against the crisp white of the cotton candy clouds looked almost unreal in its perfection. An illustration in a happy child’s storybook made real. She could imagine fairies or friendly dragons prancing among the solid looking clouds and sliding down sunbeams. It was really a breathtaking morning scene. If only it didn’t hurt so bad to look at it.
She’d sought refuge from the cloying perfume haze that seemed to pervade the entire department store on a bench near the street outside, but while she’d escaped one torture she’d found a whole host of new ones.
The goddamn quaint bustling activity of the picture perfect main street, right down to the smell of someone baking bread, was going to make her throw up. She wasn’t sure if it was the movement, the sound, the bright sun or the freaking smells that would otherwise make her stomach clench with gluttonous desire, but something on this ridiculously Hallmark autumnal day was going to make her vomit.
Maybe she shouldn’t have gone out with Cord the night before. Despite having the first real fun she’d had since coming to town, the consequences might be more than she was willing to take.
The drinks had only been a dollar though… and watching Cord sing an earsplitting karaoke version of ‘Jolene’ might outweigh the pain she was currently experiencing. Maybe. She’d have to bring the memory of how he’d looked up on stage, sloppy drunk and slurring all his off key notes, to mind every time he was nearby for the next few months for it to really pay off. Maybe she could even train him to stay out of her brain.
Jessica tried closing her eyes against the blur of people walking by and almost instantly regretted it as a wave of vertigo made the contents of her stomach lurch sideways in her body.
A groan escaped as she leaned over, head in her hands and stared at the bricked sidewalk below her.
Sidney should have let her sleep, she could have told Bree that Jessica wasn’t coming, she didn’t feel well. They were adults damn it.
Or mostly adults anyway. She should have stood up to the old cow herself, instead she’d let herself be dragged along on this errand just so she wouldn’t have to listen to any more yapping.
She felt the bench shift beside her as Sidney’s white Keds appeared beside her own flip flop clad feet. She shivered as a breeze swept across the street. How was she supposed to have known that today would be the day that the weather would shift from sweltering hot to crisp coolness?
“Feeling any better?” Sidney asked.
“No. I’m pretty sure I’m going to throw up all over Main Street and all of its freaking happy pedestrians. That is, unless I freeze to death first.”
“Hey, I asked you before you left if you were sure that was what you wanted to wear and you just grunted at me.”
“How was I supposed to know it was going to turn into winter overnight Sidney? It was 200 degrees yesterday.”
“It’s chilly every morning, which you would know if you got up before noon.”
“Can we just not talk while we wait on Bree to find whatever the hell she’s looking for in there?”
Sidney shrugged. Jessica didn’t see it, but she could feel it in her soul. It was that passive aggressive shrug that said, ‘Fine, but if you weren’t a drunk whore we wouldn’t be having this problem in the first place.’ Jessica knew that shrug. Sidney had obviously inherited it from their mother and had worked on perfecting it in her spare time.
“Why couldn’t you have just brought her yourself and left me in bed?” she whined like the adolescent she felt like. Pain has a way of striping away all the pretenses of adulthood. The worse the pain, the lower your corresponding mental age got. She hadn’t descended into holding a doll and calling for her mommy just yet, but she wasn’t far away.
Sidney let out a sigh that jarred every nerve in Jessica’s body, it was amazing how she could do that. “I already told you. Bree wanted to show us some shop and introduce us to the person who owns it so that we’d know where to go if we need anything.”
Jessica didn’t remember Sidney telling her that but the morning so far wasn’t much more than a blur of shifting from one uncomfortable position to another. But she didn’t tell Sidney she didn’t remember, she hoped that if she stayed quiet Sidney wouldn’t say anything else, so she just sat there, still looking at the ground and shivering.
“Oh Jesus, here, take my sweater, you’re actually turning blue, and the sound of your teeth chattering is giving me a headache.”
Slowly she sat upright, hoping that she wasn’t going to jostle anything loose, and took the sweater Sidney was offering. She’d been wearing a long sleeved warm looking knit top under the sweater the whole time and yet was just now offering it to her. That bitch. But she could feel the warmth from Sidney’s body still radiating through the fabric so she kept her mouth shut and just enjoyed the feeling as it slipped over her arms.
Looking around she decided that she might be feeling a little bit better. Just the sight of a car moving wasn’t threatening to send her gagging into the bushes anymore.
Sidney’s face was drawn looking across the street, but Jessica was finding it difficult to care if something was bothering her. And she definitely didn’t want to ask and run the risk of having to have a real conversation at screw this thirty in the morning. But she followed her eyes and saw and guessed they were trained on the motorcycle that was parked across the street, with two younger looking guys standing beside it.
Sidney could only imagine what her sister’s thoughts were. From the little bit of information she’d gotten from her, Sidney’s love life was pretty fucked up. It probably hadn’t helped that she’d come into town and immediately slept with her boyfriend, but hey, how was she supposed to know. Especially when Sidney had been with that other guy, who in Jessica’s mind was the hotter choice anyway.
And that Red guy, what a douche. Not a bad lay, but definitely not someone she’d like hanging around for very long.
She wished she felt like talking, she could tell Sidney just what kind of experience she’d had with guys like that. And none of was good. Except maybe the sex, and that wasn’t worth the bullshit you had to put up with the rest of the time to get it.
Just then, as if conjured from her thoughts, Red emerged from the Hardware store across the street. Her eyes darted over to check and see if Sidney had seen him. Her sister’s eyes had gone all cloudy and pain filled so she was guessing the answer was yes.
He walked down the sidewalk looking for all intents and purposes like an ad for some cigarette company that wanted to sell cool to teenagers. She watched him as he moved down the street, long legs making quick work of the sidewalk, movements smooth and sure like a cat. Maybe she was wrong about the other guy being hotter.
Then he got to the young guys who were standing around the bike. Their voices began to rise, and though she couldn’t make out what was said all the way across the street she knew it wasn’t a friendly hello. Then out of nowhere Red punched one of the guys in the face, sending him into the air and sprawling onto a nearby car.
Her head swung to her sister, regardless of the blurred vision it caused and she watched Sidney suck in a breath, shock written all over her. How could her straight laced younger sister have ever fallen for an asshole like this guy? No she’d been right before, the other guy was definitely hotter.
“He wasn’t like that,” Sidney said, almost under her breath. Jessica wasn’t sure if that was just an escaped thought or if she was talking to her.
“Are you reading minds now, too?”
Red cranked up his bike and was pulling out of the parking spot, Sidney seemed lost in thoughts as she watched him. “What, oh no, but it’s pretty obvious that’s what anyone would be asking. It’s what I’d ask if I came to town and found you dating a guy who punch someone over looking at his vehicle.”
Well, all Sidney would have had to do was pop up at any previous point in Jessica’s life and she would have found her with a guy just like that. But she was pretty sure that wasn’t Sidney’s normal type.
Their eyes followed as Red revved his motor and pulled out of the parking spot and away from them.
“Trash.”
That pronouncement came from Bree as she stood beside the bench where the girls sat. She must have come out of the store while they watched Red make a spectacle.
Sidney’s face went from pensive to defensive in an instant.
“Something is going on with him, he’s not trash.”
“It’s the same with all these shifters. He’s not going through anything in particular that’s just the way they live their life.”
Sidney noticed the old lady didn’t have any bags or boxes in her hands, she hoped to God the woman hadn’t dragged her out just to window shop, she didn’t think she could forgive it.
“I thought I read that the Goddess loves all her creations,” Jessica said, she didn’t really mind the trash comment, or the fact that it bothered Sidney, but coming out of that shop with her hands empty after forcing Jessica to sit there and wait on her for the better part of an hour was unforgivable.
“Oh, but I’m not the Goddess, I’m just a mere witch, doing the best she can. And while the Goddess did make all creatures. She does not force us to associate with each other. Just because roaches exist doesn’t mean I want to live with them. Now come along. I want to get to Brandale’s early, so he can’t claim he was out to lunch when we show up.”
Light purple skirt swishing out behind her, the older lady turned and walked away without waiting to make sure that the girls followed.
Sidney hopped up and trotted after her and Jessica hauled herself up and tried to keep up. How did an old lady move so quickly any way?
Sidney and Bree were still talking back and forth but she couldn’t make out what they were saying so far behind them. The sound of her huffing breath was probably keeping her from the conversation too.
If she ever recovered from this, she was going to get back into shape and never over indulge in alcohol again. This was ridiculous.
Finally, she came up behind the two women who had stopped in front of a store that proclaimed itself Three Rivers Secure Finance. The shop had obviously been something else before because it boasted a huge display window that held nothing more than a lonely fern on a stool.
The conversation seemed to still be going on about Bree’s bigoted view of shifters, which, thankfully gave Jessica time to catch her breath.
“Why did you even move to Three Rivers if you hate them so much? I mean, they founded this place for shifters, why move your Grove here?”
Bree seemed to draw herself up several inches. “You, child, have been misinformed. My family has lived on this land before any shifter even thought of setting paw on it. Whatever this town has, it got because we gave it to them. Don’t be lied to by a wolf pretending to be a dog. Now, enough about that. This is the shop that keeps all our essentials on hand. Be nice to the owner, he is the difference between having the beetle you need delivered to you or having to go dig in cow pies to find one.”
Jessica made a mental note that this Brandale was a very important person, with capital letters. The day and hour she started digging in cow poop was the day and hour she gave up on whatever spell called for that particular beetle.
A bell rang jovially as they walked into the store front, the sound in stark contrast to the bleak room. White walls, white floor, bright white florescent lights shining down. Jessica almost felt like whimpering as the brightness of everything penetrated her corneas. She soothed her pounding head by pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes, hoping that when she opened them she’d be somewhere dark and inviting.
Nope. No such luck. She was still in her bright white hell. The place even smelled awful. Like someone had tried to cover up leaking sewage with thousands of those little pine scented car air fresheners that you bought in the dollar store. Jessica was holding down the reflex to gag by sheer will.
An office clerk smiled at them as Bree opened the half door and walked behind the counter like she owned the place. At this point she didn’t care where they were going as long as it was out of there, so she followed the two other women as they walked through the office.
Jessica cut her eyes back at the beige clad woman behind the desk as they walked through another door, making sure she wasn’t calling the cops as they barged in. But the woman wasn’t even looking at them anymore, she’d gone back to whatever busy work she’d been doing on the old beige computer taking up the better part of her desk.
When Jessica turned her head back it was like being hit by a truck full of… Earth. The first thing that struck her was the smell. It was growing things, the dank dark smell of turned soil and bright green leaves. It chased the smell of artificial pine out of her nostrils and she was glad to let it go.
The second thing was the warmth. She could have cried with relief. She hadn’t known how cold she really was until the warmth of the dim space slid over her skin. She could have hugged whoever was in charge of this thermostat.
The next thing that got her attention was just the sheer size of the room and how crammed it was with… stuff. This must have been a department store as well back before it was transformed into a shady predatory financial institution. The ceilings were at least 20 feet high, the walls covered all the way up to them with shelves stuffed with miscellany.
A fat orange cat eyed them warily from its perch above in a hanging bowl shaped chandelier, tail twitching as its eyes narrowed. Jessica could tell right off the bat that this cat was not a people person. She decided she liked it.
“Oh hey Miss Bree, what brings you into the shop today?” A tall lanky man who looked like he could be 20 or 40 or anywhere between walked out from behind a shelf. His face registered surprise to have customers at all, much less the Grove matriarch, “I’ve got a bunch of Farmer’s Wort about to be ready in a couple days. I can send you some around if you’d like some.”
“Oh Brandale, you’re too sweet. Of course I’d love some. But today I brought the two newest members of the Grove to you. Brandale, this is Sidney, and this is Jessica. Girls this is Brandale, he runs our supply shop and is about the most helpful fellow in town.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said, wiping his dirty hand off on a pair of dirtier looking corduroy pants.
Both she and Sidney made an effort at greeting, but there was so much to look at it was hard to concentrate on him. Even as ridiculous as he looked with his holey Star Wars t-shirt and waist length dreads. What grown up dressed that way?
She almost immediately regretted the thought, because just as she finished thinking it he said, “Hey Miss Bree, Jessica here seems to be in some pain, how come you ain’t fixed her?”
“She is suffering the consequences of her choices,” Bree said, not looking up from the carved wooden box she was examining. “Who made this box Brandale.”
“Oh Miss Bree now don’t be like that. To be sure you’ve had a wild night or two yourself. Come on with me,” he said jerking his head at Jessica, “and we’ll get you fixed up.”
She followed him willingly, stewing over the fact that Bree could have helped her feel better and she hadn’t even bothered. What kind of mentor was that?
She followed Brandale into what must have passed for his break room. It was still as dim as the rest of the place, but there was a kitchenette with a table in the corner.
“Here, eat this and in around 10 minutes or so you’ll feel better, even without magic, but I think we can hurry it along some.” The man pulled plastic wrapped square out of a cabinet and handed it to her.
She opened it gingerly and sniffed. “Is this a pot brownie?” she asked.
“Yes ma’am, what the goddess gives, we use, and this one has a little extra umph in it. Go ahead and eat it, you’ll feel better in no time.”
Jessica popped the little brown square into her mouth, who was she to turn her nose up at what the Goddess gives?