Melanie's Witch Series: Part 13

Melanie felt refreshed after a night tucked into her cottage. She stumbled out to her kitchen to make a new fire, make some much-needed coffee, and open her curtains to let it the glorious subtle light that filled the hills of Cork. While reaching for the kitchen curtain she felt something brush against her lower leg and jumped back and almost knocked the coffee pot off the counter. Her car Griffin was rubbing her leg and purring. She picked him up and nuzzled him against her face giving him kisses. She should have been surprised to see him pop up, but he always appeared when she needed a protector. Then it hit her, she needed protection? What did Griffin know that she did not?

Melanie walked over to the couch and placed the cat down on the middle cushion. She set logs into the fireplace and nestled some newspapers below it and lit the papers on fire with a match from the wall sconce. She pondered how many matches were in the container. She walked with purpose back to the cat, put him on her lap, and settled into the couch to snuggle Griffin. She asked him “What kind of trouble am I in?” He just snuggled into her lap, curled up into a ball of fur and fluff, and went to sleep.

Melanie woke a few hours later, Griffin was next to her on the couch. A book had appeared out of her bag and was right on the coffee table where she could easily notice its appearance. She reached for it and Griffin woke up. He seemed like he was going to leap at the book, but he sniffed it and went to the other end of the couch and nodded back off. She picked up the old battered worn leather book. She cracked the spine open and the pages smelled like a field of fresh herbs. She flipped the pages and there were no herbs within its pages. She flipped to the first spell and read it. It was the first spell she would try, but first, she needed to gather the herbs and other ingredients for it.

Melanie put on her cream colored knit shawl she brought with her and headed out back to see her own garden and see what herbs were around and which ones she would need to head into town to buy. She had lavender and rosemary but needed calendula and sage, plus some other things that she was not sure where to find. She would need an amulet, some incense, and some candles of a certain size and smell. The spell said four, eight-inch candles placed in a square, all smelling of chamomile, patchouli, and thyme. Melanie would have to go into town, so she took off her shawl and put on her dark green cloak. She put her hood up over her love red tresses, latched her cloak around her and walked to her horse out back. She climbed up on his back and the horse seemed to wiggle under her weight. She told him to be still and placed a reassuring hand on his mane. His mane was almost the same color as her curls. They looked almost as one as both their hair blazing in the sun as she galloped into town.

The town was only a few kilometers away. The cold of the mountain cliffs by her home followed her into town. A chill shuddered from deep in her bones. The wind whipped across her cheeks and made her nose sting. She was hoping to find her herbal booth at the market sooner than later. Even her horse seemed to be struggling against this sudden wind. Two minutes later she found her stall. She dismounted her horse and let him through the market. She bought her herbs at one booth and a few more booths down she found her candles. Both vendors did not seem to care what she wanted with their wares but were happy for her money.

The booths were nothing special. They had modest signs out front announcing what they sold. The lady at the herbal booth was an old croon who moved slowly and hissed as she gathered the herbs for Melanie. The croon seemed to crack and sputter as she moved about her booth. She gave off a feeling of dread and Melanie wanted to get away from her as soon as possible. She gave Melanie her herbs, but they came with a warning “Be careful of seeking the light, darkness follows it.” With that Melanie climbed back onto her horse and this time the horse seemed content with her weight back on him and they rode back to the cottage. Once home Melanie let the horse roams free again. She gave him some more oats and water and she knew he would come back to her if she needed him again.

Melanie headed back into her tiny stone cottage. The door was ajar, but she was sure she closed and locked it. She crept inside her house ready to freeze time if something came at her. She entered the kitchen silently, put down her herbs and candles, and inched her way forward. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a quick movement and Griffin came around the corner to be pet. She signed with relief, which was soon gone because her cat could not have unlocked the cottage door. She heard a thump in the living room and Melanie froze. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears. She needed to go in search of the noise, so she tried ever so slowly to move in a forward motion. She snuck into the living room through the kitchen door and saw a shadow of someone disappearing out of a window. She darted to the window, looked outside cautiously, but no one was anywhere in sight. The living room, which she just burned sage smudge in, now felt like it was covered in an evil slime. This person, or thing, left a residue in the air that wrecked of sulfur and salt. No one but her family knew she was here, but clearly, someone had been in her home. She could put a protection spell on the house, but she had not even started really studying spells yet, and she was well aware of the dangers of dabbling in magic. She was not going to risk blowing up the house. She burned more sage and cleaned the house of the evil residue the creature left behind. She wanted to shower and wash the day off, but instead lit another fire in the hearth and turned on all the lights in the living room. Her senses were tingling all over her body. She knew something evil was underfoot. Griffin climbed on her lap again and she felt a little less stressed. She knew if she needed Griffin he would change into a Griffin instead of her cat and he would protect her from any harm. Melanie fell asleep sitting up on the couch with Griffin sitting in her lap ready to defend her if the even returned. She fell into a fitful sleep.

Melanie woke the next morning feeling hungover. She did not sleep well or sound. She forgot for a moment about the evil that was in her home, but the feeling of insecurity came rushing back at her.She stumbled to her bare feet and walked to the kitchen for her morning routine including coffee. She toasted a bagel, made her coffee, and sat at the tiny farm table in her kitchen. It was a yellow table that was just as bright as the sunshine pouring in her kitchen window. She looked outside and sighed deeply. At some point, she needed to figure out who was after her, but she had no idea how to go about doing that. It is not likely that the creature left her a note saying who he is. She needed to go through the whole house and see if she could find any clues. She had not bothered to look around the house last night, she was to jostled to look.

She got up ever so slowly. One leg moved then the other followed. Her bottom lifted off the chair and she was standing frozen by the fear. She needed to move and go to each room and see what was missing or what the creature possible damaged. One room at a time she went walking at a snail’s pace into her living room. She moved with purpose, slow, looking over every inch of the room.She looked up and down the bookcases, over the chairs and table by the front door, under the couch, but nothing. She crept to her bedroom. She could feel no evil now but only assumed whatever or whoever was gone, but her heart beat was exploding in her chest.

Melanie entered her bedroom doorway and froze. The room was tossed upside down. Her clothes were all over the floor, glass from broken lamps lay on the carpet, her mattress was tossed against the wall, and she knew someone or thing was looking for something personal of hers. She was only renting this house and whatever it was only touched her personal items. She began to clean up her room, and looked on her vanity and noticed her hair brush was missing. Someone was needing her hair, but why? Perhaps to perform a spell on her? She knew you only needed a person hair if you were doing a harmful spell. Who would want to hurt her? No one except her mother knew she was a witch. She only performed freezing time a few times in her life. She knew though that if you performed magic evil could follow it. It was like a light shining on a witch when she did a spell. Someone from the dark real was chasing her and trying to hurt her, and she was not OK with this at all!

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Happy Haunting

xo

Debbie