There you Are
“Can I help you?” The woman who opened the door had a heavy spanish accent, but she was definitely not Luz. She was rounder and had soft, kind eyes. Amity didn’t answer for a second, embarrassment boiling in the pit of her stomach. The woman looked her up and down, an expectant look on her face.
“Um,” Amity swallowed, “I’m looking for L-luz Noceda?” Her voice cracked violently and she cringed at the sound. The woman's face changed to worry.
“Are you alright?” She asked opening the door a bit wider to let Amity in. The witch was shocked by the gesture but stepped inside the warm entryway. She shuffled her feet feeling out of place in this stranger's home. The lady shut the door behind her and ushered Amity into an area that must have been the kitchen.
“Sit, sit.” She insisted. Amity stepped stiffly into the room and made her way toward the table. As she pulled one of the mismatched chairs out, the women began to speak.
“Luz is my daughter, I’m surprised you came looking for her here though, she’s only been in town for a few days.” Oh… oh. Amity ran a hand along the surface of the table and began to tell a half-hearted and very messy lie.
“We were old friends, I’m visiting some relatives and thought I would come say hi.” Ms. Noceda gave the witch a sideways glance, clearly not buying the whole story. She was digging through a cabinet and eventually pulled out two mugs, then began a kind of dance around the kitchen opening doors and putting something together.
“You seemed a bit shaken up when I answered the door.” She mentioned, probably hoping to get an explanation out of the witch. Amity looked down at the table quickly, her mind whirling.
“I-,” but she was spared from answering by the front door swinging open.
“Mami! I’m back!”
Amity gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth. That voice… She knew that voice, it was a frequent participant in her dreams, and nightmares. Amity couldn’t stop herself from moving, but suddenly she was out of her chair.
“In here, Miha!” There was a thunk of the front door shutting and then footsteps. She rounded the corner, but was looking down, fiddling with a pair of earbuds that had been tangled together.
“Luz, you have a guest.” At that Luz Noceda looked up, and she and Amity made eye contact.
It was way too cold for an afternoon walk, but Luz Noceda didn’t have a car, and she wasn’t about to ask her mom to drive her three blocks to the woods. She shivered violently pulling her light jacket tightly around her. Her nose was running, and the cold bit at her eyes. She sniffled and brushed her nose with a numb hand. Then once her hands were safely tucked into her pockets, she began to hum to herself, hoping for a distraction from the cold, and other thoughts. The tune was a familiar one, a song she had been working on for quite some time now, but she had never been able to get it right. As she walked she played with the chords, changed a few notes, when she found a sound that she liked, she pulled a small notebook from her pocket and scribbled it down before she forgot. This particular song was going to be a gift to her friends back on the Isles, a sort of apology for never coming back. She knew that she owed them a lot more than a stupid song but she needed something to start with.
Luz didn’t have any good explanation for why she didn’t go back that first year. She got cold feet. That much was clear, but she wasn’t entirely sure what ultimately convinced her to turn away from the portal and walk back home. A little voice in the back of her head began to chant, Amity, Amity, Amity. And the voices were probably right. Luz had a crush on the witch before she even knew what those feelings ment. She realized those feelings when Amity gifted her with the beanie, her last day on the Isles. When Ami handed over the gift, their hands brushed, and Luz could have sworn an electric shock travelled through their joined hands. The only thing Luz could do was smile fondly at Amity’s blush and try not to tear up at the sentimentality of the gift. Luz was actually wearing the beanie right now, she wore it as often as she could. It was one of the only things she still had from the Isles, the only thing she had that reminded her of Amity. She still had the glyphs, she drew them everywhere, and was always disappointed when the paper she used dissolved into ash. She still had no idea why she wasn’t able to do magic in the human world, Lilith had been able to use her magic when they both stumbled through the portal that one time.
It was probably something about drawing her magic from the land, a witch could do magic in the human realm because their magic came from within, Luz had to rely on the Boiling Isles itself to cast a spell. That didn’t mean she didn’t try constantly, she felt a special connection to her glyphs, they were something that only she used, other witches could use glyphs, but they were her thing. She had even tattooed the first four spells she learned on her back, along her spine. She wanted to make sure she never forgot about the magic of the Isles.
Luz was rubbing her back remorsefully when she realized that she had reached her destination. She turned to face the woods. Memories began to resurface, she could almost hear Owlbert’s hoots from that first time, when he stole her book and she followed him into that mysterious shed. Now here she was again, eight years after her first visit. Six after her last.
With a deep breath Luz stepped over the sidewalk and trekked into the forest.
The tree’s were welcoming, vibrant oranges and yellows, the light of the sun filtered through the branches dancing off of the half-dead grass like water droplets. Once she was a decent way into the woods she switched from humming to singing. Luz was very shy about her voice, which was the main reason she played guitar in her band instead of singing. Her bandmates knew she was talented but they also knew she wasn’t comfortable singing to strangers. They were fine with it, Jacob was an amazing lead singer anyway, it would be hard to beat him.
Thinking about the band reminded Luz that they were meeting up soon. Luz swore and pulled out her phone, checking the time. The forest was eerily silent without her voice echoing through the trees.
Luz sighed in relief, she still had an hour. Her band was back in her town, they all shared an apartment complex, that’s how they met. Bailey, (their drummer), was close friends with the owner of the building so they let the group use the basement for practice. The space was surprisingly sound proof, and had great acoustics. Luz was joining them via FaceTime, since she was visiting her mom for the week.
She silently reminded herself to bring the glyph paintings inside when she got back to the house. Her bandmates had seen her tattoos and wanted the symbols to be a part of their band logo, Luz was more than happy with the idea. She had decided to start making posters for the band while she was away. So she’d left the painted paper to dry in her Mami’s front yard.
Luz looked up and had to do a double take. There it was, the old shed. She swallowed, and then cautiously approached the rundown building. She stepped up the rickety stairs, and immediately got deja vu. The door was closed so she reached out a shaking hand and pushed it open. The wood was rough on her skin, and a sudden pain had her recoiling with a yelp.
“Gosh dangit.” She grumbled holding her finger up to her face. The cursed door had given her a splinter. She tried to pull it out with her nails, but they were all bitten down. Luz silently cursed her nervous habit and stuck her finger in her mouth.
Trying to ignore the twinge of pain, Luz poked her head through the doorway, careful not to touch the splintering wood again. The room was mostly empty, just a few discarded tools. It had probably been a work shed before.
Luz couldn’t help but feel disappointed, there was no portal, no tingly feeling that she associated with magic. It was just an old shed. Luz grumbled in frustration turning on her heel and marching down the steps ignoring the creaking. She didn’t even bother to shut the door, she didn’t care.
It was stupid, she had left them, of course the portal wouldn’t have been open. They probably hated her for leaving, not even for leaving, for never coming back. It had been six years, six too long years, during which Luz had let them down over and over again. She didn’t even realize she was crying until a tear fell from her cheek onto the ground. She wiped it away with ferocity, trying to shove the pain back down into her gut where it had lurked for so long.
She had to stop, her legs wouldn’t work. She leaned against a tree and slid slowly to the ground. She should never have tried to look for the shed again. The only thing it would bring was more pain and memories. She had known that before she even planned to visit her mom. But the desperation to see her friends was so much she had to try. She knew she should just drop it, never think about the Isles or her friends or Amity ever again.
But… she couldn’t. The agony of forgetting would be much worse than the regret and guilt she felt now. Luz let herself calm down. Breathing deeply and singing quietly to herself.
A few moments later she was able to get up on shaking legs and walk towards the street.
Luz stood in front of her Mami’s house for a few minutes, before looking down at her phone. She still had some time to kill before the meeting. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sit in her old room alone with her thoughts for another half-hour. She remembered that there was an old coffee shop a few blocks away, and it had warmed up enough that walking wouldn’t be a hassle. She did slip inside for a second to grab her earbuds and a warmer coat before calling to her mom that she was heading out again.
Camillia responded with a quick “Te quiero mucho!” and Luz set out again.
She had made it to the cafe just before the sun began to set. She stepped inside the warm area and approached the line pulling out her phone to scroll through her texts. It was mostly spam, a few messages from the band group chat that she scanned. She didn’t have many other friends beside her bandmates so her contact list was mostly empty. She had just exited the text app when she felt a strange tingling on her back. It itched, and slightly burned. She rubbed at the spot and was alarmed to find the area warm even through her jacket.
She stepped swiftly out of line, and rushed to the bathroom trying not to draw attention to herself. She slid into the single room bathroom and shut the door behind her, locking it with a click.
She turned to the small mirror and took her earbuds out setting them and her phone setting them hastily on the sink. She almost ripped her jacket as she struggled to take it off, knocking her hat off in the process. She pulled her shirt up and craned her neck to look in the mirror. What she saw made her gasp, she blinked trying to clear her eyes, but what she was seeing was definitely real.
Her light glyph tattoo was glowing. It was dull, not bright at all, but it was enough that Luz knew she wasn’t seeing things. How was this even possible, there was no magic in the human world. She didn’t even activate the glyph, and none of the others were working. She watched in awe as the light faded, and the black circle was all that was left. She stared at her back for a very long time, before pulling her shirt back down and shrugging into her jacket.
She grabbed her phone and retrieved the hat from the floor and put it back on. She paused before she left the bathroom, staring into the mirror, daring it to shatter, or do something that would prove that she was dreaming. But it didn’t her glyph had been working, and she had no idea why.
Luz left the cafe without buying anything, she had lost her appetite and just wanted to go home and give her Mami a hug. On the way back to the house she cranked her music all the way up, blocking out the sounds of the world. When she rounded the corner of her block, she felt an odd pressure just under her ribcage, an odd tingling that felt awfully familiar. She brushed the feeling off and continued down the sidewalk.
Luz couldn’t help but feel like the sensation was getting stronger the closer she got to her house. She pulled her earbuds out and shoved them into her pocket. She probably looked crazy, looking behind herself every five steps, her eyes darting back and forth across the street like ping pong balls. She reached her driveway and began to walk up to the door. Her hands started to twitch as her mind told her something was wrong. She pulled the earbuds out of her pocket, unable to hold still, and attempted to untangle them. When she got to the door, her mind had been so distracted by the damn knot in her earbuds, she forgot about her paranoia. She absentmindedly opened the door, shoving it open with her shoulder. She called out to Camillia letting her know she was back. Her voice echoed back to her from the kitchen. She kicked the door shut with her foot and trudged down the hall, her earbuds were extremely tangled, she had resorted to just tugging on them praying that they wouldn’t break. She turned the corner into the kitchen, her mind completely focused on the wires.
“Luz, you have a guest.”
Luz looked up.
And there she was.