"A hundred years later and I still cannot believe that I had something as beautiful as this built," Sarah sighed contently as she sipped her tea from the beautiful China in her hands. We were currently sitting under the gazebo in her backyard together that had vines growing up the sides and onto the roof as well. In the middle of it was a round, white table with matching elegant chairs made for the outdoors. Sarah had called me to her home to discuss an important issue with her and I had no room to refuse.

"It is quite beautiful," I murmured in agreement. She smiled softly as her red hair danced in the wind giving it the appearance of a beautiful flame. Her icy blue gaze fell upon me and the content smile on her face was replaced with a slight frown. Her gaze made me feel as if I was being judged for something I didn't do.

"Beauty, however, is fleeting, my dear," The crystal flower vase that sat in front of us that held a single vibrantly red rose that began to wilt before my eyes. My eyes went to hers and she was staring straight into my soul, literally.

"You won't be beautiful forever, Sofia. Before you know it, you'll be my age without anyone to share your life with and no children to continue on the bloodline of witches," She murmured, "It is very important that you continue the long line of witches within our community that has prevailed for centuries."

So what if I decide to be single? So what if I don't have kids? Is that so wrong to just enjoy my life without any such responsibilities like a husband or a child? Is it wrong for me to want to be single for as long as I live? Is it wrong for me to not want to commit to anyone? 

They look down upon the women in the community being sexually liberated, they praise the men for fucking anything that walks and shaming the women for the same, they expect the women to be at home all the time, the young girls stick by their mother's side, the young boys stick by their father's, and divorce is practically frowned upon. Surprisingly, abuse is frowned upon in the community. Why is it surprising? Because I would've thought that maybe they'd excuse it for the men altogether and just turn the other cheek.

"What are you saying, Sarah?" I inquired.

"I'm saying that I want you to find a husband," She answered. See? Told you. She only invited me here to talk about marriage and to also throw into my face for the millionth time, and yes I've been counting, that I'm not getting any younger and that if I don't get married soon, then I'll be some lonely old crone with powers and cats. It's annoying to have these talks every single year and on this same day at this same time, but what can I do? She won't listen to me. She'll just scold me and tell me, again, that I'm not getting any younger and that beauty is fleeting.

"And what if I don't find one?" I inquired. Maybe that question will stop her from asking and maybe it'll make her stall the unwanted quest that was placed upon me. She took a sip of tea and then looked at me.

"I'll find you one myself," She states bluntly. Damn it. I guess there's no way out of this after all. The single life was fun while it lasted.

"You have exactly three weeks to find a suitable partner-"

"Sarah, hold on. That's not enough time for me to do that," I said.

"Oh? Why not?" She asked.

"Because I can't just rush things like that, Sarah. These things take time," I explained.

"Well time is something you don't have," She responded.

"Sarah, our life span is only by eight hundred years. I have enough time before my hair starts to turn gray," I told her. She went silent as she thought about it for a moment. I hoped that I could get her to see it my way and to possibly rethink this insane deadline she had put in place.

"Fine," She finally spoke up, "You have exactly six months to find a suitable partner. If you don't do that by then, I will have no choice but to intervene and pick myself. Am I understood?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"Good," She replied curtly. Although she was upset by me telling her that three weeks was insane, I could tell that she was at least happy that I was going to look. I looked down at my watch and my eyes almost bugged out at the time.

"Sarah, I must get back to my store. I'll see you later," I informed her.

"Alright, my dear. Remember what we talked about," She told me.

"I will," I responded. I whistled for Sirius to follow me and he stood up ready to leave.

"See you later, Sarah," I smiled.

"You too, my child." Sirius and I left her home together and towards my baby, and the love of my life. My baby was a cherry red, 1952 Rolls Royce Phantom IV that I acquired back in the fifty three.  I opened the passenger door for Sirius and he hopped in the front seat. I closed the door and went over to my side. I waved to Sarah and pulled out of the driveway. She smiled and waved back.

"Davina!" I called out. She turned and looked at me with a smile. Davina was a very pretty chocolate girl with short black hair that she styled in finger waves, high cheekbones, dark brown almost black eyes, an up turned nose with flared nostrils, and an hour glass figure. Davina was currently a student at the local community college where she was trying to get all of her required credits out of the way before transferring to the college of her dreams.

Aside from all of that, Davina was a young witch that studied under me here at the shop while working part time as well. She was a very excellent student and it showed through her ability to learn magic quickly. She was a very attentive person and good listener who always did her homework on time, whether it was for school or me, she studied hard, she never interrupted, and always asked questions. She wasn't anything like the other students I've taught before and I was thankful for that.

"Hi, Miss Adair. How was your lunch break?" She asked.

"It was alright. Sarah gave me the usual talk," I rolled my eyes.

"The marriage talk, huh? I feel your pain," Davina sighed.

"Your mom is giving it to you too?" I asked.

"No. My dad is," She replied, "He has this really archaic view of women and what their roles should be in this society. It's actually quite annoying to hear."

"Is it the whole women-shouldn't-bother-with-a-college-education-when-their-only-role-is-to-stay-home-and-take-care-of-their-families bullshit?" I inquired.

"Yes," She groaned, "How did you know?"

"Let's just say that I've dealt with my fair share of idiots," I responded.

"Well you're lucky you only got to deal with them for at least one date. I have to deal with that kind of shit every single day," She rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't exactly say that I had to deal with them for at least one date. Some of them made it past six or seven dates and showed their true colors when we were supposedly 'in love'," I explained.

"That's even worse," She said.

"It is, but luckily for us women, those types of men show us their ass through one social media post," I added.

"Tell me about it. It sucks that the good looking ones turn out to be trashy idiots who never make it past the first date, or even get a first date," She agreed. We both walked inside the shop with Sirius trailing behind us. Sirius took his place on a large, fluffy, burgundy pillow that he usually rested on whenever I took him to the shop. Davina went around the counter and put away the spray bottle and towel in the cabinet behind it.

"Davina, you can go on your lunch break. I got it for now," I informed her.

"Okay, Miss Adair. Thanks," She smiled.

"You're welcome and lunch is an hour long for you," I smiled back. She nods and head to the back to grab her things. She came back moments later and said goodbye. I walked towards the back and shrugged off my coat then put away my purse. I headed to the front and saw that Sirius was now sleeping.

"Some guard dog you are," I mused to myself. To keep myself busy, I began to put away the books that were out to the side back on their designated shelves. When that was finished, I pulled a book I was reading from the drawers. The book was called Children of Blood and Bone by Toni Adeyemi, a Nigerian-American novelist. Davina has gotten me hooked onto this book after raving madly about it to me on how awesome it was. I decided to check it out because every book she's recommended for me has turned out to be great and vice versa.

Davina and I have our own system where we will recommend books to each other. We started this exactly three years after she started working here because she saw me reading my favorite book over and over again, which was Nadja by Andre Breton. This book was my favorite one right next to Othello and I've loved it ever since I picked it up back when it had first been published in France, and that was back in the late twenties, when I was dating this beautiful, painter named Édouard, but that's another story for another time.

Back to the topic at hand, Davina has gotten tired of me constantly reading the same book and suggested many books to me from that point on. I still read Nadja again when I have the chance, but not when Davina is around because she will, and I quote, "burn the book, scrap up the ashes, burn those, and scrap up the ashes of those ashes, then throw them into the ocean". Due to the fear of her possibly doing that, I read the book when she's on her break or whenever she's not there at all from school or sickness just to please her.

Halfway through the book, the bell over the door to the shop chimed as a customer walked in. Sirius simply raised his head to look at the person who walked in, then began growling. A frown came onto my face and I looked over at the person who had walked in. If Sirius was sitting here growling about the person who just walked in, then they must be bad. My eyes looked up at the person who had walked in and I noticed two teenage boys standing conversing with each other and laughing. They looked like they were both in high school and they were both dressed in their school uniforms as well. Their auras were very dark and dangerous, and that made me very cautious.

"Hello, boys," I greeted walking from behind the counter. They both looked me up and down with gazes that told me exactly what they were thinking and exactly what they wanted to do to me. I'm old enough to be their great-great-great grandmother.

"Well hello, beautiful. My name is Hayden and this is my friend Jack," One of the two with brown hair smiled at me.

"Hi," Jack greeted.

"So what kind of genres are you two interested in?" I inquired. Sirius walked over to my side and glared at the two, but they paid him no mind.

"What do you recommend?" The blonde one asked.

"Hm......follow me," I responded. They both seemed to grow excited at the thought of just being alone in the store with me, but if they tried anything then I would make them regret ever being born. Without them knowing, I used my magic to heighten my hearing so that I could hear what they were whispering about ever so quietly behind me. It took me a few minutes of listening to them to know what they were planning to do and to make me form a plan on what I was going to do to them for even thinking about the horrible things they thought they were about to do.

"You boys like horror novels right?" I asked stopping to turn around and look at them. They both ceased their whispering and look at me. Shit eating smirks appeared on their faces.

"Yeah. Horror is the best," The one with the brown hair said.

"Well I'm sure you'll both like to see the selection I have in the back," I replied. Their grins became even wider at the sound of that suggestion, but little did they know that things weren't going to turn out how they thought.

"Follow me."

They followed me as I walked towards the back of the shop. The red, grand curtain were lifted by my hands and I allowed them to go first. They both looked at the large bookcases in awe. This room, compares to the rest of the shop, was very spacious and grand with a few chairs here and there for those who wanted to come back here read in peace. 

"You know my favorite fantasy novel is It and that's simply because the children within the town had lived near an unknown horror that they could not defeat no matter how much they tried," I said. Confusion spread across their faces as they listened to me speak.

"Do you know why?" They both shook their heads vigorously.

"It is my favorite novel for the sole reason that he lures children into a secluded place where no one can hear them scream," I stated in a calmly, creepy tone. The boys let out nervous chuckles and I could tell that they were getting scared. A hysterical laugh slipped from my lips as I stepped forwards towards them. My head hung low as I laughed as I continued walking towards them and soon they were walking backwards.

One of them tripped and stumbled over the rug while the other ran towards the door in the back that was locked right. My hands grabbed at my face and I ripped it off to reveal a horrifying one underneath that they practically screamed at like little girls. I advanced towards the one on the floor as he backed away with fresh tears down his cheeks. I roared a loud and high pitched cry that had them both screaming like little girls.

The one who had stumbled away tried to get up, but I was on him top of him in a flash. He tried moving me off of him, but I held him down with my magic. My face lowered so that I was merely a few inches away from his. A long, tongue snakes from my lips and licked around his face. He closed his eyes as the rough tongue lathered his face before slithering back into my mouth. I put my lips near his ear and whispered.

"Scared yet?" I asked.

"P-P-Please l-let m-me g-go," He whimpered. My face turned back to normal and I smirked down at him as I straddled his lap.

"Only if you boys promise to never try that again on me or any other woman you come across," I responded.

"O-Okay. W-We.....w-won't..." He stammered. His friend stayed glued to the corner looking at me in fear.

"Perfect," I grinned, "Make sure you both come back tomorrow straight after school. I need two extra hands here at the shop and you two are perfect for it."

I wiped their memories of the incident before replacing it with a new one that involved them asking me for a job application.

"Oh dear. Are you alright?" I worriedly asked the boy in front of me.

"Huh? Oh yes, ma'am," He nodded.

"That's good. I'm glad you two boys applied for this job. I've been needing two young men to help with some of the heavy lifting around here," I responded. The other boy walked forward.

"No problem, ma'am," The other one nodded.

"I'm glad that you are. You boys have a great day and make sure to come straight after school with a change of clothes. I know wearing those uniforms all day can be quite bothersome ," I told them.

"Thank you, Miss Adair," They both said.

"You're welcome, boys," I smiled. They both left the shop together as soon as Davina walked into the shop. The door closed behind her and she looked at me with a knowing smile.