Page 28

D aisy

Night fell quietly onto Willowbrook’s main street.

Most of the stores were already dim inside, their respective owners heading home for the evening.

Daisy lingered in Fields’ Herbals that day, eager to catch up on the brews she had forgotten about and to give the shop a good deep clean.

Despite the spell being lifted off Daisy’s shoulders, business continued to thrive at the store.

Apparently, the burst of sales that had come from the spell managed to gather willing customers, ones who weren’t affected by the spell whatsoever.

Daisy eagerly took the business wherever it came, determined to keep it flowing as much as it once had.

Not only were they able to afford hiring Susy and Anne part time, but the financial burden that once drove Daisy and Tessa into a pit of despair no longer crept over the horizon.

Everything, as surprising as it was, seemed to be taking a turn towards the better.

Daisy finished running a rag along the counter and restocking the aisles for an (expected) busy day tomorrow.

There was only one thing still lingering on the counter. Daisy ran her hand over the tin box, her fingers following the carved grooves and lines. A small card was on top of the lid, the handwriting familiar and bringing a tingle to her spine.

To Daisy, a chocolate for every day we are apart.

Thinking of you always, Ethan.

Reaching into her back pocket, Daisy pulled out her aged flip phone, searching through her contacts till she landed on Ethan’s number.

The small, rectangular screen pulled up a few texts they had shared earlier in the day, when she had first seen the chocolate box being delivered to the shop's door.

Daisy: Funny that there are a few chocolates missing from my tin. Were you hungry while you dropped it off?

Ethan: Well, we’ve only been apart for a few days, haven’t we? I couldn’t let the brilliant line I wrote not be up to par. Thus: I ate some chocolates. Which happened to satiate my hunger all the same.

Daisy: The brilliant mind of a lawyer!

Ethan: How about I take you out tomorrow night, and I’ll show you just how brilliant I am?

Daisy: I suppose I’ll have to take you up on that.

Putting the phone away, Daisy couldn’t wipe the smile off of her face.

The words lingered in the back of her mind constantly, no matter what she happened to be doing.

If anyone walked by the store, they’d look in to see her sweeping the floors with the smile of a madman on her face.

But Daisy couldn’t help it. She was happy, and she couldn’t remember the last time it had felt so fulfilling to be effortlessly happy.

After everything the spell put her through, Ethan never happened to be affected by it.

The things he felt for her came from his heart alone, which meant that everything that followed was as genuine as Daisy felt it to be.

Their kiss had not been touched by magic.

His insistence on having a second date, and sending her expensive chocolates, was more than enough proof that Daisy had managed to snatch him up on her own.

Now, of course, there was the second date to worry about.

There’d be another dress to find, more makeup to use, hair products that she hadn’t touched in years being poured into her scalp.

Despite the nerves and anxiety the dating brought her, Daisy greedily accepted it, proud of herself to finally be at a spot where all of it felt more than right.

She felt ready.

After finishing up her deep clean of the storefront, Daisy began to gather her things into a trash bag. It rumbled and swayed as she dragged it behind her out of Fields’ Herbals , almost slicing open and spilling across the sidewalk before she hoisted it over her shoulder.

Wobbling out in front of the shop, Daisy pulled open the trash can and threw the bag over her shoulder. It landed in the dumpster with a resounding thud. As she pulled the lid back over the dumpster, a chill rolled up her spine.

Down by the courtyard, where Anne had the adoption event for the local animal center, stood a tall water feature.

It was in the middle of the courtyard, which also happened to be positioned in the direct middle of Willowbrook.

The fountain was full of coins at the bottom, a custom Daisy participated in for many years as a child.

The belief was that the water could answer someone’s deepest wish if an offering was tossed over their shoulder and into the fountain.

Each time she peered into it, the bottom glowed with an array of shimmering colors.

But now, as she looked over at the fountain, there was a mysterious figure standing beside it.

The figure was shrouded by darkness, their clothes almost blending into the shadows around them.

Daisy was surprised to notice them in the first place, but perhaps it was only from the chilling sensation that was beginning to swallow her up.

The longer she stared, the more that eerie feeling deepened, as if someone was watching her.

Pushing the trash can to the end of the sidewalk, Daisy quickly locked the shop door behind her before heading down the sidewalk.

For the first few steps she took, the figure remained as still as a statue.

Daisy quickened her pace, a sudden intense need to see who they were foraging itself deep within her chest. Perhaps it was her happiness that fueled her forward, an urgency to make sure that nothing else could affect the joy she had pushing her to the water fountain.

As if the figure could sense her presence, the moment she got close enough to shout something, they took off.

They whipped around the water fountain, the figure’s hands lingering over the water before slipping back within their sleeves.

Within an instant, they were gone into the approaching nighttime.

Daisy crept towards the water fountain still. All the hairs were standing up on her arms, and the goosebumps increased the closer she came to the quiet fountain.

While she expected the fountain to glow and glimmer with the speckled coins hidden within the waves, Daisy was surprised to not even see a hint of the fountain floor.

The water was thick with a deep spell, taking on a greenish glow as it swayed around the pool.

Every once in a while, the color seemed to hum, vibrating between green and black.

The color was so pungent and thick that she couldn’t see any of the coins below.

Daisy let her hand hover over the water, feeling the magnetic push and pull of the throbbing magic beneath her skin.

It was unlike anything she had ever encountered before.

Leaning forward, Daisy caught a whiff of the magic, and it twisted her stomach around unpleasantly.

It wasn’t an outrightly rotten smell, but it had an unusual sweetness to it, one that reeked entirely of downright trouble.

Daisy raised her head, looking over her surroundings but not seeing anyone out of the ordinary any longer. Questions raced through the back of her mind.

What sort of danger lies on the horizon for Willowbrook?