Haven
A/N** This is a short story. There are no chapters. I hope you enjoy!
The weather was finally giving over to chilling temperatures and the local bars were seeing the impact. Not going to lie, I was a bit miffed over it. On the one hand, I was looking forward to being the customer at the bar and not the person serving drinks. On the other… I could really use the extra cash.
Walking down the sidewalk I shoved my hands into my leather jacket. As fashionable as it was, it really didn’t do me any good in this weather. I kept my eyes down and followed the sidewalk to my destination. My favorite bar sat at the end of the walk on the corner. Quiet, dark, and usually full of locals.
As I got closer to the doors a strange feeling sat at the base of my neck where my triquetra symbol was tattooed. I pulled up short of the door and carefully took stock of my surroundings. There didn’t seem to be anything out of sorts. The usual sightings in this area. Couples walking, people with their dogs, lit up signs on bars, and people stumbling out of said bars. Still… I couldn’t shake the feeling. So much for my low-key evening. Something was bound to happen tonight.
Walking into Haven would probably shock people who didn’t know what it was. A grunge bar. All the walls are painted black, local artists had paintings and photography along the wall across from the bar. At the back of the bar were three pool tables which were more or less shoved into the space with little room to actually play on them. My spot at the end of the bar was open and already my drink sat on a black napkin. I smiled. Although I was somewhat shocked they anticipated me showing up, I was grateful that I could just sit down and drink.
I made my way, pushed and shoved more like, through the crowd toward my waiting cocktail. In the midst of the group of people my feet stopped altogether. I was rooted. Somewhere in the crowd there was an amulet in use. I could feel its energy pulsing against my chest and eyes. A glamour. The energy didn’t have good intentions. After the week I’ve had I couldn’t bring myself to suss out the owner of the amulet and their intended target, I had no doubt that in time it would become obvious.
“Hey ’Viah! How was your shift?” Skye, one of my favorite bartenders, leaned her forearms against the bar in front of me. Showing off assets I didn’t particularly need to be privy too.
I threw up my hand to shield my eyes while laughing at her. “Whoa girl, put em away. And my shift was dead, doubt it will pick up for a week or two due to the suddenness of the weather. I am curious how you knew I’d be here though.” I winked at her.
She wiggled her fingers in the empty space around her head, our sign for ’something in the air’, before she sauntered back down the bar and began serving other customers. She’s a practicing empathic witch and it seemed like she was doing rather well.
I tended to keep to myself and let people come to me. This night I just couldn’t keep my eyes down, they kept darting around in search of whoever was using the glamour. In most instances a glamour doesn’t have negative intentions. Something about the energy wafting off this one told me otherwise. It was an involved spell too. Most glamours are small things, changing ones hair color or length, eye color, maybe even height. This one was highly charged and was being used in a much larger way. I was just as curious to know who could pull off such an involved spell, outside of myself, as I was to figure out why they were doing it.
I sat in my designated spot through two more cocktails before anyone really noticed I was there. Before too long I had people coming up to me just to chat and catch up. Driver, whose actual name was Dean, pulled up a seat next to me and settled in for the night. Our conversation flowed easily and I didn’t mind his company.
“You seem distracted, or like your waiting for someone to attack you. What’s going on?” He asked me as soon as yet another person walked away after exchanging pleasantries.
“I just have a bad feeling. It’ll pass.” I forced a smile.
Suddenly a laugh broke through the constant murmur of the crowd. Which had somewhat thinned since I had walked in. That negative energy still sat heavy over me though. Searching through the people still in the bar I noticed a group of old friends had entered. I recognized all but one of them. Instantly my chest tightened at seeing the group of girls sitting at a table, on the opposite wall of the bar. I hadn’t noticed them come in.
These girls reminded me of a pack of wolves. They always went out together, you would rarely find one without the others. They are nice girls, just very tight knit. Being as I was a bit odd in comparison to them our friendship somewhat fizzled out. We still chatted on occasion when we bumped into eachother. The leader, or really the one they all gravitated to, was Evelyn. The one who had originally befriended me and introduced me to the rest. She was at the head of the table, laughing and drinking her usual beer.
With them was a man I didn’t recognize. He was average height and had dark brown hair and eyes. His feature seemed forgettable. Almost like if you looked away you’d completely forget what he looked like altogether. I immediately knew something wasn’t right. Closing my eyes I closed in on the energy that had been plaguing me all night. It didn’t direct me to him but another direction. Sitting to the left and behind me. No wonder my triquetra was burning. He did have a muted energy, similar to the other I had noticed before, rolling off of him though… the same magick user had done both spells. I dug deeper into the energy and realized his was also a glamour.
I opened my eyes and realized I had more questions than answers. Why was the same witch casting two glamours? Was it coincidence they were both being utilized in the same bar? What was the purpose? I stared daggers into the guy.
“Hey Driver, I’ll be right back. I’m going to say hi to Evelyn and her pack.” The look he gave me was pretty much what I was expecting. Shock and confusion. We may still chat when we bump into each other but we don’t go out of our way to say ‘hello’. When I say our friendship ‘fizzled out’, what I really mean is I was cast out.
I made eye contact with Skye who had been on her way over to refill our drinks. She also looked confused. I wiggled my fingers around my head in the same manner she had before, and she nodded once before tapping her nose twice. I giggled at her again. More at ease now knowing someone else in the practice was paying attention.
Walking over to Evelyn and her pack I could feel my eyes begin to become irritated. The magick of the glamour working on me. I didn’t enjoy the feeling but had to act as if I wasn’t aware it was happening.
“H-hey Eve. How are you?” I was so uncomfortable. This was not our status quo.
“Aviah! Heeeyyy!” She slurred before wrapping her arms around me. Now I am very uncomfortable. We definitely do not hug anymore. Awkwardly I patted her back and she pulled away.
She grabbed my arm and dragged me a few tables down from where they had been sitting. Her actions taking me back to when we had been friends, and important to one another. Back to good memories I just couldn’t shake.
“How are you? I’ve missed you!” Evelyn practically pouted at me.
She-what? I was not prepared for this conversation and in all honestly was not in the right frame of mind to have it. Listening to her, neither was she. Although drunk had always been her state of being…
“Uh… I’ve been good. I see you’re with the rest of the pa-uh-girls. Who’s the guy?” I gestured behind me with my thumb.
“I actually don’t know! He’s very annoying though. Been following us bar to bar acting like he’s part of the group. And he keeps hitting on me.” She screwed up her face as if she was smelling something bad.
“So, tell him to get lost? Or the truth? That you’re a lesbian and not interested?” The fact she hadn’t told him this already was confusing. She’s usually a straight shooter with that information.
“I have. He said he knew. Then hit on me more!” Flagging down Skye she ordered another beer before returning her attention to me. “So you should hangout with me and save me from the creep.” She smiled widely then.
“Eve we don’t “hang-out” anymore.” I did the finger quotes at her. My confusion skyrocketing. She doesn’t hide behind people? What exactly is happening.
Before I could ask her what exactly was going on, the aforementioned creep walked up to our table and stood right in front of me. Who does that?!
“Excuse me!” I gripped his shoulder and gently moved him to the side. But once I touched him, I knew he was not actually a he. My eyes widened and I had to choke back a laugh.
‘He’ turned on me with fire in his eyes. ’If looks could kill” flashed through my head. “Don’t touch me, bitch.”
“Don’t be rude and I won’t touch you. Now. What’s your name?” I smiled politely before catching Skye’s stare. She was sporting a wide-eyed look as well. I shook my head at her gently.
Skye is a powerful empathic witch but in a situation like this she can only do so much. And the situation was gradually ratcheting up in the danger department. I could feel the other energy from earlier in the evening moving closer. But I returned my attention to the ‘man’ in front of me.
“None of your business. Leave our group alone.” He went to grab Eve’s arm. I assumed to drag her away from me. Before he could do exactly that, I moved in front of her and pushed her backward. My back to her front, one arm herding her behind me while the other grabbed his outstretched hand.
I hadn’t had much time to gather energy for a spell so my plan to whisper my it went out the window. I practically yell/growled at him as purple smoke flowed from my fingers up his arm.
“REVEAL!”
Before our eyes, and everyone else in the bar who had started paying attention, the glamour melted away. After touching him the first time I knew to expect a woman. This particular woman? Not so much.
“Shayla?” I wondered out loud. Half expecting the glamour energy to still be lingering. I sensed nothing though.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Was screamed loudly behind me. Eve. Oh this was not going to be getting any better tonight.
Shayla was warring between shock and irritation. She must have decided on irritation because her glare was honed in on me. I took the tense seconds to draw energy back into myself so as not to be taken off guard again. Thankfully the moon was almost full and projecting rays nicely in through the glass door and windows at the front of the bar.
“Well, that was an unexpected turn of events Aviah. I never would have guessed you practice.”
I took a second to hash out how I felt about what she was saying. Should I be upset that she didn’t believe me to be a witch? Nah. No fucks to give on that one.
“At the moment I’m glad I do. Where’s your friend Shayla? I know they’re using a glamour as well.” I looked around to see if I could figure it out by sight alone but was sure I wouldn’t be able to. Casting across the whole bar would use all the energy I just took in but until the other person was figured out I wasn’t sure I could piece together exactly what was going on. I waited a few seconds for them to come forward, when they didn’t my decision was made.
Pulling my other arm away from Eve’s death grip, I closed my eyes, raised my arms slightly with my palms out, and whispered the same spell again. Sending my intentions wide. I knew it worked when I heard gasps echo throughout the whole bar. Opening my eyes I came face to face with the second person.
“JC…” I sighed loudly. Now my primary emotion was irritation.
JC is also another regular here, and a very good friend of Eve’s. I always knew she didn’t like me. But to do something like this? Not to mention, target her friend! The target wasn’t even me… so what exactly was her end game?
“What exactly is going on?!” Eve gritted out behind me.
I turned to explain to her what I believed was happening. Before I could get a word out a shove sent me into her chest and sent us both tumbling to the floor. Now that irritation I had been feeling before had manifested into pure rage. Emotion is a great source of power, but using anger was not great for me. With how much power I hold alone I don’t usually need an emotional boost. Good emotions are fine, but being backed by negative emotions usually has me doing very scary things.
Pulling us both up I again moved her behind me and walked us backward until she was backed against a pool table. Without turning to face her I told her to stay put.
“Why? What’s going on? Aviah!”
Before she could latch onto me again, I moved several paces forward. A clear path had been left between the tables against the artists wall and the stools lined against the bar on the opposite wall. Shayla and JC stood about 6 yards in front of me.
“Well this hardly seems fair. Two against one?” I smirked at them. “Sounds like fun!”
Before Skye could round the bar and come to my side I threw my hands up again and envisioned walls of protection separating our new ‘battle’ area from the innocent bystanders. Skye slammed her fist against the shimmery blue barrier that had sprung up in her path.
I had just turned my attention back to the two witches in front of me when a spell was thrown. Anyone can see spells, they look like smoke in all different colors. Most people don’t realize this because most casting is done in secret or in a way people don’t get the chance to see, or even glamoured! In this setting? Everyone could see. Which is something I had avoided for years. Now it seems, my secret is about to be out.
Before their spell could land I caught it in my left in hand and drained the energy out of it. Releasing my fist, ashes fell to the floor. Two more spells in succession came toward me. Crossing my arms in front of me then slicing them out to my sides I watched those spells also turn to ash. I began to laugh as I realized the sad truth. These two weren’t witches at all. The spells being flung at me so haphazardly are basic attack spells, weakened by time.
“This isn’t your magick. You have amulets!” I made another spell into ash. “Guess what? I’m a hereditary witch. Do you know what that means ladies?” Another spell, and this time I grasped it without releasing its energy. Changing its intention and shape. I had always wanted to do this. I created a whip. Snapping it testily in their direction I felt akin to Wonder Woman and her Lasso of Truth.
“It means I’m innately stronger than you. I know you have amulets because each spell you throw has an underlying signature. A signature I know.” I could feel my spirit animal thrashing in my chest. My spirit animal was a new addition to my magick, we hadn’t bonded well enough yet for me to let her out. The longer this dragged on… the harder it would be to contain her. Her howls rang in my ears hollowly. Making a quick decision, I ended my taunting.
Whipping my new toy, or spell, in their direction it wrapped around both of their shoulders. Yanking hard I pulled them to the ground. Altering the spells intentions again, I made those women tell the whole bar their reasons behind the glamour. Yeah, definitely channeling Wonder Woman at the moment.
JC was fighting the spell the whole time it dragged the truth out of her. Shayla’s head hung low.
“You were MY friend Evelyn! Then this bitch shows up, conveniently, when you just got out of a relationship and took all your attention away. Shayla was an ex I actually liked. You didn’t go all mushy for her! You still had time for me! We decided, together, you needed to see that she was actually the one for you. Not this… WITCH! We chose a man because you let them get closer than most females. Eventually we were going to tell you but by then you were supposed to trust her-him-whatever!” Her breathing was ragged by the end.
My heart broke slowly in my chest and my head hung just as low as Shayla’s. I knew JC hadn’t liked me from the beginning. Eve had told me in not so many words. The past began playing in my minds eye. Eve and I had started out as friends, really good and fast friends. Slowly we began realizing we felt more than just friendship for eachother. Honestly, we fought it. She had just gotten out of a relationship and I was so caught up in mastering my craft and setting my life on a different path I didn’t think I could take on a relationship. But fate had different plans… We began going on dates but telling ourselves they weren’t. When I finally stopped fighting it and told her how I felt… she closed down on me.
My head snapped up. Was it possible they had spelled Eve?
Releasing them from my spell I let the energy fade away. Instead of ash on the floor the smoke began to fade and disperse until no one could see it. Before I could assess Eve for an amulet I had to take the ones they had away. Knowing the signature as well as I did, I was the only one who would be able to take them away. Because it was my magick.
I approached the two women on the floor and looked them over. Shayla wore a bracelet with a crystal that had a smokey effect to it, and JC had a crystal hanging from her neck that had the same look. Taking both items, I knew immediately and definitely… they were mine. My magick. I had spelled several crystals over the years to carry bits of my magick, for friends or family. They were supposed to be used for protection. Any idiot novice though could recharge the gems and change their purpose. Even learn to tap into them and use the magick in its raw form. Like they had during our short squabble. My stomach twisted.
My magick had been used to help them set Eve up.
With the two pieces in my hand I cast a binding spell over the women. The yellow smoke enveloped them before seeping into any exposed skin. Ensuring no other practitioner would notice the bind and remove it. I released my protective walls surrounding us and made my way back over to Eve. The blue walls looked as if they were burning and disappearing back into the air. If I hadn’t been so saddened by the situation I would have found it beautiful.
On my slow walk back to Eve I recharged the gems with my own internal energy and gave them permanent intentions of protection and sight. Stopping in front of her, I grabbed her hand and placed both in her palm.
“Wh-wha-what are these?” Her eyes told me she was scared. I couldn’t really blame her after everything she just witnessed and heard.
“They’re my magick.” She made to drop them and I curled her fingers over them before she could. “I have given them new intentions. Protection and sight. They’ll only work for you. This won’t ever happen again. I’m sorry my magick did this.” I whispered the last bit brokenly.
Looking her over carefully I noticed a new ring on her hand that wasn’t holding my amulets. Gingerly grabbing it I noticed the same smoke effect swirling around the crystal.
“Who gave this to you Eve?” I whispered.
“JC… Why?” Her eyes widened slowly as realization dawned.
“It’s spelled and I need you to take it off. Set it on the pool table behind you.” A tear trickled down my cheek. Magick wasn’t supposed to be used this way. Knowing that someone had tampered with Eve in some way, with my magick, hurt me to my core.
She quickly pocketed my amulets, which produced a small smile from me, and practically ripped the ring off her finger before slamming it onto the pool table and walking away a few steps. I hovered my hand over it with my eyes closed, trying to figure out exactly what spell had been used. You can’t manipulate people’s true emotions, but you can dampen them to nearly nothing… which is what had been done.
Stifling a sob I pulled the energy out of them crystal and drained it. Tossing the ash behind me onto the floor. I picked up the ring and held it out to Eve without looking at her. She gingerly took it and I saw her just staring at it out of the corner of my eye. I watched her face crumble…
“What did they do to me Aviah?” She whimpered.
I realized I couldn’t tell her. What’s done is done. Tonight she found out not only that magick exists, but that I use it. That it had been used on her without her knowledge. She was going to struggle to trust people from now on.
Especially me.
My heart twisted again.
I turned away, dropped some bills on the bar, and left Haven.
