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When Avery woke the next morning, she found Alex gone and his blanket draped over her. He’d left a note on the table.
I didn’t want to disturb you, so I’ll see you tonight. The others will be coming, too. Don’t touch the box until we arrive. Thanks for your help. I’m all right.
- Alex
Of course, it was Wednesday. She looked around the room, expecting to see the room disturbed in some way after the events of the previous night, but in the pale dawn light, everything looked fine, apart from the broken lid of the wooden box. She felt sorry Alex had left; she would have loved to know what he’d experienced, but that would have to wait.
After showering and applying makeup, she pulled on a long cotton skirt in dark blue and a short-sleeved cotton top before she headed downstairs to the shop. The day was overcast and promised rain, and that was usually good for visitors. On Wednesdays, only she and Sally were in the shop, which kept them busy. On other days, a post-grad student named Dan would come in for a few hours, which relieved Avery from needing to be in the shop all day. She didn’t like leaving Sally on her own.
Sally grinned at her when she arrived. “What have you been up to? You look like you had a late night.”
“Nothing that exciting,” Avery lied. She’d already decided on how she would explain seeing more of the others. It would be unusual enough for Sally to comment. “You know when Anne Somersby left us some books?”
“Yes,” Sally said, leaning her hip against the shop counter.
“She left me some papers on some old family histories and the history of the town. They include Alex’s, Gil’s, and a few others—you know Elspeth from the jewellery shop, and Briar with the lotion store?”
“Yes.” Sally drew the word out quizzically, a slight frown behind her eyes.
“Well, I let them know, and we’ve decided to finish her investigations,” she said lightly, while making herself busy tidying shelves. “Alex came over last night and it ended up being a late night, that’s all. They’re back this evening.”
Sally’s voice went up an octave. “What do you mean, ‘came over?’ Are you two—?”
Avery leapt in before she could finish the sentence, whipping round to face Sally. “No! It was just a chat.”
“A late night chat.” Sally smiled smugly. “Call it what you want to, I’ll make a cuppa,” and she disappeared into the back room.
Avery sighed and rested her head against the bookshelf. This would now go on and on. She hoped customers would keep them busy all day.
***
By the time they closed the shop, Avery was knackered. They had been busy all day, so she hadn’t had time to worry about other things. She locked up and headed upstairs to her flat.
El arrived first, looking excited. “Hey Avery, that stuff you gave me from Anne is great.” She rested a big, slouchy leather bag on the floor, bulging with papers. Her white-blonde hair was scraped up in a messy bun on her head, and she wore faded jeans and a t-shirt, revealing a glimpse of the tattoos on her upper arms. “I’ve found out so much more about my old family history than my family ever told me.”
“Who gave you your grimoire then, El?” Avery asked, curious.
“My great aunt. And she was sneaky about it, too. Made me promise not to tell my parents, or anyone else in the family. Magic was a big no-no to them.”
Avery was in the open kitchen area, preparing tea and coffee. “So how did she know that you would be okay with it?”
“She noticed things that the rest of my family either couldn’t see, or didn’t want to. I was always clever with making things, and she noticed that I made things slightly differently. She made a point of visiting as I was growing up, and then one day she asked me if I wanted to spend the weekend at her house. It was a creaky old place, but over the course of that weekend she told me about our family, as much as she knew anyway, and she started to teach me magic. After that, it was our little secret.” Elspeth smiled and shrugged. “She was amazing. It if wasn’t for her, I may not even be here.”
Avery passed her a mug of coffee. “I guess I’ve been lucky. At least it wasn’t something to be hidden in our family. Not from each other, anyway. Although not all family members have embraced it.”
“Strange, isn’t it, how some people are scared of this stuff?” Elspeth laughed, “And then a whole load of other people wish they had what we have.”
“I don’t know if they’d want what we have now. Things got weird last night.”
Before she could elaborate, the others arrived. Alex looked tired.
“Are you okay?” Avery asked. “You really worried me last night.”
“What’s going on?” Briar asked, a look of concern crossing her face as she looked between the two of them.
“It’s all right, I’m fine,” Alex said. “Sorry I didn’t stay,” he said to Avery. “I woke at about three in the morning and didn’t want to wake you, so I left. Are you all right?”
“I wasn’t the one smothered in weird black smoke. I’m fine, thanks. Weirded out, but fine.”
By now the others were looking bewildered, and Alex quickly said, “The runes on the box, it was a test, for me. Come and see.”
They followed him up the stairs to the attic, which looked peaceful, if messy, suggesting nothing of the events that happened the night before. The wooden box rested in a patch of sunlight, highlighting the crack on the inside of the lid. The line of salt still surrounded it.
“What the hell happened?” Gil asked. “Is that blood?” He stood close to the box, examining the smear of herb paste that ran over the runes, and the bowl the paste had been mixed in. Alex’s knife was still on the floor, too, and he looked at Alex’s bandaged hand. He straightened up, suddenly serious. “What did you do?”
“The box needed my blood to prove who I was. Or rather, my ancestor did. It was a rune spell, and I deciphered it.”
“And then decided to cast it! Blood magic?” Gil looked at Alex incredulously, and then at Avery. “And you let him do it?”
Avery had never seen Gil like this before. She knew Gil as the laidback witch from across the town who came from one of the old families. But then again, they’d never performed magic together, either.
She stood next to Alex, in solidarity. “I actually didn’t want him to, but we knew something was in the lid. It’s still in the lid. We think it’s the grimoire.” The tension in the room was palpable. “Look, I know it was dangerous, but we were careful, you can see that. And I trusted Alex.” She felt Alex give her a quick glance, but she kept looking at Gil.
Gil’s shoulders dropped and he sighed. “I wish you’d have called us first. Anything could have happened.”
Alex explained, “There wasn’t time, and besides, I didn’t think we needed you. And I’m fine.”
“And the black smoke?” El asked, hands on hips, not wanting to let them off that easily.
He grinned sheepishly, “Well, that was odd.”
“It wasn’t smoke though, was it?” Briar said, standing next to the circle. “It was a spirit form.”
Avery’s mouth gaped. “It was a what?”
“She’s right,” Alex said. “It spoke to me. Well, sort of. I could feel it in my head, probing, checking me out.” He shook his head, as if to shake out the intrusion. “I felt I had to fight to prove who I am. It was exhausting.”
“You passed out. It must have been,” Avery said, frowning at Alex. “I didn’t know whether to try and intervene, but then I thought if you’re right, and it was a test ...” She trailed off, and looked at Briar. “It was crazy. Anything could have happened, but we had to try. How do you know it was a spirit?”
Briar gently probed around the crack on the box’s lid, and then brushed her fingers across the symbol on the side. “This sign. It seems logical now.”
“Well, hindsight’s a great thing. You could have been killed. Both of you,” Gil said, still annoyed. He sat on the edge of the sofa, looking at the box warily.
Alex strode forward to join Briar. “Well, we weren’t, and it’s about time we looked at what’s in here.”
He inserted his fingers into the long crack in the lid and pulled, the fractured wood splintering to reveal a large, thick grimoire covered with scuffed black leather. Alex lifted it out gently and as the light hit it, a faded silver image glinted on the cover that Avery struggled to recognise. Alex carried it to the oak table that Avery used to prepare her spells, and they crowded around him as he opened the cover. A list of names was written on the front page in different scripts, and the date at the top said 1309.
“This was 300 years old when it was hidden!” he said, shocked. He turned the pages, and it seemed everyone held their breath. The pages were covered in dense, tiny writing, all spells starting on a new page, the same as in their existing grimoires, the language old, and the script hard to decipher. There were simple illustrations too.
“What kind of spells are they?” El asked, craning to see.
“Some of them seem the usual types,” Alex said thoughtfully. “Charms of protection, healing spells, some curses, and ...” He paused, looking at them, “Spells to control spirits and demons.”
“Demons?” Briar asked, her eyes wide.
He nodded. “Many more than I’ve got in my existing book.”
Avery felt another flutter of worry pass through her. She had been taught as a child that to manipulate spirits and demons was something that could be done only occasionally - it was too dangerous. “Does this mean they summoned demons more than we do now?”
“I guess so.” Alex continued to turn pages, mesmerised. “These spells are sophisticated, complex. And potentially more powerful than I’ve used before.”
It took a few seconds for this to sink in. Older, more powerful spells. A hidden legacy of magic they could now learn. Avery shivered, not sure if it was with excitement or trepidation. “Do you think the other grimoires will be like this?”
“They must be,” Gil reasoned. “Is there anything in there about immortality? Or anything that looks particularly dark?”
“Other than demons? No idea at this stage.” Alex looked up. “I really need to spend time looking through this properly. The writing’s hard to decipher in places.”
“Why are you asking that?” El asked Gil.
“Just wondered if it’s something my missing relatives might have been interested in.”
Briar interrupted, looking horrified. “Has anybody actually summoned a demon?”
“Never,” El said. “And I have no intention of doing so either.”
“I wonder,” Avery said, “If it was Anne’s death that triggered something coming in the first place. I mean that her death released knowledge of the box she’d hidden away for so long. After all, it was just after she died that Alex had his premonition and the cards foretold an event.”
“Alex,” El mused thoughtfully, “what are the main types of spells in your book?”
“I’m not sure, it’s difficult to define. Astral projection, out of body walking, spirit talking.” He was sitting now, head on his hand, leafing through the book, his attention completely caught in it. “I’ve never seen stuff like this before.”
“So it’s a symbol for Spirit!” she exclaimed. “The image on the front of the book, I mean.”
Avery was annoyed with herself for not realising sooner. “Of course! And it is Alex’s strength.”
“So does that mean the other grimoires focus on the other elements?” Gil asked.
“Fire, Air, Water, Earth. The strengths of our family lines?” Briar observed.
Avery grinned. “We could grow our magic! Learn new things. Tap into a magic that’s been hidden to us for centuries!”
Gil brought her back to Earth. “If the spells are as powerful as we think—as Alex thinks his are—then the books could be trouble. A whole shit ton of trouble. If someone else knows these exist, it’s no wonder they’re coming for them.”
