An Angels Last Fall

Jeremy was never allowed in his father’s office. It was off limits even to his mother. Jeremy considered himself a well behaving child but he often found himself sitting across the hall from that office door with a pick lock in his hands. Most nights he just stood up and walked back to bed. But that night was different. He sat there for hours. Wondering what was in there. Was is just confidential things for his work? To be honest Jeremy never knew exactly what his father did for a living. Maybe he was an assassin? Or worse?

That night Jeremy finally clenched the pick lock tight in his right hand. He sighed and stood up walking closer to the door. He took a deep breath and knelt down to open the door. To his surprise it was already unlocked. He looked down the hall at his parents’ bedroom door to see that it was still shut. Without looking away he stepped inside the office and shut the door quietly. For a moment he didn’t want to turn around to face the room. He gulped and turned around quickly with his eyes shut. He clenched his fists and opened his eyes.

Being that it was 1am the office was dim. Jeremy found the light switch and turned it on to see that he would have never expected this to be his father’s life. Talisman and dead animals in jars littered dusty shelves that were screwed into the walls. One large desk toward the back window was piled high with dusty books with torn or even burnt pages. Jeremy ran his hand over one of them to feel a shock. He flinched back and looked at the book shelf to his right. It was filled with vials of what Jeremy though was blood and other bodily fluids. He wanted to gag. How could his father be hiding all of this from both his son and his wife?

There was one lamp hanging from the ceiling that lit the room in a dim light. Barely enough to see anything. There was an office chair that sat close to the desk. Jeremy walked around to the other side of the desk to see an old white phone with a spiral cord and papers scattered across the semi clean area. Jeremy picked one of the papers up and read.

“Body found mutilated with obvious signs of magic.” He took a step back and dropped the paper. “What the fuck?” He said out loud. He stood at the desk with his mouth wide open taking in everything that was in the room. “What the fuck?!” He said louder. He put a hand on the desk trying to steady himself.

He heard his father’s voice grumble down the hall. Jeremy panicked and grabbed the closet book he could see and ran out of the room and into the kitchen. He shoved the book inside a drawer and was barely able to control himself when his father came into the kitchen with his bath robe on and his hair a mess.

“What are you doing up so late?” His father asked.

“Uhm…I couldn’t sleep. I was getting some water.” Jeremy tried to calm his voice. His hands were shaking and he thought that his father would be able to tell something was wrong.

“Just go back to sleep. I have a big day tomorrow.” His father ran his hand through his hair and shuffled back to into the hall way.

Jeremy sighed when he heard a door shut. He opened the drawer he had put the book in. He wiped off the dust with his hand. Book of Spells. Read on the top. Underneath was a sort of warning. Not for the Faint of Heart.

Jeremy had finally realized why he had always gone back to bed all those nights. Now he could never go back. Soon he would find himself getting away from the house to practice spells. When he wonders into an abandoned house he finds someone who has the same electives has he does. They help each other out and grow stronger together.

When he told her his name she laughed at him. "I'm calling you Jinxx no matter what some silly paper says."

But his new friend had wanted more than silly spells that could light candles or scare off bullies. She wanted to be the power in the book. Jeremy had warned her. But she couldn’t help it. The next time he saw her was at her funeral. He placed a black rose on her chest and wished her well in the afterlife. He swore on that day he would never practice magic ever again.

Notes