章 7: Chapter 7

Ezzie

I flew along the alleyway. My feet tucked on one side of the broom. I flew slowly. There was no hurry. I had a new friend! And she was a witch! An elemental witch but a witch nonetheless. There are two types of witches. Elemental, and Chaotic. Im Chaotic. Elemental and Chaotic don't generally get along but it seems like Rhea didn't know who i was. I turned onto the back street to the manor and started to rise in speed and height. Oh heck. The apple wasn't enough. As a Chaotic witch, I needed to release the chaos regularly or I would pretty much blow up my surroundings and create some weird stuff. I Broke 3 times in my life. All accidents and Gran had cleaned it up. Hard to dispose of bodies when the people are reanimated corpses. I had cursed that apple with heartburn to release a bit of the chaos but it wasn't enough. I was zipping along the road quite fast. I shot up the drive and nearly bowled over Aggy. I dived and my broom hit the ground. I flipped over her and tumbled ten feet before sliding to a halt. She looked at me, horrified, and rushed over.

"Ezzie! Are you alright?" she helped me to my feet and I winced. Fractured ribs and possibly a cracked pelvis. I tried, and failed to step forward. Aggy caught me and I reached out my right hand. My mostly undamaged broom shot to my hand and I sat gingerly on it. My legs were on one side and I twisted to look forward. Only way to ride without being injured. Aggy helped me as I crept to the manor. We entered the old doors.

"Thanks Aggy but i got it from here." she let go and I swept up the stairs to the attic door. It swung open as I neared. I went straight for the bench and slowly transitioned from the broom to it. As I sat, various bandages floated up and twisted through the air to me. The fire lighted itself with a purple flame and the liquid started to bubble. I was bandaged up as the potion brewed itself. It just needed to be reheated and I always kept the stew or healing potion in the pot. Ahhh. I sighed with relief as I took a sip of the herbal tea. Instant relief. I made it so it would kill pain before healing, which is painful. Would you expect your molecules being forced to bond and mend in minutes to be easy and painless?

I sat and enjoyed the tea for a few minutes, enough time to heal, and Corvus slammed into the window. I jumped up and opened the window. He flew in with a letter,handed it to me, and waited for praise. I stroked his plumage and opened the letter. All nonsense and gibberish but i understood it. It was from another Chaos witch! They had developed a code so only we could read the letters or notes. I wrote my more dangerous spells in Gibber, we called it. The letter said that House was clean and would be over in a few weeks. As soon as it could get back into the US. I smiled and tucked the letter in my pocket. How nice. I could get my shelves back. How I missed the creaky floor, the maze of shelves, and the smell of stew boiling.

"Soon," i told Corvus. He cuddled against my hand. "Well be home soon." we sat there, him enjoying the attention and me petting him. I glanced over at the clock and jumped up. 4:56! And i was going to make supper tonight! I raced downstairs and into the kitchen. The stove started and i opened the fridge. I grabbed the ingredients for stew while the knives and tools arranged themselves on the table. The ingredients floated to the awaiting knives and started getting cut up. I poured the soup broth and pulled out the herbs. Bay, thyme, oregano, ect. The ingredients floated into the pot after being sufficanally chopped up. I snapped my fingers and the sink filled with water. The dishes started doing themselves and the broom - not my broom, just a common kitchen broom - started sweeping. I stirred the soup and fixed it up accordingly. Everything else could be done by magic but the soup, this had to be crafted, lovingly from scratch. Corvus landed on my shoulder and cawed softly. I ladled a bit into a spoon and held it up. He tasted it and shook his head.

"No? What's missing?" He flopped down to the counter and nudged the salt, and flour. Oh, salt and it needed to be thicker. Wonderful! I patted his head and did as he had said. I tasted it. Oh yum! Near perfect, it just needed a few more minutes. I stirred the soup with a wooden ladle and let go. It spun slowly, stirring the pot. I conjured my book and sat down.

I read for 5 minutes and there was a knock at the open door frame. I whirled around, and all of the stuff that was cleaning and cooking fell, lifeless. Mary Lou stood there with several people. They all looked nonchalant. I let out an inner sigh of relief. They hadn't seen my magic.

"Hey Ezzie. These are the GoodGhouls." Mary said and walked upto the soup. She filled a few bouls and set them on the table for her friends. I snorted.

"What kind of emo songs do you sing? My aching heart? Immortal sorrow? Ha!" funny. A band. The tall pretty boy looked at me.

"We're a supernatural TV show. We investigate the otherworldly." oh sheet. My blood went cold and I forced a smile.

"How nice," I edged for the door. "I have to go… feed Corvus!" I ran out of there and to the attic. I collapsed on the bed, out of breath. Investigators? Here? Why me? I groaned and rolled over. I just needed to sleep on it. Gran always said to sleep on your problems. She said that because she wrote her problems down in a notebook and shoved it under her mattress to deal with it "later". I chuckled softly and fell asleep thinking of memories of Gran's strange ways.

"Get up, you weasly witch!" I shot up and looked for the person yelling at me. It was Rhea of course. She nodded at me and pulled ingredients off the shelf. I stumbled out of bed and walked over to my dresser.

"What are you doing here?" she waved over her shoulder at two ladies i hadn't noticed standing by the door. One was 60sh, had a deep blue hat and robe. The other lady was around 80 and had a light green hat and dress. They waved.

"I'm Henrietta and this is Hal." said the green lady. "May we enter?"

"Yes" I grabbed my clothes and went behind a screen to change. Since the coven was over I was going classic. Long robe that brushed the floor and the iconic hat. They were both made of a rough, greyish material and the robe had a few hidden pockets. I stepped out to the cauldron where the others were. I grabbed a few ingredients and poured them in myself. Hal held up the book and we read from it. Just a simple tracking potion. Henrietta threw in the last ingredient - frozen fire - and a puff of blue heat rose from the top. I dipped a ladle in with the others.

"One, two, three!" on three we all drank the blank tasting liquid. I smiled at the others.

"now - hic - the side effects include - mild hiccups for the -hic- rest of the day, -hic- and a bit of increased appetite -hic-."

"Peachy!" cried Hal " just -hic- peachy!" we laughed and wafted down the stairs. It was nearly noon, there had to be some food somewhere! I started walking down the second floor stairs when Rhea asked loudly,

"Who's this little guy?" I spun around and saw Rhea looking at one of those ghost hunters or something. I waved dismissively.

"Oh just some -hic- ghost hunter wannabe. Let's get some food!" Rhea didn't move. Hal laughed and crypt towards him.

"Ghost hunter? What about a witch hunter? Don't you like witches, dear?" the boy stuttered and dropped the device he was holding. She leaned to grab it and i said sharply

"Hal, dont." she looked at me incuriously. "Leave him be, i'm hungry." I walked down the stairs with them at my heels. Finally, others who were like me! I grinned as I walked into the kitchen.

We met several times over the next few weeks. Rhea was a teacher, Hal a librarian, and Heneritta ran a soup kitchen, so I saw them around. I entered the entry hall to find Mary Lou standing there with her little group. I dogged around them and grabbed my broom on the way out. Corvus landed on the end and sat there. I walked down the drive and out of sight. Once I was sure I was out of sight I hopped on the broom and sped to town. Corvus hung on for dear life and I bundled him in my arms. It was a cold fall day so I had on a pair of jeans, boots, and my overcoat. High shool was stupid so i dropped out. I knew everything they tried to teach me anyways. I was going to hang out in town and get some stuff for House when it comes back. I went to town at a nice pace and hopped off the broom near the thrift market. My broom floated into my hand and I swung it over my shoulder. I smiled at the man at the counter when I walked in. He smiled back and waved. I walked between the shelves of madness and disarray. Ahhhh. Just like home! This was so relaxing. No one else was in here. I grabbed wherever I liked and put it in the basket. As I walked behind a giant cowboy statue I noticed a big blueish blanket. I lifted it up and saw the dezine. It was a tapestry! And a Chaotic one! It showed the rise and power of one first controlling their power! The Tav'Ou ceremony was where a 7 year old gathered with all their friends and family in the chosen woods. It was like a huge party. But the witch would have to control their power on that day and spell something or risk the banishment. The Yaga family was banished all those years ago. Mother Yaga, known as Baba Yaga to the rest of the world, went to her ceremony hundreds of years ago. She was an unpredictable witch with a temper to match. When she couldn't control her powers, that tows council banished her to the woods. She fumed there and managed to get control of her powers. She was actually the most powerful of her time but needed more time to control all that power. She lived her life in the woods, helping or hurting all that came across her. When she felt it was time to pass on she formed a being made of her own blood and magic. The Yagas were born. The strange thing was, only the Yagas knew of this. So why was it printed on a tapestry? I felt a chill on my spine and looked around. Still no one. I purchased the items and walked home. House would be back within the week.