It was the middle of the night and he was restless. Sometimes he wanted to throw his fist at the world and ask how it could be so unfair. Of course he heard about what happened to Sam, he had his sources even if he was already cut off from the magical world. Sam was restored to being recognized as a witch. True that he died, but he was able to go back to his family, get buried with his mom and be with his loved ones again. He still did not understand what happened. Sam died and Caitlyn lived? How? And not just that, he was able to break the curse! He went back to being a human, and, if his sources are correct, it seems Caitlyn gained her memory.
He leaned on the balcony of his apartment and puffed out a smoke from his cigarette. He wondered if it was a blessing or a curse to get your memory back but not have the person you loved with you? Would you rather remember or is oblivion a bliss? He's been thinking about it since he heard the news and he still could not decide. Mitch only met Sam once and to be honest, when he left, Mitch had no idea whether Sam would summon the Dark Witch again or not. He had that look that he felt like he too had when he found out about the deadline. The look of desperation. One thing is for sure though, he did not know about the fine print, which doesn't really surprise him since Dark Witches are called Dark Witches because they have no concern for you. They take advantage of your desperation and use that to get what they want. What is it really, he didn't really know. Some say when you give up your power to them it makes them stronger. Some say they don't really do anything with it and you don't really loose your magic it just sleeps within you and they simply take pleasure in your agony.
These are all, of course, hearsays. No one really knows since anyone who has ever summoned a dark with has all either been converted to a dark witch themselves, hunted down by the hunters or are alive with no powers or access to the magical realm up till now. He highly doubted that the living dark witches would tell them how to tap on to their sleeping powers if indeed it was just sleeping. So no, no one knows the truth and no one knows what effect this lost magic has on the dark witches. He sighed. What was the point of thinking about it anyway? Jess is dead, only way he could get her back would be to summon another dark witch and he wasn't so desperate that he would want to do that. But, and maybe this was just the Brown in him, he couldn't help but think about what happened to Sam. There is this tiny glimmer of hope that maybe if he could figure it out, maybe he could bring Jess back..
He laughed and puffed out another smoke. Who was he kidding? It's been 5 years what did he really expect to change? 11 years of searching for the answer and he came up with nothing. Nothing to safely bring people back from the dead. In fact, in all his research everything pointed him towards not doing it, how bringing back the dead goes against everything in nature. That was actually the reason why hunters hunt summoners of Dark Witch. You are an accomplice by nature, an accomplice of defying the rules and the laws of magic. It wasn't as bad of a crime, but the fact that you even considered it forces them to ban you from the whole community with fear that you might either influence others or tap on to more magic to do more dark magic. The fact that you succumb to the temptation, that you were lured into summoning them at all, says a lot about your state of mind.
At one point in his life he would've agreed. When he was younger, before all of this happened, it was all black or white for him. It's either you follow the law or you don't and if you don't you deserved to be hunted. In his mind, there was no reason good enough for you to break the law, any one who breaks it are either very selfish individuals or very weak willed and did not deserve to have the power that magic could give you. But then he met Jessica and it was…. Not love at first sight. He snickered at the memory a little. They were college classmates, she was the nerd and he was just the naturally smart dude in class. He used to see her roll his eyes at him during their classes or look at him with disdain every time he somehow gives the right answer to a professor's question that she was not able to answer correctly.
To him, she did not even exist then. He couldn't even clearly remember what she looked like. At that time, he was more interested with the other women surrounding her than at her. It's not like he didn't know who she was, it was impossible not to know her, she literally joined any and all extracurricular activities in school, she even ran for batch president. But there was no spark, it wasn't love at first sight. He didn't lose sleep over it. Years passed, he eventually took over his parent's real estate business. Was it weird that they had a normal, regular business? Not exactly.. Being a witch was not a job, it simply does not pay so all witches have their own sources of income. If he wasn't mistaken, the Bennets actually owned a restaurant, several of them in fact, and the Browns were pretty much into real estates.
So one fine morning, there was a call for viewing of a property that his family owned. He didn't usually go into the viewing meeting but on that day, for some reason, he could not find anyone to facilitate the viewing and it was a fairly profitable property that they were having a hard time selling so missing that viewing meeting was simply not an option. And so there he was, waiting for the client to arrive. A car pulled up in front of the property and a pretty brunette came out of the car. She was wearing a pretty yellow dress with her hair cut short up to her shoulders. He saw her shocked expression and the sneer. He was obviously confused because it was the first time that he saw this woman. He wasn't vain but he was fairly certain that he looked pleasing to the eyes. So what was this woman's problem anyway?
"Mitch," he heard her say, "what a surprise. I guess I should have known since you're family is known for real estates in our world."
He furrowed his brow. Who was this woman? He had no idea. And our world? Was she a witch or something? "Hello, I am Mitchell Brown, but it seems like you already know who I am. Are you by any chance Jessica Bradford?" Bradford… why was the name so familiar?
He saw her brows draw together. "You have no idea who I am do you?" he remembered her asking.
"Should I?" He raised one eye brow in irritation.
"Figures." She flipped her hair then and took out a photo. "Eco 101? Do you remember now?"
He furrowed his brow struggling to remember then it him him, "Nerdy Jess! You're Nerdy Jess!" He looked up and saw the sneer come back.
"And you're still as arrogant as they came, absolutely nothing has changed." He remembered the mockery hurt. He didn't intentionally want to call her Nerdy Jess, it was just the thing that came to mind at that time because that's who he knew her to be. He couldn't remember what reaction he gave, but he clearly remembered that even then he was not the least bit attracted to her. And it went downhill from there.. was it downhill or uphill? Depends on who's looking he guessed. He fell for her hard, not for her beauty, but because of her heart. Sure Jess was beautiful, but she's not stunningly beautiful like how you would imagine models to be. She mostly radiated intelligence, strength and kindness. Her heart made her beauty multiply into a thousand fold. And this was what he fell in love with.
He wouldn't deny that he didn't take pursuing her seriously at first. It was all a game to him. He wasn't the most eligible bachelor at that time but he would say that he was one of them. Not that it mattered to him, but he's heard it said a thousand times before. He has heard it said that what makes him attractive is not just his outer appearance, which was a fine appearance if he does say so himself, but his natural intelligence combined with his humility that makes him so attractive to women. Serious or not, he has never ended a relationship and left the woman feeling lacking. But as he pursued her and saw her strength, her beauty and even her weakness, he just felt his heart jumping at the sight of him one day.
It also didn't hurt that Jess was actually part of the Bradford coven so having a relationship with her became fairly easy. His family quickly accepted her and she had no trouble blending in. It actually caught him off guard when he found out she was also a witch. They attended a mortal University, so he didn't have any inkling that she was a witch at all. He thought that she was just one of those nerdy types. Apparently, it was just in her genes to want to learn, to want to know, to want to be a leader. In their world, the leaders are always taken either from the Bennets or the Bradfords because they were the strongest witching family. Quick to learn and curious about knowledge. Not as curious as the Browns but Browns cannot compete with the Bennets and Bradford's ability to learn spells and understand them.
He chugged his beer down. He was torn between being thankful of the past and regretting it. The time that they wasted not being together when they could've. He wanted to go back and just give himself a punch in the jaw for being too stupid to see what was right in front of him. Hindsight is always 20/20. But if he regretted the past it would mean he also regretted everything that happened that pushed them together. And so he was torn. Being in the present where she was not there to cherish, every intimacy missed during their time together and the time before was so much more important and hurt so much more. He shook his head as he realized he was reminiscing again and the pain in his chest, the emptiness he's felt ever since Jess died was back. He went inside and crushed his cigarette as he finished drinking his beer.
There was a shimmer that appeared at the table behind him. He raised his eyebrow as he knew that only his beloved sister was stupid enough to risk sending him a message. Once the shimmer disappeared, a letter appeared in its place. He went to it, sighing and thinking about the danger this action could cause his sister. A smile appeared in his lips after, no one could stop Ali once she has her mind on something. So he guessed it was pointless to criticize. He picked up the letter and opened it.
My dearest brother,
It's been a while! I can already hear you screaming at me for taking this risk.. Don't worry, some magic are just too small for the keepers to even take notice of. Mitch, I hope you are doing well. I miss you so much. I wish we were allowed to at least see you.. We don't have to do magic with you but be with you at the very least, as your family.. I guess there's nothing we can do about it. Witching laws being more strict than mortal laws and all.. but I do miss you, I wish I could tell you this in person rather than in a letter.
Anyway, I wrote to you to ask for your help. Do you remember Brie? My very bestest friend? I was helping her translate some of the spells in this very old grimoire that she found when I was suddenly forbidden to even contact or talk to her by our parents. I don't know if you remember or know Sam Bennet, of the Bennet clan? Brie is actually his cousin. So Sam apparently killed a mortal with magic. On top of that, he also summoned a dark witch to get the love of his life back. I don't know how true this is but Brie was investigated for helping a criminal. I believe she has already been acquitted considering the sacrifice that Sam made to put everything back into the correct order and considering that all evidence against her are circumstantial, but you know how small our community is. Mom and Dad, they…… after what happened to you, they just could not handle another scandal falling on their shoulders. Don't get me wrong, they miss you to death, but you know how it is.. they were shunned for quite some time after what happened. So they have asked me, very kindly, to not be connected with Brie anymore. How could I refuse?
But…. I think she's on to something, Mitch. Something you might be very interested in. The text in the book, at least the few I've read, seems to come from very old witches, as old as the first witches. The spells and their purpose are things nobody can understand, except a Brown. She needs help and I can't think of anyone else who would be more than qualified to help her but you. Please brother.. I know you prevented me from helping you when you were trying to find the solution for Jess, but maybe by helping Brie, you can find the closure that I know you need. I hope you would think about this and say yes.
Love, Ali
Brie.. Brianne Bennet. He couldn't really remember what she looked like, it has been a really long time since the last he saw her, more than 10 years if he's not mistaken. Ali and Brie would've been around 10 years old at that time and he was 15. All he could remember was that Brie had a pretty enough face for a girl of 10 and had all this energy in her. She was also a very competent witch. She could remember being surprised when he saw Brie making things around her fly.. the control she had with magic was just admirable. But other than that, he couldn't really recall anything else. She was just Ali's little friend to him. But if Brie is onto something… he considered the possibility. I guess his first problem is, how would he even contact her? As if Ali heard him, another shimmer and another paper. And in it was a phone number. Brie was apparently just around the area. He couldn't help but smile. God, he missed Ali. He looked at the paper, checked the time and decided it was something that can be done when it wasn't the middle of the night. He called it a night. His sister's note caught his interest. He hoped helping Brie wouldn't be a waste of time..