Strange New World Chapter 8 v5

8/9/2019 Strange New World Chapter 8 v5

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STRANGE NEW WORLD V5TERA CASHEN

Chapter 8

I backed Rose’s car into the other spot so I could take mine before Mona could

grab it. Really, it was Grandma’s car, an old Elantra she’d had before we moved in with

her. It was the car I learned to drive on, and it was the car I borrowed the most while

she’d been alive. We had an unspoken rule once Grandma died that it would become my

car. Yet that only meant that I had to take it before somebody else in the house grabbed

it, mainly Mona.

Only Rose and Mona were the ones who’d stayed home. Alex decided to join us,

so she sat stretched out in the backseat while Emma talked excitedly in the passenger

seat. Her comments were interspersed with sarcastic comebacks by Alex, which Emma

tried whole-heartedly to ignore. Suddenly, it felt like Grandma had never left us and the

twins were back to their old lives.

After a harsh comment from Alex, Emma threw something into the backseat.

“Hey,” I yelled, “stop fighting! I can’t afford to crash the car while you guys try to kill

each other.”

My breath froze when I realized what I just said. My mind wandered back to that

night when I looked through a broken windshield and saw only the moon hanging low in

the black sky.

Alex was saying something. I forced myself to breathe and looked in the rearview

mirror at her. She was playing with a stuffed toy that Emma must have thrown at her.

“—if this was killing each other, you’d know it. This is play really.” She sat the toy on her

stomach and folded her hands around it, looking at me. “You and Mona are getting

worse than we are.”




I sighed and decided not to comment. I glanced over at Emma. She’d curled up

against the window, her arms folded tight against her. I patted her leg gently. “We’re

almost there,” I told her.

The traffic was worse today than it was last night. I got several impatient honks

from a car behind me as I waited to turn left into the seemingly innocuous hidden

driveway. Emma sat up straighter and looked around.

“This is just a forest,” she said. “You said it was some kind of portal.”

Alex smirked. “It seemed like a portal. One minute it’s not there, the next it is.

Close your eyes, little one.” She leaned forward to put her chin on Emma’s seat. “I’ll tell

you when to open them.”

Surprisingly, Emma obeyed. I had a moment to think how odd these two were, to

blink, and then the scenery changed. At Alex’s command, Emma opened her eyes and

gasped.

The plaza was more beautiful in daylight. I could only imagine what it would look

like during the summer time. The stores were old-fashioned looking houses. As a village

of shops, it looked quite quaint. The lot wasn’t as full as last night and I was able to pull

in right next to our van.

The chill air knocked the awe out of me when I got out of the car. I noticed a

couple men pulling Christmas lights down from one of the stores. Both wore only

sweaters in this freezing cold. It made me shiver to think about how cold they must be.

“So where are we going?” Emma asked, as she turned from the shops to look at

me.

“We need to find a supply shop,” I told her. “We need herbs, tools, etc. There

should be a store here for that.” I added lower, “Hopefully.”






made our way slowly around the store, picking out things that we needed before finally

finding the section for herbs.

I looked at the labels on the bins. They were fading, but I could recognize some of

the names. I took out a couple bundles of each and placed them in the basket that Emma

was holding.

“Be careful with some of those,” a male voice admonished, so close and so

unexpected that I jumped.

We looked around. A small, old man stood behind the counter, peering at us

through wire-rim glasses.

He pointed to the bins. “Some of those herbs can burn through your skin,” he told

us. Holy, I thought. “Best to look at the warning labels before you go sticking your hands

in there, and burning your skin off.”

“Um, thanks,” I said. After that, I did pay more attention to the labels, although I

suspected he was just scaring us for kicks.

The man came around the counter to get closer to us. “Are you new in town?” he

asked. “I haven’t seen you in here before.”

“Um, yeah,” I said, nodding. Luckily, Emma didn’t contradict me. “We just

moved.”

He nodded. “I guess you need new supplies, eh?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “Our old house burned down and took all our supplies with it. So...

here we are. New house, new supplies.”

“Oh, yeah? Where do you live now?”

I froze. “Sorry, sir, but I don’t feel comfortable sharing that information,” I told

him, as politely as I could.




He smiled gently. “Don’t worry, only asking,” he said. “I make home deliveries, so

I know where my customers live. It’s good for customer relations.” He nodded again

when I didn’t answer. “If you have any questions, just ask. And once again, be careful

with some of the supplies. They can be quite dangerous in the wrong hands.”

The way he said it creeped me out. I tried not to show it on my face and went back

to looking at the bins of herbs. We just needed a couple more and I tried to find them as

fast as I could. Beside me, Emma was as silent as a mouse. If I was tense, I could only

imagine how she must be feeling.

I took the basket from Emma and brought it to the counter. We hadn’t found

everything we needed, but I didn’t care. We’d hit another supply store afterwards, one

that was way less creepy. We quickly paid, said as little as possible, and gave the man

fake smiles as we left with our purchase.

I wasn’t the only one who breathed a sigh of relief when we were out of sight of

the store. “That man was creepy,” Emma said quietly. “Why did you say our house

burned down?”

“Something Edward said to us last night,” I began, then told her a condensed

version of it. “If that old man is a witch, then he’s the last person I’d want to know about

who we are.”

Emma nodded. I noticed she has holding the bag a bit away from her, as if trying

to keep it from brushing against her.

We found Alex in the last store we hit. This store was well-lit, very clean,

spacious, and with a flavour of Wicca about it. I didn’t think that witches in the

supernatural world would follow Wicca, but it had seemed quite popular in some of the

supply stores we’d hit.




A plump woman in a flowery dress came out from the back when she heard the

chimes over the door. She greeted us and smiled before going to her desk by the counter

where she could watch us but not be obtrusive.

There were a couple of low, stuffed chairs in the middle of the store with a table

in the centre. Alex was sitting in one of them, looking through a book. She yawned as we

came toward her, then threw the book on the table and got up. She picked up her jacket

from the back of the chair.

“How long have you been here?” I asked her, frowning.

She grinned. “Awhile,” she said. “Those chairs were comfy.”

I rolled my eyes at her. Emma plopped down in the chair Alex had just vacated

and put her bag next to the table, far enough away from her. Alex sat on top of Emma,

making Emma yelp. The store owner frowned at us, but went back to working on her

computer.

I sat down in a different chair and took my list out. I read out what we needed.

“Oh, I saw those over there,” Alex said, pointing in the direction.

“Great,” I murmured enthusiastically. I grabbed a basket from the front of the

store and went to the corner Alex had pointed at. Found the item, and the price was

reasonable. “How about...” Again, Alex pointed. For the next item, Alex pointed.

She must have been here a long time if she knew where everything was. This must

have been the only store she’d hit.

Eventually, the store owner got up and came over to me. “What else are you

looking for, dear?” she asked, smiling kindly.

She led me to the remaining items. Then, she got to her most pressing question.

“So, are you new in town?” she asked.




I sighed. Each of the supply store owners had asked the same question. Some of

them had seemed to recognize us, but they couldn’t place us, which was good. I’d retold

the ‘burnt down house’ story so often that Emma even joined in with details of the

supposed fire. Neither of us would elaborate where we lived, just that we lived ‘in town’,

which was the same story I repeated to this lady.

“Oh, you poor dears,” she murmured, going behind her counter when I brought

up my basket. “It’s terrible to rebuild your life after losing everything you loved. When

my husband died, I had to move. I used to live in Georgina, but I needed to be closer to

the city. The water just reminded me so much of him. I rebuilt my world here, but I still

miss our old house.”

I nodded sympathetically. “I miss ours too,” I told her.

“When your grandmother died,” she began, and I froze, “I came to the funeral.” I

heard Alex get up and I fought to control my expression. “It wasn’t right that you girls

had to rebuild after her death, and after your parents’ deaths.” She shook her head sadly.

“It wasn’t right.” She looked at the twins behind me. “You girls look barely 16 and to lose

another parent...”

When she paused, I asked, “Who are you, and how do you know us?”

“I’m Peggy,” she said. “I knew your grandmother.” She patted my hand. “I know

you have reason to be afraid. Your parents were quite unorthodox witches. If anybody

asks, repeat that story of the fire, and I will do the same.”

She began ringing through our purchases as I gawked at her. I didn’t turn around

to see what the twins were doing, but I would believe it if they were just as surprised,

and tense, as I was. I wondered how much this woman knew about us. And if she liked

our family, why hadn’t she shown up before?




We really needed answers for all these questions. I took a deep breath. “Are you a

witch?”

“Obviously, if I run this shop,” she said, laughing a little. “You won’t find many

other species running shops selling witchcraft supplies, especially not shifters.”

“If you were our grandmother’s friend,” I began, “then why didn’t you come find

us to tell us what we were when she died?”

She paused. Her eyes widened, and she looked up at me. “You didn’t know what

you were?” She looked behind me at the twins. “You didn’t know you were witches?”

I shook my head. “Our family wouldn’t tell us when they were still alive,” I told

her. “We found out after Grandma’s death.”

“Oh dear Lord,” she breathed. It took a moment for her to calm down. “I didn’t

think—I was sure—” She clasped the counter for strength and shook her head. “What

was she thinking?”

I waited as she took in deep breaths. She hadn’t seemed old until now. Now, she

seemed like an old fragile woman ready to fall down. “Do you need to sit down?” I asked,

surprised.

She nodded. She grasped the counter with one hand as she made her way back to

her desk. I followed her there, and the twins appeared behind me. Peggy sat down. Alex

leaned against the end of the counter with Emma staying beside her. Her eyes flicked

from me to Peggy nervously. There was a chair in front of Peggy’s desk that I could have

taken, but I stayed standing.

She gathered herself together and looked up at us. “If I had known that your

grandmother died without telling you about your legacy, I would have found you girls

right away. I would have told you what you were instead of leaving you helpless for this




whole month. That’s what I would have done.” She seemed to be saying that bit for

herself. “When your parents died, Mary wanted us to stay away from you girls, for your

safety. I haven’t seen you since then, and I’m sure neither have any of your parents’

friends. But I was sure that Mary would raise you with knowledge of your magic, not in

ignorance of it. If I had known she would do that, I would not have stayed away.”

She looked up at me in particular. “She hid you, from us and from your magic...

all these years.” She shook her head, sad. “I don’t know what you know about your

parents’ deaths, but that was more dangerous than known who you are. At least with

your magic, you would have some protection, but without it...” She paused, thinking.

“Maybe that is why Mary died so young.”

“But Grandma was in her nineties,” I said.

She smiled up at me. “So am I,” she told us. I looked her over again. She really

didn’t look 90.

“Seriously?” Alex asked. “You’re 90 years old?”

“I’m 93,” she told us. “Witches can live longer, particularly if the magic in our

blood is still strong. The more dilution of human blood, the shorter your lifespan. As you

can imagine, the more you marry into a supernatural family, the longer you can live.

Well, compared to normals. Compared to shifters, we still die relatively young, and there

are some very old shifters.”

“How old is Edward Hunter?” I asked.

“You’ve met him?” she asked, delighted.

“Yeah, last night,” I replied.

“He’s a good boy, that one,” she said. “Let’s see... Edward is relatively young

compared to some shifters, but he should be over 200 years old.”




“200 years old?” Alex repeated, slowly. She repeated it again, awed.

“Wow,” Emma breathed. She smiled. “I can’t wait to meet him.”

Peggy smiled at our reactions. “Many supernaturals, you’ll find, live longer lives,”

she said. “That’s why there are so many of us, nowadays. That’s why we’ve built these

places, like this plaza. This plaza is like a place of refuge for us. For me, it’s my business.

Have you met any of your parents’ other friends?”

“Um, we met a girl named Tilly,” I began, and she nodded as she recognized the

name, “and a man named James Larkin.”

She nodded again. “And you met them all last night, I suppose?” I nodded. “Be

careful with James. He is very old and he is not very fond of witches.”

“I got that impression,” I agreed.

“Both he and Edward are wolves,” she continued. “I think Tilly is a coyote. And

she’s older than Edward. I haven’t seen them in ages.” She shook herself. “But we’ve

strayed from an important issue. You girls don’t know much about your magic yet. All

five of you need to learn, and learn quickly, before the rest of us figure out that you’re

out of your grandmother’s protection.”

“I really don’t understand why everyone is so scared of us being witches,” Alex cut

in. “You keep talking like we’re in danger.”

“But Mom said we were in danger,” Emma murmured.

“But she made that video years ago,” Alex continued. “Why are we still in danger

now?”

I explained the video to Peggy, who’d looked confused.

Then Peggy said, “Did Edward tell you about the reproductive cycles of witches

and how they differ from shifters?”




I opened my mouth, but Alex said, “Yes, but that’s so stupid. What does it matter

how many kids you have?”

Peggy’s mouth tightened. It mattered to her. I wondered if she had any kids at all.

Before she could answer, my cell phone rang. I apologized to her as I pulled it out and

looked at the display. Then I went to the window of the store as I answered.

“What’s up?” I asked. “Do you need anything else?”

“No, actually,” Rose breathed, her voice softer than normal. “I thought maybe you

guys would want to come home.” She paused, then said with a lower voice, “Edward is

here. He’s brought someone with him, a witch I think. Emma wanted to meet him, so...”

I considered having her ask him if he knew Peggy, but I decided to give her the

benefit of the doubt for now. I told Rose we’d get home soon and closed my phone.

“Edward’s at our house,” I announced when I got back to the group.

Emma lit up. It would be her first introduction to a shifter. Alex nodded and went

to get her stuff while Peggy got herself up.

She went back behind her counter and wrote something down. Then she handed

me a card. It had her name and phone number. “If you need anything,” she began,

finishing our transaction, “don’t hesitate to call. I don’t have a craft-cast like you girls

will, but I’ve worked with magic for a long time. Any questions at all, don’t hesitate.”

“Thanks,” I said.

I bought the stuff and we went out to the plaza to find our way back to our cars.

Alex got into the van and Emma and I took my car back. It seemed like eternity before

we finally ended up in our driveway. There were two cars parked against the curb in

front of our house: a grey Mazda and a dark green Ford F150. I looked at the cars




curiously as I got out of my own beat-up car. Alex drove in at that moment and the three

of us took our bags and headed into the house to meet another witch.

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Strange New World Chapter 8 v5