Signal to Noise(79)

“It’s a very shitty thing to say, you realize that?”

“The record is mine.”

“Yeah, but—”

“You wouldn’t be able to use it. You suck as a warlock.”

“Yeah? I’m part of the circle, so whatever—”

“Not for long, I’ll bet.” She shoved him aside, his back colliding with the back of the street vendor. “Don’t stand so close to me. You’re sweaty and disgusting.”

Gingerly, she pulled out her headphones and put them on, switching on her Walkman. Though the subway car was packed to the brim, he felt absolutely alone.





SEBASTIAN SLAMMED HIS backpack against the bed. He slammed it again and again until he finally understood the futility of this and tossed it away. He slid onto the bed, seething.

Meche was full of shit. She was a bad friend. Hell, she’d always been a bad friend but he had not really cared until now. Why couldn’t she lend him the record? She thought he wouldn’t be able to use it properly. She was the real witch and he was just a two-bit imitation.

And the way she talked to him! And the way she had looked at him, shoved him away.

Well, he would show her.

He wanted her to know she was not everything to him, that he was more than her tributary.





“HEY DAD,” SHE said.

“Hey, sweetheart. How are you doing?”

“I’m great. How are things?”

“Pretty good. I’ve got a place, a little apartment. As soon as I’ve fixed it up you can come and visit.”

Her father’s voice had always soothed Meche. It was rich and vibrant and pleasant. As she pressed the receiver against her ear she felt comforted just by the tone of his voice.

“So then... you won’t be coming back home soon?”

“I don’t think so, no.”

“But you still care about mom.”

Meche bit her lip and waited. He sighed and did not speak.

“Meche, your mom and I have a lot of problems.”

“It could get better,” she said.

Now that she had the record it would, for sure.

“I wish it would.”

Meche closed her eyes, picturing them as they had been a few years before, when she was a small child. When they loved each other.

“Dad, could you come by tomorrow? Maybe take me out to dinner?”

“Well... alright,” he said.

“And can I play some music for you?”

“I don’t know, Meche...”

“Please?”

“Alright.”

They talked for a few more minutes. When Meche hung up she felt giddy with excitement. She went to her room, pulled out the record and stroked her fingers across the sleeve, feeling its warmth. This was her secret weapon. This represented her parents’ hearts and they would be back together again, as they should be.

Magic could fix anything.

Meche thought about Sebastian. That thought made her curl her fingers and sigh, all the mirth vanishing. She’d been mean to him. Lately she did not know any other way to deal with him. She wanted to be nice. She really did. But things always went wrong and she was just so angry... and he made her want to scream some times. He was so difficult.

She shouldn’t have said that about the circle, but she really felt it was going to end soon. He was going to call it quits. He wanted to spend his time chasing after Isadora. Daniela and Meche would be left to their own devices.

Meche tried to picture the world without Sebastian. She erased him and pictured a vast, white expanse which seemed to her like snow.

Meche lay back on her bed and pressed the record against her face, closing her eyes.





SEBASTIAN DID NOT know how this was supposed to work. He had only cast a spell on his own once, and that had been an unexpected event. He did not know if he could manage it again. But he wanted to try. At the very least, he would give Meche a good scare.

Sebastian knocked and Meche’s grandmother opened the door, smiling at him.

“Meche’s not in, Sebastian,” she said. “She’s out doing the grocery shopping with her mom.”

Sebastian already knew this. Sunday morning was always grocery day for Meche and her mom. Sebastian feigned surprise.

“She was going to lend me some records.”

This was not an unusual occurrence and Meche’s grandmother nodded.

“Do you want to look for them?”

“Sure,” Sebastian said with a smile.

As soon as he was in Meche’s room he began pulling at drawers, rifling through her shelves. He found A Whiter Shade of Pale fast enough, resting in a box filled with old toys. He also found the Duncan Dhu record right next to it.

Sebastian frowned. He had not planned on taking Meche’s object of power but now that he had it in his hands he thought it might not be a bad idea. If Meche got mad at him, he could tell her to cool it or he would scratch the damn thing. Well... at least he’d let her think he would scratch it.

Satisfied, Sebastian grabbed the records, thanked her grandmother and hurried downstairs.

Isadora was waiting for him next to the motorcycle. She smiled when he came out.

“I’m ready now,” he said. “Let’s go.”