by Susan Harper
The three bats appeared again in human form after a cloud of purplish smoke circled around them, and Victoria stood proudly with the other two vampire maids, each hissing in Renfield’s direction. “I’m stronger than you three!” he warned.
“Doubtful,” Victoria hissed, and all three vampires darted in his direction at once.
They clawed at him, and one of the women bit his hand. “Ah!” he shouted, yanking his bloodied hand back.
Mona jumped up and ran for her wand, grabbing and pointing it at some vines growing on a nearby wall. “Involvere!” she called, and the vines flung themselves from the wall toward Renfield, wrapping around him tightly.
“Way to go, Mona!” Monica called as Renfield fell to the ground, hissing and snarling up at them all. “You too, ladies!” she said to the three vampires who now stood proudly with their hands on their hips.
“Now, let’s get this changeling to the station,” Mona said triumphantly. “I’m ready for Uncle Drac to come home.”
15
“Okay, so tell me again… What exactly did Renfield turn into?” Holly asked.
After defeating Renfield and bringing him to the proper authorities, Monica and Abigail had returned to their side of Back Room Books, leaving Mona and Wilma to escort Uncle Drac back home now that he was being released. Monica had known that Holly was waiting at the shop for her with great interest to learn about Renfield.
Monica smirked. “Well, it’s sort of hard to explain. So, changelings have a sort of connection with the human child they replace. Apparently, my Uncle Drac, back when he was still mortal, spent his childhood growing up with the fae while Renfield took his place. When Uncle Drac returned and revealed himself to his birth parents, they stopped seeing Renfield as their son. It’s sort of like blinders being lifted off you. Renfield kept insisting to them that he was indeed their child, but Uncle Drac’s parents just didn’t see it. They thought Renfield was crazy and shipped him off to an insane asylum. But the connection between Renfield and my Uncle Drac remained intact, so Renfield was able to appear human. Then a vampire turned my Uncle Drac. Unfortunately for Renfield, this sort of messed up his magical contract.”
“Okay, this is the part that confuses me,” Holly said. “Wouldn’t the connection just break? Or why wouldn’t Renfield just become vampire like Drac did?”
“So, the connection between changelings and their mortals remains so long as the changeling stays in the mortal realm. If they go to the mystic side, then it will break. Unfortunately, Renfield wound up trapped inside the asylum. Changelings can only connect with mortals. They can’t just turn into vampires. But since he was connected with my Uncle Drac when he was mortal and then my Uncle Drac changed, it sort of messed up Renfield’s magic. He couldn’t control it anymore. Eventually, after Bram Stoker published his novel, my Uncle Drac realized that Renfield was still in the mortal realm. He assumed before that that he had returned to the mystic side. Uncle Drac felt bad for him, so he went and checked him out of the asylum and brought him to the mystic side to work for him. Ever since then, Renfield has been using magic to try his best to ward off the weird…demonic-like shapeshifting that has been taking place due to the fact he, a changeling, managed to become connected to a vampire despite the fae’s inability to do so.”
“Phew!” Holly exclaimed. “That is one complicated situation your family found themselves in. So, he was a demon?”
“No…no, not exactly. Basically, Renfield was a fae, a mortal, and a vampire all at once,” Monica said. “All because my Uncle Drac got bit over a century ago and turned by another vampire.”
“It was all very strange,” Abigail said from her usual spot on the back counter. “I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’ve been walking around for several centuries.”
A big smile appeared on Monica’s face. “I haven’t even told you the best part, Holly.”
“Don’t,” Abigail warned.
“What?” Holly asked, a bit enthralled by Monica’s tone.
Monica snatched Abigail right up off the counter and gave her a big, forced hug. “My familiar coming to my defense! She even called me her witch. What a good kitty-cat!”
“Stop it.”
Holly laughed. “Aw, and here I thought you didn’t like Monica!”
“Stop.”
Monica gave Abigail a big kiss right on her nose, and Abigail hissed at her. “Oh, would you lighten up, Abs?” Monica said giddily and placed her familiar on the ground.
“I only went after that creature, Renfield, because the last thing I needed was for my witch to get killed and the Sorcerers’ Council to start asking what I did to help you and get time added to my sentence,” Abigail insisted, but Monica could see a slight gleam in Abigail’s eye.
“You love me,” Monica sang.
Abigail hissed. “Watch it,” she said.
“I love you too, Abs,” Monica said with a wink.
The back door flung open, and much to Monica’s pleasure, she saw her Uncle Drac standing in the doorway. “Iz now a good time?” he asked, glancing around the shop to make sure a bunch of shoppers were not present.
“Uncle Drac!” Monica exclaimed and hurried around the counter, giving the man a big hug. “So glad to see you out and about! Come in! You’ve got to meet my friend Holly.” Monica pulled the man out from behind the counter and over to Holly, whose eyes were wide in excitement.
“How do you do?” Dracula said to Holly.
Holly stuck out her hand to shake. “Wow! I cannot believe I am meeting Dracula!”
Dracula took her hand and patted it. “Oh, vat a sweet girl,” he said, then sniffed the air. “You are not mortal?”
“Whoa, you can tell just like that?” Holly asked. “I don’t suppose you can smell what kind of mystic I am?”
“No, I am not zat good,” he said with a wink, releasing her hand. He turned back to Holly, beaming in her direction. “I came to zay thank you, my dear. You and your sister vere vonderful! Alas, poor Renfield! Troubled by revenge, I see. I had no idea he vas suffering so!”
“So, tell me something, Uncle Drac. How come you never told us you were raised by the fae?” Monica asked.
Dracula laughed. “Not exactly something I like to broadcast. Can you imagine vat rumors vill come out of zis? A vampire raised by fairies!”
Holly laughed. “So long as you don’t sparkle…”
“Pardon?” he asked.
“Never mind,” Holly said.
“Vell, I must get going,” Dracula said, giving Monica another hug. “I just had to come see my girl. Do come visit again soon.”
“Will do, Uncle Drac,” Monica said as the man slipped through the back door just as the front door opened.
Isaac came walking in. “Hey, ladies!” he called.
Monica quickly spun around. “Isaac! What’s up?”
“Don’t you remember?” he asked, holding up a camera. “I’m doing a story about you in the paper, and I need to get a photo.”
Monica frowned. She had completely forgotten, and she was pretty sure she looked like a hot mess after having battled a changeling-mortal-vampire thing. “Yes!” Monica said. “Give me one second, I would love to redo my makeup.” She darted through the back door while Holly distracted Isaac with a bit of friendly conversation.
“Mona! Help!” Monica exclaimed as she arrived in Wysteria.
Mona looked her up and down. “Everything okay?”
“Isaac, a friend of mine, just arrived to do a photoshoot for the local paper, and I look like a hot mess!” Monica said.
“Say no more,” Mona said, pulling out her wand. “We’re going to have to get you a new wand.”
“Hurry up!” Monica pleaded.
With the wave of her wand and a bit of magical incantation, Mona did up her sister’s hair and makeup and de-wrinkled her clothes. “You’re amazing,” Monica said, darting back into her side of the store.
Isaac turned and glanced in her direction. “There you are,” h
e said. “Ready for the picture?”
“Ready,” Monica said and posed along with Abigail at the back counter while Isaac snapped a few shots.
“Perfect,” he said. “I’ll give you a call later, and we can do a quick interview so I can have some quotes from you to go into the article.”
“Appreciate it, Isaac!” Monica said, and soon he was gone.
Holly sighed heavily. “I really hate that I can’t tell my best friend about the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me.”
“I know,” Monica said. “But, hey, you can talk to me about it.”
Holly smiled. “Well, at least I’ve got that. So… Abigail,” she said, turning toward the cat seated on the counter. “You have any more theories about what sort of mystic I could be?”
Abigail used her nose to flip open the book seated on the counter. “Well, let me see… Now, hear me out… Sea demon?”
Holly laughed. “I can barely swim! And demon? Really, Abigail?”
“I don’t see why not,” Abigail said, and Holly continued to laugh at the notion. “Maybe a banshee?” Abigail used her paw to point out a horrible demon-like woman on the page.
“Seriously, Abigail?” Holly asked. “No, I really don’t think I’m a screaming demon-woman!”
“Hey, banshees are some of the nicest demons you will ever meet. Don’t judge until you know one,” Abigail said. “You look oh-so mortal. You could just be a witch.”
“Maybe?” Holly said.
“Or a succubus!”
“Abigail!” Holly scolded. “Seriously? I can’t even get a boyfriend. I’m not a seductive lady-demon.”
“Selkie, then?” Abigail asked as she turned to a page depicting what looked like an overweight seal.
“Now you’re just being mean,” Holly said, crossing her arms.
Monica laughed. “Don’t worry, Holly. We’ll figure it out eventually. Any luck on finding out information on your birth parents?”
“Haven’t had much time with all the craziness the past few days. I did contact my adoption agency though, and I’m waiting to hear back from them,” Holly said. “I’m hoping my birth parents would be able to tell me a little more.”
“It’s all very exciting,” Monica said. “Another mystery on our hands, I see.”
Holly nodded. “Well, so far, you’ve proven to be quite good at solving mysteries.”
“Beginner’s luck,” Monica said. “But I think between the three of us, we’ll be able to figure this one out.”
Holly smiled. “Yes, I hope so!”
The front door opened, and several customers made their way into the store, so they had to put aside their conversation about mystical creatures for the time being. For now, they were just two perfectly normal mortal women running a bookshop, or at least, as normal as they could pretend to be.
A Staged Murder
Back Room Bookstore Cozy Mystery, Book 3
1
Monica Montoya felt exceptionally giddy that evening as she and her new employee, Holly, closed Backroom Books for the evening. She had only taken over her aunt’s shop a few weeks before, but already she felt as though she was really getting the hang of this whole mortal world thing. And having Holly around certainly made it easier. Backroom Books in the town of Bankstown was no ordinary bookshop. It was built right over a portal between the two realms: that of the mortals and that of the mystics. Monica, a witch, was a mystic. She and her twin sister Mona ran Backroom Books, but Monica ran the part of the bookshop that rested in the mortal realm while her sister Mona worked on the side in the mystic realm. The two shops were separated by a portal disguised as a broom closet.
Holly scurried around with an extra bit of energy that evening taking care of closing duties. She was excited to close the store as soon as possible because Monica had promised to take her new friend to the other side for a bit of a ghouls’ night out along with Monica’s familiar, a black cat named Abigail. Holly had been to the other side, but she had spent very little time there and had only arrived by a mistake or chance. This would be the first time the trip would be intentional and with a purpose of merely having a bit of fun.
“Okay, I think that’s everything!” Holly exclaimed, appearing around a corner with a broom that she practically threw into a closet.
Monica laughed. “If you say so,” she said. “Except the broom you just used to sweep up the dust…that’s my ride.” Monica whistled, and the broom zipped out of the closet, shaking itself free of dust and smacking Holly in the back of the head before flying over to Monica. “Sorry about that. My broom is a little testy sometimes.”
Holly grinned. “That’s so cool.”
“Front door locked?” Monica asked.
“It’s locked!” Holly said.
Abigail hopped down from the counter, took a moment to stretch on the floor, then began to prance around a bit giddily herself. “Thank goodness,” Abigail said. “I can’t wait to get out of here.” Abigail rarely made it a secret that she didn’t care to spend time on the mortal side, and her witch’s choice to live amongst mortals had been far from appealing to Abigail. Abigail detested mortals.
Holly, however, was a different story. For one thing, she wasn’t really mortal. She was raised mortal and had believed herself to be, but a mishap during one of Monica’s aunt’s memory spells led them all to realize that Holly had some sort of mystic creature in her bloodline. What that was exactly was still unknown. It had become a bit of a game of theirs, constantly reading books on various mystical creatures that Holly could potentially have somewhere in her ancestry.
They passed through the magical door in the back of the shop, and after a flash of light, they exited out the back of Monica’s sister’s side of Backroom Books. They had left Bankstown completely and were now standing in the midst of Monica’s hometown of Wysteria.
Mona had already closed up shop that evening, and she was long gone. “Sure is quiet,” Holly said.
“Looks like Mona closed up before us tonight,” Monica said, and they headed out the front door, entering into the bustling streets of Wysteria.
“So? What are we doing first?” Holly asked, near hysterics.
“Well, honestly, I was thinking we could just go by the Cookey Cauldron first for a bite to eat. I’m starving. You can try out some Wysteria classics,” Monica suggested.
“Sounds fun!” Holly agreed, and she looked at Monica’s broom longingly. “I don’t suppose…you’d let me give it a go?”
Monica smiled. “I suppose seeing if you can manage a broomstick would be a good way to test to see if you’ve got a little witch in you. We still haven’t figured out what sort of mystic you are.”
“I could be part unicorn for all we know,” Holly said, taking the broomstick in her hand, her eyes glistening in excitement.
“Doubtful,” Abigail grumbled under her breath.
“So, how do I do this?” Holly asked.
“It’s easy enough. Throw one leg over. Yes, just like that,” Monica said. “You’ll grip the broom right about here, and make sure you’re holding on tight. You’ll kick off with your feet really gently to get a slight lift, a little harder once you’ve gotten the hang of it. And, then it’s mostly just leaning to go up, down, left, or right.”
“Okay, I think that makes sense,” Holly said, gripping the broomstick and kicking off gently. She floated about three feet up in the air before the broom zoomed out from under her, causing her to fall on her rear. The broom them smacked her twice on top of the head before flying next to Monica, who snatched it by the handle.
“That was not very nice!” Monica scolded her broom.
“I don’t think she’s a witch,” Abigail said.
“You think?” Holly groaned as she stood up, rubbing her bum.
“You two hop on. I’ll fly us,” Monica suggested. “Hold tight to me, Holly.”
Holly got on the back of the broom, grumbling a bit as she gripped onto Monica for dear life. Abigail was less conc
erned, and she merely sat on the back of the broom with her claws and tail wrapped around it. They flew higher and higher, and Holly oohed and ahhed as they zipped past clouds. There were several other witches flying about in the sky that night. “Monica! Long time no see!” a greenish witch called, fluttering by them. “Who’s your friend? She’s not a mortal, is she?”
“Raised mortal,” Holly said. “But I’m a mystic!”
“How strange,” another witch fluttering by said. “What sort of mystic are you, exactly?”
“We’re not sure,” Monica said. “This is Holly. Holly, these two are Trixie and Lana. Local witches. Friends of Mona’s.”
“She looks a bit elfish,” Trixie, the green witch, said.
“No way,” Lana retorted. “She’s got upir in her, I tell you.”
“What’s an upir?” Holly asked.
“Wow, she’s clueless!” Trixie shrieked with laughter.
“It’s like a vampire, but they can usually walk around in sunlight without a problem,” Monica explained.
“A banshee?” Trixie suggested.
“I said that!” Abigail exclaimed.
“Hey!” Holly grouched, and the two witches laughed as they flew off, promising to catch up with Monica another time.
They landed outside a small restaurant known as the Cookey Cauldron. It was a very happening place in Wysteria, especially for witches, but witches were hardly all that met there for ghoulish dining. Holly laughed enthusiastically when they ordered a classical witch’s brew—hold the tongue of dog, as Monica suggested. After dining amongst other witches, the ladies and Abigail went for a stroll through Wysteria, and Monica pointed out different monuments and cultural hubs for local mystics.