Chapter Twenty
1201 Words
The first time I went to a hospital was when I was nine years old. My father had twisted and broken my arm during one of his raged outbursts. I recall the pinched look on one nurse’s face when I began rambling about how clumsy I was and how my athlete skills bordered dangerously against none. Neither the nurse nor the doctor gobbled up my story and for a minute I had felt a glimpse of hope. I had even dared to imagine the possibility of me being swooped away to an orphanage or the streets or even a crime mob. All that wishful thinking turned into a poodle of goo when I left the hospital with a casted arm and my father bellowing in my ear. If I recall correctly, he was complaining about how bad my acting skills had been and how he was short fifty dollars because I couldn’t convince those “darned medical staff” that I had been in a “normal” accident. I recall learning something new about humans that day; everyone has a price.
She looked fragile. The sun shone against her pale skin outlining her small, petite figure. Her face was etched with profound sadness; she had this lost puppy look that summoned feelings of empathy from the inner parts of my being. I felt inclined to help her, as if falling to do so would cause her to slip away and for some mystical reason, I couldn’t let this happen.
She was the reason for my abduction, she was an actual witch.
I was still recovering from the incident that had occurred. I had flung the window open, I had spotted bizarre creatures walking around while some flew around. A voice had startled me, I had wound up toppling over the railing and while I was plummeting to my death, I had miraculously began floating midair. Naturally I had passed out; all this was overwhelming.
“Listen to me Nina, she might look harmless but she is in fact the strongest of us all-“
“Don’t listen to this buffoon Nina, she is the sweetest mage to ever live, circumstances change this side of her-“
“Shut up Guzman we both know sweet isn’t exactly the word used to describe our leader-“
“Tamara does nothing but protect and love her kind-“
“That is just the problem Guzman! She feels too much!”
I watched as Guzman opened and closed his mouth successively. Rupert had won this eerie argument. I couldn’t help the curiosity that was warming the pits of my stomach just as I couldn’t help the blush that was swiftly creeping on my cheek; Rupert kept glancing at me and it was unnerving.
“How is she even meant to help? She is a mere human! What we should do is track down a healer and bring them here…”
“You speak as if locating a healer much less bringing them here is an easy task. Have you forgotten how vile those creatures can be?”
Wait, weren’t healers just like doctors? Weren’t they called upon by unseen forces to use their talents to provide succor to anyone who needs it?
“They are ominous creatures always bargaining their gifts for something impossible to obtain or at most times give…”
My eyes widened a fraction, could Rupert read minds as well as make things move? Telepathy and telekinesis, maybe he also had the ability to teleport!
“No love, you simply have an easy face to read…”
I couldn’t help the pronounced pout on my lips. So much for trading my gifts with a gorgeous, jaw dropping ticket back home. Rupert was everything a girl could ever want; powerful, mysterious and raggedly handsome. He carried himself with a palpable confidence and when he looked at you, everything else faded into the background.
“So can you do it?”
Oh no, I hadn’t heard a word!
Good going Nina.
“Pardon please…”
A snort escaped Guzman's large nostrils. I spotted ambers floating near their mouths.
“She has been through quite an ordeal so I wouldn’t be quick to judge her Guzman…”
“But she is human Rupert! Her kind is the reason as to why we are locked in this realm. Her kind is the reason why we are confined to the Ninth Order in the first place…Without the need to protect our kind, we would be roaming the earth unbound-“
“Enough!”
The three of us whipped around to find a heaving Tamara. Her eyes were glazed with a quailing unruliness and her skin had morphed into a paler hue, the ghastly type. I felt Rupert go rigid beside me, he was scared of her. Guzman, on the other hand, did not seem fazed by Tamara in the slightest. He sauntered slowly towards her with his burly arms lifted as if communicating wordlessly with her. For some reason I held my breath.
“Tamara we are here to help okay? Your brother needs help and the young girl can help her…”
Yes, I had almost forgotten.
Barry was Tamara’s brother.
But how was that possible? Chi clearly despised magic. Luke persecuted sorcerers. If Barry and him were also magical…
“She came to her powers, she had a choice and she chose to be a mage.”
Rupert was staring intently at me. Once again my cheeks flushed crimson.
“How did you know…”
“I thought we established that your face is an easy read love.”
I opened and closed my mouth incessantly. Rupert seemed to have that effect on everyone.
“I do not understand, chose?”
“No time to explain love, that bastard has actually managed to calm her down. Come on, let’s see how dire this situation is…”
Rupert led me towards Tamara who had shrunk back to her timid nature. I caught a glimpse of her tiny hand safely entwined in Guzman’s large hand. Wasn’t Tamara married? Or was the whole concept different when it came to magical creatures?
“He is in here…I must warn you, whatever you will see might scar you for eternity…My brother is in a rather grotesque state…”
I bobbed my head swallowing back the metallic taste that was swiftly forming at the back of my throat. My heartbeat rose dramatically as blood began pounding in my ear. Rupert held me back when he noticed my reluctance to twist the doorknob open. Moving past me, he completed the action on my behalf. For the second time today, he went rigid. Gingerly moving him aside, I inched into the room to take a look at my next patient. The alcohol in my stomach began churning and before I could make sense of what was happening, I had bent over and began hurling.
- Writer
