Magic, Myth and Mysteries

Playthings of the Gods, Chapter Two - Sylvaine 8

Chapter 2

The Playthings

Luke, age 21

Luke has a terrible headache. He remembers nothing from last week, which is strange because he’s not the sort who drinks. He respects his body and his sport. There’s also that strange feeling that he has been somewhere else. The metal object resting on the wall across from his bed is unfamiliar, but he also feels like he owns it. There’s no urge to ask people if the object is theirs.

Their family’s not poor like some of his fellow athletes who play with desperation. He comes from a good family, with a mom who is a tenured professor at the university he goes to as a senior and a doctor grandfather. In fact, money seems to come so easily. His mom has inherited a large house, one that’s too big for just the two of them because his absentee father couldn’t care less. He’s also an only child. However, Luke believes he is destined to be the best at his sport, too.

He has always been a little bit different. Faster. Smarter. Stronger. With a height of six feet five, his speed also makes it easy to push himself through even bigger men to land his touchdowns. He barely has to try hard in academics, scoring straight As all around. It means that he’s been an object of envy, but his size and strength have somehow discouraged others from attacking him. Until that day.

A few months ago, a group of masked men dragged him from his dorm room. He didn’t have to live on campus because their family house was nearby but he wanted to experience a normal college life. He found himself in the trunk of a car, blindfolded and hogtied, and heard laughter. What hurt the most was that the laughter was too familiar. He knew who they were. They were young men who had claimed to be his friends.

The car stopped after what felt like about an hour. It was hard to tell. With the way he was positioned, he couldn’t check on his watch. They then pulled him out and threw him on the ground. They must be at Lotheil Forest from the feel and scent of his surroundings. He groaned, but was surprised that he didn’t feel that much pain. It was the same with sports. He got so many hits and bruises, but he barely felt them. His mom was concerned about it, but physical examinations proved that he was okay.

After the first kick, Luke’s body went into motion. It was an automatic response like what he sometimes felt during a game. With one swift movement, he was able to set himself free from the rope. It fell onto the ground in pieces. He might have roared in triumph as he did. It was a voice that was too loud and frightening to be his. As he took off his blindfold, he saw that his captors were shaking in fear. He didn’t have to do anything. They ran. After that, nobody ever tried to do anything to him again but he knew there were whispers. People treated him like a freak. He might have everything but he had no friends, except for her - Catalina.

**

Catalina, age 20

Darkness. It’s what Catalina wakes up to everyday. People expect her to be depressed and to mope around, but she doesn’t. She’s an orphan. Her grandmother is her only refuge, but they barely even speak the same language. Somehow, they understand each other and Catalina grows up blind but an astute reader of characters.

They aren’t rich, but they’re also not poor. Her grandmother has talked about some mysterious benefactor who’s been giving them money regularly.

“Must be father of yours,” her grandmother says in her broken English. She’s been getting better at it, with the blind girl teaching the old woman. “I don’t know he.”

Catalina’s mother died when she was only eight, but by then, she has already taught her daughter many things. She has even sent her to a school for the blind, where she learned Braille.

The day her mother died from cancer, she discovered she could heal. She was running around in the safety of their yard, trying to ignore the overwhelming feeling of everything disintegrating around her, when she felt something squeaking. She kneeled on the dried grass and moist soil and crawled toward the sound. It was a little bird. Her nose smelled the blood and her hands felt the broken bones in the delicate body, and she whimpered from distress. She had just lost her mother, but she didn’t want to lose the bird, too.

Catalina caressed the bird’s fur, even as it stilled. Her tears fell on its bloody fur, and after about a minute, its body started moving again. Its movement was like an extra pulse from her body, a life that was a part of her own. The two of them might be infinitesimal compared to the rest of the world, but at that moment, they were larger than the universe. An explosion.

The gasp that came from a few yards away confirmed that her grandmother had been watching. Soon, people came from all over to visit the blind girl who could heal. They wanted to be cured of their many ailments, unaware that the girl was mourning how she would have been able to cure her own mother but her knowledge of her abilities was too late. Her regrets haunted her throughout her life, and she suspected there was no escape from them.

“Are you well today, Catalina?” her grandmother asks. The old woman feels guilty about all the healing that she has to perform in their own home, but the girl herself likes it. It’s like being able to contribute something to a world where she feels helpless and useless in.

“I am, grandmother. I can heal if that’s what you want.”

“He’s here.”

She knows who it is. Luke. It’s Luke with the deep and kind voice. Every time he comes, she can feel his loneliness. He fancies himself to be in love with her, but she wonders if he is merely mistaking the comfort he feels with every visit for that. He must know that every time she takes his large hands in her smaller ones, she takes away his despair.

“I will come to him.”

Catalina walks down the steps with ease. Once reaching the landing, she turns to the left and moves toward Luke’s familiar scent. She doesn’t know what he exactly looks like but he has felt his face. He is a handsome man, but it’s his kindness that compels her to him. She thinks she is falling in love with him, but isn’t sure if he returns it. She thinks that she mustn’t touch any part of him today. Will he still come back even if she doesn’t take away his pain? She must know, once and for all.

“Is there anything wrong, Cata?”

“Nothing, Luke. I’m just tired. I’m so sorry if I’m going to keep my distance today.”

“No problem,” he says. Catalina can hear both the understanding and the disappointment in his voice. “Everyone deserves to have some space.”

“It’s not space I need. Just give me time.”

“I wish I can take you away from here and we can leave this town for good, but we have strong ties here. Don’t we?”

“Yes,” the blind girl agrees, thinking of her grandmother and his mother. She knows what he feels. They are freaks in this town, and the thought of starting a new is tempting. He’s strong enough to take care of me, and I can take away his loneliness one bit at a time.

“Beth is here,” her grandmother calls.

“Oh,” Catalina and Luke say in unison. They both like Beth, but they also like their time alone, just talking.

“Beth can join us,” Catalina says with a smile.

Beth is a lovely girl. Catalina knows that she’s just lonely like her and Luke. She’s the only one she can’t heal for some reason. They have tried a few times to get rid of Beth’s anger and sadness. She has even tried to heal a small cut on Beth’s finger, but to no avail. The younger girl says it’s because she has a love story with death.

**

Beth, age 18

People call her Beth, but she prefers Poison. It’s what she is. Her parents gave her away as soon as she was born. Rumors have it that she was born with a twin snake. Even her aunt says it’s true, crying in distress whenever she has to speak about it. So, it must be true.

Living an orphanage is never ideal, especially if you end up killing someone by accident.

One night, one of the male nurses tried to rape Beth, but she wouldn’t let him. She was only thirteen, but she knew there was some strength welling in her. She let it out, and he burned and became ashes right in front of her. Soon, he was just dirt the others had to sweep.

Beth’s hands can only offer death, and even her friend Catalina can’t help her. The two have become friends. Beth knows they are opposites in many ways. She’s death to Cata’s life, and she’s abrasive to the blind girl’s softness.

When she comes to visit Cata, she doesn’t expect Luke to be there. There’s no problem, really. From what she’s seen of the football player, she knows he’s one of the good ones.

It’s just that she knows it can’t be good for all three of them to be in the same room at the same time for long. It may mean death.