Lake Larson

"So, I'm guessing he's still gone?" Alex's voice echoed on the other end of the phone while I watched my feet play with the crack on the wood floor.

"Yeah, he had been gone all night now." I plopped onto my bed, laying back to watch the ceiling. "I don't think he's coming back," I whispered, choking on the last word, feeling his absence in my soul.

The afternoon light drifted in the cracked curtains and painted an illuminated show across my face. Orange tinted my room for a few seconds before clouds rolled before the sun, blocking the warmth of the cold winter day. I huffed, rolling until my head hit my pillow.

"Are you sure he will never come back? Maybe this is a good thing, and he moved on like he needed to," Alex said with her voice high-pitched, only trying to lighten the mood.

I closed my eyes, letting the pillow swallow my head. "The fortune teller, or more like the witch, said a lot, but so much seemed so open-ended," I whispered, almost talking to myself to see if anything would spark a lightbulb in my brain. "Alex, this doesn't seem right to me." I thought of him fading into the night, floating away into the firefly out of my reach. "Not settling right with me."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked while a person's voice echoed in her phone in the distance.

"He just can't be gone," I yelled into the pillow, muffling the noise from Alex. "I need to do something," I said, swinging my legs off the bed and walking to the door. "Yes, I think I have an idea."

"Lake," Alex said through her teeth, trying not to make a scene in her family's store. "Please do not go see that fortune teller."

"Um," I replied, racing down the stairs.

"You will not go see that witch!" Alex yelled.

"Yeah, okay, I got to go," I replied, hanging up the phone and pocketing it.

I opened the door to the cold winter. Snow blew into my face, whistling with the wind between the buildings. Students walked along the brick path with their backpacks slumped low, ready for winter break to end the classes. Murmurs of the busy path crowded my vision to the street.

Ian promised me he would not vanish into the chilly air or leave me without saying goodbye. Our moment of passion and happiness had only just started. His voice reverberated in my head throughout the night, each vow accompanied by a rich vibration.

I bumped into the back of a woman with heels, not realizing my vision blurred to Ian. She held my shoulders to be sure I didn't fall before fixing her blonde hair.

"Sorry," I said, looking past her to the flickering neon sign in the cracked window.

"It's okay," she replied, walking away without me seeing her.

I strolled to the door, stopping while my heart raced. Vibrating in my pocket, I pulled out my phone and saw four missed calls from Alex and several unread messages.

"Wow, Alex," I whispered with a low giggle before placing my phone back.

My hand froze above the handle, hesitating to enter. Leaves blew over my boots, painting orange and red in the wind. A black cat hissed from a metal cage on a broken table but purred when I glanced at it.

"Hello there, poor thing," I said, knowing this witch would probably kill it.

I unhooked the metallic lock, watching it jump to the sidewalk and rub against my leg. It bounced on the glass table under the cracked window, tipping an empty flower pot and shattering it. Its hazel eyes gazed into my soul and tilted its head, growling deep for me to leave.

My warm hand gripped the cold metal of the brass handle while I closed my eyes, wishing for Ian to pop up before me. Last time, Samantha feared Ian, and he protected me. This time, I didn't have him by my side. I had all the reasons to worry about her, given she killed Ian, but she made the relic to bring him back, so could she do it again?

I creaked the door open, hearing the screams from the bells, notifying the witch I had entered her store. A hiss echoed from the cat as I forced it to stay outside. The smoke covered me, dancing around my face as I waved my hand, coughing. With each step, the wood floor bowed like it would break.

The store glowed red when I stepped out of the fog, glancing at the mason jars of animal parts. Leaning closer to one, I saw a cat paw floating in the liquid. I tapped the jar, watching it bounce. A bird skull hung above my head, nearly touching the top.

"It appears the moon bug chosen to show her bravery at this moment." A creepy voice caused me to jump and hit my head with the skull.

I spun around, trying to find her, but the laughter of young children surrounded me. They mimicked her, closing in on me, but in no physical form. A chill touched my skin, sending goosebumps up my arms.

"Samantha," I whispered, bobbing my eyes around.

The witch stepped out of the darkness, grinning her black teeth at me. "I can feel he is not with you." Her eyes closed as she inhaled deeply.

"Ian," I said, but paused while the invisible children mocked me, repeating his name until I had to cover my ears.

Samantha giggled, stepping closer to me. The smell of body odor and roses filled my nose while her insane hair frizzed around her face. It was like visiting your grandma and finding out she hadn't showered all week. Her glitchy movement had her inches before me, her warm breath heating my face.

I squeezed my fists into a ball, feeling my clammy skin. She circled, eyeing me from head to toe. Her bony fingers touched my back, causing me to jump away from her.

"I'm guessing Ian is gone because of you," I said, backing into a shelf.

She laughed in a high pitch. "And why do you think that?" Samantha pointed her blackened finger at me. "Why are you here?"

The witch walked past me and strolled to the table. She patted the chair and gazed at me. Her floor-length dress swept on the wood floor while she played with the top of the table and circled to the other side. She sat before the glass bowl with bones burning slowly with coals while I walked over and stood before the chair.

I gripped the wood. "I'm here because I need you to bring Ian back." Leaning slightly over the table, I sat. "And you know that."

"What makes you think I can bring him back?" She played with her pointed nails, peeling pieces of black from the tips.

"I just—" I paused, looking at the smoke between us. "Can you?"

"You see, Lake," Samantha said before she reached into the bowl to grab the coals. "What makes Ian worth bringing back again?"

"He changed!" I yelled, causing the children to mirror me.

The witch laughed, switching her minions to laughter. "There is more to this than changing a rake." Her eyes rolled. "The spell does not work that way."

I stood, knocking the chair over. "Help me."

She slammed her palms on the table, and her deranged laughter surrounded me, coming from all angles. With each stroke, her nails left deep gouges in the wood, revealing its raw texture beneath. A shadow caught my eye behind her while heels clattered.

"Calm down, Sam," a woman's voice vibrated down my spine as she walked out of the darkness.

I tilted my head. "Emily?" I asked, while she placed her hand on Samantha's shoulder.

Emily smiled wide, unhuman like, before biting her bottom lip. "Ian deserved everything we did to him. That heartless, clueless man," she said, shaking her head with a grin. "But there was more to our reasonings with bringing the Cros family down."

"The both of you?" I stepped back. "Working together?"

"Yes," she said, rolling her eyes with annoyance. "We put a spell on Ian, and just like we thought—" Emily glanced at Samantha, causing her to laugh. "Failing." Her heels tapped on the floor. "The Cros men seem to fail everyone, or should I say, kill."

Samantha jumped up, her face inches from me. "So close to breaking our spell. What happened, sweet little one?" She pouted her bottom lip before smiling. "Maybe a smart witch didn't like how close he was and guided him away from his little pussy."

I glared at her. "You caused Ian to disappear again?"

Emily grabbed Samantha, turning the witch toward herself. "You didn't? Did you?" she asked, angry with her friend.

"Of course I did," Samantha replied, fanning her face with her blackened fingers, but quickly frowned, seeing Emily unhappy. "Why? Should I have not?"

"You shouldn't intervene!" Emily yelled. "The spell was specific, and you always mess shit up!"

As I retreated, my energy caused me to collide unexpectedly with a shelf, jostling its contents. A glass jar tipped over, shattering around my feet with a dead butterfly floating to my shoes. In shock, the witches turned their gaze toward me, momentarily forgetting my presence.

"What do you mean, kill?" I asked, recalling what Emily said about the Cros men. "Ian had never taken another person's life. He would have told me."

Emily shook her head. "Well—"

Samantha whistled through her black teeth. "Robert Cros killed our coven sister!" she yelled, pointing at me, wanting to cast a spell. "So we made his son vanish."

I tilted my head, thinking about the article we found on the internet about the missing girl who claimed to be pregnant with Robert's baby. "She was pregnant," I whispered. "They got rid of her." I glanced at the witches. "Maya Kawn."

Samantha clapped her hands in slow motion. "Way to go, genius."

Emily shoved her to the side. "The Cros family killed our sister. We had to make them pay," she said, her voice laced with anger. "That family took away an unborn child and our family." She clenched her jaw, holding back sadness. "He said he loved her. Robert promised her the world. That man blinded her with his false heart."

"But Ian was not involved." I pleaded, bringing my palms together. "Bring him back."

Emily shook her head. "It's too late to reverse the spell, even if we wanted to. You need to break the spell for him."

Samantha coughed, shaking her head. "We will never help him. His mother put the hit out for Maya, and his father agreed to let them murder her. We still don't know where they ditched her body."

I pulled at my hair. "You put the spell on the wrong person!" I yelled at Samantha. "You two did nothing to Robert or Rebecca! If anything, you made their life easier! They didn't love Ian! You witches!"

"You are the bitch!" Samantha yelled back, hearing me wrong, reaching for me, but I swatted her hand away.

"You two messed up, not me!"

Emily shoved Samantha behind her, placing her palms together while facing me. "Lake, tell him how you feel if you want to break the spell. We froze him in time back in the day. If you break the spell, he will return the way he vanished."

Samantha shoved past Emily. "Ha, you will never break the spell because he will never admit it. The Cros family is heartless and will never know love." She laughed, mocking me. "Blackheart. Like father like son."

I glared at her. "The only person with a black heart is you!"

Samantha nodded her head. "Yes, which reminds me," she said, snapping her fingers.

"No!" Emily yelled. "Stop this!"

A fog floated in from the sides while a loud pitch scream pierced my heart. I covered my ears, glancing around the dark shop. The shelves shook, causing the jars to fall to the floor, red liquid filled in, thick like blood.

I stumbled around while the blood rose to my knees, not stopping. Emily grabbed Samantha's shoulders, shaking her, but the liquid floated to my neck, soaking everything. I inhaled the maroon water, choking while I tried to swim to the door. Hands grabbed at my body from within the ocean of red. I screamed before being dragged under. Kicking at the invisible person, I breached the surface, breathing in the smoky air.

"Stop!" Emily yelled, clapping her hands together.

Within a blink, I fell to the concrete ground outside the shop, soaking wet. The wind blew around, sticking leaves into my chilly body. I pulled my hair away from my face, glancing around at the empty streets. The black cat meowed from the table, licking their paw.

Emily's voice echoed ghostly in my ears. "Tell him how you feel. If he can admit the emotions back, Ian shall return from his frozen state."

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