Til Death

17. Blake

BLAKE

I opened my eyes, even though the last thing I remembered was closing them. I stood by the wall like a piece of the furniture with a plant in my face. Swiping it away, I stumbled onto the floor, surrounded by spools of fabric, hundreds of yards of it stacked by the wall. I got out of the way of the men bustling about as they sewed fabric and constructed huge crinoline cages and the boning for corsets.

The front door opened, and I moaned, "Oh, no."

Henry walked through the door, taking off his leather gloves. Like last time, he wore mostly reds and golds, but this time it was all covered up by a thick black cloak. He walked to a table, covered with all kinds of gloves and neckties. A man on top of a raised platform waved to him, "Ah! Henry, glad to see you. Hope you're doing well."

"Very well, thank you. How's your daughter? I heard Elizabeth had a boy, is that right?" Henry asked, everything about him being so soft and gentle. Even the way he carried his gloves appeared to be of the lightest touch. His voice wasn't any louder than it needed to be either

As they carried on their conversation, I followed behind Henry. I examined his face, his hair and even the way he walked. "Somehow," I spoke to myself, "we're related. You're my great, great, great—I honestly don't know how many times great grandfather, I guess? Maybe? I don't know... but we don't look anything alike. Other than curly hair and yet..." I shook my head. "You don't seem like you're a wizard. You seem so human, which doesn't make sense. The Winslows have always been witches."

Henry thanked the man again for his well wishes and wandered to a display of hats. The door opened again, and Henry straightened up, fixing his posture. He pretended to be aloof, but the corners of his lips trembled as a smile attempt to wiggle into the light. I rolled my eyes.

It was Nicholas again.

He strolled inside, instantly spotting Henry and smiling. He acted all coy and browsed the other side of the shop, until they just happened to meet in the middle. Now, I followed Nicholas. "And I guess you're related to Danny. You, I get it." Faintly, Nicholas looked so much like Eitienne. Or I guess, Eitienne looked like him, which meant Danny did too.

"And you're definitely not a vampire," I told Nicholas as if he could hear me and I wanted to be proved wrong. In this time period, vampires didn't have the luxury of enchanted items or potions that would shield them from burning up in the sun. A vampire walking the sunny streets of London in the 16th century was suicidal. "There's something I'm missing here."

Frustrated, I hopped up on the table and held my cheeks, watching the two dorks dance around each other in the shop. Henry would brush by Nicholas with a faint little smile. Nicholas would lean around Henry on purpose just to grab something random. I rolled my eyes. Knowing that they were our ancestors, it was kind of like watching my grandparents be disastrous flirts.

"Nicholas!" The man from before greeted Nicholas. "How's the new songs goin?"

"I'm about to hit a breakthrough, I think. If I can just find my muse again."

"Good luck with that, Nick."

"Then, there's Edward," I said, continuing to open more doors than close them. "How does he fit into all of this? And where's Iggy? Why am I having these dreams? Are they trying to tell me something? Henry? Are you trying to tell me something?"

Eventually, Henry ended up examining the table I was sitting on and Nicholas joined him. "Excuse me, my good sir," Nicholas nudged Henry, but Henry continued to compare one handkerchief to another as if they were more interesting than the tall, dark and handsome man beside him. "Have you visited this shop prior to today?"