"I owe you big time," Van said, collapsing onto the couch. He was still in shock at what just happened. "Tell me what you want and I'll do it."
"I want you to never carry out this spell again, d'you hear me?" Bondy replied. His tone was stern and Van knew to not question him. He got lucky this time and might not be so lucky next time.
"I won't. Promise," Van swore. After being shut out of his body for a good part of the day, he was glad to be back and wasn't thinking of leaving his body anytime soon.
"I know you won't."
Bondy grinned and held up the ripped page. He then folded it neatly and put it in his pocket. As shocked as Van was, he knew it was for his own good. The spell will always be around if needed it, but for now, it was safe with Bondy.
.
.
Van made his way down to the lobby and saw Charlotte behind the desk. The nerves were back and he paced back and forth wondering if he should just go for it. He had rehearsed his speech many times and right when he felt ready, he instantly forgot what to say as soon as he laid eyes on her. After taking a deep breath, he walked towards her. She heard him approaching and looked up, smiling.
"Hi Van," she greeted him.
"Hi Charlotte. Look, about yesterday—" Van started. There was so much he wanted to say that it all started tumbling out. "I wasn't feeling quite myself yesterday. I know you've got a boyfriend so that was wrong of me to say those things to you and for that, I'm so sorry."
"That wasn't you, was it?" she asked.
"What d'you mean it wasn't me? That was me," Van answered quickly.
He wanted to tell her the truth. That he was playing around with a spell and a hiver took over his body and said all those things. As much as he wanted to tell the truth—all of it, he couldn't. He couldn't risk her finding out he was a warlock. Mortals aren't supposed to know about them. Charlotte was starting to doubt herself but the determination was still there.
"You asked for my name when you already knew it and you knew I had a boyfriend, yet the person I talked to didn't seem to know any of those things," she elaborated.
Van knew when he met Charlotte that things wouldn't ever work out between them. It's not that warlocks haven't married mortals before—they have, but the relationship is very difficult to maintain. There are things about being a warlock that mortals will never understand and never know about. He's told himself to never pursue her romantically but there was something about her that made it difficult to stay away. It was as if she knew he was different and she was curious. He didn't realize how much she really paid attention to him.
"I was feeling poorly and didn't know what I was saying. I reckon it was the fever talking," Van laughed awkwardly, trying to brush her off.
"No, this was someone else. Someone who's never been human before. I don't think a fever would've done this to you. It was like he didn't know how humans operate. He was asking what love felt like and thought we literally had butterflies in our stomach. It was so strange...like you were possessed or something." At this point, Van didn't know what to say.
"Weird," he said, scratching his head. "I don't remember anything." Charlotte watched him with her eyes which seemed to see through him and his lies.
"Weird indeed. Well...I hope you're feeling more like yourself now."
Van had to do a double take to make sure he heard her correctly but she was already busying herself with some paperwork. That's the thing with Charlotte. She knew exactly what she was saying with those words.
"I am. Thank you."
Van quickly left and looked behind him as the doors closed. The first thing he did was go to Albert's shop to buy a pack of cigarettes. This time, he didn't bother going down his favorite aisle. He just asked for a pack of cigarettes and took his wallet out.
"No mouse liver this time?" Albert asked conversationally.
Van smiled slightly. "Not this time and not for a while."
He put his credit card away and grabbed the cigarettes, slipping it into his pocket. He then opened up his old pack and took out the last cigarette to smoke. He couldn't help but look around. Hivers are invisible to the naked eye but you can feel their presence. Nothing felt off so he hoped it was gone for good.
One thing that didn't make sense was why his grandad would create such a spell. The spell requires six candles on each point of a pentagram, one mouse liver, a handful of marjorams, saffola, and salt. Having carried out the spell twice, he memorized the ingredients and had written it down. He didn't remember the incantation word for word but he remembered bits and pieces of it, and whatever he remembered was written down without Bondy's knowledge.
There was no doubt Bondy took the spell for his own purposes. Van wasn't worried though because Bondy doesn't have an evil bone in him. He'll probably use that spell as a base to create a spell for the greater good. Van finished smoking, put out his cigarette, and made his way back home. On the way up, he saw Mrs. Connell struggling with some carrier bags full of food and he quickly helped her carry them.
"Let me help you, Mrs. Connell," he said, adjusting his grip on the bags.
"Thank you Van," she said, unlocking the door for him. She pushed the door open wide so he could step in. He placed the bags on the counter and asked if she needed help with anything else.
"I'm good, thank you dear. You're such a good boyfriend."
Van looked at her weird and she smiled, closing the door.
Boyfriend?
—The End—
