The Bane of Light

Detours

A/N- Make sure to point out any typos if you find any! I wrote this in a rush between home work! 💗

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Paris and I made our way back upstate, driving out of Witch Salem towards the gate. I was behind the wheel this time, no longer trusting Paris to drive, lest the "yes, dear?" incident occur again. We had the worst luck together, and I wasn't taking my chances, especially with a mortgage payment worth of ingredients in my back seat. They were even buckled up, sitting snug in my backpack.

My hunt for ingredients was not yet over though; I still needed specific water to use as a base for the concoction. It was meant to be tapped directly from the magical Hanging Harrow trees that littered the east coast. Halfway up Massachusetts, I chose a reasonable spot in the middle of nowhere, before pulling over. Paris glanced at me curiously, perking up as if he were a golden retriever who heard the word "walk".

"Why did we stop?" Paris questioned me, looking around to the forrest surrounding us on both sides of the road. We were miles out, and only passerby cars could possibly spot us. I unbuckled myself, before jumping out the car. My feet hit the ground after a moments worth of suspension in the air, as I jumped from the height of my SUV. Paris had no such hassle, stepping out easily as if this were a buggy, besides an eight-seater monstrosity of spurred tires and a bulletproof design.

I scoffed, pushed my way through the branches, moving them out of the way as I waded through brush.

"I need tears from a Hanging Harrow tree" I announced to him, pulling out a tree tap from my bag. I dropped my bag on the floor. Paris dropped down next to me and I rolled my eyes. Must he pry into everything?

"Why?" He asked me, "Couldn't you have got them from Micah?"

"They need to be fresh, and Gods know when Brunhild gets her store in" I told him, digging out my hammer from my bag. Pine needles and hard earth dug into my knees as I kneeled in-front of the trees dark bark.

"You want me to do it?" He piped in, "You know, some muscle to help with the task?"

I lowered my hammer to look at him. He flexed his bicep to show off his abundance of muscles. My mouth dried, and the only response I could muster was a blink of shock. How was it physically possible for ones arm to have that much definition? I knew he was an athlete, but Mother, why were there so many lines? I didn't even know it was anatomically possible to have so many muscles in the arm.

I blinked at him again, before trailing my eyes back from his bicep to his face. He was giving me a smug, shit-eating grin. I mimicked the smile, before lifting the hammer and slamming it into the tap with all my might. I didn't break eye contact as I did this.

The tap jammed in, the water started flowing, and Paris' smile fell. Technically, I cheated. I used my magic to shove it in, but I play dirty, and I refused to let him have the upper hand. How dare he make me look a fool while gawking at his abnormally muscular bicep? I simply repaid him the favor.

"Tell me when the muscle gets here then, shrimpy" I told him with a withering smile. His mouth dropped open. The sight of made the corners of my lips quiver as I tried to keep myself from openly laughing.

I turned towards the tree, gathering the water in a plastic water bottle. It filled slowly, the trickle being weak as it drained out of the tap.