Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
Oh my Hecate. I have nothing to wear.
That was Mercedes’ first thought as she rummaged through her closet, which used to be Finn’s closet because Pearl’s closet still had a lot of her clothes. Mercedes couldn’t wear anything of Pearl’s because, one, the colors did not flatter her, and two, they were not even remotely the same build.
Mercedes liked her clothing well enough and even found the dress she wore to their first disastrous date in Tallowfield, but it wasn’t right. Everything had to be fresh.
As for the rest of her clothes, none of them were right.
With a sigh of annoyance, she closed her closet, grabbed her jacket and purse, and left for downtown. When she moved to Harmony Glen, she noticed a thrift store called Nifty Thrifty. Maybe they would have something.
That was the first place she went, and even though it was a great store, nothing there spoke to her. And as she wandered downtown, pondering her conundrum, she found herself on Second Street, where the door of a very rundown building burst open, the scent of fresh laundry hitting her.
“Hey!”
Mercedes looked up to see a voluptuous woman dressed in denim, sneakers, and a red polka-dot kerchief that wrapped up her vibrant pink hair. Red lips and black, catlike eyeliner completed the look.
“Hey,” Mercedes responded, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one else was there and that she was alone.
“You need to come in here,” the woman said vehemently.
“What? I don’t—”
“In here. Now.” The woman reached out and grabbed her arm, tugging Mercedes into the building.
“What is going on?” Mercedes asked in confusion.
As her eyes adjusted to the bright light, she realized she was in the laundromat.
It was completely decked out like a retro fifties’ diner.
Checkerboard floors, neon signs, a jukebox.
The laundry carts were chrome and shiny and the machines were turquoise.
“Sorry, I’m Mona,” the woman said. “I own The Clothes Spin.”
“Oh. You’re a witch?”
Mona grinned and crossed her arms. “Indeed. As are you.”
Mercedes nodded. “Not a very good one.”
Mona shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”
The sound of a bucket clanging caught her attention and she saw a mop cleaning the floor, by itself, just like in animated movies she’d seen as a kid.
Mona noticed where she was staring. “Oh, that’s just Moptimus Prime, don’t mind him.”
Mercedes stifled a giggle. “Moptimus Prime?”
Mona grinned. “Vlad the Inhaler is upstairs, but of course I don’t have any carpet down here.”
“Does the bucket have a name?”
Mona looked at the bucket. “Well, no it’s not enchanted and Moptimus never told me if it does. Hey, Moptimus, take five, will ya?”
Moptimus spun around, froze as if it was staring them down, stuck out a little wooden arm and picked up its bucket before sloshing off to the back room. There was a slam and Mona winced.
“Ooh, I’m going to pay for that later. I might have to give him a better bucket.”
“You didn’t have to send him away.”
“I definitely did. Moptimus will talk to Vlad, who will tell Toast Malone, and then the list goes on and suddenly all my appliances are gossiping and not getting any work done.” Mona went to lock the door and pull the blinds, switching the open sign to closed.
“Thankfully no one is here washing clothes just yet.”
“Do all your appliances have names?”
Mona nodded. “They do.”
“There’s a dryer at Room with a Tomb that keeps exploding and belching up lint every time I touch it.”
Mona giggled. “That’s Tumbledore. Yeah, he really likes witches.
I can go have a talk with him if you’d like.
I mean, he was pretty stoked when Magnus was buying him to repair.
Tumbledore is older, and I was fitting out the place with newer machines, but I always make sure my enchanted appliances go to a good home. ”
“I tend to cause explosions with my magic,” Mercedes explained.
“Ah, well I’ll speak to Tumbledore about the belching. Though I’m sure it’s just excitement to have a witch in his presence again.”
“Is that why you hauled me in here, because I have a lot to do…”
“I know. The date.”
Mercedes frowned. “How do you know about that?”
“I’m quite intuitive and see things.” She looked down the bridge of her nose. “Not like how you see things, though.”
A shiver ran down Mercedes spine. Mona must be a powerful witch to have that kind of sight. “I keep that to myself.”
Mona nodded. “As you should. Your family in Tallowfield are no good and they would harvest souls for horrible reasons. I mean, they would like to expel your soul so Yrsa could inhabit your body, but they can’t. They’ve tried, but the explosions are your self-defense. Be thankful you have it.”
Was that why the ground exploded at the blood-cursed spot when she touched it? It was her protection?
Mercedes’ stomach twisted in a knot. “Am I in danger?”
Mona shook her head. “No. You’re safe in Harmony Glen. Just don’t go back to Tallowfield. But honestly, I don’t think they know how to do it. The knowledge has been lost, and good riddance. The last time they messed around with souls and the afterlife, they inadvertently created a revenant.”
“Flo,” Mercedes whispered.
Mona nodded, smiling. “Yes. Her father was not happy she was in love with Sven. He hired your family to control her spirit. It backfired badly, and instead, they created this undead revenant. She’s quite solid when she remembers, but her memory probably isn’t the best. So, she’s like a ghoul in a way, living between two planes of existence. ”
“She said she can’t find her body.”
“She never will because she’s in her body. It’s a very weird spell. It can be broken too, by true love.”
Mercedes frowned. “That will be hard, seeing how Sven can’t see ghosts or revenants. And Flo doesn’t seem to remember much.”
Mona sighed. “I know. I’ve tried everything I can think of. Maybe you can figure it out one day.”
“I would love to do that for Sven. He’s been so nice to me since I arrived here. I just don’t know how.”
“And I don’t know how to tell you to go about doing that, just that when I saw you at Nifty Thrifty and I knew you’d come this way, I had to relay that information to you. My sight doesn’t always give me a warning.”
“Well, it does help. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the best in my studies.”
Mona made a face. “Studies? Uh, witches don’t need studies. Maybe in Tallowfield, but not a natural witch, and you, my friend, are a natural witch.”
A warm feeling spread through her. Her whole life, she’d been told she was such a disaster at everything that she felt worthless much of the time. It was nice to be told that she wasn’t, especially by another witch.
“Also, I have the perfect dress for your date,” Mona announced, breaking through her thoughts.
“What?”
“I carry a small selection of vintage consignment clothing. I’m very weird, but I have the perfect dress for you.
It’s a deep emerald-green wiggle dress, and it will hug those amazing curves and drive Magnus crazy.
” Mona went into the back and Mercedes followed.
There was a little boutique of vintage clothing in a room that was decked out like a jungle.
Mona rifled through a rack and pulled out the dress. “Here it is.”
“It’s gorgeous,” Mercedes said. “Do you have a place to try it on?”
“Nope. I know it’ll fit you.” Mona tapped the side of head with her cherry-red fingernails, the plastic bangles rattling on her arm. “I’ve seen it. Think of me as a fairy godmother.”
Mercedes took the dress. “Wow.”
“Here are the shoes and it’s eighty for the whole outfit.”
“That sounds like a deal.” Mercedes pulled out cash, handing it to Mona. “I would say you saw me coming, but you already told me that.”
Mona grinned. “When you see Margaid, tell her I have a wedding dress just for her.”
Mercedes laughed. “I will.”
Mona went to the main door, unlocked it and turned her sign from closed to open. As she did that, one of the washers made a whirring noise.
“Oh, calm down, Lord of the Rinse, customers are on their way.” Mona rolled her eyes. “Appliances, I tell you.”
“Thank you, Mona.”
Mona gave her an air-kiss. “You’re welcome. I’m glad I was able to convey that information to you. Just relax and have fun tonight. You were destined to be here in Harmony Glen. You’re safe, and a lot of wrongs will be righted. Trust in yourself.”
Mercedes grinned. “I will.”
She slipped outside as a couple of young trolls walked past her with laundry bags and entered The Clothes Spin.
Mercedes let out a sigh and then quickly made her way back to Hetty’s.
She was excited to put on her dress, but she really didn’t know how she was going to help Sven and Flo, though what Mona said made sense.
She knew her family history was dark, but Mona telling her that she belonged here and that a lot of wrongs would be righted made her feel better.
It helped her relax and just look forward to the do-over date with Magnus.
Hetty helped Mercedes with her hair, and then it was time for the date.
Her pulse was racing as she took the familiar walk through Harmony Glen.
A small shawl borrowed from Hetty was wrapped around her to keep the autumn chill off her bare arms. It was twilight, so there was a bit of light still, but the streetlights had come on.
As she approached Pleasant Street, something drew her attention to the watchtower and the widow’s walk on the top of Room With a Tomb.
Her heart sank as she saw Sven leaning over the railing, totally oblivious to her, staring out over the lake. She could almost feel the sadness coming from him. Below him, waiting in the wings, was Flo, hovering there in her beautiful flapper dress, watching him with her own sad longing.
I wish I could help him.
Sven turned and floated back into the dead-and-breakfast. Flo followed.
Mercedes took a deep breath and approached the front entrance, ringing the doorbell.
Magnus opened the door and her breath caught in her throat.
She was used to seeing him in his chef’s clothes, or casual denim and a V-neck t-shirt.
Tonight it was different. He had a on nice dress shirt, the cuffs rolled up, baring his muscular forearms. His pants were dark and tailored, and his shoes weren’t the clunky boots that he usually wore.
His hair was brushed back and plaited and he smelled incredible. Like pine mixed with something else.
“Hi,” she said breathlessly.
His red eyes ran over her, making her blood heat, and she could feel the blush creeping up her chest into her cheeks.
“You’re stunning.”
“Thanks.” She tried to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, like she always did, but couldn’t because there wasn’t a single flyaway hair. Hetty had done her hair in an elegant half-up chignon.
Magnus stepped to the side and she walked in.
“Well, at least she looks more presentable. Like a lady.” Lottie the ghost sniffed from where she hovered near the front desk area.
“She always looks nice. You’re too hard on her,” Sal, a gangster, remarked. “Looking good, doll. Try to relax.”
She grinned stiffly at the ghosts and wanted to tell them to bugger off.
“You have a weird expression on your face,” Magnus said. “You okay?”
“Just some uninvited guests to our date,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’m going to try to ignore them, but they can make it difficult for me.”
“Well, I would take my pants off since it scared them off before, but the thing is, I don’t want to scare you off either. I want to do this right.”
“How dare he suggest getting unclothed in front of ladies,” Lottie screeched.
Sal snickered and disappeared, but Lottie remained, muttering under her breath about indecency, making Mercedes laugh softly.
“Ghosts?” he asked. “Or are you laughing about my nudity? I really hope you’re not laughing about that.”
“No, not that. Ghosts. You have insulted them. One left, but one is lingering and she’s the one who thinks you’re a bit of a brute.”
“He is!” Lottie said with indignation before spiriting away in an ectoplasmic ball through the wood-paneled lobby wall.
Magnus laughed and then took her hand, leading her toward the dining room. “I wanted to be thought of as a bit of a brute in my raiding days. I guess we all did.”
She frowned. “Oh, I hate hearing that.”
“Well, not that bad. Trust me. It’s a bad rap that Vikings get. We weren’t all like that and I wasn’t, but I did have a reputation for being a womanizer. So I suppose that’s what she means by brute. I did more exploration than raiding if I’m honest.”
“And now?”
“There’s only woman I want to womanize.” His brow furrowed. “That sounded way better and way more romantic in my head.”
She chuckled and squeezed his hand. “I get it.”
And she did.
This is why she’d fallen for him in the first place. All those funny awkward texts. She relaxed a bit. Tonight was going to be just fine, as long as the ghosts kept their distance and nothing exploded.