"Are you sure this is it?" Hannah asked as she pulled up to what looked to be the oldest house on the block. Not just old, but worn and unkempt. Window shutters were hanging off the hinges and paint was chipping off the wood frame. There was a tarp on the roof near the chimney, which appeared to be crumbling, explaining the need for the tarp.

"Yes," the man responded. "It didn't look like this before," he added and stepped out of the car.

Hannah shut off her engine, stepped out of her car and walked around the front to stand next to the man. He still refused to give her his name. Now looking at him with a calmer mind, she noticed that his nose was perfectly straight, and his jawline was perfectly squared. She wondered if he may be the same age as she was. Hannah figured it was probably the clothes, hat, and hair that made him look older.

He made his way across the weed-infested walkway to the front steps of the old house. Hannah followed close behind. The man pointed out that the plank on the second step was completely missing. Not wanting to take any chances, Hannah hopped up from the first step to the porch, skipping the second and third altogether. She noticed the man checking his reflection and adjusting his fedora before pressing the doorbell.

It didn't ring, or at least Hannah couldn't hear the sound if it did. The man must have thought the same thing, as he then knocked loudly on the rickety exterior screen door.

Moments later, locks on the other side of the door were being turned. The interior door opened inwards by only a few inches, being stopped by a door chain. Hannah wondered why someone living there would be concerned about locking their doors. What would anyone want from a house that looked like it should be condemned?

A suspicious elderly woman peeked through the crack of the door. "Who is it?"

Hannah couldn't see her very well as the screen door was extremely dusty.

"Shattered mirrors and broken cups," the man responded. Hannah didn't know if he was using code words or trying to be funny, but whatever it was, it made the old woman react.

She slammed the door shut. Hannah could hear the top chains rattling, only to open again. She pushed the screen door outward, making Hannah move out of the way of getting hit. Before Hannah could get a good look at her, she had embraced the man, shielding her face from being seen clearly. Hannah heard something. Was the old woman crying?

Hannah felt so awkward at that moment. If she had the choice, she'd run back to her car and drive away as far and fast as she could. The man must have sensed Hannah's feelings. He released himself from the woman's embrace. Hannah finally saw her. She was an average-sized woman, in her early to mid-eighties. Her hair was white as snow and cut in a layered style down to the bottom of her chin, which complimented her oval face. Her eyes were light brown, similar to Hannah's, but hers showed much more wisdom.

"Oh! Hello, my dear." Madam Nova wiped her eyes and greeted Hannah with a surprisingly friendly tone.

"Hello," Hannah responded softly, feeling like a shy child wanting to hide behind her daddy's knee when meeting someone new.

"Nova, this is Hannah. She is why I am here now," he explained.

"Oh! Well, why didn't you say so? Why don't you both come in?" she said, opening the screen door and leading them inside.

Hannah was hesitant at first. After the scary movies she had watched the night before, Hannah was feeling extra cautious about stepping into a stranger's house. The man again sensed her hesitation. He turned to her and said, "I promise, you're safe. If I wanted to kill you, I could have done it when I had taken your soul from your body earlier."

Hannah stared at the man somewhat dumbfounded at what he just said. Realizing that he could have killed her if he wanted to, but he didn't. Hannah scooped up every ounce of courage she had left and with a leap of faith, followed a random man into a crumbling house with a random old lady. There was no turning back as the woman closed her door behind them.

********

Hannah sat at the edge of a dusty, floral print cushion of an armchair, as Madam Nova and the man sat across from her on an equally dusty, matching floral printed sofa. While Madam Nova poured three cups of hot tea, Hannah glanced around the room.

The room looked like an antique shop mixed with a witchcraft store. There was a large, porcelain figurine clock, surrounded by several smaller, porcelain fairies and tall, glass cylinder candles along the fireplace mantel. On either side of the fireplace and the large window on the opposite side of the room were four fully stocked bookcases. From what Hannah could see, the one closest to her stored books related to spells and rituals. Hung up around the wall were large paintings of the different tarot cards.

"Sugar, Hannah?" Madam Nova asked, bringing Hannah's focus back to the moment.

"Yes, please," Hannah said. Madam Nova dropped two cubes of sugar in the tea, picked up the cup and saucer from the tea tray on the coffee table and handed it to her. "Thank you, ma'am."

"You can call me Madam Nova," she said warmly.

"Thank you, Madam Nova," Hannah corrected herself.

Being from northern Florida, practically south Georgia, Hannah was taught to address her elders as Ma'am and Sir. She also knew if the person requested another name to be used, that she would need to oblige to be respectful of their wishes.

"Still like your tea unsweetened, Spencer?" Madam Nova asked, handing her cup to the man.

"Spencer?" Hannah asked. She jumped for joy on the inside for finally learning his name. She wondered why the need for him to hide it from her.

"You mean he hasn't introduced himself to you yet?" Madam Nova asked and gave Spencer a look that Hannah couldn't quite read.

"What? I like mystery and suspense. You know that!" Spencer said in his defense. "Yes, Hannah, my name is Spencer. Are you satisfied now? Does it change anything?" he asked sarcastically.

"My dear Spencer, after all this time, you are still the same smart-mouthed boy I remember. Haven't you grown up at all?" Madam Nova said, coming to Hannah's defense.

"How much time has passed since you saw each other?" Hannah asked with great curiosity, as she took a sip of her perfectly sweetened tea.

"Too much," Madam Nova responded before he could.

"Let's just say that the last time I was here, you would not have been friends with Tina. In fact, you two wouldn't have been allowed to be friends or even go to the same school," Spencer hinted.

Hannah started thinking and trying to decipher Spencer's riddle as he and Madam Nova started in on their conversation and reminiscing. Why wouldn't Tina and Hannah be friends? Then she suddenly understood that it because Tina was black and Hannah was white. 

She interrupted without much consideration, "Are you saying I wouldn't have been friends with Tina because of segregation? That hasn't existed here since the end of the 1950s. Which means you were here all those decades ago and haven't aged between then and now on your world."

"You are as smart as you look," Spencer said with a blend of amusement and sarcasm.

"Spencer, that's enough!" Madam Nova swatted his knee. Then she turned herself to look directly at Hannah. "Hannah, my dear, I know this is a lot to take in. It was the same for me too, when I first met Spencer.

"Let me explain; I summoned Spencer here back in 1952. I was seventeen then. A fellow witch told me that if I wanted to develop my magic skills I could get help from another dimensional being. So I followed the spell and stood with a candle and a cup in front of a mirror to open up the portal to the other dimension. That was when Spencer appeared and taught me about real magic and how to use it properly. Because of him, I became the experienced sorceress that I am today."

"That's so cool!" Hannah said, understanding it more at that moment. "Does that mean that you can help us reopen the portal so he can go home?" Hannah asked, hopefully.

"I'm sorry, that's not possible, Hannah. Did you not read the warnings on the spell?" Madam Nova asked.

"I honestly can't remember much. It's all a vague memory. I only remember my friends convincing me to perform the spell to open the portal. I know I didn't really want to do it, but I guess I did it anyway." 

"Witchcraft is not a toy, Hannah," Madam Nova reprimanded. "I know you're young and still learning, but in every spellbook ever written, there is always an understanding that spells cannot be taken lightly. Everything has a consequence, even the spells that appear to be good, may not always turn good if not done with caution, a mature mind, and complete respect."

"I know," Hannah responded, as if she was a child getting in trouble for drawing with a black permanent marker on a white wedding dress.

"The portal will be reopened on the next full moon. I suggest that during that time, you learn all you can from Spencer. He is a fantastic teacher, and you may even consider him a friend by the end of your time together," Madam Nova stated and turned her glance back to Spencer. "I know I did. I really missed you, even after all these years, I wish you didn't leave."

"I missed you too," Spencer said. He put his empty cup of tea on the coffee table and scooted closer to Madam Nova on the couch and naturally wrapped his arms around her.

Hannah watched their embrace and could tell that there was a genuine connection between them. She couldn't pinpoint the vibes. Was is romantic love? Deep friendship? It was hard for her to tell, but she knew it was something very real.

"Why does Spencer have to leave?" Hannah asked, after they had separated from their embrace. They both looked at her quizzically. "I mean, I didn't really summon you for a specific reason. Since I'd be pretty much wasting your time, as you previously mentioned, maybe you could stay here with Madam Nova until the next full moon. Then you can come back to my place when it's time to go. That way you could spend time with each other, and you and I wouldn't need to spend time together at all. Everyone wins."

"That's not how the spell works, Hannah," Spencer stated somberly.

"Spencer is literally tied to your soul as long as he's here. He can't just walk around freely," Madam Nova explained. "Also pay close attention," she added, turning very serious. "Because he is connected to your soul, know that if you die, he dies too. And if you let him die, I will cast every dark magic spell I can find to bring your soul back to haunt this Earth until there is no more Earth. Do you understand me?"

Hannah gulped with fear at the threat and nodded. Madam Nova made Hannah acknowledge her warning verbally. She obliged instantly.

********

Driving back home, Hannah kept replaying Madam Nova's warning in her head.

"She was just being protective," Spencer stated. He was now sitting next to Hannah in the front passenger seat.

"Can you still hear my thoughts or something?" Hannah asked, feeling slightly annoyed.

"Yes," he admitted. "But you're also an easy person to read. You don't hide anything with your expressions."

Hannah didn't know how to respond. She was grateful when her phone started ringing. 

"Hey, Tina!" Hannah greeted, answering the call with the Bluetooth controls in the car. "I'm sorry, I haven't been home all day, so I don't know if Eddie's in love with you yet or not," she quickly added getting to the point of why her friend was probably calling.

"Oh, he's in love all right," Tina's voice said excitedly, coming through the car speakers.

Hannah glanced over at Spencer, who leaning down analyzing the speakers and looking confused, yet amused, that Tina's voice was coming through them. She laughed lightly. "Oh yeah? What happened?"

"I just got a text message from him. It says, 'Hey beautiful. I kept dreaming about you in my shirt last night. I hope I can be as lucky as my shirt one day.' ending with a *Wink Wink* emoji," Tina's voice rose with glee after every word of Eddie's was repeated.

The girls squealed with delight together. Hannah was so happy for Tina at that moment that she purposely ignored the look of shock on Spencer's face. He was going to need to adjust himself to being in 2020.

______________________________________________________________________________

Author Note:

Thank you for reading this chapter. I hope you continue reading further. I would be ever so grateful for feedback/comments on anything that stood out to you.

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Happy Reading!