as to what could be stored here, I pick up a bottle and wipe the label clean. There is an odd set of symbols neatly scrawled that I can't make heads or tails of. Whatever language it is, is beautiful. I set it back on the shelf in the same spot where I found it. It just seems like someone took a lot care to arrange this stuff and I would hate to mess it up before I even know what I'm looking at. That's a mystery that I'll have to solve another day because I turn to see Joy climbing the stairs to the balcony.

  “Hey, wait for me!” I call to her as I hurry to catch up.

  The maroon carpet on the steps is faded and worn through in a few spots. I reach the top and find even more shelves, but these are filled with books. Lots and lots of books. Why is all of this stuff here? Joy is pulling one down and she holds it up for me to see. I point my light over to get a better look and read the title aloud.

  “An Introduction to the Art of Myomancy. What the heck is that?” I ask Joy, as if she would automatically know.

  “I don't have the foggiest idea, but maybe there worth some money. They all look really old and creepy. Here, look at this one. You don’t think that’s…skin?”

  “It can't be. More than likely it's just old leather,” I tell her, but I'm not so sure myself. Leather usually isn't that white in color. I distract Joy from the creepiness of the small library’s worth of books by trying the small door to the projectionist booth. It is locked, so I gesture to Joy and she tosses me the key. I'm surprised that it actually fits the lock and turns.

  This time I'm prepared for a cardboard cutout attack, but there's nothing waiting for me when I push the door open. An old projector sits in the window. There is a ladder against the back wall that leads down into blackness.

  Joy steps into the small room and flicks a few switches on the wall that I missed. The auditorium grows brighter and the ladder is now illuminated. I peer over the edge and realize it goes down for a quite a ways. Do we have a basement?

  “Looks like we have some more exploration to do, Joy.” I say, tucking my phone into my pocket as I bend down to put my foot into the first rung of the ladder.

  “Hey, we don't know what might be down there!” Joy calls out, but I'm already climbing as fast as I can towards the bottom.

  “The lights are on, how scary could it be?”

  Without hesitation, she comes after me. I can't figure out if she's more worried about my safety or that I might find something really cool before she does. Hand over hand, I make my way down the ladder until my feet touch solid ground. It’s slightly wet but still solid nonetheless.

  As I wait for Joy to make her descent, I survey the enormous basement. There are hallways running in all directions. A faded sign with an arrow points down one, it reads Dressing Rooms. With so many burnt out bulbs the light down here is dim and spotty, creating pools of shadow that dot the tunnels. A shiver runs down my spine. I'm suddenly not feeling so bold anymore. A cool breeze whooshes past me just as my phone chimes at me that the battery is almost dead.

  “Did you feel that, Joy?” I ask as she comes to peek over my shoulder.

  “Nope, didn't feel a thing,” she replies.

  “Seriously? Don't start messing with me right now.” I spin around to look her in the eye.

  “I swear, what happened?”

  “It was probably nothing but I thought I felt a gust of wind. This basement is giving me the creeps.”

  Almost as if to punctuate my sentence, the sound of a banging door echoes down the hallway. Like a pair of cartoon characters, Joy and I hop into each others arms. The seconds seem to tick by slowly as my heart finally stops beating a thousand miles a minute. I untangle myself from Joy and can't help but laugh at how we are acting. What's the worst thing that could happen to us in this sleepy little town? With a new found confidence, I take a few steps towards the sound of the banging door.

  “I'm right behind you, Penny,” Joy whispers.

  We lurk down the hall and come to small set of stone steps. At the top of them is a metal door that must have been left unlocked and was now blowing open and closed freely in the chilly night air. I stick my head out of the door and find myself in the alley behind the theater. My blood runs cold when I spot a dark figure turning the corner back onto the street. Could that be the same person from the courthouse earlier? I squint to get a better look at the potential intruder, but whoev
er it is simply vanishes in a blink of an eye. Literally. Here one second, gone the next. I must be seeing things.

  Pushing frightening thoughts out of my mind, I pull the door closed and drop the steel bar across it and make sure it is secure. That should keep the door from popping open unexpectedly again.

  “Did you see anything?” Joy inquires.

  “Nope, the wind must have blown it open,” I feel bad lying to her but I don't want to make a big deal out of nothing.

  Now that we solved that little problem, I let Joy lead me back down the hall to the dressing rooms. I stick close behind her, trying not to step on her heels. There are six doors on each side, each one with a little placard on them. Joy points to the first one and I try the knob. It's locked and the knob won't budge. I give it a little shove with my shoulder. It must really be jammed because I can't get it to move an inch. Oh well, that's a problem for another day.

  I turn to see Joy across the hall opening another door. The old wooden door creaks and groans as it swings on rusty hinges. She disappears in the dark room and a second later a light comes on. Joy lets out a squeal of excitement, so I rush over to see what she's found. There's an antique vanity mirror with big round bulbs lining the entire frame. Joy is standing in front of it, striking cheesecake poses while holding an old costume dress against herself.

  “This is so cool, Penny,” Joy laughs while twirling to show me the faded green satin gown. “This place is like a museum that's been frozen in time. We could probably have some of these things restored and put them on display for the public. It could bring in business.”

  “Or we can sell them to pay for the roof,” I grumble over my shoulder while I flip through the rest of the costumes in the large closest.

  If the other dressing rooms are as packed with stuff as this we're going to have a lot of organizing to do. If I include the racks of weird stuff we found in the auditorium, the thought of it all is overwhelming. The townsfolk might not think much of this old building, but I'm falling in love with it. The extravagance in the architecture and the costumes really conveys the time period in which the theater was built. Moving on, we do a quick check in the remaining dressing rooms and find them just as packed full of costumes. Some of them even have old pots of makeup still sitting on the vanity. Joy was right. This place really does seem to be frozen in time.

  Back at the ladder that led us down here, we pick another direction to explore and the hallway comes to an end at a small metal spiral staircase. My phone beeps at me once again to let me know that it is shutting off due to a low charge. Crud.

  “Joy, my phone just died. Will you check out what's at the top of the stairs first?”

  “You know it.” She darts past me and the stairs ring out with each footstep. “There's a door up here. A very skinny door. I'm going for it.” I hear the door open and watch as her light disappears through the opening.

  Chapter 4

  “Hey, Joy! Did you find anything?” I call up after her as I start to ascend the steps. To my disbelief, I find myself standing in the small kitchen behind the concession stand.

  “Hidden passageway! This is so amazing.” I hear Joy mutter. I swing the small door closed and it becomes nearly invisible except for a tiny inset notch to hook your finger in. If you didn't know what to look for, you would definitely miss it.

  “This place sure has some secrets, Joy.”

  “I know and it's so awesome,” she replies.

  I pop the door open and Joy hands me her phone so I can light the way. We delve back into the intermittent darkness both wondering what else we will discover. Down yet another corridor, we find an enormous set of boilers. It's not so exciting thinking about how much those might cost to repair. The last corridor we explore is filled with odds and ends. Old set pieces and lighting equipment. A wide staircase sits at the end and we walk up together which brings us up onto the stage behind the torn movie screen. Tattered drapes hang loosely from the ceiling. What appears to have been a very large wooden castle sits in ruins off to the side of the stage.

  I'm just so curious as to why anyone in Spring Valley let this beautiful old theater fall into such disrepair. Joy and I tiptoe around various parts of rusty old lighting and half rotten shields and swords. Looks like the last play they ever did here was medieval themed. Stepping up to the rip in the movie screen, I peek out into the auditorium and survey our new home. A shimmer catches my eye and I realize that it's the moon reflecting off of a pool of water. Upon more scrutiny I see that it's the old orchestra pit, more of a pond at this point.

  Joy hops down from the stage and walks over to stand in an errant moonbeam. She points her camera in my direction and snaps a few pictures.

  “For posterity. We need to document this for our future selves and so we can show our kids how awesome we were.”

  “Well, let's at least take one with both of us.” I say while walking over to the side of the stage, trying my luck with the decrepit steps.

  Wrapping my arm around her shoulder we put on our best smiles and freeze the moment in time. To my surprise, she just tucks her phone into her pocket. Typically Joy is typically so critical of about how she looks in any photos, which is ridiculous because she’s downright beautiful with her long dark hair, big blue eyes, and an hourglass figure that I’ve always envied.

  “Alright, Penny. I'm tired and we've been trudging through here for hours. Let's get back to the motel and sleep. The Beacon will still be here in the morning and we can get more done with proper flashlights and maybe some replacements light bulbs.”

  “Agreed,” I say as we stumble up to the rear of the auditorium and crawl through the hole in the back wall on our hands and knees.

  When we first started exploring the Beacon earlier today, I was skeptical about the property we had chosen sight unseen. After tonight though, I think we bought the perfect building to host our dreams. Joy fishes the keys from her pocket and tosses them to me. I pull the front door closed and lock it behind myself.

  “So, what do you think, Joy?” I turn and ask my friend.

  “I think we hit the jackpot. With your eye for design and my restaurant experience this old building is going to be the hottest place in town.”

  “You think so? I just got my masters and don't have much experience. Not to be a downer, but you've only worked in one kitchen and the rest of your experience is waitressing. Though you are a seriously talented baker.” My response elicits a small groan from Joy as we stroll down the block to her car.

  “Look Penelope, we both knew that this wasn't going to be easy. I have faith that we will succeed. You just have to look at the bright side.”

  “What's that?” I ask.

  “Well first, nothing can stop the two of us when we're together.” Joy eyes me sideways with a smirk that's ready to burst into a smile.

  “And the second thing?”

  “How did you forget about that seriously handsome ex-boyfriend that is going to stop by tomorrow? He was throwing looks at you so hard. Oh my gosh, he is so into you Penny!”

  Throwing my arm around her I pull her close as we laugh raucously. We arrive at Joy's car and flop ourselves inside. All of that exploration left me exhausted. And hungry. But in sleepy little towns like this, all the restaurants closer early, so we end up at the McDonald’s off the highway.

  Back at the motel, Joy and I discuss our plan of attack for the next morning before getting some much needed rest. We decide that the first section of the theater we need to tackle is the lobby. It has a roof that doesn't need repair and it can be used to display artwork and make food. The auditorium is going to be a bigger challenge. I'd really love to get it fixed up and have a new movie screen put in so we have more to offer. The amount of work that's going to take is daunting, but I’m confident we’re up for the challenge.

  In the morning, we take a trip to the local hardware store. Joy and I both believe that only way these small towns will stay alive is if we patronage the local businesses. Sure the stuff
is a little more expensive, but the service you receive at mom and pop shop is by far the best. The little chime above the door goes off when we enter. To my surprise I find Brent standing behind the counter smiling in our direction.

  “Did you come to return my sledgehammer or are you two looking for more implements of destruction?” he chides.

  “No, actually we need flashlights and light bulbs,” I reply, stepping in front of Joy so she can't open her big mouth. Brent is the total package, tall, muscular, well groomed, and handsome as all heck. Hopefully, he’s still sweet and considerate, too. I find myself staring at the laugh lines around his eyes wondering if he has a girlfriend.

  “Is that all? Seems like you have larger project than just some light bulbs,” he asks, cocking his head to the side ever so slightly. Joy elbows me in the ribs and knocks some sense into me.