I went to see Jeremey a few times at his apartment to see if there was anything I could do, see if I could help at all but every time I rang his buzzer, his wife or I think it was his wife answered said he was asleep or too unwell for visits.
A month later Jeremy passed away. We attended the funeral. When I returned back to work I got transferred to Wills assistant and didn’t think anything of it.
Will had a totally different expectancy of me than Jeremey had, and my work life became much busier but Will was equally as absent in giving away any personal information as Jeremey had been. While, wanting to know everything about me. Will went to the gym every weekday, twice a day. I was expected to meet him there at 6am each morning and 6pm each night to either prep for the day ahead or to go over the day’s events. While I did this Will would ask me millions of questions. I started to become more involved than ever with the running of the cases and before long I was beginning to pick the clients we were representing. Will got me to start training in the gym alongside him after a few months and it wasn’t long before we became friends, which was nice because I spent a lot of time at the office and so I didn’t really have a great social life”.
Sol gave me a questioning look and I gave him one right back, agreeing to the silent question asked that being short on friends was still a common trait we both shared. Sols smiled at me and I encouraged him to continue.
“Anyway, my point is I thought I worked at a normal office with normal people, then on the day of the earthquake everything changed.”
What do you mean everything changed?”
It wasn’t long after I had spoken with you. It was early and I couldn’t sleep so I got dressed and went into the office to drop off the paperwork I told you about.
I was sat at my desk, scrolling through my phone looking for last minute flights when I saw the most blinding light. One minute it was a normal day with the sun shining through the window, I blinked and when I opened my eyes it was as if the sun had transported from its place in space and had decided to set up shop right above my head. The whole room I was in, filled with this light unlike anything I’d ever seen before, it was so bright sis I hadn’t realised I’d curled up in a ball, on the floor trying to shield my eyes. Will had been in the room with me and was perfectly fine. I had no idea what was happening to me and thought maybe I was going blind or something.”
Turning around I looked up into Sol’s eyes, they looked as normal as ever I must have pulled a face because Sol chuckled and said;
“No Sadie I’m not blind but something did happen. After a few minutes had passed and Will had helped me up, the light vanished but I was terrified of opening my eyes, I know this sound nuts but I knew something had changed in me, knew once I opened them I would never see things the same way ever again and boy was I right.”
Sol sat there for a moment in silence and I waited patiently for him to continue while on the inside I was trying not to shake him and tell me what the fuck was going on.
“Aura’s” Sol whispered
“Aura’s” I repeated back to him “What about them?”
“That’s what I can see now.”
“What?” I asked confused
"When I opened my eyes after the blinding light that's what I could see; peoples Aura's. I didn't know that then of course. At first, I thought I was going completely crazy, I opened my eyes slowly only to find Will was bathed in an orange and yellow glow, or an energy, I'm not sure how to explain it but the orange and yellow light/energy he was throwing off completely surrounded him. I must have sat there staring at him for ages and even though Will didn't say a thing the energy or light he was throwing off also gave me his emotion. Will was curious, excited but there was something else? fear maybe? I was trying to work out what exactly it was I was seeing and feeling when someone walked into the room.
I knew without looking it was Sarah. When I turned to look, Sarah was also covered in a light but hers seemed to radiate mostly blue with a calm and collected feel to it. But in both Sarah and Will, right where your heart is located, was the same light I’d seen moments ago, only nowhere near as bright. Somehow, seeing that light in both of them made me feel calmer, my breathing started to get under control which I hadn’t realised was racing and I heard that Sarah was actually speaking, she was talking about the earthquake in Japan, said something about it starting. When Will pulled Sarah off to the side room they stood there talking throwing glances my way every few seconds. The strange thing was, well there are many strange things going on ah sis.”
Sol joked and nudged my arm trying to lighten the conversation but I sat there, glued to his words, waiting for him to continue.
“I knew they were talking about me. I could see Sarah’s light around her change colour from blue to purple with tinges of red and somehow, I knew it was because of me, knew Will had said about my fall. I couldn’t be certain of the words they spoke but the energy or light or whatever it was, was telling me Will knew. I could see something, felt different and when he’d told Sarah she had become worried. I’m not sure if her worry was about me or something else and before I could examine the thought further she took a deep breath and I could see her, feel her, calm.
Sarah’s light turned back to mostly blue, back to how it had been when she’d walked in. Sadie, I had no idea how I knew all this but I did and I was starting to panic, I mean who the fuck wouldn’t.”
I smiled at Sol having full knowledge of that feeling over the last two weeks.
Sarah nodded at Will and she turned to stand in front of me. She waved her hand in my face and asked me what I could see and before I could stop myself, Sadie, I was telling her exactly what was in front of me, I described her, Will, the colours I saw surrounding each of them, the feeling I got while looking at both of them, I stood there blabbering for at least 10 minutes before she nodded at me and told me that I could stop. I stopped talking immediately, it was if I was under some spell.
This is where stuff gets really crazy sis.” I snorted at his comment but didn’t say anything.
“Will sat down next to me on the edge of the desk and said, Sol, you have magic in you! You’re a Guardian!
I thought for a second Sol was joking, thought he was messing with me, that he couldn't be serious. Before Sol could say another word, I started laughing, I couldn't help it. I laughed so hard my belly started to hurt, tears formed in the corner of my eyes and streamed down my face, the mussels in my jaw started to ache. Sol started laughing too, then finished me off when he said: "you're a wizard, Sol." And began waving his finger about like a magic wand.
After a minute, Sol stopped laughing and his smile grew heavy, the night air had a sudden chill to it and I shivered. Sol looked me right in my eyes and said
“Sadie, Magic is Real I swear I’m not fucking with you”
I wanted to laugh again tell him that he was silly and to stop being ridiculous, wanted to deny his words as nothing more than fabrication but Sol's words or more like the way in which he'd it said it settled in my stomach as true. I felt the colour drain from my face. The laughter and joy I had tasted mere moments ago, vanished and I didn't know what to say, what to think. I'd read enough books and watched enough films to understand that what Sol was telling me was not sunshine and roses, was not going to be something out of a Disney movie, this was some serious shit going on. Sol's face plus the tone in which he'd told me in confirmed it.
“I know I sound absolutely nuts Sadie but I swear it’s the truth, In the last few week’s sis I’ve seen some pretty weird stuff and that’s not to mention what I can see with my own eyes now.”
I sat there next to Sol with my brain going a hundred miles per hour, so many questions were whizzing around, crisscrossing each other, fighting to be answered first I couldn't pinpoint any one thing.
"Aura's," Sol said snapping me out of it. "Will explained to me that's what I can see and feel off of people, their Aura's.
“Can you see mine?”
“I c
an sis”
"Well," I asked nudging him now curious as to what my brother saw when he looked at me.
“Well at the moment your Aura’s all over the place but that’s probably due to the conversation we’re having but, yesterday when I first arrived and saw you all I could see was pain and anger, a deep blue and blood red colour emitting from you but when we got here earlier to this place your Aura glowed with the same light I saw in Will’s office it came from both within you and surrounded you. I felt power oozing from you Sadie but it happened so quick I thought I might be wrong, I’m still trying to figure this all out myself but I felt and saw it again when you were touching the trees. I couldn’t hear or feel what you were describing but I could see that bright light pulse from all around you, I could feel your power. That’s when I knew for sure Wills words about you were true I knew it in my bones. You are the Fifth and I am your guardian here to protect you!”
There was that name again but this time it sounded like Sol might actually know what it meant
"Tell me everything," I said
Chapter 15:
We had sat there for hours, Sol said he was giving me most of the info but he had to be honest and would gloss over some of the things Will had told him. When I'd asked him why? Sol had said it would be better if it comes from Will that, I would have too many questions he couldn't answer and to be fair I had bombarded him with every question that came to mind for the past few hours, most he didn't know the answer to. I had a million things to ask the illustrious Will but for the time being had been satisfied with whatever answer's Sol could give me.
So, Magic was real. Will had told Sol that in a time that man had forgotten about, four women on the side of good were left fighting an ancient battle against a great evil. The four wise women had great powers but not enough to destroy the evil they faced. They, and all the light before them had managed to banish the darkness to the depths of the earth but knowing this would not hold the darkness and his minions forever, to save the world from total darkness, they sacrificed themselves and the last of the light. Each gave their core heart magic over to another. A woman to be born after the world is cracked beyond repair and the darkness is unleashed on this world. She would be known as the Fifth, a name given to legend and prophesies. She would be identified by her star-shaped birthmark on her neck and by the tests, she would have to overcome. The Fifth would be a warrior like no other, she would be given immense powers, that if not used correctly could turn her into the very thing she was set to fight against.
People including Sol believed I was that person. The Fifth.
If that hadn’t been enough of a blow, Sol had gone on to say that the day of the earthquake (when all this shit started happening and my life started to fall to pieces) was really the last holds on a prison deep below the earth breaking and in doing so released a shit load of nasties back into the world. That it was foretold that The Fifth (AKA supposedly me) would be born tasked with the job of killing them along with a darkness that would try to infect everyone and everything it came into contact with.
All hope was placed in The Fifth, a single woman to defeat them and put them back into their eternal prison.
If I really was this Fifth person I could supposedly heal almost instantaneously which, I had sort of proven. I would get stronger and stronger over the next weeks and months, had powers inside me that no one knew what or how strong they were or how I would manifest them but that the last of a magical race had sacrificed themselves and their powers in order to give them to me so I could save the world by defeating some darkness. Boy, no wonder my head was a raging mess.
I had asked about this darkness stuff, Sol had explained that If the darkness found you to be of a kindred soul it would enhance that person natures, consume them with a desire to corrupt, to murder, kill, rape, anything that hurt another or helped the pursuit of personal gain. Riches, gold, money, pain, and misery became their love, the darkness basically brought out the worse in a person until you could no longer even recognise them. Sol had said the plague spreading throughout the world was really this darkness weeding out those with light from dark
Apparently, this plague didn’t infect the mind or body it went straight for your soul and fed off every bit of light you had in you. The more-light you possessed the quicker you died. The kick in the teeth was when Sol had said he thought this was how Thomas had died. His words resembled Alice’s almost word for word. Why hadn’t I listened to her more? The anger I felt threatened to erupt out my body. I walked off for a few minutes to calm down. Sol didn’t ask where I was going. I suppose my Aura was giving him all the answered he needed. When my anger had cooled slightly I returned and had asked more about this light and dark stuff. Was this another way of explaining good and evil or was this something else entirely?
Sol had tried to explain saying everybody had the potential to be good or bad to become a light or dark version of themselves. That most people due to, choice or circumstances, experience both in their lifetime and become both. Sol gave me various examples of people who are mostly filled with light but dotted with dark choices, a policeman that has spent most of their life enforcing the laws to make the country safer might, take a bribe off a criminal, or turn a blind eye to a crime. A person taking recreational drugs a few times and before they know its developed into a habit. These people have not intentionally set out to hurt themselves or others but over time that is exactly what happens. He said that these people would be good at heart and know, even understand they had made bad choices and that, that was the real difference; a good person making a wrong choice but knows it’s wrong. That was somebody you could class as good, somebody with light in their sole. The darkness was the other side, doing something bad but thinking it was good. A Husband killing his wife and children over jealously but his thoughts are he is right. He is justified. This is what evil was, this is what the darkness clung to and caressed.
I understood what Sol was trying to tell me, but it didn't alleviate my questions and like pretty much everything lately just added more to the list. I had no idea how I was to process any of the this so instead I asked Will fit into all of this.
He had kept knocking out the blows with telling me Will and his friend Sarah also had magical abilities though he only knew that Sarah would be classed as a witch with a knack for getting people to tell the truth and she was excellent at finding people. Will was much older than he appeared and both were in a coven with its own set of rule and regulation. When Sol had inquired about Will, he had told him discussing powers and abilities was not done unless you were blood bonded, not saying anything more even though Sol had said he’d tried.
Knowing what Sol's boss could do was definitely something I wanted to know about especially if he was staying with us.
Will had told Sol about being a guardian though. That he had always suspected that it was him. When he asked how. Will told Sol that he had seen me in an old bookshop about 12 years ago. He noticed my birthmark and had followed me. Coven laws forbid any interference with The Fifth for fear of changing fate. But there was always a loophole and nothing had been stated about the guardian.
It had taken a moment for me to process what Sol was telling me, that he had only got the internship because of me.
After hours of talking I'd suggested we make our way home I was tired and thought it would be a good idea to get some rest, my brain had a lot to process, my emotions were all over the place and I had no idea what it all meant. I had a hard time believing I really was some magical being named the Fifth, apparently an arse kicking warrior capable of defeating a darkness I kept hearing about. I was finding it hard to have confidence in myself to survive the walk home let alone save the bloody world but, as outrageous as everything Sol had said more than a few things made more sense now than they did this morning. The thing that had hit the hardest the thing that had made me most need to get my thoughts in order was hearing about Thomas if, something really had purposely infected him. I was going to
tear this darkness to pieces I was going to make it pay for taking my precious boy away from me.
At this moment though all I wanted was a warm bed and some sleep, tomorrow Will and I was going to have a well-needed chat but before that could happen I needed to let everything Sol had told me, settle in.
We left my secret glade well past midnight, it was clear skies with not a cloud in sight. The stars were out in full force twinkling away and on any other day I would have noticed the beauty of them, how with the power out and no visible light apart from the moon it made the stars shine in their millions but my mind was a mess going over everything Sol had told me.
Our return journey back to the house was just as silent as it had been coming here but for totally different reasons. How was I really meant to cope with all this? I mean seriously this was beyond fucked up. When I’d gone looking for answers from the maybe not so crazy old bird Alice I was hoping for well, I don’t know what I was hoping for but it sure as hell wasn’t this.
I turned to check on Sol as he had fallen a few steps behind me. I thought it was to let me have a bit of space so I could think all this through but as I went to call his name something stung my neck, it didn’t really hurt. I assumed it was a wasp or bee or a maybe one of those wicked mosquitos? Little fuckers.
I reached to my neck to feel the bite when my feet wobbled as if the ground was suddenly moving. My vision started to dim and little lights flickered in front of my face. It only took me a moment to realise what I had just pulled out my neck and now held in my hand, the thing that stung me was in fact, a little-feathered dart and I had been drugged.
The Fifth: Darkness series Page 21