The Last Apothecary

Chapter 1.

Loud rock music hit me in the chest almost as soon as a cool presence of magik as I walked in the store. It didn't take me long to find the source though as a Witch girl with a black pixie cut popped up from behind the clothing rack. Her blue eyes glanced up at me for a second before refocusing on levitating another box onto a high shelf.

"If you need help with anything, I'm here."

I nodded at her, but it wasn't my first time. Pushing past racks of pins and accessories, I made my way over to the men's section and started flipping through. I laughed at a shirt that read: 'Forget the broom. Ride a Witch instead!' but I was pretty sure my parents would actually kill me for that one. Behind that though was an extra large one for the band currently playing over the loudspeaker. Nothing inappropriate about a music album, right?

Yanking it off the hanger, I made my way into the dressing room, changed, and glanced at the mirror as well as I could around the random doodles and carvings marred in it. The shirt went well with my hazel eyes, and made my reddish-brown hair look extra rebellious with its freshly shaved sides. Perfect.

Maybe now people would leave me alone. I'd dealt with enough garbage Freshman year. This was a new year, new clothes... just getting through what I had to and figuring out what to do after highschool. It seemed like a solid plan to me.

With a tap of my clip card, I bought it and made my way over to Felicia's, twirling my wand absentmindedly between my fingers as I glanced around for the beacon of red hair that was my mom. The store was only a few steps away when I heard a cranky voice whining behind me, "Are you really just going to walk around with that wand in a place like this?"

I turned around, raising an eyebrow as I caught sight of an old lady with curly white hair, her face covered with more wrinkles than a hairless cat. Gods, she was ancient, at least in her one-thirties. "Kinda already doing that, aren't I?"

She grimaced, seemingly surprised that I'd said something before she continued. "It's bad manners. If you feel the need to own a wand, you should keep it at home. You're making my granddaughter feel unsafe." She pushed a pink stroller in front of me, but honestly, the girl inside looked more interested in making her bear walk across her crunched up legs than whatever I was doing.

"Look lady. The open carry law was passed years ago. Get over it." I shrugged, turning back around.

"No. You get over yourself. I don't carry around a gun everywhere I go, and my granddaughter shouldn't have to worry that she's going to be cursed when I take her outside."

I didn't mean to get into an argument in the middle of a mall, but really? A gun? She compared my wand to a gun? Life wasn't some misinformed fantasy book where I could just point the thing at someone, say two words and have them drop dead! Some people could use it to concentrate enough of their magik to hurt someone, but I certainly couldn't. And even if I could, why would I do that to some seven-year-old girl I didn't even know?

I didn't mean to get into an argument, but something about the entitlement she had irked me, and when I get angry, I get loud. To the point my mom could hear me inside the store and come running out to apologize. Apologize for me, that is, because I sure as hell wasn't about to.

"I don't care if you're sorry for your son's behavior." The woman crossed her arms, which was honestly a feat considering they looked bony enough to snap in half at any moment. "He pointed that wand aggressively at me. I'm getting security." With that, she turned her stroller around, making her way towards a guard in a reflective yellow jacket.

I turned to my mom, teeth grit half out of embarrassment, half out of panic. "I did not point the wand at her! I swear. I was just coming to meet you at-"