The Magic Spell

by Paige Tyler

“Okay, Alanna, we know you’ve been holding out on us, so spill it. What’s his name?”

Alanna Simms should have known that if she went out shopping with her friends that the subject of men would come up sooner or later. It always did. And while she usually loved talking about guys as much as the other girls did, today, she didn’t really feel like it. Which probably wasn’t that unusual, considering that she’d just ended another failed relationship.

As she looked around the table at the eager expressions on the other girl’s faces, though, she couldn’t help but smile. For some reason, her friends didn’t seem to believe her when she said she wasn’t currently dating anyone. Of course, it wasn’t hard to understand why they didn’t believe her. She usually started dating the next Mr. Could-Be-Right days after dumping Mr. Definitely-Wrong.

Nonfat latte in hand, she sat back in her chair. “I told you already, I’m not seeing anyone right now,” she said.

Hollie, her best friend and the one that had been most persistent in bugging her about the whole thing, stared at her for moment, green eyes full of amazement. “You’re really serious, aren’t you?”

Alanna shrugged. “I’m just tired of going out with guys that aren’t right for me just for the sake of going out,” she said.

Across the table, Pamela, a tall, athletic brunette, lifted a brow in surprise. “And you don’t think that Matt was the right guy?” she asked.

At the mention of her most recent ex-boyfriend, Alanna sighed and shook her head. “Not for me.”

“How come?” Pamela said. “I was always so jealous of your guys because he was so sweet.”

Alanna’s brow furrowed. “As strange as that sounds, that was his problem,” she muttered. “He was too sweet.”

It was Kim’s turn to frown. “Too sweet? How can a guy be too sweet?”

Alanna knew that the blond girl would have the most problem with her explanation. Kim had been out with a whole series of complete jerks lately that had mistreated her, and she was desperately searching for a nice guy. But for reasons that Kim would never understand, “sweet” just wasn’t working for Alanna. Nevertheless, she might as well try to explain it.

“Where do I start?” she muttered. While her ex-boyfriend might have looked the part with his blond, good looks and athletic build, he had pretty much turned out to be a wimp. “To begin with, Matt never had an opinion about anything. Whenever we went out, we always did whatever I wanted to do. And while that should have made him seem caring and considerate, instead it just made him seem like he didn’t care enough to even have an opinion. He was like that in the bedroom, too. Every time we had sex, I had to be the one to initiate it! Don’t get me wrong,” she added. “I want a guy to be sensitive and sweet when he needs to be, but I also want him to be able to take charge and go after what he wants sometimes, too. Especially in the bedroom.” She sighed. “I just want a guy that’s more manly.”

Hollie grinned. “So, what you’re saying is that you want a real man.”

Alanna tucked her long, dark hair behind her ear and thought about that for a moment. “I guess I am,” she said. “Though I wouldn’t seem to know one if I fell over him.”

Across from her, Pamela let out a dramatic sigh. “A problem we all seem to have,” she said.

They all laughed at that, including Alanna, who was still smiling when they left Starbucks a little while later to head back down the street to the parking garage. Halfway there, however, Pamela stopped in mid-step, her brow furrowing.

“I don’t remember seeing that place before,” she said.

Alanna followed the other girl’s gaze to see a small shop across the street. The sign above the door read Charms in flowing script. She couldn’t remember seeing it before, either, but then she hadn’t been down to that part of San Francisco in a couple of weeks. New shops sprung up all the time.

“Let’s go check it out,” Kim said excitedly.

Alanna started to protest, they had serious shopping to do after all, but the blond girl was already darting across the street. Left with little choice but follow, Alanna and the other two girls made their way over to the store.

From the outside, Alanna had thought that the place was one of those Halloween costume shops that sprang up right before the holiday and disappeared a couple of days after, but once they got inside, she realized it was definitely a lot more than a costume shop. All four of the girls just stopped and stared at all of the stuff packed into the small two-story shop.

Not only were there costumes and Halloween decorations all over the place, but there were also a lot of genuine looking new-age things as well. She recognized the crystals, incense, and stuff like that as being en vogue in San Francisco right now, but there were also a lot of things she didn’t recognize. If she didn’t know any better, she would think it was a place that real witches would go to get ingredients for their spells. There was even a big cauldron for sale on the floor.

Vials, jars, and little boxes lined the shelves, and after taking just a cursory look, she wasn’t sure she really wanted to know what was in any of them. Creepy, Alanna thought. She had never been in anyplace quite so weird feeling before, and she was about to suggest to Hollie that they should find the other girls and leave when her friend picked up a vial of liquid from the shelf and held it up.

“Ooooh, love potion,” she said, her lips curving into a smile as she read the label. “Maybe you should try this.”

Alanna let out a derisive laugh. “Oh yeah,” she said sarcastically. “That will get me the man of my dreams for sure.”

“That one will not, but I have one that will.”

Startled, both girls jumped at the sound of the woman’s voice, and Alanna turned to see a tall, slender woman standing beside them. Alanna looked around, wondering where the woman had come from. The whole store had been empty just a minute ago, hadn’t it?

Though good manners told Alanna that she shouldn’t stare, she couldn’t seem to help it. Dressed in a flowing, black gown that made her already pale skin appear almost white, she had long blue-black hair similar in color to Alanna’s, though where Alanna’s was straight and silky, the other woman’s hung in a wild tangle down her back. Heavy make-up accentuated the woman’s dark eyes, and her blood-red lips added to the whole Goth effect she was obviously going for, and Alanna felt a shiver run through her. This woman was even creepier than the store; she really looked like a witch.

The woman’s lips curved into a smile as she took in Alanna’s flawless skin and big, blue eyes. “I am Mijanou, the proprietor,” she said. “And that is what you are looking for, my dear, isn’t it? Your heart’s desire?”

The woman had a strange sing-song accent that Alanna couldn’t place. Speechless, she glanced at Hollie for help, but the redhead looked amused by the whole thing. Wetting her lips, she turned her attention back to the woman.

“Actually...” she began, but the woman interrupted her.

“I have something very special that will help you find the man you are looking for, my dear,” she said softly. “A most powerful spell.” She paused, for dramatic effect, Alanna was sure. “If you truly do seek what you say you do.”

Even though she was sure it was all just hocus-pocus, the whole thing was just a little too creepy for Alanna and she started to shake her head, but Hollie spoke up.

“She does,” the redhead said.

Alanna tried to silence her friend with a glare, but the other girl only grinned as the mysterious woman held out her hand, palm up. In the center was a small decorative bottle with a clear liquid inside of it. Another love potion? Alanna wondered.

“Take it,” the woman offered, extending her hand.

Alanna gazed at the bottle as if transfixed by the clear liquid, but made no move to take it from the woman. Her friend, however, had no such hesitation. With a grin, Hollie reached out and took it from the woman’s hand.

The mysterious shop owner’s gaze slid to Hollie for a moment, before she returned her attention to Alanna. “You will need several other items to carry out the spell,” she said. “I will get them for you.”

With a nod of her head, the woman turned and was gone, gliding gracefully away before Alanna could stop her.

Frowning, Alanna turned to her friend. “What are you doing, encouraging her?” she hissed. “I’m not buying some silly magic spell. It’s a waste of money.”

Hollie grinned. “Oh, come on,” she said. “It’ll be fun. In fact, why don’t we really get into the Halloween spirit and have a costume party?”

Alanna looked at her friend in disbelief. “Hollie, Halloween is in a couple of days,” she reminded her friend. “How are we going to get people to come on such short notice?”

But the redhead only waved her hand dismissively. “They’ll come, don’t worry about that.”

Alanna opened her mouth to protest, but Pamela and Kim chose that moment to wander over, and Hollie immediately asked for their input.

“I was just telling Alanna that I think it would be really fun if we had a costume party for Halloween,” she said to the other girls. “Don’t you think so?”

Both Pamela and Kim smiled at that.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Pamela said.

“Me, too!” Kim agreed. “I’m always up for a party.”

Hollie shrugged. “You’re outnumbered three to one,” she said to Alanna, and when Alanna still hesitated, she added, “Come on, it’ll be fun! Think of all the cute guys we can invite! And who knows?” she said, holding up the bottle. “With this magic spell, you just might find your heart’s desire.”

Pam and Kim ooohed and aahhed over the idea of doing the magic spell at the party.

Even though Alanna thought it was silly, she couldn’t help but smile. It was true that she’d never met a party she didn’t like, and this one did actually sound like fun. And the magic spell was only a harmless little joke, just a way to get into the spirit of the holiday. At least Hollie didn’t want to do a séance or something creepy like that. She hoped.

“Okay,” she said. “I’m in. We can even have it at my place.”

Hollie grinned. “Come on,” she said, grabbing Alanna’s hand and pulling her away from the shelf of potions. “I saw some costumes back here when we first came in.”

Alanna couldn’t help but be impressed by the selection and quality of costumes as she looked through the rack along with her friends. And yet despite how many there were to choose from, she was immediately drawn to the curve-hugging black witch’s gown. Even if the shopkeeper had freaked her out, it somehow seemed appropriate that she dress like a witch since she was going to be casting a magic spell.

Telling the other girls that she was going to look around for some decorations while they finished picking out their costumes, Alanna left to wander around the store. Unlike most stores that sold Halloween decorations, this one had some really quality stuff, and she couldn’t resist getting some of it for the party.

Going up to the counter, Alanna was surprised to see a small cauldron made of copper and several tiny bottles set out there. The dark-haired woman smiled at her quizzical expression.

“The spell requires very specific ingredients,” she said softly. Opening a drawer, she took out a folded piece of parchment paper and held it out. “It also requires a very specific set of instructions. Everything you need to do is in here.”

Alanna gazed down at the paper, her brow furrowing at the wax seal on the edge. The woman certainly went to a lot of trouble, she thought. Reaching out, she took it from the shop owner. Maybe this was getting to be a bit more involved than she had intended.

“You must follow the instructions exactly for the spell to work,” the woman told her. “And be careful what you ask for, my dear. It is Halloween after all.”

Though she told herself that the woman had said the words for effect, something about the way she said them made Alanna shiver, and she was glad when her friends finally came over.

Over the next two days, between work and getting ready for the party, Alanna barely had time to think about the mysterious woman at the charm shop or the magic spell her friend had talked her into buying. Hollie came over the night before Halloween to help her decorate her apartment so they wouldn’t have to do it right before the party, and as she looked around, she had to admit they’d done a really good job. In addition to the things they’d gotten from the charm shop, they had picked up some other stuff at another store as well.

They had draped black fabric over all the furniture, put fake cobwebs up in the corner, positioned black-lights in strategic locations around the apartment, as well as hung the obligatory plastic spiders from the ceiling. They had even carved scary-looking pumpkins and placed a fog-making machine off to one side of the living room.

Alanna’s gaze strayed to the copper cauldron on the coffee table. She had convinced the other girls that it would be better to do the spell before the party, telling them that it made more sense to get it out of the way before the serious partying started. Besides, she’d told them laughingly, she needed to have the spell already done before all the hot guys showed up if she hoped to find her “heart’s desire.” In reality, though, it was because she didn’t feel like doing it in front of everyone. As it was, she was going to feel silly enough doing it in front of her friends!

Hollie and the other girls had reluctantly agreed, saying it would be more fun to do it during the party, but accepting that it might be difficult once everybody started drinking and dancing.

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Knowing that it could be more trick-or-treaters, but hoping that it was her friends instead so that she could get this silly spell thing over with, Alanna hurried to answer the door.

Hollie, Pamela, and Kim stood staring at her speechless for a moment as they took in her costume. Her brow furrowing, Alanna nervously smoothed the gown over her hips.

“What is it? she said, searching each of their faces. “Don’t I look alright?”

The black gown she wore not only hugged her curves in all the right places, but dipped low enough in the front to show off an insane amount of cleavage, and with her long black hair hanging down her back and her blue eyes heavily made-up, she thought she looked rather sexy.

Hollie lifted a brow. “Alright?” she said. “Alanna you look incredible! In that outfit, you’re going to have no problem finding the man of your dreams. You’ll have more problem beating them off of you.”

Alanna couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, you girls all look pretty incredible yourselves,” she said.

And they did to. With her long red hair in curls and her sleeveless gown, Hollie looked every inch the goddess she was dressed as, while dark-haired Pamela made the perfect gypsy, and Kim’s cheerleading outfit had turned her into a cute college co-ed.

“So, are you ready to do the magic spell?” Hollie asked as they walked into the living room.

Alanna sighed. “You guys still want to go through with that? Why don’t we just skip it and have a pre-party drink instead?”

“No, no,” Pamela said. “We need to do the spell to get ourselves in the right mood for the party. It’s Halloween, after all.”

God, why had agreed to do this? Alanna wondered. It was so stupid. “Maybe one of you should do it instead.”

“No way!” Hollie said. “It’s your magic spell; you have to do it. Besides, it won’t work for us.”

Doubting the validity of that logic, Alanna reluctantly joined them around the low coffee table, sitting cross-legged on the floor on the side closest to the little bottles she’d set out.

“This is all just make-believe, you know,” she said to her friends as she picked up the folded piece of parchment. “You don’t really think this spell is going to dump Mr. Right on my doorstep?”

“Not with an attitude like that,” Hollie told her. “It’s not about the silly spell. It’s about putting you in the right frame of mind to know Mr. Right when you see him. So, do the silly spell and tell yourself that Mr. Right is going to show up tonight.”

Alanna shook her head, but made no comment. Hollie was obviously a lot more optimistic than she was. But she supposed she could do it. For them.

Slipping her finger beneath the wax seal, she unfolded the sheet of parchment and began to read it to herself. The goofy spell seemed simple enough, just requiring her to add the ingredients in the proper order and say the “magic” words at the proper time. And to complete the spell, all she had to do was speak her heart’s desire as she dropped the parchment into the cauldron. It should only take a few minutes, she thought. Which was good, because people would start showing up any minute now, and she still had a lot of stuff to do.

“So, what does it say?” Kim asked excitedly. “It’s not in Latin or anything, is it?”

Alanna shook her head. “No, but the labels on the bottles are,” she said, her brow furrowing as she matched the Latin words with the ones printed on the parchment. Finding the correct one, she pulled out the stopper and emptied the powder into the copper cauldron.

Across from her, Pamela wrinkled her nose at the pungent odor that wafted up from the pot. “Ewwww,” she said. “That smells terrible. What do you think it is?”

“Probably powdered bat’s wing or something like that,” Hollie said, watching eagerly as Alanna searched for the next bottle.

The powder in the second bottle didn’t smell much better, and Alanna hurriedly dumped it into the cauldron, then reached for the next. When she had emptied all four bottles into the pot, she picked up the bottle of clear liquid that the mysterious woman at the charm shop had given her. Abruptly remembering that she was supposed to say the magic words as she added it to the powdered mixture, she reached for the parchment. Two rhyming lines of prose, they were easy enough to say, though she couldn’t help but feel a little foolish as she did so.

As she poured the liquid into the cauldron, mist began to swirl from it, and for a moment all four girls could only stare at it.

“So, is that it?” Hollie asked hesitantly.

She shook her head. “Now all I have to do is say my heart’s desire and drop the parchment into the cauldron.”

Alanna slowly refolded the parchment. The instructions hadn’t been very specific about this part of the spell. Was she supposed to condense everything into a simple sentence, she wondered, or could she elaborate? Then again, did it really matter? This was no different than making a wish before blowing out the candles on a birthday cake, right? It wasn’t like the spell was actually going to work.

Deciding that simple was probably better, she reached out to drop the parchment into the swirling mist when the doorbell rang.

Hollie groaned. “I’ll get it,” she said. “Don’t do anything until I get back.”

But Alanna was already getting to her feet. “I’ll go,” she said. “It’s probably just some more trick-or-treaters.”

Sure enough, it was an entire group of tiny ghosts and goblins.

“Trick or treat!” they all shouted in unison, holding out their plastic pumpkins.

With a laugh, Alanna dropped a generous handful of candy into each plastic pumpkin. But even as she did so, she couldn’t help but notice the man chaperoning them. Dressed as a pirate, he was not only well-built, but good looking, too, and she closed the door with a dreamy sigh as he and his little group wandered off to the next apartment.

“Well, he was certainly a hottie,” Hollie remarked as Alanna walked back over to where the other girls were still seated around the coffee table. “A married hottie with a minivan full of kids, obviously, but still definitely a hottie.”

“Mmmm,” Pamela smiled. “And he was dressed up as a pirate, too. What could be sexier than that?”

Alanna sighed again. “He was, wasn’t he?” she agreed, and then grinned suddenly as a thought occurred to her. “Maybe that’s what I should wish for. A real life, honest-to-goodness, big, strong, handsome pirate.”

Still smiling, she picked up the parchment and dropped it into the swirling mist without hesitation. She opened her mouth, all prepared to describe the ideal man that she had been thinking about right before the trick-or-treaters had come. But before she could get a word out, there was a flash of light and a poof of smoke from the cauldron. It made all of them jump, most especially Alanna, who stared at it in amazement.

“Whoa,” Kim said, her gaze fixed on the pot. “That was seriously cool. I told you we should have done that during the party. Everyone would have loved it.”

Pamela was waving her hand to dispel the smoke. “I don’t know how cool it was,” she said. “It smells horrible. Everyone’s going to think that we’ve been smoking something in here.”

Alanna had to agree with her friend. “I’m more worried about the smoke alarm going off,” she said. “Wouldn’t that do wonders for the party?”

That got everyone moving, and in a few minutes, they had all the windows open and were fanning the remnants of the smoke out the windows.

As Alanna turned from the window, she saw Hollie looking into the cauldron with an amused expression. “So, what do you think made it go up like that?” she said, and then smiled teasingly. “Do you think it was a real spell?”

Alanna rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, right,” she said. “There must have been something on the paper that reacted with the mixture to make it do that. It’s not very funny, actually. That crazy woman could get someone hurt. What if a bunch of kids got a hold of something like that?”

Hollie nodded in agreement. “Maybe we should call somebody,” she said. “Hey Pam, do you have the phone number to those people up in Boston that deal with out-of-control witches?”

Alanna made a face. “Very funny,” she said as the other girls laughed, but before her friend could reply, the doorbell rang again.

Smoothing her hands down her dress, Alanna started for the door when Hollie stopped her.

“Wait!” she said. “That could be your pirate now. Shouldn’t you check yourself in the mirror first? You want to make a good first impression, after all.”

Alanna stuck out her tongue. “Ha-ha,” she said. “You’re a riot.”

Contrary to her friend’s belief, it wasn’t “her pirate,” or even more trick-or-treaters, but the guests beginning to arrive. They were just the first of many, and soon the apartment was packed with people. Alanna was kind of surprised to get such a good turnout on short notice. She couldn’t help but notice that the majority of the guests were young, single guys, either. None of them really seemed to catch her attention, but at least with so many cute guys around, her friends quickly forgot all about the magic spell. She had been worried they would bring it up at the party, and she really didn’t want to be embarrassed.

As Alanna looked around the room a few hours later, she couldn’t help but notice that there were a lot of guys dressed as pirates. She knew the spell had been a joke, but her pulse still quickened every time one of costumed pirates came close.

She talked to a lot of guys, including the ones dressed as pirates, and even danced with some, but she didn’t really click with any of them. Which was okay, because tonight she was in the mood to simply have a good time. And she did.

The party went on for hours and everyone was having such a good time that she and her friends had to literally shove the last half-dozen stragglers out the door. Hollie told Pam and Kim to go home, too, saying that she would stay and help Alanna clean up.

“So, did you meet Mr. Right?” Hollie asked as she began to throw plastic cups in a trash bag.

Alanna smiled. “No, but I did have a good time,” she said. “Thanks for talking me into having the party. Though,” she added as she glanced at her watch. “I’m going to be exhausted at work tomorrow. Why don’t you leave all that, and we’ll clean up tomorrow after work.”

Hollie’s brow furrowed as she looked around at the mess in the living room. “Are you sure?”

Alanna nodded. “I’m beat and I have to get up in a couple of hours.”

Hollie dropped the bag on the floor. “Sounds good to me,” she said. “See you tomorrow.”

After her friend had left, however, Alanna looked around the living room. The place really was a mess. She caught sight of the copper cauldron where it still sat on the coffee table and shook her head. At some point during the night, the guests had filled it full of water and tried bobbing for apples in it. At least someone had gotten some use out of it. Silly thing, she thought, frowning at it as she turned off the lights and went into her bedroom.

Stifling a yawn, Alanna was just reaching behind her to undo the zipper on her gown when she heard a loud thud out in the living room. Startled, she froze, listening, but everything was quiet.

Chewing on her lower lip, she stared at her bedroom door, wondering if she should investigate. But knowing she would never be able to sleep if she didn’t, she opened the door and cautiously looked out.

Though she had a clear view of the living room from where she was standing, she couldn’t see much in the dark. Which meant that she would have to go out there, she realized. Taking a deep breath, she slowly tiptoed into the living room.

Running her hand along the wall, she found the switch and flipped it on, only to stop in her tracks when light illuminated the room. There, sprawled in the middle of her living room floor was a man dressed in a pirate costume.

Why hadn’t he left with all the other guests? she wondered. He must have been in the bathroom, she thought. But that still didn’t explain why he was lying on her living room floor. Oh God, the drunk had passed out, she thought. Well, that wasn’t her problem. He sure as heck wasn’t staying on her living room floor all night.

With a sigh, Alanna walked over to where the man lay, only to blink in surprise as she gazed down at him. Even lying down she could tell that he was tall, not to mention well-built. And absolutely gorgeous, she thought, taking in his dark hair, sensuous mouth, and angular jaw with its day’s worth of stubble. How could she possibly have missed a hottie like him at the party? she wondered.

Alanna continued to gaze down at him for a moment, taking in the muscular expanse of chest visible beneath his half-open shirt before moving on to the breeches and supple leather boots he was wearing. They looked expensive, she thought. Then again, so did the musket pistol and sword on his hip. Even safely tucked into the scabbard, it looked like the real thing.

Alanna let out another sigh. Regardless of how gorgeous he was, he had to go. Using the tip of her shoe, she gently nudged him in the side with her foot. When he didn’t move, she nudged him again, a little harder this time. But still, he didn’t stir.

Her brow furrowed suddenly as a horrifying thought occurred to her. Oh God, she hoped that the guy had only passed out.

Chewing on her lower lip, Alanna knelt down beside the man. Leaning forward, she turned her head so that her ear was right above his mouth, and then sighed with relief when she felt his warm breath against her skin.

Okay, so he wasn’t dead, she thought. That was a relief. She leaned closer to his face and noticed that he didn’t smell like he’d been drinking at all. That was strange, considering he was passed out on her floor. Her brow furrowing, she put her hand on his shoulder to nudge him when his eyes flew open.

For a moment, Alanna just knelt there, lost in those incredibly golden brown eyes of his. God, they were sexy, she thought.

He studied her in silence, then his eyes widened and he was scrambling away from her. Quicker than she would have thought possible, he was on his feet, his hand on the hilt of his sword as he looked around wildly.

“Where am I?” he demanded, his eyes narrowing as they came to rest on her. “What have you done to me, witch?”

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