"I hate you!" cried a small, familiar voice, echoing off the cave walls. Her fever was severe, Inazin was gone-and no one would tell her why-and Grendel had turned into a cat, and young Angela blamed it all on necromancy, and her grandfather's insistence on her learning the forbidden art. He had dreamt of a when necromancy would be seen as a force for good instead of evil; seven-year-old Angela dreamt of living among people and having friends her own age.

She rolled over, her blankets and pillow covered in sweat. The flu had taken hold of Angela with a vengeance, and she feared the same evil that made Inazin insane was taking over her as well. Her grandfather stood up stiffly, tossing another log onto the fire.

"I'm heading into town to find some medicine. I'll be back in a few days," he told Grendel before ducking through the cave's mouth.

"I hate you..." Angela groaned, her voice horse as she neared the edge of sleep. Awkwardly, Grendel lifted a wet towel from a bowl and placed it on Angela's forehead. She was prepared for another night's vigil over the sick girl.

There came a crashing sound. Wood groaning under some unknown weight. She was completely still in sleep. Concerned voices drifted from the outside as another crash sounded. Finally the barrier gave and men came spilling into the farm's modest house, and Angela shot up from her bed, breathing heavy.

"What the-"

"Are you okay Angela?" asked Hamilton as he waddled over to her bedside. Grendel and Vivi poked their heads up from under her quilt, groggy still themselves. Angela rubbed her eyes, thinking she's still dreaming.

"I'm fine. Why?"

Hamilton, Cain, Luke and Dale were all standing around her one-room house, wide eyed. Jin pushed his way to the front of the crowd and knelt bedside Angela, checking her pulse. She gave Grendel a questioning look, cocking an eyebrow. Subtly, Grendel shook her head: I have no idea what's going on.

She turned back to Jin, who now was pressing a cold stethoscope against her chest. "Sooo...what's the problem here boys?"

Hamilton pulled at his collar. "Well...I came by to see how things were going on the farm, and you were asleep, so I decided to come back later that evening. And you were still sleeping. When I came by the next morning you were still sleeping, and now, this evening I found you once again sawing logs. You hadn't moved a muscle and I...feared the worse."

"Yeah, whoever built your door knew exactly what they were doing," Cain rubbed his shoulder. "It's easier breaking into Fort Knox. I thought I'd have to have Luke and Dale here to disassemble the thing."

She peeked out the window next to her bed; the sky had taken on a purplish hue as dusk approached.

"I've been asleep for two days?" She knew she needed rest after necromancing, but this was ridiculous.

"She seems to be fine so far," Jin strapped on the blood pressure cuff and began pumping. "I suppose it could be anemia. I think you should stay at the clinic for a couple of days."

"What? No, no I'm fine, really! I don't feel sick at all." Her stomach gave a low growl. Everyone turned to look. "No, it's not what you think. I'm just hungry."

"Angela, I wouldn't recommend a hospital stay if I didn't feel it necessary. Please, just let us take you there, and you'll be home in no time."

"That's impossible, sorry. Who will take care of my pets?" She motioned toward Grendel and Vivi, the latter of which seemed to dislike being called a "pet".

"We'll bring them along." He packed away his blood pressure cuff into a small black leather bag and stood, giving Angela plenty of room to get up.

"Don't be a sis Angela! I'll even carry you there on my back." Luke gave his traditional gleaming smile and thumbs up.

"But I'm fine." She sensed none of them would leave until she agreed to come quietly, and with a sigh she stood up. Everyone encircled her, ready to catch her if she fainted. She rolled her eyes, grabbed an overnight bag from under her bed, and began stuffing them with clothes. Cain lovingly picked up Grendel and Vivi and waited by the door with the rest of them. And Luke insisted he keep up his end of the bargain and lifted Angela off her feet. It was the most humiliating moment of her life as the group escorted her through the still busy town of Harmonica. People stopped whatever they were doing to watch the spectacle, and Angela tried to hide her face. When they arrived at Choral Clinic, Anissa was preparing Angela's bed and tidied up a few things, laying out medicine, a basin, a bedside portable toilet and extra blankets. Worst of all, she laid out a hospital gown, the kind that tie in the back and never seem to stay closed.

"Hi there Angela. I'm glad to see you're awake." She smiled, moving out of Luke's way. He gently laid Angela on top of the bed coverings. Jin took his wife and grandmother aside and explained what he had planned for Angela: monitoring, EKG, blood tests, plenty of vitamin supplements, and a special diet high in iron. The women nodded and left to prepare.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Jin condescendingly asked. Cain placed the two small animals next to Angela's legs. Grendel leapt over to be near Angela's face while Vivi curled up into a ball and fell back asleep. "For tonight, I'll have you rest for the remainder of the night. Tomorrow we'll start testing you. I'd say you'll be out of here by Tuesday."

She thanked everyone for their concern as each filed down the stairs and out of the clinic. When they felt they were alone, Angela rolled over to face Grendel. "That was weird."

"Tell me about it. Talk about a wake-up call." She yawned and stretched, first her front legs then her back. "I believe ever since you had that nasty flu when you were seven you need to rest even more after a necromancy session. Especially now that you're older."

"Hey! I am not old!"

"Physically, no. But biologically..."

"I don't believe that either. Why else would magic users stop aging after they reach maturity just to have their constitution equal their actual age?"

"You grandfather certainly showed his age." She regretted uttering the worlds as soon as they slipped out of her mouth.

"Grandpa had to disguise his body's appearance as years went by because he lived among mortals for the majority of his life. You know back in those days they would have burned him at the stake if fifty years went by and he hadn't aged a day." Angela folded her arms defiantly.

That wasn't exactly what Grendel was getting at, but she remained silent. She thought back to that day over sixty years ago when Angela was seven and sick, laying on the floor of her cave with a fever like none Grendel or Angela's grandfather had ever witnessed. "I thought I heard you say 'I hate you' before everyone came crashing into your house. I may have dreamt of that, but I don't think so..."

"You probably were. You're a vivid dreamer." Angela stretched, suddenly feeling tired again. She felt that she wouldn't be able to sleep all through the night, but if she could nap to avoid telling Grendel about her dream, she was going to try. She curled herself up in her blankets and turned over, and within minutes she was fast asleep.

"Angela," Anissa was gently nudging the sleeping girl. "Angela, wake up, you have a visitor."

A visitor. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, rolling over to face the nurse. "Who?"

She stepped aside to reveal the wizard. Angela could tell he felt very out of place being in a public place, although the clinic was nearly deserted. Anissa pulled out a chair for him before leaving the room.

He sat. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, but what are you doing here?" Angela pulled the covers up more, hoping he couldn't see her childish yellow pajamas with the orange cat-face pattern.

"I was here to purchase some green tea when I overheard the doctor speaking about your condition with that woman." Anissa was the only girl who never came by and paid the wizard a visit to have her fortune read. He was grateful for that.

"Oh. I think they're overreacting. My EKG is fine, and so is my pulse and blood pressure, and I'm only a little low on iron. I hope to be back home by the morning."

"I feel responsible...you wouldn't have gotten into this mess if I hadn't asked you to use your necromancy powers." He looked sincerely apologetic, which tugged at Angela's heartstrings. She reached her hand out and took his. He felt like recoiling at first, but decided to stay put with his hand cradled in hers.

"It's not your fault Mr. Wizard. Really, don't fret over this."

"You don't have to call me 'Mr. Wizard'..."

"You never gave me your name. What should I call you?"

"It's...Wizard. Just call me that."

Angela was buying that as his real name, unless his parents were determined that he would become a wizard when he grew up. If that were the case nowadays, her grandpa would've insisted naming her "Necromancer". But she accepted it none the less. "Okay, Wizard."

He nodded, and made his way to the stairs, wishing her good health once more before leaving. She smiled. What a pleasant surprise! She curled back up under the covers and closed her eyes, thinking about the kind gesture the Wizard displayed.