The life of a shop owner can be pretty overwhelming sometimes, especially if said owner is a witch and her products are made from her magic. Cassinda dedicated a large part of her time to the creation of potions, every single one of them took a gigantic amount of energy and concentration. After the time to close the shop comes the young witch ends up exhausted, the only solution for her suffering is a big and warm cup of coffee.

Every afternoon Cassinda visits "The Happy Fairy", her favorite coffee shop. A colourful place, always full of magical beings. She would buy her usual cappuccino and take a seat next to the left window, then she'll enjoy her sweet beverage in total silence while looking at the outside world. A simple routine, nothing fancy, nothing crazy, until one day it changed.

Cassinda was about to take a seat, just seconds remained before she dived into the comforting embrace of her own thoughts. The aroma of her cappuccino got to her nose but before she could taste it the witch felt someone nudging her shoulder.

"You've finally arrived, our main suspect." Those words repeated over and over in her mind. She moved her head like she was on autopilot, looking for an answer and what she found was yellow duct tapes all over the place.

"I don't understand. What happened?" The confused girl asked "I just got from work, like everyday"

"What happened is that a man was murdered in this coffee shop and the spell that was used to kill him has a trace of your magic. So tell me Miss Selwyn, why did you kill Patrick Jenkins?"

Terrified, that's how Cassinda felt. A magic trace was an infallible proof, even more certain than a dna test. Every being has a personal magic trace and when they use their magic it can be identified. If the analysis said it was Cassinda's fault then it has to be it. But if she did it then why can't she remember.

"I don't know him." She defended herself.

"You're lucky I need more proof than a magic trace to take the case to the court but I can assure you I won't stop looking. I don't believe your lies."

Judging eyes pierced her skin, even the sweet pixie that talked with Cassinda while they waited for their drinks seemed to be suspicious of her, or at least that's what she thought the instant she saw them walk her way.

"I think you dropped this." The little pixie whispered before they handed a golden locket to the witch. Cassinda hid the object in her pocket without actually paying enough attention to recognize it.

The next four hours she was forced into interrogation, the detectives inquired about her routine and her last actions. Cassinda ended up being grateful for her shop, the job and the customers provided her an alibi. Forensics determined 10:28 a.m as the time of death and at that time the witch was seen by a fairy, a wizard and a human in her shop. Without more proof than the magic trace Cassinda was released.

For the first time in her life she felt truly exhausted. Her body felt drained of energy and her mind lost strength. In the comfort of her home she tried to find vitality but nothing seems to work. Accepting the defeat Cassinda hid between the sheets of the soft bed. Before she closed her eyes a reflection of light caught her attention. Then she remembered the object given to her by the pixie. With a movement of her right hand she brought it to herself.

Sometimes when you're tired you start seeing things that aren't really there, that was the only logical explanation the witch could think of. It was impossible, she couldn't be seeing the exact replica of her family locket, the one her mother gifted her before she died. There was only one locket like that in the world, forged with the magic of her ancestors and that was exactly what scared Cassinda the most, the fact that she was able to feel the magic coming from it.

Two lockets laid in the bed. One belongs to Cass, the other was found in the crime scene. They looked the same, the energy flowing from them was the same. They even had an identical picture inside: a drawing of Phineas Selwyn, the first wizard of the clan.

Someone must be trying to incriminate her, that's what the girl thought. If the detectives weren't going to do their job, then she would do it, she would find the culprit and exonerate herself.

Days passed away and no information was found. Cassinda kept trying to solve the mystery of the locket while the police searched for any proof against her. Even as she was working the piece of jewelry stayed next to her on the front desk.

"Interesting symbol, I never saw something like that" Henry, one of her usual customers commented pointing out the locket.

"What symbol? I can't see it." Cassinda answered, showing excitement.

"The hourglass with a skull and the woods inside. Maybe you'll need to look closer, you know I have a better sight, werewolf thing."

"Henry you're a lifesaver, just take this for free." The witch gave him the potions he came to buy and almost pushed him out of the shop so she could close the place faster.

A focus spell and a detailed examination were more than enough to confirm Henry's words. Engraved on the back of the locket was the hourglass described by the werewolf. The phrase written around it seems familiar to the witch, "time kills", she was sure she heard it somewhere.

The need for a fresh perspective brought her to the coffee shop. Instead of the usuals hellos she got judging looks. What used to be her safe place now turned into a replica of her bad days in magic school.

Hushed whispers about the death of Mr Jenkins flew around the air, for the past two weeks it became the topic of preference of most of the customers. There was even a rumor about his ghost, apparently he liked to walk around the coffee shop mourning his life. All the talk attracted new people to the place and now it was even harder to get an empty seat.

"Sorry dear, I'm afraid we are full at the moment," The owner of the place apologized to Cassinda "you can wait a little bit or we can prepare the coffee to go."

"I'll take the coffee to go."

"Wonderful. I'm really sorry that you couldn't stay, I understand why you don't want to wait, time can be ruthless sometimes."

The fairy went to get the coffee leaving the girl lost in her thoughts. The words about time surprised her. It could be just a coincidence, that's what she wanted to believe until her eyes found a picture of an hourglass very similar to the one in the locket nailed to one of the walls.

Cassinda took her cappuccino with shaking hands and left the shop as fast as she could. The sweet fairy worked with the one who framed her? How did they copy her magic trace? Was it something against her family? After all the hourglass was on her family locket, perhaps there was information about her clan she didn't know.

Cassinda concluded it was the best to take action. Whoever was trying to blame her was related to the coffee shop, she didn't have much time left, the detectives kept insisting on taking her to court and she needed a defense. She was going to force her entrance into the shop that night.

Stars shined bright in the sky when Cassinda made it to her destination. The absence of noise gave her courage, the shop had to be empty. There was only one question: how would she disable the protection spell casted around the building?

She tried several times, nothing seemed to work, the security was espectacular. The witch turned around to get back home when a particular spark got her attention. She followed it to the back of the shop, against all the odds the door was open.

A little voice inside Cassinda's head told her it was a bad idea to enter, that it was probably a trap, you don't cast the perfect protection spell and then leave the door open. Anyways, the wish of finding the person behind the killing was bigger than the fear.

"Just in time, as always. I think you have something that belongs to me."

Her body and mind froze. The illogical situation became even more impossible. She knew that voice, she knew it very well, in fact it was her voice.

"Surprised to see me or should I say to see yourself?" Her oldest version asked her as she closed the distance between the two of them.

"It was you. You killed him, and the detectives were right, it was my magic trace" Cassinda was trying to find meaning to all that happened, she needed answers.

"Believe me it was necessary to do it, I know you are confused right now after all I was there in your place twenty years ago and you'll understand me when you take my spot in the future. Mr Jenkins was attempting against the time flow and we can let that happen, It's the destiny of our family to protect the timeline, I'll explain everything after you come with me."

"Timeline, destiny, our family, nothing makes sense. Why would I go with you and where?"

"You have to come with me to the future if you don't want the detectives to find you." Old Cassinda tried to reason "We are part of something bigger than ourselves, members of an organization who controls the time, this coffee shop is one of the points of reunion."

"This place is part of a time control organization?"

"Coffee shops can be full of surprises and the owner of this one is a time traveler" An alarm sounded inside one of her pockets. She took a circular object and threw it against the floor. A portal opened behind the two witches. "The moment to go has come, there's no other option, we always go through the portal and we'll keep doing it."

Young Cassinda accepted her destiny and followed her older self. That was the beginning of her adventures as a time traveler. The detectives couldn't close the case and she never came back home until the day when she had to kill Patrick Jenkins. 

Word count: 1770