Magic's Not Real

by J. L. Hendricks

  “You could have waited until we opened in fifteen minutes. What was so important you had to break in?” Indie asked while she eyed him with a frown.

  Kat had said as far as she knew, only devil worshipers used magic. Was Joseph a devil worshiper? I pondered the possibility while tapping my chin.

  “This is what we do. When we protect people, we check their security. Breaking in only works when your door is locked. That’s why I did it right before you opened for business.” Joseph said.

  “Another reason I came early, is because I believe you should stay closed for today. When Leo came to, I questioned him. He was hired by your would-be killer. Since Leo didn’t get the job done last night, I’m worried that there’ll be another attempt on your life. Quite possibly today.” Joseph picked up a voodoo doll and frowned. “Do you make these?”

  “Yes. And like I said, there’s no magic.” I took the doll out of Joseph’s hand, and put it back on the shelf.

  “Yes and no. Magic exists alright. You saw the evidence last night. Most who use it don’t have the best intentions in mind. Like your voodoo dolls. If a real practitioner were to make one, it would be used to hurt the intended target. Most witches and warlocks refuse to make death curses. It’s forbidden to make and sell them. I know the local coven leader, and I’ll speak to her to see if she knows who created that curse.” Joseph looked at all four women. “I highly suggest you stay inside today with everything closed up.”

  “Who are you?” Kat asked.

  “Like I said last night, I’m an alchemist. We don’t use magic. Instead, we use the Earth’s elements to create potions or chemical concoctions. Our order started out with chemical experiments attempting to turn lead into gold. Since then, we have evolved and are some of the planet’s most knowledgeable chemists. We only look to protect the Earth and her inhabitants. ‘Do no harm’ is one of our top laws.” Joseph explained.

  Kat looked at Joseph and pursed her lips as she narrowed her eyes.

  I disagreed with his assessment. “Sorry, but we have a business to run, and since it’s Friday, we can’t be closed. Friday’s are one of our busiest days. Feel free to leave some of your muscle here, but I’m not closing the store.”

  “I don’t believe that’s wise, but it’s your choice. Rico, can you have one of the pack members stay here and keep an eye on these silly girls?” Joseph requested.

  “Of course, I can set up a rotation of two guys at all times. Jenna, can we have all of your numbers, so we can call you if we see something off?” Rico asked.

  I blew the hair out of my eyes. “Sure, that’s fine.” I took a piece of paper and wrote down our store number and all four cell numbers, before handing it to Rico.

  Then I got busy looking up these guys. Were they for real? Did they really operate a protection agency of some sort?

  ***

  Later that day the woman from the day before showed up again. “Oh! I just had to tell you what a great spell that was! And the fudge! I think my boyfriend is going to propose any day now! We had a wonderful night. I don’t remember when it was so good. He even liked the tea! He never likes tea. Do you have any that isn’t spelled?” The chatty woman ignored the other customers in the store and walked right up to me.

  “Sure, let me finish helping this customer, and I’ll see what we have in the back.” I led my original customer over to the voodoo doll’s section and began asking a series of questions. “What color hair does the person have? Eye color? Male or female? It’s best to match the doll up to the person as best as you can.” I picked up two dolls, one was blonde with long hair and the other was a male with short, black hair.

  “It’s my ex-husband. He gave me nothing in the divorce, even though he’s rich and he cheated on me. He has brown hair and brown eyes. Wears a suit for work, if that matters? Oh, and can I get one for his secretary too? She has long red hair and blue eyes. He was sleeping with her before he ever told me he wanted a divorce. Stupid hussy!” The customer exclaimed.

  “Of course. How about this one?” I held up a voodoo doll of a petite, red-headed girl doll and a typical male doll. The doll had actually been fashioned after Indie’s ex-boyfriend. It was her favorite one to make. It sold really well too. I thought it was interesting and wondered if making a doll look like one of my ex’s would help to sell more.

  “Those are perfect! Looks just like them, too.” The customer took both dolls and wringed their heads just a bit before walking to the cash register. She had wide eyes and a sneer on her face that would probably scare most men. I was glad those weren’t real voodoo dolls. However, if you asked Indie, she would swear they really did the trick.

  “Where are my manners, my name is Jenna.” I put my hand out and the woman shook it.

  “I’m Emily. Nice to meet you.”

  “Wonderful, can I get you anything else, Emily? Eye of newt or maybe a love potion?” I winked at the customer.

  The customer from yesterday interrupted, “I highly recommend her aphrodisiac fudge! It works like nothing I have ever used before. In fact, I’m here for more.”

  “Really? Aphrodisiac fudge? Does it taste good?” The two women started chatting about ingredients and flavors while I smiled to myself at another fantastic sale.

  I walked to the back room and brought out some of the rose tea, repackaged of course, along with five pounds of the fudge. Emily was still browsing so I decided to ring up the other woman.

  “Excuse me, miss?” I asked of the woman from yesterday.

  “Oh, Lisa. My name’s Lisa.”

  “How much fudge did you want?” I held up one pound in each hand.

  “How much is in each hand?”

  “One pound. The fudge is thirty dollars a pound.”

  Emily gulped and her eyes bulged.

  Lisa didn’t bat an eye. “I’ll take three pounds. How about two packages of the tea?”

  “Of course, that’ll be $117.28.” I rang up the sale, and Lisa handed her credit card over with a wide smile.

  After packaging up the fudge and tea for Lisa, I asked Emily if she wanted any.

  “Um, can I try a taste?”

  “Sure, but this is very potent, so only a tiny piece. Just so you can see how sweet it is.” I cut a sliver off and handed it to the new customer.

  “Mmmm, it’s sinfully delicious. Maybe I should try half a pound. Do you have anything that will act the opposite of the fudge? Something I can sneak into my ex-husbands brandy that will make it, um, well impossible for him to do anything with his secretary?” Emily raised her eyebrows.

  “I do have a potion, but it’s expensive and might add a slight pungent taste to his brandy.” I went to the cabinet with the vials of various exotic names.

  “How much?” Emily asked.

  “The one I’m thinking about is fifty dollars an ounce. Unless you can add just one drop to his glass, I think you need an ounce to add to his decanter. To make sure he doesn’t know it was you. Plus, it will work longer that way.” I giggled.

  Emily scratched her neck and smiled, thinking she might be able to cause her ex’s girlfriend to leave him.

  “I’ll take it all.”

  “Wonderful.” I rang up the items. “That comes to $134.49.” I wrapped up her purchase and put everything in a purple and white checked gift bag for Emily.

  “Have a nice day,” I said as both customers left the store comparing notes on their men.

  Rico walked over to me. “You do realize they’ll figure it out, right?”

  “No, most never do. Lisa seems to have found her own mojo with her boyfriend. Most likely she felt she wasn’t good enough for him or something. But with the items I sold her yesterday, she found the right attitude to have. She just might have the confidence she needs to keep her man.” I shrugged.

  “Emily, will never know what happened. Plus, that potion I gave her, will make any man sick to his stomach. So, I guess it really does work the opposite of an aphrodisiac.” I had sold Emily a watered down versio
n of dried rhizome and roots of Carapichea ipecacuanha, commonly referred to as ipecac.

  I smiled at Rico and patted his cheek as I walked past him to check stock on my shelves. It had been a rather busy day. Mentally, I added up the receipts so far and realized I would have lost out on hundreds of dollars in profit if we had closed up shop.

  “Alright, tell me about Indie. You said she had a story about a voodoo doll working?” Rico asked while he sat on the old wooden stool next to the counter.

  “As I said last night, that’s her story to tell. She’s working tomorrow, so ask her then.”

  I noticed Rico’s eyes as they narrowed and his nostrils flare.

  “Jenna, get in the back. Now!” Rico barked.

  “What? Why?” I looked to the door and felt a shiver go up my spine as the door began to open. I ran to the back and grabbed the gun Kat had brought down earlier in the day.

  Chapter 4

  Jenna

  Rico stood up when the short, balding man entered the store. “Can I help you find something in particular?”

  “Yes, I wanted to talk with the woman who runs this store. Jenna? Is she here?” The man asked.

  I recognized the voice and came out from behind the beaded curtain separating the storeroom from the rest of the place. “Yes, I am.” I looked to Rico who shook his head slightly and exhaled a deep breath. I had my hands behind my back, concealing the gun I held.

  I had decided I wasn’t going to hide from the evil, little man.

  “You!” he yelled. “You ruined everything! Why couldn’t you just help me out? All I wanted to do was kill the vampires of this city. But noooo, you had to go and act all high and mighty and deny me!” The furious man lunged at me.

  I anticipated his actions and pulled the gun out from behind my back. I pulled the trigger at the same time Rico tackled the man. The bullet went through the very edge of Rico’s bicep and into the little man’s shoulder.

  Kat came running into the store. “What? What happened?”

  Rico was on the floor with blood slightly oozing from his arm, and the wide-eyed man underneath him had changed his visage. Kat’s eyes opened wide. “Vampire!” she yelled, and Rico attempted to jump off him.

  The vampire held onto Rico with his unearthly strength and licked the blood off of Rico’s arm, then spit it out yelling, “What are you? Your blood is disgusting! Tastes like week-old rotten meat.”

  Rico’s eyes started to morph into yellow orbs and his teeth grew larger than his mouth. The door to the store flew open and two of Rico’s friends ran in. They saw the vampire on the ground under their friend and pulled Rico off. The angry man who had turned into a vampire bolted out the door faster than a supervillain.

  My eyes were wide with fright and my hand holding the smoking gun was shaking. Jose approached me from the side. “Jenna, I’m going to take the gun from your hand. It’s alright. You’re safe now.” He pushed the muzzle of the gun up and pulled it out of my hand.

  “Wh…Huh?” I blinked a few times and looked to Jose. “Are vampires real? Is everything real?” I sunk down on the ground and put my head in my hands as I thought about what I saw.

  Rico

  Kat looked at me laying on the ground and walked to me. “Rico, I saw. I know what you are. Why didn’t you tell us?” She bent down next to me on the ground.

  I was looking at the bullet wound on my shoulder. “I didn’t think you all could handle it on top of learning magic was real. All in one night.” I took my shirt off and started to tear it in strips but flinched and hissed from the pain in my arm.

  “Here, let me do that for you.” Kat took the shirt and pulled it apart into strips. She used the larger part of the shirt to wipe off the blood and then she put a patch over the exposed skin. She tied one strip above the wound on my arm, and one below, attempting to hold the makeshift bandage in place.

  “Let’s get you upstairs where I can clean this properly. Hopefully, you won’t need stitches, but if I were you I would see a doctor and get some antibiotics.” Kat said.

  “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. The bullet barely grazed my arm. Did you all know he was a vampire?” I asked.

  “I did once I saw his face. What is it about your blood he doesn’t like?” Kat asked.

  “How can he be a vampire?” Jenna asked. “Last time I saw him, it was daytime.” She stood up and walked to me and Kat.

  “He must be a newly turned vamp. It would explain why he tasted my blood and spit it out. Most vamps can smell what we are and would never try to taste our blood.” I looked to Kat and wondered if Jenna understood about shifters.

  “Umm, Jenna. There’s something else I have to tell you.” Kat twisted her mouth and scratched the crease in her forehead.

  “What else is there?” Jenna sighed.

  “Let’s go sit down.” Kat walked to the front door and closed it. Jose and Damien just watched as Kat turned, and walked Jenna to the back.

  “Hey, you wanna have the doc check out your arm?” Damien asked as he helped me get up.

  “Nah, I just need to clean it up, and it should be healed by morning.” I walked to the back room, right behind Jenna and Kat.

  “Jenna, witches, vampires, shifters, they’re all real. All of the things you read about as a kid, watched at the movies, they’re real. Except, vampires don’t sparkle. They don’t fall in love, normally, with human girls.” Kat started to fix some of the rose and chamomile tea.

  “But… but, how? How do you know all of this?” Jenna rubbed her forehead.

  “Jenna, I think you might be going into shock. Kat, do you have a blanket for her?” I went to her and rubbed her arms, trying to get some warmth into her. “Shh, it’s alright. Now we know he’s a vampire, we can hunt him and take care of it. You won’t have to worry about him getting that close again.” I rubbed her back.

  Kat pulled an afghan off a chair, handed it to me, and continued, “Jenna, are you alright? Should I keep telling you everything?”

  Indie and Sam walked into the back room. “What’s going on? Why are so many of Rico’s men inside the store?” Indie walked over the cupboard to grab herself a cup of tea.

  Sam did a double-take when she noticed my arm and the blood-stained cloth bandage on it. “Oh my gosh! What happened? Did someone attack you?”

  I chuckled. “Actually, Jenna did. The guy we were looking for came back. When Jenna shot him, I sorta got in the way.” I looked at all of the women and knew it was time they were told the truth. “Kat, you gotta tell them.”

  Kat heaved a heavy sigh, “I know. I was just hoping they didn’t have to learn about the truly seedy part of the Big Easy. It was tough on me when I first learned about it all.” She scratched her neck below her right ear.

  “About two years ago I was coming home late from a gig. You all had taken the van with the gear, and I stayed behind to flirt with the owner of the bar. When I finally left, it must have been after four in the morning. There were still plenty of people on the street, so I never thought it would be dangerous. Until it was.”

  Kat fixed her cup of tea and sat down on the old, lumpy couch. “I walked in front of an alley, it was dark, and I felt a sort of void or emptiness as I walked by it. I remember a shiver going up my spine before a hand went over my mouth. It was covering my mouth so hard I couldn’t scream. Something dragged me back into the alley.”

  Kat shivered as her eyes went to another place altogether.

  ***

  Kat – Several years before

  My thoughts went wild, I wondered who had me and how I was going to get away. As soon as he had me deep in the alley he whispered in my ear. “Shhh, I promise to be quick and make it as painless as possible if you keep quiet, my pet.” Then he licked my neck. I squirmed and kicked his shins.

  He just laughed and said, “Oh, you want to play do you? Alright, I’ll play your game. Just know that it will hurt you a lot more this way.” He nibbled my neck and drew just a little blood. His tongue swirled the droplets
of blood on my neck. Once he tasted my blood, he spit it out.

  “You can’t be! You’re not strong enough to be one of them.” He exclaimed before another man threw him across the alley and into a building.

  The new man swiftly pushed me up against the side of the building and sniffed my neck, his own fangs protruding from his mouth. “You’re only partial shifter. Can you shift? Do you have any special talents?”

  I tried to push back against him and scream, but he put his hand over my mouth. “Quiet, do you want to attract more attention? There are more vamps in the area. If you aren’t careful, they’ll come, and I won’t be able to protect you.”

  I mumbled against his hand, and he moved it. “Why would you protect me? You’re like him, aren’t you?” I pointed to the non-human who was moaning on the ground across from us.

  He looked back and said, “Not exactly. I don’t attack innocent young women and suck them dry in dark and dank alleys.”

  The other vampire got up and came to our side. “Hey Ivan, she’s mine. Go get your own if you want fresh blood.”

  Ivan, the one who saved me, released me and stepped away. “Be my guest, George.” He waved his hand toward me, and I looked between the two vampires. I brought my fists up to protect myself.

  George slowly moved forward, keeping his eyes on Ivan instead of me. Once he was close enough, I punched George in the face. Which only brought his attention back to me. “Not very smart little girl.” One second George was a few paces away, the next his mouth was next to my neck with exposed fangs.

  Before he could get his teeth on my neck, Ivan had pulled George back by his throat and twisted his head. Then he dropped the lifeless body on the ground. “That won’t keep him down for long. So explain, who are you and why are you only part mutt?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Are you going to kill me?” My legs started to tremble, and I leaned against the wall for support.