The Salem Concord Book 1: Interview for a Wizard

  Chapter 4

  Murder

  Jesse spent the rest of that day taking Internet orders; packaging and receiving boxes. He was busy; too busy to even stop and have lunch at the Deli. Cindy would have to wait until later. Customers were coming in all afternoon looking for wands, brooms or hats to complete their Halloween costumes. The Halloween festival was on Saturday night and the excitement was beginning to brew in Mount Dora; as a result, traffic increased at Alivan’s Wizards and Witches Corner Store.

  It wasn’t until 5:00 pm that Jesse remembered the wizard. The UPS man came by again to drop off and pick up packages. Jesse glanced out the window across the street; the wizard wasn’t there. Usually, the UPS man said nothing to Jesse besides the typical “Hi” or “See you later” and “Have a nice day.” He was always in a hurry, but this time he stopped Jesse as the young man made an attempt to lift one of the two large boxes marked “Fragile.”

  “Hold on there! You might break what’s inside!”

  Jesse looked at the box closely. “Fragile, Contains glass, Handle with Care.” Jesse drew back cautiously.

  “I’ll carry it for you,” said the UPS man. “Where do you want it?”

  “Up there.” Jesse pointed to the top of the steps. He grabbed a couple of smaller boxes and followed the UPS man.

  “Have you ever heard the history about this old house?” began the UPS man in a very spooky like voice. “Murder,” he said slow and mysteriously. The word caught Jesse’s attention. “Yep, strange old man lived up here in this top room. Folk say he was just down right nasty. Folk say that he went crazy one day and killed six people over a period of six months. The funny thing is that he did it on the same day…crazy. It took the cops forever to finally catch him. Weird.” The UPS man reached the top of the steps, placed the boxes carefully against the door and adjusted his belt.

  “How did he kill them?” The house suddenly felt very creepy to Jesse.

  “He would scare them to death as they waited for the bus. That’s why the bus stop was moved down the street in front of the First National Bank. Okay, see ya tomorrow.” The UPS man skipped down the steps and grabbed his signature pad, but before he left, he stopped and turned back to Jesse.

  “Boo!”

  Jesse was startled. He felt so embarrassed.

  The UPS man left the store laughing.

  Jesse stood at the top of the steps feeling stupid, alone and… a little scared but Jesse didn’t want to admit it. The UPS man’s story was the last thing he expected. It gave him the creeps. He looked around. Well, he thought, it’s time to go. He hurried down the steps, turned off the computer, grabbed his helmet, turned off the lights, lowered the blinds and was outside in no time. He locked the door behind him, ran down the alley and jumped on his motorcycle. He couldn’t wait to get to his apartment. He wasn’t thinking of Cindy, or the festival, or anything else; he only thought of the murder. That night after dinner, he called back home and enjoyed a very nice long conversation with his family, then his friends, and anyone else he could get a hold of. Jesse was scared.