The Last Apothecary

Prologue

Twenty-seven years ago, Witches came out from hiding. Tired of being misunderstood, of being told as scary bedtime stories to kids, and being offended every Halloween by some green-faced girl knocking on their door, they opened their whereabouts to the public. It took a bit of work, but now we've integrated into Human society. Broom sticks are riding along cars, magik stores are neighboring Shopmarts... It's pretty fair by today's standards. We have our magik, and they have their electricity, their technology, their science...

I suck at science.

"Would you stop chewing on that pencil?" It wasn't a question. It was a screech loud enough to make me jolt out my usual slouch, chin in hand. I looked down to see the yellow of my pencil covered in little holes. Great. That was what I got for daydreaming. I closed my eyes, waiting for the same, loving motherly lecture I'd been hearing for the past three months. Three, two, one....

"One of these days you're going to bite down so hard that it's going to snap and a wooden splinter is going to lodge itself in your throat. And when it does I don't want to hear you asking for some healing spell." My mom hovered over the edge of my desk, her green eyes narrowed in disapproval as she continued to huff at me. "It'll be your own fault."

"Okay! Then I'll be in pain. That's what Karma is for. You know what's not my fault? The fact that they want to make the summer packets so boring. " I gestured to it with a fling of my hand, raising my eyebrows at her in she'd missed the bane of my Summer vacation. "If you want me to get it done, then let me get it done." 

My mom left the room with a toss of her bright red hair, and I looked back down at the stapled pages from hell. What even is science? If I can't see the atoms because they're too small, then why does it matter to me how they connect to each other? All I knew was that the mitochondria was the powerhouse of the cell. Apparently that was't good enough for them anymore. I flipped through the green pages one by one. Thirty eight more questions... not even a week of vacation left. 

A warm gust of wind rustled through my navy blue curtains, making me glance up from my desk. I rocked the chair back off its two front feet to get a better view out the open window. The sky was a lot darker than when I'd started.

"Mom? What time is it?" She had promised to take me shopping for school stuff and whatnot that morning.

"Five. Did you finish that problem?"

"Yeah." No... but I can get it done later. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that that's what I'd been saying for the past two months, but I ignored it.

"All right. Then we can go."

☾⛤☽

The mall was decently crowded for a Thursday. Then again, it made sense that everyone was out buying school stuff, or at least taking advantage of the sales. That's what I did.

"Crow! Where do you think you're going? I told you to stop buying clothes there!"

Ah yes. Twilight Factory, which was also known as my mom's least favorite store. All done up in black, and practically screaming with teenage angst. Not to be stereotypical, but if some Human kid bought an outfit in there and walked out wearing it, everyone would think they were a Witch. My mom hated that. All the same, I gestured down to my dark grey T-shirt, which I happened to be wearing. With its red pentagrams on the sleeves and --my personal favorite -- the giant text saying: Son of a Witch, how could I not wear it? "But how am I supposed to do that, when they sell gems like these?"

My mom casted me a disappointed frown, but what was she going to do? Tell me it was wrong? "See, you'd be allowed to pick where I buy my clothes, but that's the problem. I pay for them, so I get to choose where they come from. Perks of having my own job. Being responsible and all that, just like you wanted." My hands spread out as I shrugged, smiling at her.

My mom just sighed. "Fine. I'll be at Felicia's. Just make sure it's something you can wear around your sister." With that, she was making her way down the halls to a quaint store selling cutesy, flowered dresses, and I walked into Twilight Factory with a smirk on my face.