The Lost Witch

chapter eight

Three hundred bucks.

Paige was out three hundred bucks. It almost felt like a robbery. One charm should not cost that much, but Hollie did seem worn out when she had left. Maybe this spell involved more magic than she previously thought.

It had better work. So far, Paige couldn't tell. Hollie said it could take a while before the spell worked its way into her system. She didn't know what she would do if it was useless. Maybe check herself into a looney asylum?

Venturing off the street, Paige cut across Bullene Park, which was a mix between a garden with flowers that never seemed to die, and a park with a small playground and skateboarding rink.

Sidestepping a teen speeding across the paved ground on a skateboard, Paige looked down at the charm once again. It looked like a dull, ugly mess at the moment, but at the shop, under the bright lights, the ropes almost seemed to glisten. The magic inside had lesson in the last few minutes. That didn't breathe much hope for Paige. Was the magic fading? Was it ineffective? The spell a dud?

It was too costly to be a dud. It had to work.

If it helped with her magic, if it did anything at all, then maybe she didn't have to be the troublemaker with the dysfunctional magic. The broken witch. While all that seemed promising, she couldn't help but wonder about the consequences.

She had even mentioned the melius imperium with Valentina once, but she had been dead set against it. It's why Paige had to go elsewhere to query the charm. She knew Valentina wouldn't help. She said this type of magic was like stripping part of yourself away. She said it wasn't worth it.

Paige disagreed. If it allowed her some control, allowed her to go to school without constantly worrying about her magic, then it was worth it. She would do anything for the kind of control her fellow students had. They never had to worry. They were never called a loose cannon.

"Hey!" Paige yelped as the skateboarding teen returned and almost barrelled right into her. "Watch where you're going!"

The teen lost his balance and flaunted around trying to stay on his skateboard. His attempts proved useless as the board shot out from under him. "Thanks a lot," he said gruffly retrieving his board.

Paige gave him a rude gesture. "There's a rink, idiot. How about you use it?"

The teen looked up, his brown eyes moving from irritation to curiosity. "Paige?"

Paige hesitated at the slightly familiar voice. The face was familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

"David," he said, sensing her struggle to recall his name.

"Right," she said slowly. "You're in my Magical Heritage class."

He nodded and leaned the board against his thigh. "Quite a display you put on today."

Paige scowled and crossed her arms. She had no desire to relive today with someone she's never even spoken to.

"Hey," he said, raising his palms in surrender. "I'm just saying, it was impressive." He laughed as a memory occurred to him. "You should have seen the look on Ivy's face. That bitch was fuming for the rest of the day. You did magic that she could never even dream about."

Paige couldn't help but smile at the visual image. "I bet she was pissed."

"She was. We spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what you added into the spell to make it react the way it did." He gave her a pointed look. "Care to let me in on the inside scoop?"

"No." Paige turned and walked briskly away. If she hurried, she might be able to ditch him, but he did have a skateboard. While Paige moved fast, she wasn't fast enough to outrun his four wheels.