The next morning Alice found herself unable to concentrate on anything other than possible gods that might relate to the arrow. She felt trapped, like she needed to get outside.
“Coffee creamer is almost out.” Alice shut the refrigerator door and stood up, looking over at Shakra and Azura, who were perched on the desk eating muffins. “I’m going to run down to the little store on the corner.”
“Bring us more sugar cubes too.” Shakra grinned, popping another cube into her mouth, and Azura elbowed her and nearly made her spill her tea.
“You keep eating them, no wonder we’re running out. You’re going to make all your teeth fall out.”
“But they’re so delicious,” Shakra put another lump of sugar into her tea cup.
Alice smiled at the two of them, shaking her head. “Well, you two watch the front. It’s just Gabriel up there for now, and if another bunch of hyperactive fairies come in he’s going to need some back up.”
“We won’t let them steal his wallet this time.” Shakra sat down in the office chair. “Don’t worry.”
Alice passed Gabriel on the way out, stopping at the desk to ask him if he wanted anything from the store.
“I’m okay,” Gabriel said. “Hey, Altair still in bed? I could use some help lifting the boxes that just came in.”
“Yeah, the lazy bum. Grab one of the brooms and give the ceiling a few thumps. That’ll get him up.”
Gabriel laughed. “I’m totally doing that now you know. Hey, Maya went out to look at the bookstore across the street, make sure she’s not buying the entire place.”
The bell jangled as Alice exited the shop, making her way down the busy sidewalk. It wasn’t as crowded this early in the morning, but there were still quite a few early shoppers out, and Alice looked around as she made her way down the street, breath rising in a white cloud above her head. She zipped her sweater up and pulled the hood down over her eyes, feeling like people were staring at her.
Of course, no one was actually staring at her. She could identify the feeling she was having right now. It was guilt. The dream last night had felt real. Too real. And she’d enjoyed it too much. Plus, it was unnerving. Was it some kind of after affect of magic? And if it was made real by magic, did it make it cheating to have dreams about the masked man?
No, that was ridiculous. She couldn’t control her dreams.
It was good to be out of the shop and away from all the distractions that came with it. She wasn’t going to think about angry gods right now, just about how fresh the air was around her, or how good it felt to be outside and walking.
She rounded the corner, passing a white picket fence that lined the front of a herbal remedies store. There was an alley between that and a laundry mat, and there were high, muffled whimpers coming from the trash cans lining the walls. Alice paused, chewing on her lower lip. A lost puppy maybe? She turned towards the noise, remembering newspaper articles about abandoned babies and other horrifying things like that.
“Well,” she muttered,” my life can’t get any weirder.”
The noise continued, growing louder as she walked into the alley. There was nobody back there, only a fence at the end and more trash cans. She stopped and listened, and the noise stopped too.
“Hello?”
Scuffling noises from the direction of the big black dumpster made her step forward, heart in her throat. Was someone in trouble? Perhaps someone had been mugged and…
YOU ARE READING
Goddess Unravelled
Fantasi"Who will we send after the little witch?" The room went silent as one of them stood up from her throne, pacing forward. Her skirts flowed over the marble floors as silently as a whisper. Every eye was drawn to her. "I will go after her and make he...
