Three years ago Grace Hollows heard voices whispering words to an ancient prophecy. "The age of innocence is over. The witches of old must walk the earth again to fight enemy or die trying." Shortly after she met Amber Taylor and Mercedes Toshida. The three of them realized they were the reincarnated powers of three very powerful witches and that the birth of the most feared demon was upon them. After a short scare with a coven of dark witches trying to bring the demon back before his time, Grace and the girls returned to a normal life, graduating high school.

Three years after the prophecy first came into their lives, Grace, Amber and Mercedes move into a house in the town of Oakwood, New york, just outside of the city. With Heather, Grace’s grandmother having just recently passed away, the girls decide it will be nice to leave old lives behind and for there to be almost nothing to remind the distraught and dismal Grace of her only relative’s death. While trying to deal with the supernatural as little as possible, another witch discovers them and soon their secret is inching from the bag. Handling jobs as paranormal investigators, the girls also have to deal with nosey neighbors, the up coming school semester and an over abundance of demons. And, just when they think things couldn’t get any worse, they retranslate the prophecy that foretold their coming and find themselves facing an evil they thought was trapped in their past.

--

Part one: All things Supernatural

Chapter One: Rebirth

It was raining the day they moved in; it had been raining for almost a week. The small town’s fresh flowers went from soaking in the moisture to drowning in it. The neighbors watched the vans pull up and unload their contents; the movers marching in and out of the house. Three girls were moving in and they were all very young, the youngest people in the town who didn’t live with people over thirty years of age. Mrs. Morris, the leader of the Lovely Ladies Community Club, watched from her window. She wasn’t watching them specifically, she would tell her friends later over bridge, she was sipping her tea by the window and just happened to see them. She happened to notice the blonde girl, the shortest of the three wore all black, her forearms covered in mesh arm warmers her legs covered in black tights. She wore a very simple black summer dress and the tops of her pale skin could be seen from her flats. Her curly hair fell a little past her shoulders and, from the little bit of her face that Mrs. Morris could see from her living room, the girl had a very solemn look.

The blonde girl took a bag from the next girl who climbed from the car. She had wavy black hair tied into two very long braids that Mrs. Morris felt should have been cut. She wore a brown summer dress, sandals and an array of gold and wooden jewelry. She looked like a gypsy, her features exotic and remarkable. She was taller than the blonde and the next girl who climbed from the driver’s seat. This girl was black with thick hair braided into two puffy ponytails. She wore tight, skinny-legged jeans and sneakers, her torso adorned with a black tee shirt and a thick gold chain. Mrs. Morris assumed she was one of those hipsters from the city because she wore a brightly colored green shoulder bag. When she turned Mrs. Morris observed the rainbow flag on her tee shirt and the rainbow bracelets around her wrists. She wrapped an arm briefly around the blonde one and squeezed her. The three girls walked into the house and didn’t come out until the next day. Immediately that afternoon when she saw them, though, Mrs. Morris rushed to the phone.

Her finger quickly dialed on the golden wheel and she waited patiently for it to ring. “Hello, Fred, is Margaret home? May I speak to her?” her hand wrapped itself in the cord. “Hi, Martha, I just saw the girls who moved in across the street….”

--

“Amber! What are you doing?” Mercedes demanded when she walked into the kitchen. Amber sat on the island, her short legs dangling off the edge, eating a candy bar and playing with her cell phone.

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“You’re supposed to be cleansing!” Mercedes said, snatching the candy bar.

Amber snatched it back. “I cleansed, girl, chill.”

“With sage and all the elements?”

“Yes, I burned the sage and cast the circle with each of the elements. Incense for fire and air, water for water and salt for earth.” Amber said in a sing-song voice as if she were a little kid listing the steps to cleaning her room. She cast Mercedes one last glance before she stuffed the rest of the bar into her mouth.

“Well what about this room?”

“Grace did it.”

“She did?”

“Does it not smell Wicca fresh to you?” Amber quipped.

Mercedes rolled her eyes. “I just didn’t think she’d be up for anything. She’s not in the best of moods right now.”

“Maybe she needs to do this. Maybe it’ll help her get connected and centered. Isn’t that the point of casting circles?”

Mercedes nodded slightly. “Well…what about the upstairs?”

“Didn’t you do the upstairs?”

Mercedes looked at her. “Yeah…I did and the basement.” She sighed. “I feel like we’re missing something.”

“Guys…” Grace’s voice called from above. “Come here for a minute.”

Mercedes and Amber heeded her calls and climbed the stairs to the end of the hall where Grace stood underneath a door on the ceiling. “What’s happening?” Amber said as they walked up behind her.

“That.” She pointed to the door.

“Must be to the attic.” Mercedes said. “My mother said there was an attic.”

“Did you tour this house ahead of time?” Amber asked.

“Not really. My mother did when her friend agreed to rent it to us. I trust my mom.”

“So you never saw the attic?”

“Nope.”

“Then I ain’t goin’ up there.” Amber crossed her arms. “You know weird things follow us around.”

Mercedes shook her head. “We have to cleanse that area too or something will actually follow us around.”

“Fine, let’s get a ladder and open this thing.” Amber said turning towards the stairs.

“Wait,” Mercedes grinned. “You know we don’t need that. Anima” she pointed at the string, which twirled and jerked and pulled the down the door. A staircase fell from it and hit the floor with a thud.

“Or we could do that.” Amber laughed.

Grace took the lead up the stairs into the attic. It was dark because the windows were all blacked out. “Light?”

“Luz.” Mercedes said and her hand lit up.

Amber removed a pencil from her back pocket and wrote a symbol that looked like an s on her hand. It was called Sowulo and her palm lit up with the brightness of the sun.

“Thank you.” Grace said looking around at the relatively empty room. Stepping away from her sisters, who smelled strongly of their own perfumes, Grace realized the room smelled musty and damp, that her nose quickly clogged with dust. A tarp was drawn over something huge and Grace moved to lift it off. When she struggled, Amber and Mercedes rushed to help her, the white garment slamming to the floor in a cloud of dirt. Beneath it was a piano, black and shiny even though it needed cleaning.

“Whoa.” Mercedes said, stepping closer. “This is a top notch instrument.” She ran her hands skillfully over the keys for a moment.

“When did you learn to play the piano?” Amber asked, surprised.

“My mother had me study other things besides witchcraft.”

“Well excuse me.” Amber quipped backing up and looking around. There were bookshelves covered in plastic. She pulled the plastic off and looked at the books; nothing interesting, just old copies of Shakespeare and other classics. Grace opened a chest near the window and pulled out fancy dresses that smelled like mothballs.

“This must just be stuff your mom’s friend left here.”

“We should call her and ask her if she wants us to clean up this place.” Amber said.

Mercedes nodded. “Regardless, we should still cleanse it.” She pulled a bundle of sage from her dress pocket. Grace and Amber glanced at each other and shook their heads in amusement. Mercedes had called them several times in one week to remind them of the duties when it came to protecting their house.

“As witches.” She had said. “Our new home needs to be sacred space. There will be no shoes worn in the space unless they are designated house slippers. You don’t want to bring negative energy into the home.”

Amber thought she was making a huge deal out of something that wasn’t that serious but Grace defended her.

“We’re the Trinity, you know there are probably head hunters out for us.”

“Well excuse me if I don’t have that huge of an ego. It’s been three years, I’m sure we’re fine.”

“Three years? Three is a significant number and even if you don’t want to be superstitious about it, we’re still powerful magical beings and the prophecy hasn’t yet been fulfilled. We need to be safe from all angles. What kind of life would we lead if we needed to be scared in our own house?”

And so they cleansed the attic, sage, elements and all. Then they began to unpack their boxes, moving the furniture to wherever they wanted. There were still things like armoires and tables that were left there for them and they used them, covering them with cloth or rubbing polish on them to make them look new. The girls worked long into the night, eager to have the house set up as close to how they wanted it as possible. They succeeded and collapsed on the living room couches with only a few boxes in each of their bedrooms.

“I had no clue that would take up so much of my life.” Amber groaned, plopping into an armchair near the window.

“What do you mean?” Grace asked from the couch besides Mercedes. “It’s raining and we’re new to the neighborhood. What life?”

Amber stuck out her tongue and Grace laughed and shook her head. Outside the rain beat against the glass of the window with a newfound vigor, each drop propelled violently by the wind. “It’s scary here.” Amber said without thought.

“Scary?”

Amber shook her head. “Never mind.”

“No, come on.” Mercedes urged. “What do you mean?”

“I guess I’m so used to the city…the shadows from the trees and the rain…I don’t know. I could have a better first impression of this place.”

Grace nodded. “I agree. I would’ve liked to see the people, you know?”

“Well, tomorrow is another day, guys.” Mercedes said slapping her palms on her thighs. “We have plenty of time to meet the neighbors.”

--

Hospitals were cold and this floor smelled like urine. Did they just keep all the old people on one floor? Grace was convinced she had not seen a nurse in ten minutes. Someone should’ve come by again to check up on her grandmother. She stood, went to the door, looked and then sat back down very grumpily. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the tiled floor peeking between her feet.

“I prefer when my visitors are less cantankerous.” Heather teased. Her lips spread in a toothless grin, her soft skin pale and wrapped around her thinning frame. How could she joke in a time like this? How could she smile while in so much pain? All the tubes running from her body to machines made Grace feel sick. She didn’t respond. “Am I going to die without hearing your voice, Grace?”

Tears welled up inside the girl’s eyes as they ventured over to Heather’s bed. Why did she have to say things like that? Grace focused her blue eyes on her grandmother’s matching ones and tried to hold a stare. Her grandmother waited, as if for a smile.

Grace couldn’t do it. She stood and fluffed the pillow and straightened the blanket.

“Grace, honey, talk to me…”

But Heather heard no words, the thin girl just stood there with waterfalls gushing from her eyes.

--

Amber didn’t want to be woken up by birds. She particularly didn’t want to be woken up by birds right outside her window. She rolled from the mattress and closed the window, hopping back into bed and pulling the covers over her head. No more birds. The second thing she didn’t want to be woken up by was Mercedes, who came bursting into her room shortly after.

“Amber!” she called but Amber didn’t answer. “Amber, wake up! I know you hear me!” Mercedes pushed the girl’s form underneath the blanket a few times. “Amber!” she pulled the blanket off and Amber was curled in a fetal position underneath. She was clutching a brown teddy bear.

“Shhh, Teddy, if we’re very quiet, the mean witch might leave us alone.” She joked.

“Amber, come on, cut it out.”

“Mercedes, I want to sleep. Leave me alone.” The girl groaned and turned over on her other side.

“I need your help with Grace.”

‘“Is she bleeding?”

“No.”

“Is she vomiting?”

“No.”

“Does she have a fever?”

“No, Amber it’s nothing like that.”

“Then is it her powers? Is she attacking you.”

“No.”

“Did you find her in the bathroom smearing her fecal matter all over the walls and in her hair screaming ‘Double Double toil and trouble?’”

“AMBER! Ew! No.”

“Then I fail to see a situation in which you need my help.” Amber pulled the blanket over her head.

Mercedes crossed her arms in frustration. “Anima!” she commanded and the blanket flew off of Amber. “Anima!’ she said again and the mattress wobbled and then shot straight up, throwing Amber across the room. She had only seconds to phase and she did so, slipping ghost-like through the wall and into the next room. She came back a few seconds later, solidifying herself.

“Mercedes! We’re not supposed to use our magic against each other.” She whined.

“I used my magic on the bed. If you’d gotten out of it like I told you, you wouldn’t have been affected.” Mercedes retorted, grabbing Amber’s wrist. “Come on.”

Mercedes dragged Amber from her room all the way downstairs and into the back yard. They hadn’t set up the yard how they wanted it yet, but the summer sun was high in the sky making their plain grass look brilliant. However Grace stood in the center of the yard staring completely ahead. Her blonde hair was matted to her face in cold sweat. Her eyes were wide and unblinking, past the stage of tearing up and just stared dryly at the garden wall. She was still in her nightgown which was white and a scary comparison to her pale skin.

“She won’t move.” Mercedes said. “I tried to move her with my powers but she blocked me.”

“Blocked you? So she’s aware of things.”

“No, I’m sure her subconscious just took control of her powers for protection.” Mercedes said. “I don’t know what to do.” Amber walked up to grace and looked her in the face, running her hand back and forth before her eyes. Grace’s blue orbs didn’t even flinch.

“Damn, she’s gone.” Amber said, amazed. “Think she’s under a spell?”

“Of her own doing? There isn’t any magical trace or energy trail of anyone else but her. She’s just in some kind of trance.”

“Maybe it’s a really long vision.”

Mercedes frowned.

“What?” Amber asked as she poked Grace.

“Vision…maybe that’s what happened. Maybe she had a vision and it resulted in this.”

“Why would that be the case? Grace has perfect control over her visions. Nothing like this ever happens.”

“Unless her power is evolving.” Mercedes countered. “You remember what happened with you after the battle with The Mother. You had tons of trouble controlling your phasing.”

“Don’t remind me.” Amber said dryly, recalling the time she fell through six stories of her apartment building and landed in the lobby unharmed. “Well, if that’s the case what do we do?”

“I have no clue.” Mercedes said, stepping and fingering the necklace around Grace’s neck. It was raw quarts and dangled low between her small breasts. Mercedes’ eyes lit up and she quickly took the jewel from around Grace’s neck.

“What are you doing?”

“The quartz helps her focus her energy, right? So without this she eventually has to snap out of it.” Mercedes explained. “Her body uses the jewel to help control her power, in case of overload it must’ve just gone into shock.”

“That makes sense.”

“Someone is at the door.”

“I didn’t hear a bell.” Amber said and as soon as she spoke the bell rang. “How did you…”

“I could feel their energy.” Mercedes explained. She handed the jewel to Amber. “Hold this and watch Grace.” She said disappearing into the house. She rushed to the door as the bell rang again. “Coming!” she said and rushed to unlock it. Five women, all middle aged and well dressed in brightly colored suits, stood at her door. Each one held a dish of food. The one in the middle, who wore a violet skirt suit and hat had corn colored hair and too much eye make up. Mercedes thought they all had too much eye make up.

“Hello…” she said in a slightly confused voice.

“Hello.” The woman in violet chirped. “My name is Ethel Morris, I live across the street. These are the girls, Maggie, Chantal, Gladys, Rachel and Diane.” As she introduced them they all smiled and said hello in their suits of blue, goldenrod, pink and purple. “We all wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood.”

There was an awkward silence as Mercedes realized she was supposed to let them in. “Oh, thank you, won’t you come in?”

“We’d love to.” Ethel said and marched into the foyer. Mercedes knew a tour of the house was expected but she thought it best not to give one.

“The kitchen is right this way.” Mercedes said leading them deeper inside. Their kitchen was nice with all the wood furnished and shined. The women placed their gifts on the island and looked around taking in the smell of incense and flowers, the darkly colored curtains and tablecloths. “Thank you all for the food but you really didn’t need to.”

“Oh it’s all just cakes and pie.” Gladys said. “Because that’s all these old betties know how to make. Except for me I made a casserole.” She bragged.

“And it’ll kill you.” Diane quipped. Of the five she seemed the most calm and the least critical.

“Please, have a seat.” Mercedes smiled and pointed to the kitchen table. “We’ll try some of the desserts.”

“Oh, no” Ethel refused. “Those are all for you. We bake non stop for the bridge club so we’re just plum tired of cake and pie.” She said.

“Would you all like some tea then?” Mercedes asked and saw she would have to move them to another room. “In the sitting room?”

“Sounds lovely.” Ethel said following Mercedes into that room. When they were seated, Mercedes left to make tea and Ethel volunteered to help. “I know how all the girls take their tea because they normally have it at my place.” She explained.

Mercedes carefully pulled out a tray and set several tea cups on it, a special set given to the girls by Grace’s grandmother Heather. She put the hot water heater on and then opened the cabinet full of tealeaves. “What flavor does everyone want?”

“Three peppermints and two chamomiles.” Ethel said robotically. She watched Mercedes pull out the little glass containers and scoop tealeaves into them. “I’ve never seen anyone so young use tea-leaves before.” Ethel commented.

“That’s all I’m used to.” Mercedes explained. “I used to grow them.”

“Where did you live?”

“Manhattan.” Mercedes laughed. “Window box gardens full of tea.”

Ethel seemed surprised. “Interesting.”

“I suppose.” Mercedes put the tea away.

“Are all you girls from Manhattan?”

“Well, not really. We are all from new york though and we all went to school in a little town right outside the city. But Amber is from Brooklyn and Grace is from Bayville.”

“Where are they?”

“Well, Grace is feeling a little under the weather this morning. Her grandmother just passed away and so Amber is watching her. She’ll be down to say hi shortly.” Mercedes promised. Just then the heater beeped and Mercedes poured the tea. As soon as she was finished, shrill screams erupted from the backyard and Mercedes felt intense pain as Grace clawed at her consciousness with her mind. Outside her lack of quartz had finally settled in and Amber held her, trying to pin her arms to her side as she scratched and kicked and yelled. Amber too, felt Grace in her head and the pain was nearly unbearable.

“Oh my!” Ethel said, grabbing her throat. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes.” Mercedes said, trying to talk through the pain. “She’s intensely grieving. Her grandmother raised her, so she was really all she had.” Mercedes blinked away tears. “I need to go check on the two of them, will you do me an important favor?”

“Yes, dear.” Ethel said, jumping to her feet.

“Serve the tea.” Mercedes said and ran out the back door.

“She’s freaking out!” Amber yelled.

“Put the crystal back on her.” Mercedes said. Amber had to let go of Grace to perform the action and she managed to slip it on. As soon as she let go, the girl tried to run off but Mercedes grabbed her and helped Amber tackle her to the ground. They wrestled in the dirt for a while. “Power of three, come on Grace, remember who we are.”

“We’re your sisters, girl, we ain’t gonna hurt you.” Amber chided. Seconds passed and then minutes and then she finally stopped screaming. The pain stopped being so urgent in their heads and just sat there throbbing.

“Your nose is bleeding.” Mercedes said to Amber.

“Oh, sweet.” The girl responded blandly and wiped it with her pajama shirt.

Grace moaned and tried to roll over. They let her and she stared up at them, and then around at the yard. “What are we doing out here?”

“You tell us.” Amber demanded. “You were the one standing out here like a special needs kid.”

“Amber!” Mercedes chided. “I found you here this morning, Grace and you wouldn’t move and you were using your powers to keep me from using mine. Amber and I thought maybe your powers were evolving and your body couldn’t handle it so it used the crystal to focus your being into a sleep mode. So I removed the crystal and had Amber watch you while I tended to the ladies.”

“Ladies?” Amber asked.

“Yeah, the people at the door were our neighbors; a bunch of old women who brought us cake. They’re sipping tea in our living room right now.”

“Why?”

“Because I want us to seem normal, as if we have nothing to hide.” Mercedes stressed. “However, with girls screaming and wrestling in the backyard, I think we lost that battle.” She laughed a little. “Are you alright, Grace?”

“I don’t know. All I remember is being in bed. I was having some sort of dream but I don’t know any details. Well…maybe it wasn’t a dream, no it wasn’t. It had that same bronze look that all my visions have. So it was a premonition in bed and…” she sighed. “I really can’t remember.”

“It’s alright, Grace. Don’t strain yourself.” Mercedes soothed. “Go upstairs with Amber and lie down or get dressed. I’m going to tend to the women in our living room.” She said. The girls got to their feet and Amber took Grace around the back staircase. Mercedes entered the living room.

“Is everything alright, dear?” Ethel asked.

“Yes, yes everything is fine. Nightmare.” She laughed. She knew the ladies would feed off of anything she gave them and she regretted giving them that much but she had to say something.

She made small talk with them until Amber came downstairs. Her hair was pulled brushed back into it’s neat puffs and she still wore pajamas pants but a different shirt. She waved to the women in the living room and then disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later she passed by again with a bowl of cereal and the newspaper.

“Amber!” Mercedes called.

“What?” Amber answered with a mouth full of fruity pebbles.

“Come say hi to the guests.” Mercedes blushed a bit. Amber popped into the doorway.

“Hi.” She said, smiling. A moment passed and then she turned to go.

“Amber…”

“Oh, don’t disturb the girl. You weren’t expecting us.” Maggie said. “It’s our fault.” Amber saw that Mercedes was making a point of staring at her so she sighed and plopped down in a chair.

“It’s fine.” She assured them. “How are you all?”

“Oh, we’re doing fine. This is a nice house you’ve all got here. The inside is spectacular.”

“What do you mean the inside? You got a problem with the outside?” Amber countered, not looking up from her cereal.

“Amber…” Mercedes groaned.

Ethel laughed at Maggie’s face. “It’s just that this is the oldest house in the neighborhood. We’re used to Joan and her husband letting it fall to pieces but we just thought you girls would want to fix it up. Since you’re so young and all; don’t you want it to look like those expensive homes downtown?”

“The one’s their building in Harlem to promote ethnic cleansing?” Amber retorted.

“Amber!” Mercedes jumped.

“The house works fine. Now, if you’re politely telling us we’re bringing down your property values…”

Diane began to laugh. “That’s exactly what she means.”

Mercedes found herself smiling about the old woman.

“Oh, Diane, don’t embarrass the girls.”

“They don’t seem embarrassed.”

“We don’t want to get shot, or have our house mysteriously burned down so we’ll get right on it.” Amber promised.

Ethel sighed. “That isn’t what I meant…”

“But it’s what you want, isn’t it?” Diane countered. “Listen, ladies, I don’t like to be in people’s business so I’m going to tell you why we all came over. You’re young, we haven’t had many young people here. Ethel feels its her duty to confront you about noise level; parties and such, cleanliness, and the general upkeep of the lawn and house appearance. She has standards you need to uphold.”

“Diane!”

Diane stood. “However, please, enjoy yourselves.” She started making her way to the door. Maggie, Gladys and Rachel stood and followed, smiling and waving goodbye nervously. Ethel blushed deep red.

“I didn’t mean for this to take such an odd turn. It’s a lovely house and don’t you listen to Diane; I’m sure you’ll be wonderful neighbors. Just call me if you need anything.” She rushed out the door. Amber watched, scooping cereal into her mouth and barely swallowing.

“Well…they were quite the crew.” She said sarcastically.

“What was with you? Why were you so mean?”

“Because I didn’t want you to have the chance of being a false prophet.” She turned to Mercedes. “Here you are telling us how important it is that this place be witch friendly, trying to show a bunch of tea drinking, bridge playing, expensive clothes wearing house wives that we’re normal; trying to make sure all they can gossip about is the fact that we have too much dark furniture.” She drank milk from the bowl as if it were a cup.

“Amber, I’m doing it to keep us safe. Ask my mother; I’m not making it up. If people find out we’re witches in a small town like this they’ll have our heads.”

“Yeah, well, if I’m going to hide that I’m a witch I might as well try to hide that I’m black and that I’m a female. You know if we’re trying to avoid hate crimes.” She rolled her eyes and stood, taking the bowl into the kitchen.

“it’s not the same thing, Amber and you know it.”

“For me it is. I can’t separate parts of my identity like that.”

“Oh please you barely associated yourself with the craft until a year ago.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Amber turned from the sink to face Mercedes.

“Guys…” Grace said coming into the room and pouring a glass of orange juice. “It’s the first day, come on.”

Mercedes and Amber looked at her and then at each other.

“As much as you have your differences you love each other. We managed to stay friends all this time and now we live together. Can’t we just be excited that the rain finally let up, that we’re starting a new chapter in our lives, that we’re alive?” she sighed. “Let’s handle one issue at a time.”

“You’re right.” Mercedes conceded. “Do you guys mind just redecorating the house a little?”

“Like, hire people?” Amber asked.

“No, do it ourselves.”

“Um…I don’t do manual labor.” Amber said.

“We can’t afford contractors or anything.”

Amber sighed and glanced out of the window. “Give me a day, I bet you I can get some workers.”

Mercedes eyed her.

“Not anything illegal. My goodness, don’t you trust me?”

“With my life but that’s about it.” The girl laughed. She watched Amber walk upstairs. “How are you Grace? Is there anything we can do?”

“Just keep me company.” She smiled. “You know there isn’t anything you can do.”

“I don’t want you to grieve too hard.” Mercedes said. “I don’t want it to affect your powers. Our bond is strong, we felt your pain in our hearts too, Grace.”

“And your heads. I’m sorry about that.”

“Oh it’s fine.” She smiled. “It’s all better now.”

Amber came back downstairs with a lawn chair and dressed in a bikini.

“Where are you going?” Mercedes asked.

“Sun bathing.” Amber grinned.

--

Within an hour of sitting and ‘tanning’ Amber had attracted the attention of several young men. Some were the sons of couples, others were the husbands of wives, all passing by to say hello. Amber casually dropped information about needing the house fixed up, about having to pay for college. She spoke to most of them from her lawn chair, her honey colored body stretched out and glistening from her glitter mixed sun block. She wore huge shades and when she took them off the men fell to her feet at her hazel eyes. Mercedes watched from the window as the men returned one by one with materials like paint, and wood and tools to help fix up the house.

“I can’t believe it.” She said to Grace who was had been cleaning the attic. “Amber has all the men in the neighborhood coming to fix our house. I just can’t believe it.”

“I can.” Grace said dryly. “Hey, all the tea cups are still here.” She reached for the tray and her body went stiff. Everything went bronze and she watched as firebombs came flying through the glass windows. She felt herself running to the yard but there was fire every where. In the distance she could hear the screams of people, angry screams, scary screams. The vision was gone soon as it had come. She felt tears streaming down her face and she was sweating from the heat she’d imagined.

“Are you alright?” Mercedes turned to her.

“I…” Grace fell to her knees. “I just had the most vivid vision I have ever had. Fire…I think someone was burning our house down.”

“Really?”

Grace nodded.

“Well don’t worry about it.” Mercedes said, taking the tray from her. “You know that’s just a possibility. If we play our cards right that doesn’t have to come true.”

“Oh I know, I know.” Grace stood and followed her. “I just don’t understand why it was so intense. I mean…I remember a few years ago when the realness of the visions really started to heighten but that…that was ridiculous.”

Mercedes nodded not knowing what to do. “I don’t know what to tell you, Grace. Your powers must be getting stronger.”

“I know but I don’t like that.”

“Why not? I mean, I realize it’s not the most fun process.”

“It’s just that we got our powers right before Abbadon was supposed to be born, and then Amber learned to Phase right when battle was getting intense. Everything happens for a reason, Mercedes, and sometimes I’m not ready for the reason.”

Mercedes nodded. “Or maybe your powers are just growing because you are. We’re eighteen now, we were kids back then and it was new. How could you not expect us to get a little stronger?” she smiled. “Just think about our freshman yearbook pictures? You were skinny as a stick! Now look at you! Curvy woman you!”

“I’m still skinny.”

“But now you’re model-skinny. You’ve got the body the cheerleaders wished they had.”

Grace smiled weakly.

“Why don’t you go put on a swimsuit and show it off? I’ll get the grill so we can feed those men Amber is bringing in.” Mercedes laughed.

In a few minutes the yard was crowded with men. The smell of barbecue wafted into the air and the kids came over as well to get hot dogs and burgers. Soon the wives and mothers showed up, casting evil looks at the girls for the way the men all stared at them when they thought they weren’t being watched.

“This is getting uncomfortable, don’t you think?” Mercedes asked serving Amber a hot dog.

“No.” she answered simply taking a suggestive bite out of it for a young man a few feet away.

“Amber!”

“Sorry!” The girl said laughing. “This is so much fun.”

“You’re going to make a lot of enemies.”

“Oh, whatever. I don’t care about these rich white people anyway. Their husbands are all going to have or are having affairs. I’m guilty of nothing.”

“You used your body to get them to do what you wanted.”

“No, I got them interested in talking to me. It was their choice to come and look at the results!” Amber pointed to their beautiful brick house, the brick visible now that the parasitic plants had been pulled off the walls. The terrace and awnings had all been painted white again and replaced with fresh wood. The job was nearly done. A little boy mowed the lawns for them and they paid him a little money and food. Most of the food went to the kids; the wives demanded that their husbands eat food that they cooked. Amber watched, amused at the women who pleaded with the men to come home. The guys refused, waiting until the job was done and standing around looking macho.

Several of the wives changed into one-piece bathing suits to try to match the girls. Mercedes had chosen to stay relatively covered up in an off the shoulder tunic, khaki shorts and a headscarf to hold her long, flowing locks. The kids all loved Grace who played with them in between serving the men water. By the time the sun set the house looked nearly brand new, one guy promising to come back and work on the steps and back door the next morning. Amber waved to everyone from her lawn chair, a drink in her other hand. The girls stood in the front lawn for a moment, looking at the work.

“Amazing.” Mercedes laughed to herself. “You didn’t use magic did you?”

“OF course not, you know I wouldn’t.”

“Sometimes I don’t know.”

“I read somewhere that people pick up on magical vibes the same way we can guess someone might be rich or privileged before we talk to them. We have senses we don’t even tap into sometimes. It is therefore possible that witches, if powerful enough and if they use their magic enough, emit magical energy on a low frequency on which people attach without knowing.” Grace informed.

The other two girls watched her speak because she had a very blank and robotic look on her face.

“You okay?” Amber asked.

“I’m fine, why?”

“I don’t know…I was just asking.” Amber laughed. “You just dropped some heavy knowledge, that’s all I’m saying.”

“Oh, well I was trying to remember it word for word. I know I didn’t have it quite right. I just mean to say that it wasn’t Amber’s body that attracted the men.” She grinned at the girl. “Well, mostly her body but ten percent might have been supernatural.”

Amber rolled her eyes and smacked Grace with the magazine. They chased each other around the lawn while Mercedes dragged the garbage bags to the curb.

“Guys, grow up!” she demanded, deciding whether to fold up the grill.

“We are grown!” Amber laughed.

“Hey, let me and Amber get the grill, you did the most work today.”

“Speak for yourself, I’m exhausted.” Amber said.

“All you did was sit and flirt. Hush.” Grace laughed as Amber helped carry the grill to the garage. They met back inside, sprawled out on the couches once again. This time the mood of the room was much happier. Amber, however, still thought the place looked scary when the sun set.

--

The next day, as promised a man came over to finish his work on the steps and back door. They thanked him and sent him along with some cake. They’d managed to get rid of most of the confections brought over by the ladies the night before. They kept one lemon frosted bunt cake by Grace’s request.

“We should look for jobs, guys.” Mercedes said. “I know we have heather’s inheritance and my parents and your brother, Amber, but we can’t just mooch off of them. We’ve still got time left in summer.”

“I won’t argue with that. I want some cash. I want to go shopping.”

“You just went shopping the week before we moved in.”

“I know I need fall clothes now.” She grinned.

“Let’s go into the city. I feel so isolated here.” Grace pleaded.

“Word. How’s that sound Mercedes?”

“Well, I mean, don’t you guys want to see the town?”

Grace and Amber looked at each other with defeat.

“What? You really don’t?”

“Even if we say we don’t you will want us to.”

“I’m just saying, we should see it since we live here. Besides, if we’re all attending city-college we’ll be in the city all the time. What if we didn’t have a car, huh? What would we do?”

“Rent one.” Amber said quickly.

“No, we’d be obligated to look around the town in which we live. Let’s just do it, the weather is nice, it’s cheap…no gas…” she smiled.

Grace sighed. “Alright. Let’s go.” She stood up and walked to the door, grabbing her back-pack and changing shoes on the mat. Amber followed doing the same.

“Oh try not to sound too enthusiastic.” Mercedes quipped.

The town of Oakwood was bigger than they thought. It almost looked like a small city. It was a very old town and immediately as they entered the square they were bombarded with a giant statue of a man on a horse. The kids on skateboards all zipped passed them laughing, old couples took seats on benches and shared smoothies and pretzels. The teens all wished they were in the city and were doing their best to mock the styles they saw on tv. They immediately were surprised and in awe when they saw the girls who all looked different. Grace, with her gothic style, wore a black baby doll dress, mesh arm warmers and black flats over her pale skin. She walked in between Amber who wore purple knee length shorts, custom basketball sneakers with a white tank top and purple-framed sunglasses and Mercedes who wore another headscarf, a wrap around her waist for a skirt and sandals with a tank top. Bohemian, Goth and Hip-Hop marched down the streets, vaguely aware that they represented every television star in existence to the rest of the kids.

“Oh this is rich.” Amber quipped, talking with a lollipop perfectly balanced in her mouth. “I feel like I’m on fucking display.”

“You’re wearing purple shorts.” Grace explained.

“Oh hush.” Amber retorted. She and Grace looked critically at all the stores, resolving not to enjoy themselves at all. They made fun of all the clothing shops and the toy stores and noted how all the kids looked so unhappy. Mercedes rolled her eyes and tried to get them to be less critical.

“You guys, you can’t just expect everything to be suddenly fun.” She said. “You have to find things that could be fun.” She pulled a flyer from a container on the corner of the street. “Look here’s a list of activities the local organizations provide.” Amber snatched the paper from her.

“Mhm…puppet making workshop, knitting 101, learn to play canasta. This is great!”

“You’re reading the Super Senior list.” Grace said taking it from her. “Look, here’s something nice. They have drive in movies here. They show old films like Dracula and stuff.”

“Oh cool!” Amber exclaimed and then faked a sad look. “But too bad because we’re pretending to not have a car.” She pouted.

“Oh fuck off.” Mercedes said putting a hand on her hip. “Let’s just grab something to eat. We’ve been walking for a couple of hours and no one ate a real breakfast.”

“I did.” Amber protested.

“Fruity Pebbles isn’t a real breakfast.”

“It is when it’s like 100 degrees outside.” Amber said.

They walked into a small. old-fashioned diner and hopped into a booth. The place was called Tory’s and the bar didn’t sell alcohol but ice cream. A nice waiter came over in a pink uniform, she had long brown hair and wore white tennis sneakers. She smiled warmly.

“Hello, Ladies, how are you today?”

The girls exchanged pleasantries compliantly.

“You gals look pretty new to this place.”

“We’re from the city.” Mercedes said.

“Oh? Well you look like you might be interested in that new story that opened up across the street.” She nodded her small chin out the window and the girls peered. There was a small building with a cast iron fence out front. A sign read “Ostara” above the sidewalk. No one seemed to be going in or out of it. “She opened last week. I don’t think she’s doing so well.”

“Well isn’t this a conservative little spot?” Amber asked. “People here are too close minded to deal with concepts like that.”

The waitress laughed. “You’ve got quite the mouth on you. What can I get y’all?”

“I’d like a cheeseburger and fries…with a coke please.” Grace ordered.

“Good, I’m glad a lil’ thing like you eats! And you?”

“I’d like the veggie burger and orange juice ” Mercedes answered.

“Healthy, healthy. And you?”

“A banana split.” Amber grinned.

“Amber! That’s not real food.” Mercedes scolded

“Really? Bet you I can eat it…must be real.”

Mercedes rolled her eyes. “Thank you.” She said to the waitress.

“Your food’ll be here in a moment.” She smiled and walked off.

“It’s hot as hell, man, I can’t order hot food.” Amber continued to justify herself.

“Get what you want but all that sugar and artificial flavor is going to kill you.”

“Say what you want, nature girl, but I’ve lived this long.”

Grace smiled to herself but both girls took notice. Lately it’d been hard to tell when Grace was having a good day or a bad day. She didn’t lock herself in her room like Amber would, or clean compulsively like Mercedes. She was almost always quiet and reflective so they had no way to judge. They hadn’t spoken of the incident the first night before last when they found her in the lawn but they obviously wondered if it would happen again.

“Think we should check out that occult shop?” Mercedes asked.

“Why not? Might be the only thing interesting in this damned place.” Amber retorted.

“Still? Even though we found this nice little diner?”

“This diner is corny. This whole town is corny. Remind me why we moved here?”

“Because we all wanted to get as far away from our old lives as possible?”

“Then why couldn’t we move to, like, Cali or something? This town is straight out of Desperate Housewives.” Amber sat back in the chair and fiddled with the napkin dispenser.

Mercedes sighed. “Are you really unhappy?”

Amber laughed. “It depends. Are we still pretending we don’t have a car?” A silence passed and then Grace and Mercedes laughed too. The waitress came with their drinks and set them down on the table. Amber took her straw and blew off the wrapper so that it hit Mercedes square in the forehead. Grace doubled over in laughter, as Mercedes tried to imitate her but couldn’t. Finally she whispered “Anima”, and the paper rapper shot at Amber’s face. Amber dematerialized and the paper went right through her.

“Oh my god!” Grace exclaimed before she could stop herself. “You guys!”

Mercedes and Amber froze as all three girls waited to see if anyone had seen anything. The regular hum of the diner continued uninterrupted. They exhaled in unison.

“We can’t do that in public, guys.”

Mercedes gave an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. I’m just so used to being able to hang out and do what we want.” She sighed. “This time it was my fault.”

Amber nodded. “Definitely.”

Mercedes rolled her eyes. “There should be a rule. Something like don’t use magic outside of the house.”

“Well that doesn’t work when things start happening again.” Amber protested.

“I’d like to think we’re all just mature enough to pay attention.” Grace said as the food came. Amber took her lollipop from her mouth and stuck it in the ice cream, then replaced it in her mouth.

“Deal.” She said reaching for her spoon.

“You ladies all set?” the waitress asked.

They nodded and thanked her.

“I’ll be back soon to see if you want anything else…and if the food pleases you city slickers.” She laughed and walked on.

“I’ll stop complaining, Mercedes.” Amber promised. “But I don’t know how I feel about this place.”

“You shouldn’t.” Mercedes said with a mouthful of food. “But we did just get here, give it some time.” They finished their meal and spoke then on only of funny things. Amber and Grace stopped complaining and continued to eat in good spirits.

When the check arrived they walked outside into the hot sun.

“Ugh…you know how you don’t even realize rooms are air conditioned until you’re not in them any more?” Amber said pulling hair bands from her wrist and tying a ponytail to the side of her head. “It’s got to be around ninety degrees.”

“Eighty five according to the news this morning.” Grace corrected. “Hopefully the occult shop is air conditioned.”

“I forgot we were going there.”

Amber and Mercedes followed Grace to the door of Ostara. The place was dimly lit but the curtains and paint were all brightly colored. The girls peered through the windows to see if there was anyone in the store.

“It’s less creepy if you go inside.” A voice said behind them. They turned to see a dark skinned boy standing on the sidewalk a few inches away. He had a nut-brown complexion and shoulder length dreadlocks framing his face. He focused dark brown eyes on them while they took in his neat outfit; the black silk dress shirt the dark denim jeans and black shoes. His hands wore fingerless leather gloves and he used one to push the door open. “Please, you first.”

The girls filed into the shop and the chimes overhead jingled cheerfully. The store smelled like incense and herbs, old books and wet dirt. It was dimly lit with candles but there was a chandelier on the ceiling seemingly for decoration. Mercedes could feel her sisters overwhelming excitement and interest in the merchandise and it eased her anxiety about their move.

“Do you own this place?” she asked the boy.

“No, no I work here, though. I was on my lunch break. The store is owned by this woman named Claudia…she should actually be here…” he stood by the computer and moved the mouse to get it out of sleep mode. The monitor lit up his t-shirt and face as he briefly checked the email. “Can I help you?”

“We just came to look around, if that’s okay.” Mercedes answered.

He looked up at her, her black hair shining in the candlelight and smiled. “Of course it’s okay.”

Mercedes smiled back at him and walked off towards the back of the store. There were shelves and shelves of jars, all labeled with different herbs that reminded Mercedes of her basement back home. She wished to recreate that basement in their new home and rushed to pull jars off the shelves. Halfway through her rampage, Amber approached her.

“That’s mad money you tryin’ to spend.” She warned.

“You’re right…”

“They sell seeds too.” Amber said and walked off. Mercedes resolved to get only the herbs she couldn’t grow in their yards and windows then she rushed the seed isle. Amber made her way to where the books were. All of them were used and there was a whole section filled with Book of Shadows from dead witches and old covens. Amber looked far up at the ceiling where the books all were, wondering if she could find books far back enough to represent the three witches who wrote her and her sisters into the prophecy that had so influenced their lives. She moved to the end of the isle and rolled the ladder closer to where she wanted to be. When she climbed to the top she was just barely reaching the books she wanted to reach.

“Be careful, Amber.” Grace said walking by. She found herself back at the front of the store where the boy sat behind the counter leafing through the newspaper. From a door behind him rushed a tall, thin woman with flowing red hair. She immediately reminded Grace of Madison, her best friend from ninth grade. But she soon saw the woman didn’t look a thing like Madison; she had a graceful nose and bright eyes framed in long lashes. The woman wore a green dress and long patterned robes over it with flowing sleeves. She placed a white urn on the table, brushing off the green and gold Egyptian pattern.

“The Urn is finally clean.” She said and put her hands on her hips. Her expression was accomplished and she glanced at the boy for approval. “It took way too long but look at it sparkle, Damien! Good, right?”

The boy chuckled. “Yeah, it looks great Claudia. We have customers, by the way.” He pointed at Grace who stood by with a slight smile on her face. Behind her, their forms moving slightly, were Mercedes and Amber off in their own little worlds.

“Oh!” Claudia slapped her hands together. “I’m so sorry! I’m Claudia; I own this shop. How can I help you?”

“We’re just looking around.” Grace shrugged and smiled. Are we telling them we’re witches or is that just a secret?

I think it’s information best kept to ourselves for now. Mercedes advised.

Word, plus, I doubt anyone who is witch friendly is quite ready for witches like us. Amber added.

“Well if you’re looking for anything in particular, just ask. Damien and I love to help customers. The people in this town are quite interesting.” She placed the urn on a stand between a few books for decoration. Grace glanced at the inscription. “You probably won’t be able to read it, hun, but I can tell you what it means.” Claudia leaned over the counter as she spoke. She seemed like such a good-natured woman.

“Let Ra and Bastet protect this tomb with the power of the sun…” Grace said automatically. Both Claudia and Damien seemed surprised. She smiled at them.

“Impressive…” Damien began.

“Oh anyone who does a little witchcraft research can learn the Theban Alphabet.” Grace played coolly. She reached out to touch the urn and icy chills ran up her arm. She froze and everything went bronze. She saw someone knock into the shelf and the urn crash to the floor. “This is a bad place to put this though.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just wouldn’t want it to get knocked down.”

“I wish we had a rowdy enough crowd to knock anything down.” Claudia laughed. “So…” she eyed Grace’s neckline and the silver pentacle resting in the dip of her collarbone. “Interested in Wicca?”

“You could say that.” Grace nodded with the enthusiasm of someone who understood but wasn’t ready to take the dive.

Damien’s dark eyes followed her with an intense passion that, for some reason, made her flush bright red against her will. She got the strange feeling that she was standing in the store stark naked. She tried to ignore his gaze and stared at all the jewels in the window.

“That’s a pretty crystal. Where did you shop before this?” Claudia asked.

“Oh this was a gift.” Grace answered truthfully, thinking back to when Mercedes gave it to her to control her powers. “But I shopped all over the place. Mostly in the city.” She continued.

“Are you from around here?” Damien asked. “You all look very…foreign.”

She laughed. “We’re definitely city kids. Well they are…I’m a mix between town and city, I guess. But we just moved here.”

“Why?” Damien quipped.

“Maybe they like it, Damien.” Claudia teased. “Damien’s from the city too. He prefers it and he never lets me forget it.” She nudged him.

“Where in the city?” Grace asked.

“Oh, all around really. I live here now, with Claudia, though.”

“And goes back to the city on his cycle every chance he gets.” She chimed. Grace thought they might be a couple the way they went back and forth but Damien couldn’t have been more than twenty one and Claudia well into healthy forties.

Mercedes came to the register with armloads of plants and a few books. She handed the woman a card.

“Damn, Mercedes.” Grace exclaimed.

“This place is great!” the girl gushed, ignoring her friend. “Where do you order from?”

“Well, I grow some things myself, I go to auctions…” Claudia trailed off. “There is really a whole forum of people who do sales and exchange, just like any other store.” She smiled and packed Mercedes’ things as Damien rang them up. Just then a group of kids came rushing through the door, some of them were around the girls’ age. One guy skateboarded right in as if it were a park.

“Excuse me, you can’t ride that in here!” Claudia said, trying to be heard over their yelling. The skateboarder took no notice and kept going, accidentally bumping into his friend.

“Watch it, man!” the boy said and pushed the skater. He fell to the floor and skidded down the isle.

Everyone winced as the boy hit the ladder on which Amber stood.

“Fuck!” she cursed and went tumbling backwards. The isles were so narrow she didn’t know what to do; hide her powers or save her life. She opted for something in between. Since the isle was only filled with books she knew she wouldn’t break anything, even though she was worried about the older books falling apart, and she let herself slam into the bookshelf. The books began to rain down on her and she dematerialized enough to not hit the floor hard and then solidified herself again and curled into a fetal position to shield herself from the books. She didn’t suffer any injuries. The boy, trying not to get hit but not having enough time to stand, scooted back on his bottom and palms, knocking into the shelf that held the Urn. Grace, luckily, stood near by and held out her hands to grab it. She hugged it to her body. Eventually a silence and stillness settled into the room.

Mercedes rushed to Amber who climbed, unharmed, out of the books. She glared at the boy on the floor.

“What the fuck is your problem, you fucking idiot!” she began to charge at him but Mercedes grabbed her. “Let me go!.”

“Calm down.” The boy said standing. “I didn’t come in here for you, crazy bitch, we’re here to check out this store.”

“Amber, calm down.” Grace said setting the urn on the table.

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Claudia said to the boys, stepping from around the counter.

“Chill lady, we just knocked over some stupid books.” One of the other two boys said.

“Stupid books? Young man you have obviously lost your mind. You’re upsetting the aura of the shop.”

“The aura?” the boy laughed. “Hey, dude, this witch says I’m upsetting her aura.” He laughed. His friend laughed too. That’s when Damien hopped over the counter.

“She shouldn’t have to repeat herself.” Damien said calmly. “And you don’t want me to repeat her.” He promised. The boys stood, coming together.

“Really? You’re going to take on all three of us?” The boys were all roughly six feet and matched Damien perfectly in height. However, something about the latter boy seemed bigger and bigger the more time passed.

“I’m not taking on any of you. You’re going to get out.” Damien promised them. They exchanged looks. The boys cursed under their breath, turned and left.

The girls looked at each other.

The supernatural energy in here is much higher than I thought from the beginning. Mercedes thought to Grace.

Yeah, we should get out of here girls.

Mercedes stepped toward the counter and grabbed her bag. “Do you want us to help you clean up those books?”

“Oh, no, Damien will get them.” Claudia said, slightly absent-mindedly. “Are you alright?” she asked Amber.

Amber nodded. “I’m a bit shaken up…” she considered trying to cover it up. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not the store’s fault. I’m not suing type, really.”

Slowly the girls were inching themselves toward the open door.

“How can you be okay? You fell nearly ten feet…let me just look you over for my own peace of mind.” Claudia said, rushing from around the counter.

“No, really, it’s okay.” Amber said backing up.

“Well, can you answer my question?” Claudia stopped advancing. “How can you be okay?” she turned to look at Grace. “And how did you know the Urn was going to fall?”

Grace opened her mouth but her voice was weak when she spoke. “I didn’t-I mean, I just thought it was shaky…”

Claudia crossed her arms and looked at them with a satisfied grin on her face.

Mercedes stopped going for the door. “She…she’s a witch.”

“Well of course she is, she runs a Wiccan shop.” Grace muttered.

“No, I mean she’s not just Wiccan, she’s a powerful witch.”

“Powerful is relative.” Claudia said, smiling. “Because so are you ladies.”

“You’re confused.” Grace tried to convince her.

“No, I’m not.” Claudia smiled. “You too are powerful, except you don’t know all the ways you can use your magic. So I can do this;” she raised her chin slightly and looked at the door, which swung shut. “and you can’t only because you don’t know enough magic yet.”

Grace glanced behind them.

“Listen lady…”

“Don’t threaten her.” Mercedes warned. “She’s not going to hurt us.”

“Can you read minds?”

“Didn’t I tell you reading energy is much more accurate?” she hissed.

“Your friend is right, I don’t want to hurt you. I just…I just got very excited to meet you.”

“Meet us?”

Does she know about the Prophecy? Amber thought.

Grace brushed her mind lightly. Doesn’t seem like it.

“Yes!” Claudia said. “I haven’t met any witches with natural powers in this town. A lot of the town kids are into Wicca but nothing too genuine.” She smiled. “You may go if you want.” She said and the door swung open a little bit.

The girls didn’t hesitate and quickly exited the store. They walked several blocks down towards their house before anyone spoke.

“Do you think she knows?” Grace asked.

“She has to know!” Amber insisted.

Mercedes squeezed herself in between the two of them. “Can you guys calm down? She doesn’t know. And even if she does she doesn’t have ill intentions. I’m sure she won’t be any trouble.”

“Right now I just want to get home and hide in our house.” Amber confessed. “We were trying so hard and now someone knows we’re witches.”

“It’s not like she’s going to tell Mrs. Morris, Amber.” Mercedes said as they neared their block. “It doesn’t matter if she knows. You both need to calm down.” They speed walked up to their house but they weren’t fast enough to escape the neighbors. Maggie passed by them, pretending to be hit by Amber, who knocked into Mercedes and forced her to drop her bag.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, honey.” She watched Mercedes scramble to get her things. “You ladies went into town? How did you like it?”

“It’s a nice place.” Grace mumbled as she tried to help Mercedes.

“Where did you shop?” Maggie asked bending over to pick up a pack of seeds for mugwort. “Ostara…? Isn’t that the new witch store that opened up in town?”

The girls didn’t answer. Mercedes took the pack of seeds gently from Maggie’s hand.

“Listen, girls, I’m telling you this because I care. You seem like smart young ladies, and so independent too. I want to warn you not to use any of this and not to go back to that store. You don’t want to mess with witches, they’re a dangerous lot of people…” Maggie noticed the stare she received from all the girls was identical and then she picked up on the pentacles that they all wore.

“Thanks for the warning.” Grace said when she realized what Maggie was looking at. “Excuse us” she walked off and the girls followed her. Mercedes with hurried steps and Amber with a smirk on her face, hands tucked in her pockets.

“Did you hear that, guys?” she said as they entered their front lawn. “We’re a dangerous lot.”