Scars, Spells and Secrets

Chapter 2

It had been an uneasy rest with nightmares of being chased and scratched by formless figures while her legs refused to work properly. Elizabeth tossed and turned in the night, a fine sheen of sweat covering her skin and causing the sheets to stick to her. At one point she even dreamt of suffocating, triggered by the covers over her open mouth. At least with that vision she awoke and flung the sheets and blankets off. Usually she wanted to be warm while she rested, but this was too much. It was suddenly all too much. The rest of the night she slept uncovered, sprawled out on the small bed almost too short for her tall frame.

It was nearly ten in the morning when her landlady knocked. Elizabeth awoke slowly, reluctantly, sleep trying to pull her back down into its warm embrace. She finally managed to shake the hold it had on her after the third round of knocking, stumbling over to her door. Her curly hair stuck out at all angles like springs. One of her shoulders was bared to reveal a pale dusting of freckles and her pajama pants twisted uncomfortably at the waist. She took a moment to adjust her clothing before answering the door, a bit surprised to see her landlady there.

"Oh, Hello Mrs. Maurel," she drawled with a stifled yawn.

Florence Maurel was a kindly woman of perhaps sixty. She was slightly plump and on the shorter side, the very image of a sweet material figure. She dressed stylishly and could usually be found either in the garden or tidying up around the common areas of the house. Today her graying brown hair was freshly cut in a pixie cut and her arms jingled with the movement of a half dozen chunky bracelets.

When she spoke, it was with no small amount of concern. "Oh, Elizabeth dear, I was just worried. You never miss our little breakfasts in the gardens."

"What time...?" the girl started, rubbing her eye with the back of one hand.

"It's brunch time, sweetheart. We've still got some lovely jam and biscuits if you'd like to....." The older woman suddenly trailed off, the smile on her face leaving as she stared at some point to Elizabeth's left. The young woman turned to follow her line of sight, right to where the leather bound book was. In her shifting during the night she must have thrown the covers down over the edge of her table, dragging the jacket off of the cover. "Oh!" the woman exclaimed. "I never realized you were gifted!"

Without waiting for another word, the woman bustled inside of the room and shut the door behind herself. She quickly moved to pick the book up with a large smile. "Oh, I've heard this is wonderful for teaching elemental spells!"

Elizabeth stared, mouth agape. "What? I.... I don't know.... I don't know what happened. I just.... There was a store..." she muttered and trailed off into silence.

Florence took her hand gently, patting the back of it with a smile on her lips. "Oh, so your abilities have just come to light? This must be such an exciting time for you!"

Exciting was far from what she would use to explain the events of the day before. "You know what's going on?!" Elizabeth nearly shouted.

Mrs. Maurel simply reached out to pat one of her cheeks gently. "Sweetheart, let me explain this as simply as I can. You have certain abilities, or the book would not have sought you out." She led Elizabeth to a chair, making sure that she sat before continuing. "I mean, I know that you know what witchcraft is dearie. That's what has blossomed in you."

Instead of blurting out something cliche like "I'm a witch? No! It can't be!" or "I'm just a human, this is some mistake!" Elizabeth took a moment of quiet reflection. "...If I believe you, then this is real and I'm not hallucinating. And then that's a real spell book and the ingredients... They're real too." She bit her lower lip, chewing lightly for a moment before she continued. "That means that pixies are real, too. What else?"