Strings of Fate

71- Spells and strings | stare at the message for a good few minutes, alternating between being excited, proud and horrified that | sent it. Bellamy doesn’t answer right away like he usually does. At first I'm anxious about it, but I remind myself that it’s the middle of the night and he’s probably asleep. I'm sure he will answer in the morning. I’m not even sure what kind of response I'm hoping for. It’s ridiculous to be disappointed.

| don’t know exactly when | fell back to sleep, but | wake up clutching my phone as my alarm goes off. Actually | wake up and I'm so shocked to find it in my hand that | accidentally throw it across the room. It’s not actually THAT early. But | was up late and | hate mornings. | drag. myself out of bed and turn off the alarm. | still have no answer from Bellamy. | blush bright red as | remember the video | sent last night. Okay, I'm definitely regretting it now. It's just so embarrassing. He probably hasn't answered because he is trying to be nice and ignore how ridiculous | am. Sighing, | do as | promised him yesterday.

Ryann- Good morning Bellamy. This ischecking in as promised.

Bellamy- Morning Ry thank you for messaging. I'm looking forward to seeing you later today.

He answersimmediately. So he did get the video message then. Unless... maybe it didn’t send? I've never sent a video message before. I'm too shy to ask him about it so | just leave my phone on my bed and go shower and get ready for work.

Aaron knocks on my door at ten am exactly. | let him in and use my newthing to confirm with security that there’s no issue. As usual Aaron is basically silent. | shrug it off and go about my normal routine. We walk towards my work, stopping off on the way at a little cafe to grab a late breakfast/early lunch. This is pretty much routine foron days when | work through the lunch rush. I tell Aaron about my agreement to check in with Bellamy regularly and that he will have to message on my behalf at one pm as I'll be working. It’s only a short four hour shift today. I'm working through lunch but not dinner.

The supervisors at my work have gotten used to having Shifter guards hovering around at this point. | do take the tto let them know that Aaron will be the permanent guard from now on rather than the several people who have been alternating previously. My supervisor just shrugs it off and says there’s no harm in having a visual reminder for everyone else that 1/3 71- Spells and strings Borderline is a safe place. People tend to forget what they can’t see. Out of sight, out of mind and all that. It's a concept | know well. | usually have more confidence in people's relationships than they do, because | can see the proof that most people want so badly. It's a big part of why | don’t advertise my abilities. Everyone wants to know if they're with the right. person. In theory that is. They tend to find it confronting actually hearing the truth, particularly if it’s not what they want to hear. | think about Bellamy and the confusion we went through. For someone like him he might be better off being able to see the proof. I'm serving a pair of Witches when I'm struck by inspiration for a token for Bellamy. | resolve to go shopping as soon as my shift finishes. It’s a busy shift and tpasses quickly. Aaron catches my attention with a wave and holds up his phone at one to letknow he sent the check in message to Bellamy. | probably won't have to send another today unless | take a lot longer shopping than I plan to. I'll head over to see Bellamy right after work. He might be busy though, | haven't actually checked his or Megan's plans. Oh well. | can always wait or head hif needed. | won't want to wait to give Bellamy his gift. I'll get too nervous.

1 finish work and meet Aaron at the door.

“Hey. | want to do a bit of shopping. Is that alright? Oh are you hungry? We can stop for food if you want.” | offer.

Aaron shrugs. | take that to mean ‘maybe but only if something catches my eye.’ I'm going to have to make two stops to complete Bellamy’s gift. Luckily Borderline is right next to a shopping district so | won't have far too walk. My first destination is a craft store. | spend entirely too long looking at every kind of red thread and string that they stock until | choose a thin string. | pause out the front of the store and take a minute to do a rope braid with the string to double it up and then tie it into a loop. Aaron is watchingcuriously. My project half complete, | head into a little store run by a talented coven of witches who do a lot of custom spells for people.

For a price that is. Wow that sounded more sinister than | intended. They provide goods and services in exchange for money. It’s a shop. That's what they do. Hopefully they can do what | want. | chat with a young redhead at the counter. She’s curious about my request and isn’t totally sure about how to make it happen. She eventually calls in an older, more experienced coven member and explains my goal. Eventually we agree on a plan of action and (ouch) a price. I'm going to burn through a good deal of my savings paying for this but hopefully it'll be worth it. The witches take my string and tellit will take them about half an hour. | browse through sof the display items. A lot of popular spells and potions are pre-made. Cleaning and dirt repelling spells are very common. | cto a collection of potions locked in a glass case. These all appear to be potions to temporarily alter a person, mentally or physically. They can only be sold by licenced stores and of course giving these to people can only be done with their knowledge or it’s considered assault. | notice one for dreamless sleep. When the witches return with my 2/3 71-Spells and strings order | ask about it.

“Oh that one is useful for preventing bad dreams. The downside is it prevents good dreams. too and dreams are how people process their lives so it’s not healthy to miss them all the time. It's mostly useful for someone who has gone through something traumatic and could desperately use just one or two good nights of sleep. It should never be used multiple nights. in a row and never more than three times in a month. It can also be quite addictive, particularly when the alternative is unpleasant dreams and exhaustion. I think of Megan.

“Can | buy that too please? | have a friend who | think might need it.

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