Siren's Song Chapter 2

Lamia arrives in Westerwood, attempting to gather information about the town and its competitors.

Lamia cheered, accidentally waking Jinx from her slumber, as she passed the Westerwood city limits sign. She started to bounce in her seat; she couldn't wait to get out and stretch her legs. Her whole body ached from being cooped up for eight hours. Jinx stretched and barked once to join in on the excitement.  This was exactly why she preferred broom traveling - the wind in her hair, the sense of freedom as opposed to the claustrophobic sea of cars, and, of course, the amazing view. Not to mention no traffic, she'd been forced to go through L.A. and the traffic had set her trip back another hour.

That was all over though, she had finally arrived and Westerwood did not disappoint. It was beautiful, and so green she felt like she was in the Emerald city of Oz. She was amazed at the neatly fashioned lawns in front of every house. Her hometown, Sonara, was in the middle of the desert. People filled their yards with decorative rocks. With green trees, green grass, and even a lake in the distance, Lamia felt as if she'd entered a secret oasis. Jinx seemed excited as well, her face pressed eagerly against the glass, tail wagging.

            She hoped she'd be able to make this place home. She thought she'd be in for an easy win, but seeing the glamour that guarded the town had been eye opening - the barrier was strong, and only a light sparkle and vague opaqueness to the mountain that hid the town cued her in to its existence.  The Resident Wizard, Callum, was clearly very powerful. Her father, the resident wizard of her hometown, had managed to get her a list of her competition. Seeing it, she'd been over confident. Out of the ten or so names on the list, she'd been sure she didn't have any real competition except two: Nicholas and Callum. She'd met Nicholas once before at some event. He was famous though, supposedly a magical prodigy, so she’d been too nervous to introduce herself. Like Nicholas, he too was a fabled prodigy. She’d heard he had set the new record at the youngest competitor to become Resident Wizard, surpassing Nicholas’ claim. Upon seeing the strength in the barrier of the town, she became certain that this tournament would not be an easy one.

            However, seeing this town had renewed her desire to win. The street was dotted with colorful houses in all shades of blue, pink, lavender, and yellow. Her face lit up in a smile as she saw a cute cafe with an elaborate sandcastle out front. That smile grew larger yet upon seeing a candy store advertising a live rattle snake. That smile turned into a frown as she realized her gawking had caused her to miss her turn. She sighed and took a quick U-turn, gripping the wheel firmly and promising herself not to be distracted again. She made it to the hotel with no further delays and stepped out to admire the cute cottages that were painted just like the houses she had passed coming in. They were more of a neon hue that bordered on garish, but Lamia liked it. She spotted the office easily under a huge sign of a dragon with the words "The Laughing Dragon: No Vacancies".

            "Welcome to the Laughing Dragon! My name's Mellisa. How may I help you?" Mellisa asked, her tone polite.

            "I have a reservation, I’m Lamia," Lamia replied.

            "Oh yes! Nice to meet you Lamia," Mellissa said, extending her hand. Lamia took it, wincing slightly and noting that Mellisa sure had a firm grip. "Welcome to Westerwood, is this your first time visiting?"

            "Yes, I'm here for the Resident Wizard competition."

            "I think you might be the first. All the competitors arrive early, but three months? That's dedication."

            "I wanted to get a feel for the town that I'll hopefully be protecting." Lamia replied, attempting a gracious smile. She knew it was important to have the support of the residents and it was never too soon to start making friends.

            "I hope you enjoy your stay, and if you need anything please feel free to let me know." Mellisa said as she handed Lamia the keys to her cottage and a map of the town. "Your room is the Wvyern cottage." She smiled at the concierge, hiding her disappointment. Attempting to fish out some information had been fruitless. Next time she'd have to be more discreet. 

The cottage made up for the clerks sour attitude. It was charming - painted a bright blue, and had a small porch out front with a hummingbird feeder hung. The small stairs proved difficult with three months’ worth of things, not to mention Jinx jumping around her feet, but she managed to haul everything in. The interior was a bit sparse, but it would do. It had a queen size bed, a kitchen complete with fridge and stove, and a small dining table. It was cozy. She unpacked the things that would make it feel more like home first - a purple vase her dad had given her went on the kitchen table, a few of her favorite books were stacked on the nightstand, above that went drawings from her little sister, Evelyn. She was a pretty talented for a seven year old, although that wasn't saying much. Lamia chose the dresser to hold the few framed photographs she'd brought - one of her, Heather, Evelyn, Mom, Dad, and Jinx all smiling happily. Her stomach growled loudly, reminding her that the last time she had eaten was that McDonald's in L.A. It wouldn't hurt to unpack later.

She gave Jinx some food and water, and then grabbed her trusty broom and the map of Westerwood the tight-lipped concierge had gifted her. Opening it revealed the Sand Castle restaurant. It was starred on the map, so it had to be decent. Upon mounting the broom, the wind almost knocked Lamia over. “Geez, it sure is gusty here,” Lamia thought to herself. She tightened up her grip, quickly acclimating to the windy weather. Luckily she'd chosen jeans; a skirt would have practically blown off in this wind. Despite the rough start, flying here was wonderful. Some gulls flew by her, squawking inquisitively, probably used to being fed by the locals. She basked in the sun shining down, the wind in her hair, and the absolute freedom - this was so much better than being cramped up in a car.  Too soon the sandcastle came into view and she was forced back to earth. Upon entering the restaurant, she was greeted by a sign that read "sit anywhere”. She scanned the restaurant, deciding on a booth next to a window. It treated her to a view of what was possibly a swim suit shop topped with a purple octopus. Lamia was startled out of her thoughts by a blonde girl about her age. "Hi, I'm Alyssa, I'll be your server today. What can I get you to drink?"

There was a lyrical quality to the girl’s voice, and the witch wondered if her waitress was part siren. Lamia signed the letters for H-I-, but she stared at the witch blankly. “Well,” Lamia thought, “she definitely isn’t a siren. Even part siren would know sign language.” A while back wizards had crafted a law that their voices were too dangerous, and therefore could not be used in public. Therefore, sign language had become commonplace among sirens. Siren or not, there was something enchanting about her.

"Do you want a view minutes?" Alyssa asked.

"Sorry. I'll take a lemonade please." She requested. She hadn't meant to space out.

 "Okay, I'll be right back with that." Alyssa promised before she hurried off. Lamia examined the menu, finding this place to be a typical diner with a few seafood additions. She decided on her order and began people watching, waiting for her waitress’ return. Avery's wasn't very crowded. There were a few older women at one table that we gossiping like hens. Tidbits of their conversation reached her ears. From what she caught in their annoyed chatter, someone had turned the lake purple as a prank. Overall, Avery's didn't seem to be too busy, but it was the before dinner lull of around 4PM. The waitress headed towards Lamia, and as she turned her gaze Alyssa tripped, sending her lemonade flying. Years of training, A.K.A. having clumsy little sisters, kicked in for Lamia as she adeptly cast a stasis charm on the drink and jumped out of the booth to catch Alyssa. She landed in her arms and Lamia could smell notes of cinnamon coming from the girl. Alyssa jumped, her pale face flushed scarlet as she realized what happened.

"I'm so sorry!" She cried putting her head into her hands.

"Are you okay?" Lamia asked, smoothly levitating her lemonade on to the table before the stasis charm ended. Some of it had spilled, but wanting to refrain from killing the poor girl Lamia discreetly levitated a napkin over to clean it before she noticed.

"I'm so sorry about your drink. I'm not normally this clumsy." Alyssa apologized once again, although her face was only pink now. It was rather cute that her waitress was this flustered over a half spilled drink.

"Don't worry, it managed to survive the fall," Lamia reassured, lightly patting her arm. Upon further inspection, she noticed her blue eyes were framed with heavy bags. "Are you sure everything's alright with you?"

"Just distracted - my brother's a competitor in the Resident Wizard competition," Alyssa admitted.

"That must be exciting! Is this his first time entering?" Lamia enthused. She considered mentioning that she too was a competitor, but decided against it. It seemed to be too touchy a subject in Westerwood and upsetting wait staff was always risky.

"No, he's actually defending his position. He's the current Resident Wizard, his name is Callum." Alyssa explained, "Hence the distraction. There's just so much to do."

"Wow." Lamia trailed off, not knowing what to say. She resumed sitting, contemplatively. She needed to know more about Callum, but hadn't intended to pry information from his sister. However, she decided that she just couldn't let this opportunity slip by. "I've heard he's pretty powerful."

"If that's all you heard, you must have just gotten to town." Alyssa laughed her eyes finally glittering again with amusement.

"Oh, is he known for something else?" Lamia asked, feigning innocence.

"He's a bit mischievous." Alyssa admitted her lips quirking upward. "He turned our town's lake purple."

Lamia feigned a laugh, piecing together the conversation the hens had been clucking about earlier. "He sounds like a handful." Inside though, she was resentful, and was tempted to ask how a kid so immature had ended up as the protector of this sleepy town. 

"He is." She murmured, albeit fondly, then pulling out a small notebook from her apron and grabbing the pen from behind her ear she asked "Now what can I get for you?"

"Can I get the fried shrimp with coleslaw and fries?"

"Sure, coming right up." Alyssa said, giving Lamia a bright smile. Lamia felt a pang of guilt course through her. It was low to use his sister for information. However, this was a competition and sometimes you had to be ruthless. Plus, Lamia was certain she was better for Westerwood in the long run. She’d been groomed for this position all her life. She had to win because if she failed… she didn’t even want to think about it.

Author's Note

This is a little bit of an older draft. I'm currently updating a version where Alyssa is a writer for the local newspaper as opposed to a waitress. I mostly want to see how people feel about the creation of the characters and their dialogue flow.

Reviews

[somethingsparkly]

I really like the dialogue flow! It's really cute!! I would like to hear more about the town.