Back to Spell One

by Samantha Silver

  Amy gave me a strange look. “I don’t know what this Harry Potter you speak of is, but no, not at all. A Witch in Time is the all-purpose store for local witches and wizards. If you ever need anything that’s specific to our kind – like a new wand, if you lose yours – then this is where you go.”

  I couldn’t help but feel a little bit disappointed. “Oh, so the wands aren’t really connected to their owners at all?”

  Sara gave me a smile. “No. I wish that were true, then I could just claim I had the wrong wand. Really, though, wands aren’t exclusive to their owners. You can choose whichever wand you want; it’ll have the same effect as any other when you’re casting a spell.”

  We entered the store, which was lined with shelves from floor-to-ceiling carrying all kinds of strange instruments I’d never seen before. I could have spent hours in here, but Amy and Sara quickly led me towards the back wall, which was lined with a whole selection of wands.

  My mouth dropped at all the choices that were on sale. Not only were there wands in different lengths – I saw everything from around two inches long to over two feet – but they were also available in dozens of different colors, some had patterns, and some had carvings ranging from the simple – a little twist going along the side of the wand – to the far more complex – like one that I saw with a face carved out of it, and a pear in the middle, not unlike Lita’s wand.

  “Now you just need to choose which one you want,” Amy said.

  “What do yours look like?” I asked, curious. Amy pulled out a plain wooden wand, just under a foot long.

  “This is mine. I don’t go for anything too flashy. After all, the wand is simply a tool. I let my magic show off my skills instead.”

  I could see Sara behind her trying not to roll her eyes, and I hid a smile. Sara pulled out a beautiful, shiny, deep brown wand with forest-green leaves carved into the side.

  “I, on the other hand, feel that you should feel good about your wand, and find one that you enjoy looking at. Even though the magic itself might not be better, I think if you enjoy being around your wand, your magic will improve.”

  “And how’s that working out for you?” Amy asked. Sara shot her a glare in return.

  “We can’t all be little Miss Perfect.”

  I ignored their jabs at each other and made my way towards the wall. There were so many options, I didn’t know which one to pick. Should I go with something classic and plain, like Amy’s wand? Or should I pick something a little bit more out-there, like the one that appeared to have been dipped into a vat of pink glitter?

  As I looked over the crates of wands, however, one of them caught my eye. I made my way towards it and picked up the light piece of wood. It was nine, maybe ten inches long, and didn’t have any markings on it. The wood was perfectly smooth, and painted a gorgeous ivory color, but with a few small, gold flecks embedded in the paint that caught the light and gave it a slightly ethereal look.

  “Oooh, I like that one,” Sara exclaimed, the argument with Amy forgotten as soon as she saw me holding the wand. I flicked the wand around with a smile, trying to imagine myself using magic. I had to admit, I liked this wand too. It felt practically weightless in my hand, and the flashes of glistening gold gave it that superficial magical feel, which I really liked.

  “That is a very nice wand,” Amy nodded in agreement. “Good choice.”

  “I think it’s the one I want to get,” I finally said with a silly grin on my face. Yup, I’d definitely found my wand.

  “Great,” Amy said. “Let’s take it to the front and buy it.”

  “We should go visit the hospital next,” Sara suggested, and Amy narrowed her eyes at her.

  “And exactly why would you want to do that?”

  Sara shrugged innocently. “I thought maybe Tina would like to meet my mother.”

  “Of course you do,” Amy said, narrowing her eyes. “And the fact that the hospital was the last place where Philip worked has absolutely nothing to do with that.”

  “Nothing at all, obviously,” Sara said, throwing a wink my way. I hid a smile. I had to admit, I was a little bit torn when it came to the plan to investigate the murder ourselves. Obviously, I wanted to clear my name and make sure that everyone knew I hadn’t murdered anybody. But at the same time, a part of me felt that it really was the sort of thing law enforcement should do. And Aria King seemed like she would be a good Chief Enforcer.

  The three of us weaved our way through the shelves until we reached the front counter. There was no one there; in fact, I only just realized that I hadn’t actually seen anybody since we came into the shop. As soon as we stepped in front of the counter, however, a black curtain leading into the back room was pushed aside, and out stepped a middle-aged woman with frizzy, greying hair and glasses that gave her face an even more pinched and birdlike look than she would have had otherwise.

  “Yes?” The woman said as she made her way towards the counter. “You would like to buy this wand?”

  “Yes, please,” I replied with a nod.

  “I haven’t seen you around here before,” the woman said, tilting her head slightly.

  “Tina’s new in town,” Amy piped up. “She’s been adopted by our coven, so to speak.”

  The woman leaned forward, openly inspecting me, and I had to admit I felt incredibly uncomfortable. I resisted the urge to take a step backwards, but it was tough, as the lady was definitely inside my personal space.

  “This is the new witch I have heard about?” the woman said.

  “Yes, Ariadne. Tina arrived here last night for the first time, and she has no magical experience. That’s why she needs a wand,” Sara explained.

  “Yes, I have heard about the new arrival. I have also heard about Philip’s death, and I find the timing of the two events to be quite a coincidence.”

  “They are a coincidence; Tina was never alone in Western Woods,” Amy said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to pay for the wand so we can go on our way.”

  Ariadne put her chin in her hand as she inspected me further. I shifted where I stood; this was getting more uncomfortable by the minute.

  “I’m not certain I want to sell her the wand,” Ariadne said. “After all, what if it turns out that Tina is the culprit? There would be questions asked about me. I don’t want to be the person selling a wand to a murderer.”

  “I’ll remind you that as Amy told you, Tina is an adopted member of this coven, and as such you’re required to sell her a wand if she requests one. I’m sure Lita would be very upset to hear that this is the kind of hospitality that we give to a new coven member,” Sara said, leaning against the counter towards Ariadne. My heart warmed at the way my new friends were sticking up for me. Ariadne looked undecided for a minute, and I was sure she was going to try and argue with Sara, but eventually she relented.

  “All right, all right. I meant no offense.”

  “Why don’t you show Tina here a little bit of goodwill by giving her 20% off the cost of this wand?” Sara said, and Ariadne grumbled something under her breath before replying.

  “Fine, fine. But let it be known that if it’s discovered that Tina did kill Philip, I was opposed to this the entire time.”

  As we left the shop, and made our way back into the Street, I felt even more aware of everyone’s eyes on me. How many of them believed, like Ariadne, that I could be a murderer? It was one thing to be told that a few people suspected me, it was entirely another to have somebody almost deny me service because they thought I could have killed somebody.

  “I think we should go to the hospital,” I said. “I want to clear my name.”

  To my surprise, Amy nodded along with Sara.

  “Wait, you agree too?” Sara said to Amy.

  “I do. I thought that it was rash, and I thought that we should leave it to the authorities, but it’s obvious now that there really is a group of people out there who think Tina could be a murderer. The sooner the real culprit is discovered, the sooner Tina ca
n start to really fit in here. The way Ariadne Thurman treated her just now was abominable, and it should never have happened. I’m sorry, Tina. No one from our coven should be treating you that way, and I will do everything that I can to help make things right.”

  I could practically feel tears welling up in my eyes at Amy’s words. Between Sara sticking up for me and now Amy, I felt like I really, truly belonged here even though it had been less than twenty-four hours.

  “You guys are the best,” I said, my voice cracking halfway through the sentence, and the three of us coming in for a big group hug.

  Chapter 10

  Fifteen minutes later the three of us were standing in front of a large wooden building painted white with a large, red five-pointed star in the middle.

  “No red cross?” I asked as we looked up at it.

  Amy shook her head. “No, that’s for the human world. The red star is meant to indicate that the Healers here are able to perform magic.”

  It didn’t look quite like a normal hospital. For one thing, there was no ambulance bay at the front, and nowhere labeled emergency. We simply walked through the main set of doors at the front, and found ourselves in a waiting room that this time did look like the waiting room in most hospitals. A nurse dressed in scrubs sat behind the counter, and smiled when she saw us.

  “Sara,” she said warmly. “How are you?”

  “I’m good, thanks Sharon,” Sara replied. “Do you know where my mom is?”

  Sharon nodded. “I believe she is working in emergency today. If you make your way back there, you’ll find her.”

  Something on the wall to the left caught my eye, and I made my way towards a bulletin board covered in posters warning people about various diseases and other ailments.

  Vampire Blood Transfusions – Get the Facts!

  Magical Moonshine Abuse – Help is Available

  Anaspellactic Shock: Everything You Need to Know

  “Are these real things?” I asked Amy, motioning to the bulletin board.

  “Absolutely,” Amy replied solemnly. “In fact, it’s good that you bring it up. I need to make a note to teach you about all of these things when we’re doing your lessons. After all, anaspellactic shock is something almost every witch experiences at least once in her life.”

  I shuddered. I didn’t know what anaspellactic shock was, but it certainly didn’t sound good.

  “Come on, this way.” Sara motioned for us to follow her before I got a chance to ask any more questions. We made our way through the building, which apart from the brick walls looked like any other hospital. One thing I noticed, however, was that all of the employees had little badges with different shapes and letters on them.

  “What are those?” I asked Amy, pointing at the badge of a man who strode past us.

  “Those tell everybody the role everyone who works here plays, and also what type of paranormal they are,” Amy said. “Anyone with a triangle badge is a witch, anyone with a circular badge is an elf, anyone with a square is a vampire, and anyone with an octagon is a shifter. The fairies don’t get badges, since they only perform hospitality tasks here at the hospital, like administrative jobs. The ‘H’ on a badge signifies that the person is a Healer, or what you would call a doctor in the human world. Someone with an ‘A’ on their badge is an assistant Healer, or what you would call a nurse. The shifters have sub-lettering to let patients know exactly what type of shifter they are.”

  “Okay, so someone with a square badge with an ‘H’ on it would be a vampire doctor?” I asked, and Amy nodded.

  “Yes, medicine is one of the very few roles in the paranormal world where the various paranormals all take on the same role. After all, medicine is so personal, a lot of witches, for example, would not want to be looked over by an elf doctor. And on top of that, the biology can be so different depending on the paranormal, that it can be useful for each type of paranormal to be seen by their own kind. Vampires, for example, have very different blood to the rest of us. A vampire Healer can better understand the blood issues that a fellow vampire is experiencing than say, a witch would.”

  “What do you mean it’s rare for the various paranormals to take on the same roles?” I asked.

  “Well, it’s been determined in the paranormal world that every different type of paranormal has their strengths, and that is where they work. So, the fairies, who are nice to look at and tend to be the friendliest of the paranormals, work in hospitality. After all, they have no magic of their own, other than the ability to make people feel better. So, their skills are best suited to being the front line workers in the paranormal world. Vampires, on the other hand, work best at night. So they take on most of the jobs that have to be performed after dark. Shifters, who tend to be more physically powerful than the rest of the paranormals, take on roles that require more brute strength: law enforcement, security, that sort of thing.”

  I nodded, finally beginning to understand. Aria, the lion shifter, was the Chief Enforcer, and Drake, the dragon shifter, had been the person guarding the tree that served as a portal between the paranormal world and the human world.

  “And what about witches?”

  “We take on the jobs that require a witch’s or a wizard’s magic. So Ellie, for example, does the baking at Hexpresso Bean, because she’s able to use magic to add an extra something to the dough that other paranormals wouldn’t be able to.”

  “But, what if say, I wanted to work in hospitality?” I asked, and Amy looked horrified.

  “Why on earth would you want to do that? You’re a witch.”

  “I know, but I mean, it’s a hypothetical. What if I wanted to?”

  “Well, you just wouldn’t,” Amy replied. “It’s just not done.” Amy looked at me like I was an alien.

  “So, there’s no way to do it?”

  “Of course not. Hospitality is fairy work, not witch work.”

  “Oh,” I said dumbly, feeling a little bit put out. I hadn’t actually realized until now that every paranormal was slotted into doing a specific job. What if there was a vampire out there who wanted to be outside in the day doing landscaping? Or a fairy who wanted to become a lawyer? Apparently, there was no way for that to become a reality here in the paranormal world.

  “I always thought I would make a good Enforcer,” Sara chimed in from in front. “I mean, I’d be hopeless at actually stopping anyone with my magic, but I’d be great at catching them. As long as I had my broom, there wouldn’t be a criminal around who could get away from me.”

  “There’s no way in the world you could ever be an Enforcer, you’re not a shifter,” Amy said, crossing her arms. Evidently, she was definitely a stickler for the rules.

  “Oh, I know, but that’s no reason not to think about it,” Sara said dreamily as she pushed through a set of double doors that led into the emergency room.

  The three of us stopped in our tracks. While the corridor we had been walking through was quiet and calm, the emergency room was, well, the complete opposite of that.

  A number of assistants with triangle badges - indicating they were all witches – pushed three gurneys through the main hall. Running behind the gurneys were witch Healers, all shouting out orders and spells.

  “We need the operating rooms, now,” one of the Healers shouted.

  “I’m calling this a code black. Any available Healers, regardless of species are needed now,” another called out.

  “I need five pints of type Jupiter blood, stat,” someone else shouted to no one in particular.

  The three of us stood in place, shocked as we took in the scene before us. There was blood all over the three stretchers, and what looked like teenagers on them.

  “There’s my mom, I guess we’re not going to be able to talk to her for a while,” Sara said quietly. I couldn’t see who Sara was pointing to, but seeing as only one of the Healers was tall, with fiery red hair that crowned her head like a halo, I figured that one was the one who had given half her DNA to Sara.

&n
bsp; Sure enough, it took nearly an hour before Sara’s mother came over to the three of us as we sat in chairs in the waiting area.

  “Sara, Amy, how are you?” the woman asked as she made her way over towards us, wiping her hands off with a towel. She looked over at me politely and smiled. “And who is this?”

  “This is Tina,” Sara explained. “She just moved to Western Woods after accidentally discovering she’s actually a witch. Lita has put us in charge of teaching her to use magic.”

  “Ah, yes, well I’m sure Amy will be very proficient at that job,” Heather said, and I couldn’t help but notice Sara’s shoulders sink slightly.

  “Yes, but I’m sure Sara will be an excellent teacher on the broom,” I added.

  “Oh, absolutely. There’s no one better in the coven on a broomstick, although don’t tell Esther I said that,” Heather replied with a wink. Sara perked up considerably at those words. “It’s just too bad she’s so hopeless with a wand. So, how did you come to find you were a paranormal?”

  “I accidentally ran into an oak tree that was a portal to get here,” I answered.

  “Wow, well, this must be quite the change for you,” Heather said, eyeing me carefully. “I’d love to interview you about the changes in your life, if you don’t mind.”

  “Mom,” Sara complained. “Tina isn’t a test subject for you to play with.”

  “I know, I know,” Heather replied. “Do you know what coven you belong to?”

  I shook my head. “No. I don’t know anything about my biological parents at all. Sorry, but I have to ask: what happened here before, with that emergency? Is everyone ok?”

  “Yes,” Heather nodded. “They’re all going to be fine. A couple of wizards were having a duel at the high school, and it got out of hand. A lion shifter got involved trying to help, and the three of them all ended up with serious injuries, but they’re all going to be fine.” She shook her head. “Teenagers. Now, about your history-”