The Lunar Witch

Chapter 6

The rest of the day was uneventful. Oliver and I ate a somber lunch while waiting to see if Chrys would return. We sat in the quiet, ignoring the unpleasantness of the situation. I checked the man’s vitals frequently, but nothing changed. I couldn’t tell if he was healing or making any kind of progress. All I knew was he wasn’t getting any worse. Sometimes it was all I could hope for.

After lunch, Oliver had to sleep in his old room, resting before he had to work tonight. I had tried to get him to go home, but he’d refused, claiming to worry about me being home alone when Chrys got back. I couldn’t tell if that’s what worried him, or if he thought the man would wake up and attack me. Either way, it was nice to know he was here to help. It was annoying that he didn’t trust me to protect myself… but I knew his heart was in the right place.

I was sitting on the uncomfortable couch House had placed in the infirmary when I heard the front door open and close.

“Hello? You-who!” Rhonda called.

“I’m in here!” I responded. I could hear her footsteps coming my way, along with rustling bags. The scent of Thai food wafted my way, and my mouth watered. Her head peaked from the doorway, and she grinned.

“I brought dinner!” She lifted the bag of Thai into view and walked into the room. I jumped up and grabbed it from her, placing it onto a little table next to the recliner.

“Thanks. Oliver didn’t say you were coming?”

“I heard you had a rough morning. Oliver was worried about you being alone tonight. Wanted to call out of work. So, I suggested you and I have a girl’s night. How you holding up?” Rhonda gave me a concerned look. I thought about lying, but I had never been able to keep things from her. I sighed and looked at the man.

“He hasn’t made any progress. Hasn’t moved or made a sound. It’s got me anxious.”

“Is that why you’re making this hideous blanket? I know you only knit when something’s bothering you.” She walked over to where I had been sitting and picked up the half-finished blanket. I laughed. The blanket was full of vibrant pinks, purples, and blues with swirls. Once finished, it would be a galaxy of constellations. But right now, it was a chaotic mess.

“I’m glad you like it. It’s for you. Well, it’s for the baby.” I said through laughter. Rhonda was seven months pregnant, and her belly had gotten big. (Not that I would tell her that.) She and Oliver had married 3 years ago, and both of our families were excited about the first child of our generation.

I hadn’t been too keen on them getting together at first. Rhonda had been my best friend since I was 11, and I was afraid of how that would change our friendship. But over time, I got over it, and our friendship grew stronger. And now I would be an auntie to her baby.

“I like the colors, but what is going on with the design? It’s a mess Pepper.” She laughed and held it up for me to see. Rhonda was playful, and I knew she would love the blanket no matter what.

“It’s not done! It’ll look nice when it’s finished. You weren’t supposed to see it yet. Oliver didn’t tell me you were coming.” I began opening the Thai food boxes, and the steam hit my nose. My stomach growled, and I remembered I hadn’t eaten since noon.

“You remember what I’ve always told you? You can’t take- “

"You can’t take care of others unless you take care of yourself. I know, I know. I just have no appetite when I’m anxious.” I grabbed the box that had my usual order and handed her hers. Each grabbing a fork, we sat down and began eating. “Thank you for bringing food. And for coming over. As much as I don’t want to admit it to Oliver, I didn’t want to be alone.” I looked at the man and an image flashed through my head of Chrys sneaking in and killing him while I slept. I shook myself of the thought and looked back at Rhonda. She chewed while watching me with concern.

Rhonda looked past me and grinned. She plopped her plate down, jumped up, and ran to Oliver and gave him a big hug. He had a big, goofy grin as he bent down to kiss her.

“Hi, sweetheart! Get any sleep?” Rhonda asked him, still locked in his embrace.

“Me? How about you? Did you sleep today? And how about you? Did you sleep?” Oliver rubbed her belly, speaking to the baby. “You taste like Thai.” He kissed her again, making her giggle.

“I brought dinner. Thought it would be nice if we ate together before you had to work.” They both turned to the food that was next to me. My face became warm, and I looked down at my plate, inspecting the noodles. I had gotten over them dating, but was still uncomfortable with their public affection.

Oliver released her with a last kiss, grabbed his plate, and sat down on the little couch. Rhonda moved the baby blanket, sat next to him, and resumed eating. We sat in silence for a moment.

“Any changes?” Oliver nodded his head towards the man on the bed.

“No. Nothing new.” I played with the noodles and chicken on my plate, not eating much. Anxiety gnawed at my stomach, making it hard to eat.

Rhonda and Oliver resumed chatting about the baby and what she had accomplished in the nursery. I tried to listen, but my thoughts kept going to the man on the bed. How bloody and helpless he’d looked when he’d arrived on my patio the night before. And how corpse like he looked now. The thought made my stomach flip, and I set my plate down.

“Pepper, you’ve barely eaten. You should eat more.” Rhonda looked at me with concern.

“I know. Thank you for the food. There’s just something that’s bothering me. I can’t put my finger on it. It’s just so strange.” I starred at the man. Everything didn’t add up; my gut knew it. I just couldn’t figure out why. Why had he been gutted? Who did this to you?

“You mean it’s weird that a wolf had most of his organs removed but is still alive? Nope. Not strange at all.” Rhonda said.

“Peppers right. Who would have done this? Why do it… and why let him live?” Oliver said.

“Maybe they didn’t intend to let him go?” Rhonda said. We sat in silence as we all stared at the man. They brought up things I had been thinking about for the past few hours. Nothing about it made sense.

“What I don’t understand is what they were trying to accomplish. Why did they choose those specific organs to take? The most valuable organ from a Werewolf is their heart. They’re used in a lot of old spells. Some spells required other organs, but I don’t recall any having the exact list of what he’s missing. So why did they take them?” I asked myself more than I did them.

“Why do you know so much about spells with wolf organs?” Oliver asked me. They’d both stopped eating. I froze for a moment, realizing how that might’ve sounded.

“Gran asked me to restore the family’s old Grimoire books. They’re hundreds of years old, before Witches came to America. Before Wolves, Witches, Vampires, Fae, and other Magic Folk got along. Some of the magic wouldn’t have been considered dark magic at the time, but it is now.”

Rhonda gave me a quizzical look. “Magic Folk don’t get along. We tolerate each other.”

“I know, but Witches consider them people now. Well, at least the younger generations do. In the past, Witches didn’t consider Werewolves people, so it wasn’t taboo to take their organs.” I said.

“That’s horrible! I knew Magic Folk hated each other, but I had no idea…”

“Your family never told you about the history of the different Magic Folk?” Oliver asked her.

“No! Not like that. I know about my family’s past, but I was never taught about the history of other Magic Folk. We did that?” Rhonda’s family was younger and had a less traditional blood line. Gran had made sure that my siblings and I grew up knowing our history-the good and the bad-but few blood lines did.

“Not just to Wolves. We did it to other species as well. Trapped Fae so we could use their magic for ourselves, harvested their fairy dust to use in spells. Unfortunately, our history is dark.”

Rhonda shivered and her face scrunched up.

“That’s why we have the treaty between Werewolves and Witches. To prevent things like this from happening.” I said.

“It can’t have been a Witch-we aren’t allowed to use dark magic. The treaty stopped that a long time ago.” Oliver said. Just because we aren’t supposed to use dark magic doesn’t mean all Dark Witches stopped using it.

“What else could have caused that injury? It’s not like a wild animal cut him open and surgically removed his organs.” I said.

“Maybe another type of Magic Folk did it? Vampires?” Rhonda asked. For a moment, I thought about it while pushing my food around my plate.

“I guess? But what would a Vampire do with a Werewolf’s organs?” I said. Oliver shifted in his seat and looked over at Rhonda. The conversation seemed to make them uneasy as they exchanged glances. But we have to figure out who did this-and why. Oliver looked at the gold watch on his wrist and his eyes widened.

“It’s 10:40! I’ve got to go!” He scarfed down what remained on his plate, pecked Rhonda on the lips, and stood. He threw away his plate and brushed off his clothes.

“How do I look? Any food on me?” He posed for Rhonda, waiting for her to answer. She stood and smoothed his vest and adjusted his tie. Oliver had always had a businessman look to him, but it was even more pronounced when he dressed for work. He worked in a guild of spiritual readers, often reading dragon bones and doing tarot readings for other Witches. When he first got accepted into the guild, he was so nervous he made me help him find a suit. That was 5 years ago, and Oliver had found his own personal business style.

He typically wore a black suit vest with matching pants, with a white shirt underneath, and a colorful tie tucked into the vest. Today his vest was violet, and he had a gold watch in his pocket with a chain attached to his pants. I’d always thought it was strange that he wore two watches until I asked about it. He’d explained that during tarot readings, or when trying to reach spirits, watches stop. His black hair was smoothed back, and his handlebar mustache was gelled into place. Overall, he looked rather dapper. It was odd to think he was the same boy who’d fretted for days over what suit he should wear to his first reading.

“You look smashing. Spotless.” She played with his mustache. “I’ll walk you out.” They left the room, and I could hear their whispers from the living room. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, if it was sweet nothings, or if it was about not leaving me alone. Either way, it didn’t matter. It’s none of your business, Pepper.