Mona noticed where she was staring. “Oh, that’s just Moptimus Prime, don’t mind him.”
Mercedes stifled a giggle. “Moptimus Prime?”
Mona grinned. “Vlad the Inhaler is upstairs, but of course I don’t have any carpet down here.”
“Does the bucket have a name?”
Mona looked at the bucket. “Well, no it’s not enchanted and Moptimus never told me if it does. Hey, Moptimus, take five, will ya?”
Moptimus spun around, froze as if it was staring them down, stuck out a little wooden arm and picked up its bucket before sloshing off to the back room. There was a slam and Mona winced.
“Ooh, I’m going to pay for that later. I might have to give him a better bucket.”
“You didn’t have to send him away.”
“I definitely did. Moptimus will talk to Vlad, who will tell Toast Malone, and then the list goes on and suddenly all my appliances are gossiping and not getting any work done.” Mona went to lock the door and pull the blinds, switching the open sign to closed. “Thankfully no one is here washing clothes just yet.”
“Do all your appliances have names?”
Mona nodded. “They do.”
“There’s a dryer at Room with a Tomb that keeps exploding and belching up lint every time I touch it.”
Mona giggled. “That’s Tumbledore. Yeah, hereallylikes witches. I can go have a talk with him if you’d like. I mean, he was pretty stoked when Magnus was buying him to repair. Tumbledore is older, and I was fitting out the place with newer machines, but I always make sure my enchanted appliances go to a good home.”
“I tend to cause explosions with my magic,” Mercedes explained.
“Ah, well I’ll speak to Tumbledore about the belching. Though I’m sure it’s just excitement to have a witch in his presence again.”
“Is that why you hauled me in here, because I have a lot to do…”
“I know. The date.”
Mercedes frowned. “How do you know about that?”
“I’m quite intuitive and see things.” She looked down the bridge of her nose. “Not like how you see things, though.”
A shiver ran down Mercedes spine. Mona must be a powerful witch to have that kind of sight. “I keep that to myself.”
Mona nodded. “As you should. Your family in Tallowfield are no good and they would harvest souls for horrible reasons. I mean, they would like to expelyoursoul so Yrsa could inhabit your body, but they can’t. They’ve tried, but the explosions are your self-defense. Be thankful you have it.”
Was that why the ground exploded at the blood-cursed spot when she touched it? It was her protection?
Mercedes’ stomach twisted in a knot. “Am I in danger?”
Mona shook her head. “No. You’re safe in Harmony Glen. Just don’t go back to Tallowfield. But honestly, I don’t think they know how to do it. The knowledge has been lost, and good riddance. The last time they messed around with souls and the afterlife, they inadvertently created a revenant.”
“Flo,” Mercedes whispered.
Mona nodded, smiling. “Yes. Her father was not happy she was in love with Sven. He hired your family to control her spirit. It backfired badly, and instead, they created this undead revenant. She’s quite solid when she remembers, but her memory probably isn’t the best. So, she’s like a ghoul in a way, living between two planes of existence.”
“She said she can’t find her body.”
“She never will because she’s in her body. It’s a very weird spell. It can be broken too, by true love.”
Mercedes frowned. “That will be hard, seeing how Sven can’t see ghosts or revenants. And Flo doesn’t seem to remember much.”
Mona sighed. “I know. I’ve tried everything I can think of. Maybe you can figure it out one day.”
