22

The wizards chased me into the forest.

    I kept running.

    When they caught up with me, I had to stop.

    Everybody was tired from running and fighting.

    We were all panting and sweating.

    They all attacked me at the same time.

    I fought them off again.

    I kept blocking their attacks.

    I kicked each of them more than once.

    My heart was beating very fast.

    I felt numb from how dangerous this situation was.

    Sometimes the wizards punched me, but not a lot.

    Every time they tried to use magic, I stopped them with martial arts.

    They threw many spells at me.

    Sometimes I dodged the spells.

    Sometimes I kicked the wizards to stop them from throwing them.

    One woman attacked me.

    I kicked her.

    She tried to punch me.

    I blocked her arm.

    Then, I kicked her again.

    The others tried throwing more spells at me.

    I dodged them.

    They attacked me.

    I managed to fight all of them off at once.

    After a few minutes when they couldn’t beat me, they retreated.

    I was exhausted from two fights. Once I was sure they were away and wouldn’t be coming back, I lied down in the grass and took a few minutes to relax.I was panting.

    The punches and kicks I suffered hurt. I was confident I would recover. I didn’t think of anything for a minute because I needed a break.

    Mom disappeared.

    Eileen was cruel.

    The ghouls kept attacking.

    I kept getting hurt helping people.

    Eileen tried to kill me.

    So many bad things were happening my chest hurt. I was overwhelmed that I had to fix so many things.

    I needed a minute.

    I thought of where I could go. I remembered that Christian and the dwarves who raised him lived in the forest. They could help me. They had taken in Christian after his parents abandoned him. Christian would help me because he was my friend. Maybe even the dwarves could help.

    I hadn’t had time to change after I’d come home from work, so my keys and my phone were still in my pockets. I had only put my guitar and my backpack in the living room because I had gotten tired of carrying them.

    I called Christian and told him I needed his help.

    “Would it be okay if I came to your house?” I asked.

    “What’s going on?” Christian asked.

    “I would rather tell you when I see you.”He gave me directions to his house. When I stood up to get there, I was shaking from fighting very hard for my life twice. I stood for a few seconds, then followed the directions.

    On the way there, I called Dad and told him what happened. I was almost overwhelmed by my emotions. I had to struggle to control them.

    Dad was horrified.

    “Are you okay?” Dad asked.

    “Yes.”

    “Where are you?”

    “I’m on my way to someone who will help me get to Mom.”

    I explained that Christian had magic and that he lived with his Dad and his Dad’s friends in the forest.

    “Do you want me to come with you?” Dad asked.

    He was worried.

    “I might get into more fights, if Eileen came after me again, so you should get yourself somewhere safe. Christian and the dwarves will help me find Mom and deal with Eileen and the wizards.”

    Dad knew some things about Christian.

    “I’m sure Christian can help you,” he said. “And you’re a great fighter. If Eileen only sent your Mom somewhere and didn’t hurt her, then she must be okay because she can take care of herself. I will go somewhere safe. Keep me posted, so I can be sure you’re okay and help you any way I can.”

    This conversation took the whole half hour it took me to reach the cottage.

    “I think I found Christian’s home,” I said.“Good,” he said.

    He sounded relieved because it meant I was safe and not alone.

    I wondered why Eileen didn’t kill Mom and got rid of her instead. Eileen had loved me and Dad for a while. She was sad when she couldn’t be a mother. She didn’t seem completely evil, so maybe she didn’t want to have a death on her conscience until she decided to get revenge on her failure.

    I thought maybe this was a different cottage.

    I had nothing to lose by knocking and checking.

    I knocked.

    Christian answered the door.

    I was relieved.

    I thought of everything that had happened.

    I had found out my stepmother was the reason Mom disappeared.

    Eileen wanted to kill us both.

    The wizards tried to kill me twice.

    I really needed affection so I threw myself in his arms. He didn’t ask what was going on and took me inside. Angus, his Dad, was there. He looked concerned when he saw me.

    “Hi, sir,” I said.

    My voice wasn’t very strong.

    “Call me Angus. Christian told me you were coming.”

    He looked sympathetic, which kept me from feeling ashamed. Christian must have told him that I needed their help and they must have guessed that I was in trouble. Christian took me to a chair and brought me a glass of water.

    “What happened?” he asked.

    He probably wanted to wait until I was more ready to tell him, which was why he didn’t ask me as soon as he saw me. He was considerate enough.

    “Would you like to tell us all at once?” Angus asked.

    “No,” I said.I didn’t feel like sharing something like this with so many people I barely knew at once, especially considering what I’d been through.

    Christian and Angus sat down. They were patient as they waited for me to tell them. Christian held me and I told them everything.

    “What do you need?” Angus asked.

    “I’ve been learning how to scry,” Christian announced.

    “What’s that?” I asked.

    “It’s building a crystal ball and using it. I didn’t always know how to do that, but I learned recently.”

    I figured that was why he hadn’t scried for Mom earlier. He had offered to help me, he just didn’t know how to scry until recently.

    “Could you find out where Mom is?” I asked. “I need to tell her that Eileen would be coming after her and we should both fight her and her friends.”

    “How many friends does Eileen have?” Christian asked.

    “Four.”

    Christian thought for a minute.

    “I want to help you,” he said.

    “Is that a good idea?” Angus asked, worried.

    “I have magic and Lily and Jenna would have to face five people, if we count Eileen.”

    “This is dangerous,” Angus highlighted.

    “I know.”

    “Do you know what you’re getting into?”

    “Lily can tell me. Besides, I’ve handled the ghouls.”

    Angus looked a little less worried.

    “What about your job?” Angus asked.

    “I got a WhatsApp today.”

    “What does it say?”

    “Lots of places, including the opera house closed down because of the ghouls.”“I’m sorry.”

    “Thanks.”

    “When will it open again?” Angus asked.

    “When the ghouls have been dealt with or, at least, when the war is more manageable.”

    “We don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m sure it will reopen eventually."

    Christian and Angus told the other dwarves that I needed Christian’s help. One of the dwarves, Jeremy, was a doctor and he helped me with my injuries.

    That night, Christian and I talked about a lot of things. I talked about Mom to make myself feel better. We discussed the concert. Christian told me about magic.