Bewitched

II

Veronica looked up and put on a wide smile as she heard the shop bell ring. A man that looked to be in his early twenties walked in. He looked at a few bottles until he selected a small vial and a box. He strode up to the counter and dropped them onto the wood surface.
     "Getting ready for Valentine's Day, I see," she commented.
     The man looked at her with a dazzling smile. "Yep! I want my night to go perfectly!"
     She laughed. "Who's the special lady?"
     "Dunno. We met online and I just want to make sure that our date is magical," he said with a wink.
     Veronica laughed again and placed his items in a small bag. "Alrighty, one box of enchanted truffles and a small vial of ilser? That'll be forty."
     "Jeez, why so much?"
     "Love products are always costly for their powerful properties, plus I've gotta run my business somehow, darling! Will that be all?"
     He nodded and payed. On his way out Veronica wiggled her finger in the air and the door opened for him. Once he was gone she groaned and dropped the happy facade she used. Veronica usually used her free time between customers to straighten up the shop. She strode to the bookshelf and pulled a rag and some water from a drawer. She cleaned the shelves, the books, any sort of dust that she saw. Yeah, Veronica was kind of a neat freak, but only because unattractive store aesthetics were bad for her business. She spent the afternoon watering her beloved plants and polishing the talismans with a bit of magic during her offtime.
     A woman with frizzy and unkempt hair walked in. She made her way to the counter and leaned on it. "H-hey! Listen, my manager is a real jerk. He's always making me work overtime just because he doesn't want to do his paperwork and I never get a promotion or even a raise. Five years I've been working with that jerk and I've had it! I need something to really get back at him!" the woman said in a shrill voice.
     "Well, you can try a simple fear tactic. What's something he hates or is scared of?"
    The woman got an evil glint in her eye that intrigued Veronica. "Bees! He's terrified of them!"
     "Alright! Gimme a sec."
     Veronica rummaged through multiple drawers and shelves. She pulled out a mortar and pestle, a mason jar full of bees, several bunches of dried herbs and flowers, and finally, a black rock. She set all of the ingredients on a spread out rag and set to work.
     First, she chipped off a chunk of the rock and placed it into the mortar, then she shook out three bees and plucked off their wings. She used the pestle to grind up the wings and rock until they resembled charcoal powder. Veronica added some leaves and flowers and a drop of red liquid from a pot on the counter. When the powder was complete she poured it into an empty salt shaker and put that into a white silk bag.
     "$35, sweetheart."
     The woman dug out some money and took the bag. "So, erm, what do I do?"
     "One sixth of this into his coffee every morning until you run out. It'll dissolve into the coffee like it was never there. The hallucinations will start around the fourth day with one or two bees, developing to a swarm of bees only he can see. The effects will wear away after the powder is finished off. That all, Megan?"
     Megan looked surprised. "H-how did you-"
     "I'm a witch, darling, I just know these things. Also it's on your name tag," Veronica said, gesturing to a bright orange tag hanging from Megan's neck. She flushed red and shook her head before thanking Veronica and exiting the store.
     Veronica pulled a red spell book off her shelf and dropped her elbows on the counter as she read. She heard the door open, followed by three or so people judging by their footsteps. "Veronica Glass."
     The witch tensed as she looked up, "Cassandra. What brings you here?"
     A middle-aged woman with curled blonde hair and piercing blue eyes looked down at her. "The records say you've been selling love spells this week. Last time I checked your license was restricted."
     "Restricted. Not revoked. I have as much of a right to sell these as you do. I just can't sell as much as I did before. Oh, and can you be a doll and tell your henchmen to get their grubby little fingers off my dromell?" Two burly men with blue tattoos grunted from behind the bookshelves and walked back to Cassandra. The dromell, a cat made entirely out of bones, hissed and perched itself on top of Veronica's shoulder.
     Cassandra scowled, "You are on thin ice, Miss Glass. That incident you caused the coven was enough trouble to deal with as it is. I don't want you injuring anyone with your little business here."
     Veronica scoffed. "As if you cared for the lives of a mortal."
     "I'd watch your tone if I were you." The blonde tilted back a bottle of red dust that was on the shelf to inspect the label before letting it shatter on the floor. "I'll be back soon." The three left the room and Veronica kicked the wall as she let out a string of curses. She hated Cassandra with every fiber of her being.
     Before Veronica could kick any more furniture, she took a few breaths and resumed her position behind the counter. She had abandoned reading the book and dropped it onto the shelf. The dromell perked up and it tipped its head to look at the door. Veronica cocked her head to the side. "Its after hours...No one should have been able to open the door..." She grabbed the amethyst pendant that dangled from her neck and muttered a small spell. Her eyes glowed bright red and she could see a boy climbing the stairs of the entrance. Her vision blurred and shifted back to her shop. Veronica grabbed a silver knife from a drawer and waved a hand over her body, so that she slowly became invisible. She walked to the door and hid behind it as it opened.
     The boy froze in the doorway, tanking in his surroundings, before walking through a few isles. His fingers grazed a few spell books before reaching out to touch a purple crystal orb that hovered above its stand. Before he could touch it, Veronica released the invisibility charm and cleared her throat. "I wouldn't touch that if I were you."