Jewel: The Beginning

CHAPTER 9: Rushing toward her Death

I was being woken up all of a sudden by a rushed whisper calling my name. I couldn’t comprehend who was calling my name. I could only tell that my pillow was missing, I was laying on something hard, and a light breeze was rushing by and rustling the leaves. That’s when it hit me. I opened my eyes and saw that the sun was lower than before. I immediately sprang up into a sitting position. I look to the right and see Brayden sitting too, eyes alert. I reach inside my hoodie for my cell phone. It was 6:50 pm. Oh crap.

“Brayden,” I said rushed, “We need to go now. We’ll be late.” I spring up, putting the phone away. I get off the blanket and grab Brayden’s box, and open it for him to put the blanket in. He gets up, and the blanket magically folds up and stuffs itself up in the box. I close the box, locking it up; we grab each other’s hand and race back to the motorcycle. I put the box on the back of the bike and grab my leather jacket and start putting it on as he asks, “Jewel, do you want to ride the bike back?” That was a stupid question. “Brayden,” I say, “I do, but there isn’t enough time!”

“Babe,” he explains, “I can transport us there, closer to the house so we can make it on time, but still ride some. But in all honesty, we should just transport to the house and ride later.” I nod, agreeing with him. He gets on the bike and pats for me to get on; apparently, we both had the same thought: we can’t afford to be late, even if it affects my safety. We didn’t even put the helmets on. “Jewel, we’re gonna ride to an alleyway,” explaining what’s going on as I get on the bike, holding him, “hold onto me real tight so you don’t slip out. We’ll get about a block away from the neighborhood.”

I got closer to him and wrapped my arms tighter to show that I understood. He starts driving away, turning into an alleyway close to the park, and gets about a third of the way through the alley when it happens. It felt like we were being sucked into a tiny tube, pressure on all sides, not to mention the blinding light, all giving me a headache. Before I could even try to choke out a cry of pain, it stopped. We were on the edge of an alleyway near my neighborhood. We drove to next to my house, where it was parked this morning.

We get off and grab each other’s hands. We walk slowly to the door. We reach the door, and it suddenly opens when I was reaching for the handle. Robert was standing there, a blank look on his face, but frightened too, if that were possible, rushing a whisper, “Get in quick, and be quiet.” There was a fright in his voice. I didn’t know much about Robert, but I could tell that he was being serious, and he sounded scared too. He moved out of the way, and we race in, and he shuts the door behind us. We got into the living room, that’s when we could especially tell something was wrong. I heard a raspy breath, like it was choking, coming from the couch. We walk to the couch, and I see the most horrifying thing.

“Irie,” I cry. I let go of Brayden’s hand and fall down, kneeling next to her head. She looked like she was on her deathbed. Her face was blue, which was frightening in itself, but not to mention that she was all cut up looking to, on her face, her hands, and her shirt was torn up too. I turn to Robert to ask what happened. I held back a gasp. I couldn’t ask. From the darkness in the doorway, I couldn’t see him that much. In the light, I really saw him. He was all cut up, scarred and burned too, and his shirt was barely hanging on, being so shredded, his pants were burned and torn too. It was frightening. I choked at the words I was going to say. Brayden managed to speak, but when I looked at him as he spoke, I only saw torment, “Dude, what happened?”

That’s when everyone else walked in; Abbey and the twins with red eyes from crying, and Glenn looked like he was dead. Somehow, though, he still had the same tortured look he did when we all found out what happened to my parents. Glenn answered Brayden’s question, “We were outside on a walk, all of us. And then we were attacked. Luckily, we were close to the house. Abbey, the twins, and I managed to get in the house quickly. But Irie and Robert stayed out to protect us. When Irie got hit with…whatever is causing her to be like this, that’s when Robert stopped, grabbed her, and came into the house. He cast a shield charm before doing anything else.”

I sunk all the way to the ground then, in shock. I couldn’t believe it. “Why?” I managed to whisper. The whole time, Irina was lying there, spazzing out and choking out breaths. I had more questions, but I just couldn’t force them out. I just shook my head in disbelief. We were all silent for several minutes. I was just sitting there, looking at my cousin, my sister…my best friend, suffer. It was agony. Her face was getting bluer by the minute. I was afraid that I was going to see her die. I can’t have that happen to me; not again.

We all jumped when we heard a knock at the front door. I see Robert get up from the arm rest; he had been brushing his fingers over Irina’s face and combing his fingers through her hair. Robert reached the door, ducked a little, and looked through the peep-hole. He opens the door, all of us quiet. A tall man walked in, wearing scrubs. To me, scrubs always meant medical personnel. But they wouldn’t have gotten a normal doctor or nurse; they would’ve gotten a healer.

We all look at him anxiously. I scoot out of the way for him. I run into a leg. I look up and see Brayden. He holds his hand out for me, looking down. I grab his hand, and he helps me up. I need support, so I leaned my back against him. He puts his arms around me, helping me out. The healer got to Irina; Robert going back to the arm of the couch.

That’s when the healer speaks to Irina, “Irina? Irina I’m Healer Jason. I’m going to have you inhale this scent. It’ll help you not choke.” He takes out a bottle from his bag; it looked like a perfume bottle. He pressed the nozzle, and a mist came out. I saw the mist breathed in. We waited. The healer turned to Astro and asked, “Sonny, can you get water for her?” Astro left to get water. All of us were looking back to where Astro went. That’s when we all jumped from a noise in the opposite direction.

We turned quickly back to Irina, seeing that she was coughing. She started sitting up, trying to help her hurt less from the coughing. Her throat must have been really dry from all that raspy breathing. Astro was back at Healer Jason’s side in a heartbeat, with a large glass of water. The healer nodded in thanks and grabbed the glass. Then I saw that he was putting a powder in the glass; it instantly dissolved clear in the water. Robert was lightly rubbing Irina’s shoulders, trying to relax her. It took a few more painful seconds before she stopped coughing.

“Irina,” the healer asked, “Are you done coughing? Just nod or shake your head.” She gulped, wincing, and nodded her head. “Alright,” he continued, “I need you to drink this. It has all the healing agents needed to help you get healed and recover much faster. I’ll leave another packet for you to use in the morning. Drink as much water as possible.” She nodded again. He handed her the glass, and she started to drink slowly, but we all saw the pain she had every time she swallowed.

The healer got up and nodded to us all, moving from Glenn to Abbey, the twins, Brayden and I, Irina, and then Robert. When he saw Robert, he took another look at Irina. He must have noticed how bad they looked. He didn’t even ask how it happened. He was pulling something out of his bag as he spoke to Robert, “I’ll give you two a salve for all the cuts and burns. Just put a thin layer on every few hours, and it should be gone before noon tomorrow.”

Robert nodded his head as he was handed a small container. The healer also said, “I’ll stop by tomorrow night, oh, about this time and check up on you two.” Robert nodded his head and got up from the arm of the couch to lead the healer to the door. Robert grabbed some coins from his pocket and handed it to Healer Jason. They shook hands, and Robert whispered something to the healer. He just nodded his head and went out the door.

We all breathed, or rather sighed, in relief. Robert got back to her. She set the half full cup of liquid on the coffee table in front of her; he helped her up, and they kissed and then hugged. She started crying. He just rubbed her back as they continued hugging. We all were hugging each other, relieved that it was over. Irina went around hugging everyone, all of us crying now, too. She hugged everyone but Brayden and I. Brayden was hugged first and then released. She let go of him and walked to me. We stared at each other, relieved that we still had each other. I closed the rest of the way, both of us crying while hugging. “Irie,” I whispered, “I was so scared. I was so afraid of losing you. I wouldn’t have been able to bear it if you went away.”

She released after that and said, in a raspy voice, “Jewelie, you would never lose me. I would always be with you in your heart and actions. I would have been right there where Briana and Will are. You would be doing all that you were and are doing…for us.” Whoa. Never thought of that before; not like that. I nodded my head again, and we hugged again, much shorter this time.

We all look at Abbey expectedly, waiting to know what’s going to be happening for dinner. We needed a good meal for all the happiness that they all survived; Brayden and I weren’t in danger at all today, unless you count driving a motorcycle danger. She looks at all of us and said, “Let’s just have some stew tonight. We’ll celebrate tomorrow. Boys, I think you guys should stay the night. We have the basement you can use.” Robert and Brayden nodded their heads as Abbey continued, “Irie, finish drinking that up. And you and Robert should stick someone of that stuff on while the rest of us set up and make the food.”

We all go and start doing our various tasks. Brayden and I were cutting the vegetables while Glenn was cooking the meat and Abbey making the broth. Pearl and Astro were setting the table. “Pearl, honey,” Abbey said, “set the table for two more. I called for our MPA to stop by so we could talk to them. They should be here any…” That’s when the doorbell rings. Glenn goes out of the kitchen to get the door. I hear Elias James and Carlson May’s voices in the living room. I smile; despite not being a huge fan of magic, I liked them. I hear Glenn introduce them to Robert. They then come into the kitchen.

“I hope you guys are hungry,” Glenn said, “We’re just now starting up dinner since the healer just left.” They laughed, with Carlson saying, “Mr. Talbot, we always come here knowing we’re going to eat. After six and a half years, it’s like we’re family.” We all laugh. I turn around, nudging Brayden to turn around as I hear them approach us, setting our knives down.

“Elias James and Carlson May,” Glenn starts, “this is…”

“Brayden?” I look and see that Elias spoke, seeing disbelief and shock written on his face. I look at Brayden and see the same look on his face. Brayden stammers, “Un…Uncle?”