14. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
T he lamp’s orange glow replaced the darkness with a click. Clutching her pendant for reassurance, Amber strained to hear the whisper which woke her, but the house remained silent. Just a dream. She snuggled down under her duvet, but her body refused to relax. It remained alert, aware of a shift and change in the air. She sighed and flung back her bedding. If sleep evaded her, she might as well make use of the extra time; besides, her creativity was stronger at night and, with deadlines for her art coursework looming, she needed it.
Beetle chuntered with joy at her impromptu art session. Released from his cage, he scampered across the paper-strewn desk and up her arm to drape his long, slender body over her shoulders like a scarf. While Vincent adopted Willow as his witch, a large polecat ferret with a distinctive black mask found Amber. Though Glenn didn’t appreciate the slight musky odour or the mischief which followed the creature like a shadow, it had burrowed a place in his heart making it easy for her to convince him her pet should stay. What surprised her was his immediate acceptance of Beetle sharing her room. Maybe he knew Beetle would use his Houdini-like skills to sneak in to her anyway. He had proved his determination to be close to her several times. The bond between a witch and her familiar was too strong to resist.
There it was again. The whisper. A murmur. If she was stacking shelves at the Enchanted Emporium, she would have said it was one of the ghosts, demanding attention. Maybe even the elusive one on the stairs, but this house was phantom free despite Amber thinking it would be rather cool to live with ghosts. When they were house-hunting, Willow was adamant even the most benevolent ghost gets wearing. The father and daughter needed to use their energy to build their relationship and home, not feed any spectral visitations. This meant they reluctantly retracted the offer on the fisherman’s cottage Amber loved when an old lady knitting appeared near a phantom range. Their current house was perfect and ghost free.
Through the open curtains, Amber watched the full moon illuminate the white-dusted extensive garden. It might be sleeping, ready to bloom in the spring, but Amber and Glenn’s shared love of gardening was clear in the well-kept garden. Unlike the one in their previous home, which remained a blank canvas after a decade of living there, this one had evolved within two years. Together, they had worked to create an oasis throughout the seasons for themselves and nature. They researched and plotted before putting the plan into action. They dug borders, planted flowers, and weeded side by side, getting to know each other and heal the rift between them. A winding path led to the shed and greenhouse, past the recently created pond and the gnarly trees she loved. The vegetable patch allowed them to be self-sufficient as possible. Amber shuddered as she remembered life before Beetle and Willow, when she was drowning under the responsibility of running a home, schoolwork, and caring for Glenn because alcohol chipped away his ability to function. She recalled his apathy and his unbridled rage that focused on her because she’d survived the freak accident in the family home and Louise hadn’t. She was the consolation prize he didn’t want. The love for his wife was so powerful and all-consuming that in grief, it transformed into anger. Fire and magic destroyed his perfect family in an instant. Amber’s magic.
Beetle’s appearance was the catalyst that changed everything. He brought Willow into their lives and she formed a bridge between them, supporting Glenn while he went through the hell of detox, AA meetings, and counselling, and she helped Amber control her magic and learn to trust her dad again. Moving to Whitby, closer to Willow, had been a fresh start, and with New Year days away Amber was conscious another was on its way. If she remained motivated to study, she could claim her reward in the upcoming months. Studying art at university was within reach. It was all she had dreamt about for years and it kept her going through the terrible times. It was her opportunity to spread her wings, but doubts crept in every night. With her new independence, her dad would be alone. Would loneliness trigger him to take a sip of his favourite drink, then a bottle? If he slipped backwards, would it be her fault?
Amber forced herself to focus on the empty canvas. The world around her retreated until it only comprised her, the paints, and the image forming in her mind, conjured by the project’s brief and her own interpretation. Her breathing slowed, and she instinctively swept and jabbed colours across the canvas, recreating the scene only she could see. She slipped into the creative zone. The brush dipped into the fresh water; black swirls rotated as she stirred it clean. The whisper became louder, urging her to look into the water, and the bowl appeared deeper than possible. A jolt of electricity shot through her as an image shimmered at the bottom. Ripples dispersed when she took the brush away, revealing Willow huddled on the shop’s doorstep, staring into the night. She clutched Vincent tight as her body shook, and tears dripped onto his fur. Dark shadows under her red-rimmed eyes joined the purple bruise on her cheek. Willow’s sense of loss overwhelmed Amber, shrinking the distance between apprentice and mentor. She tried to reach out to comfort her friend, but she remained a bystander. Frustrated by the limitations of magic, Amber groaned. The bond snapped, and Amber recoiled to reality with a jolt. She hated seeing Willow upset, but she felt relieved. It was over. Despite assurances from Glenn, and her boyfriend, Jack, when he saw the Christmas photographs of Willow and Nate laughing, she didn’t trust him. It was the reluctance to talk about his life, the way his hands reached for his phone when no one was looking, and his mysterious arrival at Whitby that fuelled her suspicions. Everyone dismissed her worries and accused her of being jealous. They didn’t understand.
‘It’s over, Beetle,’ Amber whispered. Willow’s heartache was painful to watch, but the relationship was young, just a brief Christmas affair. Willow would get over it and things would soon return to normal.