W I T C H: Chapter 1

The Arizona heat was like nothing she expected. Despite being raised in her beloved South Carolina, Nora was surprised to find every inch of her drenched in sweat from the mid-morning sun.

I’ll need to make this quick, she thought, slinking down Main Street as she wiped her brow again. If only to get out of this damned heat!

At the crosswalk just before the hotel, she casually checked over her shoulder, making sure once again that she wasn’t being followed. Once again, to her relief, there was no one there except a small group of tourists snapping pictures outside a nearby shop. Nora turned and continued on her way once the light changed, inching closer to the lavish refuge that jutted haughtily toward the sky. A cat-like smile crept across her lips while she ravenously eyed the polished abode.

Well, at least it will be more comfortable. She lightly tapped the left pocket of her sweater, reminding herself that both the hotel reservation and the plane ticket were still safely tucked away. Nora hadn’t meant to con that poor girl out of her return trip to Phoenix (in addition to her stay at the “beautiful Alister Hotel ''), but was certain that that silly creature was better off now anyway. Making passionate love to her new Soldier-Boy.

Only a few blocks from the entrance to the hotel, Nora heard the familiar snickering from behind. The sound of an upper-class girl which usually signaled contempt for her more “bohemian” look. Nora stopped dead in her tracks and examined her reflection in the glass window of a neighboring boutique. Her naturally curly hair, while incredibly beautiful in color, hung wildly down her back, draping her shoulders like a cape. One that looked horribly out of place with the oversize, patch-work sweater she wore unbuttoned over an orange, floor-length skirt. But of course, in Nora’s opinion, the most unattractive feature was her unfashionably bare neck. That was the new style, after all – to wear as many jewels and bobbles as possible, gravity be damned!

I’m going to have to clean up a bit…

A mannequin in the window caught her eye: a tiny, face-less, little thing adorned with a beautiful blue suede jacket and skirt. The ensemble was completed with a pair of camel colored heels and a lovely set of diamonds strung along the neck.

“That will do,” she muttered softly.

Moments later she was off again, making her way to the hotel where she was expected. As the doorman politely held the doors for her, the boutique shopkeepers stopped in their work and gaped at the mannequin in the window. None of them knew where that hand-me-down sweater came from, or that hideous orange dress that was hidden beneath it. And where were the shoes, those beautiful, kitten heels that completed the whole look! The entire ensemble had completely disappeared from the mannequin! The only thing that remained was the fine chain of diamonds draped delicately around the neck. While elegant as they were they just weren’t in the taste of young Nora Travers.

She preferred Topaz.

***

She first came to Ironwood, a quaint, growing little city just outside Phoenix, in mid-July of 1979. She had no idea of all the trouble that would follow in her wake. Neither did I for that matter - otherwise I would’ve steered clear from the start. I remember the day we met with a strange combination of joy and dread: joy in the exhilaration of our brief adventure, but dread in the realization that, when it was all over, my world would never be the same again. When you uncover the existence of witches in the world, how can you ever hope to have a peaceful thought again?