7 The

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"Come with me," she said, beckoning him with a long finger. Melvin did so in rambling steps, his throat feeling suddenly very dry. The floating eye watched him silently from its place in the jar. Melvin cast a few glances around him as he approached, seeing monstrosities and creatures of all sorts floating in liquids all colors of the rainbow in jars of all sizes. They seemed to watch his progress with open, unblinking eyes.

"Follow me," the witch told him and slipped through an open doorway and up a small flight of stairs. The stairway was narrow and felt crooked, the wallpaper cracked and peeling in places; Melvin felt the need to place his hands against the walls to steady himself as he walked up.

The self-proclaimed witch led him into a small room. It must have been her bedroom because a bed was in one corner, and a dresser sat close to it, a large mirror reflecting his pale expression back at Melvin as he walked into the room. On the opposite wall, a tall cabinet stood, beakers and bottles littering its shelves. It was this cabinet that the witch approached, her long black dress gliding on the floor behind her.

She opened the cabinet door and pulled out a blue bottle. It seemed to pulse with a kind of electric power in her hands, and she popped open the cork and inhaled. A thin veil of wispy smoke drifted from the open bottle and wrapped her head in a smoky halo. A crooked grin slid over her face.

"Love juice, Melvin. Drink this and you will become irresistible to any woman you so desire," she said, her voice dancing around him, touching his face, slipping under his skin and propelling him towards her. Melvin walked over in a daze, his hand out to take the bottle from her, clutching and unclutching the empty air as he approached.@@