Bewitched

Chapter 18

I looked at my best friend. She looked different than the last time I had seen her. Her hair was shorter, skin darker, and there was a certain light in her eyes that I never really saw when she was in Andover with me.

"Hi, Gina," I said, trying to keep my voice from wavering. It was strange; I was happy to see her, but I was very, very nervous.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked incredulously. "This is Beverly, Suze."

The young man behind her came into view then. He stood next to Gina and looked at me blankly, then turned to Gina and said, "I must get going, but I will see you tomorrow?"

Gina nodded and smiled at him as he turned to leave. Once he was out of view, she turned to me, still in shock. "I - I just...I cannot believe that you are here..."

I attempted a smile. "Neither can I." My smiled faltered and I sighed. "Can I...can I talk to you somewhere alone?" I asked.

She looked at her father, who was pretending to not be listening to our conversation. He looked up when she looked his way and shrugged. Gina then looked back at me and nodded, grabbing my arm and dragging me off to another part of the cottage. We did not really go that far, since the house was quite tiny. But Gina assured me that no one would overhear us (except for Jesse, of course, who was still with me, but Gina did not need to know that).

"What is it, Suze?" she asked once the door was closed behind her.

I sighed and sunk down on—what I assumed was—her bed. She sat down next to me and looked at me expectantly. I sighed again, then decided to answer her. "Something...something awful has happened, Gina. I came here to seek help, and I knew that you were the only one that could truly help me."

Her eyes searched mine as she asked, "What? What has happened?"

So I told her. About everything, from Paul asking me to marry him, my mom being accused, to me being accused, and escaping. By the time I was finished, her mouth was hanging open in shock. It seemed like she could not say anything.

"Please say something," I begged her. "This whole thing...its been a nightmare."

She nodded her head, her curls bouncing up and down, then bit her lip, as if she was not sure she should say something. Then she sighed and said, "How...how did you escape, Suze? I mean, its not exactly easy, you know."

I laughed despite the tension suddenly growing in the room. I looked away from her as I answered her question with one of my own. "Do you remember when we were younger and all those weird things kept happening around me? Like books would fall and things would break and no one was doing it?"

Gina nodded. "Yes...but what does that have anything to do with—"

"There is an explanation for why those things kept happening, Gina. This may come as a shock to you, but...well, I can see ghosts. I do not really expect you to believe me, but I at least expect you to trust me with this. I—"

She interrupted me with, "So that's..." she trailed off. I had no clue what she was going to say, but she quickly interrupted my confusion with, "that explains a lot, actually. Suze, why didn't you tell me this earlier? Of course I believe you! You would never lie about something like that."

I bit my lip. "Well...I just thought you wouldn't believe me. I know many people would not."

She smiled and suddenly pulled me into a hug. "Suze, you are my best friend. Of course I believe you. I admit, it seems a little...far-fetched, but it would explain a lot."

"Thank you so much, Gina. You have no idea how much this means to me," I said into her shoulder.

She pulled away and looked at me with a slight smile. "So, what is it you need? A place to stay?" she asked gingerly.

"Well, yes."

Jesse stirred from the corner of the room where he had been standing. "Susannah, it might not be wise to stay here. Some people have all ready seen you, and while they might be nice people, you cannot completely trust them."

As if Gina heard him, she got up off the bed and said to me, "I would love for you to stay here, but it might not be best. There is this woman that is a friend of my father. She would most likely let you stay with her. She's very nice and a little strange, but I'm sure you would get along with her well."

I just blinked. She was talking so fast. I heard what she said, but just barely.

Jesse was chuckling in his little corner. "I think you have some competition, Susannah," he said in amusement. I sent him a glare and he went quiet; however, he was still laughing quietly.

Gina kept talking to me, telling me about this woman. Apparently her father had done this woman a favor, so she owed him, anyway. Her name was Madame Zara and she lived a little ways off. Gina said she had only been there once and it was about half a days walk, but she would take me there tomorrow morning with her friend Jason (who I assumed was 'Mr. Meyer').

Jesse seemed content with all of it. He did not protest once when Gina was talking, except to comment on how fast she was talking. I swear, sometimes men can be so immature.

- § -

Apparently Gina and this Jason guy were closer than I thought. While they did not really show signs of affection, they certainly looked at each other enough. It was as if they could not keep their eyes off each other. I almost felt bad for Jake, my eldest step-brother, since I knew he fancied Gina. I knew she liked Jake, too, but nothing ever really happened between them.

I thought Jason was a nice person, but I did not really think he was right for Gina. I know its ultimately her choice who she wants to be with, but I really felt that she would be better with Jake, even if he is my step-brother. He has done nothing but care for her.

I just wish Gina would realize that.

Jason surprised us early that morning with horses. He said his father would not mind if we borrowed a couple horses for the day, that he had many to spare. That was when I realized why Gina liked him. Not only was he extremely good-looking, but he was wealthy.

Gina and Jason rode together on Dorado, a brownish horse who was very friendly, but he was huge, and I rode on Helena, an all white mare with a black tail and mane. I swear, she was one of the most beautiful creatures I had ever seen.

Jesse was laughing at my expression when I first saw her. He thought it was because I did not know how to ride a horse, but it was really because I had never seen an animal as beautiful and gracious as Helena. I instantly fell in love with her. Jesse soon realized what my awed expression was really for and said, "Yes, she is rather beautiful, but she is nothing like you, querida." I blushed when he said that, and I smiled, abashed.

Jesse rode the horse with me. I sat in front of him and he held my hands, which were holding the reins. I knew how to ride a horse, but Jesse, I'm sure, knew better, so I let him do it. But I had to make sure it did not look like an unseen force was directing the horse. That would surely raise unwanted questions.

(A/N: As you can probably tell by now, I'm not too good with historical facts. I don't know if they used reins back then. Probably not, but just go along with it, please?)

Judging by where the sun was when we arrived at Madame Zara's house, it was around nine o'clock in the morning. So we must have ridden about three hours. Well, it was better than walking for nearly eight hours.

Jesse helped me off the horse after he hopped down. Luckily Gina and Jason were not looking my way when he did so, or it would have looked a little odd. Even though Gina knew about my ability now, it would still be kind of shocking to her. I did not want to give her a heart attack, or something of the sort.

Jason, trying to be a gentleman, offered to tie up the horses. I agreed with a smile, since I did not want Jesse to do it while Jason was looking, and I really would not do a very good job of it. So Jason tied the horses up to a poorly built wooden fence, and then we all walked up toward Madame Zara's home, which was atop a hill. I thanked God that it was not a very steep one, because, knowing myself, I would probably trip and fall and start rolling back down the hill.

When we reached the door of the house—finally—Gina reached out a hand to knock on the door. But just before her hand hit the wood, the door swung open, startling all of us. It was very peculiar, given that there were no windows of any sort adorning the front of the house—also very odd—so how she could have known we were there was a complete mystery to me.

The woman that opened the door—Madame Zara, I presume—was a very full, pale woman. She was a little taller than me and had raven black hair with bright blue sparkling eyes. When her eyes landed on me, she smiled broadly.

"Welcome," she finally said. And then she just walked away into her house without another word. Assuming she wanted us to follow her, we all walked in, hesitantly, behind her.

The inside was nothing like what I would have expected. It was nothing like I had ever seen before. It is quite hard to describe, but the best I can do is to say that it was...cluttered. There were little knick-knacks everywhere, things that I could not even identify. The one main thing that I remember is a portrait of a man hanging on the wall. He was young, around Jesse's age (when he was alive), had light brown hair and the most intriguing green eyes I had ever seen. Whoever painted the picture had captured that aspect very well.

I could tell Jesse was shocked by the state of the house. It was strange for me. I was not shocked at all, nor discomforted by it. I felt...well, at home there. Finally I have met someone who does not care about appearance or organization like everyone in Andover does. I barely even knew this woman and I was all ready beginning to like her.

We followed her into a room in the back of the house. Strangely, the house seemed bigger from the inside, seemed as if there were more rooms than the house could hold from the outside. She suddenly stopped in the room and turned to face the three of us (obviously she could not see Jesse).

"Now, I remember you, Gina. However, I am not acquainted with your two friends here." Her voice was very calm and collected. It was as if she took a lot of care to form the sentences and words she spoke.

Gina smiled a little and replied, "This is my friend, Suze," she pointed to me and then at Jason, "and this is Jason. Suze needs a place to stay for a little while. I figured since you owed my father a favor that maybe you could take her in for as long as she needed."

Madame Zara nodded and looked at me as if to confirm what Gina had just said. She smiled a little to herself when her eyes landed on me, then she turned her attention back to Gina.

"It would be my pleasure to house Susannah. Is there anything else you need from me?" she asked in a calm voice.

Gina exchanged a look with Jason and then shook her head at Madame Zara. "No, that is all. Are you sure this is all right?"

Madame Zara only smiled. "Of course it is. It is as you said, I owe your father a favor. Now, if that is all..."

Gina nodded. "Of course. Well, thank you, very much." Gina seemed to hesitate for a moment. She looked at me and I knew what she was thinking.

"It is all right. Go. I am fine here."

"You are sure?" she asked cautiously, pulling me aside so it was just me and her and no one else listening in. Well, except Jesse, of course. He seemed like he did not want to leave me side no matter what. And it was not really like he had anything else better to do, anyway.

I smiled to reassure her. "Absolutely."

She hesitated again, then sighed. "I will come back in a week to see how everything is going, okay?"

"Gina, you don't need to check up on me. I will be fine."

She sighed again. "I know. I just worry about you sometimes. You have no idea what was going through my head when I saw you at my house."

"I know. And I am very sorry about that. One day, when this all passes over, I will explain everything to you, all right? But I cannot right now. Its too risky."

She nodded her head slowly. "Okay. Just...don't get into any more trouble, okay? I do not know what I would do if I lost you."

I smiled. "Me too."

Jesse, who was quiet up until then, said, "And me."

I almost looked at him to give him a smile, but then I remembered that Gina could not see him.

"Before you go, Gina, I have to ask you something."

She nodded, so I continued. "Are you serious about Jason? He is nice, but...there was someone else I thought you would be better with."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Who?"

"Um...Jake?" I said cautiously. Gina was known to have sudden mood swings.

She shook her head. "Suze, you know it would never work out."

"Think of me when you say that. Now go."

And she did. She did not question me any further, just smiled at me and left with Jason. And left me alone with Madame Zara and Jesse.

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