Everyday Witches

*Author’s note* A new short story chronicling some of the characters from the novel Everyday Witches. Although the original novel still has lots of work needed before being ready for publication, this may be grounds for volume two. Editing is tedious, and it’s so much more fun to take time off to just write!

Jeff stood beside a concrete pylon, looking down from the bridge into the river below. The rain plunked off of his slicker with a steady plink, plink, plink. The summer had ended, and with fall, the rains had come. It had been raining for days now and the swollen river looked as foul as his mood. The muddy brown water streamed rapidly below, carrying loads of trash and leaves, broken tree limbs, and everything else the rains had swept from the banks into the swirling torrent. The way he figured it, weather, like the Gaia itself, was the great leveler of society. Homes could be damaged or destroyed, landscapes were reconfigured, crops that had been planted and lovingly tended could be swept away, frozen, or baked dry at any time. But the rain also brought nourishment to the land and although he’d rather not be standing out in the middle of it right now, he knew that it was just a part of the natural cycle of the green Earth. He gathered his hood around his face and turned to scan the cars passing by on the highway behind him. Not here yet. He had already had to wait until the last of the human cops left, before calling his witch friend in, to begin their own investigation. He hoped it wouldn’t be too much longer.

He had already been miffed by the portal that Heinrich had recently opened up under Juan’s shop. There was no way they’d be able to get a contractor out to fix the little coffee shop, with that thing spanning the gap between the shop and the Gaia knows where. Come to think of it, there was no way to know if a human contractor would be able to see it anyway. It might be akin to auras, something visible only to witches. But there was no way to find out without bringing in someone without the sight to check it out; and there was just no way. James, Maria, and one of their friends had been over there for the last few days; spinning every rune they could think of to try to close the thing up. But so far, no success. He consoled himself with the idea that at least no one had fallen in. And he wondered briefly where the thing would lead, if someone had. Headlights lit the metal railing in front of him and he turned quickly toward the vehicle that was slowing down to pull up behind his cruiser.

It was an old Crown Vic, one of those retired cop cars that still looked vaguely cop-ish, but not really. His buddy Jason had arrived. He pulled the hood of his slicker down further and edged along the railing towards the parked car. As he approached, the lights and engine cut off and a moment later Jason emerged from the drivers seat, umbrella in hand. He popped it open and held it up as he sidled along the car to greet Jeff, avoiding the traffic that groaned like great, mythic leviathans as it streamed steadily across the bridge.

Jason was a medium man. Medium height, medium build, medium brown hair, skin, and eyes. It served him well in his career as a private detective to blend in so well. The only extravagance he allowed himself was the expensive pair of Japanese eyeglasses perched on his nose. They were custom made titanium frames with delicate metalwork that accentuated his jawline and made him feel sharp. He would take them off when he needed to trail a perp though, to remain nondescript. He came up beside Jeff and clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder, wincing at the rain wet surface. He shook his hand off, scattering droplets, and then wiped it along his denim clad thigh.

“Dude, is this really all the city can afford? They can’t even give you a proper umbrella?” He laughed and shook his head.

Jeff chuckled mirthlessly. “Ha. Ha. Good to see you too buddy. Thanks for coming out.” He turned to look back down at the river below and held a hand out to point at a location off to one side of the bank.

“That’s where they found it. The backpack. Whoever took him didn’t bother to empty out any of the stuff. And they left it behind. So they weren’t there to rob him, and they weren’t overly concerned with getting caught. Plus the area had that same signature resonance of a place where heavy magic had been used and then removed. It has to be the same guy.”

Jason shook his head again and inhaled deeply. He let it out slowly before responding. “How many does this make? Four? Five? What the hell is this guy up to?”

“Five that we know of so far,” Jeff responded, with a sigh. “He never takes two from the same town, but they’re all localized in the state, and the signature is the same each time. So whatever it is, it’s serious. Are you sure you want to take this on?”

Jason thought it over briefly before responding. “Someone has to do it anyway. Whoever has been abducting these people seems to be accelerating his pace. If we don’t try, there’s no telling how many more will follow. And we don’t even know if he’s killing them or taking them for some purpose. If there’s still hope…” He let the sentence trail off, unable to admit that this might be a bigger fish than he could fry.

Jeff nodded and held his hand out towards the little path that led down from the bridge to the bank side. “Okay then, after you.” He waited until Jason had stepped off of the concrete onto the grass before heading down the hill himself. If one of them were to slip, he didn’t want them to end up in a pile at the bottom of the river.

The spot near the bank had been cordoned off with yellow tape, even though the evidence had been removed. There were obviously no footprints left to study, or trace evidence to be collected. He focused on the feel of the magical energy in the area, and the strange scrubbed clean feel of the Gaia was still in evidence.

“I don’t know what this guy did, but it was one hell of a spell that he cast. Even though its not there anymore, the absence its erasure caused in the Gaia is undeniable.”

Jason closed his eyes and breathed deeply, letting the Gaia’s essence wash over him. It did have a strange, minty clean feel to it. It was interesting and a little frightening. This was no novice witch they were dealing with here. He had done some serious magic, and undone it. He would have to be on his toes on this case, for sure.

A few feet away from the evidence scene sat a park bench. Something about it had been bothering Jason ever since they came down the slope, but he wasn’t sure what it was. He studied it closely, shifting his gaze from end to end and noticed that each time he did, his head automatically skipped past one part of the bench. He didn’t notice it at first, but after several times the repetitive jerky movement caught his attention. He turned his head back and tried to focus on the spot in question, but his vision went fuzzy and his head began to ache dully. He held up a hand to Jeff, gesturing towards the bench and then he walked slowly towards it. The area in question had a dull shimmer, as if there were something there, under some kind of spell.

He reached the bench and stooped to look up under it, running a hand along the wet grass. When he reached the spot his vision had skipped, his hand encountered something strange. It was a solid object, invisible to the eye. He patted the ground, trying to discern its shape and the nature of the thing itself. When he was sure it wasn’t going to bite him, he hooked his fingers around it and slid it out from under the bench, towards himself. He picked it up and examined it more closely; or at least as closely as he could without being able to see it. It seemed to be a book of some sort. He whistled to Jeff and waved a hand towards him.

Jeff looked up from the evidence scene and nodded, making his way across the damp ground to where Jason stood. The invisible object made a strange shimmering iridescence above Jason’s hands, blurring them slightly. After examining the object for himself, Jeff pulled the focusing stone from his pocket and held it tightly in one hand, while performing the motions and reciting the ancient words that would complete the runic spell and dissipate any other magic nearby. The air grew chill and a swift breeze came up around them, followed by a popping sound, like the cork coming out of a wine bottle. Jason’s hands flared momentarily and the book was revealed, smoke-like shadows of magic peeling away from its cover before dissipating. Finally the book stood plainly in his grip.

Jason gasped and held the thin volume up, scrutinizing the cover. It was damp from the rain and appeared to be made of some kind of leather. There were faded characters from an unfamiliar language inscribed on the front and also along the spine. The heady aroma of a wild magic, different from the green Earth type he followed surrounded it. He flipped it open to a random page and inspected it closely. It was written in the same unfamiliar language and the pages were dog eared and stained in places. He shook his head in bewilderment and held the volume out to Jeff.

“Who’s book do you think this is,” he asked softly. He glanced at the evidence scene and then back at the book.

Jeff held it gingerly in both hands and looked carefully at the cover before flipping through the pages. There were things scrawled in some of the margins, but it was in the same unidentifiable language as the book itself.

“I don’t know,” he said firmly. “But I’m sure it belongs to whoever is behind all of this. And I think you’ve definitely got your work cut out for you with this case. Just hang on to it, since I can’t log that thing into evidence anyway.” He pushed the volume back into Jason’s hands and glanced back up to where the cruiser was parked on the bridge.

“I’ve got to get home now. Marge is making dinner and I don’t want to miss out on it.”

“Ooh, Marge’s dinner,” Jason responded, patting his stomach. “Can I come? I haven’t had a home cooked meal in ages.”

Jeff chuckled. “Sure, you can come for dinner any time. But as soon as the meal’s over, you’re leaving and I’m going to spend some much needed alone time with my wife; before the captain calls me back out again. Capisce?”

Jason laughed and nodded and the two men began the trudge back up the hill to their cars.

In the blackest depths of the woods, in the unincorporated area outside of town, sat a tiny cobblestone cabin. The worn stones were covered with mossy areas and crumbling in others, and the wooden door and window frames had seen better days. The interior of the little cabin was cool and weatherproof however, and inside sat a witch, the likes of which the town had never seen.

Outside the cabin were several men, in various stages of disarray, each one of them wearing a thin charmed band of cording around their neck. As long as they didn’t speak, or try to run, the magic remained inert. As the rain tapped steadily down, they each worked hard at assembling the wall that the mage had instructed be built, for the new castle that would soon dwarf the humble cottage in the woods.

If you’d like to check out the original novel, you can find it at- Everyday Witches: chapter listing

There are more short stories to be found on page- Odds & Ends