The Memory Witch (8 page)

“Quinn! You’re going to die out here.” An urgent voice called to me.

My lids felt weighted down and it was a struggle to open my eyes. Once I managed to pry them open, I had to close my eyes again as the harsh sun temporarily blinded me. My body felt on fire and I was barely able to move a muscle without wincing in pain.

Mason was knelt over me with concern written over his face. With alarm, I understood I must have fallen asleep in the sun. My fair skin felt flushed with heat and I could only imagine the sunburn forming on the exposed parts of my body.

As my head cleared, I comprehended how little clothing I wore. While I was sleeping, my tunic had ridden up to my belly. My bare legs were spread out before me while the fabric of the cover-up clung to the rest of my body. I wasn’t an exhibitionist, so I was a little uneasy about the view Mason must have gotten when he stumbled upon me.

I forced myself into a sitting position and pulled down the tunic. The skin of my legs was already turning a harsh red. A nasty sunburn was certainly in my foreseeable future. I must have been having nightmares under the sun for a significant amount of time. I was grateful Mason came along when he did. It was probable he saved me from a trip to the emergency room and the continuation of another horrendous nightmare.

“Are you okay?” Mason’s intense gaze watched me thoughtfully.

My throat was dry, but I managed to croak out, “I think so.”

“You should get out of the sun and drink as much as possible,” he commanded. I noticed his eyes move over my body. At first, his stare was calculating, probably guessing how badly I was sunburned. I watched as his eyes softened and lingered on my bare legs. When I met his eyes, the familiar aloofness had been restored to his features.

“I will,” I said softly.

Mason flustered me and it made me feel guilty. His looks were captivating, but it was more than that. I desperately wanted a friend during my time at the estate. I guessed he felt the same way, but it seemed as though he forced himself to keep his distance from me.

“Can you get inside okay?”

I waved him off. “I’ll be fine.” I swallowed hard and looked over his shoulder. “Thank you for waking me up. If you haven’t come along…” I shuddered at the thought.

Mason shrugged. “It was nothing. I was looking to see if you wanted anything from the store. Aunt Stella sends me to stock up on groceries most Sundays.”

I sucked on my lower lip and willed him to ask me to go with him. I would have loved to escape from the property for a few hours. Mason said nothing. After an uncomfortable cough, I inquired, “Can you pick me up Cheez Doodles?”

Mason gave me a disbelieving look. “That’s all you want?” At my nod, he scoffed, “I thought they were something only twelve-year-olds ate. You know how gross that artificial cheese is that sticks to your finger?”

“Ever dip them in honey? They’re amazing.” I smiled at the disgusted expression on his face. He returned my grin and I momentarily forget about my nightmare or the flush of my skin. I reveled in the normalcy of the minute until the wall came up again.

“Get inside. My aunt will kill me if something happens to her protégé,” he said sardonically and nodded at me before leaving.

As I gathered my things, I watched him walk towards his truck. I had so many questions for Mason, but it was hard to decipher his hot and cold moods. I wanted him to tell me about his aunt and how he came to live with her. My initial impression was Mason would seek me out while I was staying here. I was near his age and would be staying there for the next year. But the opposite had happened. He seemed to avoid spending too much time with me. What was it about me that made Mason treat me like an unwanted interloper?

Days blended into weeks. I grew disillusioned with my ability to fully understand all that Stella had to teach me within a year. We had spent almost a month working on the ingredients for her spells and I felt like I still had so much to learn. There was an endless array of herbs, minerals, and oils that could be added to a spell. I was thankful that most of the ingredients were tame. Stella explained that a few did call for human hair and a few drops of blood, but I wouldn’t have to cut out any organs of animals or add a human eye to any of her potions.

The elderly witch was constantly testing me. Consistently, I was sent to the greenhouse to gather up the ingredients she required. I was pleased when the time it took me to finish her list diminished from hours to minutes. She would also ask my advice on what items she should put in her concoctions based on the purpose of the spell. Nine out of ten times I would give her the correct answer.

I was given more freedom as Stella saw my determination to do well. Instead of sitting on my stool in the workshop, I was permitted to take my studies outdoors. The pier of the pond was one of my favorite places to sit and read. I could dip my feet in the water and feel a part of nature as I read about all that nature was capable of. I was smart enough now to slather on plenty of sunblock before venturing outdoors.

I came to love the Chadwick House. There was a primal beauty about the rolling valleys and hills that dotted the landscape. Flowers bloomed in the oddest of places and I was certain there was magic involved. I had started picking blooms and keeping them in a vase on my dresser. I ran through the fields and dived in the pond whenever I was given a free moment.

Stella never warned me away from the woods around the Chadwick House, but I never ventured further than the tree line. My recent nightmares made my fear about the forest multiply tenfold. My imagination warned of tendrils of darkness consuming me as soon as I passed the threshold. I felt silly for my trepidation and rationality told me that anyone would have nightmares staying in a creepy old house and learning to be a witch.

Mason still remained a mystery. Besides a few glimpses and snatches of conversation here and there, Mason kept away from me. I thought that would change after the day at the pond. Later that night, I found Cheez Doodles, Gatorade, and Tylenol resting on top of my quilt. I tried to thank him, but he brushed me off. I decided to not pursue a friendship and made peace with the fact that my months would be spent mostly alone.

The conversations with Tanner and Amber grew more strained with each passing week. I was shocked to find that even with only a single day to talk to Tanner, I had little to offer in way of conversation. He didn’t know the truth about my reasons for staying in Lima, so I let him talk about himself the entire time. He didn’t spare my feelings as he described how much fun he was having with our friends over the summer. He had also begun preparing for the move to the dorms in a few short weeks. This was the hardest thing for me to hear. Our phone calls were getting shorter and I could feel Tanner distancing himself as he became immersed in pre-college activities.

In mid-August, Stella decided it was time for a change in our routine. The sky was overcast and I had just returned from watering in the greenhouse. She thrust out a wrinkled hand and beckoned me into the hallway outside of the workshop. I hurried forward and waited for her instructions.

“You will sit in on a client meeting with me this morning.”

I was equally surprised and thrilled. Some days dragged as I spent hours upon hours researching. It would be wonderful to see Stella actually practicing magic in front of me. I had not seen her cast a spell since she put me to sleep in the car ride to her home. It renewed doubts into my mind about whether or not her abilities were real or not.

She led me to another locked door towards the front of the house. I wasn’t surprised by this discovery. I had tried opening several doors on both floors, only to find them padlocked. Stella had a keychain that she kept with her at all times. I had to wonder if the locks were a new addition since she determined I would be living with her.

The room was what I guessed a psychic’s parlor would look like. There were overstuffed chairs decorated in rich deep hues of red, purple, and orange. The shelving displayed an odd assortment of mystical items. Crystals were placed haphazardly over the room next to oddities such as an animal skull, black candles, silver chalices, and aroma lamps.

The drapes were heavy and the only illumination came from oil lamps that Stella must have lit before fetching me from the workshop. I walked into the rooms and felt the gooseflesh erupting on my arms. The residual magic in this room seemed to speak to something dormant inside of me and the feeling reminded me of my nightmare when I called the darkness to me.

I gave Stella a wide-eyed look. “Is this stuff for real?” I gestured to the macabre décor.

“Honestly, most of it’s for show. People like a witch that fulfills what they have in their imaginations. Which reminds me…” she trailed off and walked over to a coat rack. She removed two cloaks that she had hung up. She paused for a minute to stare at me before handing me the red cloak. Of course, the witch would pick the color of my nightmares. She commanded, “Put this on.”

The black cloak she draped over her back clasped at the neck and disguised her normal clothing underneath. The old woman usually wore a housecoat or a blouse with plain slacks. I watched her as she adorned her body with bangle bracelets and garish rings.

“What are you waiting for? Our client will be here any minute.” Her irritation forced me to cover my form in the heavy fabric of the cloak. Her smile was unexpected as she stared at me. “Red is really your color.”

I dared a glance in the oval mirror embellished with pentagrams. I don’t know if it was the lighting or the color of the cloak, but my appearance had seemed to change since arriving at Chadwick House. My hair had grown long and fell in soft waves past my shoulders. My brown eyes sparkled with vitality—something I seemed to lack when I first came to the estate.

I ignored her compliment. “What do you want me to do?”

“You’re to sit and observe only. Only speak if I ask you something directly.” It took a tremendous effort for me to stop from replying a snide remark. A few incidences after snapping at Stella, I had ended up getting stuck doing deep cleaning in the bathrooms. While I scrubbed, she made threats of cursing me with muteness until I learned my place.

The doorbell rang and Stella glided out of the door. I made myself comfortable in one of the chairs and practiced different types of facial expressions I could use to greet clients. The cloaks, mystical objects, and jewelry were meant to portray an aura of power. I settled on a neutral expression, hoping that gave me an air of mystery.

A redheaded woman followed Stella into the room a few short minutes later. She was a wisp of a thing—barely five feet and probably less than a hundred pounds. Her fingers played with a dangling gold necklace. Her eyes darted over to where I sat and she sent Stella a questioning look.

“This is a student of mine,” Stella explained shortly. “Don’t worry about her. She’ll only be watching our exchange.”

The woman looked skeptical. Maybe the cloak and dim lighting was making me look intimidating. I offered her a small smile and it seemed to ease her wariness enough for her to settle her body down in one of the offered chairs.

Stella followed suit and leaned back to study the woman for a long moment. I guessed her age to be about early thirties. Her pencil skirt and expensive blouse hinted at her possibly being successful in the business world. My curiosity was ignited as I imagined what this attractive and rich woman would possibly need from a witch.

“Why don’t you tell me why you’re here Madeline?” Stella prompted, showing the first signs of impatience over the woman’s hesitation.

“My fiancé broke up with me three months ago and I can’t get him out of my head. I can’t seem to function anymore. I’m barely eating and I’m lucky if I get a couple of hours asleep each night…” Madeline’s breath caught as she trailed off. After a second to regain her composure, she continued, “If I don’t get my act together I’m going to be fired. I already received two verbal warnings about arriving late to work and forgetting appointments.”

Stella didn’t let her go on. She clasped her hands together and her gray eyes bored into Madeline. “So, you’ve come to me to have lost love returned to you?”

Madeline barked out a humorless laugh. “God, no. He cheated on me for months before leaving me. If I end up married to him, I’m bound to be miserable. Yet, I can’t seem to get over it. It’s like he stole away my confidence and has destroyed my chances of ever finding someone else to love me.”

“If you don’t want your fiancé to fall back in love with you—what do you want?” Stella inquired.

“I want someone new. A man to make me feel loved and cherished. Someone who could make me forget all about that loser Steven,” Madeline confessed. I forced my eyes away from Madeline and turned to Stella.

Conversation was halted with the only sound the tinkling of Stella’s bracelets as she moved her hands to rest under her chin. She closed her eyes for several minutes and I had no idea if I should shake her in case she had fallen asleep. My head turned back to Madeline and I shrugged my shoulders in response to her inquisitive expression.

I almost jumped out of my chair as Stella proclaimed loudly, “I know just the spell for you.”

Madeline leaned forward in anticipation. “What is it?”

“I have a very powerful attraction spell that I can do for you. After using it, I’m certain you’ll find the perfect mate. This man will make you forget about your fool of an ex-fiancé.”

Stella’s authoritative voice captivated us both. It was hard not to believe in her and the words she was saying. Madeline appeared hopeful as well. Her fiancé had hurt her enough to make her desperate to rid his haunting presence from her life.

“What do I have to do?”

“I will give you an infused oil to bathe in. The oil will help draw that special man to you. Before leaving for a night out, you’ll also rub the oil over a rose-colored candle placed upon a mirror. You’ll gaze at the mirror and say exactly what I tell you to,” Stella explained. With a kittenish smile, she said, “I promise by the end of the night, you will have met the man of your dreams.”

“Yes…please…that’s exactly what I want.” I was a little surprised at the depths of Madeline’s desperation. I almost wanted to suggest online dating before she made the decision to use a witch’s spell to attract a mate. After swallowing hard, she whispered, “What’s your price?”

“As I told you on the phone, nature demands everything stay in balance. If we do this spell for you, you need to give up something that’s equal in value to you.” Stella warned, “Otherwise, the spell will backfire completely and you’ll end up heartbroken again.”

“I really thought long and hard about something that I would have a hard time parting with.” Madeline wiped at a few stray tears falling from her eyes and reached for her purse. Pulling out a ring, she gripped it tightly before prying away her fingers. Displaying it in her palm for Stella to observe, she said, “It’s my engagement ring from Steven.”

“Oh my god…are you serious?” I blurted out.

Stella cast me a withering gaze and I swore she would smite me right then and there if she could. I was apologetic for interrupting her meeting, but I was also flabbergasted. The diamond solitaire had a huge princess cut gem in the middle of it. It must have been worth thousands of dollars. I was shocked at how easy this woman was just handing it over for a second shot at love.

Madeline sent me a pitiful expression. “You’re so young…you’ve obviously never had your heart broken.”

I bit back my reply. I was rankled by this woman’s assumption that I was naïve. It was true that I never had a boy break my heart, but I was well acquainted with other kinds of pain. I longed for my father and the ache his absence left in my life could never be dulled—even with the help of magic.

“Quinn, you’re no longer needed here,” Stella said. She walked over to a table and picked up an old-fashioned pen and parchment paper. I had to stifle my giggle over the props that Stella used to send out a mystical aura. She handed me the paper and continued, “I need you to go to the workshop and gather these ingredients for the attraction spell. I expect them ready in ten minutes.”