The girl was already there by the time I got to Starbucks at seven o'clock the next day. Now that she was out of work clothes, I got a better look at her loud dressing style. She wore neon blue jeans with a neon green teeshirt that had glowing white circuit board patterns that lit up. Over her teeshirt was a light brown leather jacket that seemed too thin to protect her from the cold, but she didn't seem to be bothered by it. At first, I thought her loud sense of style was because it got pretty dark at night, but then I realized that was probably legitimately her fashion. She also cleaned up a little and…wow.
I mean, sure, she was cute before. But she was actually a very beautiful girl. Sure, she had her imperfections…like that weird gleam in her eye. It looked like lightning and ever-lasting energy…but I was sure I was just imagining it. I didn't bring it up in fear that I'd freak her out a little.
She was listening to her iPod when I got there. I could hear the loud music from there – it was some bizarre mix of metal and electronic music. I've never heard it in my life…hell, I didn't even know what to call it but I liked what I heard.
"You're late." She said as soon as I came close enough. Weirdly, she'd been looking down at her iPod, so I don't know how she knew I was there.
"Fashionably late." I countered.
"What does that even mean?" She asked, her intense blue-green eyes on my face.
"…I don't know." I scratched the back of my head. "Sorry though. The walk all the way over here is pretty long."
"Why didn't you just take your car? I saw that you had one yesterday."
And then, I felt stupid. "Well…you said we're going for a walk, so I walked here. It never occurred to me—"
She merely laughed. "It's okay. Don't hurt yourself. C'mon."
She then stood upright from her former leaning-on-the wall position and began walking to the left, obviously expecting me to follow. I kept up beside her, sliding my hands in my pockets. Luckily for me, she had enough respect to take off her headphones so she'd hear me talk.
"So, uh..." I began, breaking the silence. "What is a girl like you doing working in Starbucks? I'm assuming your parents are rich because of the whole private school thing."
"Actually – before we start going into things like that…we have to know each other's names first. Call me Alexandria." She completely ignored my question. And strangely enough, she seemed more serious than yesterday.
"No last name…?" I asked.
"None necessary." She replied. "Now, it's your turn…"
None necessary? What was that supposed to mean? She was starting to sound a little crazy.
"I'm Mason."
"Mason…alright." I could see a hint of a smirk on her face. "Alright, Mason, you said you were always lucky, right? Tell me what you mean?"
I arched a brow. "Christ, girl."
She stopped and looked up at me. "What?"
"You never answered my question."
"Well, as some wise dude that was probably from China said, 'Good things come to those who wait'. Answer my questions, and I'll answer yours. Okay?"
Well, this was starting to feel more like an interview than a date. I didn't know how to feel about it…a girl with apparently no last name was asking me about my luck. I honestly didn't know anything about it myself. It just came to me…but it was after that night with the guy that pointed the gun to my head.
"Okay. My luck? Well…sometimes nice things would happen. Like yesterday, when I was driving to Starbucks. The traffic was flawless – sure, there was the occasional jaded New Yorker that drove like a suicidal pigeon, but it was…better than usual, y'know?" I explained the best I could. Alexandria looked like she wanted more explanation.
"That's it? Surely there's more…"
"Well…" I began hesitantly. It was at that second that I noticed how crazy it'd sound. I mean, what were the odds? Sure, it happened right before my eyes, but in hindsight, it was pretty surreal. "Okay, uh…do you know about Westhaven Street? Y'know, the abandoned neighborhood that all those murders take place in?"
Alexandria gave me a look that said, 'All too well'. "Yeah…I know about it. What about it?" She seemed interested now.
"Well, this thug dude was going to shoot me in the head. And uh…it turns out the gun was jammed. As soon as he tried to shoot, the gun blew off his hand."
Alexandria smiled. It was a knowing smile…as if someone just told an inside joke that only she knew about.
"What?" I demanded.
"Nothing." She replied. "So, this thug…is there anything weird you noticed about him? Did he look strange?"
I imagined the grotesque, mean face that looked down on me that night.
"He was incredibly…ugly. Grotesque. His features weren't proportionate…especially not his nose." I shuddered. The whole event was a bad experience…but it was also then that I found out how lucky I was.
"Mhm…" Alexandria seemed to be deep in thought. It was getting a little awkward from there, so I broke the silence.
"You said you'd answer my questions, right? So – are your parents rich?"
I could see that I broke her out of her thought, so she looked up at me. "They're pretty well off, I'd say. I was mostly accepted to my current private school because of my grades, though."
"Ah, so you're a smart girl." I smiled. "I'm fine with that. I'm not particularly bright…"
"Oh? I'm sure that's not true. I have an eye for people, y'know." She nudged me.
"It's totally true. I do the stupidest things sometimes!" I chuckled, stopping before a 'Don't Walk' sign and allowing the traffic to pass through.
"Hey," She began. "We all do. I do too sometimes. It's not what makes us stupid, it's what makes us human."
And then she continued ahead when the sign said 'Walk'. I rushed alongside her. I thought about her strange questions for a little while. Why did she want to know so much about her luck? Surely it was just chance. It's not like there was anything special about me, I was just lucky.
Alexandria studied my expression. "You don't know about your luck, do you?"
That certainly caught my interest. "Yeah, I know about my luck…and that's all it is?"
She stopped right there, in the middle of the foot traffic with me. The people that were walking behind us just went around. Alexandria looked at me as if I were stupid…and that made me think I did something wrong or something.
"By the Oracles, you ARE stupid."
"What? What did I say?"
"Okay, Mason – what are the chances of someone's gun being jammed RIGHT as they're about to shoot you? Don't you think that, logically, the guy would've taken the time to check if the gun was jammed before he tried to shoot you?"
"…The chances are low..?" I said dumbly.
"Very low." She corrected. "Your luck is supernatural, Mason. You're not a normal guy….well, not anymore, at least."
"Woah, hold up…what do you mean? Supernatural? Oh god…you've been reading too much Harry Potter, hadn't you?"
"Hey!" She chided. "Harry Potter is a great book! Look – the point is you're not a normal human anymore. You're no longer asleep. And with your power comes great responsibility."
Now she was bringing Spiderman into this? "I…have no idea what you're talking about. I really don't."
Alexandria half frowned. "Alright, then tell me, have you ever been to a strange place?"
My face went completely blank. "I've been to strange places all the time. Be more specific."
"I have a feeling you know what I mean." She shot a knowing glance. I thought back to that weird realm I was in last night, the place with the random weather patterns and the strange beings that said strange things.
"I…"
"Look, you don't have to make sense of it now. Hell, I don't expect you to. But just…consider it, okay? Also come here tomorrow."
"Why?"
She huffed. "Just do it, okay? There's a lot more I have to tell you."
Before I knew it, our walk had ended. We went around the block and were at the entrance of Starbucks again.
"It's been fun." Alexandria said after a little while. "You should get home. And…be careful, alright? Whatever you do, DON'T try to do anything special in front of humans. In fact, keep it to a minimum."
If she wanted me to keep my luck to a minimum, I didn't know how I was going to do that.
"I'll try." I lied.
The Monday morning alarm blared and I darted up from my bed as usual, getting dressed and brushing my teeth. I was alone in the house in the morning, as per usual. It was only then that I noticed how boring my morning routine was. I was growing tired of the same pattern…it felt like a prison.
"No." I said to myself in the mirror. "Today is going to be a different day."
I actually talked to people on the bus. They didn't say anything I'd be interested in, as usual, but it was a nice change of routine. A few kids on the bus knew my name…but no, that wasn't enough for me. I felt that I could take a risk. No…I felt like I had to take a risk, or die of boredom.
And then I looked ahead at the bus driver, who was fussing at a couple of students in the front. It was something about doing drugs and how evil rap music was or something – the usual thing people did if they had no imagination. I huffed to myself, standing up and walking to the front.
The bus driver always looked disgusting. Like most bus drivers, she was overweight, and her almost-gray hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She wore jeans and a coat, not that she would need it. I was pretty sure she was in the house all day and every day. Her skin was disgustingly tan, and her frame wasn't only fat…but it was big too. It was like she was actually a guy or something.
"Sit down." She said to me as I made my way to the door of the bus.
"Let me out." I replied simply.
"Sit down or you'll get written up."
"No. I decided that since we aren't very far from the school, I want to walk home." I was determined to break my usual routine. Even if it were something as simple as walking, I couldn't commit to riding the bus for one more day.
It turns out, the bus driver had absolutely no problem with letting me out. In fact, she kicked me out. I stumbled down the stairs, luckily not falling flat on my face before looking back to the smirk on my bus driver's face. She closed the door and drove off at a high speed so I wouldn't be able to catch up.
"Huh…rude." I mumbled before going on my merry little way.
The walk to my school was amazing. I took many different routes and roads that I hadn't taken before – routes and roads that I hadn't SEEN before. For the strangest reason, as people walked by, I could see where they were going…not just in general, but in life. I could see where the wind would take them, and this weird ability manifested themselves as intangible strings. Each one was a different color, tangling the person like yarn. And they all went into the direction it pointed…not out of the need to do it, but simply that's where life took them. It was the logical step after all the events that had lead up to this moment.
And even more…I understood. I understood that they were threads of fate. It reminded me of the ever-changing terrain of the realm I was in just the other night. The feel about it…it's not that it kept changing, it's just that it always changed. The strings were there too – connecting to everything, mapping the very destiny of change like some colorful tapestry. That's what was happening here. The world was ever changing…but fate remained the same. Fate bound us all.
When I got to school, I wasn't early as usual. This was pretty good for me – after all, the place was so boring and empty when I was early. The first thing I did was look around for Tyler, but I assumed he wasn't there after three minutes of searching. I got bored…I was sure he wasn't at school anyway.
I decided to skip breakfast for once and just get something from the snack machine; a twinkie. Just as I was eating it, and thinking about how satanic it was that Hostess almost stopped selling those delicious yellow cakes, I caught a glimpse of this guy bullying Tyler. I felt horrible for a second…I just assumed Tyler wasn't there. I didn't look around long enough, and if I had then Tyler wouldn't be in the situation he was in then. I was growing more and more fickle, and it was starting to bother me.
Now, Tyler wasn't the guy that anyone messed with. It's not that he was a tough guy – by all means, he wasn't, but Tyler was such a nice guy to everyone, and everybody seemed to have no qualms with his sense of humor. That's why I did a double-take when I first saw it. He was getting pushed around by this large dude that was built like a truck; Tyler didn't stand a chance. Even I felt conflicted about jumping in to help him.
But, being the type to help my friends, I quickly intervened before a punch was thrown. The gigantic dude – let's call him Bulldog – looked at me as if I'd just poked him between the eyes. He seemed heavily pissed. His face was red, he was sweating, and a low growl came from the back of his throat…it made me wonder what Tyler had said.
"Okay, okay, no need to punch him! What'd he even do?" I asked, trying to maintain the peace in the situation.
"Dude, I dunno, he's like on his man period or something." Tyler said from behind me. I glanced at him before looking forward at Bulldog.
"Well?"
"He's fucking annoying! Always talking, always making jokes that nobody understands. I'm sick of his ass." Bulldog growled back.
I responded in a flat, monotone voice. "…So, as opposed to doing the less psychopathic thing and uh…ASKING HIM TO LEAVE, you decided to punch him? Really dude? What the fuck is this, prison?"
Oh no, I shouldn't have done that. Right then and there, he threw a punch straight for my face. My luck wasn't enough to help me. He got me right in the eye before I was able to dodge. I stumbled back a few feet before regaining my balance. Jeez, this guy hit like a truck!
"Woah, you certainly lift," I commented as I felt my eye to see if it were swollen. And much to my dismay, it actually was black. That motherfucker.
And he was still coming. Like a berserker, he came towards me in a mad rage. Now, I didn't know anything about fighting except for attempting videogame moves on my friends when I was younger, so being in an actual fight was actually pretty difficult for me. There was more tension, and more pressure. I barely dodged the next punch, and that was probably only because of my "supernatural luck".
Students crowded around us, chanting "FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT" as I dodged the heavy hits of Bulldog. Said dodges made me look pathetic and weak, but it kept me from getting knocked out thankfully. He kept going and I kept dodging until I saw him pick up breath. That was my chance. I stepped back a little to get a running start, and then I left it all to fate. If my luck was supernatural, then I'd get at least a good hit on the chest.
I was amazed. I made it to him with the least difficulty. The kids on the sides were throwing pieces of paper and trash, but everything missed me. I would've slipped on a wrapper, but it conveniently slid across the floor as it was thrown. And now that I was right in front of Bulldog, I used the momentum of my run and aimed a punch straight at his torso…
…And it wasn't a good idea at all. First of all, the punch didn't do anything. It was a simple tap on his shoulder, even with the momentum. I guess that it only worked if there was a larger amount of momentum working against him. Second of all, he was about to hit back, but the security guards rushed in and blocked his attack, pulling us both back.
I didn't struggle, but Bulldog sure as hell did. He even threw off a few guards, but they only kept coming.
After the fight, Tyler, Bulldog – apparently his name was Calvin, and I sat in the main office. I was pretty badly beaten…well not really, but I had a pretty bad black eye as a result of it. Calvin had thankfully calmed down – he was one guy I wouldn't want to be alone in the office with. At least Tyler was there to talk to while I waited to be suspended for like…ten days or so.
He was only there because he was dragged into the situation. I was going to defend him with everything I had. Not only because he was my friend, but because he didn't deserve to get dragged into this for being bullied.
We were taken into the principal's office one at a time. First it was Calvin, then it was Tyler…and then it was finally me. When I went inside, the principal seemed to be pretty stressed, so I didn't make much fuss out of empathy and simply sat down in front of him.
The principal was an old guy. He was heavy set and black – very black, I might add. He had a gray mustache and his hair was salt and pepper colored. Wrinkles and stress lines were visible on his face; they were probably from the stress of running a school like…George Washington High. When I came in, he let out a relieved sigh. It was probably because he'd never seen me before since I wasn't the type of guy that'd get into fights like this.
"Look…" He began, his baritone voice ringing through the room like a soft-playing trombone. "Just…tell me what happened. That's all I want. I've gotten several different stories. I just want to see if it adds up."
I didn't waste any time and told him about how the fight started. Part of me was hoping he'd see it as a perfectly noble act and let Tyler and I go on account of that.
"So…you jumped in? Why didn't you just…just call one of the security guards? Son, they're all over the place. Mr. Johnson was there – he told me before you, Calvin and Tyler came in."
I huffed at the mention of Mr. Johnson. While all the other security guards actually did their jobs, he didn't give a fuck. He always told us to "suck it up" or to "solve the problem yourself".
"I'm perfectly aware of that, sir, but I…I didn't want this to turn into an office thing. I had no idea Calvin was going to throw a punch. I just wanted to help Tyler because he was my friend."
"Well now you're going to get suspended for ten days." The Principal replied. "Calvin too. Tyler is getting…considered."
"…Are you kidding me?" I was surprised at how exasperated I sounded. "You're going to suspend him for getting bullied? That isn't fair! Suspend me. Suspend Calvin. We're the ones that fought, okay? Tyler didn't do anything."
"He still didn't call a security guard. That makes him an accessory." The Principal replied in a calm voice.
"Accessory? He was getting bullied! I helped him! Maybe he didn't call a guard because students were crowding around him, Calvin and I." My voice was getting higher with my increasing anger.
"Calm down, son." The Principal replied. "It's the school rules."
"The school rules are BULLSHIT! Seriously, these are the rules we have to follow every day? We can get suspended for just not calling a security guard when we're involved in the fight? So what? You're going to suspend the kids that crowded around us too? Or is that too many people?"
The Principal let out a long, strung-out sigh. I could tell he was stressed now. I almost felt bad.
"What you're going to do…" He began. "Is get up, call your mother, and get out of the school. Come back in ten more days and start no more trouble, got it?"
I scoffed. "Got it. Mr. Fuller."
One thing I hated about the way my parents parented me was their method of discipline. My mother sent me on a guilt trip, and my father decided the punishment. Dealing with the guilt was enough, but the punishment was just overkill. That being said, my parents were very pissed at me when they bought me back home from my suspension. I told them that I was trying to defend Tyler, but their anger made them irrational.
"I don't care!" My mother began. "We have to work, Mason. We have to work hard to provide a roof over your head and food to eat. Doing that alone is hard enough, but now you get into trouble at school?"
"I didn't know Calvin would—"
"Shut up! Stop talking when I'm talking." My mother snapped. It's funny, because I was pretty sure she was done with her sentence.
"Well, you did ask me a question…" I mumbled.
"What was that?"
I simply shook my head. I didn't want her snapping at me again.
"Go upstairs to your room." My father began. "No TV, no computer, no anything. Study."
I simply sighed and nodded, walking up to my room and closing the door behind me. The only reason I didn't slam it was because I didn't want my mom yelling at me again. I simply plopped on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. I didn't study because I didn't have any important tests in the future..plus my classes were piss easy.
"What do I do now…" I huffed and sat up. I didn't want to fall asleep or anything. I then noticed that my room was filthy, so I cleaned everything up, putting the dirty clothes in the hamper and making my bed. Hopefully that'd cool down my parents.
But once I was done, I found myself bored again. I had that same urge…the urge to do something different. I reached for my remote and turned on the TV, putting my volume on very low until I heard my parents exit the door so they could go back to work. Then I turned it back up.
It was nothing exciting…which was pretty expected, seeing as how it was still early in the morning. Part of me wished I knew what to do. I simply forgot about it, letting my body drift into the tides of chance and flipped through the channels. Things always seemed to go well if I left everything up to chance.
Channels…channels…channels….Huh? I stopped at a channel that appeared to be a religious program. This guy was sitting in a chair in the back of a table, holding a bible in his hand. At the back of him, the British flag was spread across the wall, vibrant and proud. The man looked like one of those hardened vampire hunter dudes. His hair was short, white, and pulled back. He wore what seemed to be a black coat with a blue tie. His gloves were made out of leather, and he had on an eye patch. This guy looked too badass to be real!
"Ladies and gentlemen…" The man began, his Scottish accent cutting through the air like a knife. "I have come to America, from my Church of Saint George on an important matter. Witches."
The TV cut to a scene that looked like the medieval era. Tall men in white clothes and hoods appeared to be burning a girl in a black dress to the stake. The scene was disturbing – all of them chanted in Latin.
"Since the beginning of times, witches…freaks have been in our society, eating our food, sacrificing our children. Summoning evil things into this world…things that you do not want to come face-to-face with. They make infernal pacts with the devil…" The scene cut to what looked like on-camera footage in first person view. Three people were running from whoever was holding the camera. One guy waved his hand backwards, and the space between the guy holding the camera and him seemed to be increasing. I couldn't believe my eyes.
"They are inherently evil…and they can be anyone. Your son could be a witch. You could be a witch."
Uh…huh. I thought to myself.
"But fear not, my fellow man." The TV cut back to him as he stood upright. "Join us, and we will eradicate the threat of the witches."
The camera zoomed out, revealing a group of guys in the same uniform as him. Each of them were wearing a cross somewhere on their person.
"Join us, and we will ensure the safety of humanity. Join us….and we will fight for you, your children, and your children's children. Join the Knights of Saint George…today."
Lame. I thought, flipping the channel some more. These Knights of Saint George had to be some kind of religious nuts, hunting "witches". What was this? The middle ages?
I then stopped at the news. It was something I watched frequently so that I could learn what was going on.
"—Meanwhile, authorities have found a man at the sight of Westhaven, further bringing confusion to the Westhaven disappearances. Doctors say that this man appears to have some extreme physical deformity, and a very serious form of psychopathy." The camera cut to footage of a guy on a stretcher. I could see him very clearly…
It was the guy that was about to shoot me just the other night, the guy whose hand was blown up by his gun. He was a lot more beat up than I remembered…burn marks all over his body, cuts along his face, scratch marks all over his chest…he looked so beat up that it was a surprise that he was still conscious.
I zoned out from the news and thought about it for a second. This guy was beaten up…and he called me an Acanthus mage. I had a feeling that he knew what was going on. And since I didn't know where Alexandria was…he was my best bet to figuring out how my luck was "supernatural".
"…Edensberg Emergency Room…" I heard from the news channel, breaking me from thought. I knew where that place was…in fact, it was in walking distance. That was lucky for me, seeing as how my parents took the car when they drove off for work. I got up and got dressed, then I took my keys and set out for Edensberg Emergency Room.
When I say that there are, like, a thousand cops there, I mean there were about a thousand cops there. I weaved through all of them, getting to the front desk and meeting the nurse there with a smile. She smiled back…for a second, but her stressed face told me that she really needed a break.
"Hey, uh…this guy that was taken into the hospital recently? The Westhaven guy? Can you tell me what room he's in?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but who are you to him?" The nurse asked, typing into her computer presumably so that she could tell me what room he was in.
Quick, Mason, think of a lie…
"Uh…I'm a...relative! Yeah, I just came to see him."
"I'm sorry sir, but the police are currently questioning him." The nurse said as she stopped typing. I assumed that meant that she was done typing up the room number and location.
Shit. I thought. I had to think of something…say something at the right timing, perhaps. I then noticed that she was stressed and that it was almost one o'clock, presumably lunch time for her.
I suddenly realized that if I'm ever going to convince her to tell me, now was the time to say it. I didn't know what to say, or how to say it…no, I just knew that now was the time.
"Uh, ma'am, I apologize if I'm speaking out of turn, but…" I began, quickly thinking of something to at least get her away from the counter. "Just…isn't it lunch time for you? I know how stressful this thing can be – you're a gatekeeper in a way, right? Just…do this one favor for me. Please? Just tell me where my…cousin is, and I'll be on my way, and you'll be at lunch. Deal?"
I could basically see the gears turning in her head. She wanted to say no, but she seemed to be considering the pros and cons. Another feeling washed over me…now was the time to say something else.
"Just a glimpse. I want to see him, that's all. Alright?" I added onto my last sentence.
The nurse let out a tired sigh, glancing down to her monitor. "Paul Greenberg. Room 22B, second floor."
I smiled and nodded. "Thank you, ma'am. Also, how long will it be until the cops are done with their investigation?"
Just then, I heard the "ding" of the elevator. The metal doors opened, and I saw two officers and a guy in a suit and tie walk out.
"As a matter of fact," The nurse replied. "That's them. You're free to go."
The suspense was killing me as I went up in the elevator. My hands shook. I was afraid that I wouldn't like what the man told me. What did he call me? A mage? That was somebody that used magic…what if I were one of the witches that the priest dude on television was talking about?
No, Mason. I thought to myself. You're just being paranoid. All you have to do is go into the guy's hotel room, ask him a few questions, then get out. It's that simple.
Paul's room wasn't hard to find. It was just down the hall from the elevator, after all. When I walked in, Paul appeared to be in a full body cast. He was more beat up than I thought he was…his ugly face was even uglier now that it had scratches and scars. His hand was replaced with a hook, and his eyes were almost lifeless. I know I didn't do all of that…but whoever did beat him to an inch of his life.
"Paul…?" I called out, walking over to his bedside and sitting down. Paul turned his brown, bulgy eyes towards me, his irises burning with hate.
"If it isn't the Enchanter on the Path of Thistle…what, did they send you here to finish me off?" Paul spoke in a raspy, tired voice. It was like the pain had kept him up all night or something.
"I…don't know what you're talking about—"
"BULLSHIT!" Paul snapped. The heart monitor increased in beeps, and Paul groaned in slight pain.
"I don't! In fact…I came here to ask you about all of that. If it helps, I apologize for uh…the hand thing." I said, trying to keep a calm and low voice so the nurses didn't come in on account of the ruckus we were making.
Paul just chuckled. "Wow, kid…you really are a fool. You see a disgusting, accursed Scelestus like me…and you want to ask him questions? What if I were a mind mage, kid? I could take over your mind right now and force you to kill yourself."
I gulped. "I don't know what a mind mage is…nor do I know what a…Seelstus is—"
"Scelestus." Paul corrected me.
"Scelestus. Look…I just want to know what's going on." I said.
Paul was silent for a moment, but then he began speaking. "Looks like the Diamond Orders hadn't found you, then…well, you're a mage. A witch. A wizard. Whatever you want to call it, that's what you are."
"Okaaay…." I replied.
"And you in particular? You're lucky as hell. An Acanthus mage…an Enchanter on the Path of Thistle, Scion of the Watchtower of the Lunargent Thorn in the Realm of Arcadia, Kingdom of Enchantment and Abode of the Fae."
Okay…well, I certainly didn't understand a word he was saying. "Uh…huh?"
Paul chuckled darkly. "You don't understand…but you will soon. Sooner than you think…sooner than you hope. You may know my True Name…you may be able to finish me off easily, but we know where you live now. We have spies in the shadows…and we know exactly when your parents are coming back."
"Wait.." My voice now had a worried tone to it. "What about my parents? What do you mean, 'we'? What are you going to do?"
"As soon as you leave this room…they'll have been at your house. I gave my apprentices a lot of time, you see…after all, I changed the flow of time within this little room. A few minutes in here…two hours out there." Paul said, ignoring my question.
"Your apprentices? What? No...they're not going to do anything to my parents!" I stood up and began walking towards the door.
"Then hurry, young initiate!" Paul called out. "They might already. Be. There."
A shiver crawled up my spine as I left the door, noticing that things weren't the same as when I went in a few minutes ago. Different nurses were in their positions now, and there weren't nearly as many people in the waiting room now. I felt something in the pit of my stomach…a pain. It was fear.
I took off towards the elevator and went to the lobby, and then I ran out of the hospital all the way home.
I didn't talk, didn't think on my way back home. I simply ran and panted, not stopping even though I got tired. I ran into many people, but I kept going. Something that Paul said…it worried me to death. As I turned the corner to my house, I saw…
My house was on fire. Three guys around my age shot flames out of their fingertips, making the house slowly crumble at its foundations. In the front, there were two more guys behind…my parents. My mother and father's hands were tied behind their backs, and a gun was pointed at their heads. I could see my mother crying, and my father was helpless.
"MOM! DAD!" I called out, but it was too late.
BOOM!
My parents dropped on the ground, blood leaking out of their foreheads and the back of their heads. My house just about crumbled down. I was too far away…too late to stop them. I saw the guys smirk at each other then slide the car keys out of my father's pocket, unlocking his car and stealing it to get away from the scene. I then heard the sirens of the fire trucks and the police coming towards the scene. They were too late too.
Devastated and scared, I turned around and took off for Starbucks.
My eyes were apparently filled with tears, because people asked me what was wrong once I got into the café. I simply walked through them and sat down at a table in the far corner, not paying attention to anybody. Who would I be able to tell about this? I'd just witnessed three guys shooting fire out of their hands, and another two guys kill my parents. The most I'd get is "call the cops".
I saw Alexandria walk into the shop, apparently ready to work. Her adorable smile was wiped off of her face as soon as she saw me. She quickly sat next to me and patted my back, her blue-green eyes studying my disturbed expression.
"Mason…" She began. "What happened?"
I could tell her. She was the one that told me my luck was supernatural. Maybe she knew about this whole mage thing? Maybe she'd be able to tell me what a Scelestus was?
"These guys…" I began, sniffling in between just about every word. "They killed my parents…burned down my house with…w-with fire that came out of their hands."
Alexandria's worried expression turned into a grim one. A shadow passed over her face, but she didn't say anything. She simply took my hand, stood up, and pulled me towards the exit of the café.
"A-Alexandria? Where…where are we going?" I asked.
"Pentacle Academy." Alexandria replied. "We're going to the Free Council."
