Page 4 of Heart Shaped Wreckage (standalone)

LANDON

“Why didn’t I study harder?” I moaned as I carefully smashed some eye of newt. It was gross.

“Weather witch!” Dandelion spread his wings and shook them.

“I know…” He was right. I always had an affinity for weather. I could create a rain shower with a mere thought, but most of my other powers took time and didn’t always go the way I hoped. Spells were complicated and annoying. “But I can do this, Dandelion.”

“Hmph!” he snorted.

“I’m glad you have faith in me.” I picked up the smashed eye and slid it into the brewing cauldron.

This was why I had a dirt floor and a flue that reached all the way down to my basement.

Upstairs, I had closed off the fireplaces long ago.

There was nothing worse than your house smelling of magic. It could stink badly.

“Bernie?” He jumped from his wooden perch on top of my altar and onto the ground as he waddled over towards my table by the simmering fire.

“She’s gone back to wherever she goes, Dandy. We’re on our own. I can totally do this. I’m not seventy years old, dude. I’m almost two hundred.”

“Child,” Dandelion jumped up onto the table and turned his beak away from the ghastly sight. “I’m ancient.”

“You are. But you’re also annoying.”

“Familiar!”

“Yes… I know. You chose me.”

“Bad decision,” he chirped happily at making fun of me. I was the butt of most of his jokes, but I knew how much he loved me. He would give his life for me if he needed to, without question. At least, I think he would. Ok, maybe there was a small question…

I flipped the page in my book. This was a very intricate potion with almost seventy ingredients.

The Grimoire was a gift from my first teacher.

It was one of a kind and had been passed down through the generations of her family.

She was the last of her bloodline and brought me on as her apprentice after finding me playing with the clouds in the sky.

She taught me a lot, but I hadn’t been very good at keeping the knowledge she shared.

I was lazy most of the time. Magic scared me, which was totally stupid since I was made of magic.

Annelise was one of the most renowned potion makers in all the world.

Witches came a long way to buy her powerful potions because they were the best in the world.

They knew better than to knock on my door.

But because of her book, I stayed away from most of my kind.

They weren’t always trustworthy, and if they knew I had this book, they would do anything to take it.

“Too much. Pinch it says,” Dandelion pecked at my fingers as I crushed the Lethe’s Bramble. “Read the words!”

“This is a pinch! Hey, that hurts.”

“Too much.”

“It’s one of the most important ingredients. It’s underlined, Dandy. I just added a little extra.”

“Why did you not ask Bernie to help you with this?” He spoke so seriously that it made me turn and stroke his beak.

“She would try to talk me out of it. You know she would. Magic shouldn’t be used for human things. I am supposed to feel my emotions. But here’s the thing, Dandelion. I’m tired. I can’t keep feeling this way, can I?”

“Annoying.”

“Yes, I know. This spell will change all of that. I won’t even remember Myles.”

“Dangerous.”

“I know. But I still have to try.”

I flipped the page back over. “Dandelion? Can you see if we have a vial of witch’s tears? It should be over by…”

“I know.” He jumped from the table and glided over to the shelves in the back of my basement.

I heard his claws click on glass as I added the extra Lethe’s Bramble I had crushed.

It was better if he didn’t know. I needed this spell to be as powerful as it could be to counteract the emotions I had for Myles.

They were strong – the potion had to be too.

“Empty,” He landed on the table, and the small dark vial rolled into my hand.

“Well, luckily, I am an emotional mess who is also a witch.”

“You should buy more – not yours.” He pecked at my fingers.

“Witch’s tears are witch’s tears, Dandy.

I have plenty.” I turned and looked at the picture of Myles I had pinned to the wall.

My tears came easily, and I added them to a small spoon.

I grabbed my dropper and squeezed. My tears flew up into the small glass dropper.

I took it over to my potion and dropped three of my tears into it.

The color changed quickly to a vibrant purple.

“Why do you never read?”

“What do you think I’m doing? I’m staring at the fucking book, Dandy.”

“You’re editing as you go.”

“It says nothing here about using your own tears.”

“I can’t wait to see how well this potion works. Should be fun when it explodes and kills us all.” He flew up onto my shoulder. “Bernie… Wait for Bernie.”

“She’s not a potion maker, Dandy.”

“Anyone is better than you.”

“Your vote of confidence is like a warm hug,” I reached up and stroked his feathers. “You know I need one of these, right?”

“I know.” He shook his wings and muttered something under his breath. A small feather fell onto the table.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t die, or kill us both.”

“I’m trying.”

“Try harder.”

I picked up the feather and set it to the side. Each ingredient had to be added in a particular order, or the potion would just be a smelly mess of nothing, or worse, something that could blow up and kill us the way Dandelion feared.

A quick flash of black from the other side of my peripheral vision caught my attention. I turned so quickly that Dandelion flew from my shoulder, so he didn’t fall.

“Asshole.”

“I thought I saw something.”

“It’s the fumes.”

I looked around the basement, and Dandelion flew back onto my shoulder. “I swear I saw something.”

“Nothing.”

A black cat stepped out from behind my altar and jumped up onto it. He sat on his haunches and mowed at me.

“Really? Nothing?” I scolded Dandy.

“Oh, yeah. Moon Cat, I know him. I forgot he was here.” Dandelion shrugged.

“Hi, fella. Are you someone’s familiar?”

The cat mowed again and then licked one of his claws. He was beautiful with a white crescent moon on his black fur. “Is that why they call you Moon Cat?”

“Can he talk?”

“Not your language. But animals can understand him.”

I walked over and slowly scratched his head, ready to flinch away if he tried to scratch me. Instead, he lay down and purred as I stroked him.

“Potion,” Dandy nipped at my ear.

“Ouch! Dude!”

“You’re right…” I hurried over and added the mummy dust I had previously measured. The potion turned a darker purple.

I glanced at the list. I was almost done. I threw in Dandelion's feather, and the potion whirled with a black mist that hovered above it. I checked Annelise’s notes. The potion looked as it should. Only three ingredients left.

I chopped the mandrake root into a paste and rolled it into a small ball. “Dimentica ciò che ti causa dolore.” I threw the sticky ball into the potion, and as it melted, tendrils of white swirled through the purple. The black mist slowly fell into the potion, and it slowly turned a dark blue.

Moon Cat mowed loudly and jumped off the altar and rubbed himself against my legs.

“Shit… Dandy? The tooth of a predator. I think I have shark’s teeth. Fuck! Can you?”

Moon Cat pawed at my leg. I glanced down, and there on the floor was a tooth. He blinked at me.

“He wanted to make an offering to you.” Dandy shrugged. “He’s a weird kitty, but cool and throws a really great party.”

I bent down and scratched Moon Cat’s head before picking his small tooth off the floor and pressing it against my heart. “Per perforare la memoria e strappare via il dolore.” I dropped the tooth in the potion, and it instantly turned black.

“Black? That’s… Is that right?” I walked over to the potion and turned the page to find her notes. “The color of night,” I said to Moon Cat. “Thank you, sir. Only one ingredient left, and then in five minutes it will be ready.”

I grabbed the rat’s brain and pulled off a chunk.

It was hardened and mummified with time.

“Dimentica ciò che ti causa dolore e abbraccia una vita senza i sentimenti del passato.” I dropped it into the cauldron, and it bubbled as it broke apart.

The potion lightened and slowly turned into a light gray.

I checked the book. Stir five times to the right and then ten times to the left, and let it sit for five minutes.

I wanted to jump for joy. I had done it, and it had only taken me most of the day.

Annelise would be so proud of me. Here was a chance for a new beginning without remembering all of the pain I felt.

Without that pain, I would be happy again.

Myles would be no more, and I would be able to live my life without remembrances of what I once had.

He was a fucking dick. But I still loved him, and I knew that was stupid. Why should I stay in love with someone who didn’t love me? It was ridiculous, and I had the ability to fix it.

I pulled the book over to me and turned to the last page of the potion. “Three drops of the potion are applied directly into the mouth. No more – no less. It should taste like… oh… Well, that’s gross.” I read what she had written and underlined.

“What?” Dandelion sounded like he was bored.

“She said it tastes like baby.”

“Most of the powerful spells that affect the flesh taste like the flesh.” Dandelion ruffled his feathers and then jumped down to sit beside Moon Cat.

“But why did she write baby. That’s just… gross.”

“It is what it is.”

“How did she know what baby tasted like?”

“Don’t ask questions. She was hundreds of years old when she took you in.”

“You’re right. Better if I don’t think about it.”

“I think it’s time.”

“Why am I nervous? Well, you are shit at potions. Don’t die.”

I used a clean dropper and sucked up the potion slowly into it. I opened my mouth and took a deep breath. God… Don’t gag. One drop… yuck. Two drops… Oh, my God, it was gross. Three and then…

The world shifted.

My vision went blurry, and I stumbled backward.

“Moon Cat, you know what to do,” Dandelion said. “Sorry, my friend. I will find you again.”

The world went black, and I felt my body shifting through molasses.

I knew nothing. All I could do was scream as I left the world behind.