Charmed

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

In a house located miles away from the university, several robed figures were standing in a circle around a mirror. The room they were in was dimly-lit, barely enough to reveal their faces underneath their hoods. The mirror itself showed not their reflections, but a separate lone figure, standing silently before them.

“She is misusing her abilities...” said one of the hooded figures.

“We’ll be exposed at this rate...” said another grave voice.

The person in the mirror nodded their head and said, “I’ll take care of her.”

                  _______________________________________________________

I learned that the new guy’s full name was Sebastian Darnell. The only other things I came to know about him was that he was a waiter at the cafe I regularly went to in the mornings, and that he and I shared a lot of other classes. Other than these minor details, I couldn’t figure out anything else about him.

This would’ve been normal if Sebastian was any other new guy. But he wasn’t. All the girls were infatuated with him, and everyone knows girls are the best investigators when they really want to know something about a guy. So, something more should’ve come up in the rumour mill about Sebastian, like his hobbies or his favourite kind of food and other such mundane details.

But no, Sebastian Darnell remained a mystery.

I tried talking to him at first but he seemed to go out of his way to not talk to me. He diligently avoided me in the cafe in the mornings, letting his co-workers take my orders; he never returned my smiles in class, and afterwards, he’d practically run away when he saw me coming in his direction.

It was beginning to get highly frustrating for me.

So, finally, I resorted to my potions. At first, I used the potions on myself since I figured I wouldn’t get a chance to slip something into Sebastian’s drink. I made my hair shinier, my skin more glowing and despite vowing to never show too much skin, I even wore clothes that showed an ample amount of my chest (which I had also put charms on to make them seem larger). But instead of catching the eye of the one I was chasing after, I caught the eyes of all the other guys in my class and so I had to stop using potions that made me look like Pamela Anderson’s younger, hotter sister.

Thus, now was the time to bring out the big guns.

It was a Tuesday morning when I had decided to carry out my brilliant plan, three weeks after Sebastian’s appearance at the university. I was at the cafe, waiting for my order to be brought to my table as I pretended to read a book.

When the waiter brought my drink, I took a sip, and despite its sweet taste, I made a face and started up a fuss.

“Eww, what is this? It tastes horrible!” I exclaimed dramatically.

The waiter came back, looking perplexed. “I’m sorry Ma’am, would you like me to bring you another?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No way. Your coffee is getting worse day by day. I would like to speak to the one who made this offending drink!” I really should win an Oscar for this.

He nodded and rushed back to the counter to talk to the person who had made my coffee...Sebastian. While they were talking, I slipped the potion into my drink and waited for him to come to me.

“What’s wrong...ma’am?” Sebastian asked when he reached me, adding the last word rather hesitantly.

I frowned at him and thrust my cup of coffee at his face. “Taste this,” I demanded.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”

“Taste. It,” I repeated, glaring at him.

Sebastian threw an uncomfortable look at the other waiter in the cafe, who urged him to listen to me. Sighing, he obliged, taking the cup from my hands and sipping on the coffee. He looked confused as he looked back at me.

“I don’t taste anything different,” he said with a frown.

I felt like doing a victory dance. Finally, after all these weeks I could make him ingest my potion. Now it was just a matter of time before the potion kicked in to work. But before that, I had to throw in some more acting skills.

I gave a dramatic sigh and picked up my bag and books from the table. “Obviously your taste buds are dulled. That is the most atrocious coffee I have ever tasted,” I announced as I haughtily made my way out of the cafe, leaving Sebastian behind with a befuddled look on his face.

I looked down at my watch as I started walking down the pavement. Any second now...

But seconds passed, and soon I was standing at the end of the block, tapping my foot impatiently on the sidewalk. He should be running out of the cafe now and towards me, claiming his love for me. But...he was still at the cafe...

Footsteps sounded behind me and I heaved a sigh of relief as I turned around and came face to face with Sebastian. But instead of the lovestruck look I expected to see in his blue eyes, I saw instead the look of one who really wanted to punch me.

“Listen, you,” he started with a voice seething in anger. “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but don’t you dare try to mess with my job. That coffee was fine.”

I blinked at him incredulously. But-but-but, he’s supposed to be falling at my feet now!

“If you wanted to get my attention, you’ve got it now. But I’m warning you...”

Before I knew what was happening, I was pushed backwards and my back hit the wall. I flinched as my back started to hurt but I tried to not let it show on my face, as Sebastian pinned me between his arms. He lowered his face until his eyes were level with mine, so close that I could make out little flecks of green in his iris.

“...if you play with fire, you’re going to get burned,” he murmured, his minty breath fanning my lips.

With that threatening statement hanging in the air, he let go of me and walked away, giving a wave goodbye without even turning around.

“I’ll catch you around, Chloe,” he said as he turned the corner.

All I could do was gape after him.

What just happened?