Chapter 1 #2
Except a sauna doesn’t smell like unwashed armpits and garlic breath.
And a burly dude on the left, all but towering over me, was zealously hammering me with both. It was in situations like this that I berated myself for not pursuing my witchcraft training with more assiduity. I’d give my left tit now for a stench suppression spell.
Just as I was bemoaning my situation, a violent shock suddenly rocked the bus, accompanied by a loud crashing sound.
If not for the countless bodies squished together like sardines in the vehicle, I probably would have flown a few meters from the force of the impact.
My stomach roiled with that freaky roller coaster feeling as the bus spun around before coming to a brutal stop as it crashed into something else.
Sore and dizzy, it took me a moment to regain my bearings between all the screaming, moaning, and pushing as people tried to straighten or avoid getting crushed.
It took a moment before the people closest to the windows were able to communicate to the rest of us what had happened.
Some vehicle had crossed a red light, ramming into the bus, sending us into a tailspin.
Except we couldn’t get off as the front doors were busted in.
The back doors were also blocked by the lamp post we’d crashed against, and which had stopped us from spinning farther away.
The only positive in this mess was the absence of grievous injuries among the passengers.
To my dismay, it took them over half an hour to pry us out of what quickly started feeling like a freaking oven.
The bus was getting hot and suffocating.
By the foul smell wafting my way, at least one or two people had sullied themselves in the scare.
Added to the ‘eau de sweat and garlic’ perfume my neighbor graced us with, it made the situation even less tenable.
Sweat was rolling down my back. Worse still, my armpit began to itch.
But with the damn stone egg stuck underneath it, I could only try to wiggle in the hope of getting some relief.
Then I felt a crack. My eyes nearly popped out of my head as my heart sank.
The last thing I needed was for the contents of some rotten black egg to ooze all over Angie’s fancy ermine and my clothes in this freaking hellhole.
To my relief, the egg appeared to be intact. But that false alarm was enough to make me stand still.
After an eternity and a day, they finally let us off. The cool air never felt more wonderful. When they directed us to hop into another bus they specifically brought to get the uninjured people on their way, I almost declined. But I couldn’t see myself walking the remaining four miles home.
Thankfully, karma apparently decided that I’d had enough for one day, and the rest of the journey home went by undisturbed.
I couldn’t recall being happier at the sight of my house, other than the day I officially received the keys when I bought it a few months ago.
I stepped inside the house and dropped the four bags at the entrance by the console.
After carefully removing the egg from under my armpit, I plopped the ermine on top of the bags.
My jaw dropped when I noticed what appeared to be a fissure on the black shell of the egg.
Although it had the same shine as a polished stone, the texture truly felt like that of an egg, even though it was far too hard to be one.
The crack on it seemed to glow from within, as if it contained red flames.
The egg felt unusually hot to the touch, but not as if something was burning inside.
Could it simply be the heat of my body from having held it under my armpit for nearly two hours?
I groaned inwardly at the prospect of the hissy fit Angie was bound to throw once she noticed that her property had been damaged. The entitled bitch would likely also demand some form of monetary compensation, even though she absolutely didn’t hurt for it.
Once again, I berated myself for bringing this shit on me with my stupid need to save people from their own stupidity and laziness.
Maybe I can just hide it from her.
I seriously contemplated doing just that.
Chances were that Angie didn’t even remember having that egg rock.
The problem was that she eventually would when something related popped up.
And then she’d be foaming at the mouth demanding her property be returned forthwith with copious accusations of me being a thief.
Fuck my life. There was simply no winning.
Not wanting to risk damaging the egg further if it fell, I headed into the kitchen and pulled out a large fruit bowl. I placed a thick towel in it and carefully settled the egg in the middle, tucking the towel all around it to make sure it was snug and stable.
Impatient to wash off the stench from the bus and the heat, I hopped into the shower, grateful for the delightful and soothing caress of the water on me.
I had just begun lathering some soap all over my body when a loud sound startled me.
I gasped, turned off the water, and strained my ear to see if I was hearing something else or if my imagination was playing tricks on me.
When the silence continued, I shrugged and resumed my ablutions.
Moments after I began rinsing, I heard another loud crack followed by what sounded like a hiss.
This time, I no longer believed I’d imagined it.
I quickly rinsed off to avoid slipping and breaking my neck then wrapped a towel around me.
Cursing myself for not pushing my magic training further, I grabbed a pair of scissors and carefully opened the door.
“Is anyone there?” I called out, wondering if this was stupid to let them know I was on to them or a good way to scare off any potential intruder.
For a split second, I considered putting some clothes on before I went to investigate. But then I figured I’d much rather run outside bare ass and alive than to get stabbed by a serial killer with one leg halfway stepping into my panties.
As the sound came from downstairs, I didn’t want to remain cooped up here on the second floor with no way out.
Straining my ears for any suspicious activity, I carefully made my way down the stairs, my long scissors held firmly in my right hand.
Never more than today did I rejoice that my floors didn’t creak.
My brain immediately registered that the front door was still closed and the bags remained undisturbed by the console.
No visible sign of disturbance indicated the presence of an intruder.
However, as I reached the landing and glanced to the right towards the kitchen, my heart skipped a beat at the sight of a pulsating reddish glow.
I half ran into the kitchen thinking that something was on fire only to stop dead in my tracks when I saw the source of the glow.
Many more cracks had appeared on the surface of the egg visible over the towel wrapped around it.
From where I stood, it literally looked as if a heart was beating inside.
With a will of their own, my feet carried me to the island upon which the bowl sat.
With great care, I pulled the towel away to expose more of the egg.
A network of cracks covered its dark surface.
And yet, it retained an apparent integrity.
For a reason I would never be able to explain, my stupid brain decided it was a good idea to pick it up. The intense burn I expected never came, even though it appeared filled with lava. It was very warm but in a pleasant way.
What the fuck is hatching out of this?
Angie often collected exotic stuff, but she was too selfish to raise pets.
Well, except for her black cat, Merlin, as he was fairly low maintenance.
When we were roommates, Sophia and I shouldered the brunt of grooming and feeding the cat.
Now, Angie had her cleaning lady do it except for feeding.
Everything about Angie focused on acquiring more power and increasing her magic or leverage over others.
She had no time for anything that would demand she care for it. So what in the world was this about?
As I was still very much a novice in the arcane world, I didn’t know jack shit about the kind of funky critter that could pop out of a black egg.
Unsure as to what to do, I glanced around the room debating where I should put it to hatch.
It needed a safe place as I didn’t want it to fall from the counter if it couldn’t fly.
But even as that thought crossed my mind, images of nightmarish creatures took over.
What if it was some sort of flying flesh-eating monster that came out and chewed me out?
Should I find some sort of cage or containment device to put it in while I call the Council of Witches for help?
Calling Angie would have been the easiest solution, but I had attempted to reach her in vain at least three times this morning since Mrs. Hopkins demanded I come to pick up her stuff.
I couldn’t tell if she truly was too busy or was deliberately ignoring my calls knowing that I would likely berate her for dumping her shit on me.
Any such musings flew right out of my mind as a loud crack resonated again. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest as the egg violently wiggled in my hands. I screeched and instinctively dropped it in shock.
“No!” I shouted as I watched it plummet to the travertine tiled floor of the kitchen as if in slow motion.
To my dismay, the egg didn’t shatter and spill its fiery red goop onto the floor.
Instead, countless cracks slithered all over its obsidian surface, and it shuddered violently once, twice…
And then the top flew off as a black, clawed hand shot out of the egg.
I screamed again and quickly backed away until the wall stopped my retreat.
Frozen in fear, I just stood there, wishing for the wall to swallow me whole.