Page 10 of The Soulless Witch

Chapter 7

Celeste

“I’mgladyoufinallyfeel well enough, but are you sure this is alright?”

The doors of the bus opened and Lily stepped back, so the people inside could get off. I followed her into the long, spacious vehicle, eyeing the double seat she slipped in.

“Why not?” I asked as I sat beside her, sending a probe of my magic through the rest of the passengers. The energy twirled around, tasting their essence, and came back whispering that they were all humans, all too focused on their own thoughts and not paying attention to us. Well, all except for two young men who openly stared, whispering to each other.

“Well, you don’t look like the type of person who takes the bus,” Lily muttered, her eyes on the street outside. She wasn’t wrong, but that was because I never got the chance to ride one. I had ridden in plenty of carriages, boats, and even wagons—a few cars too, in my previous life, but this public transportation was as new and strange as the computer, the Internet, and all the new inventions I had missed out on while I was dead.

“I’m fine,” I replied, watching the cars pass us. I needed to learn about all those things, anyway. “When does your class start?”

I had thought she was still in high school with her face being so soft and round, but after speaking to the Martens, I found out she was actually in college. After resting for four days, where I mainly slept to regain my strength, I finally agreed to Julia’s casual suggestion to go out and buy some clothes and necessities. Lily had volunteered to show me around since she had a late class and her afternoon was free.

“In a few hours, so we’ll have plenty of time to shop,” she replied, her eyes brightening. “I know the best places in town, I promise! Although, I’m not sure what your style is exactly. You look great in jeans, but you kind of give me a more…formal vibe. I can’t remember if you told us. What did you do for a living?”

“Heal or curse people. Among other things,” I scoffed, waiting to see her reaction. She just nodded.

“Pharmaceuticals, huh? Definitely the formal type,” she muttered, pulling her phone out of her bag when it started vibrating. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around those things. I had seen a photograph of one of the first computers when they invented them—the world wouldn’t stop talking about that, so even I had heard about it during my travels. Yet to have a giant machine inside that tiny device in the palm of your hand was still mind-blowing. “Two more stops and we are there,” she said as she unlocked her phone with a swipe of her finger, opening the messenger program she tried to explain to me earlier. Back in my day, we had to send letters, or our familiars, to carry messages, and now, they could do that in seconds.

I really needed to get one of those things and learn how to use it.

A prickling sensation crawled down my spine when I felt someone staring at me, but my magic still whispered of no danger. Turning to look at the owner of that devouring gaze, I found one of the young men I spotted earlier smirking. I tried my best not to roll my eyes as I turned forward—he was a tasty-looking thing, but he was Lily’s age and I was…well, my body might have been just a bit older than Lily’s, but still, all I saw when I looked at that man was a baby. Did he even know what to do with a woman? He looked just out of his teens, and if my long list of regrettable experiences had taught me anything, it was that men needed fifty to two hundred years to learn how to handle a woman properly.

On the other side, Lily was definitely an attractive girl, with her shiny shoulder-high brown hair and big doe eyes. Like her mother, she had a pleasantly curved figure, although that was hard to see in the baggy shirts and jeans she wore. She was definitely pretty by human standards and she didn’t even wear makeup, except for a black eyeliner she never left the house without.

“Oh, no!” Lily exclaimed, looking at me. My magic flared, ready to strike. “They moved my lecture to an earlier slot! I have twenty minutes to get to it.” I raised an eyebrow as she snarled, hitting her forehead with her phone. “I’m sorry, Celeste! Can you…Would you like to come with me? It’s actually a very interesting topic. The class is about the occult and my professor is…he is amazing! He is handsome, super polite, and he knows so much! I don’t think he’ll mind if you attend with me.”

I considered it for a second—I didn’t care about the class. I probably knew more about the supernatural world and the occult than any human could possibly learn in a lifetime, even if they knew that magic and monsters existed. But that would mean we would go shopping after the sun had set, and that was a problem. With the sun down, a lot more creatures could prowl outside and, for the time being, I preferred to avoid altercations. If there was going to be a fight, it was going to be on my terms.

“I can go shopping on my own. You go learn. The world knows women fought enough for their right to attend a university.” She gave me a strange look, but then she was rising to her feet, pushing me to do the same.

“That’s our stop.” We slipped outside, letting the people pass us by while she checked her phone again. “Okay, I have a little time and the main street is in the same direction as my college. I’ll walk you there.” She glanced up at the bus, muttering, “Ugh!” before moving down the street. I caught sight of what got her so annoyed—the two young men now staring at us from the window—and followed her just while the bus departed.

“Those boys were not your type? Because they definitely seemed interested.” I smirked as I caught up with her. I expected her to blush, but she just kept staring down even though she was no longer typing on her phone. “Lily?”

“Men,in general, are not my type,” she said quietly, then froze mid-step, turning to look at me with wide eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand, her expression one of utter horror. “I-I-I don’t know why I said that!” Her voice came muffled from behind her palm. “I shouldn’t have said that! Just forget it! Please!”

Bitterness spread in my mouth as I watched her panic. She didn’t know why she said it, but I did. She was charmed to trust me so deeply that casually sharing an important secret must have felt like the most natural thing.

“It’s alright, Lily, there is nothing wrong with how you feel,” I said in an attempt to calm her, but her face only got redder. “Your secret is safe with me, I promise.” Her shoulders sagged, and the hand dropped from her mouth. I looked down the street to give her a moment to compose herself. Running her hands through her hair, she released a shaky breath before clearing her throat.

“My college is this way.” She pointed toward a beautiful square with benches, surrounded by neatly arranged flowerbeds and freshly cut grass. There was a fountain in the middle, with several students sitting beside it and, behind it all, an old building in a baroque style stood out like a sore thumb among the tall, modern structures. “If you cross here and go that way for about half a mile, you will reach the main street. Just follow the stream of people or ask somebody.” She moved her hand to point to where we had come from but on the opposite side of the street. “That’s the stop for the same bus we rode, but in the other direction. You can get on it from there if you finish early, or you can wait for me at the stop.” She let her hand drop, licking her lips awkwardly. “Do you…Do you have any money? You didn’t bring a purse or anything…”

I opened my mouth to say I didn’t have any, but then I stopped myself. She was probably going to offer me some, and part of me felt guilty about that. The Martens had been so warm and eager to please, not resisting my spell even a tiny bit, that I had a feeling they were genuinely nice people. I had taken advantage of plenty of assholes and criminals over my lifetimes, but despite my reputation, praying on someone like Lily or her parents left me feeling dirty.

“I’ll be fine,” I said instead, taking a step away from her. “Off you go. You can tell me more about the lecture later.” She grinned, excitement flashing in her eyes, then strode toward her college building, phone still in hand.

I headed the opposite way, crossing with the other pedestrians, as endless lines of cars honked and roared. The air was filthy with exhaust and a strange heaviness I couldn’t quite name. People seemed in such a hurry, their eyes glued to their phones as if the world around them didn’t matter. Nobody glanced up; nobody stopped to look at the buildings, the people, the clear sky.

It was so…depressing.

It didn’t take me long to reach the main street, where people flocked from store to store, their conversations spilling from the cafes and the giant shops with glass fronts overflowing with merchandise.

I stopped to catch my breath.

For the first time since I woke up, I felt a hint of fear. At that moment, I would have much rather faced a group of witch hunters or fought a pack of werewolves, than walked through that busy street alone.

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