“A contract is an agreeable term you and a creature sign so their abilities can mirror into yours. I decided a dragon when Mika spoke to me about it. He found it fitting because I was always so, hmm, angry. He agreed to show me where dragons live and abandoned me in the centre of central dragon land to fend for myself and find a suitable dragon, like the fucking little shit he is. The dragon was young and naïve, stupid asshole tried biting me, but I wasn’t going to have any of it. Finding my runes fascinating, he agreed to half of a contract until I was fourteen. Then he said he wanted to place his life on the line to watch mine willingly.”
“I don’t understand,” I murmured. “Life on the line?”
“Eileen, if Hopper is in a contract with you or if something happens to you, hurts you, they feel it as well. If you die, the one you’re in a contract in also dies.”
“Ok.” It was the only thing I could say, a loss for words, as I tried to figure out why Hopper would do such a thing.
“I know,” he sat up, leant away and stared out at the thinly layered grey sky. “The more we dig, the more problems we seem to cause. Your grandfather. The disappearance of Rokk that is currently leading into a murder investigation. Your parents, the organisation showing up because of it. And now there’s a chance that your beloved pet who is doting over you is your contract.”
“The gears of time?” I asked.
“No, that is the easily explainable one, but when you use it, it feels, weird.”
“Ok?”
“Cold and lifeless. As if you dragged me into an alternate universe that isn’t all too alive.”
I nodded in agreement. When I was using the gears of time, my eyes locked onto things I wanted, so I never bothered to look at my surroundings. I, when I think about it, could have been using it for as long as I remember. That is how I get to places quickly without others noticing. It was coming here, finding my laughter and happiness and fun that I lost to know that what I was doing isn’t all that mage-like. When that rune, which I suspect is branded on me somewhere, activates, the essence of magic heightens while the surroundings almost feel dull and grey. The colours were dimming into the fading light.
He makes my ability sound something similar to death. It was making me nauseated. As a sickening churning crumbled my insides, I kept slowly nodding, but nothing of the sort was registering on my face, but he knows. The guilt of admitting how he felt in the gears of time plain on his face, so he had to look away.
As he looked out of the tower, he grabbed my arm, pulled me up and made me scramble down the stairs after him and into his home. Shutting the sliding glass door, he flicked the lock, and a blue rune illuminated and activated into a proper lock. Going through the kitchen, lounge room and entrance hall, we walked through the door that I assumed accepted me as a friend and to my home. As we walked, I glanced around at any possible entry point’s Mum, and Dad could pop up at any given moment to erase our memories.
Inside my home, Hopper instantly stood near the entrance to the lounge room. Awkwardly flustered, his eyes won’t even look at us. He knows, either because when Lawliet and I dived down a rabbit hole made him sense something or . . . My stomach dropped as I noticed the figures on the couch and was staring directly at me. Silver eyes narrowed as if I am the one who needed explaining what happened. However, my parents always look like that. As if we are all guilty. Their disappointment structured into their features, down to the bone, to make them always seem to look at us as if we are nothing but vile mages who need elimination.
Lawliet laced his fingers between mine, and it was a flicker of motion between Mum and Dad. They both simultaneously looked down at our hands, up at us, towards each other, and then back up to us. They then leant back uncomfortably stiff.
“Eileen and Mr Clarintine, would you join us for an adult conversation?” my mum said as her eyes gestured to the couch. It was between the small side-table but is now opposite the other so that it would make it easier for a proper talk amongst the organisation. “We would like to explain our behaviour as well as what we saw.”
“Adult conversation consists of no activating runes, foul language, interrupting one another and talking in a civil matter with an open mind,” Dad explained in detail. “If you can agree, the agreement will be a lock in the contract stating that whatever is spoken here does not leave your mouths around anyone other than yourselves.”
Illegal black magic. Mum and Dad are forbidden to use this at all. It is a form of mages who were hiding something from other mages. It consists of two strikes. For them to ask of this of us means there is something that they don’t want the organisation to know.
“Are you alright with this?” Lawliet asked me.
The humorous thing is that I should be asking Lawliet this. They aren’t his parents. He doesn’t know them or what they’re about to say. He has been dragged through this ever since I asked him to trust me. It is my fault, and if he agrees, I am afraid the first sentence constructed coming out of his mouth will have ‘shit’ and ‘fuck’ mingled in. He is one to swear easily, get angry easily, and talk in a non-civil matter with a closed mind. Therefore, I should be asking him if he is ok with this.
Nodding, he turned back and nodded slowly to them as well.
Sitting on the opposite side of the couch that has a coffee table centred in the middle of both seats, there was steaming hot cups of o-d-h coffee. Hopper stood off on the side. Gloved hands pressed firmly in front of him and eyes cast down towards his shiny leather shoes.
“Drink,” Mum insisted.
Leaning over, I grabbed the mug closest to me. It was heart shaped, pink and vibrant on the outside of the white cup. Taking a sip, I knew it wasn't anything more but a potion concealed to look and taste like human coffee. The thin layer of magic that was running down my throat was the lock-in contract Dad explained. They took a small sip of theirs, and we all set the mugs down together and tried to get comfortable.
“Eileen and Mr Clarintine, we both would like to know the reason as to why you snuck into a restricted area as well as how.”
Lawliet squeezed my hand that was between each other and leant forward. His elbows and arms were pressed against his thighs, and he had a grave expression on his face as he said, “Donte and Nixon threw something that would resemble a stink bomb near the teacher’s room. Rebecca helped influence the air so that the thickness of the smoke regenerated and spread quicker so that Eileen and I can sneak in unnoticed and into the portal.”
“Is this the truth, Eileen?” Mum asked, and their glares made me want to shrink into the sofa and become invisible. Instead, I nodded softly while I stared down at my feet. “How did you pass many shifters that were standing guard of their zones? The rabbit holes?”
“The gears of time,” I answered before Lawliet could speak.
“Do you know what the gears of time is, Eileen?” Dad asked, and I shook my head. “It is a deconstructed rune that when activated, joins loosely into a broken time that resembles similarly to a metal gear. After activation, it will spin either fast – which when spinning fast, gets you to one location quickly within a millisecond of time without the mage who activated it and others around can notice – and then the slow spin – which slows down mages and surroundings movements enough to move away unseen. What is wrong with gears of time is that one day you can be trapped between times with no way of getting out. For your only option, would be to wait. That and high maintenance mages at master level and some mages in the organisation can jump through that time loop with you and render it completely useless. That or can track your movements so when time evidently speeds up, can know your exact location.”
“Yes, we find it intriguing because bringing someone with you into the gears of time is merely impossible unless you and the mage you want to take is par to master level. If you took someone inexperienced in with you, the mage would have died. Only creatures are known to go in with the mage who used gears of time. Nonetheless, I am surprised a mage has the capacity to wa
lk through it at all. It was created by a Shapeshifter creature.” Mum glanced at both of us and grimaced. “For the best interest of your safety, I suggest keeping a low profile and not use runes above your level of age.”
“Why?” Lawliet persisted.
“The reason we came to Mage Academy is that Mika suggested for us to see you two. Four days after we arrived, we were requested to help solve a murder case. We thought it would be easier to do what we came here to do if we mingled personal work with organisation work, so we agreed to figure out where Rokk is, find a body as well as narrow down a likely culprit while erasing data on the both of you.”
“Wait, erase. Why the flipping bell would you try and wipe data?” he asked, the words he wanted to say seemed strained, and he made a disgusted look as he muttered, “Flipping bell. This is so stupid.”
“Because at the rate you both are going, the whole organisation will be requesting letters and permit us to view you to see if you would like to abandon an education to work for them.”
“Work for us,” Mum corrected. “We decided as parents and Mika as a guardian that we do not want this to happen. We will do everything in our power to keep the both of you invisible.”
“Somewhat harder now,” Dad said as he looked back and forth between Lawliet and me. “You made my daughter find her voice. Keep it up and you as well as we will lose her for good.”
“Am I supposed to do nothing?” I asked.
“We never said that. Merely, we want you both to go to class usually and do things you would normally do or asked to do within that classroom. A friend from the organisation has placed a barrier up so nothing heard or said can be seen outside of the classroom. He believed we were only using it to have privacy sifting through mages memories, not because we all wanted you safe. That means no more tower jumping, walking, gears of time, fights mainly or using contract runes or abilities gained by them.”
“That leads us to our next conversation,” Dad said. “Mr Clarintine, we understand that you agreed to the terms and conditions with a dragon. Mika seemed to have hidden this well enough away from the organisation. If we were not experienced with dragons, we would have thought those scales for defence were a replication and admiration of a beast that cannot be tamed. Unfortunately, we are not the only ones who can tell when it is a rune designed by your own hands or a contract bound ability morphed into focus. You have done well to cover up the contract by placing a protective layer as Eileen has, with her multiple defences. We would like you not to use any contract runes. Gravitation and smoke or fire-induced mainly unless you utterly have to, and have tried everything else within your magic to do so before those. Understand?”
“Clearly.” Lawliet leant back. His fingers twitched on my skin, and he narrowed his eyes and said, “Did you place Eileen in a contract without her knowing.”
“Yes. We put her, Donte and Nixon in half contracts with Hopper. They are not bound completely. Her figuring it out that she can jump through a rabbit hole was surprising because we erased those memories so they would not exploit and abuse it. How did you know?” Mum asked.
Shrugging, I answered, “I didn’t.”
“Instinct based knowledge is very unpredictable,” Mum frowned with disappointment. “However, moving on. The contract is mainly for Hopper to sense a threat. If you or your brothers are harmed in any way, he will feel it and go immediately to whoever is hurting. At all times, Hopper can tend to you all when you need it most. Do not think he is only here because of that purpose only? No. Remember Hopper is a shape-shifter to our family so that he will do as we say, not you nor your brothers. In the end, our words and rules provided and etched into him can cut down whatever you want him to do. Try not to be forceful or have animosity leant towards Hopper. He was demanded not to usher a word about the contract for yours and your brother’s own safety.”
“I think that is all we had to cover,” Dad said, and Mum agreed.
“One more,” I murmured. I couldn’t stand to look at them, so I leant away and whispered, “Did you place ‘the gears of time’ on me?”
“No. You would have had to do it. That is what makes the gears of time compelling. If someone else etches the rune on you, it will burn similar to an errored rune on the skin. Eileen that means we are disappointed in you. Your father and I had one rule for you, and that was forbidding you to place more than three runes on you before the age of eighteen.”
“But . . .” I trailed off for a moment. I was utterly confused before I looked up and said, “I don’t recall tattooing a rune on me. I would remember.”
“Then how can you use it?” they both asked, the first time they were showing bewilderment.
Shrugging, I looked up to Lawliet, and his hold tightened comfortably around my hand. It was a reassuring gesture because he knows as well as I that if my parents do not know how this rune was bestowed on me, how else did I get this rune and why can’t I remember it.
Again, everything has been answered that we wanted to answer only to have another unsolved mystery come up.
Why can I use this rune, and where did the gears of time come from?
Chapter 26.
Eileen – Gospel Frosts.
They left as soon as we finished talking. Hopper followed unwillingly behind them. They didn’t tell us where they were going, nor did we ask. Tired, we ended up in my room. While I hugged a pillow, I stared intently at Lawliet, as he carefully placed a divide on the bed before laying on the other side. As soon as I asked him to stay and sleep here, he immediately got suspicious, grabbed whatever soft squishiness he could and placed it between us. He was a child. It was amusing and exciting to me as he rolled to the side. Those golden eyes scanned my face.
“I guess we don’t need this anymore,” he lifted the crystal that has Rokk’s information swirling inside of it and placed it on the bedside table. Yawning, he leant closer to stare at me for a second before he whispered, “Do you want to do something tonight?” His charcoal breathes lingered out, smoky and overpowered in the air between us. The taste strong, as I inhaled.
Nodding once, I was about to tell him that we are forbidden to do outrageous things outside of the classroom when he leant closer and rested his head on the divider. Our noses were touching. I know he wasn’t doing it for a sign of affection. We both have boundaries. I doubt his thoughts are wired lustfully. At least that is what I think.
Wiggling a little closer, so that the pillow I was hugging was pressed against Lawliet’s chest, I waited for him to whisper soft enough so that my ears alone could hear.
“It is inside the classroom so we shouldn’t get in trouble. Now that we don’t have to focus on Rokk, your parents on the case, we have time to figure out finally . . .”
“The letter. My grandfather,” I murmured and his face went bright red.
“Don’t talk when we are this close. It is distracting.”
“How?” I asked, and his eyes narrowed into tiny slits. “Why is it distracting?” Leaning even closer, our lips we close to touching when I said, “Tell me, please.”
“Shut up,” he groaned, rolled over and glared up towards the ceiling. “You’re a pain in the fucking ass, Eileen Frost.”
“Tired. Good night.”
I was intentionally cruel. I didn’t want to kiss him as much as I wanted to sleep. I knew he was uncomfortable with me being so close. I notice it all the time. He grabs my hand, so he knows how much distance and has control of how close I get to him. He used to get close to me by intimidation. He still does without registering the proximity of how close we are until his anger subsides and he steps back. He would then be annoyed that he has let me get this close. I am not flirting. I didn’t want him to kiss me now. I wanted him to move away from me because I understood what he wanted to do so I wanted to sleep so I could stay awake with him at night.
His eyes began to close, one hand outstretched, almost into a protective barrier. He was making sure the pillows don’t suspiciously move close to him while h
e sleeps.
Lawliet Clarintine, you truly are the most interesting mage I will ever lay eyes on, I thought before my mind drifted into a dream of me drawing runes on the floor.
It was bitterly cold, almost to the extent that I half-expected flakes of snow to glisten down from the roof of Mage Academy. Close to midnight, the halls and classrooms were empty of any mage or shape-shifter worker in site. Some armoured knights marched the perimeter, but there was always shortcuts and ways to get around them without being seen. Doing it without runes is always the most difficult. Every little noise, whether it was a light tapping or the sound of metal clanking in the distance, the veins throbbed and lit up a brilliant white. There will be as much willpower as there is stopping a rune half drawn as there is not enabling a layer of protection. The desperate need of safety is all I wanted, as I crept these halls with Lawliet, who seemed to twitch his fingers whenever he heard a sound out of place or suspicious. Both of us are having a hard time playing it safe and trying to be as invisible as possible.
The withdrawals are already apparent that I won’t be able to make it a day without wanting to draw random runes on floors, walls and doors outside of the classroom. It took all the willpower imaginable, as well as the help of Lawliet snatching my hand away from the pillow, not to groggily draw when I woke from my nap.
He stared at me intently, his fingers soft and hands were hot. With a slow blink, I looked away with disappointment as he let go. It is hard for me to portray my feelings into words. I realised blankly looking at him will get me nowhere. I believe he thought so also because he shifted uncomfortably on my bed.
There is no sound coming from outside. I am positive if anyone were here they would be lurking in the hallway or would be waiting for the door to open. If Hopper were here, there would be a knock on the door with the casual call of, ‘My mistress.’
Emotionless: (Prototype: Zero book 1) Page 27