Eve would have liked Daphne to stay with her. She watched her teacher, who grabbed her broomstick and flew out through the window. A tear appeared in the corner of the young witch´s eye.
Eve decided to build up an altar next. It was supposed to honour her ancestors. She found photos of her deceased parents and grandparents and placed them on the altar. She added candles, incense, flowers and chicken bones there too. Then, she prayed for her ancestors´ spirits to show up and tell her secrets. She believed that their ghosts knew more, than living beings, about everything.
In her trance like state, Eve encountered her mother and father. She also talked to her grandmother. They all gave her the same advice to be careful with her wishes. They warned her about the lurking Shadow Man. They reminded her that he wasn´t dead, but only dormant in the Underworld. Eve felt disgusted to hear that the Shadow Man could still be able to attack her possibly in the future.
Her deceased relatives were right in terms of their warnings. Eve realized that she had to stay alert throughout her remaining life. She considered life to be tough. What made it harder for her, was to be a victim of the eerie entity.
After the ceremony, Eve felt exhausted. She lay down on the floor mat and fell asleep. She didn´t wake up to the incense smoke in the living room. Until it caught the smoke detector and caused fire alarm. The siren´s noise made her to jump up startled. She realized that it was too late to call anyone. She rushed outside through the open door of the veranda.
Eve continued running, until she´d reached a safe distance from the house. She imagined that her house was going to burn into ashes, before any help would arrive. Desperately, she tried to memorize some spell, which would extinguish the fire. Sadly, she didn´t come up with one out of her head. She watched her nightmare becoming true within minutes, as her house burned down.
Chapter 4 After the Fire
Eve cried loudly, when the firemen came. They asked her many questions, but she was able to give only short answers. The sight of her burnt home took away Eve´s ability to speak. She stared at the remains of her destroyed home and broke into tears. Something bad and strange had taken away her home. Eve couldn´t stand the thought of losing all, during one evening.
She knew that the insurance company would compensate her loss, but not entirely. She had lost her dearest photos, items and memories along with plenty of wealth. She knew that she would survive, but she was in shock. Something had permanently changed inside her. Eve didn´t try to harden her thoughts. She knew that she would have to struggle, but she was too tired to do so.
The terrible experience took away her ability to act and her strength. She spent many hours staring at the wall in the hostel, where she stayed. Her best friend loaned her money that helped Eve to stay in the hostel for one week. She had to remain there, until she´d find a new place to stay. If she failed to buy a new house, perhaps her friend could offer her a place to stay. She imagined.
Chapter 5 Eve´s Secret Love Potion
In the hostel, Eve decided to take a flowery witch´s bath. It was her usual habit to take a spiritual bath on Sundays. She rarely discarded her wellness duties. Scented flowers lay all over the bathroom. She´d picked them up from a trash can, in the backyard of a flower boutique.
She let a shower of water into the bathtub. Then, she emptied her Himalayan salt bowl contents and dew drops of her love potion into the water.
She entered to the tub naked, but she was alone. Simeon sat on one of the shelves, where he enjoyed the warm air. His eyes were almost two lines, while he purred cosily. Eve lighted the myrrh incense cone and closed her eyes. She saw circles of smoke turning into rainbow spheres inside her mind. She was glad to possess a creative mind. It was her most precious gift. She often thought so.
Stephanie had left two hours ago. Eve felt calm, while she enjoyed bathing. She heard sounds of music coming from her bedroom. It was a yoga channel, which sent soothing music to her ears. She missed Daphne. She felt like a queen, after completing her love potion on the same evening.
She discovered the recipe in Daphne´s spell book. Eve wrote it down to her diary with a pen. She´d memorized the ingredients of the potion by heart. She always possessed a good memory from since her childhood. Eve added herbs; rosemary, sage, sweetgrass and bay leaves to the sweet-smelling solution. She was going to sprinkle it on her before going on a date. She had agreed to meet one man, who´d asked her out.
Eve knew Colin from since their common high school years. They were close friends from since their freshmen year. Later, their friendship deepened, but she always felt that not enough. He remained distant and aloof. Acting like he just wanted to be friends and nothing more. Eve was disappointed, but she didn’t give up. She discovered the love potion recipe in Daphne´s spell book. She decided to try it out immediately.
Eve prepared the mixture in a large iron kettle. It took her twenty minutes to boil the herbs, until they emitted sweet odour. After cooling the solution, Eve bottled it into small glass vials. She stuffed one pink vial into her handbag. She was going to head to Collin´s house next. There, she could sprinkle it on his belongings and the house so that it would do its job. Eve thought about it smiling.
She discovered Collin´s address in a phone directory. Eve headed there next. She took a bus to get there. Then, she arrived behind his front door. Eve stood dressed in a white floral dress and peach-coloured sweater. She hoped to meet Collin soon. She hadn´t seen him in years. It was the result of the recent events that caused her to act spontaneously.
He wasn´t home. No one came to open the door for her. She was disappointed. Eve noticed that one of the windows was open. It was Collin´s room, which she saw through that window. She became wishful again. The window seemed large enough for Eve to enter to the apartment. She gave it a try.
After climbing, she stood in the centre of the room. She took out the vial and poured its contents all over the place. After spreading the odour enough in her opinion, she smiled satisfied. Proud of her own courage, she crawled back through the window to the yard. Eve ran away immediately when she saw a car arriving toward Collin´s house.
She ran away from the car as fast as she could. On the way, she realized that it could be Collin´s car, just as well as anyone else´s. Eve continued moving, until she discovered a large trashcan and she hid behind it. She sat down on the pavement and was short of breath. Her skin was pale, and she panted. Like she was about to die soon.
I shouldn´t have done that. Eve regretted that she´d intruded to Collin´s home. Someone might have seen her. Someone like the cops could have seen me. I was so foolish to take the risk. Eve scratched her forehead with her nails. Her makeup was peeling off, due to sweating. She was going to keep moving soon. She had to, because someone might come after her. She feared that she was going to be chased soon.
