When she finally found him, she was going to make sure he stayed dead this time.
Chapter6
Rae
Rae ran into the shop just before the slight trickle turned torrential, the sky above rumbling. Mystic Medlock’s Magic was one of the only remaining independent charm shops left on the high street, the rest taken over by big corporations that bulk bought poorly made charms. She’d tried them once, hoping to save money, but they’d barely worked for more than ten minutes. Which she couldn’t really complain about when she compared the prices. What did she really expect when a charm to hide her freckles only cost a few quid?
There were a few more independent shops closer to the Guild, but Rae had wanted to drive, to quiet her anger, and pain of losing the final words written by her mother. She never looked at it, not since the first time she’d found it inside the hidden compartment in her music box, along with the necklace. But she could never throw it away, just leaving it folded against the delicate velvet, the words engraved forever on her memory.
Wiping the moisture from her face, mostly rain, but not all of it, she swept her gaze across the shop floor. It was a place she’d always wanted to visit as a kid, but was never allowed. The rustic outside was once painted black, and Rae remembered the left pane of glass advertising novelty magic tricks for theNorms, in thick, gold lettering. No such adverts adorned the window now, the front recently repainted in a bright red that caught her attention from all the way down the street.
Vines, flowers, and little paper suns garlanded the outside, the shop still decorated in beautiful wreaths of Summer Solstice, despite it having happened several months ago. A plastic box sat in the corner, a fat black cat lazily stretched across the left flap, fast asleep. Inside were grinning pumpkins and silly black witches’ hats.
“It’s August,” Rae muttered, shaking her head when she spotted the Hallows Eve cards in a pile beside it. Samhain months away.
“Erm, can I help you?”
Rae turned at the question, smiling at the young assistant with bubble gum blue hair. She looked bored, her whiney voice matching her expression. “Ah, yes please. I’m looking for the costume charms.” She didn’t have any magic herself, but she could use the costume charms to disguise herself for short periods of time. Black hair, rather than red. Clear skin rather than dot-to-dot freckles. Little things that made all the difference when she needed to change her appearance quickly.
Amulets offered a longer solution, the glamour working for years rather than hours. Except amulets cost ten times more, and Rae was on a budget.
Bubble Gum blinked slowly, letting out a sigh before pointing to the wall of drawers. “Hair’s in the third from the bottom. Sixth from the left. Facial cosmetics can be found in the bottom drawer, third from the right. Physical changes can be found on the top left.”
Rae ignored the attitude, simply nodding in thanks as she opened the correct drawers, scouring the small wooden disks.
Shit.
The prices had doubled since the last time she’d bought any, even the cheapest concealer out of her budget.
“Erm, do you have anything cheaper?”
“Cheaper?” the assistant parroted. “You want something cheaper? They’re like thirty quid.”
Rae gently slid the drawers closed, brushing the dust from her knees as she stood. “Yeah, as in half the price?” She smiled, hoping it would break the assistant’s cold façade. But no, Bubble Gum just continued to blink slowly, lip twisting in slight annoyance.
“Err, let me ask my manager.” She didn’t let Rae reply before disappearing out the back, the curtain of beads tingling as she passed through. “Al! There’s a customer who wants to know if we have anything cheaper?”
Rae waited, about to leave when a slim man with algae green eyes appeared, his smile soft. “Hi, I’m Alistair. Ruby said you’re looking for some cosmetic charms?” He cleaned what looked like oil from his hands down the front of his blue apron. Screwdrivers stood up in his front pocket, as well as random shards of metal. An engineer, maybe?
Rae nodded. “I just need –”
“I have a box of unlabelled charms.” Alistair frowned, turning towards the old vintage cash register. “It’s somewhere… ah, here it is.” He picked up a small cardboard box, placing it on the counter.
Rae peeked inside, the charms various shapes and sizes. Some were the usual discs, in generic oak, pine and a few redwood. Others were small 3D shapes, such as stars, hearts and diamonds. Not one was marked, everything tossed together with no information on what charm they actually were.
“These are all cosmetic… I think.” Alistair frowned once more, his hand brushing against the contents. “I can sell you them for cheap, because, well, you know.” His face flushed, Adam’s apple bobbling with his swallow.
Rae picked up a walnut star, feeling its weight in her hand. She had no idea what it would do, whether if she activated it, it would it give her blonde hair, or a bushy tail. “How much?”
Alistair shrugged. “Five for ten pounds?”
Holy shit!For that price, it was worth the bushy tail.
“Deal.” Rae grinned, reaching to grab four more charms at random. Two plain disks in oak, a heart in redwood, and a pine shaped like the sun. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Alistair accepted the cash she held out, ringing her order up on the vintage register. “Let me know what they do, okay?”
With a smile Rae stepped back out into the street, not caring so much as the rain soaked into her jacket and skirt. Her only lead knew what she looked like, so if she had to activate all five of her new charms to stop Riley Storm from recognising her, she would.
