Free Supernatural: One Year Gone by Rebecca Dessertine Page A

said.
    They continued to argue the specifics of the Brady Bunch Hawaii trip as they passed a quaint shop with bay windows filled to the brim with witchy tchotchkes and a whole bunch of other stuff that all looked to Dean like worthless crap.
    “Let’s go in here,” Ben said, veering in through the front door.
    Lisa and Dean followed him into the store.
    As far as Dean could see in the gloom, they were the only customers. Other tourists must have been put off by the slightly odiferous shop with its cloister-like atmosphere and creaky floorboards.
    Across the back wall of the store, large apothecary jars full of herbs lined the shelves. Dean noted the handwritten tags identifying the contents—many of them could be used in black magic: calamus root, mustard seed, valerian root, black pepper, licorice root chips. But a lot of them were harmless potpourri fillers too: lavender, lemongrass, sandalwood. Dean wondered if this store catered for the local witches.
    The store also had a lot of other junk found everywhere in New England, including the all-pervasive Yankee candles, cheap Chinese-made cut-glass candy dishes, and black soap shaped like cats and witches’ hats.
    “Hiya!”
    A young girl of about twenty appeared through a door covered with a bead curtain. The strings of glass moved and clinked together as the Perky Polly jumped behind the counter.
    “Welcome to ‘Connie’s Curios and Conversations,’ what can I do you for?” The girl was dressed in a long hippy-like skirt, with a couple of scarves wrapped around her waist. She wore a little charm on a black-leather bracelet around her wrist.
    “Whoa Mom, can I get this?” Ben said, holding up an alligator foot.
    “What on earth for?” Lisa responded.
    “Hoodoo spell, brings luck, sometimes love. Wouldn’t be the dumbest thing to carry on your date tomorrow,” Dean said to Ben.
    “You’re not helping!” Lisa glared at Dean. “It’s not a date, is it, Ben?”
    Dean winked at Ben over Lisa’s head. Ben shook his head.
    “Nope, Ma. It’s not a date. I promise,” he said with a smirk.
    “Let me know if you need anything!” the girl called again. “You know your witchcraft,” she added, eyeing Dean.
    “Yeah, you know. I just dabble,” he said as he looked around the store. “You’re well stocked. Got any puppy heads?”
    “Dean!” Lisa swung round and looked at him.
    The girl behind the counter suddenly lost her perk. Her face tightened.
    “No we don’t,” she said brusquely.
    “Oh okay, just wondering,” Dean said. He fingered the gris-gris bag in his pocket. If this girl was a witch or tried to mess with him, he was protected. Puppy skulls, ground puppy skulls, were used in some of the darkest spells, specifically in hoodoo, to bind demons. And by making the material into a ball, covering it in sulfur, and burying it where a person would walk over it—some believed that it could kill.
    The girl held up a jade necklace with charms hanging from it.
    “You know what? This would look gorgeous on you,” she said to Lisa.
    Lisa appraised it. “It’s pretty, I don’t know if it’s my style though,” she said.
    “You want to try it on?” the girl asked.
    Dean stepped closer to the counter and leaned over toward the girl.
    “It’s not really her thing,” he said. “Let’s go guys.”
    Dean walked out of the store, Lisa and Ben following behind.
    “What did you do that for?” Lisa asked, falling into step with Dean.
    “That necklace had a black cat’s bone on it,” he said.
    “Really?” Ben said. “Cool.”
    “It did? What would that do?” Lisa asked.
    “It would have helped her trace where you were. Sort of like a witch GPS. I should go in there and bust that shop up,” Dean growled.
    “Dean, really, I think you’re mistaken. I’m sure she was just a hippy girl trying to do her job,” Lisa insisted.
    “Maybe,” Dean said.
    Whether the girl was a witch or not, there was something about her that Dean didn’t trust.