The Stolen Spell Book

       The rain came down hard, dribbling off the awnings and rooftops like a thousand leaky faucets, splattering pavement along with the rest of the free-falling water from the sky. The light from the streetlamps gave an ugly glare as cars sped by, and the sidewalks were left virtually empty, say for a lone pedestrian with a big black leathery umbrella. She ran across the crosswalk with a bag clutched tight against her chest, trying to protect it from the wind and rain.

           The young woman stepped under the canopy of “Ottawa’s Rare Books,” shaking off her umbrella and closing it before trying the door. It was locked, and a sign hung on it stating, ‘Sorry, We’re Closed’ above the hours of operation.

Taking the umbrella in her off-hand along with the bag, Jinx knocked hard on the old wood frame. “Mr. Mel?” she called, “Mr. Mel, it’s Jinx! We talked on the phone?” She felt nervous as she looked back at the empty street, still clutching tightly the bag she held with her umbrella. Pursing her lips, she stepped up to the panoramic window. She tried to peer into the dark shop by holding her free hand against the cold glass. However, the blinds were drawn tight. Sidestepping to the door once more, Jinx hammered on the door again, this time with more desperate force, “Mr. Mel! Please! I need your help! I don’t know what else to do!”

But even as she was saying this, the door sprang open. With surprising speed, an old, gnarled hand grabbed the young woman by the collar of her jacket and yanked her inside. The same hand was quickly clasped over her mouth before she could scream while simultaneously snapping the door shut, thrusting the room once more into darkness. “Were you followed?” the hand’s owner demanded with a barely audible hiss.

The terrified girl shook her head, eyes wide.

The old shopkeeper scowled with harsh scrutiny as he chided, “Do you realize how much trouble you have caused me?”

Again, the girl shook her head, afraid of what the unexpectedly strong man would do next.

Snatching the package from her quivering hands, the man tore open the bag to reveal an old, dusty tome. “By Merlin’s beard, it’s still in one piece!” Mel gasped with a sigh of relief as he carefully examined it. He turned his attention back to Jinx, demanding critically, “By all that is holy girl, what possessed you to steal this?”

“I- I didn’t mean,” she stammered, “if I knew it would really work—

“It shouldn’t have!” he barked, a vein on his balding head throbbing with irritation, “Now go before I throw you out.”

“What about my brother?” Jinx pleaded, “The doctors still can’t figure out why he is in a coma.”

“And who’s fault is that?” Mel snapped.

“You have to help him!” Jinx demanded.

“I don’t have to do anything! You are the one who did this to him, messing with things you know nothing about!”

“Please!” Jinx begged, “I’ll do anything! Just help me to get my brother back.”

The old man looked at her with an analytical gaze. He steepled his hands and pressed them to his weathered lips before asking begrudgingly, “What spell did you try to perform exactly?”

“I-I don’t know!” Jinx cried, “I just followed the diagrams for one I thought looked interesting.”

“Ha,” Mel smiled cruelly, “You mean you performed a spell without even bothering to read what it did?”

“I can’t understand whatever language that thing is written in,” she gestured to the book accusingly.

“Yet you were still able to cast it? Just by the diagrams?” Mel scratched his chin with a frown. “Show me.” He handed her the book, “which one did you try to do?”

After finding the pages, she gave the book back carefully. “This one.”

Mel walked to his front counter, setting down the book and turning on an antique lamp. After reading, he looked up at Jinx with a grave expression. “If you did this exactly as instructed, which I highly doubt, you have banished your brother’s spirit.”

“What?” Jinx felt the pit of her stomach fall out from under her. “I banished… that’s impossible.”

“Is it? Well then, I suppose the rift you said you tore open in your apartment was some other unexplainable phenomenon,” the old man snorted.

“What about my brother?” Jinx asked anxiously, “Where is his soul?”

“If I had to guess? Another dimension.”

“What?” Jinx cried.

Mel glowered, tapping the book with his gnarled finger, “Look. This spell you haphazardly tried to cast is tough! Novice mages are normally forbidden to go anywhere near something this advanced.”

“Mages?” she asked.

“Yes! Magic!” he spat, “What else would you call what you did?”

“I don’t know.”

Jinx slumped into one of the various chairs along the bookshelves, feeling lightheaded, “I have always been fascinated by the history of magic, old books, witches, and spells, but I never actually thought they were real. That this was real. That I…”

“Humph. You are a dense one.” Mel closed the book, sticking it under the counter.

“Is there nothing you can do?” Jinx sat up, feeling her hope fading.

Mel looked back at her grimly, “No. My specialty is repairing spell tomes, not using them.” he nodded towards the bookshelves, “this old bookstore is just a front, a side hustle. My real job is restoring damaged or ancient magical texts. For example, the spellbook that you stole is meant for astral projection—

“Astral—What?” Jinx tried to make heads or tails of what the man was saying.

“It means,” Mel nearly shouted, before calming himself with a deep breath, “It means that, most likely, your brother’s soul is in another plane of existence,” he scratched the back of his head as he said almost passively, “Who knows what it may have latched on to when it got there.”

“Can he be brought back?”

The old man pinched his eyebrows, “It would take a great deal of time and an understanding of ritual magic that exceeds my abilities. However, the book owner could.”

Jinx felt an ominous chill, making her feel uneasy. “The owner?”

Mel slowly nodded, “I told you the book wasn’t for sale, yet you took it anyway.”

“Then… I would need to convince the owner of the book?”

Mel said with a harrumph, “Good luck with that one. Lady Imelda already wants my head for stalling,” he glowered as he ranted, “she thinks I am just behind, not that it was stolen!” he spun back around, waving his finger in Jinxs’s face, “What do you think she will do to me if she finds out that it was stolen under my watch? Hmm?”

“But then, what should I do?” Jinx asked, feeling as though she was running out of options.

“Leave the book with me, and I will return it. I may find a way to tell Lady Imelda of your predicament if she is in a good enough mood.”

Jinx stood, “But wait, don’t I need the book to reverse—

“You have no room for bargaining!” Mel snapped, growing angry again, “As it is, I am sticking my neck out by not turning you over to her or the mage authority.”

Jinx felt her heart skip, “There is a mage police?”

“Of course there is! And they are extremely strict about untheorized mages.”

“But I am not a mage.”

 “Clearly, you must have some mage’s blood in you somewhere. Otherwise, this wouldn’t have happened.” Mel rubbed the bridge of his nose before saying pointedly.

But before he could continue his tirade, a quiet and deliberate knock at the door caught both of their attention.

Mel’s face went white, “Merlin's beard, she is early!” he hissed as he shoved Jinx behind the counter. “Quick, girl, into the back! And whatever you do, don’t touch anything!” He rushed back out.

Jinx heard from the other room a woman’s voice saying, “Melvin, darling, it is so nice to see you again.”

“Lady Imelda,” The bookstore owner said in a surprisingly neutral tone as if nothing was wrong.

“May I come in?” Imelda said in a kind voice.

“Of course.”

Spying from the ajar door, Jinx saw the woman enter, her outfit accentuating her appealing hourglass shape and lush curves, complementing her stunning face.

“So, have you finished restoring my spell book yet?” she asked expectedly.

“Not just yet.” Mel said, “I am swamped.”

Jinx felt a chill in the air as the woman’s smile faltered, “Well, why not?”

“Like I said, been busy. It was on my list to do this afternoon.”

The woman leaned in, looming over the shorter man, “Mel, I was going to pick it up this afternoon. When were you planning on doing it, if not already?”

“After lunch, but before you came. You are three hours early, after all.”

“Three hours is not long enough to fix a spell book,” she put her hands on her hips. “We both know that,” She then suddenly smiled slyly, “what is really going on?” her eyes flicked over to where Jinx hid, glowing bright red.

Jinx blinked, and in that instant, the woman was gone.

“Hello there.”

Jinx shrieked and spun around to find that Lady Imelda had somehow teleported behind her!

The woman immediately grabbed Jinx by the neck, turning her head to the side with surprising strength, “What do we have here?” she asked with a click of her tongue, peering through her thin wire frame glasses with a mildly curious expression.

“That is my Grandaughter, Jinx!” Mel lied, bursting into the back room.

“Oh? Jinx? What a funny name. Why are you hiding, darling?”

“She wasn’t! She was helping me clean the store, my lady,” Mel panted, clearly as nervous as Jinx felt.

“Your granddaughter?” Lady Imelda said condescendingly, “This little beauty? Why she looks nothing like you!”

“Please!” Jinx squirmed, “I need your help… I will do anything you ask; just bring my brother back!”

“Oh? What are you on about?” Lady Imelda asked with a raised brow.

“It was all my fault, milady,” Mel intervened, shooting Jinx a covert glare, “the girl and her brother inadvertently interrupted my work, and the boy, well, we’re not entirely sure what happened—

“Now stop it, Melvin, you are a terrible liar,” she said bemused, “As for you, tell me what’s really going on here?” Jinx suddenly felt a presence in her head as something viciously tore through her memories. At unbearable speeds, Jinx relived her childhood, then her teens, followed by her most recent years in college— sharing an apartment with her twin brother as they worked towards their degrees. Lady Imelda smiled as Jinx twitched in her hand. “My, what do we have here?” she asked as the memories finally slowed down as she got to the prevalent parts. But as she saw what happened from Jinx’s perspective, the amusement on her face slipped away. “You stole my book?” Imelda grew stern as her grip tightened, causing Jinx’s vision to grow narrow. Imelda shot a dirty glance at the shopkeeper, “And you, Melvin, I am terribly disappointed you didn’t keep a closer eye on my prized spell tome!”

“I am sorry Lady Imelda—

“And lying no less! To protect this ignoramus, you only just met?” But before the shopkeeper could respond, Imelda flicked her wrist. A snake appeared out of thin air and wrapped itself around Mel’s mouth with a hiss. “Can it, old man! I will deal with you in a minute,” she turned her full attention back to Jinx with a stern look, “As for you, we can’t let something like this go unpunished, now, can we?” She smiled, “Perhaps I should turn you into one of my little critters? Hmm? Teach you your place?”

Jinx struggled in vain, gasping for air as she clawed at the woman’s iron grip.

“Of course, your right,” her grip tightened ever so slightly, causing Jinx to gag, “the punishment would need to fit the crime, wouldn’t it? Maybe take away something important to you? Of equal value to my book for certain.”

“Please!” Jinx gasped as the woman ever so slightly gave her some air, “I need your help… I will do anything you ask; just bring my brother back!”

“Oh, but you have already lost something important, haven’t you? And by karma, no less! Well, that takes away the fun of it. But it would be no good to do nothing, not satisfying for me anyway…” she looked at Jinx with a look of deep thought, still casually holding her in the air.

“Ah! I know!” Imelda dropped Jinx, who fell to the floor with a thud.

Imelda clasped her hands together, “How about this; you work for me as recompense for stealing my book. In exchange, I will teach you how to use your abilities.”

“My— my abilities?” Jinx choked, rubbing her neck as she tried to pull herself upright to a sitting position on the floor.

“Yes! It will be perfect,” she leaned over Jinx, tussling her hair, “You, my little thief, get the opportunity to learn a thing or two about magic from yours truly!”

“I, I don’t understand. How is that a punishment?” Jinx panted.

“Simple!” Imelda knelt beside Jinx with a gleeful smile, “As my apprentice, you will have to do whatever I tell you to. And I do mean whatever.” Her smile turned mischievous, “Then, once you are good enough, you can attempt to bring back your brother! Really it is a win-win for both of us.”

“And, how long will it take? To be good enough?”

“That ultimately depends on you, now, doesn’t it?” Lady Imelda’s eyes glinted with something that Jinx could not read. It unnerved her as she glanced at the shopkeeper Mel, who shook his head no.

“So then, what do you say? Do we have a deal?”

Jinx muttered, “Do I have a choice?”

But lady Imelda merrily shook her head with a broad grin. “Nope. Not unless you ever want to see your brother again.” Imelda stood, offering Jinx her hand, helping her new apprentice off the ground with the same mischievous unnerving smile.