by Rose Pressey
“All right, after breakfast sounds great.”
He smiled again. “How about in an hour and a half?”
He headed down the driveway. It was a longer walk that way, but I guessed he wanted the exercise. After watching him for a while as he headed down the driveway, I closed the door and then went straight for the kitchen. I had to have some coffee and some breakfast. I could use my magic spells, but I liked to live as normal a life as possible. A lot of the witches in the coven liked getting everything that they wanted easily. They preferred to do the majority of their cooking by magic, but I had opted for the opposite way.
I usually opted for something light for breakfast like cereal. But today I thought I needed pancakes. That would suit my stress. My mouth watered just thinking about sinking my fork into the fluffy cake. I sat at the dining room table to enjoy my pancake breakfast. I finished up the dishes and headed upstairs to shower and change. I slipped into some comfy clothes. It was a bit chilly out today since Christmas had just passed. I was waiting for the spring temperatures to show up. In Louisiana I wouldn’t have to wait too long. I had just gotten to the bottom of the steps when the doorbell rang again. He was right on time. I hurried over and opened the door.
“Am I too early?” he asked.
He stepped inside. He was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved gray shirt. He was freshly shaven and had washed his hair. He smelled of soap.
“I have to ask, how did you hear about LaVeau Manor?”
“My grandmother told me about the place,” he said.
“Oh, that makes sense.”
“She loves it and thinks it’s beautiful. And she’s glad that you’re here now to take care of the place.”
I knew that I was blushing slightly. “Well, I’m glad that I’m here.” At first that hadn’t been the case. I’d thought the place was scary and too much to take on, but I supposed now I had gotten used to it. “So where would you like to start?”
“You’re the guide,” he said.
“The library over here is good,” I said.
He followed me into the room. Dark shelves were everywhere in the room filled with books that my great-aunt had left me. He looked around the room.
“Have you read all of the books?” he asked.
“My great-aunt has. They were hers, but I’ve read some. Maybe someday I’ll finish all of them.”
He smiled and walked over to the window, looking out over the front of the property. “So it’s just you living here?”
I felt uncomfortable with him asking me that question. “I actually have someone here, but not exactly right now. He should be home any time now.”
“So you have a husband?”
“No, he’s not my husband yet,” I said.
“You’re engaged?” he asked.
“I’m not quite sure. Well, I thought it was a good relationship, but now I’m not so sure.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said.
“Thank you.”
“I’m sure things will work out just fine,” he said.
“My mother lives nearby and my best friend as well. Her name is Annabelle.”
Maybe I was talking too much, giving too much information. I should just stop talking and keep all of this stuff to myself.
“Come on.” I motioned. “I’ll take you into the parlor, and then we can check out the kitchen and dining room.”
“Sounds great,” he said.
I wasn’t sure if I needed to show him upstairs. Of course the staircase was beautiful and worthy of viewing.
Chapter 3
After showing Daniel the parlor, I guided him toward the kitchen. We stepped inside the room.
“Wow, this is a beautiful kitchen,” he said.
“Thank you. Most people don’t seem to enjoy the beauty of it as much as I do, but I just love the white tiles and the brightness of the room.”
“And all the jars,” he said. “What exactly are they for?”
Yeah, I guessed he didn’t know that I was a witch.
Just then he caught sight of the cauldron. “Wow, you must make a lot of soup. Do you feed a lot of people here?”
I might as well tell him the truth instead of trying to hide the fact from him. I was surprised that his grandmother hadn’t said anything. I knew for a fact she knew about the witchcraft.
“Well, I really don’t feed that many people,” I said. “And I don’t make soup in this thing.”
“What do you make?” he said with a little bit of hesitation in his voice.
“I’m not sure how much your grandmother told you about Enchantment Pointe.”
“Obviously not nearly enough,” he said, looking at me.
“Well, Enchantment Pointe has a lot of witches. I happen to be the leader of the witches. The leader of the Underworld, as a matter of fact.”
“Oh, right, I think I heard something about that. So you’re the leader of all of them?”
“All of them,” I said.
“Impressive. I didn’t know I was spending time with a celebrity.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t call me a celebrity,” I said.
“So you’re the leader? I wouldn’t expect that you’d be running a bed-and-breakfast.”
“I don’t do much of that. It takes a lot of time to oversee the Underworld, obviously, but I like staying put right here in LaVeau Manor and Enchantment Pointe. This is the place that I want to be.”
“Lucky for me,” he said with a flash of his dazzling smile.
I wasn’t sure why at that moment I got a bit of butterflies in my stomach. I guessed it was flattering when a handsome man paid a compliment.
“And what is it that you do, Daniel?” I asked.
“I’m actually an artist,” he said.
“Oh, really? What kind of art?” I asked.
“Paintings.”
“That sounds fascinating,” I said.
“I enjoy it. The painting allows me to release my creativity,” he said.
Just then he looked over my shoulder and got the strangest look on his face. He was staring out the back window of the kitchen. Oh, no. I wondered what he’d seen. It could be any number of strange things at LaVeau Manor.
“Is everything all right?” I asked.
“Yes, everything is fine,” he said, moving away from the side of the room so that he was out of sight of the window.
I turned around for a look myself. But I didn’t see anything out there other than the manor’s beautiful landscape. Though as I moved to face Daniel again I caught movement out of one of my eyes. It looked like something furry. Oh, my gosh.
“Was the wolf out there again? Is that what you saw?” I asked.
“I didn’t see anything,” he said.
I had a suspicion he was lying, but why would he lie about something like that? I supposed maybe he just wanted to make me feel better so that I wouldn’t worry. I believed he had seen the wolf as well. I rushed over to the door and peeked outside. It was nowhere in sight. Maybe I had just seen a bird or a cat. No, my cat was inside—I was looking at him as he sat on the counter licking his paws—but it could’ve been a stray cat. No, this was much bigger. It was definitely the wolf. I wasn’t sure what to do, but I couldn’t live in fear of going outside.
“I suppose I should get out of here now,” he said as he headed for the parlor.
That was awfully abrupt. Had I said something to make him upset? I followed him to the room. “Well, thanks for taking the tour,” I said.
I guessed I didn’t need to make that decision about taking him upstairs after all.
He quickened his step. It was hard for me to keep up. He had really long legs and he moved fast. Was he some sort of Olympic medalist in track or what? I guessed he’d been talking about fitness earlier and said he was out for a run. He was seriously into it. I had barely made it to the foyer when I heard him open the front door.
“Well, thanks again,” I said, yelling out.
By the time I reached the door he
was already outside and moving down the driveway. It was odd. He was looking around as if looking for something like a wolf. I knew it. I knew he’d seen it too. He was just trying to make me feel better. That was why he’d taken off out of here. Maybe he was worried about his grandmother and wanted to hurry back to check on her. I stood there watching as he walked all the way to the end of the driveway.
He made it out of the gate and turned to the left. As he was heading toward his grandmother’s home I spotted a guy. He stepped out from the other side of the driveway as if he had been hidden behind one of the columns. He was walking right up behind Daniel. Was he trying to harm Daniel? Oh, no, now I was worried.
I stepped out on the front porch so that I could get a better look again. Daniel realized the guy was behind him and stopped. They started talking. Did they know each other? If they knew each other that was a bit odd. Maybe this was a friend of Daniel’s. Was he staying at the grandmother’s house as well? Daniel hadn’t mentioned it, but I supposed there was no reason to. Why hadn’t his friend come over for the tour? If it hadn’t been for a potential wolf out there I would have walked out there and said hello.
After a couple more minutes, they finally started walking toward his grandmother’s house. They didn’t seem to be fighting, but Daniel seemed a bit tense while talking to the guy. I wasn’t sure what that was all about, but nonetheless, I guessed it was none of my business. I looked around to see if the wolf was anywhere watching me, but I didn’t see it. Thank goodness. I closed the door, locked it, and headed for the staircase. I had a busy day of work for the Underworld ahead, of course, and then my mother was stopping by for lunch. It would be a much-needed break from the day’s activities. I would have to remind her to be on the lookout for that wolf when she pulled up.
Of course just mentioning it would freak her out, and if I told Annabelle… Well, she might never come to LaVeau Manor again. Though I knew I had to tell her. It wasn’t as if Annabelle was in the habit of just walking around the LaVeau Manor. She came to the house, got right out of the car, and headed inside. She usually didn’t go too far inside the house, only to where I was. Annabelle was afraid of the paranormal, but she had improved leaps and bounds since I first got the manor. Now she was actually helping my mother with spells at my mother’s Bewitching Bath and Beauty shop. Annabelle had a real knack for mixing up spells and picking out just the right ingredients, measuring the amount perfectly. I’d often wondered if Annabelle didn’t have her own magic abilities, though she had just brushed off the comment when I asked.
I headed across my room and over to the closet to pick out something to wear. Casual attire was what I lived in most of the time. I never went anywhere fancy enough for a dress. So like every other day I grabbed a t-shirt and jeans. Today my shirt was a pink short-sleeved v-neck. White tennis shoes completed my look. The doorbell rang just as I finished tying my shoes.
Chapter 4
When the doorbell rang twice, I knew that it was my mother. She always rang twice. I’d given her a key, but for some reason she didn’t use it, which was odd because I’d expected her to just pop in whenever she wanted. However, lately she’d been a bit more restrained about doing it. I guessed it had something to do with that time she’d walked in on Nicolas in a towel. After that she’d decided to ring the doorbell.
After hurrying into my black cardigan sweater, I rushed down the staircase. Not too fast because I didn’t want to fall and kill myself.
I opened the door and said, “Are you ready? I’m starving.”
“What took you so long?” My mother’s charm bracelet jingled as she gestured. “I have been standing out here forever.”
“Oh, that’s not true. You only rang the bell twice,” I said.
Her blonde hair was in the usual updo. Honey-colored strands streaked through the fresh-from-the-salon locks. Her dress had a blue and yellow floral print. She’d purchased it a couple weeks ago when we took a shopping trip to New Orleans. Not long ago my mother had had a bit of an incident with some vampires. Now not only was she a witch, but she was a half-vampire too. She’d had a tough time adjusting to that. My best friend had been attacked too. At least they had each other to lean on through the adjustment stage.
Just then a growling noise sounded from somewhere nearby. My mother’s eyes widened. “What in the world was that?”
I peeked outside, looking to the left and then to the right. “I think there’s a wolf somewhere around here. It’s been stalking the manor for weeks now. Actually, I saw it last night and again this morning when the neighbor stopped by.”
“Well, for heaven’s sake, we have to get rid of the thing. What if it attacks someone? You can’t have a bed-and-breakfast with animals attacking people,” my mother said.
“No, I can’t have people attacked, but I can’t go out and catch a wolf either. Maybe if I called wildlife control they can take it and put it back into the wilderness where it lives.”
“Yes, sure. That’s a good idea. That’s what they’ll do,” my mother said.
The noise came once again, but I soon realized it wasn’t coming from outside on the wide expanse of the front lawn. A look of terror came across my mother’s face. Her eyes widened and I knew something was behind me. If it was the wolf I would probably collapse right on the spot. How had it gotten inside the manor? I was afraid to move and frozen on the spot.
“What is it? What’s the matter?” I asked.
All she could say was, “Wo… wo… wo…”
Slowly I turned to look behind me, and sure enough, the wolf was right there, staring at me with those glowing green eyes. I didn’t know what to do now. But that wolf was probably getting ready to eat us for lunch.
“Nice doggy, doggy, doggy,” I said.
“Oh, that’ll help,” my mother said.
“What do you want me to say? Nice wolf. Here, wolfy. If we start running it’ll probably chase us, but if we stand here it’s going to pounce at any moment. I don’t know what to do,” I said.
“We have to stay calm,” my mother said.
“I think on the count of three we run out the front door.”
“But it’ll just run after us.”
“That’s the only solution I have. We’ll just run to your car, hop in, leave the manor, and never come back.”
“So we’re going to leave the manor to the wolf?”
“Why are we debating when a hungry wolf is staring at us? We’ll talk about this in the car,” I said.
“All right,” she said, releasing a deep breath.
“On the count of three we run. Run as fast as you can.”
“I got it. I know what run means,” my mother said.
“Okay, now you’re just getting snarky. One, two, three.”
We almost bumped into each other as we raced down the porch steps toward her car. I was afraid to look back to see if the beast was after us. I only assumed that, yes, it had come running as well.
My mother pushed the key fob as we neared the car. The horn beeped and car lights flashed.
“Why on earth did you lock the car when you’re parked out front of my house?” I asked.
“Well, you never know when there might be a wild beast trying to get in the car and drive away.” A hint of sarcasm with a touch of panic tinged her voice.
After fumbling with the door handle for several seconds, I opened the door and jumped in the passenger side. My mom slid behind the wheel. Simultaneously we locked the doors. We never knew when a wolf might develop thumbs and be able to open the door. I’d watched that movie Cujo and I didn’t want to replay that whole scene. I peered out the window for the wolf. It was nowhere in sight. Did that mean the wolf hadn’t come after us?
I tossed my hands up. “I guess the wolf is the owner of the manor now. Good news—that makes it the leader of the Underworld now.”
My mother checked her hair in the rearview mirror. “Oh, don’t be silly. If the wolf doesn’t get out of there soon we’ll just have to find the nu
mber to call someone to help us.”
I stared at her. “Who are you going to call?”
She pulled out her cell phone and scrolled through her list of contacts. “I would call Ben, but he’s on his way to New Orleans. Plus, he’s afraid of a chihuahua, so how would he react to a wolf?”
Ben was my mother’s husband. They were still newlyweds. I would have never guessed that she would have gotten married before me. It had all happened so fast. They’d met and then married.
“Look up wolf removal,” I said. “Wait a minute. What are we thinking? We’re witches. We’ll just do a spell and get the thing out of there, duh.”
She stared at me for a moment and then she giggled. “Yes, I suppose in the panic we forgot about that detail.”
“Okay, we just have to figure out which spell we need to do to get him out of there.”
“I got it. The one that removes things from the home,” she said.
“Good thinking. All right. So we’ll sit here and recite the spell. We’ll use our energy to get rid of the thing.”
We called to the elements of the north, east, south, and west.
“Please remove the large beast from the manor. Well, that ought to do it,” I said.
There was no sign of it for about thirty minutes.
“We can’t sit here forever,” I said. “I guess we’ll have to go see if it’s out of there.”
“I didn’t see it come out the front door,” she said.
“Yes, but I didn’t see it go in the front door either,” I said. “It had to come in from the back. That means probably the kitchen door.”
“Did you leave the kitchen door open?”
“Absolutely not,” I said. “Well, I don’t think I did. At least I don’t remember opening it.”
“Oh, you’re so scatterbrained sometimes. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if you left it standing wide open and then every animal in the woods out there can just walk right on in.”
“This is not a time for a lecture,” I said. “All right, now we’ll go back in the house.”
