A sliver of light pierced the darkness. It grew steadily. Shapes appeared before O'Bannon. Blurry at first. Slowly they began to take form.
He moved his head to the right. A vice clamped down on his skull. Grimacing, he observed a row of beds across from him, one of which was occupied.
Is this the infirmary? How the hell did he get here?
O'Bannon suddenly realized he was lying down. He pushed himself up, groaning as pain squeezed his head. He stared at the blankets covering him.
Closing his eyes, he scanned his memory. What had he just been doing? The last thing he remembered . . . crap, what was the last thing he remembered?"
"Finally, you're up."
A heavyset woman with curled gray hair spilling from her bonnet approached his bed.
"How are you feeling?" asked Gretchen Gillwick, the school nurse.
"Fine," O'Bannon grumbled. "No. I mean, my head hurts. How did I get here?"
"Isaac Pinder hit you on the head with a hockey stick. Isaac Pinder of all people." Nurse Gillwick put her puffy, wrinkly face in front of O'Bannon. "Mm. Your pupils are looking much better. You had a pretty severe concussion when they brought you in here. Took a while to heal. Head injuries are always tricky. Thank Merlin you were wearing a helmet. I wish the Quidditch players would follow your lead. It'd probably reduce my workload after every match."
O'Bannon tuned her out. Flashes of memory played in his mind. He pictured Isaac enraged, though couldn't make out what he was saying. Then . . . then a girl's scream. Then blackness.
Isaac Pinder hit me?
O'Bannon rubbed his head as Nurse Gillwick passed her wand over him. "How long was I out?"
"All day yesterday. It's Sunday morning."
"What!?" he blurted. That sent another spear of pain through his head.
"Calm down, Mister O'Bannon. You're still not one hundred percent. Probably by tomorrow you should be well enough to be released. In the meantime, I want you to get plenty of rest. You can read your get well cards while I get a servant elf to bring up your breakfast."
"Yeah. Thanks."
Nurse Gillwick headed off. O'Bannon rolled on his side and spotted several handmade cards on the nightstand. The first one he picked up was from Rosa, Jared and Artimus. Rosa. Didn't she yell at him before he blacked out?
Another card had the signatures of the returning players of the Blazenrowe hockey team . . . all of them except Marcel Dubuque. Headmistress Esmeralda even sent him a card, as did Miss Venatici, which put a huge smile on his face.
The last card had a row of smiling, yellow flowers waving at him. When O'Bannon opened it, more little yellow flowers formed the words GET WELL SOON.
His eyes fell to the writing at the bottom.
I hope you're feeling better. I'll be thinking of you.
Take care.
Rana.
O'Bannon swallowed. Rana Rollingsworth's beautiful face pushed past the hazy memories of the hockey tryouts. His heart beat faster.
You have got to ask this girl out.
He so wanted to bolt out of bed and dash back to Blazenrowe Hall to find Rana. But a healthy fear of Nurse Gillwick made him stay put. Gillwick was a pretty decent person . . . unless you didn't follow her instructions to the letter. Then . . . well, he'd rather pick a fight with a gang of Death Eaters than face her wrath.
He grunted and laid back on his pillow. O'Bannon glared at the ceiling, thinking of all the time friggin' Gregory Lancemore would have to put his moves on Rana while he was laid up here.
He continued to stew over the thought even as a servant elf brought him his breakfast tray. The little creature stood by his bed, waiting for his tip.
"Um, sorry, man. All my money's back in my room. Can I get you later?"
The elf sneered and dropped the tray on the floor. The goblet of water on it toppled over.
"Disrespect," the elf growled as he stalked off. "What do they teach children these days? Expecting us elves to work for free."
O'Bannon muttered curses under his breath as he leaned down to pick up the tray and whatever food did not spill onto the floor.
Damn, I miss the English house elves.
He was halfway done with his breakfast when Rosa, Jared and Artimus entered the infirmary.
"Hey, guys," O'Bannon said after he swallowed the last bit of his blueberry muffin.
"Welcome back to the land of consciousness," Jared grinned at him.
"How are you feeling?" Artimus asked.
"My head feels like a troll is stomping on it, but Nurse Gillwick thinks I should be totally fine by tomorrow. Say, did Isaac really bash me on the head with his stick?"
All three nodded.
"I'm so sorry, Jimmy." Rosa lowered her eyes. "When he picked up his stick I had no idea . . . and it happened so fast. I wish I could have stopped it."
"Quit blaming yourself, Rosa. He probably took everyone by surprise."
"You can say that, man," said Jared.
"So where is he?" O'Bannon tried to force a picture in his mind of his hands around Isaac's throat, but just couldn't. Isaac had always been friendly toward him . . . until yesterday.
"He's back home in Vermont." Artimus edged over to the nightstand. "Headmistress Esmeralda suspended him for two weeks. I heard she yelled at him for a good half-hour before his parents Floo in to take him home."
"And he's not the only one who got chucked out of here." Rosa sat on the edge of the bed. "Duncan Maloney got suspended for fighting, too."
"Duncan Maloney?" O'Bannon drew his head back in surprise. He couldn't believe the soft-spoken Muggle-born kid had been in a fight. "How did that happen?"
Jared answered. "You know how Merak Mather's been razzing him for years 'cause Maloney comes from a poor family? Well, apparently he'd had enough. Coldcocked Mather right in the middle of the Ardenturo Hall parlor. Broke his damn jaw. That's how he wound up here."
Jared nodded to the row across from them. O'Bannon gazed at the bed containing the infirmary's other occupant, who still slept. He had no idea that was Merak Mather.
"This is insane." Artimus shook his head. "I mean, sure all the upperclassmen here are stressed out and arguing with one another. But to start fighting . . .?"
"I know." Rosa looked over to him. "In all our time here I can't remember people being stressed out this bad."
"Yeah." O'Bannon rubbed his throbbing forehead. "Maybe Nurse Gillwick should start handing out chill pills."
A thoughtful look fell over Rosa's face. "Well, the Halloween Dance is coming up in a few weeks. Maybe that will help everyone unwind."
"Unless the whole school kills one another before then," Jared scoffed.
Rosa sneered at her cousin, then looked back at O'Bannon. "Speaking of the Halloween Dance, you oughta ask Rana to it."
"Yeah, and do it before she succumbs to Gregory Lancemore's irresistible charms." Jared gave Rosa a wry grin. "Just ask Rosa. She knows what that's like."
"Go suck a troll's butt." She glared at Jared.
O'Bannon's body tensed. Anger flooded his insides. He clearly saw Lancemore, smiling and laying all sorts of tacky pick-up lines on Rana . . . and Rana eating them up.
"Jimmy? Jimmy!"
His head snapped toward Rosa. "Huh?"
"Hey, you okay? You looked like you were spacing out."
"Oh. Oh no. I'm good. No, you're right. Soon as I'm outta here, I'm gonna ask Rana to the dance."
Rosa beamed and grasped O'Bannon's shoulder. "That's great. I think you guys will make a great couple."
"Sorry, but I'm going to have to break up this little party." Nurse Gillwick headed toward them. "You've seen him, you've talked to him, and you know he's alive and well. But Mister O'Bannon needs his rest, so I'm afraid you'll have to leave."
Rosa, Jared and Artimus all frowned, but they knew better than to argue with Nurse Gillwick, especially when she was in mother hen mode.
"See you later, Jimmy." Rosa gave him a friendly peck on the cheek.
"Yeah. Take care, Jimmy." Artimus shook his hand.
"Catch you later, bro." Jared tapped knuckles with O'Bannon. He then reached into his robes' inside pocket. "By the way, in case you get hungry laying here all day . . ."
Jared flipped O'Bannon a small box of candy.
"Thanks, man. You're awesome."
"I try." Jared backed away from the bed and pointed to the candy. "Enjoy."
The three left the infirmary.
O'Bannon smiled, looking at the box. Rosa's words floated through his pain-wracked head. How she couldn't remember upperclassmen being so stressed out during all their years at Salem.
He couldn't remember it either . . . unless that blow to the head scrambled his memory circuits.
I still can't believe Isaac hit me. Neither could he believe Duncan Maloney belted Merak Mather . . . not that he felt bad about Mather getting laid out. Hell, there'd been plenty of times in the past he wanted to belt the snob. But for Maloney to do it . . . O'Bannon had never seen the kid get angry, much less throw a punch at someone.
He groaned. His head hurt too much to come up with reasons for the anger and discontent that gripped Salem. Instead he settled back in bed and opened the candy box. He picked up a piece of toffee and popped it in his mouth. His eyes widened. This was really good.
As soon as he swallowed it he went for another piece. O'Bannon went to put it in his mouth when he suddenly stopped. His tongue felt funny, like something was pushing against it. He grimaced. His cheeks puffed up. He opened his mouth to call for Nurse Gillwick.
O'Bannon's tongue spilled from his mouth, four times its original size, and so very, very heavy.
"Uhhh . . . Uhhhhh!"
What the hell!?
He gasped when the realization struck him. He'd seen this sort of thing before, back in England.
He'd just eaten a Ton Tongue Toffee.
A small card jumped out of the box, hovered in front of O'Bannon, and opened up. He read the note inside.
Hey Jimmy,
You should have done a better job of disposing of that Surprising Snackbox. We copied down the mailing address for your friends Fred and George and ordered a box of Ton Tongue Toffees. They even threw in a box of Fainting Fancies for free for being their first overseas customers.
Enjoy your "just desserts," hee-hee.
Jared & Rosa
O'Bannon swatted the card out of the air. He had a litany of curses to spew about his "friends," but it instead came out as, "Uhhh-Uh Uh-Uh-Uh Uh-Uh!"
"For Merlin's Sake, Mister O'Bannon." Nurse Gillwick stomped toward him. "What are you carrying on ab . . ."
Her eyes widened at the sight of O'Bannon's enlarged tongue.
"What in the name of Bartholomew Blazenrowe happened to you?"
O'Bannon pointed to his tongue, then to the box. "Uh-Uh Uh-Uh Uh Uh-Uh! Uh Uh-Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh-Uh!"
"Oh, your friends gave you some prank candy, eh?" Gillwick folded her arms and grinned evilly. "Well, after what you did I can't say I blame them. I mean, turning poor Rosa into a human elephant."
"Uh Uh-Uhhhh!" O'Bannon flailed his arms.
"Oh, don't worry, Mister O'Bannon. I've seen all sorts of prank candies in my time. The effects will wear off in a few hours. Or in some cases, a day. Maybe this will teach you not to pull practical jokes on your best friends."
Without another word, Nurse Gillwick spun on her heel and proceeded back to her office.
"UHHHHHH!!!" O'Bannon dropped his head onto the pillow and slapped his hands over his face. How could he be so stupid to accept candy from Jared after getting him and Rosa with that Surprising Snackbox? And Fred and George! He couldn't believe they'd send Jared and Rosa Ton Tongue Toffees to give to . . . wait a minute. This was Fred and George Weasley. Of course they'd do something like that.
He spent the next five minutes plotting revenge on his four friends when he heard footsteps entering the infirmary. O'Bannon started to sit up.
"Jimmy. I heard you were awake and . . ."
He froze when he saw Rana Rollingsworth halt halfway to his bed.
Oh no. No, no no!
"Jimmy! Merlin's Beard, what happened to you?"
He wanted to say, "Jared gave me a box of Ton Tongue Toffees." Instead he pointed to the box and emitted unintelligible moans.
"Oh no." She shot him a sympathetic look. "After what Isaac did to you, someone gave you some joke candy?"
"Uh-Uhhh." O'Bannon nodded, wishing all sorts of nasty curses to befall Jared Diaz.
"You poor thing." Rana walked over to him and placed a gentle hand on O'Bannon's shoulder. He felt himself melt at her touch.
"I'm just glad you're all right. Despite . . . this." She stared at his huge tongue and made a face. "Everyone still can't believe Isaac hit you."
"Uh Uhhh."
"Did you like the card I sent you?"
"Uh-Uhh!" O'Bannon nodded enthusiastically.
"I'm glad. Oh look, I'll let you get some rest. I'll talk to you later when this thing wears off."
With a sweet smile, Rana backed away from the bed.
O'Bannon's heart fell. He wanted her to stay . . . all day. Damn Jared and Rosa. Damn Fred and George and their stupid toffees.
Rana started to turn.
Say it! Just take your time, and say, "Rana, will you go with me to the Halloween Dance."
"Uh-Uh. Uh Uhh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uhh-Uh-Uhhh Uhh."
Rana's face crinkled in a quizzical look. "I'm sorry, what?"
O'Bannon wanted to scream in frustration. Instead he drew a deep breath and said, "Uh Uhh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uhh-Uh-Uhhh Uhh?"
"I'm sorry, Jimmy. I just can't understand you. We can talk when you're better. Bye for now."
Rana left the infirmary.
O'Bannon pounded his mattress. When that did nothing to abate his anger he laid back down, glaring at the ceiling. He wondered if things at Salem could get any worse for him.
With my luck, they will.
TO BE CONTINUED