Wildflower

Chapter 7

Christmas Day was always the best day of the year. Flo bought loads of decorations to turn whatever abode they were currently in into a fantastical wonderland. She would bewitch little butterfly lights to actually fly around the house and then their annual Christmas snowman would come to life thanks to a tricky little charm conjured up by Violet. Belle would make every dish known to man and a few known to only witches. Truly it was a party like no other.

This year Violet was especially excited for Christmas. They had been in the same town for nearly 7 months now and she had made 6 new friends. They planned to go to the cinema the day after Christmas and she could barely contain her excitement.

She was absentmindedly tracing in the air with her finger producing beautiful designs that hung in the air with a bright blue light before fading.

The calm that hung in the air was broken by Flo who barged into the room. Her hair was frazzled and she had the same look on her face as a deer caught in headlights.

"Vi, have you seen your mother?" She screeched in hysteria.

"No Flo what's wrong?" Violet said standing up with her hands at the ready. Flo never got like this. She was always the epitome of calm in the household, nothing ever bothered her.

"The protective charms have been broken and I... I heard a scream. It was Belle" She choked out and begun to hyperventilate like she was going to have a panic attack.

She quickly crossed the room and took her best friends daughter in her arms and held her tightly for what seemed like hours.

Of course the police were called, even humans could lend a hand when needed. But to no avail. Her face was everywhere, on posters, the news. Flo went to shamans, seers and warlocks but they couldn't find Belle anywhere. She was gone and worse even the most powerful Fae and magic folk couldn't find her.

"This place looks like a 70s porn set." I groan looking around the motel room. Everything was a rather dirty looking color and the two doubles beds were a mustard paisley print. Now I was never one to stay at the likes of the Ritz but I was definitely not liking this place. We're in the middle of a town just before the border into West Virginia which according to the one sign in the place is famous for its dense forest and annual fabric fair.

Raphael pushes past me and hops on to one of the beds which groans objectively underneath his body weight.

"You'll survive. I could put you outside for the night if you wanted."

"Dickhead." I mutter and go to the bathroom. Surprisingly it was cleaner than I had expected with some towels and a perfect sized shower. I was looking forward to this.

It was about 11 o clock at night and after most of the day moaning about my inability to sleep in a car and the detrimental affects to my spine he had relented and pulled into a motel. Before that we had stopped at Walmart after I had argued about the fact that hygiene supplies was a basic human right not to mention that after nearly eleven hours on the road I was smelling ripe.

After shampooing and conditioning about four times and scrubbing my body with Coconut crush shower gel I felt like a new woman.

I brush my hair and throw it into a ponytail. I then changed into the blue pj shorts and the oversized neon orange hoodie that I had bought in Walmart.It reminded me of Poppy.

They must be beside themselves by now. We had never gone this length time apart or not talking before. Even when we argued it was always resolved in less than a day. I missed hearing her already.

I look at the mirror to see that my skin is raw and my eyes are swollen. I feel a sadness rise up and before I can control myself I'm on the floor crying. Here I am having a little mental breakdown in a dirty 70s porno motel.