Untamable Resolve: The Witheridge Witches

Ch. 22 - The Diner

My heart felt like it was skipping as Lucas and I walked from the hotel across the street over to the diner for breakfast. It hadn't been hard to convince him to go out to eat. He seemed glad that I had regained interest in food again. With each step that I took the faint hum coming from the witch that had contacted me lingered in the air getting stronger with my every step. It was difficult to explain but as the hum coursed through my body it felt similar to the after effects of accidentally sticking your finger into an electric socket, accompanied by the smell of charred rosemary in the air. I noticed the neon open sign behind the glass window flicker as Lucas opened the door for me and we entered the diner.

As we made it to the hostess inside I tried my best to remain calm. I looked around and saw a healthy mix of both werewolves and humans eating. There had to be a witch somewhere in here. Following the hostess, Lucas grabbed my arm drawing me closer to him guiding me to a tan leather booth. We sat down facing one another as the hostess smiled at us passing out the restaurant menus informing us that the waitress would be over shortly.

I bounced one of my feet up and down as I grabbed a menu and pretended to be busy looking at what options they had. The message had only said that she would meet me here. But there wasn't much else instruction wise. I had no idea what to expect.

Suddenly I heard the clacking of high heels hitting the floor as the humming and smell of charred rosemary walked towards us. It was her.

Calm down. Look normal. I told myself over and over again.

One of my hands began to tremble as I dropped the menu on the table and I quickly tucked it underneath one of my legs. In my periphery, I saw her. The woman had long brownish red hair like mine that was perfectly curled, but as I tried to get a better look at her face I saw it didn't look quite right. Her nose seemed to swap back and forth between a button nose and another crooked Roman looking one as if she had disguised herself using some sort of cloaking magic. I glanced over at Lucas seeing if he was seeing what I was seeing but he seemed too intrigued by the menu to notice.

"Hi, my name is Charlie. I'll be your waitress today. What can I get you to drink?"

She had her notepad and pen in hand as Lucas replied, "We'll get two waters and I'll get a cup of your strongest coffee. We've got a long car ride ahead of us."

She had been playing with her pen in her mouth grinning at him, "Oh, is that so?" Squinting I could just make out the cross that rested on her chest. Lucas squirmed uncomfortably under her stare as she continued, "Do you know what you want to eat too?"

He quickly said his order but I didn't catch it, I couldn't concentrate on the conversation before me, my mind was too distracted trying not to freak the hell out. I almost didn't catch it when she asked me what I wanted. Panicking I told her I would get the same thing that Lucas ordered as she eyed me curiously before heading back to the kitchen.

Lucas was talking about how nice the ambiance of the little town was before the witch came back with our drinks and a handful of napkins. As she placed the drinks in front of us she dropped Lucas' coffee on the ground. She apologized before Lucas grabbed a few napkins from her and started mopping up the puddle of coffee off of the floor.

In the midst of the chaos, she had caused her eyes gleamed mischievously as she winked at me before holding out her hand for me to grab which I immediately grabbed. I felt my energy flow from me to her as she snapped her fingers together. The snapping noise echoed all throughout the room as everything stopped moving as if pushing pause on a movie.

Dropping my hand she looked at Lucas' still body hunched over the spilt coffee mid cleanup. She scrunched her face up in disgust before she kicked him down to the ground and then pushed his head into the mess as she spat, "That's for what you've put my sister through."