Did You See That?

By Lawrence Gibbs and Kenneth Lamar Gibbs Sr.

The story of a naive witch-to-be that battles the guilt of causing the deaths of those closest to her and the threat that she unleashes unto the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Oct 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781483578545

Lawrence Gibbs

Lawrence Gibbs worked as an operations manager in the old Great Western Sugar company office before opening a retail hobby shop in Gering, where he spent thirty-four years on the city council and still lives with his wife, Nita. A Marine Corps Vietnam vet, he currently serves on the board of directors of the Legacy of the Plains Museum near Scottsbluff National Monument and is also a member of the Gering LB840 economic development committee.

Book preview

Author

DID YOU SEE THAT?

Prologue

`   It was said that back in the 12th century, a book with mystical power was created. One that was able to summon great power for its possessor. The book was so powerful it could conjure up forces strong enough to defeat any army. The power was so great that it had to be protected by guardians and witches. But one fateful day during a war of the 12th century, the book was stolen, and soon landed in the hands of an evil, warrior warlock known as Thaddeus Ayromlooi who then tried to use the book to possess the women he loved. But unknown to the evil warlock, love was the one thing the book could not be used for and when he tried, the book transformed him into a demon, a hideous creature cursed to dwell in the mystical realm of the book for all eternity.

And so was the fate of Thaddeus Ayromlooi, who continues to dwell in the mystical realm, waiting for the one warlock or witch who is prideful and naïve enough, to set him free…

Chapter 1

Love, to most people, is a feeling of pure joy, to others, it is a way to get something they want, a means to an end, but to an unfortunate few, it could be the cause of their demise. There are many tribulations that may come to one seeking love; some consequences are deadlier than others. Many of these disastrous outcomes do not affect mortals, mostly; it is more common for certain horrendous situations to be experienced by inexperienced, young, and naïve witches and wizards who try to use magic to win the heart of their crush. Even some mortals who find ways to use magic for their own romantic benefit find their own destruction. These situations still take place today, for witches and warlocks have evolved alongside humanity, keeping their existence covert for centuries. But as advanced and knowledgeable as they have become, the same mistakes were about to be repeated, for as Chaka Attah, a young, inexperienced and naïve witch sauntered over to her mentor, Witch Mildred’s home, she had only one thing on her mind; boys, and how to get them to fall in love with her.

Chaka was what would be considered your average under aged witch; she was twenty years old, with pale, white skin, and wore lots of dark, depressing make-up. Perhaps goth in one sense. She wasn’t either too tall or too short, had gray eyes and long black hair that she always kept beside her neck.

One fateful day she walked in the crisp, bright fall noon, sporting a plain white undershirt that she had under a small black sweater and a black skirt, complimented by long black leather boots. She had in her hand a few textbooks, having just finished her last class at her university for the day.

She paced her steps quickly, with her mind racing on her plan to get Chris, the man in her science class, to notice her. She had devised a plan to use the Riazza Themsla, a powerful book of spells that her witch mentor, Mildred, kept at her house. She had seen it before and had noticed it contained powerful love spells. It was then that she plotted to steal it. Now, Chaka was not notorious for being a thief, nor did she use her powers to cause the misfortune of others. Just like one might imagine any love-struck female, she was simply desperate to get the man of her dreams to fall in love with her.

She decided to take a short cut through her local park to get to her mentor’s house. She swiftly stepped along the one of two baseball diamonds positioned at two different corners of the park and headed towards the basketball court. As she walked two figures in the distance caught her eye, they were hanging around a large oak tree near a small, outdoor workout area. Chaka’s face beamed when she recognized who they were: Chris and Ken, Ken being a close friend of Chris. Of course, she paid more attention to Chris, watching him longingly, his smile appearing on his face as he appeared to laugh at some joke. She loved his laugh. Without much thought, she decided to go and talk to them. Chaka would normally feel nervous about approaching him when he was by himself, but felt calmer when he wasn’t alone, which was a reason she, couldn’t quite figure out.

She had begun to approach them but, in a flash, someone walked in front of her and knocked the books she held out of her hand. Chaka, initially thinking it had been an accidental collision, bent down to retrieve them without a word, prepared to apologize for the incident. However, when she lifted her head she grimaced at who she was facing: a tall blond girl, glowering at her, and next to her stood, what Chaka would consider them as, her two followers. Chaka got on her feet and glared at all three of them.

He’s way out of your league. The blond one spoke. Chaka knew this girl; her name was Michelle. She was what most people would think to be the stereotypical blond; light mocha skin, blue eyes that shimmered in the light, frequently wearing miniskirts, never seen without her friends, who in this case were two girls with similar brown hair, slim figure and light complexion. Her friends’ names were Alma and Theresa. Michelle also knew that Chris was Chaka’s heartthrob, but she wanted him for herself. She and Chaka had been feuding over him for the last year, but since Michelle wasn’t as quiet as Chaka, she’d always had the upper hand. Many times, Chaka had wanted to morph her into a frog, but there were two things stopping her: the awareness that she needed to keep her powers a secret, and the fact that she wasn’t that powerful, or experienced yet.

Stay away from him, or else... Michelle seethed, her voice steely and cold.

Yeah, or else. Theresa echoed. The three girls walked away, glaring and smirking at Chaka. Chaka didn’t return the smirks because she knew that if her plan worked, Chris would be all hers. Chaka continued walking home, ignoring Michelle’s comment, and walked past the oblivious Chris and his friend without a second glance.

If Chaka hadn’t hastily crossed the park, she would have noticed that at the baseball field across the yard her own friends, Stephanie and Felicia, sat upon the bleachers facing one of the baseball diamonds. Stephanie and Felicia were two of the very few friends that Chaka had. They were also two of the few that knew Chaka was a witch. Of course they were both skeptical, only believing that she dabbled in the arts, never truly grasping the concept of witches and wizards, but they supported Chaka as any friend would.

The two of them were about Chaka’s age and were relaxing their nerves after a tough school day, reminiscing about their younger days, when they were not so stressed over academics.

Remember when we used to play ball up here? It was so much fun. Felicia began conversation after gazing at the dusty floor of a familiar field. Felicia was an intelligent, friendly soul with long, blonde hair that she kept behind her head. She had appealing white skin and deep blue eyes. At the park, she donned a brown sweater with navy blue tight jeans and simple sneakers.

Yeah, I do remember, Stephanie replied, We were major park rats. Stephanie was of tanner complexion with dark hair and brown eyes, accompanied by a very tenacious personality. That day she was wearing a pink strapless shirt with black tight jeans and her own small heels.

She had her hair back like Felicia.

"Yeah, we were park rats. Felicia commented, But nowadays, we don’t even come near the park. Always busy and stuff, going places, partying, speaking of which, you got anything you wanna do this weekend?"

Actually, I heard Kim was throwing a— Stephanie’s reply was interrupted by a male that ran by with a small garbage can, dumping its contents on Stephanie’s lap causing her to shriek along with Felicia. He sprayed Felicia with a large water gun while running off shouting I love you girls! jokingly behind his back.

"Oh no he didn’t!" Felicia exclaimed, attempting to shake the water off her brown sleeves.

Charles! Stephanie shouted, Payback is coming for you boy!

The man Stephanie referred to as Charles was a lean Hispanic man with black hair that he kept spiked up with hair gel and was a well-known prankster on their college campus. His wardrobe usually included white shirts under sweaters and blue jeans with sneakers. He was constantly getting on Stephanie and Felicia’s nerve.

"He is not going to get away with this," Stephanie said in disgust as she brushed off some of the filth on her jeans.

Anyways, Felicia started, flipping her hair back behind her head. What were you saying about Kim? Stephanie was still upset about the trash, but Felicia had gotten over her soak. She seemed to always quickly overlook Charles’ shenanigans, and sometimes laughed at them, even when she was the victim, which inevitably led to the rumor that she was attracted to him, but of course she would deny that.

Stephanie. Felicia said again, shaking her friend’s knee, What were you saying about Kim? Stephanie finally managed to get over the trash and answered,

I heard she was thinking about having her birthday party up in Big Bear.

Oh really, Felicia said intrigued. "Maybe we should go over to her place right now. And hey, your ex might be there."

Here we go, don’t start. The two girls laughed as they simultaneously stood up and attempted to clear the rest of the bits of trash off Stephanie’s jeans. Having done the best they could, they both decided to head over to their friend Kim’s house.

Chaka walked up the paved sidewalk on her mentor’s street with her head facing straight forward. She began to feel a bit excited, pacing her steps even quicker than she had already been. She crossed the street without looking any direction but forward on her way to the center of the block where witch Mildred lived. Mildred was an old witch that taught Chaka everything she knew. She was also the one that had discovered Chaka was a witch when she was a baby, noticing she had what those of the mystical world called the spark.

Chaka walked up Mildred’s old driveway and toward the old stucco home. Unlike what may have been expected, Witch Mildred did not live in a secluded forest, perhaps in a home made entirely of tree bark and fronds. Quite the contrary, just as many magically inclined beings evolved over the decades into living alongside humanity in secrecy, Witch Mildred purchased a house and lived in the popular urban area of Los Angeles.

As Chaka walked up to the side door, a black and brown spotted cat crossed her path, giving Chaka a dubious stare. This cat’s name was Sam, witch Mildred had attained it from a regular shelter and had enchanted the cat to give it the ability to speak. Chaka would normally converse with Sam explaining her whole day, but she had one thing on her mind, and Sam could sense it. He gave Chaka a disapproving glare before sauntering away. Chaka rolled her eyes and peered through a glass window, searching for the Riazza Themsla. Her eyes scanned as much of the inside of the house as she could, she was only able to see a few parts of the house since the scattered blinds on the window made it difficult to decipher where anything was.

She saw the living room that she was familiar with, the burgundy rug that lay under a brown red coffee table, the foreign décor that included lightings and candle fixtures that led to the kitchen and past a hallway. Chaka was beginning to think she had it in her library, but knew that was not the case, Witch Mildred never kept it there because she knew that would be one of the first places anyone might expect to find that book. Chaka was about to give up when she spotted it in a small cupboard Mildred kept in the living room under the TV she never used. Chaka figured she would leave it in an area so obvious it was unobtrusive, she knew her mentor well like that.

Hey. A voice behind Chaka made her jump. She turned around, startled to see her neighbor, Alejandro, leaning in with mail in his hand.

Alejandro was a Filipino man that lived next door to Mildred. He was always curious as to how Mildred and Chaka acted, noticing every so often that a strange cacophony of sounds would escape the house and catch his attention, and of course Mildred talking to a cat added with her unusual nature.

Alejandro had a shaved head with dark eyes and a nice smile. He was wearing a yellow jacket and blue jeans with sneakers.

What? Chaka asked, her voice impatient.

I just came by to hand over some of your mail; it got mixed up with mine again. He handed the letters and an envelope larger than the others to Chaka who took it hastily. Still curious as to what she was doing, he asked,

What goes on in there?

Why don’t you come in and find out? Chaka offered with a wicked smile.

No thank you, um, I’ll see you later. And he jogged back to his front yard. Chaka giggled as she watched him speed away. She always enjoyed freaking him out.

After Alejandro was out of sight back in his house, Chaka pulled the sliding door open. She quietly shut the door behind her and made her way into the living room. In the arabesque lighting of the quiet room Chaka noticed Witch Mildred hadn’t greeted her. Perhaps she was not there, which would make it all the simpler to take the Riazza Themsla and hopefully have it back where she found it before Witch Mildred noticed its disappearance. She knelt down in front of the cupboard which contained the Riazza Themsla. She tried to open the glass window, but failed considering she needed a key.