Page 19 of Werewolves and Witches AU

Oh, but wait, the colonists wouldn’t have had the benefits of aloe vera products either. Their poor skin!

Beginning my shave, I think about that more carefully, because Sarah also told me that she’s the only person who notices anything is off. Whenever she’s walked with another resident to the magical boundary, and whenever they’ve reached out to touch it, they’re both instantly transported back into the heart of the township, and her companion has no knowledge that they’d been somewhere else only a second before.

In the almost five hundred years she’s been there, trying to find a way out, I’m the only other person she’s spoken to who can see the magic as she does. And that makes me, “A most powerful warlock.”

I snort at the memory and cut myself with the razor.

Paying a little more attention, I carefully shave my upper lip and around my mouth.

Ultimately, Sarah and I both agreed that some kind of time-loop spell must have been cast on the entire town of Roanoke, and it felt nice to be able to talk craft with another witch. I haven’t done that since I was a teenager and was still in the Academy. I miss it. I used to be good at it, one of the best in my class…

I run my razor under the tap and splash my face until all the slippery conditioner is washed away.

What neither of us could work out, though, is who would be strong enough to cast such a spell—or would even want to—on an unsuspecting town. I’d told her the rest of the world knows about their disappearance, but that, to us, it was only the people who’d disappeared. I explained that the buildings were still there, just empty, and that now the whole site has been preserved and rebuilt to help educate people on how life was during that time.

Sarah’s a good listener. I mean, clearly it was a lot to take in, but she took it well. Of the two of us, it was me who struggled the most to understand.

What would I do if I woke up one morning unable to leave my neighbourhood? What if no one else around me noticed anything was wrong? Would I be able to live like that for five hundred years?

And the only question Sarah had asked… was would I please help her set them free?

Despite having no clue how to do that, I agreed. How could I not?

Steam billows out into my apartment when I open the bathroom door, and I step over my heaped laundry as I make my way to the drawers beside my bed. Pulling on clean underwear and some socks, I wonder who I could ask for help. The moment I speak to anyone about it, they’re going to know that I cast a spell—and that I shouldn’t have done that because I’m not insured.

Ray would keep my secret. He might even have some suggestions for what I can do.

Hunting for my phone to call him, I lift up the covers and drag the sheets off my bed, but I can’t find it.

Turning in a circle, I check the nightstand—no.

The floor by the bed—no.

The top of the drawers—no.

Then I see it… on the floor beside the Cairngorm Quartz, because I’d used it in the spell last night.

Tiptoeing between the various piles of things, I tread over to collect it, then let out an exasperated sigh. Because of course the battery’s almost dead.

Returning to my bed, I plug it in, then dial Ray’s number. When it goes to voicemail, I check the time—a little after 10:00 a.m. I send him a text instead.

I did a spell last night and discovered the Lost Colony at Roanoke Island. Call me. XoXo.

Tossing my phone on the side, I wedge myself into a pair of skinny-fit, ripped grey jeans before choosing a T-shirt to wear.

Unable to do much more for Sarah until Ray returns my call, I stare down at the mess of items all over my floor. I should probably clean this up, but my gaze sticks on the almond croissant that rests on top of the paper bag on top of the giant crystal in the middle of the pentacle.

My stomach rumbles. I don’t remember anything about spell casting making food inedible. Stooping, I bite off a good third in one mouthful. It’s a little dry and a lot flaky, but it tastes fine and I’m really hungry.

As I chew, I marvel at how strong my intuition must have been last night. Somehow, despite not having practiced magic in years, I combined different elements from multiple temporal spells and managed to solve the mystery of what happened at Roanoke all those years ago. That’s pretty cool.

I take another bite.

Maybe now I’ve shown it’s possible, Sarah will be able to do something similar from the inside. She did say she would take a “fresh look through her grimoires with this new perspective—one that’s confirmed her suspicions and left her more confident of her sanity.”

I open my mouth to take another bite, when the loud buzzing of my phone on the nightstand stops me. Leaping over the pentacle and avoiding a couple of T-shirts, I snatch it up when I see Ray’s name on the caller ID.

“Miles!” Ray says, breathless. “I saw your missed call. Listen, I can’t talk, not right now. There was an explosion at the coven earlier.”