I had a bunch of paperwork, including my new marriage license, in a folder that was completely waterlogged. “Crud, I needed that to change a bunch of stuff to my married name,” I said.
“You could just not change it,” Reggie offered with a shrug. “Although, if you go with Wilson, you won’t have to spell it out for everyone anymore.”
“Nobody knows how to spell Skeenbauer,” I said. “Of course, they can’t spell Kinsley either, but I’ll never change that.”
“You could,” Reggie said. “You could change it to something easy like Kim.”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I like Kinsley, but I am going to take Thorn’s last name.”
“How traditional of you,” Reggie teased.
“So?”
“It’s fine. Just having fun with you. So what are you going to do? I don’t think anyone’s going to accept that marriage license,” Reggie said.
She was right. It was completely soaked, the seal was flattened, and some of the ink was running. “I’m going to have to go over to the courthouse and grab another copy.”
“In this rain?” Reggie asked. “Even if you run, you’ll be completely soaked.”
“Well, maybe I can try a touch of magic. All I’m trying to do it dry a piece of paper. Surely, I can handle that,” I said and pressed it flat.
Spoiler alert: I could not handle that.
I waved my hand over the license and tried to use just a hint of fire and wind magic to dry it. It burst into flames and a second later, nothing was left but a small trace of ashes. Wet ashes because somehow the counter was still wet from water seeping out of the paper.
“That didn’t go well,” Reggie said.
“I would have been better off with a hair dryer,” I admitted. “I hope that at some point, I can get some magic back under control.”
“I thought you liked not having it. It’s what you always wanted,” Reggie said.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t realize that there were some parts of it that I really liked having. I miss those parts,” I said.
“At least the decrease in your magic doesn’t seem to be retroactive. Can you imagine if we had to look our age?” Reggie lamented.
I’d nearly forgotten that my family had blessed her and Viv with youthful looks and a long life. That would have sucked if those benefits went away. Not that either of us were that old, but it sure was nice looking ten years younger and knowing you would stay that way for decades.
“On that note, I’m going to brave the rain, But I’m taking this plastic bag with me to keep the new marriage certificate in,” I said as I unpacked the breakfast bag. “Will you eat and give the animals their treats?”
“I’m going with you,” Meri declared.
“Really?” I looked at him skeptically. “What do you want to do, ride in the bag?”
“Fine, I’ll stay here,” Meri relented. “I hope you don’t get into any trouble and need me.”
“I’m just going to the courthouse to get a marriage certificate. How much trouble could there be?”
When I left my shop, I ran across the street and then through the square. The Christmas décor was gone, and there were no tourists milling about, so once I turned at the statue, it was straight shot to the front steps of the courthouse.
It was a good thing I wore those boots because my feet pounded against the pavement, and I splashed through several shallow puddles. The bottoms of my pants got a little wet, but my feet stayed dry.
I couldn’t say the same thing for my hair. The pitying looks people gave me once I was inside the courthouse were enough to tell me I must have looked like a drowned rat. For a moment, I considered dipping into the bathroom and trying to use a bit of magic to dry my hair, but considering what had happened to Tangerine… and then my marriage certificate, I decided against it.
Oh, gawd. Poor Tangerine. She and I, more so she, were lucky that all I done was make her a floofball. I couldn’t have lived with myself if I’d incinerated her, and I didn’t have the powers to bring her back from the dead again.
The regular records office was on the first floor in the east side of the building. That’s where you could get any current vital records. I wouldn’t need to go down to the basement archives where my father had worked.
Inside the county clerk’s office was a long counter that stretched the length of the narrow room. It looked as though it was built for multiple employees to handle several customers at once, but I never saw more than one person in there.
There were several desks along the outside wall set up to look out the windows, but there was no one at them. There was only one employee in the clerk’s office, and I startled her when I walked through the door.
“Oh, my, you gave me a start,” she said and pressed her hand to her chest.
She was a short, full-figured gal with curly hair dressed in black slacks and a stylish blouse covered in a cherry pattern. Somehow, on her, it was not the least bit gaudy. It suited her.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Are you… real?” she asked and then chuckled nervously. “Of course you are,” she said and chuckled again. “I meant to ask if you’re alive, but I know you’re that too. Ignore me, I’m being silly.”
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said and got up from her desk. She walked over to the counter. “It’s just that… sometimes I think this place might be haunted. People tell me I’m being silly, but on days like this when it’s dark and dreary, and there’s almost no one around, I could swear.”
“That’s interesting,” I said because I could neither confirm nor deny her suspicions. I knew the place was haunted, but anything I said about it might be crossing the line. “I don’t think I’d worry about it.” That was a lie too. There was that one particular ghost, although I didn’t think it would bother this woman down on the first floor. I’d never even heard anyone talk about that ghost before. It was as if it were just me and my mother who saw it. “I think the idea is kinda cool, but don’t be scared. I guess that’s kind of hard on a spooky day like today.”
On cue, thunder crashed again. “I guess the storm’s kicking up again,” she said. “It’s like it’s coming in waves. Anyway, what can I do for you?”
“I just got married, and I dropped my copy of my marriage certificate in a puddle this morning. I need a new copy because I’m not done changing things to my new name,” I said.
“Sure thing, I can do that,” she said cheerfully. At least the task at hand had distracted her from her fears. She took my name and other information and typed it into a computer on the counter next to where she stood. “Okay, all done. It’s twenty-five dollars, and you can pay with a check, credit, or debit card.”
“I’ve got my debit card,” I said and pulled out my wallet.
She ran the card and handed it back to me. “Okay, all you do is go up to the top floor and pick it up in the central processing room. It’s to the right when you get off the elevator.”
“What?” I asked. “I have to go upstairs to get it?”
“Yeah, we’ve had a lot fewer requests over the years for physical copies of documents, and the county decided that we didn’t all need printers anymore. The whole building prints up there now. There are only two actual printers. There’s a lady named Tammy behind the desk, and she’ll give you your document when you get up there,” she said.
“Okay, thanks,” I said as I tried not to reveal how much I did not want to go up to the top floor.
I made my way from the county clerk’s office over to the elevators and forced myself to push the button. A creeping feeling of dread was already snaking its way up my spine when the doors opened.
“At least it’s empty,” I said to no one around me and stepped in.
As soon as the doors closed and I hit the button for the top floor, it felt like there was someone in the elevator behind me. Every time I looked back over my shoulder, there was no one there. No one that I could see, but I could fe
el something. Whatever it was, it was cold. So much so that it almost felt like there was icy breath on the back of my neck, but it was a full feeling. It was more like the whisper or idea of a feeling.
“That means it’s in your head,” I said to the empty elevator.
It was the first time in a long time that I’d been without Meri, and I nearly wept with relief when the elevator doors opened and I could exit the tiny, suffocating space.
I turned to my right and started down the hall to find the central processing office. When I got to the end of the hallway, I realized my mistake. I was a grown woman, and witch, who often mixed up my right and my left. I should have had an L and an R tattooed on my hands, but then everyone would know my shame.
So much for getting the document and getting out of there quickly. Despite walking nearly the entire length of one side of the building, I hadn’t run into anyone else. Either not many people worked on the top floor, they were all off that day, or they were quietly working in their offices in tandem.
It struck me as I walked past one particular window that… it was the one I always saw the ghost with the black eyes and black gaping maw of a mouth staring down from when I was in the square. I was standing there in her spot, and suddenly, I felt compelled to stop and look down. I wanted to see what she saw.
I watched the rain for a minute. It was a beautiful view of the square, and it must have been magnificent when the sun shone. You could watch all of the people coming and going from the shops and the Coventry Library on the opposite side of the plaza.
The loneliness of someone or something trapped there just watching and never able to join must have been overwhelming. I could feel it down into my bones.
And then I could feel icy fingers wrapped around my throat. Instinctively, my hands flew up, and I tried to pry them away. But, while they were cutting off my windpipe, the hands weren’t really there. I could not breathe, but I couldn’t fight it either.
I needed Meri, but he hadn’t come with me. Why had I discouraged him from coming with me? I knew this specter resided in the courthouse. I never thought I’d have to come up to the top floor, and I’d only ever seen her leave her spot once. That was for very specific purposes. Or, so I’d thought.
As I closed my eyes and prayed to the Goddess to save me, I also promised to stop acting like I knew everything. “If you let me live, I’ll be a more humble student,” I whispered through the hands clutched around my throat.
The ghost didn’t let go, but she lost her grip enough that I could turn and run. I pulled away from her, and I could swear I heard her banshee screeching behind me, but at the same time, it was all in my head.
When I passed a stairwell, I didn’t even bother with the elevator. There was no way I was going to push a button and wait for that thing to arrive.
I threw open the door to the stairs and ran down them as fast as I could without falling on my face. “Feet, don’t fail me now,” I said as I bolted down several flights of stairs.
There were a couple of people in the courthouse lobby when I burst through that door. They looked at me like I was crazy when I ran through the lobby and out into the rain. I didn’t care. I was out of there.
When I got back to the shop, dripping wet, pale, and without the marriage certificate, Meri and Reggie were understandably concerned. I explained everything.
“What are you going to do?” Reggie asked.
“I’m going to order a copy online and have it mailed,” I said. “I’m not stepping foot back in that place before I get my magic back.”
“I could go with you,” Meri said. “I think I can still handle that thing.”
“I’ll just order it online,” I said, and that was that.
Chapter Two
No one came into the shop. Not one customer. So, after a while, Reggie and I went upstairs to the apartment and watched a couple of episodes of The Vampire Diaries. She loved that show. I couldn’t really make fun of her, though. I secretly rewatched the Twilight movies when no one was around.
Around lunchtime, we decided to brave the rain and go over to the Brew Station for our free lunch. We ran out to my car, Reggie carried Tangerine like a football and I had Meri tucked in my mostly dried-out bag, and drove around to the other side of the square.
Despite the almost complete lack of customers in the Brew Station, I still didn’t feel right taking Tangerine inside, so Meri got dog-sitting duty. The car had a “dog mode” where I could leave the air conditioner and radio on for them. Meri didn’t want me going in alone, but he could see me from the car, so he eventually relented.
“You came!” Viv exclaimed as we walked through the doors. “I am so glad to see you guys.”
“Slow day, huh?” Reggie said.
“I don’t know what it is about this rain and these storms, but it seems to be freaking everyone out,” Viv said. “Sometimes rain brings everyone in, but it’s really scaring everyone away.”
“Yeah, we haven’t had anybody in the shop, so we’re sort of just closed,” I said. “I doubt we’ll even go back over there and open up again after lunch.”
“I still get paid, right?” Reggie asked.
“Yes, of course,” I answered.
“So, are you ladies ready for a feast?” Viv asked. “If you don’t mind, I’ll just join you.”
“Awesome,” I said. “You want us to come back and help you get everything ready? We can get our own food.”
“Nonsense,” Viv said and waved me off. “You guys pick whichever table you want, and I’ll be right there.”
We took a table away from the window near the counter. Normally, I would have wanted to sit near the window and watch the rain, but I was starting to feel sick of it all. It wasn’t like I was wishing for sunshine or anything, but I would have liked a bit of a letup from the unrelenting showers.
That and I was afraid at any moment, the serious thunder and lightning would start again and scare the pants off me. If it did, I’d have to rush out to the car and bring Meri and Tangerine inside.
As if she could read my mind, Viv appeared from the back with a tray of food. “Radar says there’s another imbedded storm coming. Why don’t you go outside and get those two before it gets here?”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“It’s not like there are any customers in here,” she said and looked around. “But if anyone does come in, they can just deal with it. I don’t want the critters out there alone when this storm kicks off.”
“All right,” I said. “I’ll grab them.”
“I’ll help,” Reggie added. “I’ll grab the doggie.”
We rushed outside and went to either side of the car. Reggie grabbed Tangerine from the passenger side, and I reached in and grabbed Meri from the driver’s side. We dashed back inside where Viv was setting a paper plate with turkey down for Tangerine and a plate with crumbled bacon for Meri. Both animals happily partook of their meal before settling down at our feet for a snooze.
At least, they tried to relax and take a nap. Just as Viv had said, minutes later another storm came in. The lightning continuously lit up the sky like fireworks were going off above the clouds, and thunder shook the coffee shop.
We ate quickly and without saying much. All of the noise made conversation nearly impossible. I was beginning to feel shell-shocked from the constant pounding and booming.
About halfway through our food, and much to our surprise, customers came tumbling into the shop. It was a man and a young boy, and I could tell right away that the boy had been crying. You could have almost written it off as rain on his face, but I could see his eyes were red and irritated.
He smiled a little, and his face lit up, when he saw Tangerine and Meri. “Look, dad, a little dog and a kitten,” he said to his father. “Can I pet them?” He directed his question at me. Someone had taught him well about asking the owner before you approached a strange animal.
“Sure…” I started to say.
“Stay away from those filt
hy animals,” his father snapped. “What kind of place is this? I should call the police on you and get this restaurant’s food license revoked. Where is the manager?”
The little boy sniffled, and his shoulders fell. He just looked so defeated. I sensed that he hoped the animals would lighten his father’s mood, and they’d had the opposite effect.
“Dad, please don’t,” the boy practically whispered.
“Wouldn’t matter anyway. Her husband is the sheriff,” Reggie snarked at the man, and I watched him bristle.
The little boy’s eyes went wide with a look that combined horror and appreciation. My guess was that not many people in his young life had talked to his father that way, but I was worried she would make it worse for him. After all, once they left the Brew Station, there’d be no one for his father to take his anger out on but the boy.
Stormy Sky Magic (Familiar Kitten Mysteries Book 9) Page 2