3 The Shop

"All right! That should be it for today. That was the last bit of wood to store on the side of the house. Once it dries off, we can cut it down some and use it as firewood."

I was so glad when Wes said that.

I was helping him out around the house since I have no class on Fridays. Usually, I would feel sweaty and tired from helping him, but today, I didn't even break a sweat and was still full of energy. I am starting to like this body more with each passing day.

"Want to come with me? I have a new shipment that I need to pick up on the next town over."

"Okay!" I said, "Let me go change into some clean clothes."

"Bring me back some water when you come back out!"

I dressed as fast as I could and grabbed a water bottle out of the pantry.

"Here you go! Catch!" I said as I tossed the bottle to Wes.

I hopped in his old vintage bloody red pickup truck and bulked up, "What town are we going to?"

Wes started to drive off his property, "The Woodlands."

The Woodlands is one of the major towns that are close by. It's a little more than an hour away drive from where we stay in our small town of Liberty.

As we were driving, I asked Wes, "What kind of shipment did you get that you had to drive all the way down here?"

"You will see when we get there."

I wonder what could be so important.

We arrived at a small warehouse the size of a house, "Ryan's Co."

We got down and went inside to find the place covered in powders, candles, liquids of some sort, books, and animal body parts. We were at an occult shop.

A man came out from behind a red velvet curtain at the back of the shop, "Wes! Long time no see friend, how have you been?"

"Hey Ryan, I have been busy with work."

"I am glad to hear that you still have work, I have your order ready in the back. I'll go get it."

Wes turns to look at me, "He isn't the original owner of this place. This used to be his father's before he died, and Ryan inherited it and kept the tradition alive."

"I'm guessing that you and his dad were friends, or you did a job for him."

"Neither. My grandmother was the one that knew his dad and did jobs for him."

Wes was raised by his grandmother and not his real mom. It's not that his mom did not want Wes, on the contrary, his mom loved him and spent time with him as much as she could. The real reason Wes stayed with his grandmother was that she saw the power in Wes and knew that out of all her daughter's children, Wes was the only one born with otherworldly gifts; she was the original town witch. According to Wes, she was more powerful than him and loved by everyone. Everything that Wes knew was passed down to him by her. His grandmother died as soon as he got into high school and at her funeral, was the largest crowd of people that had ever been gathered at one time. Wes said that people from all over the country and around the world came to her burial. He said there were hundreds or thousands of people there to say their final goodbye.

"Here you go, my friend! Sorry for the wait."

Ryan came back with an enormous-sized box.

Wes quickly opened the box and checked the contents within. One by one he pulled out several types of smudging sticks, oils, and herbs.

"Everything looks good, how much do I owe you?"

"$500 even."

To me that sounded like a lot for what was in that box but then again, who am I to even say something, I am just an apprentice. Well ex-apprentice.

Wes closed the box back up and asked me to load it up in the back of the truck.

He paid the man and out we went back home.

While we were on the road, I asked Wes, "Is that where you always get your supplies from?"

"When it's a big order, I drive down here. I usually have him ship out the small orders to my house. There are other occult shops I buy from, but he usually sells me the stuff cheaper."

"Speaking of stuff and cheap, it sounded like you paid a lot for that stuff." I pointed at the box behind me.

"I got that stuff for about $300 cheaper."

I looked at him shocked, "$300 bucks cheaper?"

"A lot of the stuff I buy in bulks and pounds, so it helped save me some cash."

Maybe it's a good thing that I am not going to become a witch anymore. I do not want to spend that kind of money.

"But wait?! Don't you grow and make some of the oils and powders?"

"I do. When I have the plant or other necessities to make it."

Wes reached over his side and threw a catalog at me, "That's some of the stuff that I need if you want to help me by buying some of the stuff."

On the cover, it had a plant of some Rue. I flipped through the catalog, and they had different plants and seeds that you can buy. I started to have sweat run down my face and ask Wes nervously, "You want me to buy all of these? The whole book?"

"No, you idiot! Just the ones that are circled."

I felt so relieved.

"Now if you want to buy me everything in the whole book, I am not stopping you."

"Wes, I love you, but I don't have that kind of money."

"I know you don't, but you can start by buying some of those seeds. I don't mind waiting and letting them grow."

I could do that.

I was filled with excitement knowing that I was going to help Wes by buying the seeds and planting them.

I'm going to buy him this one and that one!

I like watching Wes use them in his works and on other people!

As I kept flipping through each page, I started to get sad, knowing that I could never do what he does and be taught. I better act normal; I do not want Wes to notice that I am feeling down.

The sun was down, and it was dark when we made it back home and I quickly jumped out of the truck to unload the box. I followed Wes so he could open the door and set the box on the couch across from where he usually sleeps for now.

Wes took off his boots, laid down, and got comfortable on the couch, "Tomorrow, I will show you how to mix and prepare some of the stuff together."

I was surprised about what he just said, "I thought you weren't going to teach me anymore?"

"I can teach you mixtures such as what herbs and oils are mixed to make certain things. I just can't teach you the spell works because you can't use magic any more thanks to your curse."

I started to jump up and down when he said that! I know I can't use magic, but at least this way I can be of some use to him.

I ran back into my room and jumped on the bed. I could not fall asleep all-night cause of my excitement.