Angels and Magic

by E. J. Bennett

  My left leg immobile, numb, I push with all my might swimming as fast as I can. A loud splash makes me push harder.

  Abnormal noises make me stop. I turn my body slightly. A tall young man with golden blond hair wrestles with the beast. He holds its jaw firmly shut.

  He plunges a knife, fast and swiftly into the monster. It pierces through the scaly flesh. The beast thrashes around for a few moments before becoming still.

  Chapter 10- Kayla

  I lay on the embankment, my breathing uneven. The man stares down at me. His warm hazel eyes have a slight glint.

  "Are you okay?" he asks as I wrap my arms around my knees.

  Ouch! My leg burns.

  "Let me look." The man kneels beside me. He tears the shredded fabric from around my wound.

  I suddenly become faint. Blood oozes steadily from a gaping wound. My bone is protruding from the torn flesh.

  His face becomes pale. He pulls out a slim black mobile phone. My head begins to spin as the warm liquid trickles down my leg. A small pool of blood begins to form at the base of my feet.

  The man is talking. I cannot make out his words as his voice drifts into the distance. My eyes blur. Black creeps around me, threatening to take me. A blue glow of light lights up the darkness as my leg becomes warm. The searing hot pain subsidies. My vision clears. The darkness slowly retreats.

  Chris's face hovers over mine. His expression is hard to read.

  "What the hell were you thinking? You could have been killed." The coldness in his eyes startles me.

  "How was I to know that there was a monster hiding in the woods?" I spit back at him.

  "Let's go." He grips my hand and pulls me to my feet.

  "What was that thing?" I ask, crossing my arms. Maybe they have some illegal breeding system or something.

  "A guardian, of the gates," he replies, shrugging his shoulders. A guardian of the gates, what gate? Everyday a new question burns in my brain.

  "What is a guardian of the gates?" I ask him, waiting for a load of lies and make believe.

  "Nothing which concerns you." Of course not, that thing just tried eating me alive like I was a snack.

  "Why won't you tell me anything? If I don't know anything, then what's to say there are no more monsters lurking. I can easily walk right into another one."

  He stares at me. Fire burns within his iris. He really does not like questions. I step back from his heated glare.

  "There are things that you are better off not knowing. Knowing can lead to more trouble." If I knew there was some strange animal living near the waterfall I would never have dreamed of going near the place. Or maybe my curiosity would have got the better of me but he does not know that.

  How much more trouble can I get into? I almost got eaten alive by an ugly half-alligator half-monster beast. Still, I am curious.

  "Like, curiosity killed the cat?" I ask, pushing him one more time.

  He runs his hand through his hair and sets off walking forward. "You are impossible."

  "I am not impossible. It is not hard to answer a simple question." God this man is frustrating.

  His head tilts to the side as if he is concentrating on something.

  "Justin, make sure she gets home safely. No funny business or games." With a nod of Justin's head Chris disappears, tiny blue lights dance for a second where he once was standing before they too disappear.

  I gasp. Pinching my skin. Yeah that hurt. I look back at the spot he was standing moments before with wide eyes. Where did he go? My mind struggles to come to terms with his vanishing act. I must be dreaming, I will wake up soon.

  ***

  We walk in silence. At the end of the field, we cross through blackberry bushes. Justin plucks a hand full of blackberries from the bushes and devours them. I scrunch my face up in disgust. The blackberries have not been washed anything could have crawled all over them

  As we step through the opening, a large gated field emerges. Pink, blue, white, and all the colors of the rainbow are dotted around the field.

  Today is getting weirder by the minute.

  "Why are the horses multi colored? Have they been dipped in dye? You do know that is classed as animal cruelty, right?"

  "They are mystic horses," he answers as if the multi colored horse are no big deal.

  "Has that horse got a tusk on its head?" My excitement physically showing as I run towards the fence to get a better look.

  "Oh my god, that one has wings, look." I point at a light blue horse that is grazing. He laughs a deep crackle.

  I love horses. I love to ride them. They are magnificent creatures. As I watch them, some of the sadness weighing down my heart lifts.

  In the distance, a white horse lifts its head up. The horse's head tilts to the side, before trotting over at a steady speed. The thundering of hooves echo off the ground as the stallion gallops through the bleak landscape. The wind wisps his mane. His muscles ripple from under his freshly groomed pelt and his powerful legs.

  Justin pulls me back as the horse nears.

  Slowly, I reach my hand out. Gently I run my hand down the horses smooth mane.

  "Be careful, Faraway does not generally socialize. He can be quite unpredictable," Justin warns. I look at the horse that seems overly friendly and back at Justin who watches wearily like he expects the horse to go crazy at any moment.

  "Faraway, I like it, do all these horses have names," I ask, looking around at the surreal landscape draped with beautiful unbelievable horses.

  "Yes."

  Justin steps closer, resting the palm of his hand on my back.

  "He seems to like you," he says quietly.

  Smiling, I continue to pat and stroke Faraway.

  "Can we ride them, please?" I ask, turning to face him. I plead with him, using my eyes like Misty. The puppy dog eyes always work on me.

  "Fine, we can take one to the outskirts of the village." He whistles. A dark brown blur rushes towards us, and the horse comes to a halt just in front of us. My heart stops, then speeds up. I was sure the horse was going to run straight into us.

  The horse is huge, taller than an average horse by around three feet.

  "This is Kane." Justin introduces us.

  Looking from the huge horse towering over me to Faraway, I sigh.

  "I want to ride Faraway."

  "No way," he says as he climbs onto the horse gracefully. He reaches his hand out for me to take. With remarkable strength he pulls me up. With Justin perched firmly behind me my body is fully aware of his presence. The heat of his body spreads down my back.

  I shiver. He wraps his arms around me tighter and pulls my body closer to his.

  "Hold on tight." Before the words are out of his mouth we shoot forward.

  The landscape becomes a blur the wind strong and fast as my hair blows wildly. In the distance a black blur shoots towards us.

  "Justin, I think a twister is coming straight for us!" I shout in a panic.

  "Shit, that is no twister. That is Shadow,"

  Shadow skids to a halt in front of us. Dust and dirt blocks my view. As the dust settles Shadow stands on his hind legs, releasing an awful sound.

  "He won't let us pass unless we get off this horse," Justin explains.

  Shadow stands back on all fours. He bares his teeth. Justin slowly climbs off Kane. Shadow snaps at his legs as he helps me down. My body trembles.

  "Thank you." I pat Kane, showing him my gratitude.

  "Why won't the horse let us pass?" I whisper keeping my eye on the huge black beast.

  "That horse belongs to Chris. They have some freaky bond thing going on." He turns to look at me. The intensity of his hazel eyes makes me suck in a breath.

  "Chris is not someone you want to get involved with or mess with for that matter. Just be careful, there is something off about him," he warns me.

  ***

  Twenty minutes later we enter the town and the sky becomes black, the stars shining brightly. A half-moon glows a soft white lig
ht and the air chills quickly. My body shivers from my damp clothes.

  Curious, I step back through the trees. Daylight floods over me as the sun's warm rays kiss my skin. I do this a number of times. Justin watches me, amusement in his eyes, and a grin on his lips.

  "Why is it daytime and warm beyond the trees?" I ask, not holding much hope for an answer. I really need some sleep, people are not kidding when they say jet lag is a killer. First I imagine that Chris evaporates into tiny blue lights then disappears, then that one part of the land is in daylight and the other part is night time. A goodnights sleep is what I need.

  He takes his jacket off and wraps it around my shoulders. A strong smell of damp dog and musk fills my senses.

  "Enchanted falls is made up of the four seasons. The town is the same as the weather in Scotland," he answers to my amazement.

  Pulling his jacket closer to my body, I smile. At least someone is willing to answer my questions. However, he could have explained more. But I am not complaining. I will take the small pieces of information I can get.

  "So what is the guardian of the gates?" I ask hoping he will shed some light onto at least one of my burning questions.

  "The guardian of the gates protects the portal to the land of Harmony, which is where the ancients reside. The ancients are the first ever angels to be created," I stare at him in disbelief at his answer.

  Chapter 11- Kayla

  "Kayla, you must not go wandering off alone. I need to know where you are at all times. You are living under my roof. I want no excuses, you are to follow my rules," my Grandmother rants while I stare into the beautiful kept gardens. Her words go in one ear and out of the other. I nod my head in what I think is the relevant place.

  Since when has it been a crime to take a walk?

  "Kayla, are you listening to me?" Her annoyed voice brings me out of my thoughts.

  "Yes of course, no taking walks alone." I salute her and skip out of the room, eager to explore the house's grounds.

  "Not so fast young lady, James is waiting in the drawing room to work on your powers."

  Slowly I change direction. My hope of being outdoors dies. One thing I hate is being stuck indoors in-between four walls. I hate being confined and like to be surrounded with nature.

  "You ready to unleash those powers of yours," James asks excitedly as I enter the room.

  "Sure," I snort, not really interested in playing along with the freak show.

  "Come on, having powers is cool. All the cool heroes have them. Look at Spiderman, everyone loves Spiderman."

  "I hate Spiderman, hence the name Spider," I point out.

  "OK, I get it," he puts his hands in the air as if he surrenders. "What I need you to do is sit down and cross your legs." He places himself on the floor as if to demonstrate.

  Great, this is exactly how I want to spend my evening, sitting on the cold floor waiting for imaginary powers to come to me. This entire town is nuts.

  I drop to the floor dramatically.

  "Close your eyes and clear your mind," he says quietly.

  After several minutes he asks, "Can you feel the power inside you?"

  "Yes I can," I say excitedly, playing along with the game.

  "Great, what does it feel like?"

  "Well, it's cold and tingly."

  "Yes, go on."

  "With great power comes a big electricity bill. It is making my legs and bottom numb, and my back ache. No one told me that these powers would be annoying," my feet tingle from pins and needles.

  "Kayla, you need to concentrate."

  This is really not my idea of fun. I would give anything at this moment to be back with Clara and David watching silly reruns of programs that Clara has made me watch countless times. Instead, I find myself sat on the cold hardwood floor yet again. I am sure these people have escaped from the nut house and formed their own community as this is crazy.

  After a while I find my body relaxing and my mind drifting away.

  Dark clouds swirl in the early night sky. Rain pounds on the wooden window panes. The tip-tapping is loud on the tin roof. The wind howls and whistles through the tress. The metal shell I find myself in shakes violently. The trees dance madly, their branches bend in odd angles.

  Sudden electrostatic discharge comes crashing to the ground, followed by a sonic boom that shakes the entire metal frame. I am plunged into darkness.

  I pull an old worn blanket closer to me that I find placed on my lap. Shadows begin to form on the bare walls.

  The trailer door swings open. Cold air bursts forth. A deep chill covers my body.

  My senses go on overdrive. I can feel eyes on me. They burn into my skin like hot metal.

  Fear holds my heart in an iron fist. My heart races with each passing second.

  I look to the window once more. Lightning flashes, pressed up against the window is a pair of red glowing eyes. They look straight at me.

  "ARRR," I scream jumping to my feet. I meet a chair leg and tumble to the ground. I pound the hard surface as the red eyes stare, not once blinking.

  "Kayla!" a panicked voice calls. Warm hands wrap around my waist, pulling me up into a standing position.

  It takes me several minutes to become focused. The dream lingers at the base of my mind.

  "Wow, you're pretty clumsy. I have never seen anyone that eager to get away from me. Maybe I have lost my touch," James laughs, enjoying my discomfort.

  "I did not trip and fall. I attacked the floor and I believe I won," I bark. I had done the one thing I promised myself I would never do. I fell asleep while in company. "This whole magic powers thing is ridiculous and I refuse to play any more stupid games," I head for the door when he stops me, holding onto my wrist.

  "Life always offers you a second chance, Kayla. It is called tomorrow," James says as I pull my wrist free and storm for the door.

  Before I walk through I turn around. He looks at me with sorrow in his eyes. I don't need him to feel sorry for me. That is not what I want. What I want is to get out of this place.

  "Tomorrow never comes," I tell him as I turn and leave. I eye the front door, but think better of it and head to my room. The crazy bat that is somehow my Grandmother will more than likely give me another lecture.

  Inside my room a fire burns in the open fireplace. The smell of fresh linen, which has been left outside to dry, invades my sense. Ann-Marie, steps out of the en-suite bathroom, I leap back in surprise. My heart jumps into my throat. My nerves are still on edge after my dream. I place my hand over my heart as the rhythm slows settling back to normal. "I am sorry, I did not mean to scare you," she says in a slight American accent. "Is there anything I can bring for you?" she asks making her way to the door.

  "No thank you."

  "If you need anything, just give me a shout." She gives me a soft smile as she leaves the room.

  I head to my sitting area, and I pull the curtains closed. Truth be told, I am a little scared of the dark. Night time is when my nightmares come out to play.

  I sit watching the flames dance the night away. My eyes itch and sting, but I refuse to give in. I refuse to let my mind torment my dreams once more.

  ***

  Walking through the doors to the school I'm lost in a sea of nameless faces. I set about finding my first class. The school is like any other school, lockers lining the halls, students huddled together, gossiping and whispering. They each fall silent as I walk by. No guessing what they are talking about; the new girl.

  I find my first class, potions. Even after the events that occurred yesterday, I'm still finding it hard to process that magic exists, along with a new world of beings.

  Mr. Johnson introduces me to the class; my face grows hot because of the unwanted attention. All eyes are on me, studying me with fascination.

  I guess they don't get many newcomers.

  Mr. Johnson indicates that I should sit next to Justin, who will be my partner for the school year. My heart skips a beat. Seeing the test tubes and other sci
entific equipment on the desks, I grin to myself. Misty gives me a small wave as I pass, I turn away still angry and hurt by her betrayal.

  Taking my seat, Justin smiles at me. My breathing becomes heavy. Yesterday I did not notice how good looking he really is, with his sun kissed skin and hazel eyes that I can easily get lost in; they shine with interest. Blond messy hair drifts over his eyes. I want to brush the hair away and feel its texture. Never have I ever wanted to do that to anyone. He has broad shoulders and a lean body covered by a white t-shirt that is tight in all the right places, not leaving much to the imagination. He looks like a surfer with a beach body.

  Justin grins at me. Realizing I am staring, my cheeks begin to heat. I quickly look away, letting my hair fall into my face to hide my embarrassment.

  Mr. Johnson begins the class. We are to make a healing salve. "Where are you from?" Justin has been asking me questions for the last ten minutes.

  "America." I place a yellow weed into a glass container. It looks similar to the one in the text book.

  "What was it like there?" He beams a dazzling smile that creates a slight dimple in his left cheek.

  "A lot different than here. Well let's just say the people were different." More sane. But I keep that thought to myself.

  Justin laughs, and sprinkles what looks like dirt into the container.

  "The people here are not that bad, well some of us are not. I was hoping you were going to say London. Somewhere exciting." What would be exciting about London? The busy and over crowded streets are not what I would call exciting, more like frustrating.

  "Look at her eyes," I hear a girl say. I tilt my head letting my hair fall over my face.

  "Oh my god, have you seen the way she stared at Justin," Another girl says.

  "Her eyes are definitely freaky," a third girl chimes in.

  I lower my head and try to drown out the chatter that I know is indicated at me, to no avail.

  Tears brim to the surface. My heart feels heavy and my shoulders sag. I keep my head down.

  I'm never going to fit in. I don't belong here.

  It is not the first time that others have made fun of my eyes.