Undercurrents of Magic
RAFA
RafadrovestraighttoVicky Spencer-Toke’s home with the grimoire securely placed in Aveline’s bag.The sun had already set, and the lights on Vicky’s porch were on.Rafa parked by the driveway and eyed her old tuxedo cat, Chaplin, perched on the windowsill.
“Looks like she’s home,” he told his sister.
Rafa walked up to the front door and knocked.Vicky emerged a few minutes later, squinting at Rafa.“So you’re back!”she said in a flat but pleasant tone until her eyes drifted to Rafa’s belongings.“But with no cat,” she noticed, sounding disappointed.
Rafa cleared his throat as he took Aveline’s bag and pulled out the grimoire.“I have something more interesting,” he whispered.
Vicky’s large, bespectacled eyes widened.“Oh!”she gasped softly.She quickly surveyed their surroundings.“You two better come in,” she said as she motioned for them to enter.
Vicky closed the door as soon as they stepped foot into the house.“Sit down first,” she commanded.“I’ll hear it over a cuppa’ tea.Have you both eaten dinner yet?”
Rafa and Aveline looked at each other.Aveline lifted an eyebrow at him.
“N-Not yet—we could order in…” Rafa stuttered.
“Don’t be ridiculous.I have a beef lasagna I cooked just this evening.You guys are lucky,” she said as she sauntered to her kitchen.
Rafa introduced Aveline while they were helping in the kitchen.“Yeah, I remember you…” she cooed at Aveline, “You were always in Hearthstone buried in books each summer when you were younger.”
Aveline chortled.“Wow, you have a really good memory.”
Vicky nodded as she sat on what Rafa assumed to be her chair, because it was the only one with a seat cushion.“Eat first, then we can talk.”
After a few bites of lasagna and a few sips of tea for Vicky, Aveline warmed up the conversation.“You have such a cozy home,” she said, eyes drifting around.
Vicky grinned.“Thanks, between you and me, I was starting to think it was a tomb.”Her eyes widened at her last statement.The two siblings couldn’t help but laugh.
“Now…” Vicky cleared her throat.“What kind of trouble did you kids get into then?”she said, interlacing her fingers on the round wooden dining table.
Rafa dragged the grimoire out of the bag.Aveline cleared the table as Rafa placed it in the center.Under the bright dining room lights, he appreciated its craftsmanship.The deep burgundy leather was still lustrous even after hiding in a study desk for years.Its golden buckle gleamed under the lights.Rafa thought it was strange that something such as that lasted, and yet its author was already long gone.
Vicky studied the grimoire for a few seconds before leafing through it.“This is a relic.And she’s a beauty.”She nearly crooned as she said it.“It even smells like old parchment.”
Rafa did not know what old parchment smelled like, but if he could imagine it, it must’ve smelled warm and leathery.
“Tell me how you found it,” she commanded.
The siblings recounted their harrowing experience that afternoon, from the violent twister in the woods to the passageway behind the old clock in Cedarthorne Mansion.
“You mean there was a secret passageway all this time in that old house?”she asked, astonished.Her brows furrowed.“Christ!”she gasped, leaning back on her seat and closing the grimoire carefully.Then, after a momentary pause, she asked, “Tell me, was there anyone living in the chamber?”
“No,” Aveline answered.“It looked abandoned.”
“And…you mentioned the cellar just opened for you, Rafa?”Vicky asked, eyeing Rafa with an expression he could not figure out.
“It all happened so fast…” he began and then remembered one crucial detail.“I called out a name I had read from the black book—Ambrosine Aster.”
Vicky’s face grew pale.“Good Lord…” she said as she slowly rose to her feet.“Did you bring the black books?”she asked them in a low and frail voice.
They both looked at each other, then nodded.
“Bring them to me.”
Rafa ran to the car and pulled the black books from the trunk of his car, and without wasting a moment’s time, gave them to Vicky.She lifted one book with a disgruntled look on her face and leafed through it with the familiarity expected of a town librarian.
