The Witch and the Boy who Loved Her

Week 4+ Friendships Past

"Peter?" His name left my lips before my mind registered what was happening. He looked grown up but at the same time I would recognize the face of the boy from my childhood anywhere. Just as I saw the recognition cross his face my body turned and bolted the opposite direction. My mind was racing through a million thoughts and feelings. I made it through the main entrance of the school and just kept going. Pretty soon my vision was blurry from the tears running down my face. What was happening. My best friend had finally came back after all these years. I could finally get the answers I always wanted and I am running away. I bolted through the double doors in the back of the school towards the football field. Once I was up on the field I felt like I was away from all the prying eyes of school I slumped to the ground. I let the sadness and pain wash over me.

I didn't realize I wasn’t alone until I heard the slight cough of someone clearing their throat. Assuming it was a football player or the coach I stood immediately, brushed my self off and started back towards the school.

"Sorry, I'll just be on my way." I mumbled with my head down as I tried to get off the field as fast as possible.

"Layla" I froze. A deep voice I didn't quite recognize spoke my name. Being in a small school I knew the sound of everyone's voice. "Layla, I.." Turning I saw him. His face had grown so much. I hadn't noticed before but wow, he had become quite handsome.

"Where have you been!" My voice was raised. Yelling through my tears that hadn't stopped. "I waited for you to come back! Everyday I waited! Where were you!" My voice was a shout now. Choked and shouting was not the way I had imagined seeing him again after all this time. I couldn't help myself though. Seeing him after all these years all the hurt came flooding back and anger replaced any elation that may have been there. "Well? Nothing? Are you going to say something?"

Before I could yell at him anymore he spoke. "Layla, I didn't want to leave you." His voice was deep but soft. "I wanted to tell you. I didn't have a choice. I got home that day thinking I had more time and my mom had everything packed and that was it. She wouldn't even let me say good bye. Told me it was for the best. What ever that means." I could here the sincerity in his voice. My whole body was trembling uncontrollably. I just couldn't process the emotions running through my mind. "Layla, please. I didn't want to leave you."

"But you did Peter! You didn't call, or write, or anything! Hell, I would have settled for a f**k Off from you. At least I would have known where I stood!" Still shouting. I glanced around us. A crowd was starting to gather at the entrance to the school. s**t.

"Hey are you alright Layla?" The sound of my friend Curtis' voice was so far away.

Collecting my thoughts I tried to answer convincingly so that the principal wouldn't be called in. "I am alright, Curtis. Peter, here, is an old friend." I gave a week smile as I turned to go back inside.

"Layla, wait!" He called for me but I didn't stop. I needed to get away from the school and all these people to process my thoughts. I walked back through the double doors, down the hall, and around the corner to the main office.

The secretary, a plump and friendly woman, smiled as I approached. "Hello, dear. How can I help you?" Her soothing voice seemed so comforting at the moment.

"I am not feeling well. I think I am going to head back home. Just letting you know before I left." My voice sounded weak making my plea of illness sound more believable.

"Well okay dear, first day nerves maybe?"

"I certainly hope so. I do hate to miss out on the first day of school."

"Well get some rest and we will see you tomorrow." She smiled at me as I walked out. I didn't even turn to see if anyone of my friends had followed. I had hoped they would be in class. With my head down I turned toward the street in the direction of home. I could just shimmer home if I really wanted to, but grandmother had rules about not using my magic in view of prying eyes.

As I turned out on to the street I could hear footsteps coming up behind me. Damnit. I didn't really have it in me to talk to anyone. "Please, I don't really want company right now."

"Layla, please. Talk to me. You're the reason I came back here. Let me at least grab my bike and give you a ride home?"

"You can grab your bike, but I don't think I want a ride home." I started to run a little. I just wanted to get away from him. So strange, I missed him all these years. I just wanted him back and now that he is here I can't seem to get away fast enough. I could hear him picking up the pace behind me. Completely ignoring grandmother's rules I felt the air around me start to ripple. I could see the light shimmer and blur around me. Then as quickly as it had started it was over and I was home standing in my driveway. Instead of going straight in the house I made my way around to the back. I stepped over the run down fence that separated our yard from the farmers field. He had moved about 5 years back and the grass had grown over. I walked out to the middle where Peter and I used to play and plopped down. Laying on my back looking up at the sky over head I started to cry again. How foolish I had been. I didn't realize how attached I had been to him. How much I had missed him all these years. Using my hand I made the little clouds rolling over head go from a blob to a bike, then a cat, then a pirate ship, and then to a treasure chest.

"I used to love it when you did that." I jumped a little at the sound of his voice. I had been so distracted by my thoughts I didn't hear him pull up to my house.

"How did you find me?"

"We used to come here all the time. I was more hoping you would be here. If I sit are you going to run again?" He sounded hesitant.

"No."

"Okay, look I am sorry Layla. I never wanted to leave, let alone like that. I begged my mom to let me say good bye. She thumped me on the head and shoved me in the car." He sat down next to me slowly. I could smell him now. His cologne, a hint of stale smoke, and underneath the familiarly comforting smell of sunshine and dirt.

"Why?" Was the only think I could choke out. Fighting back the urge to cry, the urge to run, and the urge to wrap my arms around him all at once was hard.

"She never really told me. She was scared of something. Like something was coming for her and she couldn't run fast enough to get away from it. I begged to call you, she refused. I tried to write you and I caught her burning my letters. We never stayed anywhere longer than 2 weeks. She tried to keep me from getting to close to anyone. I have used more fake names than I can remember." Glancing up at him I could see the pain on his face. Was his mother crazy? What could have been after them? Her?

"How did you get back here now, after all this time?" I almost didn't want to know.

" Well, she died about 6 months ago. With out her to stop me I have wanted nothing more than to come back here. I didn't know if you would still be here. I didn't know if you would even want to talk to me. I didn't know anything but I knew I had to get here and see for myself." He reached his hand out to mine. After ten years of nothing it felt as though it had been there all along. Like he had never stopped holding my hand. I couldn't hold the tears back any more. I started to completely sob.

"Peter, you came back to me." I choked through my tears.

"I'll always come back to you, Layla." Wrapping his arms around me he pulled me in to his chest. My mind wandered back to when were kids. I had just discovered my powers. Things were going wrong for me. I had fried my hair and some of the kids down the street had seen me walking outside with Peter. Peter was very likable. The group had come by to see Peter. They started taunting me and it made me cry. I ran off and didn't see what Peter had done, but when he caught up to me his hand was bloody. I was so shocked he'd picked me over them. I asked him why he came back to me. That was the first time he told me he would always come back to me. He hugged me tightly till my crying stopped. When I had finally pulled my face away from his chest he leaned in and kissed me. He giggled as he grabbed my hand and ran towards our swimming hole.

I hadn't realized it but my power had gotten away when my emotions skyrocketed. My emotions could change the weather but i could never seem to change it back. The once sunny day was now gray with rain clouds and lightening was threatening on the horizon. Being out in an open field is the last place you want to be when a lightening storm happens.

"Looks like a storm is coming. We should go." My voice was small and shaky. I didn't want to let him go but I didn't know if he would go with me or not.

"Yeah, I better get you home. Well, actually how would you feel about coming back to my old house with me? No one has lived there in some time. I had planned on staying there for the time being." I wasn't sure this was a good idea but I wasn't ready to let him go yet.

"Ok." He hadn't let my hand go so he helped me up with it and then held it on the walk to his mother's house. The walk didn't take more than 10 minutes. Even though the path was mostly grown over, it was so familiar to both of us, it wasn't hard to find and follow. I could see the old house coming in to view. My mind wondered back to the first time I met his mother.

"You're Franny's granddaughter?"

"Yes ma'am." I said as politely as I could. She scowled at me before pulling Peter in behind her.

"Get out! That family of your's is evil! You get away from my son! I don't want to see you around here any more!" She was yelling at me. I wasn't sure what I had done. I was as polite as I could be. How could I be evil? How could my family be evil? I turned to walk back to my house. Peter had followed me. He hadn't any idea what she was talking about either. He stayed with me for quite sometime before going home. Apologizing non-stop for his mother's actions. When he did finally go home they must have argued. The next day he had a red handprint across his face where I was sure she had slapped him.

Stepping up on the porch brought me back to the present. The porch was falling apart. Holes in the planking, paint peeling, and one of the steps had caved in. It looked as though a few of the windows in the house were broken, moss was growing over parts of the siding, and some of the siding was actually falling away from the house itself. He tried the door knob and it must have been locked. He used his broad shoulders to check the door and I heard the sound of wood cracking and he pushed his way in.

The house, other than it was weathered and musty, looked as though they had left with nothing. "Did your mother take anything with you when you left?"

"She had packed me a small bag of clothes, a blanket, and a pillow. I had to fight past her to get to my room to grab this." He pointed at a necklace that hung under his shirt.

"What is it?" I had a feeling I knew but I didn't want to assume.

"Really? It's the stone you gave me when we were kids." He grinned a little as he pulled it from it's hiding place. A small piece of smoky quartz I had found on one of our adventures. It was oblong shaped and he had wrapped wire around the skinny end and looped a chain through it. "It is the one thing I wouldn't let her take from me. The one piece of you she couldn't leave behind." He didn't look at me when he said that last part. He just tucked it back in his shirt. He walked across the entry way to the living room. The couch was placed in the center of the room separating the entry from the living room itself. He grabbed for a dusty, moth-eaten blanket and gave it a shake. Laying it out on the couch. "Have a seat. I'm gonna grab my saddle bags off my bike and I'll be right back." He turned quickly and walked out the door.

I was shocked at how tall he had gotten. He had to duck slightly to get out the door. I remember being closer in height when we were small. As I sat down I heard my phone chime with a text. Looking at it I realized I had missed several texts and calls from my friends at school. I sent Ashley a text saying all was well. That I would call them all later. Telling Ashley was a good as telling all three. She would pass the message immediately. When I finished I pushed the phone back in my pocket as Peter came walking back in the room. He really had gotten ruggedly handsome. I suddenly felt nervous and self conscience. I had never felt that way before. Looking at him in the gray light of the midmorning, with the rain dripping down his chiseled features I realized I had been so broken after he left because I loved him. He was more than a friend and I hadn't wanted to admit it all this time.

Thunder clapped over head. I shivered a little sitting on the old couch. Peter stepped out on to the porch again and this time came back in with a small arm load of fire wood. Crossing over to the old fire place he crouched down to start building a fire. Reaching in his jacket pocket he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. It really had been to long since I saw him last. He smoked now? He pulled one from the pack and lit it. Exhaling the smoke he looked up and made a gesture to offer me one. I just shook my head and turned to look out the window at the lightening streaking by.

"Bad habit I picked up. You sure you don't want one?" A slight grin crossed his face, but when I shook my head again it fell. "I know a lot has changed since we were 7." He didn't finish the thought. There was a sudden thud up stairs and I jumped.

"Is someone else here?" I wasn't sure if I wanted to know.

"I don't know. This is the first time I've been here in ten years. Stay here. I'll go check." He stood slowly, creeping towards the stairs. He disappeared from sight as he silently climbed the stairs. After what seemed like forever he came back down with a book clutched in his hand.

"I didn't see anyone, but someone has definitely been here. There are some weird drawings all scribbled on the floor and burnt candles everywhere."

"Wait, what? I'm going to go see." I wasn't quiet climbing the stairs. Reaching the landing I could see small piles of wax where candle had been burnt down. Following the path of them they lead straight to the back bedroom. I remember that being Peter's room. I used to climb the tree outside his window at night sometimes when I missed him or when I had nightmares. Pushing the door open I could see the drawings he spoke of. My eyes were wide. Some one was casting spells to protect or to punish him. I wasn't as proficient in runes as Grandmother but I could tell they were spells. I had read about using the personal space of someone to place spells on them. This is too weird. Why would someone want to cast on Peter? Was he in danger? Maybe this is why his mother had taken him away? I felt him walk up behind me. As we stood there taking in the scene a thought occurred to me.

"We should probably leave before they come back. The only people I know around here that conjure are grandmother and I. They may not be good people and I'm not sure if I want to find out." Just as I turned to face him I heard a creak come from behind us. Whipping around with I start I saw my grandmother standing on the landing.

"Layla, what is going on and who is that?"

"It's me Ms. Merriwell. Peter."

"What? Oh my, Peter you have grown! Where have you been all this time?!" She look elated and she crossed over to embrace him in a hug. As she did I watched her eyes fall on the room behind us.

"What is this? Are you two back here.."

"No, Gran we found this. We just came in to get out of the storm. We heard a thump and came up the stairs to find this. Can you tell what it is?"

"We need to leave. Gather your things. We can discuss this at our house. Now." Her voice was so urgent. We went back down stairs and headed out the door. Peter gathered up his saddle bags, stuffing the book he had grabbed in one of them. "Peter if that's your bike ride it over to the house. We will meet you there."

"Yes ma'am." The look on her face was concerning. Peter loaded his bags back on his bike and off he sped to our house.

"Layla, you swear you had nothing to do with that? Not even as a kid when you were mad that he had left without saying goodbye."

"I swear Gran. I never went past the front door after he left. I only went once. His mother hated me so it was only after I hadn't seen him in a few days I dared to walk up and knock on the door. No one answered and I left."

"What about Peter? Has he been there? When did he come back?"

"Today at school is the first I've seen him. He said he hadn't been to that house in 10 years. When we got there he had to break the door to get in."

"You believe him?"

"Well yeah, Gran. Of course I do. He has never lied to me before." We were walking up the driveway and Peter was all ready there waiting on the porch.

"Quickly inside then. This isn't looking good." Grandmother's voice still urgent. She had completely dropped our conversation and moved on. Apparently me trusting him was enough. Once we were inside Peter and I followed Grandmother into the kitchen. She placed the teapot on the stove and pulled out 3 mugs and a teapot. She always made tea when she was nervous.

"Gran, what is going on?"

"Layla, this isn't good. Peter, did your mom ever tell you why she left?"

"No, she would always shut the conversation down. She never told me anything."

"s**t, this is bad."

"What? What is happening Gran?" The teapot started whistling. Grandmother poured water in teapot along with some of her special blend tea. Placing it all on a tray she walked into the sitting room. Peter and I followed. Grandmother always acted like this when she didn't want to tell me something.

"Sit down and have your tea. This isn't going to be easy. It would seem that someone didn't want you two to find each other. Someone placed a spell to keep you two apart. A pretty powerful spell at that. Though I don't know who. That I knew of, your mother didn't want anything to do with the magical world."

"It terrified her, actually. That's why she never liked you Layla." He looked over at me with a sad expression.

"Well then, do you know of anyone that would want to keep you two apart?"

"No idea, you think maybe your mother paid another witch to work the spell after you left?"

"No chance. She would sooner have had me thrown in juvenile hall than be apart of anything magical."

"Well then, I don't know who, but whatever thier purpose was, it must have a had time limit. I mean you came back and found her after all." Grandmother smiled over at Peter.

"I did. In the first 2 minutes of being at the school at that." This time he smiled up at me. The genuine Peter smile I had missed all these years.

"Where are you staying Peter?"

"Well, I was going to stay at my mothers house."

"Maybe you should stay here for a couple days. At least until I can get over there and do a cleansing. I don't want you to go getting yourself mixed up in any bad magic. You'll be staying in the guest room of course." She looked sternly between the two of us. "I seem to remember you two used to sneak into each other's rooms as children and now you are to old for that." A small laugh escaped us all at that comment.

The tension eased from the room a little as we drank our tea and reminisced on old times. Like the time Peter dared me to sneak into the farmers house and steal the apple pie cooling on the counter. The time Peter had forgot to lock the gate behind us and the farmers prize bull got out and made it almost all the way to town. We had had a lot of fun as kids getting into trouble. Little did we know the coming weeks would bring some serious trouble for us all.