Chapter 13
Ollie sighed slightly before taking a bite of his chicken pot pie. It was only the second day back, and part of him still wanted to sleep and avoid everyone, or at the very least the library, and more specifically, Elias, just for a bit.
The conversation had NOT gone well yesterday, but he had managed to end it and possibly come out on top. Okay, maybe he had come out on top. It wasn’t clear, as Elias certainly hadn’t dropped the issue completely. Which was one of the reasons why he was eating lunch at Bab's Diner with Noble.
That, and he had needed to get away from all the noise, as it had started to overwhelm him more than he’d wanted to admit out loud.
Ollie couldn’t say he particularly loved overly noisy places either way, but his library was definitely louder than normal.
And as fun as all the activities were, he was tired. More tired than usual.
An over-packed schedule or not, Ollie couldn’t help but wonder if he was still getting his energy back after what had happened. Though, the last few nights, he’d practiced magic for an hour, so that likely hadn’t helped.
Ollie scooped up the last bit of his pot pie onto his spoon, then took another bite. His mind was still a mess. While he did feel a bit better after getting back to a mostly normal routine, he was struggling to stop the whole practicing magic thing from dampening his mood.
Though it was less about the practicing and more about the results and aftermath of said practicing.
As much as he didn’t necessarily like the whole being a witch thing, and part of him possibly wished he’d wake up to find it was just a dream, another small part of him hoped he’d finally be normal in one area of his life.
But, no. Not only wasn’t he a normal human, but he also wasn’t a normal witch. Though, he supposed he should have figured that out given Annabel’s shock over his second affinity. But yeah, not normal, and no one knew why.
At least, he didn’t think Annabel, Red, or even Noble knew why.
He knew for sure Annabel didn’t. And Ollie was almost positive Red didn’t know, and that it wasn’t in fact a binding issue, even if it still felt like Red was holding things back from him.
He supposed he’d find out eventually, if he survived long enough, and wasn’t offed by a different witch hunter.
As for Noble, he wasn’t exactly sure how deep the man’s knowledge on witches actually went. But Noble was maybe… Well, no, his boyfriend was probably not hiding anything… Hopefully, he wasn’t hiding anything…
Sure, he called himself a monster, but that could mean a lot of things. Not that he could think of what those other things were exactly, but he was sure that there had to be…maybe?
Even if Noble was hiding something—which he was sure he wasn’t—it would be fine, because Ollie didn’t actually want to know.
At least, that’s what he was going to say and think constantly until it was true.
Ollie had done that before, and he would do it again, as it had worked out fine for him when he did… sometimes…
Either way, Ollie had a lot of questions and not a lot of answers.
He had tried calling Rowden again. Mainly, as he knew the man had to know something about why his powers were so abnormal.
Not to mention, his godfather was possibly the only one who could tell him why his parents had died.
Unfortunately, Rowden hadn’t answered, and he still hadn’t called back.
He frowned, looking at Noble, who had thankfully just let him get lost in his thoughts as the man took a drink of his soda. “Why do you think they hate us so much? Is it because we are different?”
Noble blinked. “They?”
“The witch hunters?” he whispered.
Noble stiffened. “Ah…probably in part, I suppose. Another part of it is likely due to religious reasons, or just personal vendettas. Just like there are evil humans, there are evil witches too. The hunters just don’t differentiate between the two.
Though, the majority likely use the latter two reasons as an excuse to hide behind when they kill, to ignore the fact they are just bigots. ”
“So many of them would hate me for various other reasons, even if I wasn’t a witch?”
“Likely. They just probably wouldn’t kill you for those reasons.”
Ollie scoffed. “Good to know.”
Noble hadn’t exactly lied. Many of them wouldn’t kill Ollie because he was, for instance, bisexual, but there were definitely a few who he wouldn’t put it past them to do just that.
Due to the organization being as old as it was, he couldn’t exactly say it was birthed by Christianity, or that it was a domination of it, but it had definitely pulled from those specific texts at some point.
Either way, the strong religious connections at the foundation of the witch hunters, sort of ensured that a good bulk of those they recruited hated anyone ‘different’.
That hadn’t been the case for him, since he was gay, and he had quietly accepted that long before joining them.
Not that he’d exactly advertised it. His handler had known, along with a few others in the upper ranks.
As for the other grunts like him… There had possibly been a few who’d found out, and they were now very dead because of it.
Noble eyed Ollie, his sweet little witch who would rather not hurt a fly…
and he’d like to say he couldn’t understand how he’d gone on killing those like him for so long, but it would be a lie.
He knew very well why he had done it, and why he had continued to do it long after getting the revenge he was owed.
Hatred and revenge were great motivators, but the truth was, in those later years, the only thing pushing him forward was his greed for violence.
Noble couldn’t help but hate himself just a bit more each time he witnessed Ollie break down in fear, or flinch when someone got near him.
That bastard, Mikael, had left his Baby more nervous and fearful than before, and it made him wish he could kill the fucker all over again… but much more slowly this time.
“Any other plans for this week?” Ollie asked with a hopeful smile.
Smiling back automatically, seeing how cute the man was, Noble said, “Nope, I’m all yours. Though, at some point, I may need to pick up some clean clothes and do laundry.”
“You are welcome to use my laundry room,” Ollie said before wrinkling his freckled nose and hesitantly adding, “I can’t help but feel bad for monopolizing your time.”
“Don’t. I’m your boyfriend, I enjoy spending time with you. Though I do hope you getting attacked doesn’t become a common occurrence.”
“Yeah, we can only hope,” the little witch said with a huff.
Maybe…he should try to convince Ollie to ‘hire’ him as a bodyguard?
It would solve the issue of Ollie wondering why he never had work, and would also give him even more of an excuse to stick to the witch’s side, while making sure the man stayed safe.
Noble could even try to teach Ollie some self-protection…
Maybe train him a bit. Depending on how well the man learned, it could highlight his Baby’s need for a bodyguard, and thus, support hiring him.
Noble glanced back, looking around the retro diner, with its checkered floors, beige walls, red booths, and chrome tables, when Ollie’s gaze drifted off behind him. But the man’s eyes were definitely following something he couldn’t see.
“Is the waitress ghost back?” Noble asked, once he was facing forward again.
“Yes…” Ollie trailed off, continuing to stare, a frown forming on his face.
“What’s wrong?”
“You know, I think I’ve seen her before, but I can’t remember where.”
“Ah…I’d like to help, but as I can’t see her…” He gave an apologetic shrug.
Ollie blinked and smiled widely. “I could fix that? Maybe…” He giggled.
Noble rose a brow in question.
“Okay, so like, I possibly was upset that Jahla couldn’t see Annabel when she started talking to me, and I was already freaking out about glowing books and talking cats, and somehow I made it so she could see her.”
Noble brow rose higher at that. “Did you?”
He couldn’t help but wonder how Red didn’t find that odd? He was beginning to see a pattern of major red flags that the familiar should have picked up on, but seemed to have been completely glossed over when they happened.
“Yes? Somehow? And I, um, could try again? I'm not exactly sure how I did it, or how it works, but—I suppose I should ask first if you’d even want to see ghosts. I know Jahla would prefer not to. Though, so far, the only ghost I think she’s seen is Annabel.
” Ollie started to wring his hands together on the table, as was his habit when nervous.
“I’m not entirely sure I’d want to keep seeing ghosts if I didn’t have too.
So I’d understand if you don’t. Not that I’m sure I can even do it, but—”
“Go ahead and try,” Noble said with a soft chuckle.
Though he supposed he should be more wary of it, considering how many he had killed. Probably the only reason there were no ghosts around him was because of the slight resistance witch hunters had to magic and supernatural shit. Though, as far as he knew, it was rare for witches to stay behind.
“Okay, I’ll try.” Ollie beamed.
A frown quickly replaced Ollie’s smile when he came up blank. Try what exactly? He wasn’t even sure what he’d done the first time.
Thinking back, he really had just wanted it to happen, and then…it had, which was simple enough.
Okay, well then…I want Noble to be able to see ghosts, he thought.
Ollie waited a moment, and…nothing happened. At least, he didn’t think anything had, but it wasn’t like he’d noticed anything happening when Jahla suddenly could see either. But maybe he should try for longer before having Noble look around?
His face scrunched up as he tried to think all the thoughts as hard as he could.
I want Noble to be able to see ghosts, please?
Pretty please? It would highly benefit me, and everyone else, if Noble could see ghosts.
So, whatever arcane is listening, please make that happen.
Noble NEEDS to—no, I DEMAND that he sees ghosts!
There was a brief feeling of cold flowing through his veins, moving from his center outward, but he barely got a chance to acknowledge it when Ollie found himself jumping with a frightened squeak as the bulb in the light above them burst, sparks and glass raining down onto the table.
Sammy Harper rushed over, gasping, “Oh, God, are you two alright?! Did anything hit you?!”
They shook their heads in response.
The older woman hesitated for a moment before saying, “Sit tight. I’ll go grab a dust pan and clean up the glass.”
When she left, with a nervous laugh, Ollie asked, “Hah…was that me?”
“I don’t know.” Noble smiled almost hesitantly. “What exactly did you do to try to make it happen?”
“I…” He took a calming breath. “I tried thinking and wanting it really hard.”
The man pursed his lips. “That can sometimes work. Though I have never heard of it working for something like making someone else see ghosts. Usually it takes a worded spell, and even then, that normally isn’t permanent.”
“Then how the heck did I do it before?! Because since then, Jahla has always been able to see and hear Annabel. Mind you, Red didn’t seem shocked that I was able to do it the first time, more like it was just normal.”
Noble frowned. “Maybe it is for your heritage?”
“Well, some of what I can do obviously isn’t.” Ollie sighed. “But I guess I never should have assumed I’d be normal.”
Sammy returned then and their conversation stalled as she cleared the table and floor, before having them move to another table once she was sure they wouldn’t step on any glass.
As soon as they were seated again, she said, “Meals on us today, and we’ll be throwing in some dessert for the trouble!”
“Oh, that’s not necessary!” he cried. “We’ll pay. We’d already finished eating, so nothing was wasted, and neither of us were hurt.”
Besides, it had likely been his fault, and he’d feel really bad getting a free meal due to something he did.
She sighed. “That stubborn side of you is about to come out, ain’t it?”
“I do not have a stubborn side,” Ollie huffed.
“Mmhmm, sure you don’t,” Sammy tsked. “Fine, you can pay for your meal, but you are still getting some sort of dessert for free.”
Ollie checked his watch, frowning at the time as he remembered he was supposed to host a kid’s craft program in about thirty minutes. And while it may only take about eight to get back, he did need time to prep. “Can you make it to go?”
“Sure can, what will it be?”
“Banana cream pie,” Noble said.
“A piece of your Oreo cheesecake.”
“Sounds good, boys. I’ll have that ready and waiting for you at the counter.” That said, she left.
Noble gripped one of his hands as soon as she was gone. “Ollie, don’t get so hung up on what is ‘normal’. There is nothing wrong with you. And I’d rather you be you, than whatever the world has decided is normal right now.”
Ollie blinked rapidly when tears started to flood his eyes, while a warm feeling spread through his chest. “Thank you,” he softly rasped.
The man smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. “Love you.”
He beamed back. “Love you too, but…” Ollie giggled. “Did it work? Can you see ghosts now?”
Noble laughed. “I don’t feel any different, but…do you see the ghost right now?”
Ollie quickly glanced around, pointing when he spotted the ghost. “Behind you, near the counter.”