Page 39 of The Neighborhood Witch

Hugo jogged down his porch steps, carrying the bottle of wine, and strode over to the purple house next door. He paused at the base of the porch steps. He felt a presence; eyes watched his every move. He turned around and saw nothing. There was still a sense that someone or something watched him. He peered over at Johanna’s house across the street. The dark blinds were drawn shut. No light. No movement. Nothing. Perhaps it was only his imagination or something else.

Hugo turned his attention back to Alice’s house, looking up at the black front door. The lights in the jack-o’-lanterns dimmed as the candles slowly melted from existence. Plastic candles flickered in the windows. His palms were sweaty. The bottle felt like it was going to slip from his hands. He grabbed onto the neck and held the bottom to ensure its safety. A sense of nervousness and dread and excitement all at once coursed through his body. He couldn’t wait any longer. He trekked up the steps.

Hugo stood before the black door, clutching the bottle of wine in one hand and hesitating to knock with the other. He tried to peer through the window set into the center of the doorframe. The sheerblack curtain obstructed his view into the house, but an unmistakable silhouette moved inside.

Determined not to cower away, he knocked. The sound of creaking floorboards, however faint, grew slightly louder as a figure approached the door. The lock mechanism turned, and the door cracked open. Alice peered around the side and gave a smile as soon as she recognized who was standing at the door.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Alice asked, brushing her violet hair behind her right ear.

“I thought that since Halloween was your favorite holiday, you shouldn’t spend the evening by yourself,” Hugo replied as he presented the wine bottle. “This is a new brand I’ve been waiting to try. I thought maybe we could share the bottle.”

Alice opened the door fully and stood in the threshold. She had exchanged her trick or treat witch costume for all black athletic lounge clothing. She clearly hadn’t been expecting visitors on this dark evening. Alice took the bottle and examined the logo; her eyes lingered on the heart, crown, and upside down spade.

“Red-Hearted Queen? I saw this in the store, but haven’t tried it yet. Thank you. Please come in.” She stepped into the hallway.

Hugo accepted the invitation and followed. He placed his jacket on a coat rack by the door and his shoes respectfully next to it. The house was designed similarly to Hugo’s, only reversed. A winding staircase led upstairs. A door nestled beneath the stairs. The hallway led into the kitchen with a dining room in between. An entryway led to the living room off to the side.

Multiple ornate antique console tables lined the hallway walls. Black candelabras adorned the tables. The candles dripped with wax as they dimly lit the hallways with dancing, flickering light. Purple and white crystals filled in the space around the candelabras.

“Please feel free to make yourself at home,” Alice invited as she moved down the hallway and disappeared into the kitchen.

Hugo entered the living room. His eyes widened with amazement as the sight overwhelmed him. Every square inch was coveredwith some sort of object. Black candle sconces, old pictures of relatives, animals, stages of the moon, and other various spooky images decorated the walls.

A fireplace centered on the wall to the adjoining hallway. Its warmth and glow illuminated the room. Lit candles filled the mantle, more for show than light. The wax of various shades of purple, black, red, and white dripped down the front of the mantle like gnarled fingers stretching for the dark hardwood below.

A grandfather clock continually ticked away on the far wall next to a hutch containing various oddities. Fully stocked, dark oaken bookshelves lined the remaining wall spaces in the room. Crystals, pumpkins of various sizes, and plants filled in every available space. The smell of sage and incense burning lingered in the room. Hugo felt overwhelmed and intrigued at the same time.

Dark red curtains with gold trim draped the windows opposite the fireplace. A matching velvet Victorian couch sat below the windows. Dark wood trim offset the red velvet. Pillows of various sizes lined every inch of the couch. A small, round table separated the couch from a black, high-back leather chair. The leather was weathered in various shades of black from use and held secrets to stories that took place over its lifetime. Colorful Tiffany lamps boxed in all the furniture pieces.

An elaborate hourglass stood alone on the round table. It drew in Hugo’s attention. Sand slowly fell through the glass opening into the larger chamber below. Three twisting pillars held up the hourglass. A wood ring sat in the center of one pillar. Hugo touched the ring, and it moved. He twisted the ring up, and the sand appeared to slow down. He rotated the ring down a few times, and the sand fell faster. Curiosity got the better of Hugo, and he spun the ring all the way to the top of the pillar. The sand nearly stopped falling.

“Neat,” Hugo said. He turned his attention to the decorations on the wall.

Alice entered the room carrying two wineglasses with the opened bottle.

“I take it you’re not a minimalist, are you?”

“Quite the opposite.” Alice set the wineglasses on a coffee table in front of the couch. “I’m a maximalist.”

“A maximalist?”

“I want to bring the space to life with variety and history and creativity. It’s… it’s just who I am.”

“I like it,” said Hugo. “There’s always something interesting to look at.”

“That’s the idea,” Alice said as she poured the wine into the glasses. She handed one to Hugo. “To Halloween,” said Alice as she presented her glass in a toast.

“To Samhain,” Hugo responded as he clinked her wineglass.

“It’s pronounced Sauin,” she replied with a wink before taking a sip of wine.

Hugo smiled, smelled the inside of the glass, and took a sip as well. A strange, bitter taste washed over his tongue. “Bold, fruity, and a hint of something… I don’t know what.”

Alice scrunched her face and took another sip. “There is definitely something else in this. I’m not certain, but it’s… different.”

She paused for a moment before walking over to the leather chair. The chair was large enough that she could sit with her legs crossed. Hugo moved the pillows aside and took a seat on the couch. The velvety cushions felt soft despite the aged appearance.

“We had a good number of trick-or-treaters tonight,” Hugo said before taking another sip.

---