CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Bianca poured the woman a glass of water and stood transfixed by the woman’s beauty until someone cleared her throat loudly. It was Yaya. The witch was drumming her fingers on the counter, waiting to pay.
There was no one at the counter. Carly must have gone to the back to grab some new cups. There were some cups that were chipped and needed to be replaced.
Bianca excused herself and hurried to the counter.
As Yaya poured the coins out from her pouch and counted them, Boris amused himself by twirling round the diner. The playful broomstick was pretending that he was in the middle of a dance floor, impressing all the ladies with his groovy moves.
Boris spun and swayed to music only he could hear. He pirouetted across the floor, whirling towards the back of the diner. Bianca gasped when she saw Boris lose his balance and spin uncontrollably towards the woman’s table.
“Look out!” she cried. “Boris...”
There was a loud crash, followed by a piercing scream as Boris toppled and upended the glass of water on the table. Water splashed all over the woman’s dress. To make matters worse, the salt and pepper shakers rolled and smashed to the floor. Salt flew all over the place and sprinkled over the woman’s fashionable shoes.
“Argh!” The woman jumped up with a shrill, blood-curdling scream. “No! No! What have you done?”
Bianca grabbed some paper towels and ran over. The woman was shrieking and shaking as if someone had just poured scalding hot coffee on her. But the glass hadn’t contained hot coffee. Just plain, cool water. She was understandably upset but she couldn’t have been hurt. The glass wasn’t even broken. It was just lying on its side on the table.
But from the woman’s agonized screams, it sounded as though she had been burned.
Bianca tried to dry the woman’s dress but the woman shoved her back and screeched, “Don’t touch me!”
Bianca stumbled back, her eyes rounding in shock. The woman was changing before her very eyes, transforming from a tall, beautiful, blond woman into...something else entirely.
Bianca backed away as she watched the blond woman morph into a bald, hunched, skeletal female with patchy, mottled skin.
“Who...what…?” Bianca stuttered in horror.
The woman glared at Boris with eyes that looked like swirling pits of blood. “You! You did this! You stupid, clumsy broomstick!”
She pointed a gnarled, crooked finger at Boris. A lightning bolt zapped from her finger and Bianca heard a loud, sickening crack.
Boris dropped to the floor, his handle broken in two.
A howl of pain and rage erupted from Yaya. “Sariah! Stop! What the hell have you done, Sariah?” Yaya bellowed.
Yaya flew at Sariah and Bianca scrambled to drag poor Boris away from the two screaming women. The hapless broomstick was lying in pieces on the floor, his bristles twitching and shivering.
Yaya and Sariah yelled and hurled curses and spells at each other. Carly and Nelson came rushing out of the kitchen, and they skidded to a stop when they saw smoke and sparks spewing from the witches’ hands.
“Please, ladies...” Nelson said, approaching the two witches cautiously. “We don’t want any trouble.”
“If you want to fight, take it outside,” Carly said, pointing to the door. “This diner has seen everything. Fights between wolf packs, witches, humans...” She marched to the door and held it open. “We’ve seen enough. Take it outside. Please.”
Yaya rolled up her sleeves and shook her fists at Sariah. “Come on then. Let’s settle this outside. I’m going to beat you to a bloody pulp. You call yourself a witch? You’re nothing but a coward, picking on a poor defenseless broomstick! Shame on you, Sariah!”
Sariah muttered an incantation and the air shimmered around her. The bald, hunched witch became that beautiful, blond woman once again. But only for an instant.
Sariah cursed viciously as the magic fizzled. She shrieked when she saw her smooth, manicured hand turn back into a wrinkled, skeletal claw.
“Water and salt will neutralize your glamour. Just drop the glamour, Sariah,” Yaya sneered. “You are what you are. You reap what you sow.”
“Shut up!” Sariah screamed. “If not for your stupid broomstick, no one would see me...like this!”