Wiccan Act One: Occult

7 | Fly On the Wall

Dedicated to sanstill

Christian

VII

Christian did not know how Cyrus held on to his appetite after their conversation about witch executions but yet here they were.

The Monster Shack was the complete opposite of the library. For one thing, it was smaller and looked like it hopped straight out of the Halloween section of Party City. Fake blood stains splattered everywhere, paper bats hung from the ceiling, and vintage movie posters similar to those in Cyrus' room taped across the walls. Frankenstein, Dracula and the Invisible man stared at the customers upon entry. If that wasn't enough, the uniforms were cheap monster costumes made to humiliate the workers.

Cyrus led them to a vacant booth to the rear, immediately throwing himself onto the itchy red plastic seating. Christian sat opposite to him, rummaging through his bag to retrieve some books we went back in to snatch from Mabel.

"It's not that bad," Christian said.

Cyrus raised his head enough to show off his best glare.

"Which part? That I'm next on that creature's list to be whooshed off into the dark?"

"Look on the bright side. Magic might be real. I'm sure Mabel has a book lying around about ancient witch spells you can take for a spin. Oh, imagine a spell that could make us your aunt's chocolate chip cookies whenever we wanted."

"Christian you're not helping." Cyrus groaned, shuffling, causing the cushions to whale, before dragging himself back into an upright position.

His eyes darted all over the room, never settling for longer than a few seconds. Christian noticed he had been avoiding looking at him directly since the library. He reached over the table, tapping his finger gently.

"It's going to be fine."

"I'm just trying to figure out why they took her and not me. I'm the one that heard the voices and saw that thing."

Christian quickly gestured for him to shush as his sister approached them.

Veronica walked with the brightest smile on her face, saying hello to everyone she passed on her way to them while continuously brushing her bangs near her ears. Her hands gripped a tiny blue notepad and a Gravity Falls pen pressed together.

"Hey guys, what can I get you?" Her smile faltered a little when she saw her brother. Something that happened too many times for him to keep track of.

"Veronica, may we have a second, please?"

She remained, pretending to not hear a word. Christian lightly kicked Cyrus, nodding towards Veronica, who was staring at him for any objection. He, on the other hand, seemed to disregard him as well, swatting at the air repeatedly as he did before. This time, his swats were quicker, striking the empty space in flashes. Veronica opened her mouth in confusion, fixing her lips to say something.

"Um, actually I will have the heart-stopper burger and a chocolate milkshake." Cyrus said, realising they were both bewildered by his actions.

"I guess I'll have a lemonade with a side of fries then," he told his sister.

With odd exchange over with, she jotted everything down and turned to leave, stopping only because Cyrus gently grabbed her arm.

"And Veronica, can you turn the T.V. to Channel five please?"

They both watched as she handed one worker in the kitchen the ripped piece of page their orders were on. Most likely Austin. If only he was waiting tables today. Veronica grabbed hold of the remote and turned on the diner television before returning to take more orders. Channel five played a Spanish show, the actors dressing up in extravagant attire. All Christian could make out before losing interest was that a woman's husband just came home with their neighbour's child.