Lost Souls

Chapter 6

The Silver Moon was inconspicuous. It was just a small little shop, painted blue. It sat between a fabric shop and a shoe store. The town was full of psychic shops but this one was different. This one had a real psychic. Someone could go buy a pair of shoes and hop next door and talk to their dead loved ones.

Esmeralda thought it was strange. That people would have no idea. If they believed in psychics, they'd loop the fakes in with Rene. If someone didn't believe in psychics they would think Rene is another fake. No matter what, the people of this town had no idea what was sitting among them. A real treasure sandwiched between the mundane.

"This is a weird town," Bethany said, looking to her brother.

"Don't look at me," he said, raising his hands as if the weirdness of the town were not something he was concerned with. "I've been locked up or on the road most of my life. I haven't been here much longer than you, in the grand scheme of things."

"Is it weirder than Green Haven?" Esmeralda asked with a chuckle.

"Green Haven's weirdness was under the surface," Bethany said. "When you think about it, that place was normal to look at. More or less."

"I never noticed that both sides of our family are from two weird ass towns," John said, shoving his hands into his pockets. He wore a green flannel shirt and ripped blue jeans with brown and green stains from his tending the garden earlier that morning.

"Weird witches," Bethany said raising a fist to her brother. He shrugged and knocked his own fist against her's.

"Weird witches," he repeated with a satisfied laugh.

"I didn't realize you were so pro-witch," Esmeralda said.

"My grandma was," Bethany told her. "Being a witch was so important to her, and I owe it to myself to keep that part of her alive. And if we are being honest, she'd probably still be alive if I embraced being a witch sooner."

"Don't say that," Esmeralda said, grabbing her hand and giving it a supportive squeeze. Bethany smiled, as if to thank her for the support. "That was all out of your control."

"It's still so hard to believe that she's gone," John said. "I feel bad I didn't know her the way you two did."

"Why did you stay with your mom when the girls were taken in by Gertrude?" Esmeralda asked him.

"We don't have to talk about that," he answered as he made his way to the shop's door. "My mom and I were just going through our own weirdness back then." Esmeralda sensed that he wanted to leave it at that. And that thought was reinforced by the way Bethany's fingers tightened around her hand.

They followed his approach towards the shop. He made a motion to knock but stopped as her pointed on the open sign hanging in the window. Her grabbed the knob and pushed. A silver bell that hung above the door rang as he entered. Bethan and Esmeralda released each other's hand as they entered.

The shop was dimly lit. A tall and skinny shelf sat on the left wall. Decorative statues of angels with large wings and exposed breasts and goddesses in flowy white robes sat on its top level. Its second and third levels were filled with various books. Its fourth level held a stack of tarot cards, a bowl full of clear crystals, a few cloth bags tied with ribbon, a small black metal box, and a Ouija board. Esmeralda wondered how much of these things served a purpose and how much of these things were just for show. The bottom level of the shelf had a rainbow of wax candles.

The right wall wad a counter with an old fashioned cash register, with two green couches, making a kind of lounge or waiting area. The back of the room had a door that led to an unseen portion of the shop.