A Social Death Read online

  Haven Witches

  A Social Death - Book 2

  Emma Watts

  Contents

  Also by Emma Watts

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  A Plea

  Newsletter

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2018 by Emma Watts

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Haven Witches 2: A Social Death is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  For my Family

  Also by Emma Watts

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  Prologue

  Come to California, the land of sun, sand and… murder? What? Yeah, I’ve gotta say it was a tough pill to swallow. Anyway, it had been a month since I’d moved to the sleepy coastal town of Haven and taken up residence with my crazy YouTuber brother, discovered I was a witch, taken a job at Ivy Finke’s bookstore and learned that the town had an ancient curse on it. Oh, and I apparently come from a long lineage of witches who solve murders, and unless I help the innocent, darkness will overtake the town and Kilara, the daughter of a powerful warlock, will rise up and wipe out humanity.

  Yeah, no pressure.

  Now dealing with one murder, I could handle that, but to have another occur so soon and for it to touch the life of someone near and dear to me, now that was a little daunting. Truth be told, I was still trying to come to terms with the whole witch thing, let alone the fact that the responsibility to solve murders in the town rested squarely on my shoulders.

  I mean, seriously, why me?

  Why not the police?

  It had been a question I’d asked Ivy several times over the past few weeks and her reply was always the same — because it is.

  Like, is that even an answer?

  Did she really know the kind of person I was?

  I couldn’t even keep my marriage together or earn enough to buy a decent vehicle. Surely on God’s green earth there was someone better suited to don a pair of glasses and whip around like Clark Kent? Someone like Jamie for instance. He had charisma, flair and I’m sure he would have been a heck of a lot better at learning spells than me. I felt like a phony trying to impersonate a witch.

  Apparently no, according to Ivy I was a hereditary witch, and the mantle had been passed on to me, just as it had everyone before me — from mother to the daughter, yada, yada, yada. Unfortunately or fortunately for my younger brother, he hadn’t inherited squat. That’s right. No powers. Zippo. He was a straight-up human. At least, he was when he wasn’t behind that camera of his or flirting with the ladies.

  So it was all down to me.

  Now you might be thinking that because I’d had such good luck solving the last murder case that I would be chomping at the bit to dive into this one and well, you would be wrong. The sudden attention this had drawn from locals and the police department was a little overwhelming. And not all of it was for the good. Ivy had warned me that the powers that be, would be watching my every move from here on out and to expect life in Haven to get complicated. Complicated? As if it hadn’t already.

  See here’s the thing, when the police are looking at my brother as the main suspect, I had no other choice than to get involved.

  But to prove his innocence and find the real killer, it meant sticking my neck out again, and that was a far cry from selling books to tourists. It also meant getting better at using magic and fully embracing my life as a witch.

  Yeah, like I said, no pressure.

  Chapter 1

  “C’mon, Kelly it’s only fair. I let you stay at my place for free. You don’t pay me a dime. All I’m asking for is a little something in return. Besides, you’re the one that can do magic,” Jamie said. “Magic pranks are all the rage now on YouTube.”

  We were inside his red Ferrari in the center of town. Since telling him, or should I say, showing him that I could perform magic, I couldn’t get him to stop asking me to perform spells. I had to make him swear that he wouldn’t tell anyone, including his closest pal River Hudson. I’m still not convinced he kept that promise. Anyway, I guess I kind of figured the topic would soon turn to how he could monetize my gifting. Sure enough, he had something in mind.

  “I think you misunderstood me, Jamie. I’m still learning how to perform spells.”

  “Well then, think of this like your crash course. Every other weekend, we’ll go out on the street and perform a couple of pranks. Nothing big, just a little something which I can use for my channel.”

  I shook my head. “You told me we were going to see a movie this morning. I only get two days off a week.”

  “And we will but it costs money to go to the movies.”

  I laughed. “You’ve got more than enough.”

  “That’s because I work my butt off,” he said rubbing his hands like he was getting excited to open a Christmas gift. “Now look, you said you were having problems working on making objects disappear. Here’s what we’ll do.” He pointed towards the center of the town where there was a park. It was a beautiful spot that was often used by folks for walking their dog, picnics and lounging around in the summer sun. “We’ll walk up to random strangers and have them give us an object, I’ll place it in this brown bag and then you’ll make it disappear. You don’t even need to be on camera. So no one is going to question it. They’ll think it’s an illusion. Heck, there is one online right now where a guy places a bottle inside a paper bag and crumples it up. Okay, the bottle is not real, but that’s where we are going to one-up him and use a real bottle. You’ve just got to make it go bye-bye.”

  “And what if I can’t do that or I can’t make it come back?”

  “Then turn it into something else. T
hey’ll still be impressed.”

  I furrowed my brow. “I don’t know, Jamie. I should really speak to Ivy before I go doing magic in public.”

  “You said yourself there are no rules against it if you’re careful.”

  I sighed. “Maybe not but…”

  “No buts just follow my lead.”

  He pushed out of the vehicle and I sat there for a few more seconds.

  “Are you coming or not?”

  I tapped my forehead a few times then got out. I must have been out of my mind letting him talk me into this.

  Ah, what the heck, I had been meaning to brush up on some of my skills but doing it in front of people? What if someone clued in?

  We hurried across the road and entered the plush park of winding paths and rolling hills. Whoever had done the landscaping sure knew what they were doing. It was utterly beautiful. It had an iron fence that went around the park, and at the center was a huge fountain of an angel that spewed water. Tourists would toss money into it and make a wish.

  “Jamie, I have a better idea.”

  “I’m all ears.”

  I’d never seen him this excited, which was saying something as he lived each day like it was his last. He brought a whole new meaning to loving what you do for a living.

  “You see Haven’s Fountain? Ask someone to toss some money into it and tell them it will give them twice the amount back.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Just do it. I’ll stand over near the fountain. Make sure you say aloud what they’re going to throw in. Leave the rest to me.”

  I’d become pretty good at levitating objects, it was much easier than trying to make something disappear. To be honest, I didn’t even think that was possible. If it were, I would have already used it on myself multiple times, especially last week when I said the wrong thing in Adele’s soup shop. Since then she’d barred me from the store. Ivy was right about her. Now I was trying to get back into her good books — a feat that no one had managed to achieve to date. One local, the lady who runs the flower stand outside Logan’s place, said she hasn’t been able to purchase there in over fifteen years. Like what was up with this woman?

  I took a seat on the stone fountain and gazed into the crystal-clear waters. There were hundreds of nickels at the bottom. Apparently, Mayor Silas Crookshank had one of the town workers swoop in there once a month to clear out half of them and the money was used for different town events. Though rumor has it, it went into his pocket. I was beginning to think there was some truth to that as I’d seen him out driving around town in a Rolls-Royce Phantom. Some said he’d stolen it because there was no way he could have afforded it on his measly salary, others say it was inherited, my money was on the fountain. When asked, Silas refused to say. I figured the truth would eventually come out.

  I watched as Jamie charged off with his handheld camera to select someone for his video. He’d tried to explain to me the other day about how it all worked — you know, making money with his videos — but it just went over my head. It was something to do with ads and sponsors, and Google and viewers paying him each month. And that he’d been at this long before anyone else started doing prank videos, so he’d made a name for himself and gained a crazy amount of subscribers.

  That morning Jamie was wearing a skintight pair of black jeans, flip-flops, and a loose white V-neck T-shirt. He had his long blond hair tied up into a man bun and was sporting a pair of flashy dark sunglasses. He threaded around some couples basking in the California sun and stopped a few times to ask if they wanted to be in his video, but no one seemed responsive. Finally, he hit gold with some lady in her late fifties who was reading a book. Honestly, I think she was more interested in him than in what he wanted her to do.

  “Alright come this way. So here’s what we’re going to do, guys,” he said speaking into the camera. “I’ve pulled out a lady from the crowd and she’s going to throw a nickel into the fountain and we’re going to double her money. But first, let me show you all the money in the fountain.” He twisted it around and zoomed and then rattled on for a few minutes about the history of the fountain, and how the angel represented those who stood for truth and justice, and what not. “Okay, now tell everyone your name.”

  “Judy,” she said placing a hand on her chest and looking all shy.

  “And Judy, have we ever met before?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “So we don’t know each other?” he asked.

  “No, but see me after and I’ll give you my digits.” She winked.

  Jamie laughed it off and then went straight back into controlling the direction of the video. “So, go ahead, fish into your purse, show the coin to our audience and then toss it into the water.”

  I sat there smiling thinking the whole thing was absurd. I certainly couldn’t see myself doing this every other weekend. In fact it only strengthened my resolve to get my own apartment ASAP. It’s not that I didn’t love his mansion, or his butler Henry Starling but living under his roof meant he had something to hold over my head, and after years of fending for myself in Jersey, I wasn’t used to that.

  Judy tossed the coin into the water and I watched it sink to the bottom.

  “Okay folks, now watch this!”

  Jamie followed its journey with the camera and then his eyes flitted to me to indicate it was game on. Judy leaned over to see what he was about to do. I rolled my eyes and muttered the spell I’d performed numerous times. A few seconds, and the water started to sparkle, and suddenly her coin along with one more shot into the air, barely missing her head, and then hovered for several seconds.

  I thought it would make it more dramatic to let the coins just hover.

  Judy gasped and stepped back, and then Jamie told her to put out her hand. She stuck it out slowly. It was shaking. This lady had no idea what was going on. Her mouth was agape, and she wasn’t the only one. There had to have been at least five other people who’d started watching.

  Slowly I brought the coins down until they landed in the palm of her hand.

  “Remember, you saw that on Winters Tube! Have a good day now!”

  Jamie started chuckling as he walked off, and I followed him a few minutes later.

  “See, I told you. Easy as pie. I guarantee you no one has done that online. I’ve got to get this video up immediately. This is going to be the talk of the convention this weekend.”

  I walked by him as he bounced around like an eighteen-year-old jacked up on too much Red Bull. Yeah, quite odd being as he was in his early 30s, and a year younger than me.

  “Convention?”

  “Yeah, for years me and River used to go down to VidCon in Anaheim but after the success we’ve had on our channels, we just decided to start our own one. That way we could pocket some cash on the back end and promote our channels.”

  “So where are you holding it?”

  “In Haven.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Of course we are,” he said reaching his car and opening the door. He leaned in and pulled out his Frappuccino and took a sip. “Ah, I can envision big things for you and me.”

  I jabbed him in the stomach. “Don’t get your hopes up, I’m not going to be your puppet on a string. This is a one-time deal.”

  “Oh, come on, Kelly. You inherit these powers and you just want to use them to solve crime? That seems like an awful waste to me. Let’s have some fun. Like for instance, how about you get us into the cinema for free?”

  “And how do you propose I do that?”

  “Well you can make walls become like water, right? You know that trick you do down at the library.”

  “That’s not a trick.”

  “Anyway, come on. Live a little!”

  Right then a young girl with long locks that flowed past her shoulders came rushing over. She was wide-eyed and her mouth was agape. “Are you Jamie Winters?”

  He leaned against his Ferrari all nonchalant. “Well, yes, I am, darlin’.”


  “Can I get your autograph?”

  He glanced at me and I rolled my eyes.

  “You have a pen?”

  She pulled out a marker, and he popped the cap and held out her wrist and signed her forearm. The pretty little thing looked like she was about to faint. She hurried off to show her friends who were gathered together in a cluster at the corner of the park.

  “Really?”

  “You’ve got to feed your fans,” he said.

  I shook my head and was about to get in when I spotted Ivy standing with her arms folded outside her store. Oh great, she knew. There was nothing that got past that woman’s eyes. I swear she could change into a raven as I’d spotted one countless times in the same vicinity as me. She’d become a real stickler about me keeping my powers under wraps even though she said there was no rule against using them in public.

  Now, if I’m being honest, I must say my relationship with Ivy had been a little rocky lately. It wasn’t that I didn’t like her or that she was mean in any way but conversations with her were always the same. Most of the time she droned on about books and magic and when she wasn’t doing that she would talk about the darkness getting closer. It was a little too much and it felt kind of suffocating to be around her. Sure, there might have been a curse on the town but there hadn’t been a murder in over a month and yet if Ivy had her way, she would have had me practicing magic all day long. Even when she was working in the shop, it was never about organizing books or helping customers when she was around. It was all about honing skills. I was starting to feel like Danielson from The Karate Kid, painting fences and wondering why on earth I was doing it.

  Ivy motioned for me to come over with two fingers before she disappeared inside her store. I grimaced and bent down. “Look, Jamie, I’ll have to give the cinema a rain check, I have to go speak with Ivy and you know what that means.”

  Jamie tossed up a hand. He wasn’t even paying attention. Since getting that video he was like a kid in a candy store. “Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Oh this is fantastic,” he said looking at his video camera and replaying everything. I blew out my cheeks, closed the door on the passenger side and headed across the road. I couldn’t help feel as though I was being used. By my brother, by Ivy and even by River who had taken me out two more times since our trip to the lighthouse, and yet outside of the dates, he was still flirting with women.