Noelle stood by the coffee maker, awkwardly waiting for the slow drip of the nozzle to fill the pot enough for her to pour a cup for herself and the teenaged witch standing in what would have been a living room had it been decorated. It was a sight that looked like it belonged in a photography exhibit. The white-haired girl standing in the plain white room. Noelle couldn’t decide if Lorelei looked lonely or if she looked like a ghost.

Lorelei was glaring, a look Noelle was already used to despite their limited interaction. The girl would stare at Noelle only to look away, but since the walls were blank, she was ultimately forced to return her gaze to the older woman.

“How cute. You’re more awkward than I gave you credit for.” said Noelle.

“Am not! What are you expecting me to do? You don’t even have a couch to offer your guests.” Lorelei stalked her way to the kitchen, the plastic bag in her hand rustling as she moved. Noelle took a quick peek and noticed it held a box of cookies. Lorelei noticed the investigation and moved the bag behind her, averting her eyes from Noelle’s at the same time.

“Awww. You brought those for me? And now you’re too shy to hand them over?”

“N-no! I just got them for myself!” Lorelei stammered; a blush visible on her cheeks.

“A whole box? Lorelei, you’re so cute when you act like this! Look at me! Show me more!”

“Shut up! You sound really creepy right now! Stop acting like an old man at a peep show! I’ll admit it! I got you the cookies okay?!”

“Good. I appreciate it. They’ll be good with the coffee.” Noelle turned her attention back to the coffee maker. With the brewing complete, the dark liquid sat on the hot plate ready to be drank. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lorelei place the bag on the counter and retrieve the package of sweets. There was a loud pop as the air in the package burst out from within, clearly the result of some spell Lorelei had employed to open it.

“Before I forget, give me your arm.” Lorelei demanded; hand outstretched.

“I don’t see what for. Are you going to hex me?”

“No, jackass. I looked up some anatomy last night. It won’t be perfect, but I can do a bit more for your wrist than Beth did.”

Lorelei reached out and grabbed Noelle’s cast. Almost immediately a warm sensation flowed from the witch to Noelle. The two of them stood there in silence for a minute until, eventually, Lorelei withdrew her hand.

“There. Two weeks and you can take that thing off your wrist. It’s looks inconvenient to wear, so I figured hurrying the healing along would help.”

“Lorelei…”

“What?”

“You’re actually a really nice girl, aren’t you?”

“N-no!” Lorelei sputtered out her objections while Noelle chuckled. Tuning the teen out, she poured the coffee into two mugs.

“Oh shoot. I forgot to ask about cream and sugar. Oh well, just suck it up and take it black. You’re not a coward, are you?”

“You sure like provoking people. No wonder you hang out with that wimpy looking guy, he’s the perfect masochist for you to bully. That’s one hell of a relationship.”

Noelle narrowed her gaze, glaring at Lorelei through half-lidded eyes. “You’re too young for that talk. Get back to me once you’ve made out under the bleachers at least once.”

Lorelei tossed a cookie into her mouth, clearly irritated by Noelle’s provocations. Perhaps confident that she was safe to act out in the privacy of Noelle’s room, she sent a spark of magic through her hair to signal her annoyance.

“Thanks,” said Noelle, dropping the teasing for now, “I’m grateful to get this cast off sooner.”

“Then you’ll repay me by answering my questions. If you object, I’ll rebreak your wrist as a refund.”

“And you said I’m the sadist. What do you want?”

“It’s simple,” started Lorelei, wagging her finger back and forth, “I want to know you. Oscar told me about the little monster you and that guy have been chasing, but that’s not enough for me. Oscar I know, and Oscar can vouch for that guy, but you’re an unknown. If you’re in this town and know about magic you’re a threat to me. More importantly, you’re a threat to Beth. So, tell me everything there is to know about Noelle Sellers, or I’ll end you right here.”

The room grew cold. That wasn’t just a figurative observation on Noelle’s part, the chill was real. Frost accumulated on the windows and soon the only warmth to be had was from the coffee mug in Noelle’s hands. The intent on Lorelei’s part was clear: a threat. It didn’t matter they were in Noelle’s place, in fact, it didn’t matter where they were; if Lorelei deemed Noelle a threat she would end her, simple as that.

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“If you’re going to be taking this so seriously I’ll drop the welcoming act too. I’ve been wondering since you arrived, how did you get this address? I never told you.”

“You act like it’s some grand secret. The police station has your personal information in their employee records, obviously.”

“So what? You magically hacked them.”

“I don’t know enough about computers for that. I mesmerized the front desk lady and had her look it up for me.”

“Makes sense.” Noelle shrugged her shoulders dismissively.

“I think what you meant to say was ‘that’s terrifying.’ That would be the natural response.” Lorelei spat.

“…”

“I just admitted to your face that I accessed your personal information just by asking, like I was trying to find a book at the library. There’s nothing normal about that. I just did something that completely upturns and circumvents the system your life is built on. It’s unnatural. You should feel much more strongly about it than a shrug of the shoulders.”

Lorelei was a reedy girl, in both voice and body. She wore unflattering jeans and an oversized hoody. There was nothing threatening about her, nothing out of the ordinary at a glance besides her hair, yet the admonishment she gave had an implacable intensity. The way she spoke and the way she carried herself in this moment was like a coiled serpent. Her words were so much more than information, they were a hiss, a warning.

“The reason I can’t leave you be, is because you’re decidedly abnormal. You’ve supposedly encountered a monster, and I know for a fact you’ve seen me and that mercenary Oscar’s trying to sweep under the rug without telling me. The danger of magic should be clear to you. Roll your eyes and all you’ll do is miss the part of this world that does you in.”

Noelle was taken aback to the point it took her a moment to find her words. “You say that, but I assure you tons of people are interested in magic. It’s a power they know exists but can’t reach. It’s interesting.”

“Bullshit. Everyone’s like that at first, but reality sets in soon enough. That man from last night could’ve crushed your skull with his bare hands, just as I could’ve frozen and shattered you on the spot. Even the shoddy bracelets your friend wears can melt you bone and all. Magic’s not fun. The magical world isn’t a wonderland for you to get lost in. It’s anarchy; it’s like a world filled to the brim with sociopaths, where even the average citizen is toting an assault rifle. Most realize how fucked that is and beg for a mind wipe, so how do you even have the nerve to joke around with me?”

“Sociopaths…quite the word to use when you’re also part of that world.”

“I’m no princess, but there’s a key difference between me and the mages out there. I’m a witch.”

That’s right. Lorelei was a witch. A being of inherent power doomed to being ostracized. A girl like her forced to bear such a burden…something twisted inside Noelle just thinking about it, but she refused to let it show in her expression.

“My magic and myself…they’re a package deal. Magic isn’t some tool or weapon for me to use, it’s an extension of my body. Just like how you can see, hear, touch, and smell the world I do the same with my power.”

“And?”

“Besides Beth, the others are different. They know of magic as a tool created through the endeavors of generations of mages. I take it you know at least a little bit on how it works?”

“Levi told me it came form ‘faith’, whatever that means.”

“It means whatever those bastards think will happen, happens. If someone believes they can heal their wounds by spinning in a circle, it’ll happen.”

“Is there really a problem with th-”

“But that’s wrong.”

Lorelei’s eyes were glowing red as they bore a hole through Noelle. It was like a laser ablating away the layers and layers of nonsense to strike at the core of the matter.

“Those shitty mages aren’t doing magic; they’re rewriting the world as they desire. To cause phenomena to happen because you believe in it means you’re rejecting the reality of all those who don’t. You don’t think you can heal yourself by spinning? Too bad. Go fuck yourself. Mages are people who ignore the wishes of others, the reality around them, just so they can selfishly change the world to match their personal faith. Seems pretty sociopathic to me.”

“…”

“And this goes without saying, but someone who can stand a world like that is just as abnormal as they are, wouldn’t you say?”

“…”

No…

“That’s why I think you might be a threat. You’re empty too. I thought it was a fluke, but you saw straight through my people clearing field at the university.”

“Your what?”

“When you spoke to me the other day. I used a spell to get people to ignore the bench I was on, yet you came right on over. For someone to pay enough attention to see through my trick…you must have no life to distract you, to weaken your attention. I know your sort, the type of person who gets wrapped up in our world, and it never ends well.”

With the lecture concluded, Lorelei turned her attention towards the cookies, grabbing two and shoving them unceremoniously into her mouth. She had gotten worked up quite a bit while lecturing Noelle, the violent manner with which she ate indicating a frustrated desire to further express her displeasure with Noelle.

Noelle remained quiet, unable to rebuke Lorelei’s reasoning. In the white, undecorated apartment Lorelei was the sole sign of life, her judgement absolute. Noelle wanted nothing more than to escape the teen’s glare, but there was nowhere for her to retreat to. If the present conversation was anything to go by, Lorelei wouldn’t be happy unless Noelle moved back home with her tail between her legs.

Back home to that non-life of hers.

With the cookies finished off, Lorelei returned her attention to Noelle. No doubt a whole new level of chastisement was about to be borne into the world. Just as Lorelei opened her mouth there was a tap at the window.

And another….

And another…

Noelle turned and was shocked to find five squirrels sitting on the windowsill all in a row. As four of them scratched at the window the final squirrel cocked its head in a “follow me” gesture.

Behind Noelle, Lorelei groaned.

“Looks like we’ve been called out. Hurry up and get your shoes, they won’t leave your place alone until you go along with them.”

“The squirrels? The squirrels want to talk to us?”

Don’t be stupid,” snorted Lorelei as she placed her coffee mug in the sink, “they want us to visit the person who told them to fetch us. If you want to play around with magic then you’d better get used to shit like this. Just follow them and don’t ask questions. If it goes south, well, I’ll be okay at least.”