The Haven High Book Series (Wattys2017)

Chapter 10

It was well after ten o'clock before he entered his lab. He had less than an hour before his swim to make all the necessary preparations. Once down in the basement he went straight for the place where he hid his grimoire behind a loose stone in the cement block wall. Okay so he knew he wasn't a warlock or a practitioner of the craft, but there was no better way to describe his notebook where he kept all his potions, brews, and draughts.

He knew a grimoire usually held spells and invocations that a practitioner could use and that they were often considered family heirlooms that were the property of covens before the council had tried and failed to outlaw covens over fifty years ago during the witch uprising of the 60's. It was hilarious how humans had thought: communes, flower power, peace, free love and the feminist movement had been about bringing change in the human world, when it was really about creating a greater number of human Enlightened. He learned about it all in Magical history.

The witches introduced the Unenlightened to the magical world using powerful sex magic. Mary Jane and LSD was a way for the covens to tap into the residual magic that all humans have. By living in communes, the witches strengthen their numbers and created human shields to protect them against an all out attack from the council. The introduction of disco music in the 70's had spelled the end of the uprising. Before that every type of music was psychedelic pop, folk, rock or otherwise. The emphasis had to be put on the psychedelic part. Big concerts like Woodstock had been a means of siphoning the extra power from the humans needed to bring down the council. That the hippie movement began in California closest to the hub was no coincidence.

Cam entered his alchemy lab, or according to his mother, his chemistry lab. She was rooting for him to become a chemist, but she rightly pointed out that he would be hard pressed to find a college or university willing to accept him given his abysmal test scores, but since he had another three years to bring his marks around she wasn't too worried – at the moment, but she'd threatened him with tutors in the past. The thought made him cringe. He had such little time as it was imagine if he had to waste hours with a tutor as well. He sighed when he thought it wasn't easy hiding things from his mom.

Cam opened his Grimoire on his work table to the page which held the duality potion. He'd found the mention of it in a Black Grimoire he'd stumbled across in the library. In this case Black did not stand for the color of the tome but the dark spells inside. The ancient text had actually been wrapped in sheep skin. At least he hoped it was sheep skin.

He'd had to get Clio's assistance to translate the ancient druidic words, and even with her help it had taken them a week to decipher, not to mention that the Celtic ingredients were the toughest he had ever had to find. It took him three trips to the Menagerie to get everything, but if their translation was right then it should work. If not . . . well who knew what the consequences could be?

Let's put it this way being turned into a frog that a princess could turn back to a human with a simple kiss would be the best outcome. He shuddered at the thought.

Just then his alarm went off in his bedroom reminding him it was time to take his nightly swim. He wasn't looking forward to swimming without his father especially after what happened yesterday, but the maddening ache in his bones left him no choice.

He walked down to the shore feeling leery of every shadow and sound that he normal wouldn't have notices if his dad had been present.

He'd swum alone before, but the sea hadn't tried to murder him the day before and he hadn't been in the grips of rejection at the time. His body's betrayal was the last thing he wanted to think about now so he pushed it back into the deep recesses of his mind.