Book 1- Tainted

Chapter 19 : Invincible

Soon the sun was setting, and it was a site to behold. The sky was adorned with hues of orange, amber, red and touches of purple. I laid my head on Adrian's shoulder as we watched the sun dip into the horizon. 

      We embraced the serenity of the moment, basking in the beauty of it all. There was something so calming about the moment. I was at peace right next to my boyfriend. Adrian was my peace, my safety, my love, my happiness. He was what made me happy.

     After everything with Jack, I doubted I'd ever be happy again. But here I was. I'd never felt happier. There was something so hopeful about being around him. And as cliché as it sounded, my world was brighter with him.

       As beautiful as the moment was, it had to sadly come to an end. A few minutes later we trenched down the path back down to the lake, where we rolled back to the other side. 

       I held on tight to him as we sped down the road. Riding with him on his bike had become one of my favorite things to do. I loved how exhilarating it was, I loved the way it felt like soaring, I'd never felt freer. Soon the bike was absorbed by smoke and sent spiraling through space and time. We landed in Alon at the council's HQ. 

      I really didn't want the day to end, I was having way to much fun. But I couldn't dodge everything permanently. Today was great while it lasted.

    We walked up the marble steps, our footsteps resounding through the building. He walked me all the way to the training room. 

      "Thank you, for today," I learned in, placing my lips against his in a brief kiss, "I had fun."

       "Me too," he cupped my chin pulling me into another kiss. I undoubtedly loved kissing him. It kind of hurt to part from him but I had a magic lesson to get to. I stepped away from him, pulling the door open.

      "Bye," I gave him one last peck before I entered the room. 

       I found Scarlet seated on the floor with crossed legs, her arms placed on either knee and her eyes were closed as she meditated. I stood awkwardly by the door for a second before she slowly opened her eyes. She raised her right arm ushering me in. 

      "Hi Mark," she said, gesturing for me to take a seat. I sat across from her, mirroring her, my legs crossed and I straightened up. Like most of my sessions we started with meditation. Scarlet said that it was to help me clear my mind and find my focus. 

      "Okay, let's move on," Scarlet said about thirty minutes later. She got up, moving for the table in the far right corner. She came back with a bowl of feathers. She threw them in the air, and they landed all over the room. 

      "Magic is like an instinct, it's a part of you. A bodily function just like breathing. You need to feel it. Focus on your breathing as you picture raising the feathers." I closed my eyes, breathing in then out. I tried to do as I had done on the lake. I pictured the feathers raising. I had done magic before, unlocked my powers or whatever. Recreating it shouldn't be that hard. I really wanted it to work. Scarlet had been working really hard to teach me, I didn't want to disappoint her. I breathed in, breathed out as Adrian had told me and I focused.

      "Excellent," Scarlet said and I jerked my eyes open. Feathers floated around the room, creating quite a spectacle. This was really cool. I was really starting to like magic. And to think I was afraid of it. Yes magic could be destructive but it could also be really beautiful. I loved it when it was beautiful. The door creaked open breaking my concentration and the feathers fell. 

       "I hope I'm not interrupting," Abby said coming into the room. She walked towards us, coming to stand in front of us.

      "No, we're done for today," Scarlet said to Abby, getting to her feet. I followed suit before she turned to me, "Mark, I'm very impressed with your progress," She patted my back as a bashful smile teased my lips. 

       "I guessing things went well today," Abby said, nudging me with her elbow.

        "Yeah, I did magic," I said excitedly. 

        "That's great!" She hugged me just as excited, "I'm proud of you." 

        "Thanks," I said nervously rubbing the back of my neck. I wasn't used to such praise. 

       "Well, I think I should be going," Scarlet said taking a step away from us. 

       "Bye Scar, I'll see you tomorrow." I waved as she stopped in front of the door, smiling to us one last time.

       "Bye, Mark. See you later Abby." she said before walking out.

       In that exact moment I felt great. I had accomplished something I thought I wasn't capable of. I was about to give up on this whole magic thing. I thought they were wrong about me. I was glad they weren't. And I had one person to thank for this.  If it wasn't for Adrian I don't think I would have ever been able to access my magic. 

       "Where's Adrian?" I asked as soon as Scarlet left the room. 

       "He was called by the council," she said turning towards the door. 

      "Why? Is something wrong?" I scurried after her, picking up my stuff. 

       "I'm not sure, but it's probably nothing to worry about," she said, trying to reassure me, but I could see the uncertainty in her eyes. Something was going on. 

        "Shouldn't you be with him or something?" We walked down the marble stairs and out the gigantic wooden doors. 

         "They asked for him, alone," she explained and that made me more nervous. 

         "I don't like the sound of that," I exclaimed nervously biting my bottom lip. 

         "Me too, but it's okay. Adrian will fill us in later," she said taking my hand in hers before we disappeared from Alon, swirling like smoke through the universe. We reappeared in my bedroom. 

         "Okay, you're probably right," I dumped my bag on the floor, "hey, I was wondering if I could copy your notes from today." 

          "Sure," she said before reaching into her bag and pulling out her notebook, handing it to me. I settled on my bed as I copied down the notes. Abby occupied herself by going through my collection of books, stacked into the bookshelf. As she did so, she asked me about my day. I wrote down notes as I filled her in, describing everything. She gushed about how cute she thought Adrian and I were together. I blushed fiercely throughout it all.

        "Hey who's this?" she cut in when I got to the part about the picnic.

         "Who?" I lifted my head, turning to face her.

          "The guy in this picture with you," she handed me a picture of Jack and I. I forgot I still had it. I must have left it between the pages of a book. It was taken about three years ago. Jack was making a silly face and I had a goofy grin. We looked so happy. 

         "Jack. Um—he's an old friend," I said retuning the picture to her. 

         "You're not friends anymore?" I nodded and she set the picture on my bedside table "you look so close in the picture, what happened?" 

         "I ruined everything," I said, setting my pen down sitting up straight on the bed. 

         "How so?" She settled next to me. 

        "I came out to him. He was my best friend, there was no one I trusted more. He seemed cool with it at first, but then the next day people started staring at me, snickering and whispering behind my back. He told everyone, the whole school. I trusted him and he betrayed me. I was so angry, when I confronted him I ended up punching him. It wasn't my best moment. We got into this big fight and we ended up expelled. It was all my fault."

      "It wasn't your fault. It sounds like he deserved it," she put her hand on my knee "he wasn't a very good best friend."

       "I keep thinking, if I never told him, all that stuff wouldn't have happened. I got expelled, I got him expelled. If I kept my mouth shut we'd still be friends," I said battling the tears that threatened to fall.

       "Would you really want to be friends with someone like that. Look Mark, you trusted him with something important and he betrayed your trust without batting an eye lash. It wasn't your fault, he was to blame. He was a bad friend. You shouldn't feel guilty.

         "You deserve so much better. You need to believe that."

         I spent so much time blaming myself for the fight, I believed it was all my fault and that I deserved Jack's hatred. Maybe I'd been too harsh on myself. I needed to stop feeling guilty for a mistake he made. Abby was right, I deserved better. She was way better of a friend than he was. She cared and accepted me the way I was. 

        Jack hadn't been an awful friend, not completely, not at first. He'd been there for me for years when no one else was. He made me laugh, he was someone to talk to, he made me feel less lonely. And maybe that was it, maybe we'd been friends for so long because I was afraid of been alone. Whatever it was, it was over now. I was grateful to him for been my friend but he was my past now. Nothing but a memory now.

        "I believe it," I wrapped my arms around her, "thanks for being my friend."

        "Thanks for being mine," she said with a soft chuckle before pulling away, "you're amazing, you know that?" I just nodded, trying to fight the tears that threatened to fall.

        "I love you," I said pulling her into another hug.

        "Aw, I love you too," she said squeezing be tightly. The moment was interrupted by Abby's buzzing phone. She pulled it out of her back pocket.

       "I'm sorry, but I get home now, I'll see you tomorrow." she immediately said jumping to her feet after reading the message.

         "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," I hugged her goodbye before she varnished before my eyes in a pillar of smoke. I was never going to get used to that. 

         I walked over to the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. I started the shower and as the air billowed with steam, I stripped out off my clothes and tossed them into the clothing basket. I jumped into the shower and let the hot water spray over my body. I scrubbed off all the dirt that caked my body. Today had been a long and strangely perfect day. I got to spend it with my boyfriend. What could be better than that?

        And not to mention I had done magic for the very first time. That was exciting. I loved the feel of it, the way it coursed through my body. It was a spark of electricity but it didn't hurt, it was warm and sort of...pleasant. 

      I turned off the shower and reached for a towel. Wrapping it around my waist I walked up to the mirror. Using my hand I wiped off the steam. My hair was dripping wet and my skin was flushed from the hot water. I grabbed another towel ruffling it through my hair, before I returned to my room to get dressed. 

     I tugged a pair of grey sweatpants up my legs and pulled down a baggy t-shirt over my torso. I slipped into my blankets, making myself comfortable before I grabbed my phone off my bedside table. I slipped into Adrian's chat.

      Marcus : hi

      Marcus : how did it go with the council?

      I waited for a little while but there was no reply. I set my phone back on the table. I snuggled into my bed shutting my eyes. I was halfway to unconsciousness when I heard my phone buzz. 

       I scrambled for it, only to be disappointed when the message wasn't from Adrian.  My stomach dropped as I noticed the sender of the message. It was the unknown number.

      Unknown : They're coming