Witch Degrees of Separation
by M.Z. Andrews
Chapter One
Chapter One
It was an unseasonably warm day in late October, up in the high elevations of the Appalachian Mountains. Of course, I knew why it was such a lovely day. My boyfriend was a wizard who could control the weather. Maybe that was supposed to be a secret, I really wasn’t sure, but I certainly hadn’t told anyone. If Houston Brooks wanted to share with his friends that he was controlling the temperature, that was his choice. I wasn’t about to complain. Autumn was my favorite season and Aspen Falls, Pennsylvania had to be the most splendid of places in the world to get to enjoy it. The colors of the leaves were such gorgeous shades of reds, yellows, and oranges that it sort of made me wish it would just stay autumn, year-round.
I pulled the sleeves of my ratty old hoodie down over my hands and held one hand up over my eyes to shade them from the sun while I glanced up at the crowd forming around me. My friends, Sweets, Alba, and Holly, were to my left and Jax Stone, my roommate, was to my right. The four of us had let Jax convince us that it would be fun to take a broomstick riding class together and after the weeks of murder investigations we’d just managed to put behind us, I actually looked forward to doing something fun for a change. Maybe Jax’s idea was exactly what The Witch Squad needed to shake things up a bit and finally get to enjoy our time at the Paranormal Institute for Witches.
“Is this everyone?” I asked Jax unenthusiastically while leaning on my broomstick.
Jax looked around. “I don’t know who else signed up, but the boys aren’t here yet.”
I nodded. She was right. It had taken quite a bit of convincing to get Hugh to agree to take the class with us. He was a cowboy type wizard, not a Harry Potter type wizard, he’d mentioned to me on several occasions. Cowboy wizards supposedly didn’t ride around on broomsticks. They rode around in pickup trucks or on horses. Brooms were for sweepin’, not ridin’. I’d had to laugh. It wasn’t that I disagreed; I just wanted to do something that didn’t require toxicology reports or ghost sightings.
“Hugh’s bringing friends?” Alba asked me curiously. I looked up at her. She was a couple inches taller than me and considerably thicker, her short brown hair flipped up under her ears as she looked down the hill towards Warner Hall, the boy’s dormitory.
“Yeah, he’s bringing his roommate, Juan. I think Juan might be bringing a few buddies, too.”
Holly clapped her hands excitedly. “Oooh, more boys!” she cooed as she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. Her curly blonde hair and partially exposed heavy bosom bounced excitedly as well.
Alba rolled her eyes at Holly. “If you paid as much attention to your classes as you do to boys, you might actually have a shot at being a good witch someday.”
Holly furrowed her eyebrows at her roommate and stuck her hands on her hips. “What do you mean, I might have a shot at being a good witch. I am a good witch, thank you very much.”
Alba shrugged and turned her back to Holly. “Could’ve fooled me.”
Sweets looked back and forth between the two girls. “Can’t we all just get along? For once?” Sweets, the lovable, pudgy, baking witch of the group, had found her niche as our peacemaker. She didn’t like conflict, and she didn’t like when we picked on each other.
Jax nodded her head emphatically, nearly knocking her black witch hat right off of her head. She grabbed at it on both sides and pulled it down firmly over her short bright orange hair. “Sweets is right. You two need to stop arguing. We’re in college, not third grade.”
“You tell ‘em, Jax,” I said with a little laugh.
“Can it, Red,” Alba shot back with an angry look on her face.
We glared at each other for several long seconds. “Why do you always have that look on your face, Alba?” I finally asked her, frustrated with her never ending bad attitude. While I never minded a little angsty discourse, Alba was like a walking basket of burnt biscuits.
“What look?” she growled.
“Oh, I know that look all too well,” Holly agreed, nodding somberly. “Alba’s got a serious case of resting witch face.”
“Doh!” I laughed hard, covering my mouth so my gum wouldn’t fly out onto the grass. Alba glared at both of us. I was sure I’d pay for that reaction later.
“Holly!” Sweets admonished.
Holly shrugged unexcitedly. “What? It’s the truth.”
Sweets eyed Alba sadly as if she felt bad for her for having such a dour face. “Well, you didn’t have to tell her.”
Alba rubbed the sides of her forehead with the pads of her fingers. “Are you idiots done?”
“Sorry Alba,” I said with a little laugh as I threw an arm around her shoulders. “You know we love you. Even if you do have a resting witch face.”
Alba shoved my arm off of her shoulder. “I don’t even know why I came out here with you four. You all get on my nerves.”
“You came out here because you want to learn to ride a broomstick, just like we all do,” Jax assured her excitedly. “Oh look! Here come more people!”
The five of us were standing in a clearing at the top of a hill overlooking Warner Hall. A big group of people were slowly making their way up the hill. Through my black rimmed glasses, I could see the top of a cowboy hat amongst the group. “It’s Hugh and the guys!” I said.
“Great,” growled Alba.
“Hey!” I called out as soon as Hugh was within shouting distance.
“Hey yourself,” he called back.
“Who are those guys?” Jax whispered to me.
I shrugged. “I’ve only met Juan. I don’t know the rest of them.”
When Hugh got to the top of the hill, he threw an arm around my waist, pulled me towards him, and hoisted my thin frame into the air and spun me around twice. Despite my usual calm and cool demeanor, I allowed a happy little giggle to escape my lips before he planted a casual kiss on my lips in front of all my friends.
I could hear the girls awing behind me as he sat me down gingerly on my tip toes. “It’s been too long, darlin’.”
“We had lunch together yesterday, Hugh,” I said with a smile.
“Like I said, it’s been too long.” Side by side, he slung his arm over my shoulder, then leaned over and kissed my cheek.
“Hey Juan,” I said as Hugh’s roommate got to the top of the hill.
“Hey Mercy,” he said, his dark curly hair tumbled forward as he gave me a little nod.
“You girls all know Juan, right?” I asked my friends.
They all nodded.
“Hi Juan,” Jax chirped. She peeked around his shoulder, looking at the three other boys behind him. “We don’t know them, though.”
Juan looked over his shoulder. “Oh, these are my friends. This is Ronnie Edwards, Tristan Black, and Philip Dalton.” He pointed towards each of the three guys in order as he introduced them. “Tristan and Ronnie are roommates, Philip lives down the hall. All of us live on the same floor.”
“Well, I’m Mercy, and this is my roommate Jax,” I pointed to the little pixie of a girl next to me. “And this is Holly, Sweets, and Alba.”
“Nice to meet you, girls,” Ronnie said fondly. He was a tall, gangly fellow with shaggy brown hair in a mop on top of his head. He looked a bit like a sheepdog, as he pulled his hair away from his eyes to see us more clearly.
Suddenly, we heard giggles coming from down the hill. The group of us turned to look and saw two more girls making their way up the hill to the clearing.
“Hi!” Jax called out.
The two new girls looked at each other and giggled before the shorter of the two girls responded. “Hi, we’re here for the broomstick riding class?”
“You’re in the right place. I’m Jax,” Jax exclaimed as she held out a hand to the girl who had spoken.
“I’m Sabrina, this is my friend Heather,” she said. I had seen both of the girls on campus before. They seemed to run with a popular group of witches that went to all the social events the Institute hosted on Friday nights. The girls and I had been to one social during our first week of school, but we’d been so busy solving murders since then, that we hadn’t had time to attend another one.
“Hey Philip,” Sabrina said to the tall, handsome blonde fellow next to Juan. “Hey Ronnie.” It was obvious the four of them knew each other.
“Hey Sabrina, I didn’t know you girls had registered for this class,” said Ronnie.
Heather giggled into her friend’s shoulder. I rolled my eyes. They seemed like a couple of silly high school girls, not two college-aged witches.
Just then, we heard a whooshing noise over our heads. The group of us looked up in time to see who I presumed to be our teacher, flying in on a broomstick. I was shocked to see that it was none other than Grandmaster Flash, the Paranormal Institute for Wizard’s Headmaster. He landed with a soft thud on the grassy area just behind us. He was quite the intimidating fellow. He wore a long black robe and as he pulled his shoulders back and stood to his full height, he towered above us girls, even Alba. He looked down his long, thin nose at the group of us.
Instinctively, we all fell silent. The man lifted one eyebrow at us, and when he did, I noticed the scar above his right eye. I’d seen it before, but in that brief moment, I wondered who had inflicted the wound. My imagination took off on a wild ride of an epic battle between him and an arch nemesis such as Captain Hook or Lord Voldemort.
“Hellooo,” he purred. “I am the Headmaster of the Paranormal Institute for Wizards. My name is Merrick Stone. You may call me Sorcerer Stone.”
I pulled the sleeves of my ratty old hoodie down over my hands and held one hand up over my eyes to shade them from the sun while I glanced up at the crowd forming around me. My friends, Sweets, Alba, and Holly, were to my left and Jax Stone, my roommate, was to my right. The four of us had let Jax convince us that it would be fun to take a broomstick riding class together and after the weeks of murder investigations we’d just managed to put behind us, I actually looked forward to doing something fun for a change. Maybe Jax’s idea was exactly what The Witch Squad needed to shake things up a bit and finally get to enjoy our time at the Paranormal Institute for Witches.
“Is this everyone?” I asked Jax unenthusiastically while leaning on my broomstick.
Jax looked around. “I don’t know who else signed up, but the boys aren’t here yet.”
I nodded. She was right. It had taken quite a bit of convincing to get Hugh to agree to take the class with us. He was a cowboy type wizard, not a Harry Potter type wizard, he’d mentioned to me on several occasions. Cowboy wizards supposedly didn’t ride around on broomsticks. They rode around in pickup trucks or on horses. Brooms were for sweepin’, not ridin’. I’d had to laugh. It wasn’t that I disagreed; I just wanted to do something that didn’t require toxicology reports or ghost sightings.
“Hugh’s bringing friends?” Alba asked me curiously. I looked up at her. She was a couple inches taller than me and considerably thicker, her short brown hair flipped up under her ears as she looked down the hill towards Warner Hall, the boy’s dormitory.
“Yeah, he’s bringing his roommate, Juan. I think Juan might be bringing a few buddies, too.”
Holly clapped her hands excitedly. “Oooh, more boys!” she cooed as she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. Her curly blonde hair and partially exposed heavy bosom bounced excitedly as well.
Alba rolled her eyes at Holly. “If you paid as much attention to your classes as you do to boys, you might actually have a shot at being a good witch someday.”
Holly furrowed her eyebrows at her roommate and stuck her hands on her hips. “What do you mean, I might have a shot at being a good witch. I am a good witch, thank you very much.”
Alba shrugged and turned her back to Holly. “Could’ve fooled me.”
Sweets looked back and forth between the two girls. “Can’t we all just get along? For once?” Sweets, the lovable, pudgy, baking witch of the group, had found her niche as our peacemaker. She didn’t like conflict, and she didn’t like when we picked on each other.
Jax nodded her head emphatically, nearly knocking her black witch hat right off of her head. She grabbed at it on both sides and pulled it down firmly over her short bright orange hair. “Sweets is right. You two need to stop arguing. We’re in college, not third grade.”
“You tell ‘em, Jax,” I said with a little laugh.
“Can it, Red,” Alba shot back with an angry look on her face.
We glared at each other for several long seconds. “Why do you always have that look on your face, Alba?” I finally asked her, frustrated with her never ending bad attitude. While I never minded a little angsty discourse, Alba was like a walking basket of burnt biscuits.
“What look?” she growled.
“Oh, I know that look all too well,” Holly agreed, nodding somberly. “Alba’s got a serious case of resting witch face.”
“Doh!” I laughed hard, covering my mouth so my gum wouldn’t fly out onto the grass. Alba glared at both of us. I was sure I’d pay for that reaction later.
“Holly!” Sweets admonished.
Holly shrugged unexcitedly. “What? It’s the truth.”
Sweets eyed Alba sadly as if she felt bad for her for having such a dour face. “Well, you didn’t have to tell her.”
Alba rubbed the sides of her forehead with the pads of her fingers. “Are you idiots done?”
“Sorry Alba,” I said with a little laugh as I threw an arm around her shoulders. “You know we love you. Even if you do have a resting witch face.”
Alba shoved my arm off of her shoulder. “I don’t even know why I came out here with you four. You all get on my nerves.”
“You came out here because you want to learn to ride a broomstick, just like we all do,” Jax assured her excitedly. “Oh look! Here come more people!”
The five of us were standing in a clearing at the top of a hill overlooking Warner Hall. A big group of people were slowly making their way up the hill. Through my black rimmed glasses, I could see the top of a cowboy hat amongst the group. “It’s Hugh and the guys!” I said.
“Great,” growled Alba.
“Hey!” I called out as soon as Hugh was within shouting distance.
“Hey yourself,” he called back.
“Who are those guys?” Jax whispered to me.
I shrugged. “I’ve only met Juan. I don’t know the rest of them.”
When Hugh got to the top of the hill, he threw an arm around my waist, pulled me towards him, and hoisted my thin frame into the air and spun me around twice. Despite my usual calm and cool demeanor, I allowed a happy little giggle to escape my lips before he planted a casual kiss on my lips in front of all my friends.
I could hear the girls awing behind me as he sat me down gingerly on my tip toes. “It’s been too long, darlin’.”
“We had lunch together yesterday, Hugh,” I said with a smile.
“Like I said, it’s been too long.” Side by side, he slung his arm over my shoulder, then leaned over and kissed my cheek.
“Hey Juan,” I said as Hugh’s roommate got to the top of the hill.
“Hey Mercy,” he said, his dark curly hair tumbled forward as he gave me a little nod.
“You girls all know Juan, right?” I asked my friends.
They all nodded.
“Hi Juan,” Jax chirped. She peeked around his shoulder, looking at the three other boys behind him. “We don’t know them, though.”
Juan looked over his shoulder. “Oh, these are my friends. This is Ronnie Edwards, Tristan Black, and Philip Dalton.” He pointed towards each of the three guys in order as he introduced them. “Tristan and Ronnie are roommates, Philip lives down the hall. All of us live on the same floor.”
“Well, I’m Mercy, and this is my roommate Jax,” I pointed to the little pixie of a girl next to me. “And this is Holly, Sweets, and Alba.”
“Nice to meet you, girls,” Ronnie said fondly. He was a tall, gangly fellow with shaggy brown hair in a mop on top of his head. He looked a bit like a sheepdog, as he pulled his hair away from his eyes to see us more clearly.
Suddenly, we heard giggles coming from down the hill. The group of us turned to look and saw two more girls making their way up the hill to the clearing.
“Hi!” Jax called out.
The two new girls looked at each other and giggled before the shorter of the two girls responded. “Hi, we’re here for the broomstick riding class?”
“You’re in the right place. I’m Jax,” Jax exclaimed as she held out a hand to the girl who had spoken.
“I’m Sabrina, this is my friend Heather,” she said. I had seen both of the girls on campus before. They seemed to run with a popular group of witches that went to all the social events the Institute hosted on Friday nights. The girls and I had been to one social during our first week of school, but we’d been so busy solving murders since then, that we hadn’t had time to attend another one.
“Hey Philip,” Sabrina said to the tall, handsome blonde fellow next to Juan. “Hey Ronnie.” It was obvious the four of them knew each other.
“Hey Sabrina, I didn’t know you girls had registered for this class,” said Ronnie.
Heather giggled into her friend’s shoulder. I rolled my eyes. They seemed like a couple of silly high school girls, not two college-aged witches.
Just then, we heard a whooshing noise over our heads. The group of us looked up in time to see who I presumed to be our teacher, flying in on a broomstick. I was shocked to see that it was none other than Grandmaster Flash, the Paranormal Institute for Wizard’s Headmaster. He landed with a soft thud on the grassy area just behind us. He was quite the intimidating fellow. He wore a long black robe and as he pulled his shoulders back and stood to his full height, he towered above us girls, even Alba. He looked down his long, thin nose at the group of us.
Instinctively, we all fell silent. The man lifted one eyebrow at us, and when he did, I noticed the scar above his right eye. I’d seen it before, but in that brief moment, I wondered who had inflicted the wound. My imagination took off on a wild ride of an epic battle between him and an arch nemesis such as Captain Hook or Lord Voldemort.
“Hellooo,” he purred. “I am the Headmaster of the Paranormal Institute for Wizards. My name is Merrick Stone. You may call me Sorcerer Stone.”