New chapter folks! This time its Rain-centric!
I thought it was time to dwell a little more on Rain's story with magic, and her own thoughts about Steven. Plus, it was interesting to have someone else describe the effect Steven cause on people. It made him seem even less (and more) human.
So anyway, i hope you guys like it!
(Also, sorry for any gramatical mistakes, i kinda rushed to finish this chapter)
As far as plans for the nights go, this one was not even on Rain's 'possible' list. Dragging her knocked out friends through the wet sand, dodging the rocks, checking their vitals and trying to wake them up, only to find out they were very much alive and very much out cold. She really didn't foresee this. Soledad had, however. If only she'd have half a mind to use her gift —or if Rain had have half a mind to guide her through it— they wouldn't be in this mess.
Not time to feeling bad now, girl, Rain told herself. They're all alive and well, so that was something. Soledad had her worried though. Her aura was small and translucent, almost ghost-like. It was a problem.
Her other problem was Steven, currently resting against a rock as big as a car, but that was roughly half of his size. From time to time Rain would feel him staring at her, boring holes in the back of her head with his gaze, only to look away when Rain turned her head. It was like being with a giant, 14 feet tall, pink-colored kid. But even worse than that was what Steven was doing to Rain's magical sense. There was this constant pain at the back of her head, and her body was shivering —and it wasn't because of the cold. Looking at him directly was out of the question; anything more than a two second glance and her eyes would itch and water. The giant horns poking from under his bean hat weren't reassuring either.
"Hey, can you ease up with the shining? You're gonna put the firefighters on alert," Rain said, giving her back to Steven and checking Soledad's eyes —nothing weird in her irises, thank God.
She heard a noise that felt like TV static in her brain.
"What was that?" she asked.
"I said I can't," said Steven, both incredible quiet and very loud at the same time. "I'm stuck like this… for now."
He sounded so weak Rain felt a hint of guilt. She tried to bury it by looking at Steven's tendrils-like aura spinning like a tornado, looking for something —someone— to clutch onto.
"Are they alright? Is there anything I can do?" he said, playing with his hands.
Didn't you do enough already? Thought Rain. "I don't know, you tell me. You did this."
She could feel Steven's aura shrinking painfully. Rain sighed. "You didn't fry their brains up, if that's what you're worried about." She sat on top of the patrol car (what was left of it), making a conscious effort to only look at Steven through the corner of her eyes. "Whatever you tried to do didn't harm us. Physically or mentally."
Steven flinched. He probably just realized that Rain have been on the other end of his trick too.
"Sorry for that," he said. "I didn't want to hurt anyone just… I wanted them to forget."
"You messed with our memories. Or tried too, at least. Luckily, my skulls too thick for your Jedi mind tricks," she said with a laugh, faking a bravado she wasn't feeling.
Truth is, a few seconds more and she would have given in. All of the creatures that had tried to temper with Rain's head over the year had found an iron wall, build with endless hours of meditation. But out of all of them, only Steven had managed to get through this barrier. He was on a whole different level. And Rain couldn't even see him from her position on the power stairs.
"What I don't get is, why bother with that?" Rain said with genuine curiosity. "If you didn't want to hurt us, why steal or memories? Full offense, but we've only been nice to you today."
Rain omitted the cold shoulder she'd given him when they had first meet. I mean, leaving that aside, they havebeen pretty welcoming.
"I know," Steven whined, rustling the wild mane of pink hair that popped from under his bean hat. "I wasn't thinking, alright? I began with the Sheriff and then I couldn't stop."
"Go on..."
From the corner of her eye, she caught Steven playing with her fingers like a lost child, talking with an adult. "I thought that if he could forget everything, then he wouldn't get mad at you," he said. Rain was taken back. "Soledad told me he hated you. I didn't want you guys to get in trouble because of my stupid mistakes."
Fighting against her self-preservation instincts, Rain turned her head towards Steven… No, he wasn't lying. Guilt, anger, confusion and fear were present in his aura. But there was no deception. Rain turned her head away and scrubbed the tears from her eyes.
"If that's true, why did you trash Lowe's car in the first place?"
Steven mumbled something.
"What?"
"I put the car in reverse!" Steven shouted, rumbling the air in front of him. Rain's ear buzzed painfully. "Sorry, sorry. What I mean is, when he stopped us, I just thought about escaping. So I tried to speed away but I guess I was just a little too drunk and I put the Dondai in reverse and… you see what happened."
"But why?" Rain pressed on. "Lowe is stupid. You could have weasel out of that with a smile, maybe a few bucks tops. Come on now, haven't you ever talked to a cop before?"
She was taken back when Steven shook his head no.
He might be big now but he's still a kid, shethought. When she had meet Steven, she had been initially scared. Someone with an aura so big couldn't be human. There was a whole list of creepy, possible dangerous creatures that looked human, until the moment came and dug their claws into you. After watching him closely for a while, she decided he was harmless. Or at least 'not dangerous to them at the time'. Now, she saw him from what he truly was. Maybe he was reaching adulthood, but he was still a kid. He spoke with amazement but was a nervous wreck, curious to see the world but ignorant. Smart, and very, very dumb too. Someone powerful, but so not ready to face a real-world situation like having a cop put a gun to your head.
Rain found herself smiling. No wonder he gets along with Soledad.
"Thanks for trying," said Rain, "But next time, just talk to him, alright?" She laughed. "Trust me; there are better ways to solve your problems than with magic."
Steven smiled weakly, and the light seemed to fade a bit from his body. Or maybe Rain was getting used to the shining. I any case, looking at him didn't hurt now.
"So it's true. You can do magic," said Steven with a gasp. "I thought there was something weird about your aura! Is that how you found me?"
Instead of answering, Rain whistled. The noise resonated in the barren river. A few seconds later, the crow flied down and posed itself over Rain's arm.
Steven rubbed his eyes, like this was the weirdest thing that have happened today. "That raven is…"
"It's a crow. And yep, he guided me to you," she said. "He came to the hostel, cawing like crazy, so I knew you guys were in trouble. I grabbed Peeps and we bumped into Lowe, driving like a bitch outta Hell, heading towards here." Rain shrugged. "I just made two plus two."
Steven eyes were fixed on the animal. He was even more confused than before. "But how?" he asked.
The crow began to caw, as in protest at Steven's disbelief. Rain checked her pants pocket and pulled a few bread crumbs. The crow cawed in satisfaction as he pecked the crumbs out of Rain's hand.
"He helps me around. He found people for me, overview the area for potential customers —or dangers. That kind of stuff," Rain explained." I paid him with bread crumbs and leftover fries, but he comes and goes and he pleases. He's not mine."
"Oh yeah, I have an animal like that back home," Steven said, and Rain was smart enough to not press him for questions.
Steven got very quiet; he had the face of someone making algebra in his head. "So you can do magic… and you got an animal friend…" he said, and his face glistened with childlike wonder. "You are a witch!
Rain did a double take. Oh, he didn't say that. "Woah, hold on there. Who said anything about me being a witch?"
"Well, for one you can do magic," Steven lifted a finger. "And you have a familiar raven."
"Crow," Rain corrected him. "And he's not my familiar. He's not even my pet. Damn, I don't even like this emo chicken."
"Why not? He seems nice," said Steven, missing the point by a mile. "And even if he weren't, you still can do magic."
"So can the people that live in Vegas, but you don't believe they are witches do you?" said Rain and caught Steven nodding along. He didn't believe that, did he?
Rain flapped her arm and the crow flew away, making insufferable noises. He perched himself on a not so far away tree, where he could get a line of sight of everything —from a safe distance.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snoop. I just have never met another human that can do magic," he said, scratching his arms. How he didn't hurt himself with those claws, it was beyond Rain. Perhaps his skin was hard as stone? It definitely looked like it…
Rain felt a lump began to form in her throat. She could make a list of things she would rather do than talk about the Craft with… whatever Steven was. But she didn't dare take the three bodies to the hospital, just in case they might wake up and suffer additional magical related effects. It wouldn't look good to have Soledad began spiting fire in the middle of the emergency ward. She also didn't dare leave Steven alone. She was scared of him. What's more, she was scared for him. He might look big and monstrous, but Rain could sense this form scared him more than it scared her. So there was nothing else to do than talk…
"I've got nothing on witches," said Rain, holding her nazar —the blue eye-stone amulet around her neck— between her fingers. "It's the people that call themselves witches I got a problem with. When I was a kid, there was this lady living in down my street. She could cure your headache, hex your ex-boyfriend, and give you a talisman against the evil eye for just $9,99. Anything that you needed. Everything for a price, of course, cause witches need to eat." Rain sighed as she looked at the blue eye inside its glass bead. "But these days any girl with a spice garden and bottle of by-the-dozen, store-bought 'crystals' think she can call herself a witch and… I don't know."
She hid the amulet under her shirt. Of course, she wasn't gonna mention that the witch-woman living on her street actually lived in her house. And was her mother. Steven had this quiet, nonjudgmental —even curious— look. Rain blushed.
"Anyway, I don't even do classical 'witch stuff'," Rain said. "I mostly deal with elemental and protection magic. Thunder strikes, protection sigils, stain-cleaning spells, that kind of stuff. It's more practical than you would believe. You already saw some of that. And I don't call myself a witch. Neither a wizard or mage or anything." She scoffed. "Don't get me wrong; everybody got story, and every folk can call themselves what they want. I just don't think putting myself in a box would do me any good."
Steven came out of his hazy state like he was shaken awake. "Oh yeah. I-I get that," he laughed dryly. "That's, like, a really big concept in my family."
And there it was again, the big question. There was no reason for Rain to ask. It wasn't her business. Hell, she has found, long ago, that caring too much and asking too many questions about folks —magical folks, specially— only lead to trouble. You would've to do some deep searching to find a user of the Craft that didn't have a sob story. And who has time for that much drama? Still, she was curious.
"And does everyone else in your family turn into Pink Hulk or is this just a 'you skill'?" she asked, tiptoeing the subject.
"Just me. Its, uh, it's a defense mechanism I think," said Steven, examining his own body. "I don't usually grow this much, tho. But hey, with my powers you never know what's gonna happen next."
He gave a laugh that was painful even to Rain. "What about getting into people's brains? That's new too?" she asked.
"It is, actually," Steven admitted. "Did I mention I'm very sorry."
"You did," Rain said. Steven's mood turned sour and that made Rain upset. As much as she hated it, was warming up to this strange boy. "I'm sorry too. You know, for throwing a fireball at ya. Don't get me wrong, you did try to destroy my memories and I can't allow that. But like I said, there're better ways to handle conflict than with magic." She pointed at herself. "Like right now, we're having a civil talk right now."
"Heh, yeah, I guess we are," Steven put both hands in front of him. "And don't worry. I totally deserved that burn to the face." His gaze went to the three sleeping bodies. "I just hope I didn't hurt them. That's the last I wanted, even with the Sheriff. Well, I did want to hurt him but-"
"So does everyone that meets Lowe," said Rain with a laugh. "But I don't think you did. I think his brains just processing the brainwash you did to him. And there isn't much to wash in Lowe's head, so he won't even notice the difference." She laughed a bit more and then calmed down. "And Peeps will be fine. You know even after months of living in the hostel, he's not the slightest attuned to magic? That boy have many talents, but the Craft isn't one of them."
A short telling silence felt over them. "And Soledad?" Steven asked with caution.
And with the same caution, Rain answered. "She is weird." She took a moment to think of the best way to explain what she meant. "Some folks are born with both the power and the natural skill, but if they're never exposed to the Craft, if they never know about or see anything of magical nature, they never develop the ability. Eventually, the magical part of their brains gets blocked. Like a clogged garden hose," she smiled at her own analogy. "But Soledad's weirdbecause she's not completely blocked from her magical self. She is sensible to magic… perhaps a little to much. I think that's why she got the worse out of your mental invasion."
Steven nodded slowly and Rain caught him muttering something like 'makes sense'. There obviously was more to this than what she was getting, judging by the anguished look Steven directed at Soledad. There was something between them. Not love, no. Dear God, Rain didn't even thought Soledad liked Steven for real. That girl is a hopelessly romantic; not two days go by when she doesn't catch Soledad at someone else's arm.
But Steven was different. Maybe it wasn't love, but there was this 'connection' between them. If it had been caused by Steven's powers, Soledad's hyper-sensibility to magic, or maybe simple hormonal chemistry, Rain didn't know. But she has felt it. Going by what she had said in the food truck, Soledad felt it too. And Steven —Rain was sure of it— felt it too.
"Meh, I shouldn't worry too much about Sol. She's strong, and I don't mean just about magic. The girls a tough cookie to crack. With her talent and some guidance, she could become a great Medium or —God forbid— a Witch." said Rain with over confidence. "Don't get me wrong, she can be obnoxious. And obsessive. And she talks too much to fast; half of the time I pretend to get what she says. And she can be a total bitch —although she is less of a bitch than when she first came to the hostel. But she's still very green, despite how powerful she is." Feeling specially wicked, Rain winked at Steven. "Maybe that's why she likes you."
Steven blushed profusely and looked away, with a tiny smile on his face.
Oh yeah. There is something there. Maybe not love… but something.
Then she did a double take, because Steven's light was fading away. His glow was getting dimmer at the same time his body was getting smaller. In a few seconds he'd returned to his original size.
Steven got up slowly, popping his bones. "Oh, thanks the Stars. You have no idea how stressful that is."
Yeah, it certainly looked like it. Steven struggled to get to the car, so Rain rushed to meet him in the middle. She held him by the shoulder to keep him on his feet. He looked for the worse. Heavy bags under his eyes, shifting his weight on each leg as if he were too heavy stood upright. All the color had flee from his face and he was as pale as a man on his deathbed —and shaking like one too. His clothes, completely stretched and shredded with holes, were the only trace behind of the giant he was.
Looking at him now got rid of all reserve Rain had felt towards him. He was still the man that try to erase her memories. Nothing will change that. But right now, he was just a kid. Nothing could change that either.
"Looks like that form of yours hurt," said Rain casually.
"A little," he said, in the same way one would say Mount Everest is 'a little high'.
Rain helped him to the car and he rested himself on the floor, next to Soledad and Peeps. Great, now that's another person I have to take care of, Rain thought with a inch of bile.
Just then, they heard the rustle of Lowe, moving in his sleep. It was the first movement any of them had showed since they passed out.
"Oh no, I think he's waking up!" Steven shouted, jumping to panic.
"Makes sense. Lowe's the one with the smallest brain, so obviously there was less there to reprogram," said Rain.
"Don't joke right now! This is serious," Steven protested. "What're we gonna do? I erased his memories but he's gonna have questions. Questions we'll have to answer!"
Rain tried to think with a cold head. It couldn't be hard to convince Lowe he had been in a crash accident; but how do they fit into it? And what about Soledad and Peeps? Rain used his meditation training to focus on the actual problem, leaving all earthly thoughts —and Steven's panicked ramblings— behind. After a few seconds, she knew what to do.
"Alright, hear me out. I think I've got a plan," she said.
"Really? I think I thought of something too," Steven added.
Rain wasn't in the mood for an argument. "OK… let's discuss our plans and pick up the best one."
And they did. They agreed both plans sucked.
But then they put their heads together and, in less than a minute, came up with a new, better plan.
TA DAH!
This has been one of my favorite chapters. Rain's very interesting to write about. She tries to be though, but she has a soft spot for lost teens (probably because she was one at some point).
Anyway, not much else to say except i hope you liked it. And dont forget to comment!
