Chapter 7

Tara's second day of school went a lot more smoothly than the first. The main highlight of the day had been at lunch. Tara and Michael had the same window table they had taken yesterday, and when they saw Amy, she was talking with Willow on one of the benches outside.

The conversation went on intensely for a few minutes, and Amy was writing a few things down. She handed the paper over to Willow after folding it into quarters, and then the two girls parted ways; Amy coming inside and Willow stuffing the paper into her left front pocket as she headed over to the picnic table where Cordelia, Xander, and Buffy sat. Easily spotting her friends at the window table, Amy threaded her way through the milling students and pulled up a chair next to Michael.

"Hey, Amy, whatcha up to?" the ebon-haired young man asked with a smile, tossing her an apple from his brown bag lunch.

"Oh, just talking to Willow, giving her some advice," she replied, polishing the apple with a napkin before taking a bite of it.

Tara's eyes lit up. Willow, she thought giddily, and let out an audible sigh. Blushing, she turned to the window, then realizing she could see Willow by looking that way, turned back to her lunch, not meeting Michael or Amy's eyes the whole time.

"What did she need?" the Goth gently prodded, a grin spreading over his features as he looked pointedly at the top of Tara's down-turned head.

Amy followed his gaze and then gave him a confused look. "Nothing much, she just had a question about how to reverse the effects of … uh…"

Now Tara looked up. "Reverse the effects of…?" her wide blue eyes almost imploring for the rest of the sentence.

"…Of a spell. Like, before she casts it," Amy said hesitantly.

"You mean like, if you only had a light spell, but what you really wanted was a darkness spell?" Tara asked quietly, looking around to see that no one was taking note of their conversation. "Or more like if you were gonna um, do the Alice in Wonderland thing, maybe grow something really big and then shrink it back down?"

Amy positively beamed. "Closer to the light/dark deal. That's pretty much what she wanted my advice on," she affirmed in a hushed tone.

Michael grinned even wider and leaned back in his chair. "Why, Tara Maclay! New girl, independent soul, and practitioner of the Art. Is there anything you can't do?" Tara gave the pair a half-smile, bowing her had modestly.

"You know, this is really exciting," Amy enthused, "now we can take her to the Magic Shop for sure!"

Tara's eyes widened in surprised pleasure. "There's a magic shop? No way, I never saw it!"

"It's a basement store, below street level," Michael explained. "So there's just a sign on the rail next to the stairs. A lot of people don't notice it, which is usually better for us."

Another realization hit her, and she sat bolt upright in her chair. "And Willow's a witch, too?" Suddenly of how much attention she could have attracted, had anyone been looking in their direction, she slumped down in her chair and spoke more quietly, leaning across the table to look Amy in the eye. "Is Willow a witch?"

Amy nodded. "Well, sort of. More of a dabbler, really, right now. She can do a few things, but I haven't seen anything really major yet. She does have a lot of power, but not much practice or control yet."

"She's coming along, though," Michael said. Then, changing the subject, he suggested, "So how about after school … we go hit the shops?"

"I've been thinking it's time for something new," Amy stated, running a hand through her longish, light-hued locks. "I'm thinking brunette."

"M'lady, that sounds fabulous," the raven-haired boy said lightly.

~~

Emerging from the salon, Amy shook her head, enjoying the lighter feel of her shorter hair. "It looks so good, Amy," Michael said for the fourth time.

"You would say that – you picked the color, after all," Amy smirked.

"No," he clarified, "my first choice was black. This was my second favorite." He shot a playful wink over his shoulder to Amy and Tara.

Amy lightly swatted him on the arm. "Your first choice is always black, I automatically have to discount it."

Tara smiled. "It does look really nice, Amy. It brings your eyes out more."

"Know what would really make them stand out? Black." The three friends shared a laugh and crossed the street, heading toward the magic shop.

"Wait 'til you see the store, Tara," Amy said. "Andi has all kinds of books and potions and candles and artifacts…." They went down the stairs and opened the door, the overhead bell chiming its high-pitched greeting. The light filtered through the high windows and doorway, reflecting through multiple sets of crystalline wind chimes dangling from the ceiling. The air smelled deliciously of a wide variety of incense and scented candles, but the store was strangely quiet.

"Andi?" Michael queried. "Where are you? In the back room?"

"Come on, I'll show you this really cool book I want…" Amy stated, leading Tara to the side, where row upon row of leather-bound tomes sat ready to dispense their information to anyone with the curiosity to look inside.

Michael looked worried. "I'm gonna go around to the back, she doesn't usually take this long to get out here."

Amy now showed concern, as well. "You're right. Even if she is in the back, she usually calls to us or comes right out. I'll go with you. Tara, stay here, okay? We'll be right back."

"O-okay," Tara said hesitantly. Something seemed … off. She continued to look over the items shelved in neat rows, not really observing the things before her, listening carefully for Amy and Michael.

Within moments, she heard a sudden, sharp intake of breath.

Stumbling feet.

A groan of "Oh my god."

A whimpered "No, Andi, no!"

Tara headed swiftly to the place where Amy and Michael had disappeared, and saw them frozen in place, clutching to one another. Amy's face was buried in Michael's shoulder, shaking with sobs, and the boy stared numbly down. All she could see of what he was looking at was … a shoe?

Oh god. A shoe with a very pale, extremely still leg in it.