Chapter 15- Loxley
DAYS LATER, I’M mostly recovered. The pain has generally subsided, with the empath sounds intermittently increasing and decreasing, but nothing as deafening as that first hour. As I lie in bed, I type via video game chat with the one person I want to see the most.
Me: So, for next weekend, I could pick you up and we could get dinner?
Coldblooded: I think I’m starting my new job.
CB: Are you sure you’re okay, though?
CB: I want to give you as much time to rest as possible, and if you need to take it easy or be with your coven.
CB: I want to respect that and make sure you’re well enough.
Me: I promise I am.
Not technically a lie, all wellness is subjective.
For the past few days, I’ve been holed up in Boysen House.
I can’t go on any more job interviews, and Gordy hasn’t shown up here.
It figures―I finally have sex with someone I really like, someone I’ve been forging a connection with both on and offline, and my world gets rocked.
Auntie and my roommates know I slept with Gordy, and they probably scared him off.
An empath witch; that’s apparently what I am. That wizard guy, Taz, looked up my mystical symptoms in the Union library and managed to find exactly what’s going on with me. I’m grateful to have a name for it, but now I have to deal with yet another shift in my reality.
Sighing, I put my phone away and take the book from my nightstand.
This ancient tome outlines obscure witch roles, including that of an empath witch.
According to the text, when an empath witch reaches their full powers, they can interpret the auras of humans, near and far.
The hand-drawn diagram shows a witch sensing the souls of folks from a distance.
I know all about distant aura sensing now.
It was as if a thousand people were whispering to me all at once.
That pain was unlike any other, a mystical cacophony ringing in my head.
My powers finally kicked in, and it made me bleed.
I didn’t think my destiny would hurt my head that much. I guess be careful what you wish for.
But now that I’m feeling better, I’m ready to see Gordy again. We’ve forged a connection, and I want to get him alone with me again as soon as possible. Still, it’s obvious as we chat via Hot Water that he thinks that I’m not well enough to date yet.
That changes now. I put on some clothes and, with a determined look, I head out the door. Down the hall from my bedroom, I’m stopped by a curious sight. Several rolls of paper are sprawled out on the floor, each with red symbols painted on.
I frown and crouch down. These are witchcraft runes alright; Auntie’s handiwork. What is going on? It’s my first time walking farther than the bathroom in over a day, so I certainly didn’t see when Auntie did this. What project is she doing?
Does this have something to do with my newfound powers?
“Loxley! What are you doing up?” Auntie rushes down the stairs.
“I’m…g-going out.”
“Out where?” She gives a nervous chuckle and gestures for me to step back.
I shoot her an incredulous look. She’s never been that concerned about me driving around, even at night. And it’s a warm, early summer day. Oh, and also, I’m twenty-five.
I shrug, and she still seems panicked as she leans on the table in the foyer. “Just…stay! Hang out with your old Auntie Lisbeth! I took the day off just to be with you!”
My eyebrows furrow. Okay, now I know she’s hiding something, because other than handing me meals, she’s hardly been interacting with me these past few days.
“Wh…what’s happening?” I murmur.
“The thing is…” Her words are cut off by the door opening. If I recall, Anika and Taina are both at work, so who is this?
“The key works!” Two dudes walk in, and their smiles fall. “Whoa, you really rolled out the red carpet for us,” the taller one says.
“Hi, Lisbeth.” The dude with glasses walks past the first, and we seem to recognize each other at the same time. “Hey, man. Loxley, right?”
Auntie looks between us. “You remember the Kondo brothers?” she asks me with a smile.
I nod and shake his hand. “Hi. You’re…”
“Shugo.” He shoots me a friendly smile.
“Kenta,” the other one says, stepping forward to shake my hand. They both carefully step around the giant parchments on the floor to get closer. “Pleased to meet you. Well, again, since we all took the competency exam together.”
My smile falls when I recall that I didn’t pass, and the brothers seem to notice as well. Shugo gives Kenta a pointed look, and he appears genuinely contrite for bringing it up.
“Well, welcome!” Auntie says. “Loxley and I will be happy to help you move in. Boysen House witches gotta stick together, right?”
Shugo nods and says, “We’re mostly good for now. Later on, if we could group-conjure some furniture, that would be great.”
“Yeah. Our room is down here, right?” Kenta asks. Auntie nods, and Kenta promptly picks up several pieces of luggage and walks past me down to the previously unoccupied room. Now two people will be sleeping there, I guess.
Meanwhile, Shugo scrutinizes the parchment on the floor. “Huh. Do you always use magic dampening runes on the floor?”
My eyes widen, and Auntie looks between us. “Um, well…it’s based on new developments. We don’t want magic to get too uncontrolled, right?”
“Huh.” Shugo seems none the wiser as he stands up. “I trust we’ll be getting rid of that later when we magically conjure the rest of our furniture, correct?”
Auntie glances at me and lets out an uncomfortable laugh. “Of course, Shugo.” In moments, the dude is gone, presumably to get more things out of the car, and I glower at my aunt. “What?”
I bend down to roll up the parchment, and Auntie joins me. “This was for your benefit,” she remarks.
“You…should have told me.”
“You were going through a lot! You still are. I didn’t want the voices to hurt your empath ears.”
“So what, now I just…” The frustration chokes up my voice as I roll up the giant parchment. “Never use magic again?” When I notice more copies trailing to the living room, I make quick work of picking them up.
“I never said that, honey. But let’s focus on the positive: you found your witch role, that’s great!”
I glower at her again and hand her two more giant rolled-up rune parchments. She smiles and continues, “Now we just need to hone your abilities, Loxley. And we need to do it in a safe way.”
When I’ve cleaned the living room of magic-dampening runes, I study my aunt with my arms crossed.
I feel like a teenager grounded for no reason.
Her expression goes from embarrassed to something softer.
“Loxley, you have no idea what it was like the other day. You were in so much pain, a sleep spell was all I could do.”
She steps forward, and my face relaxes. She puts her hand on my shoulder and continues, “It hurt me so much to see you in agony. I never want that again. You’re my family, and I love you.”
She gives me the briefest hug, and I step back. It’s the moment of truth, literally. Closing my eyes, I focus on relaxing the magic within me. I hear distant echoes, auras from around the city. When I think of Auntie, three feet in front of me, I try to visualize her face and her voice.
Opening my eyes, I notice flecks of magic emanating from her body, like a trippy old-timey screensaver. She studies me, but I try to hear what she’s not saying.
“Worry. I worry about you,” her aura seems to say. “You have so much potential power, but I never want you to get hurt.”
When the sounds of others begin to crowd my ears, I shut my eyes and shake my head. After taking another deep breath, I open my eyes to visualize the living room back to normal.
“Loxley?” Auntie asks, hesitantly. “Did you…use your empath powers?”
I give her a shrug, moving both hands, expressing, “maybe, maybe not.” While I did tap into my abilities, I doubt I have control over them. Now is not the time to celebrate any witchy wins.
“Hey, everyone.” We’re broken out of our serious conversation by a smiling Shugo. “When can we start conjuring our beds as a group?”
Auntie shoots me a soft smile, and it’s off to the brothers’ bedroom we go.
That night, we conjure dinner together as a coven like we do most nights.
It requires less effort on our part now that we have six witches living under the same roof.
Shugo and Kenta both seem super chill. They’re friendly, and with them around, I don’t need to talk as much.
I get queer vibes from Shugo, but Kenta only seems to have eyes for Taina.
As we eat, I silently wish them the best of luck on whatever their relationship turns out to be.
After supper, Auntie asks me to assist Shugo with putting protection runes around the house.
They both claim they’re not magic dampeners, so I agree to the task.
For one thing, I want to know all the runes that are to be placed around Boysen House.
More than that, I simply want to stretch my legs and walk around.
I’ve been on magical house arrest, after all.
It’s almost sundown, so I shine my flashlight on the lawn as Shugo places small rocks with etchings in distinct locations. Crouched down, Shugo looks up to me. “You should know, Loxley, that I’m not here to dampen anyone’s magic.”
“Okay,” I reply, unsure of where this is going.
“Magic dampener runes only work in a limited capacity anyway.” He stands up and dusts off his knees. “Your aunt’s little paint job there this morning wasn’t exactly the best at dampening.”
I give him a perplexed look, and he gazes out at the suburban street. “I know what it’s like to not be in control of my powers. Fortunately, my focus is on runes as a protection witch.”
He gazes at me, and I nod. “Your aunt wants me to protect you all from beings of malicious intent. That’s what these do. I swear, I want to be a part of this coven. I’m also a twenty-something gay guy, so I figured we could be friends. Maybe talk about what boys we’re interested in?”
We both chuckle at that. As we walk to the other side of the lawn, I sense the urge to fill the silence. “I’m…an empath witch.”
Shugo appears confused, so I continue. “It’s…my role. I can…sense auras from afar.”
“That sounds dope. Wanna check my aura? I swear my brother and I aren’t here to harm Boysen House.”
“I know,” I reply with a laugh. Earlier, I low-key scanned the brothers. Shugo seemed genuinely happy to be among witches, and Kenta was just horny. No malice was sensed in either of the Kondo brothers, but then again, I’m a novice at empath witchcraft. Can my powers really be trusted?
“And the magic dampeners…your aunt put them up, didn’t she? She doesn’t want you to get too overwhelmed with empath powers, am I right?”
I snicker. “Are you…able to read minds?”
We share a laugh and continue placing runes all over the property. I know Auntie is thrilled to have a protection witch in the house again, and I could use some friends.
After he finishes another set of perimeter protection stone wards, Shugo stands up and looks at me.
“I know it can be frightening and almost offensive to offer, but…” He shrugs, and I lean in.
“I can make a smaller version of a magic dampener ward. Put it on a necklace. But only if you think it will help you with the day-to-day.”
He raises his hands like I might shoot. “Just a suggestion. That way, you can go live your life without worrying that empath powers might overwhelm you. It’s not a permanent solution, but it can help you.”
Even now, the sounds of auras from around the city occasionally brush my ears. The thought of being able to turn that off, if only for a little while, sounds tempting. If I do this, maybe Gordy will be okay with going out with me again. And we can kiss and sleep together…
“Yes!” I yelp, nodding with vigor. Shugo smiles at me, and we continue our walk, talking logistics all the way. Life is changing fast, but hopefully my new roommate is a welcome, positive change in my witchy life.