Divining Destiny

Chapter Ten

Faye left Susan and Tia's home, the drawing folded in her bag, the whole two hour drive spent speculating over what she'd felt and what Tia had told her. She had read over the years of extremely powerful witches that could heal wounds, and from the way Tia had talked about it the bird had probably appeared slightly injured, but the extent of magick she'd felt told Faye that there was much more involved. Once Faye got home she made herself something to eat and then she reached into her bag and pulled out the drawing, looking at the names that struck a chord in her. She rummaged in her hallway drawers, finding the pamphlet from the Montgomery funeral, and opened it. Faye read over the names of the parents, but neither of those names were on the drawing. Instead, every single one of the sisters were on the drawing under each of the drawings, though one name was missing. Amber. Tia had labelled herself as Tia. Faye was shocked by the discovery, and put the items down in the dresser, casting a simple spell to stop people rummaging in there. As Faye got ready for bed her brain was rushing over the thoughts that crashed through her brain. What could it possibly mean? Tia called them her friends, not sisters. Were they simply just watching over her? Faye had so many questions, and with every one that cropped up, many more branched off. She was puzzled.

True to her word, Tia did all she could to keep everything she did on the down-low, but she read a lot, studying all she could, though for a child her age it was hard to find the material she needed. Her days were filled with school, church, reading and music. Her friends kept a close eye on her, answering the questions she posed as best they could, and Tia grew older. Faye never mentioned the friends again unless Tia mentioned them, but she answered questions she was able to. Tia kept growing and by her twelfth birthday she was almost as tall as Faye, which wasn't that hard. Faye kept strengthening the spell on Tia's necklace, though Faye wasn't sure whether she'd be able to continue wearing it at high school. She committed herself to protecting Tia, though she hated being so far away, she couldn't move now. She was still in Pernilla's close circle, and couldn't jeopardise things now.
When Tia started high school she managed to wear her necklace under her uniform, having found a spell in a book to conceal the necklace from people seeing it. She knew she had promised to never try magick but it had barely sent a ripple effect, she hoped. She wanted to do more spells, but her friends made sure she did nothing else, glad that she was protected at least. Tia studied hard at high school, both with her schoolwork and magick, though it was extremely hard to find anything in a school library that resembled magick of any kind. Once or twice she came close to casting a weather spell to make it rain to get out of P.E, or a forgetfulness charm to make a teacher forget a test, but she refrained, knowing it was wrong. Well, her  friends talked her out of it, appearing at the corner of her eye and frowning at her, or telling her to stop. The thing she was happy with most though was church, she had taken leaps and bounds in the Children's Church, offered the lead female role in the upcoming Easter play. To Tia, things were going well.

Around early March Tia's friend Tamara came up to her after school and threaded her arm through Tia's as they left school.
"I'm heading down the road to the shops with Kyah and Lisa, you wanna come along?" Tamara asked. Tia looked at her watch. Susan wasn't due home for a few more hours, and homework could wait.
"Okay, and I can stop by the supermarket, Mum wants me to get some milk." Tia said. Slinging their bags over their shoulders they caught up with Lisa and Kyah and the four of them walked the fifteen minute walk from the school to the shopping district of Rossdale. They had a great time wandering around, window-shopping and daydreaming over expensive items in shops, laughing and having a good time. Tia went into the supermarket to get the milk her mum wanted, carrying the shopping bag as they kept moving. As they walked on Tia suddenly felt a chill, a sense of foreboding that hit her hard. Her  friends were looking in shop windows and hadn't noticed her faltered step, so Tia wondered if she had dreamt the feeling, but then Tia heard Tamara call out to her.
"Hey Tia, come look at this shop! It's so cool!" Tamara said, and Tia moved closer, though another cold shiver went through her, and she looked around, wondering why she was getting a warning, she couldn't see any "imaginary" friends nearby. As she approached the shop, she saw the tarot decks, oracle cards, gemstones and clothing displayed in the window. She felt drawn to the items on display, but it felt wrong. Marred.
"Oh, let's go in!" Tamara exclaimed, and before Tia could dissuade them the three other girls had entered. Tia paused, as though there was a barrier in the doorway, and shrugged.
"I think I'll wait out here." Tia said to the others. Tamara looked around at her and grasped her arm.
"If anyone from your church sees you here, you can tell them that you're doing an assignment for school." Tamara said, tugging her into the shop. Tia went in, her heart pounding, and looked at the red-haired woman behind the counter, smiling politely to her, then wandered around, not touching anything, but feeling as though everything there was familiar to her. As she walked around she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, and looking around she saw Anna beckoning frantically for Tia to leave the shop, but before Tia could move to the door her other friend, Lisa, spotted her.
"Tia, come look at all these gemstones and crystals. Aren't they lovely?" Lisa asked. Tia nodded absently, moving over. Her fingers itched to touch the stones, to use them,  but she put her hands in her pockets. She felt suddenly scared, but tried to qualm the feeling, not wanting to let it overwhelm her. Tia turned around and saw Anna beckoning again, and started towards her, but she suddenly vanished. Tia was puzzled but it made sense a moment later when she saw the owner of the shop staring at the doorway too. Tia wondered if she'd seen Anna, but felt it best not to mention anything. As she moved towards the door, seemingly casually, her friends moved to the counter to pay for purchases. A loud thud behind them all made them jump and spin as a crystal ball fell off a display table and started rolling towards the four girls. Tia felt fear flood through her and clutched the shopping bag tight in her hands, and Lisa let out a slight squeak and moved back. Tamara picked up the ball and put it back on the display table.
"Sorry, one of us must have knocked it." She said. The owner shrugged, but her eyes were narrowed at the four girls as she moved to the till.
"Merry meet, ladies. How can I help?" The owner asked, looking at each girl, her senses on alert. Tamara and Lisa bought items, but Kyah and Tia stayed back, Tia standing close to the door, as though ready to leave fast. Once the transactions were completed the girls turned to head out, and the woman spoke again.
"Merry part, maybe meet again?" She said. Tamara nodded with enthusiasm, even Lisa and Kyah nodded, but Tia didn't react, just turned and headed out of the shop. The others joined her and they walked away from the store, talking quickly.
"That place was so cool. I have to go back sometime." Tamara said. Lisa shrugged.
"I might. I got a funny feeling, like it was oppressive. I dunno." Lisa said. Kyah nodded.
"Maybe. Maybe not. That woman stared at us too much." Kyah added. Tia didn't say anything, just clutched her shopping bag and wished she were back home. She vowed to never set foot in that store again.