Only in the City of Angel's could one find an apothecary open til two. And only if one looked hard enough would they be able to see how special the girl working there truly was.
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The girl behind the counter mumbled sullenly to herself in the dimly lit shop. "Wanna conjure demons at one a.m.? Come to Truveau's." Her voice was weary. She was more than a little ready to call it a night. It was only eleven and she was already to fall asleep. 'Ah sleep' she thought as if remembering some long lost toy. Sleep had become something of a rarity in her life and it was beginning to take a toll on her personality.
Hundreds and hundreds of glass jars lined the bowing shelves throughout the store. Shuffling around the small hole in the wall shop she quickly rearranged and restocked empty ones. For the most part the herbs and spices sold in the shop were fairly benign. Some, on the other hand, had some very powerful properties. For the most part those who came in couldn't separate basil from witch hazel, they were merely looking for something to give a bit more kick to their pasta sauce or make their cooking a bit more palatable in some way. Still many others were Wiccan practitioners. The cashier herself practiced gypsy magic, a mix of Romanian mysticism and Catholic teachings.
The night would often bring her different people. So far it had been a couple of 15yr old girls that had seen the Craft one too many times. They really believed that a pinch of lemon grass and some monk's hood would bring them the Prince of Darkness. She wondered what they would have done with him if they had conjured him there, tea and cookies perhaps? Maybe they'd watch a movie. She was sure that Lucifer would love to see The Passion. Truly some people didn't think about the effects of their actions, but it wasn't her job too teach the children morals or the first basics of magick. She just had to sell shit. She'd given them the requested items an "assured" them something would happen and sent them on their way.
If one were to ask the two giggling teens or any other customer for that matter, upon leaving, what their cashier looked like most would not have been able to put together two sentences together about her. Maybe her eyes would stick out to them but that was only a maybe. Average height, brown hair, plain. True beauty was lost to most in Los Angeles. If it wasn't thrown in there face, kicking there ass they wouldn't see it. Though Bridgette rather enjoyed the anonymity, it was a somewhat lonely life.
At 1:30 she decided to begin her nightly clean up. She finished sweeping in record time and had moved on to dusting when she noticed the car. A yellow cab had pulled up out front and a young man was making his way through the doors. He seemed in a hurry. Before she could even offer her half hearted, "Welcome to Truveau's is there any thing I can do for you this evening" he was rummaging through the names of herbs on the shelves. Bridgette just sighed and made her way around the counter plopping down on her stool in front of the register. When the man had finally finished his shopping he came to the counter. He was carrying a few she hadn't seen used in quite some time.
"You know, I can't guarantee the potency on some of these." She looked at the man. His brow knit in concern before looking up and nodding to her. Their eyes met and they were stuck. It's funny how some times a mere glance can hold it's gazers occupied. Bridgette was trapped, the man-boy across from her was as well. In an instant the connection was broken. The power of that first look would never be fully understood by either but it set into motion a series of events that would come very near to destroying both of them.
"…alright" he said looking over a note in his hand one last time. She watched as his mouth turning into a slight frown. "Do you have any essence of blood orchid?" He watched quietly as she scooted around behind the counter opening filing cabinets filled with vials of essential oils. He watched intently as her fingers skipped and strolled over a dozen or so vials before finally coming up with what he was looking for.
"Yeah I have some right here actually, it's the last vial. Your in luck." She flashed him a small smile. As she rang up his items she ran through her head all the spells and potions they could be used for. "That's some pretty powerful stuff your getting there…"
"Yeah I know" he interrupted "Trust me I know what I'm doing" his voice was stern like he was used to the kind of warning she would have given. She decided not to push her luck and warn of the consequences of a bad mixture. He seemed to know, at least she hoped he did. She finished ringing him out and handed him the small brown bag containing his purchases.
She was getting up to finish her cleaning when he spoke again, "You know, I'm sorry. I've been a little on edge lately, no excuse for snapping at a pretty lady." Bridgette looked up from counting change her face coloring slightly. He had his hat off and was nervously running his fingers through his shaggy brown hair.
"Pretty lady, eh?" She smiled again at him. It had been along time since any guy had flattered her. LA was full of beautiful people; it just didn't pay to be a ordinary.
"Yeah you heard me…" anything else he would have said was interrupted as the front doors bells jingled heralding the arrival of another individual. Bridgette looked up at the new man. He made a rather imposing figure, every feature was dark, even his aura held a dark tinge. When he finally spoke it was too the man Bridgette was talking too, he was obviously in a hurry.
"Kid you about ready? We got work to do."
"Yeah John I'll be out in a second." The younger man sounded irritated. Bridgette glanced at the bag in his hand as he turned to walk out the door, wondering what he was actually going to use it for. She was caught off guard when he stopped and turned around and letting the door land softly on his back. "You work here a lot?"
"Yeah." She answered slightly confused.
"My name's Chas, Chas Kramer. I'm gonna stop by and see you sometime, ok?"
Bridgette's face flushed again. "Um, sure. I usually only work nights, though."
"That's good, so do I." With that Chas walked out the door and hoped back into the cab. He looked one last time into the shop and was gone.
"What was that all about?" John Constantine asked his apprentice as they drove down the quiet streets of the city of Angels. "Your not usually distracted by the girls." A small sarcastic smile popped up at the corner of his mouth.
"Damn it John I wasn't distracted." He said impatiently glaring at the exorcist through his rearview mirror, "She just caught my eye, is all."
This story begins premovie and will continue through post movie. Don't expect to see too many movie-esque scenes here, you already know what happens. Don't forget to feed the author. Thanks!