Chapter 6.
I don't know how long I hug him for but eventually it registers that other people are here with me. At the same time Danahi realises it too.
"Who's this?" he asks. Just then my parents stand up with max beside them. The moment that they stand up and their faces fully come into shape, Danahi freezes.
"Danahi?" my father asks. He stares at Danahi with complete wonder, like he's looking at a unicorn or something. "Is that really you?"
"Wait, what? You know Danahi?" I turn to my father, "You know my dad?" I turn back to Danahi.
Danahi still hasn't spoken and he swallows.
"Oh my god, I haven't seen you in years." My father says. What in the world is going on? My mother looks as dumbfounded as I do.
"Your, um, dad, father, he, uh" Danahi stammers.
"I found Danahi years ago. His parents had just died and I moved him to a new place, to a new family. I haven't seen you since" my dad's voice is filled with wonder. Danahi's face goes white but to my complete surprise he strides over to my father and embraces him. Well, how about that for a development.
"Wait, isn't this Dave?" Max asks. Whoops. Forgot to tell him about that one. Danahi and my dad stop hugging and his face returns to his usual sarcastic self.
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you. His name is Danahi and he's my cousin." I say to Max, deadpan. Max stares back at me stupidly while Danahi walks over to him and circles.
"Wow, Ve, you certainly did a number on him didn't you. Nice job though." He says and them pauses for a moment. "Wait, how did you do this? The spell was in the book and you don't have it?" he questions me.
"Photographic memory I guess. I changed him after I ran from school, I needed a bit of backup I suppose." I register then that he knows I don't have the book. "How did you know I don't have the book?
"'Cause I do." He says evenly.
"How did you get the book? I thought you died!" I almost yell at him.
"Well, when I was in your room I found the book, had a bit of a lookey and by that time I had figured out the guardians knew about you and the book. I didn't think I had enough time to wait for you so I wrote a note and I thought about leaving the book but I remembered that you had unsealed it. Which meant if the guardians got their hands on it they would have complete access to everything. So I looked through it and found the spell that was used to seal it in the first place and re done it, I guess. I sealed it and left, hoping you would be there before the guardians took it but if you weren't, I had to take precautions. And I ran."
"And you never thought to come find me?"
"I didn't have time Ve, I had to get out. You of all people should understand that." He looked at me sincerely. I did. I couldn't hold that against him, I would have ran too.
"Well, I'm glad your back." I hesitate for a moment. "I missed you." I smile at Danahi and he just smirks back.
I turn to look at my parents. Dad just looks like he was listening to the conversation, mum looks confused and Max just looks like he's in another world. 'Having fun in my mind?' I think and I can't help but smile. My mood seems to have lifted a bit since Danahi came back. Maxs head whips around and he looked at me and I smirk at him. 'Calm down I'm not going mad at you. Yet.' At that max smiles back at me.
Before I have a chance to say anything else, my vision changes. It dims and blurs and coloured spots dance around me. I only hear a whisper of Max saying my name but I can't focus on anyone. Someone else is here.
Louella stands in front of me, staring, with a white robe surrounding her but it's not all white. Burn and singe marks cover half of the arms and chest, blooding spilling out of open wounds covering her hands. She looks desperately to me. Vaguely I'm aware of someone touching and pulling me, but I can't move. Louella takes steps in front of me and holds out her hand.
"You have to do it," her voice is barely a whisper, almost inaudible, "You're the only one that can help us"
I try to reply but nothing comes out. Her eyes bore into me and the rest of the world around us pitches and rolls. I suddenly feel very, very tired and sad. Really sad. I don't know why. I should be happy. Someone is back. Who is back? I can't remember. All I know is Louella is standing in front of me.
"You have to help us." Her voice is still faint and another person comes into view. A child, an infant walks up beside her. She has dark, almost black hair that sits just below her shoulders. She wears a white robe, but unlike Louella she is completely unharmed, uninjured. Her bright green eyes sparkle with knowledge.
"I don't know how to help you" I manage to whisper out. Sadness still envelops me and it's almost hard to breathe. Shouldn't there be other people with me? Someone else was here before.
"You have to get it back." Louella and the girl say in unison and before I have time to process it, a searing pain rushes through me. I burning sensation swirls up my arms and through my chest. My legs give out and I crumple to the ground, screaming in pain. I can feel someone touching me, trying to get me to stand up but I can't process anything. All I know is this pain.
A sharp stab in my chest takes me by surprise and I scream again. My arms and legs are searing in pain, it feels like the skin is being ripped off. I scream and scream again, clutching my chest, trying to make the pain stop.
All at once, everything stops. The pain, my blurry vision. Everything goes away. I stop screaming but I don't have the energy to do anything else. My breathing is harsh and my head swims with black spots. I'm going to pass out. I can hear whispers around me.
"What was that?" a person asks.
"The visions." A man's voice comes through. Who are these people? He's says something I can't make out but then his voice rises. "She showed her what it was like when she died. She gave her the pain. We have to get her back to the hotel." Then someone picks me up, cradling me as my mind sways with unconsciousness. I'm completely exhausted so I can't protest.
Light spills through my room and invades the darkness of sleep I was enjoying.
"I don't know, I can't really remember. I know there was a woman and she was talking and then a girl showed up and then pain. That's it. I can't remember anything else." People are talking around me, waking me from my sleep. Maxs exasperated voice comes through and there's a grumble of replies.
My eyes flutter open and I can see me mothers form sitting beside me.
"What are you guys talking about?" I whisper. Mum quickly turns to me and hugs me. The others coming towards me as well.
"Oh Ve, are you okay? You had me worried." Mum whispers, I can tell she's on the verge of crying.
"I'm fine mum," I tell her. I sit up and register Danahi and Dad sitting on the end of the bed at my feet and max standing across from the bed, looking at me with concern. "What happened?" I can hardly remember anything, my mind still hazy with sleep.
"You passed out. We don't know what happened but you froze and then started screaming and then we brought you back here." Mum presses a cold washer to my forehead and it wakes me up a bit more. Slowly the memories come back. Danahi, the hallucination, the pain. I feel panic rise up in me for no apparent reason. I can still feel remnants of the pain left over, leaving my chest aching and my arms sore. Before I can do anything Max rushes to my side.
"Hey, hey you're okay, it's gone. It's over. You don't need to worry about it anymore." I remember that Max would have seen it all too, would have gone through it all. I shake my head at him.
"It's only going to get worse. It won't stop. I can't make it stop." I ramble on and Max hugs me in an attempt to comfort me.
"I think you need some more sleep." He tells me, looking at me with complete knowledge of what I'm feeling. I'm still exhausted and I can tell my mind would rather go back to the black pit of unconsciousness where I don't have to worry about a thing. Max gives me a small smile. Maybe having a connection with Max might not be as bad as I think. But I can't sleep. I have things to do, I need to plan for another attack, and I need to talk to Danahi.
"Hey, I can do all that" Max starts, "I can sort it all out and I'll tell you everything once you've got a bit more rest, you're not going to be any use to any plan or conversation if your slurring your words and falling asleep." He looks at me sincerely.
"Max is right," Danahi says, "You need sleep, I can fill him in on the book and everything in between and he can tell me what else has been happening." Mum and dad both nod in unison, clearly agreeing with Max and Danahi.
I sink down under the covers and my mind is already drifting, though with the slight consciousness I have left, I can barely make out the slight conversation.
"I don't know, something isn't right" I hear someone say, I can't tell who it is.
"It was different this time, it hurt her and not in a physical way, like it's taking its toll on her mind." Someone else replies. I can feel the black pit of sleep pulling me under, but I'm curious.
"She forgot everyone…" the rest of the sentence slips past me. Everyone is barely a whisper now. There's more conversation and I hear an intake of breaths which pikes my interest and I try one last time to hear anything.
"Her mind is deteriorating. The magic is essentially killing her."
And then everything is black.