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The lock clicks over with a surprising amount of ease. I expected I’d have to strong-arm it at least a little. That’s not the only surprise that’s waiting for me. As soon as I push open the door, my jaw drops as I get my first view of the house. It’s pristine. While the outside looks like nature took back the land, the inside is practically sparkling. Did someone sneak in here and clean it all up for me? A flash of Lena’s comments from last night plays through my mind. That someone spelled the place. Maybe she’s right. It’s a little daunting.
My mom and Dani both told me about magic, but all I’ve ever been able to do are small potions that are honestly fifty percent knowing how to mix certain herbs and plants in my college classes. That and helping plants to grow, but it’s such minor stuff. I know that magic exists, but if this is the kind of casual magic that my mom and Dani grew up around, then this is a whole new playing field.
The front door opens into a large circular foyer with a sweeping staircase that starts on the left and curves across the enormous room. The floors in here are a dark marble tile with an inlaid metal compass in the center of the room. Sunlight shines down like a spotlight on the tarnished compass, and I tip my head back to find a domed stained-glass window that takes my breath away. Holy shit. I haven’t even made it further than the entry and I’m already in love with this house.
It’s not just the aesthetics of the place, which are incredible, but there’s a familiarity that clings to these walls. If a house can have an aura, then this one would be all golden warmth despite all the dark decor. It is as if the house has been waiting for me and now that I’ve set foot within its walls, it’s content.
I don’t know where to go first. The grand balustrade that follows the arch of the stairway beckons me upstairs, but I’m too curious about the rest of the main floor, including the conservatory that I spotted from outside. It’s a challenge not to rush around the house and instead savor every inch of the place, but I’m too hyped up that this place is mine to patiently wander the rooms.
I head straight to an arched opening that leads into the dining room. There are vaulted ceilings and dark wood wainscoting running along the bottom half of the wall. Another door takes me into the kitchen, which is far from updated but perfectly tidy, and almost airy compared to the dark colors in the rest of the house so far. Its layout speaks of functionality. There’s a large center island that I can already imagine using when working on my soaps, shampoos and a whole host of other potions.
It’s the other side of the kitchen though, that’s the room I’m dying to see. Now that I’m closer, I can tell that the conservatory windows aren’t covered in grime and dirt, but foggy from the moisture inside the large space. I gasp as I walk into the room, knowing this will be my favorite spot in the house. Right now, it’s completely overgrown with vines and plants that have somehow survived even after years of neglect. They’ve choked out many smaller herbs and flowers along the way, but that is fixable. The floor is made up of large white stone slabs with veins of gray and black that spike through the tiles. A long wooden worktable sits in the middle and shelves holding glass jars that contain seeds, ground herbs, and too many other things for me to identify by sight alone litter the room.
My fingers trail over the waxy leaf of a hoya vine, decorated with little bouquets of pink flowers. I step forward to check out the rest of the room and the leaf curls around my finger, almost like a child holding onto its parent’s hand. I know the basics of my magic, some from my mom, other things from Dani, and still more that I’ve figured out on my own over time. With plants, nature in general, my magic is a give and take. I can make plants grow and get stronger or even obey my commands, but they also feed my magic. Plants and I have our own form of symbiosis, cycling through with a give and take of magic.
“I’m going to take care of you all and bring you back to health,” I tell the plants, a gigantic smile plastered to my face.
After a quick inspection of the rest of the house, I find everything is immaculately kept. There are three bedrooms upstairs and I know immediately that mine will be the one with the turret. Not like I couldn’t sleep in all three rooms on a rotation if I wanted to, but there’s no way I can pass up the rounded window seat and curving stairway that leads up to a lookout. I’ve never dreamed of being a princess, but if I had, this dark place would have been my palace. There’s a spacious ensuite bath tiled in bright white tiles, a large porcelain clawfoot tub that I eye with unchecked desire, and an open shower that looks too modern for the house. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that someone spelled this place. There is too much space on the inside for what the exterior shows.
This morning I dressed as if I was going to be spending the day cleaning in leggings and an old gym shirt from high school that has more than one hole in it. Go Mustangs. I run a finger over the heavy wood of the bed’s footboard, expecting to see some hint of dust, but the only thing that does is to leave behind a finger smudge on the wood.
“Okay then. Conservatory it is.” I skip down the steps. Tackling the conservatory was going to be one of the last things I worked on in the house. Clean living space trumps getting the greenhouse in order. Now that I can give all my focus to that room, I’m eager with the prospect of digging in. This is exactly what I wanted to do as soon as I set eyes on the place.
The happiness surrounding me feels unfamiliar, almost uncomfortable. How much good stuff am I allowed to have happen to me? I scowl at the direction of my thoughts because I can’t help but bring myself down, can I? I’m too much of a realist. There’s no way these incredible things can keep happening without something going wrong. Something always goes wrong.
