Chapter Ten

To say Marx woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed would be a lie. Not only does he not have a tail, but he was exhausted and moody when he finally woke up. He hadn't been able to sleep all night, due to visions haunting him. Memories of the clock tower incident.

But, nevertheless, he forced himself out of bed. He had some reading to do.

So, after getting dressed, he dragged himself to breakfast, where he once again forced himself to only eat food which didn't require cutlery in order to prevent any accidents. After that, he headed over to the library.

You see, it was a Monday morning. On all the weekdays, the orphans were given an opportunity to do many things. They could sit in the library and read books that interested them, supervised by Lady Drawcia. They were encouraged to read non-fiction books, or substantially sized novels. Marx greatly enjoyed doing this. Then again, he was also the only one do it during break times and on the weekend as well.

The orphans could also help the chef in the kitchen, and assist in cooking lunch or dinner for everybody, or they could help Drawcia's sisters in doing work around the place.

I never mentioned that, did I? The fact that Drawcia has two sisters who helped her run the orphanage. Well, you didn't think that Drawcia ran it by herself, did you? Of course not. She had many people that she had hired as staff members, and her two younger sisters -Claycia and Paintcia- worked as the maid and nurse respectively.

Marx never really talked to Paintcia or Claycia. Whenever he was hurt, Drawcia would look after him, so he never went to the infirmary, and he never bumped into Claycia on her rounds. As far as he was concerned, Drawcia was the only important staff member. He didn't even know anybody else's name.

Marx sat himself down in a beanbag chair, making himself comfortable. It was a bright yellow one, and sat in the very corner of the room, away from the window. He had a certain soft spot for that particular chair. So much so, that all the other kids who usually stayed at the library knew it was his chair, and usually made sure that any newcomers didn't sit in it. Of course, this usually involved scaring them away with rumours, but... Marx didn't know that.

He opened up his newfound copy of The Book of Magic to its first page, going straight to reading it. He planned to read the whole thing from cover to cover, marking pages of interest by folding the corners. He could go back to them later.

It would take a while to read it, he knew, but that was probably a good thing. After all, he couldn't exactly kill anybody when he was reading a book, could he? No. That was ridiculous.

...It was ridiculous, right?

He looked up from his book, looking around. Nobody was nearby. He sighed. It was okay. Nobody was nearby. He couldn't hurt anybody if nobody was nearby.

He had to stop being so paranoid, he thought to himself. It was exactly what Bear wanted. Marx had read multiple books about the power of the mind, and had learnt that many psychologists thought that if you thought about something enough, it would eventually become true. Bear wanted him to think that he was cursed; that he was a killer. So, he had to think the opposite. And he knew that this book in his hands would likely give him the answers, and help him do just that.

And so, he returned to his reading.

Chapter One; an introduction to the History of Magic...

Time passed very quickly. Before he knew it, an hour had passed, and the other kids began walking out of the library, to go outside and play before lunch was ready. Marx, however, stayed in that room, engrossed in his book.

The book was proving to be very informative. He learnt that the things Bear had said were true. People with certain coloured hair, certain coloured eyes, people with sharp fangs or other animal features, and especially left-handed people were prone to having the potential for dark magic, but it was not always the case. Though he did have all the right criteria, there was a small possibility he didn't have that magic in him.

He also learnt some valuable information; although it was true that people with light magic brought good luck and those with dark magic brought bad luck, magic potential didn't show itself on its own until a certain age. Unless he had training, like Grill did, his magic wouldn't start having effect on its own until he was about fifteen. He still had three years until that happened.

...Of course, there was that small passage about the possibility of the powers emerging early, but the chance of that happening was so rare, Marx decided to ignore that. It wasn't a credible source. It was only a theory.

"...Marx?"

At hearing his name, he snapped out of his thoughts, jumping slightly. He looked up from his book, his gaze locking with the person's golden eyes immediately.

Drawcia had kneeled down in front of him, her eyes holding a small giggle. She gently tapped the book with a finger. "You find this interesting?"

Marx nodded, the edges of his mouth twitching a bit. "Mhm. Well, at least, most of it."

"Ah..." Drawcia shifted so she was sitting, cross-legged. "Would you like to learn how to use magic, dear?"

"No," Marx said, perhaps a little too fast. He took a moment to regain himself, and then replied again, "N-no, thank you."

"Fair enough." Drawcia nodded. "Perhaps you are not ready just yet. I won't rush you."

Marx couldn't help but frown a bit. The way Drawcia had said that made it seem like she expected him to learn magic. He could credit Bear for doing his homework on the topic of magic just to terrorise him, but the fact that what he said about Lady Drawcia appeared to be true too... It made him have a bad feeling about the entire thing.

Drawcia couldn't be purposely collecting people with magic, right? It must just be a coincidence. Only, everything was beginning to be a coincidence, and it was beginning to worry him.

He heard Drawcia sighing slightly. His gaze drifted back to her.

"Marx," She breathed, "Look outside."

Marx did as he was told, glancing towards the window.

"It's a beautiful day outside," Drawcia mumbled, her voice quiet and thoughtful, "The birds are singing, and all the flowers are in bloom... Kids like you should be out there playing, Marx. Not locked up inside. When was the last time you went out...?"

Marx stared out the window at the blue sky, deep in thought. When was the last time he had been outside...?

"...Aside from when I fell into the bramble bush yesterday?"

Drawcia snorted in laughter, making Marx look back at her with a slightly sheepish grin, fangs showing. His eyes were all squinty; happy. It was always nice to be with Drawcia. She always made him laugh when nobody else could.

"Darling," She put a hand on his shoulder, her voice still giggly with laughter. "Go out there. Take your book. Find a tree to read under while you breathe in the fresh air. I promise, you won't regret it. Things haven't been the best this week, but they say sunshine helps people be happy, you know? And I want to see you being happy."

Marx hesitated a bit, though his smile still tugged at his cheeks. "...I'll do it for you, Lady Drawcia."

"Thank you." She got up, gently pulling him close and planting a kiss on his forehead. "And have fun, alright?"

Marx nodded, and when Drawcia extended a hand to him, he took it, standing. No other word needed to be said, and she departed with a smile on her lips and a laugh in the air.

Marx exhaled, glancing back towards the window. Everything would be fine. He had disproved Bear's words, and he had nothing to be worried about. He would take Drawcia's advice, go outside. Clarissa's death was far behind him now.

Today was going to be a good day.