Nothing Stays Buried (Lunar River Series)

8.Smudged

IRIS

"What the hell? What the hell? What the hell?", I run to my car. "What was that?" I fumble my keys and drive off before anyone could follow. That couldn't have been me. No way that I'd cause that. I call up a friend of mine and ask if I could stay over. She happily says yes, so off I go to Jesika's apartment. My finger flips through the radio using the buttons on my steering wheel. Nothing was coming through clearly because of the storm. Ugh. Finally, an old R and B station plays clear enough to enjoy.

Bruno plays on the station and it's one of my favorite songs. I sink into my seat a bit. The tension leaves my shoulders just enough to have me humming to the song but bits of what I saw keep forcing it's way to the forefront of my mind.

 The snow is now piled high. The road is barely visible and I turn down the radio to see better. Yes I know, it doesn't make sense but it helps. A thirty minute drive is what I need to clear my thoughts and now that I arrived, I can relax with my bestie. My eyes scan for an open parking spot in the street but everything is either taken or filled with snow. Driving a block down from her building, I manage to find a semi decent spot. I park and try to make a mad dash to Jesika while I text her that I was on my way and to have the door unlocked.

Jesika, I guess, decides to wait outside for me instead. Her body is lost under really big grey sweats, black snow boots, a blue bubble coat with a brown fur hood, and a pink scarf wrapped around her neck. Oh, let's not forget the neon green mittens she is waving at me that could bring down a plane in this weather. I giggle at her appearance but it's why I love her. She is such a carefree spirit. Jesika accepts me as a werewolf and finds it fascinating in fact.

I run to her so fast that I can't stop myself in time, losing my footing and we both topple over into the snow.

"Aww I missed you too darling but next time take me on a date first." Jesika jokes giggling.

"Sorry, booger butt" I push myself off and help her up laughing at our failed attempt to keep our footing once again. We have weird nicknames for each other and they constantly change but it's how we show our love for each other.

"Let's go inside dum-dum, I got a long story to tell you." We slip and slide our way into her building and stomp our feet to rid the snow off our legs. We head up to the fourth floor and walk two doors down from the elevator to the right. Her apartment is so warm. My skin melts the instant we step step inside and I start to strip my wet clothes by her door. Jesika follows suit and both of us carry our clothes to her bathroom in our undies. We hang our clothes on her curtain rod and the edge of her tub to dry, smiling at the pumpkin candles in her bathroom.

"Come, we can slip on some pajamas. I already set up Netflix and put out some snacks. Just gotta make some hot chocolate." She hands me a pajama set and I slip into the cozy cotton fabric covered in witches broom sticks. Of course she would have pajamas like this. She deems herself a practicing witch. I probed her at first to see if she really was one from lineage but she isn't. At least nit from any lineage I am familiar with. 

It began as a hobby after she became obsessed with a TV series that ran for a few years. Raised by two mothers, one being her birthmother, she never knew who whole family. So it wouldn't be too far fetched if she was a witch in blood. 

I remember when she found a funny looking book in a shop that sold candles and stones. She was so excited to try the things it had. Yet, I was the shoulder she cried on when nothing worked. Ever since, she does whatever she reads on the internet and buys from crystal shops. All of which is a gimmick really, but it makes her happy.