The Decameron 2.0

Day 1.9: HEA Love - TILLY'S CANDLE LBKeen

"Tilly, check this out."

Turning her attention away from the large shelf of little drawers-with different names like "wolfsbane" and "clover" carved into each one-she gave her sister an incredulous look. "Becca, take it off," she said, shaking her head in mild amusement. Becca had somehow gotten the mask off the mannequin next to the shrunken-head display and was now wearing it, looking horrifyingly like something from a teen scream movie.

"Can I help you?"

"Ah!"

Both girls jumped and spun around to meet the annoyed expression of a short-haired emo teen. She frowned, then regained the bored look that most teens seemed to perfect in their dreary days of high school. "Can I help you?" she asked once more, her apparent vocabulary not including the words "I'm sorry." She wore a long black sweater which revealed the shoulder, but that had been pulled together by safety pins. Her black hair screamed Matilda.

Tilly ran a hand through her thick, tight curls, letting out a nervous laugh. "We actually were just loo-"

"My sister and I want to try that love-spell thing!" Becca cut her off.

Tilly gave her an annoyed look, clearly demanding to know what her sister was doing, but Becca-with her brown eyes wide-simply mouthed "What?" and returned her attention to the teen. "We don't seem to have the greatest luck in finding the right guy, so- I figured we could use a little bit of help."

"Help?" the teen repeated, looking them both over slowly. Tilly wondered what she saw in her overly large grey sweater and sweats. Her eyes flashed for a second-it was so quick Tilly was sure she imagined it. The teen sighed. "Fine, follow me." She turned on her heel and led them to the back, her hands stuffed firmly in her pockets.

Becca glanced at Tilly excitedly. "I think this is gonna be fun."

Rolling her eyes, Tilly shoved Becca's head sideways. "You always think that, and yet I'm the one who's always cleaning after you."

Sticking out her tongue, Becca scoffed, "You know you love it."

"Yeah, whatever you say."

They followed through the shop. Oddly it seemed like the inside was far bigger than what the outside had them believe. They walked past candles big and small, towers filled with liquids, and glass containers of different-colored stones. Tilly felt apprehensive about where they were headed. In fact, as they arrived at the back, she wanted to say they couldn't stay any longer, but held her tongue as she felt she was being paranoid.

The teen pushed aside a thick velvet curtain, revealing a room filled with sparkling candles covered in glitter. The range of color was magnificent, and made both sisters gasp. Each candle had something carved into it, each a different design. The spectrum of colors made Becca snap a picture on her phone.

"So what kind of love are you looking for?" the teen asked, as she walked over to the altar and grabbed four sticks of incense candles from the top. The smell was so sweet it made Tilly crave apple tea. The teen went to table in the middle of the room, where a dish sat at its center. Under the dish was blue fire, and surrounding it were many little dishes-including some containing glitter. The teen placed the tips of all four candles into the blue fire, then placed them in the dish. They burned slowly, the smoke swirling in the air. She lifted her eyes to Tilly and Becca. "There are many kinds of love out there: passionate, possessive, heartfelt, and... darker ones." She smiled slowly. "Which do you both desire?"

Tilly thought hard, her eyes going to the plethora of candles, and though she didn't believe anything would happen, she decided she could at least take this seriously. She hadn't had any luck in the dating arena, every male was simplistic... boring. She never felt that spark. Still, she hadn't exactly left the town she lived in; traveling here and there, sure, but she hadn't ever done anything exciting.