Torren's Magic Palace

Chapter Six: Six of Seven

Chapter 6

I ducked behind a dusty shelf and covered my mouth to keep my panting from echoing down the aisle. I swallowed hard and made one of the worst mistakes I have made in my entire life. I peeked out from behind the shelf, exposing my hiding spot, and making me an open target. A book came flying at me so fast that I had absolutely no time to react, and was hit square in the forehead, on top of the shoe prints from the previous night. I fell to the floor and squirmed in pain.

"What did I do to deserve this?" I whined, blinking away the tears stinging my eyes.

"You were late!" screamed Torren. "I can handle all of your other strange quirks, but tardiness is not acceptable!" she recited in a sing-song voice, followed by another book that caught me right in the back.

"Ohhhh my kidney..." I moaned, clutching my new wound. I rolled over onto my stomach and tried to wiggle my way towards the counter.

"If you would arrive on time I wouldn't have to scold you like this."

"This isn't scolding. This is abuse!" I yelled over my shoulder.

"Oh, stop your whining. Those books were paperback anyways."

I shot her a spiteful glare and struggled to sit up. "I'm sorry my car broke down, but that was a little beyond my control," I sighed and bent forward to stretch out my aching back. Torren laughed and strolled back over to the counter.

"If you are done whining," Torren exaggerated the last word, "then we can get down to business."

I raised an eyebrow, then used one of the shelves to help myself stand up. "What business?" I asked as I dusted off my pants. I swept this floor every day, yet somehow it always managed to get filthy within an hour of my cleaning.

"I think it's time I made me real proposition for you. These past few days have been nothing but a test to see how well you can follow orders, and deal with the unexpected," she explained. I drummed my fingers on the shelf beside and waited for her to continue on. She was pretty much just restating the obvious at this point, and I just wanted her to get to the real explanation behind all of this craziness.

"As you know, none of who you have encountered in this store have been human. This shoppe is filled with things that could never be trusted by a mere mortal, and we do business with odd beings you would have never thought existed or even heard of on a daily basis, but this is just a hobby of mine. My true occupation, is that of a Spirit Holder."

"What is a Spirit Holder?" I asked with a slight hint of curiousity in my voice.

"I believe Chester has told you about the Spirits who lost sight of themselves when the Court was created. A Spirit Holder is the one  who nurtures the spirit back to themselves, and stays with the spirit until it can be released back into the world as itself again."

I stared blankly at her, not quite grasping what that meant. Torren, catching on to my confusion, attempted to put things more simply so I can understand.

"Let me put it this way," she sighed as she flipped a blonde curl over her shoulder. "What we do, is we obtain the Spirit and rehabilitate it back to it's original form, then release them to live however way they choose as long as it does not harm another being of either world." I gave a slow nodd so that she knew I understood the jist of what she was saying. That strange aged look came over her round eyes as she continued with her story. "It can be hard, and those who are Spirit Holders must be strong of heart and able to continue on when things seem like there is no hope of a better tomorrow, and must ultimately be able to kill someone whom they may have grown to... to...." she swallowed hard. "Grown to care about very much," her voice was almost at a whisper. "It is a duty wished upon no one, but must be done." We sat in silence for a while. Torren leaned up against the counter, giving me time to ponder what she just said, or maybe to give herself some time to recover from whatever seemed to be gnawing at her. Her eyes seemed watery, almost as though she was on the edge of tears just speaking about this. I didn't really know how to react to seeing someone who nearly killed me on several occasions looking so vulnerable.