The Arbor

"Hi Hattie, Sweetie, what can I do for you?" Mr. Henry asked from behind the counter.
Hattie walked through the store, passing two customers, and whispered, "I need to see Annie." She took a pen and the pad of paper on the counter and wrote "The Arbor is here." She showed it to Mr. Henry who promptly ripped the paper off and burned it.
Mr. Henry said loudly, so the customers could hear, "Yes, yes I do have something for persistent flatulence. Let's find it together." He walked around the counter and walked Hattie right to the spot where the two women were standing. "Yes, flatulence. Are you also having diarrhea?" He asked Hattie.
Mortified, but understanding, Hattie said, "Yes, it's been awful." This was too much for the two women, and they swiftly left the store. "Mr. Henry, really? Did you have to ask if I had diarrhea? That was so embarrassing."
"I had to get them out of here, sorry. It was the first thing I thought of," he said. "Anyway, is the Arbor really here?"
"Do you think I would joke about that?"
"Right. Okay, well go on. She's in her office," Mr. Henry shooed Hattie off to the back of the store, then went to the front and turned the sign around to read "CLOSED" to passers by.
At the back of the store, Hattie walked into the small broom closet and enclosed herself in it. She pulled the cord for the light, so she could see and knocked on the back wall. Three knocks back. Hattie knocked once, then quickly twice more, then waited. After a minute, one of the side doors of the closet opened, and Hattie walked through.
Hattie was surprised to see, that at 10am in the morning, three people sitting at the bar and about a dozen more sitting at tables. All with drinks in their hands and smiles on their faces. She looked up at Ruth, who opened the door for her. "Ruth, have they been here all night long?" Hattie asked.
"Seems like. I just got here, myself. How you doing, Hattie?" Ruth asked, walking to the bar to get herself some coffee. "Want some tea or coffee?"
"Coffee would be great. I'm doing fine, Ruth, thanks." She took the small cup of coffee from Ruth and sat at the bar to wait for Annie to show. "Ruth, where's Annie?"
"The loo, I suspect. What's going on, hon?"
"The Arbor is here in Hollywood!"
The entire bar went silent.
"Shoot, I thought I whispered that," Hattie said to Ruth.
"You did. But you know how that name travels," Ruth said.
A man from behind Hattie stood up from his table and asked, "Do we need to worry?"
Ruth answered for Hattie, "Not at all, hon. The Arbor's visits don't always mean doom. An Elder visit a pleasant surprise, and I'm sure we'll all know soon enough why this one is here." Then she added, "Shots of tequila on the house!" Everyone cheered and crowded the bar. While Ruth was busy with that, Annie finally showed up and walked up to Hattie, who'd distanced herself from the mob.
"Hey Hattie, what's going on, and why did Ruth just offer everyone tequila?" Annie asked, taking a stool while also taking Ruth's coffee and drinking it.
"Annie, Morgan sent me right over. The Arbor is here," Hattie said.
Annie stood right backup, spitting coffee right back up and into the cup. "What?"
"The Arbor is here."
"No, I heard you, I mean, why?"
"That's really all I know. She came in last night and is staying at the new Roosevelt Hotel. She rang Morgan this morning, and asked to see you," Hattie took a sip of her coffee. "She wants to see you for tea this afternoon at her hotel. Morgan will be there, also. Oh and Parker and Adeline."
"Well, you knew more than 'she's here,' didn't you?" Annie said.
"Huh?"
"Never mind. Okay, thanks, Hattie. Did Morgan seem worried?"
"Does Morgan ever seem worried?"
"Point taken. Alright, what time is tea?"
"Four o'clock this afternoon. But Morgan says to come to her place, first, and you can drive together."
*** Annie walked up the steps to Morgan's house, but stopped just short of ringing the bell. If she rang the bell here, the afternoon would start and end heavy and serious. Instead, Annie walked around to the back and knocked on the back door to the kitchen, where she knew Morgan would be anyway.
"Annie, welcome, glad you came," Morgan said opening the door and waving Annie in.
"Did I have a choice?" Annie said, then stopped in her tracks. The Arbor was also in the kitchen. "Oh, oh dear. I didn't know you were going to be here, I'm so sorry, High Sorceress, I-"
"No need, Annie. I don't bother with any of that royal nonsense," The Arbor walked around the counter to hold onto Annie's hands. She smiled, instantly making Annie feel at ease. "Just call me Willa. Or Arbor, if you prefer. But Willa is my given name."
Morgan stepped in to help Annie feel less awkward. "The Arbor chose to come here for tea instead because she was gaining quite a fan club at the Roosevelt. It was starting to stir some questions amongst the humans, so she decided to ditch the hotel and is staying here."
Annie looked at Morgan, "The Arbor... Thee Arbor is staying with you? In your house?" Annie then looked around as if nothing in the house was near good enough.
"Annie, I'm just another witch like you. We are not that different. This house is more than enough. Now let's sit and discuss why I'm here, shall we?"
Annie looked like she was still in a daze, so Morgan went to the kitchen and fixed three gin and tonics. She shoved one into Annie's hand and said, "Drink." Annie did. Annie started to feel a little back to reality. The three sat at the dining room table, and Morgan brought some sandwiches. She shoved one of those into Annie's hand, and said, "Eat." Annie did. "Annie, really, I wouldn't peg you for the star struck type."
"Me neither," Annie admitted. "But You're the Arbor. In person. Here."
"Yes... but Annie, listen. I'm not here on a pleasant visit, I'm afraid. And what I'm about to tell you is rather upsetting."
Annie put down the sandwich. "Do I have to close down?" Annie asked, her heart breaking.
"What?" Willa asked confused.
"Annie's Speakeasy in Hollywood," Morgan explained.
"Oh, that. Oh no. Please, please keep that open. There aren't very many places our kind can just be and hang out together. No, keep that going. I'll even help. Just tell me what you need."
Annie's jaw was now on the floor.
"No, Annie, I'm here because of something much more serious. There's been... well, this may sound strange, but Alistair went missing. We think he may have been murdered. Jonathan and Elisabeth, as well. "
Now Annie was fully present, fully awake, and fully shocked in a whole new way. "Murdered?" She asked. "When? How? Why? All of them?" Annie was starting to cry. "Is this real? Why are you telling me and not the police?"
"This is real, Annie," Willa said. She took something out of her bag and handed it to Annie. "This isn't the kind of thing the police would know about. Your sister found this, knew it had to go to the Council, and they knew it had to come to me, since I'm The Arbor of Los Angeles."
Annie unfolded the worn paper. There was some Latin and another language Annie didn't know. "What is this?" she asked.
"That, Annie," the Arbor said with a new seriousness to her tone, "is the spell to summon a demon."

Type

Magical, Honorific