Charmed Chaos

6. I think he saw me

EMILY

Glenda's meows woke me up today so it definitely had to be a good day. As I petted her, I began to think about Nolan. And no— it wasn't the norm for me to think about attractive guys in the morning. I prided myself on being quite responsible, so I usually brushed my teeth first.

“Why is this happening?“ I wondered aloud, as if Glenda was going to answer me.

Why have I been having dreams about Nolan long before I ever saw him? This doesn't make any sense. Not at all.

Hearing the voices of Rachel and Aunt Lena, I decided to join them. Perhaps they could help me make sense of this.

“Good morning,” I said, sitting on a stool in the kitchen. “What are we talking about?“

Aunt Lena said, “Your sister here is trying to find a negative in the perfect night she had yesterday. She can be silly sometimes.”

Shaking her head, Rachel responded, “That's not true. I just have something on my mind. It's not that big of a deal.“

As she cracked some eggs, Aunt Lena said, “Yet that was the first thing you told me today. Funny, don't you think?“

Now holding an empty glass, I said, “You guys should tell me already. I can't take the suspense.”

According to Rachel, after their meal last night, Ian, with a straight face, expressed his feelings, saying he could ‘see them happy as a family with about six or seven kids'.

Rachel stood up, saying, “Just look at what he said. Six or seven! I'm not even sure I want one, and he's here wanting an entire boy band.”

Aunt Lena, still keeping busy in the kitchen, said, “But that's no reason to get worried or scared about anything. You guys can talk it out later on.“

Shaking her head, Rachel said, “You guys didn't see his face, that's why you're both so calm. He said it with the biggest smile ever.“ Pausing to take a deep breath, she added, “He probably doesn't like feminists or independent women.“

My eyes widened, and I said, “Rachel? You're assuming too much here. Just because he wants children….“

“Yes,” she interrupted me, still pacing around. “Why would any man expect a woman to give birth to seven children in this age? I'm thinking he would actually want me to be a housewife.“

As Rachel and Aunt Lena continued arguing, I began to think about last night. I have to say, it ended well. After spending about an hour on the rooftop, Nolan walked me home, and we talked all the way to the house.

“It's not safe for you out here in the street,” he had said as he walked me to the house. “Werewolf attacks on witches are still a thing.”

He was right. No witch should be seen on the streets at night. Over the years, although way less frequent now, werewolves have committed a lot of crimes, especially against witches. Many witches have been violated, and there's almost never a time where the culprit is apprehended.

But if only he knew I was a blood witch.

“Oh, a little birdie told me something,” Aunt Lena said as we ate breakfast.

“What?” Rachel asked.

Shifting her gaze to me, Aunt Lena said, “It's like that Carruther b***h can't even protect her family. If this is true, they are way in over their heads.”

Aunt Lena went on to say that there was a rumour that Naire was in the custody of the vampire couple. And there was nothing Mirabel or anyone else could do to retrieve her.

“She's probably dead,” Rachel muttered.

“Come on,” I gasped, my eyes on her. “You can't possibly wish that on her.“

Aunt Lena chimed in, “Not trying to be mean, but if she's truly there, her chances of walking out alive are slim. That is, if she's still alive.“

Damn.

I hated hearing about Zuna and Grace Ulrich. Every time I heard their names, I get reminded that my parents aren't here because of them.

Soon after, Rachel and I headed to our little restaurant. Rachel talked non-stop on the way.

“I'm really not panicking,” she declared, staring at me. “Are you alright, Emily?“

Well, why not tell her?

Taking my time, I explained everything to Rachel and told her how surprised I was to see that Nolan was the same guy I had been dreaming about for years.

Rachel began to laugh, an arm around my shoulder as she did. I saw that she didn't want to but just couldn't help herself.

“You are funny,” she finally stated, managing to pull herself together. “There's no way you actually believe this.”

Shrugging, I stated, “I last dreamt about him a few weeks ago. Taking a good look at him, I'm certain he's the same person.”

A hand over her mouth, she tried to subdue the urge to laugh but couldn't, bursting into a hysterical laughter.

I really couldn't blame her, could I? Even for us witches, it was still bizarre to hear such a thing. There was no explanation as to how I could have dreams about a person whom I hadn't met at the time.

“Look at him,” Rachel muttered to me, making a subtle gesture at Fabian who was walking arm in arm with a lady I had never met, his gaze going to the ground as he walked right past us.

“Wow,” I voiced out, shaking my head. “I guess he's already cheating on the woman he cheated on me with.“

An arm still around my shoulder, Rachel said, “Sometimes when I'm with Ian, I think about you, Emily. I think about when the right perfect witch will come your way.“ Stopping and cupping my face in her hands, she added, “But inside of me, I know it's going to happen. Definitely. You're going to find the one for you, and when you do, he will bring so much joy to your life.”

As she said that, I wondered when that time would come and if I would even recognise the one who was meant for me. That is if there indeed was one.

We got into the restaurant and began to get the place running.

The restaurant was literally our life. For real, it was. As Aunt Lena would say, ‘it was our little thing'.

Even from our days in school, after school, we would go right to the restaurant to help Aunt Lena, and when we were done with our secondary education, it became a full-time thing.

It was one of the seven restaurants in the town and was a little popular on this side of the town.

After taking an order from a customer, Rachel came to meet me out back as I was about to dump the rubbish. “Not trying to make everything about me, but do you think I will make a good mother?“

Good gracious! Not this again.

“Rachel, enough with this already. Fine, I know you're worried about this, but we have been on this all morning. Just concentrate on the things happening in your life.“

“But I'm just a little worried, you know,” she confessed, looking away for a moment. “I just don't know if I rushed into this… I mean, what if we don't want the same thing? I personally don't want children now.“

I shook my head at her, now smiling. “Don't give it too much thought. You guys love each other and I have no doubts that you will find a way to work it all out together.“

As we spoke, there was this loud sound of an altercation emanating from inside of the restaurant. We quickly went back in.

I will be damned. It was Scott.

Scott was a violent werewolf that has somehow managed to evade punishment from the authorities despite all the wicked things he had done.

Right now, he had come into the restaurant, flipped a table, and used parts of it to hit a guy that had allegedly ‘tried to f*ck with him'. Not just trying to take the guy's side, but with Scott, it was almost impossible to not offend him.

“Not this i***t again,” Rachel complained in a low tone.

Slowly, Scott turned to face us, making his way towards us, a sly expression on his face.

Damn it.

Werewolves had incredibly impressive auditory senses. They could literally hear a pin drop. He must have heard what Rachel said.

“What did you say, little miss?“ Scott asked, now less than a foot away from us. “You better start speaking before I lose my patience.“

“I'm sorry,” Rachel pleaded, her head bowed as she faced him. “I don't know what got over me… I don't mean what I said.”

I couldn't help glaring at him. His violent nature aside, Scott was literally a stupid person. Use any metric you could think of, and the conclusion will be the same. It was almost painful to watch him just walk around, his shoulders high, bullying everyone, though especially witches.

If not for the vow I made never to use my powers, heaven knows there were things I could do to him right now.

“Oh, that's better,” he said. Shifting his attention to me, he let out, “So, why aren't you apologising too?“

I just kept quiet, though unable to take my gaze off him.

Still staring at me, he said, “I'm waiting. And just so you know… it's not something I do well.”

Look, this wasn't the first time. I was tired of enduring Scott's antics and shenanigans.

Leaning, Rachel whispered to me, “You know it's best to just apologise. You have seen what he does to some witches.“

Rachel was right.

But the truth was that I just couldn't bring myself to apologise to him. I really tried.

“Okay, that's it,” he said, trying to throw a punch at me.

Just as he made a move, I snapped my fingers and he suddenly fell into a deep sleep, his head banging the tiled floor as he hit the ground.

Rachel, laughing rather awkwardly, tried to assure the witnesses that Scott had had too much to drink. And it wasn't particularly the hardest story to sell as Scott was a notorious drunk.

Everyone except him believed Rachel's explanation.

I could tell that he saw me.