UnWitched

Anna Kauffman 

2023 

This is supposed to be a first chapter of a novel, if I ever write it. It takes place in a fictional modernized fantasy world where there are four types of magic users. People with no magic at all are called Normals, and are technically the fourth magic user as they lost their magic after the Normal event happened--hence their name. Then, there are creatures with Natural magic which means they can use plants, spices, and other natural items to make potions and spells. The other type of magic user are one with Anima magic which comes from the magic user. Then, of course, there's magic users that have both Natural and Anima magic. 

UnWitched: Chapter One

The gentle clatter of bottles and quiet chatter juxtaposed the busyness of the potion shop Serena worked at. The two registers that were open had lines wrapping around the store, crowding the already small store. 

Serena swiped her card to clock in before hurriedly putting on her apron and magicking her hair into a quick ponytail, "I can help the next customer!" 

With three registers open, they were able to fill orders faster although they were already scrambling to do so. For the next couple hours, the four of them—three on register and one to help with orders—squeezed past each other in a frenzied fashion to get ingredients, the pre-made concoctions having already been used up.

By the end of the mid-day rush, Serena had filled at least three orders of Igniting Powder, a Drought resistance potion, two of the repairing potion and at least twenty of their newest item: the Wrinkle-Be-Gone face masks. Now that most of the customers had filed out, she could see that the shop was a mess. 

She let two of the girls who had been working with her take their break so she could straighten up the store. Starting with the far side of the store, Serena magicked the broom to sweep the floor while she carefully straightened the rows of Kaleidoscope nail polish which changed colors. Looking down at her own nails, she realized she needed to get them repainted because they were chipping already although the nymph that had painted them said they'd last at least a week more. Count on the nymph to gyp her. 

Scoffing, she turned back to the task at hand. As she continued to straighten up the merchandise, something tapped her shoulder. Turning around, Serena saw it was the broom, telling her it was done with the task she had given it. With a small wave of her hand, she returned it back to normal, catching it before it dropped to the floor. 

As she put it back in the corner it belonged in, she heard the chimes by the front door ring out, signaling that someone had come into the store. She didn't hear anyone helping the customer. 

"Be with you in a moment!" she called out to them before wiping her hands on her apron, having gotten some powder on them from a broken bottle. The places where the powder touched her hands and apron glowed faintly. 

Quickly spelling a sign over the spilled mess warning people and creatures alike to be careful, she went to the front where a familiar face was. 

"Mav, what did I tell you about showing up at my workplace?" Serena wasn't particularly annoyed but she didn't like surprises like this. She glanced behind the counter and it only confirmed her suspicions: the other girls still hadn't come back from their break. 

"I was just bringing you lunch," he held up a paper bag from one of her favorite restaurants and then shrugged, "I mean, if you don't want it…” 

"No, I want it," she said, a little too quickly, causing Mav to grin. It wasn't like Soups & Scoops didn't have food—it was literally in the name—but after working there for several months, you get sick of the same thing over and over again. 

Serena flipped the sign from "Open" to "Be back in 20 minutes" before unlocking the break room behind the counter for Mav, saying she had to clean up something on the aisles. Although he didn't work there, she trusted him since they had been friends for years. At least, longer than her other friends. 

Serena hummed to herself as she grabbed the things she would need: a pair of protective gloves, a hand broom, and a jar. Swiping her fingers, she tossed the hovering warning sign to the side and it stopped before crashing into a display. 

Pulling on her gloves and placing the things in the air, she got to work. Serena first encapsulated the broken bottle in a bubble so no more illuminating powder spilled anywhere. It was almost as bad as glitter: once it spilled, you were going to continue finding it on your clothes and in your hair weeks later. She really didn't know why anyone hadn't thought to put it in a more secure bottle.

She then swept the remaining powder from the shelf onto the floor where she could more easily control it. Reaching into her apron pocket, she drew out the small vial of exclusion potion that every employee was given for instances like these. 

Shaking it a couple times to mix it together better, she popped open the cap and carefully poured it over the mess. She let it sink into the floor for a moment before gently brushing over the floor with the hand broom. Almost immediately, particles of the powder started floating into the air.

It didn't really need to be brushed over—it would've done it on its own—but it took more time and this was already eating into her twenty minute break. This was probably going to take five minutes. She only hoped that Maverick wasn't eating the sandwich that she knew he had gotten her.

By then, most of the powder had floated up from the floor. She released the hand broom back into the air and grabbed the jar from its place above her head. 

She then nudged the powder into the jar. She had to turn the jar upside down as she did this because the powder kept wanting to float out of the jar if she didn't. Once it had all been successfully collected, she screwed the top on. 

She shifted all the bottles on the shelf up to make it seem full before walking to the front and placing the empty exclusion potion bottle into the refill area and putting the broken bottle on the counter for later. She slid the jar with the extra powder next to the broken bottle. 

Checking the time on the sign, Serena saw that she had fourteen minutes left of her break. Scoffing under her breath at how long it took her to clean up one spill, she opened the door to the break room. 

Mav had already made himself at home, having pulled back a chair, and was sitting in it with his feet up. She gave him a look and flicked a finger at him, sweeping his feet off the edge of the table.

"I hope you know we eat on that table," she said sourly as she sat in the chair next to him, "And you're going to wipe it down after you're done eating." 

He pouted, "You don't eat directly off the table, do you?"

"No," she retorted, reaching for her sandwich, frowning when Mav pulled it away from her. Regardless, she continued as she struggled to grab the sandwich he was keeping away from her, "But that doesn't mean that you can put your feet up. This isn't your house."

Mav sighed and picked up her sandwich, "I guess—"

"Don't you dare threaten my food, Maverick."

He huffed, "Fine." Reluctantly, he handed her the sandwich.

Snatching it from his hands, she unwrapped it and bit into it. Just as she expected, the sandwich was delicious. It was the portobello mushroom and spinach sandwich from the Cooked on Cobblestones restaurant from down the road. 

It had been the first restaurant that she had tried when she moved from the countryside three years ago and since then, it had been her favorite place to get food from.

"And what do you say?" Mav prompted, breaking her out of her food bliss.

She swallowed her bite and cleared her throat, "Thank you. For the food."

Maverick grinned, "Of course. This does mean that you have to get the food bill next time though.”

She opened her mouth to say something but she heard the chimes on the front door ring out. Motioning for Maverick to hold on a second, she got up and walked out of the break room, wiping her hands on a napkin she grabbed from the counter.

"Sorry, we're currently not..." The rest of her sentence faded into silence as she realized that there was no one else on the store floor or at the counter. She swore she heard the chimes. 

Turning back, confused as ever, she popped her head into the break room to make sure that Maverick had heard the chimes and it wasn't just her hearing things. He confirmed that he had also heard them and after a pause, he asked why. 

She ignored him and turned back around to survey the store. She had only heard the chimes once which meant that they should've still been in the store but as she walked the aisles, she only confirmed that she was the only one there. 

Returning to the counter, she only then realized that there was something there. It was a rectangular box, like some sort of jewelry box. Moving closer, she could tell the box was made of a black metal, not painted black which she hadn't seen before and working this job, she had seen a lot of things.

Serena noticed that there was a note next to it, the words in a scribbly font and of a slightly different dialect than she was used to but she could read it nevertheless. It read: Inside is my mother's watch which stopped working years ago. I was wondering if you could fix it? Once it is fixed and put back into the box, the box will disappear. I'll send you money after it's fixed. 

There was no signature or anything she could use to identify the person. 

As strange as she thought it was, her curiosity got the better of her. She quickly cast a detecting spell to see if there were any curses placed upon the box and when it was clear, she opened the box. Nestled in the plush fabric was a watch with an intricate face. Gently, she lifted the watch out of the box and as she brought it closer to examine it more thoroughly, the hands started spinning around. 

Startled, she dropped it and it landed on the ground with a heavy thud. Immediately, the hands stopped spinning. Worried that she broke it more, she bent down to pick it up and let out a sigh of relief when she realized nothing was cracked. 

What was peculiar, though, was the fact that the hands started spinning again. 

She watched them for a few moments before it stopped spinning so fast and just moved the way that they should. A little bit puzzled, she placed it back into the box, setting the note that had been beside it inside the box. No sooner than she pulled her fingers away did the box snap itself shut and disappear in a puff of smoke. 

She shivered slightly, not realizing it had gotten so cold. She made a note to herself to check the heater and see if it needed more potion added. 

"What was that?" Jumping a bit, Serena whirled around to see Mav sticking his head out of the breakroom. She huffed, "Mind your own business." 

He held up a hand in defense, "Sorry for scaring you but I thought you worked with potions, not disappearing boxes."

"I do. That wasn't usual," she shivered again, rubbing her hands against her arms to warm them up, "God, why is it so cold here?"

Mav tilted his head, confused, "It isn't that cold. In fact, it's quite pleasant," he put his hand on her forehead to check her temperature, "You aren't heating up or anything. Maybe you just need to eat."

With that, he ushered her into the break room and sat her down to eat her sandwich, his question about the box forgotten already. After she finished it, she was asked how she felt. 

Although she didn't feel any different, except for being less hungry, Serena said she felt better.

"Take my jacket," Mav offered but she shook it off.

"No, keep it. I'll just make myself a potion," she said, standing up. She needed to start to stock the counter with potions anyway. He nodded, getting ready to leave as she got the ingredients from under the counter. 

She sprinkled the ingredients together in a mortar and crushed them together into a powder. This was her favorite part of the job because she would get in the zone, seeing the tiny golden threads attached to the ingredients of the potion. 

This time, she didn't see the golden threads. She didn't see anything but the ingredients. It felt like she was just going through the motions and if she felt anything at all, it was the absence of the little spark she felt when she did magic. 

The pestle clattered against the counter, tipping over the mortar, as she finally realized what that meant. She barely paid attention to the spilled ingredients, which covered her workplace.

"What's wrong?" Maverick walked towards her, noticing something was wrong. 

A panic set in and tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to process what she had lost. Is this how it felt to be like him? A continuous cold? How could he stand it? 

Mav had made his way behind the counter and pulled her hands away from her face so he could figure out what was wrong, "Are you hurt? Sick? Do you need to go home? The other girls can cover your shift."

She finally looked at him, as blurry as he was, "I'm Normal, Mav. I've lost my magic."