Getting home late.

Chapter 3 – Putting a Plan Together (continued)

It was well after midnight when Jason arrived at home. And since the girls had school in the morning, there was no light, or movement, or other signs of waking life in the apartment. But Jason’s head was still alive with thoughts.

One in particular.

He went to a box of old books he kept by the computer desk as a makeshift filing cabinet, and shuffled through them until he found a leather bound tome made to look old and mysterious. It wasn’t an antique or an archeological artifact, but the one thing that was truly old about it was the information it contained, at least that was the selling point.

He opened the book to a familiar page, a section describing his warding ritual he’d been performing habitually most nights on arriving home. He read through it very carefully this time, paying attention to any details he may not have always done right. He wanted to determine if this was real, if this was more than just a curiosity, more than a hobby. If Chloe could be enchanted, and not even know it, could his book of old wiccan spells and enchantments contain some real magic as well?

After studying the ritual for several long minutes, he set it on the floor near the doorway, and retrieved a stick of incense from his backpack. He then found a holly twig from the same box by his desk, it was old, and dry and brittle, but it would hopefully serve his purposes. He lit the twig with his lighter, and then used the twig to light the incense, hoping that the modern materials within it wouldn’t ruin the spell. Then he very carefully performed the ritual as closely to how it was described in the book as he could, while focusing his thoughts on the three people plus himself that resided in the apartment. The four people he wanted to protect.

When he finished, he spent a moment trying to determine if anything felt different. Aside from the smell of the components, nothing had changed. Thinking about the girls didn’t make him feel any differently. And there were no outward signs he could detect that the spell had worked.

So he checked the app, and went straight to his sister’s profile.

Alexandra Kelly

Relationship: Brother

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Affection 90, Friendship 71, Love 70, Playfulness 68, Loyalty 59, Protectiveness 48, Admiration 38, Trust 35, Worry 29, Submissiveness 10, Lust 6

Special Traits: Fantasy Crush, Taboo Kink

Temporary Traits: Lesser Protective Ward

“Ha!” Jason let out a triumphant cry, but then immediately covered his own mouth. It worked, at least according to the MRE app. All this time he’d been doing real magic, or at least potentially, assuming he’d been doing the ritual right. And while a part of him had wanted to believe, he wasn’t sure if he’d honestly accepted it had a real tangible effect.

But with that done, it was still late, and he was still quite tired, so he quickly made his way into his room to change and head to bed, content in the knowledge that he’d gained, and the plan to move forward and free Chloe from her geass.

Author's Note

Bit of a short chapter this time, so just wanted to give early readers a heads up, I'll be trying to get the next chapter up within a day or two here.

Enjoy!