Chapter 1 Salem

Salem strained herself to keep a smile. She had to put down her sketch pad while internally fighting back the urge to slap the woman in the face.

It would do her a bit of good if she had, Salem thought. Since Salem opened the magic shop "Enchanted," the customer had been on a path of destruction.

The first was with the crystals. The older woman picked them up without asking, turned them over, gawked at the price tag, and then dropped them carelessly back down. She then tipped over the spice shelf creating a mess of broken glass and herbs. And while Salem hurried over to clear that up, the older woman continued.

She bumped into the potion rack, snapped a wand in half, let Edgar, the store's residing raven, out of his cage and fly all about inside, and tipped over the once organized collection of flying brooms.

By the time Salem had finished her work with the glass, the older woman was already on her way over to another part of the store. Salem, however, was not going to let that happen. She was angry. And she would not spend the rest of her day cleaning up after this older woman. She had better things to do with her time.

She called out to her in a firm voice.

"Ma'am? What are you looking for? I can help you-"

"I'm just looking. Thanks." The older woman replied with a nasal voice. She had not even bothered to look at her when she spoke. She shouted it over her shoulder and hurried away.

Salem made a face behind her back.

That's just rude, Salem thought. At least look at someone when they talk to you. It's common courtesy everywhere, even in Terra, she thought. No reason to act like she was not there. It's not like she was doing anything outside her job.

"Ah!" Salem let out a shocked scream as Edgar surprised her by landing on her shoulder. It seemed that Edgar had had his fill of flying about the place. He now desired a comfortable perch and pleasant conversation. It was, of course, his daily habit of doing so after a bought of flight.

"Good morning, good morning, my raven-haired lover. How sweet it is that we-" Edgar began to speak in his baritone voice.

A large vase filled with black salt crashed to the floor. Both Edgar and Salem looked over to see the older woman standing beside the accident. It was obvious that she had been the culprit. Who else would have caused it to fall? Fairies?

No, not them. Salem recalled that they had agreed to keep their mischief to the outside since the pink cake incident. Madame Madeline had made sure of that.

Both turned to stare at the woman quietly.

The older woman, however, did not apologize instantly. No. Instead, she feigned surprise and threw a hand to her mouth.

"Dear me, by gods, this place is not safe at all. Everything is falling and breaking. I don't think I should even be in here." The older woman cried. She then turned to Salem and gave her a strange look as though she were looking for some response. But instead, the dark-haired girl merely looked back at her coolly.

Salem could sense something was off about her.

There was some underlying meaning to her words and actions. She was trying to prove something or provoke something. Salem didn't know per se what it was, but it was there, hiding.

But what was it? What was the older woman trying to do?

Salem crossed her arms in suspicion and took a moment to look at the woman closely. It was something she had not done when the woman first entered. But now, Salem was taking her time.

It was something Salem found to have a sort of talent for. She was perceptive. And that turned out to be a good thing.

Salem, being a half-vampire or the preferable slang 'batbane,' had already found it helped more than once since starting to work at Enchanted for the past year. In particular, with spotting out potential Gleamers.

Maybe that was the reason, Madame Madeline, the witch who owned the store Enchanted, entrusted Salem to work there. Or something close to it.

The batbane wasn't wholly positive on that, though. The witch was challenging to follow, even for Salem. Who knew what the witch was thinking most of the time?

Kooky witch, Salem thought again, thinking of her.

Upon observing the older woman, Salem could see inconsistencies.

The woman dressed in skimpy baggy-and-hole-ridden clothes, but her hands looked soft and supple. It was like she had never done work. This only made it odder because she did not wear gloves.

Salem did not expect to see gloves of white silk or fine lace, but she did expect something. She had noted the women of Terra, since living here, regardless of social class, would be adamant about wearing something on their hands.

From long sleeves to cut-up socks, the ladies of Terra, rich and poor, would strive to keep their hands covered to stay white and soft. The women of Terra were obsessed with being pale, even using bleaching potions with lead to attain it.

Salem heard about that back in Vali by her father but had thought he was joking. However, upon arriving, she quickly recognized the gravity of it. It was a serious matter to them.

It was an obsession Salem could not understand. So she pitied them for it.

But to see a woman's hands uncovered like hers' would be too shocking, Salem thought. However, gloves were not the real issue. It was her hands. They were illogically smooth and pale. This clashed with how the woman portrayed herself.

So, Salem concluded that this older woman was either lucky when it came to her skin, or she was not who she portrayed herself to be. But now, who was she?

Salem moved over to find the sleeping gnome behind the counter. Salem gently woke him, lifted him over, and carried him down to the spill. He looked at the mess and then at her with a gentle nod of understanding.

The gnome set out collecting the salt to put back into the vase.

"Thank you, James." Salem bent down to gently pat his head with affection and promised him a slice of cake later. She then turned to look at the woman.

"Ma'am, why not let me find what you're looking for. I know where everything is, and that way, you won't have any more accidents." Salem spoke with a calm voice. She watched the older woman's face turn red.

"Excuse me," The old woman squealed.

"So you think 'I' did this- No! How dare you to say that- It's your store. It's trying to kill me." The older woman then continued and pointed the finger at James, who was still cleaning.

"And what the heck is that THING doing here! Rotten little beasts, magic-folk. I bet it was that who tried to kill me." The older woman snarled. Her yelling caused James to look up with a start. She gave a dirty look that caused James to start crying.

Salem moved to step in front of James protectively. She hated to see her little friend cry.

But she hated anyone who made him cry even more.

Besides, Salem knew James was not that kind of gnome. On the contrary, James was sweet and sensitive. The only downside for him was that he was prone to be easily spooked and overwhelmed at times, but he was a hard worker. Salem had never had an issue with James. She cared for the little gnome.

And, compared to Edgar, James helped with cleaning.

Salem looked down at her tiny friend.

His face had turned red as large tears fell, and he began to hiccup. Salem turned over to comfort him with a finger on his small shoulder.

It hurt her to see him cry.

"It's okay; I won't let her hurt you," Salem whispered to the gnome. James moved to rub his eyes and nod.

From behind her, the older woman made a deep-throated noise of disgust at Salem's gesture. Saleme, in turn, shot a fiery look back.

"That thing is not supposed to be here- it's against the law. Magic-folk is forbidden past the Wall. And it tried to kill me-"

"HE HAS NOT! That is a lie. James has been asleep this entire time- Didn't you see me with him? I just woke him up. " Salem snapped.

Salem was losing control of her emotions now. She knew she needed to calm herself. But, the batbane would not just stand and listen to this. James did nothing.

How dare she accuse him? He was her friend.

Salem was furious at the woman. There was an urge to throw her through a wall but stopped there. She wasn't that out of control yet.

The older woman threw her hands to her hips and snarled.

"Can you prove that? How would I know if you don't have an entire hoard hiding here trying to kill me? I'm calling the Gleamers- They'll know what to do- send you all to the Greenhouse, they will. And tear this damned store apart." The older woman fumed.

Suddenly, everyone fell silent. Edgar swallowed hard, and James let out a silent shudder. Salem narrowed her eyes at the threat.

Salem quietly stood up, gently disheveling Edgar in the process. He made a squawk before resettling himself on her shoulder. While doing so, he caught sight of Salem's face and paled.

Salem's eyes were glowing a bright vampire yellow from underneath her chocolate brown contacts. Her body shook with rage and fear.

Salem was terrified of what might happen to her if the Gleamers came. They would send her back to Vali with the Council or put her away in the Greenhouse. Both were terrible options.

But the idea of her friends being put through the same possible treatment riled her up.

If Edgar and James were taken away, Salem thought darkly; they would never be seen again. Just like all the other magic folks taken to Greenhouse. Nobody ever came back. Ever.

Salem could feel her fangs now. They had enlarged and were slightly protruding from her upper lip. It was an instinctual reaction triggered by emotion. Something she mainly considered to be a problem as it meant she had to remain calm or else reveal herself.

It was even more, the problem in such situations where she couldn't help but get heated.

But she was not a person to sit by and allow her friends to be hurt. Instead, she would protect them regardless of the cost.

Salem forced herself to take a deep in and slow breath out a few times to help calm her nerves. Finally, her body began to shake less, and her eyes started to relax. She then took her time to speak slowly, mindful to hide her fangs as best possible.

"Lady, there is no one else here except us. You ..me...the raven..and the gnome. No one...is trying to do anything. Especially NOT to YOU." Salem spoke with great care to assure the woman. But despite her efforts, the older woman seemed ever, the more determined to cause problems.

"I don't trust you- dirty witch. No. I'm calling them. I'm calling the Gleamers to have you all taken away for good. You rotten and nasty folk all need to disappear from our world. I-"

"Wouldn't you rather get something free and go about your day?" Edgar interrupted with his deep smooth voice. The older woman, upon hearing the offer, grew quiet. She looked from the raven to the girl.

"Can it be anything?"

"Anything we can legally give, yes," Edgar replied and turned to Salem. She knew it meant that whatever the older woman chose would come out of her paycheck. But she was thankful that Edgar could resolve the issue.

"Thank you." Salem mouthed to him. Edgar cooed back and ruffled his feathers. Salem knew how he liked to be thanked.

"So, what will it be? Call those nasty fellows and sit through hours of signing papers, they always have stacks of papers to sign when involved, don't they? Or leave with a special gift? Hmm?" Edgar spoke a deep vibration of charm.

"Well, Ahimi could use a new broom. She broke the last one…." The older woman replied. She wandered over and away to the fallen pile of brooms to pick one out. While she looked, Salem sighed.

"That was too close. I almost had my fangs out," Salem whispered with fatigue to Edgar. She moved down to pick James up into her arms gently. He had stopped crying but looked awful with snot and puffy eyes. Salem made a face at the snot but still cleaned it off with her sleeve.

"Eww...but it's okay now. We're safe." Salem whispered to James and had him smile up at her. His smile reminded her of a kitten, and she smiled back. It was adorable.

"I'm taking this one." The older woman shouted and held up the finest and highest priced broom, the Skyliner. Salem could only suck in her lips at that. She was mentally calculating how much that would take out of her paycheck.

It could be nearly everything. Salem let out a slight cry of despair but accepted it. It is better to keep the hag happy and keep everyone out of trouble. I'll just make do with whatever was left over.

"Good choice. Please, remember to fly safely out there. And mind the birds and fae." Edgar replied. The older woman scuffed but made her way out of the store and to the outside.

Before she left, Salem saw her take out a pair of fine leather gloves with rich embroidery. She put them on with delicacy and then turned to look back at her. There was a smile on her face that unnerved the girl. It was as wide and hungry. A smile you would expect a shark to make in the darkest of waters.

The woman waved with a dance of her fingers before taking off into flight. And just as she left, Salem felt an instant sense of foreboding. It was as though she had entangled with someone even more dangerous than she first thought.

Shit.