The Stranger- Chapter 12

My eyes had snapped open in horror. From the corner of my eye I could see the curtains moving and saw that the window was open. Something warm trickled down my cheek. I lifted my hand to my cheek, which stung. When I pulled away, there was warm blood on my fingers. Why did he attack me like that? I just wanted to help him. The saying, “Kill your enemies with kindness” had been in my mind. But that wasn’t the only reason I wanted to help. I truly felt sorry for Wraith. It looked like he had been through so much.

            The sun had yet to rise. Quietly, I slipped out of bed and wandered out of my room. Blood continued to flow down my face. I prayed that no one would see me like this as I made my way to the bathroom. There were always bandages in the cupboards. Relief washed over me when I made it into the bathroom and locked the door. No one saw me. Good. The only problem was that the only light was the moonlight. I could barely see. Sighing, I took the match that rested on the counter, lit it and lit the small white candle in front of the mirror. Enough light to see clearly filled the bathroom. In the mirror, I winced at the sight of my face, four gashes on my cheek. No doubt it was painful, but that was more of a reason to pull through and bandage it… And I’d rather not call for help and have to explain this. Even though I’ll have to explain the bandages, but that would be much easier to spin a tale for. I could say I fell and got a nasty bruise, or reached for something and scratched my face on the vanity. Hopefully people would be stupid enough to believe things like that. Once my face was properly bandaged, I carefully made my way back to my room. Restlessness ate at me upon stepping inside. I sighed. Of course I wouldn’t be able to sleep now. The moonlight was my only guide through the room as I walked to the writing desk in the corner and picked the book about angel magick. This would have to do to pass the time. Opening the book, I found my way back to the bed and hopped in. The rays of moonlight barely gave me enough light to read, causing me to squint and hold the book closer. There I sat, reading about the angel magick and occasionally attempting a few things in the book before I finally grew too tired to see the words and fell back asleep.

            Something was touching my hand. It continued as I stirred and looked over to whoever was there. My father smiled at me like he always did. Gentle and loving. I let out a breath of relief, then saw the bandages on his neck. I winced. That was… My fault…

            “Good morning, petal.”

            My lips quirked into a smile, “Good morning. I see you’re feeling somewhat better…?”

            “Yes, besides the slight burns on my throat, I’m quite alright,” he chuckled.

            “I’m sorry…”

            “Don’t be, dear,” he bent to kiss my head, “You saved me from something awful.”

            Softly smiling at him, I whispered, “It seems I did.”

            “Now why is your cheek bandaged?”

            I tensed, “I happened to trip in the dark and scrape it on the writing desk…”

            “Ah…”

            There was an awkward silence for a few seconds until my father spoke again,

            “Petal, I can’t believe this time has already come…” He looked down sadly.

            “I can hardly believe it’s happening. But then again, I should have guessed something was out of place. Look at me, compared to you and Mother.”

            “Quite true,” his shoulders shook as he chuckled again, “but even then, remember that angel or not, you’re also still our daughter and we love you.”

            My eyes almost started to tear and my smile grew bigger, “I love you too.”

            He ruffled my hair, “Well, Kendell will be here soon…” I mentally groaned. The last thing I wanted to have to think about today was my lessons. My father stood up and before he left, he bent to give me a hug. Before I could return it, he whispered,

            “Be careful around Kendell. I don’t trust him.”

            I awkwardly returned the hug, lost in his words as he pulled away and silently walked out of the room. How could he find Kendell untrustworthy? He was my best friend. Hell, he was my only friend! I sat there staring blankly ahead of me trying to think of any reason for my father to distrust him. Nothing came to mind. Lying back against my pillow, I sighed. It would be a little while until Kendell decided to come. At least I could have a few moments to myself this time. I let my eyes slip shut for what seemed like only a few seconds, but when I had opened them again, Kendell was sitting on the edge of my bed with my bandages in his hand. He was tense and tapping his fingers together anxiously.

            When he heard me shift in bed, his head snapped towards me. I almost flinched at the angry, worried glare he wore, “What happened to your face?”

            He had obviously already saw the claw marks, there was no point trying to lie, “Uh, I may have had an encounter with Wraith last night… In my dreams…”

            I squeaked in shock as Kendell suddenly hovered over me, both hands on either side of the bed’s headboard. His ice blue eyes pierced me as he growled, “Dreams are the most dangerous. He could have killed you faster than he could blink.”

            “But he didn’t.”

            An unreadable look crossed Kendell’s eyes before he replaced it with one of worry, “I can see that, I’ve put extra wards around you to prevent him from doing anything when he first arrived here, but if he can still physically harm you, then he’s too strong.” He got off the bed and ran his hands through his hair, “I’d have to be here all day and night to make sure he didn’t try anything again. But I can’t do that… There are other things that need to be done. The sooner you learn how to defend yourself with magick, the better.”

            I perked up, “Actually, I couldn’t sleep after the incident last night, so I read more of the magick book. I think I have a bit more of an idea about how to use it.”

            “Oh really? Show me.”

            Blinking, I focused until I could see the golden specks float around me. Maybe I could heal my face. My focus increased as I directed the specks toward my cheek. They moved slowly, very slowly, but eventually reached my face and settled on it. Images of my face healing filled my mind until I felt a warm prickling. It seemed to be forever until the prickling finally stopped. A wave of exhaustion hit me as I fell back against my bed, rubbing my temple. Kendell was staring in surprise when I looked over at him.

            “You’re very lucky you have a good focus. I would have thought that living with the humans would have dulled your ability to manifest things, but perhaps I was wrong…” A proud smile grew on his features, then slightly faded. “Either way, you’re very slow at gathering the energy, and you’ve completely exhausted yourself. If it came down to a life or death situation, you wouldn’t even have enough time to focus.”

            I frowned. He was right. Raising my hand up to my cheek, I felt nothing but smooth, flawless skin. But it had taken me so long to do that and taken so much out of me.

            “Don’t worry, the more you practice using it, the faster you’ll be and the more stamina you’ll have. It will take nothing but time and patience until you can use it effortlessly.”

            Determination surged through me and I smiled at him, nodding sharply.

            “So… What did Wraith do, in your dream?”

            My face fell. I didn’t want to tell him anything out of fear that he might try to keep Wraith away at all times. Last night was a… fascinating experience. There was what seemed to be an entire different dimension of Wraith, one that he was hiding from everyone. All I wanted to do was help him, he was clearly miserable. The sadness in his memories was so strong, I felt like breaking down and weeping.

            “Well?”

            “It was nothing more than usual. For some reason, he keeps coming back with empty threats. Then he got angry, swiped my face and left.”

            Yes.

            I was lying to defend someone.

            I was lying to defend a demon.

            I was lying to defend my enemy.

            But for some reason, the image of him as an enemy was slowly fading. I could see right through Wraith. And everything about him suggested he had no true intention of doing anything to me, except the flesh wounds he gave me that were far from fatal. Although, those seemed to be from pure frustration.

            “I’ve had to go through practically this entire damned continent searching for your pitiful self. Countless scars put on my back when I failed to find you. Countless threats on my existence, because you’re the thing to defeat my Lord’s army.”

            Wraith’s words rung out in my head. He had suffered because he hadn’t killed me, and it seems like he won’t kill me. Pity hit me in waves. The poor thing was torn between what life he had left and… Well, I’m not sure what else. But if I didn’t die, Wraith would eventually…

            “That’s all? Annabelle…”

            My head snapped up at his voice, “That’s all, it was a rather short dream last night.”

            Kendell’s eyes were hard and disbelieving as he stared me down, looking for any signs that I was lying. I held a straight face and stared him straight back in the eye, and eventually he sighed, breaking the stare.

            “Fine, then. Let’s continue with magick. We need to improve your stamina and speed.”

            And so the day began. Bright and early, Kendell was teaching me how to use the golden specks of energy that surrounded us at all times. I was grateful for the bit of food Katherine had brought me, it gave me enough energy to properly function. He mentioned that the energy around us was to be used for bigger tasks, while the energy within us was for smaller things.

            “The energy you have in your own body is too precious to use for fighting or defense, however, it can serve other purposes. Small things like reading minds or predicting the future are usually what your own energy is used for.”

            I nodded in awe. Magick could be used for so much, just about anything. I loved the idea of using it against enemies, or just to do simple things. I didn’t care how long it would take me to learn how to master it, the fact that I could already accomplish small things with it was enough to make me giddy.

            Kendell put me through exercises to help me gain stamina. Thanks to them, I can use a small bit of magick without feeling as if I had been running for days straight. Other exercises were to help me use the specks faster. I wasn’t very good at them at all at first, and even by the end of the day I was still shaky, but I felt as if I had improved just a little. My chest swelled with pride every time Kendell had praised me when I finished an exercise. When the sun began to set and it grew late, Kendell decided to stop for the day. He stood up, but hesitated,

            “Annabelle, I really don’t want to leave you alone for the night…”

            “I’ll be fine. Besides, I can hold him back just a little with his real name.”

            Eyes tired and worried, Kendell stared at me for a few moments before sighing and looking away, “I still don’t feel comfortable knowing that he could put more claw marks on you. Even using his name won’t stop him from hurting you if he becomes upset.”

            “Kendell, I’ll be perfectly fine on my own, I assure you. Just leave it alone.”

            He stalked forward and kissed me hungrily, his fear and worry running through me before he growled, “Fine. But please, try to be safe. I know he’s going to try to go back to your dreams tonight, so keep a rosary around your neck or something.”

            I sat breathless as he moved away and stormed out the door. Shaking my head, I regained the ability to think straight and realized that it wasn’t time for bed just yet. There was still enough light to see. My stomach growled. It had been a while since I’d eaten, a good four hours at least. Katherine usually brought meals up to us while Kendell taught me about magick. Lazily shuffling towards my bedroom door, I realized I had been in my night gown all day. Goodness, I could probably use a bath, too.

            I had wandered down to the kitchen and taken a small slice of bread. It was fresh from earlier in the day. The kitchen help had retired to their rooms, the remains of food either saved or disposed of, the dishes washed, and safely tucked in the cabinets. The kitchen, usually only seen bustling with life and warmth, was now dark and desolate, cold. Funny how the dark sends creatures running, running with the fear of the unknown. I remembered Wraith’s touch on my collarbone, bringing back the sadness of his memories. He lost everything, from one lapse in judgment, one spark of greed.

            But, that was enough to destroy someone.

            It only takes one mistake, for someone to tumble, and come crashing down.

            A heavy sigh broke free from my lips. The thoughts were depressing, each one a new weight on my heart. I felt as if I was holding the iron stove on my shoulders, dragging each piece of silverware across the ground with my heartstrings. Just an unbearable weight, crushing me, slowing me down in the darkness.

            Was it me, or were negative emotions easier to come across… In the dark? Just as the positive was easily found in each ray of sunlight. I silently finished the bread, lost in thought as I continued down the hall to the wash room. Pushing the door open, I drew a bath, lit the candles, took a towel from the cabinet to place on the counter, and stopped in front of the mirror. Every day and every night, the same thing looked back at me.

            Just a mutant girl, living in a cage, wishing for freedom.

            Now, however, there sat a girl who was too busy listening to talk, too busy thinking to dream, and too busy sighing to laugh.

            As I’ve said before, I’ve always wished for excitement, not chaos.

            I slipped out of my nightgown and into the water. The warmth wrapped around me like an embrace, lifting me from my low spirits.

            As I sat in the bath, I realized I hadn’t written anything for some time. Writing stories was something that kept me from going insane. I could create anything and everything, or I could destroy it. Maybe I would decide to take a character’s parents, or give them a happy family. Maybe I would make their life stories simple and bright, or perhaps instead, riddled with secrets and monsters. The most ordinary person could become the most interesting one, the most interesting person could become the most troubled one, there were never ending possibilities.

            As I stretched in the tub and heard the sickening cracks of my spine and neck, I mentally chuckled at my wandering mind before a new thought invaded.

            God must be a fantastic writer.

            To create a plot for all the characters on the world he created, some happy, others sad, some completely insane, others as normal as can be, He truly must be The Writer.

            What a fascinating thought.

            A yawn stretched from my mouth and my eyes grew heavy. The warmth of the bath only made me feel even sleepier. I grew alarmed, remembering how Wraith visited me when I fell asleep to haunt my dreams. The last thing I wanted was for him to catch me like this.

            Finishing the bath as quickly as possible, I stumbled out of the tub and grabbed the towel off the counter. I felt as if I couldn’t cover myself fast enough. When I had the towel wrapped around my body, I dried off as quickly as possible and dashed to my room, throwing a pair of underwear and the first piece of clothing I could lay my hands on, which happened to be a slightly long white blouse. It only covered up to an inch or two below my underwear. After my small panic attack, the need to sleep washed over me again. There was no need to worry anymore, I was covered and any dream I would have tonight wouldn’t be too dangerous, I was sure of that. Wraith seemed too caught up in his pain to carry out anything deadly.

            Slipping under the blankets, I yawned one more time before my eyes grew heavy again. By now, it was darker outside. As my eyes closed, my room faded into darkness and I heard something click. It sounded like the lock on my window. Instead of panicking again, I ignored it.

            A presence sucked all the air out of the room, yet was so familiar. Just as I began to drift to sleep, an icy hand traced my cheekbone. 

Author's Note

Ouff. I've been having a bit of writer's block with this lately because I've written so much over summer vacation. e.e And I got sucked back into an old story of mine. xD
Oh well.
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[Review]

you must have something big planned for this next chapter. Writers block is hard, seems like all it is, is trying to think out of the box. Just plain ignore the box because the box changes all the time, and all those cliche stories are what made the box in the first place.

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