Salem Falls

“It feels so right, now hold me tight!”

Evelyn couldn’t help herself from dancing behind the counter as she adjusted the extensive stamp collection behind the desk – Ezra Nanzig had come by looking for one for Loretta and totally sent the display into disarray. But Evelyn certainly didn’t mind. Nothing could bring her down recently.

“Tell me I’m the only one and then I might,” she sang along in a little off key tune, “never be the lonely one!”

The only thing that could encompass her out-of-this-world good mood was the delicious feel good music of the early Beatles. The sun was shining down on Salem Falls that afternoon, tumbling filtered light through the wide windows at the front of the shop, only lending more to her good mood. It was impossible for a member of the Lunar Circle to not feel amazing on such a beautiful day. They did harness their energy from nature, after all. Even if Evelyn could hardly do magic from the start.

“So hold me tight tonight, tonight,” she twittered, dusting off the counter when she finished with the stamps. “It’s you! You, you, you!”

You, you, you. The lyric may as well have been Louis, Louis, Louis, the way she had been thinking about him since their date. Or their not date. And perhaps that was the problem. She so desperately, vividly wanted it to be a date. But they had agreed, it was a thank you, not a date. It wasn’t a date.

What would a boy like Louis want with a girl like Evelyn anyway?

She didn’t live fast enough, the way he needed in a companion. The minute she swung her leg over that motorcycle her heart nearly fell out of her chest from the fear, but also from quiet excitement. In her high school days, she never would have dreamed of skipping school. And even in her adulthood she desperately wished she had the ability to go to school and make a real career for herself – that’s what non-mages did, right? And she practically was a non-mage, aside from the handful of tricks she’d managed to pick up over time. But of course, going to school would require having some sort of plan for a future job. Evelyn certainly lacked that.

It was hard, being the only one in the coven with pitiful magical skills. Especially with her parents being the exceptional mages they were. Cornelius Connors came from a long line of powerful magic, his family having lead the Lunar Circle since the original family was wiped out in the witch hunt. And worse yet, the magic was strong in the Styles’s; her mother learning everything she knew with a hint of that same dark undercurrent Harry carried with him. Evelyn simply didn’t belong in her own family.

But she tried her hardest not to care, busying herself with things she was good at. Like singing The Beatles in her most off-key pitch, learning about human history, and being a good friend. And that was probably what drew her to Louis the most.

She wanted so desperately to fix him. Just from the way he talked, she could tell that he wasn’t this rough and tumble guy he came off to be. He had pressures from his parents too, wealthy and from prestigious colleges, destined to become just like them. And it was okay for him to not be like his parents. Just the same way it was okay for Evelyn to not be like her parents. They could be black sheep together, really. They were two peas in a pod.

Except, it wasn’t a date. It was not. A. Date.

The bell above the door rang, signaling the arrival of a customer. But when she looked up from her dance solo, she realized it was simply Niall bringing lunch to the dead empty shop, burst into a fit of stitches at the sight of her.

“Oh shut up,” she teased back through a grin. “You know you want to dance too.”

He shimmied his way over to the counter, muttering the same incantations he always did to arrange his place from her across their dining space. The brown bag unfolded to reveal a pair of vegetarian sandwiches from the café, sides of fresh berries Niall had picked to create a perfect pairing. She sent him a grin, earning one back.

“Beautiful weather today, eh?” he hummed in his lilt, clearly in a good mood to match Evelyn’s own. She picked up her sandwich and took a large bite, teeth sinking through the layers of delicious veggies.

“Sure is,” she replied through a mouthful. “But I swear to god if you waste any of it on that vile Siren Chevaux I will not be impressed.”

Niall sighed, setting down his sandwich just as he picked it up. “She doesn’t mean any of it, Ev,” he insisted, his icy blue eyes pleading his case wordlessly.

Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Of course she doesn’t.”

“Look,” Niall said firmly, picking up his sandwich again – never one to resist food for long when it was sitting right in front of him. “I’m not going to talk about her with you. Siren is officially off limits.”

“Fine,” Evelyn muttered. “As long as she stays away from me. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Evelyn couldn’t place exactly what she didn’t like about Siren. Maybe it was her abusive nature. Maybe it was her devil-may-care attitude. Maybe it was her insistence on always having the last word. But maybe more than anything, it was because she had the ability to hurt Evelyn’s best friend. And Evelyn was certain that was the only outcome that could be produced from this forbidden friendship.

But if Niall wished her to stay out of it, she would. But the next time he got burned, she wouldn’t be the one nursing his wounds.

“Grab your book,” he mumbled through a mouthful of sandwich, earning a laugh from Evelyn. She reached under the counter and produced her copy of ‘Les Mis,’ known to them as her spell book. Setting it on the counter, she allowed Niall to flip to a page of his choosing. He was going to work with her today, and maybe this day would be better than others.

“This is what we’re going to be working with today,” he revealed in a tone of grandeur, the pair falling into a fit of laughter as he cracked open a water bottle and set it on the counter.

They were at it for an hour, muttering incantations back and forth trying to get Evelyn to either say them just right or build up just the right emotion to make them work. Every spell was a feeling, fueled best by a memory and a warm bought of weather. But no matter how excellent Evelyn felt that day, the faint strains of The Beatles playing in the background, she just couldn’t get it.

“One more time,” Niall sighed, weary from showing her the water-controlling spell over and over. “Center yourself. Take a deep breath. Focus.”

Evelyn nodded, training her eyes on the bottle of water before closing them lightly shut. The only thought in her mind was getting the water in that flimsy plastic container to do exactly what she wanted. All the emotions welled up inside of her, that beautiful power of the warm day, the sunlight flowing through the front window.

“Aqua potentia,” she breathed, her voice barely a whisper. And just at that moment, a beam of light fell across her face, all the emotions inside her reaching a peak. It was like taking a deep breath of cool, fresh air, sending all of the hairs on her body on end.

And when she opened her eyes, she saw the water trailing through the air, just as her spell had bid it to.

“EVELEYN!” Niall cried excitedly, throwing himself over the counter to wrap her up in a hug. Evelyn screeched in elation, losing her concentration and allowing the water to fall to the floor. She’d done it. She’d finally done a somewhat difficult spell.

But that euphoria was cut short when she looked out the window, only to notice Louis standing there with a look of shock all over his face. He’d seen.

“Shit,” she breathed, breaking apart from Niall’s embrace. In a blink she was headed out the door, frantically thinking of a way she could explain what Louis had just seen happen.

When she reached the outdoors, she found Louis with his back turned to her, already halfway down the block away from her. She ran to catch up with him, the wheels in her head turning. He’d seen her do magic. He was a human and he’d seen her do magic. What the hell was she going to do to explain that? She was actually a magician and it was just a trick of the eye? That was the best she could come up with at a moments notice.

“Louis wait, I can explain,” she called after him. He snapped around, cheeks flushed red and eyes dark.

“I don’t know if I want to know,” he growled. “I think I just want you to stay away from me.”

“But Louis…” she breathed, jogging now to keep up with his wide strides.

“And-and… Who is that, your boyfriend?” he spat, turning his face away to give her a glimpse at that gorgeous profile.

“No! Louis, what are you talking about?” she cried, her nerves ablaze. “Why would you care anyway?”

He turned on his heel, looking her in the eye. “For being such a smart girl, you really don’t have a fucking clue!” he cried back. “And clearly I don’t have a fucking clue either!”

And with that he stormed away, leaving Evelyn at a standstill on the corner of Main and Seventh. He’d seen her do magic. And as she walked away, she couldn’t distinguish if he was more upset about the fact that he’d just witnessed a phenomenon or the fact that he thought Niall was her boyfriend. The only thing she knew was that Siren was right. She had scared him away. To him, she was a monster.