The Enchanted

Chapter-13

                                     

I felt myself trembling as I poured myself another glass of wine. It was the wee hours of the morning and I had never been so glad to see the night end. I had tried to make the sense of my dream which I somehow had managed to remember. The blurred images and the wailing kept repeating in my head. The other strange things I had seen in this town seemed insignificant to me. In fact, they hardly mattered now.

I laid back on the sofa, pouring myself some more wine. I felt really nervous and unsure about whether I should go see a therapist about last night's dream. And the wailing wasn't even the worst part. It was that I had seen Sharon being murdered in a dark alley. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I threw it on the couch without even seeing who was calling. I wasn't in the mood to talk to anybody and perhaps for the very first time, I wasn't even in the mood to talk to my mother.

I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes it was afternoon. My phone was buzzing continuously on the sofa. Dragging myself off the sofa I picked up the empty wine bottle rolling on the floor. I ignored the continuous buzzing from the sofa and grabbed the television remote digging into my back. Turning on the television, I listlessly started flipping through the channels when I saw something that made my blood chill. My heart beating fast, I increased the volume and leaned forward.

'...Body of twenty-one-year-old Sharon Fleming has been found by the police at around four this morning. Sharon went missing two days ago...'

I hardly heard the rest as I jumped up to grab my phone. All of this felt unreal like a bad dream. Sharon was really dead. Murdered. And I was the only witness. But I doubted the police would believe what I saw in my dream. How could it even have happened? Was I psychic or something?

With shaking hands, I scrolled through the notifications. There were more than twenty calls from Caleb and Sabrina. Biting my lip, I tried to call them both but they didn't pick up. Pulling on my coat and slamming the door behind me, I made my way over to Sabrina's house. I rang the bell for over ten minutes but no one came to the door. It seemed as if the whole house was empty.

Getting in my car, I drove to the town as far as I could. I wandered about for a little while but found no one I knew. I walked aimlessly through the streets while people looked at me curiously and whispered. I ignored them and tried calling Sabrina again. There was no answer.

After some minutes, I found myself in front of the herb shop again. I don't know why but I felt like I needed to talk to the old woman again. I know she was creepy who gave out cryptic warnings but I felt as though she might know something about all this. She had tried to talk to me on my first day back and she looked ancient. If anyone knew anything about this, it would be her.

I opened the door to the shop and was immediately engulfed in a cloud of humid air. Taking in a deep breath, I inhaled the scent of dirt and plants which calmed me down. I rang the bell on the counter and waited. A young girl with blonde hair and bright blue eyes came behind the counter and smiled at me.

"Yes, how may I help you?" she said brightly.

"Um," I said, feeling at a loss for words. I was a little surprised to see this girl instead of the old woman.

"I wanted to see the old lady who works here," I said lamely.

"Oh, my grandma's not here," she said. "And even if she was she wouldn't have talked to you. No offence but she isn't actually the politest person out there."

"I know but this is kind of important..." I said.

"Sorry, but she is out of town- has gone to see a friend."

"Oh. Do you know when will she be back?"

"No idea. Probably two or three days."

I slumped against the wall. I had no more ideas left. I knew I needed to tell someone about my psychic dream or whatever the hell it was but I knew no one would believe me.

"Hey, you can talk to me," she said. "I know a bit about herbs too. I'm nowhere as good as grandma but I'm getting there."

"Um, it's probably nothing," I mumbled.

"You sure?" she asked sympathetically. "Because you look like a mess. Do want a calming herb?"

"No, I'm not really into um, marijuana or drugs," I said. She had probably mistaken me for an addict. To my surprise, I didn't even feel embarrassed. I probably looked worse than a druggie now with all my dark circles and tired looks.

She burst out laughing.

"I'm not a dealer. I meant like maybe a calming herbal tea or stew or something."

"Okay," I said. "I would like that."

It was probably a stupid idea to accept drinks from strangers, especially in this town but I was done being careful. I needed a hot drink.

The girl came back a few minutes later carrying a small cup filled with some amber liquid sloshing inside.

"What's this?" I asked.

"A secret recipe. Grandma's special. You'll love it."

I put the cup to my lips expecting the drink to taste weird but to my surprise, it tasted really good. I felt considerably calm by the time I finished and wanted to have more. I knew it wouldn't be polite to ask so I just wiped my mouth and handed the cup back.

"How much is it?"

"Don't worry, it's on the house."

"I couldn't possibly..."

"We don't sell drinks here- just plants. So I don't even know the price of this. I felt like you needed some help and I couldn't possibly accept money for this." she said, smiling.

"Thank you so much," I said. "Are you sure you don't charge for drinks?"

"Positive. I'm Sarah by the way."

"Adriana. I'm new to this town." I said, shaking her hand.

"I know. You're quite the talk of the town."

"Really?" I asked feeling surprised.

"No, Sabrina told me about you," she said, turning away as another customer entered the shop.

"Well, I'd better get going then," I said. "See you around."

"Sure. Come again whenever you like!"

Waving goodbye to her, I walked out of the shop into the cold air.