It’s not her!
Donte grabbed my arm, pushed us both to the right as an arm swung out and was close to nicking Donte on the cheek. The needle in her hands gleamed with a thick yellow substance we’re all too knowledgeable with. Paralysis potion. Donte landed on top of me for a second before he shuffled forward. His finger had tapped on the snow before he stood to help pull me up. There was no scratch marks or liquid that I needed to eliminate when I examined his face.
“You’re fast on your feet. Nearly had him too if you didn’t jump in front of him like a hero,” Charlie grimaced. “Nonetheless, my objective is to keep you away long enough for Spenc to get out of here. We are not the enemy.”
“Were you the one who put Eileen in a coma?”
“I gave Spenc what he needed to do so, but I wasn’t there when he did it. I recall him telling me that she was walking around at night and was trying to look for someone when he did it and then put her back to bed before something happened to her.”
Like, someone attacking her at night. I thought dryly.
“You know, Charlie, can I ask you something?” Donte said with a cheeky grin. She rolled her eyes and tapped one of her sneakered feet on the snow. Twitching a finger, I looked away and tried to suppress laughter. “I would have said yes if you wore the orange undies and bra, but you went with pink. A girl cliché that I didn’t think you were into. So, no, I would not go out with you.”
Charlie raised her arm. There was a glowering embarrassment that was going up her neck to the tips of her ears. Duplicates or illusions of herself came into view and surrounded us into a circle.
They all started running while saying, “I wouldn’t want to go out with someone who is so full of shit!”
Raising my hands forward, I felt the smirk resonating on both of our faces, as our fingers twitched. Strings burst from the ground and came up and attached to the real Charlie the whole time. They have been attached to her arm since the time she swung the needle towards us as well as her feet when I planted the wires into the ground. Talking was her downfall, as the strings looped around the trunk of the tree. The very first ones that stuck to her back when she was rambling. Pounding Donte’s fist made us both have the thin string join us.
Surprised, she flew up into the air and went into a ragdoll position. Wires were attached all over her body.
“Ha, dance Charlie, dance!” we cackled while she glowered. “If you don’t let us through, we will make you do something provocative with your own body.”
“Let me down now!” she demanded.
“We find it entertaining that you’re still telling us what to do when you’re the one that should be begging us not to do what we want to do.”
“I don’t understand. I analysed you both. You’re low-grade type one. How did you do this?”
“We don’t find it fun being serious with mage magic. It’s fun fooling others into thinking we are a joke but in reality . . . Yeah, I think that’s basically what we are, right Nixon?” I nodded with a grin and let fingers twinkle and make her arms flail hilariously in the air. “I always wanted a human puppet.”
“Wasn’t I good enough?” jolting out of my skin, Donte and I both whirled around to Isilies who was crawling creepily out of his rabbit hole. “Leaving me in the hangman position for seven hours until Hopper came home.”
“You were a test because you always fall for our tricks. Eileen could have helped you if you asked. Also, why are you here?”
“I followed. No way in hell was I going to get in trouble with your stupidity. I also came to bring her into questioning. Mika wants her.”
“No! Please. Let me go, and I promise I will leave and not come back. Please!”
“I love when they beg,” Donte and I said at the same time. “Did we do well at immobilising her?”
“Yeah, Mika said you can go up to advanced conjuring now.”
“Shit.”
“And the tables have turned,” Isilies laughed darkly. “Alright, let’s go. Hopper is on his way to Eileen now with Lawliet. Are you all right with her? Need any more protection to seal her in?”
“Nah, it is cool. If she runs, we have these.” Donte lifted up his sleeves. The master of concealment and revealed small vile of various potions. “She won’t be going anywhere.”
Walking behind Charlie who was between Isilies who was walking before us, with hands still in the air, so that we could keep the strings attached, I looked at Donte and pursed lips.
“What did Charlie mean?”
“Mean what?”
“You know. About that forcing someone thing.”
“It was nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“Sure,” I smiled, but felt again that Donte was hiding something important from me.
Chapter 41.
Lawliet – angry dragon.
Swiping hand forward, as if an extension, the gleaming shield shun brightly. Cracks began to show, as the ice wall heated up and shatter with the breeze. Breaking through, I was a step in front of Hopper when he stopped running and disappeared. I Ignored him and didn’t particularly care that he was going off randomly. My only determined thoughts were to find Eileen.
On the other side, my eyes flickered to the left, at two mages that were arguing with one another. Half-rolling eyes, I gave an exhaled frosted breath and kept moving forward. If anyone can slow someone down, it would be the two of those dimwits.
Gripping the crystal that now throbbed in my hands, it seemed to be working again. I have used this technique countless times. The last was when Eileen ran from me in her memories. When I used it moments ago, it was backfired with a caged layer of protection that was negating any type of magic that could be a threat to whoever placed it up. It seemed the only way in was to shatter it. What better way to break the ice but heat?
“Eileen Frost,” I demanded then threw the crystal that shattered into a portal.
It is always a blinding sensation, as the light stung eyes. It was almost similar to staring at the sun for too long. When I landed on the other side, the blotches of darkness tried to adjust to the surroundings. White snow, howling fierce wind, and a strange red substance that spotted and splattered across the smooth, soft blanket of snowflakes. Following the blood, I went rigid when the trail stopped, and there was the most fragile creature with an arm around waist and with rusty darkened reddish-brown blood that was oozing out through fingertips. Her other hand extended out and looked as if she was reaching towards me for help. Dropping to knees before her, I completely ignored my surroundings, and grabbed her hand. There were warm and still a pulse. It was weak and fragile, but the beat of her heart has never been a steady thumping or accelerated. It has always been a slow rhythmic lull of a beat.
Thank fuck.
Way to go, Mika, making us do homework together on the weekend. Together, meaning, I am stuck with that freak of nature which tends to crawl under my table and steal my boot. Her fixation is creepy. The reason I have not yet kicked her out is that she is quiet and Mika will drag her back in mainly to torment me.
Lifting the cauldron, I flipped it over and noticed the activation rune on the bottom that I contemplated on deliberately destroying and pretending that it was always broken and go back to sleep. I am too tired for this shit.
The girl didn’t find potions as inviting, as it was to take my fucking boot off again to draw in her goddamn book! She was serious. Her eyes were staring intently at the rune that I created on the sole of my boot.
The cons of not doing this work are that Mika will make me sit in here for the remainder of the day until it was done without sleep. Pros are that I don’t have another student see my worst fears in the bottom of the cauldron.
“’Face your fears.’ How motivational.” I said dryly. “Whatever, this is stupid.”
Placing the herbs, strange dead old wrinkled chicken foot as well as a cup of water, crystal dust and a spoon, I mixed the ingredients together until it turned into the thing I feared most.
&
nbsp; As the cauldron burst into flames, wings flew up before the squawking of an inhuman creature. The girl, Eileen, set down the boot and looked up at the black and white small dragon. The holographical creature flew around in circles over it. With a grimace, I leant back and thought bitterly, well this is fucking ironic.
“Interesting,” she murmured as she poked at the leather wings.
Dragging the cauldron Mika gave to her, she dumped the ingredients in without a thought or looking at the recipe, mixed it together until it turned into the colour of thick black sludge. Disgusted, she raised the spoon and essence of grim darkness slipped up in the form of hands that were wanting to grab the nearest being towards it. Saddened howls of despair wailed, and it made me chuckle darkly.
“At least your fear can be considered normal. Anyone can fear death.”
“I see,” she murmured as she stared down as if that was the first time she understood that is what fear is.
Whatever, now I can fucking sleep.
Bluish green orb lights bobbed around and were healing her when I touched her stomach. I then stood and turned towards the mage that had done this to her. Spenc.
The one thing I tried to control from the moment that I was adopted was my anger. However, this time, as the thought of Eileen wounded severely in the snow and the fact that I didn’t make it in time to help her really got under my skin. The struggling tension of composer lifted, and it was as if every bone in my body relaxed.
It has been a remotely long time since I have been so angry. This time I stared daggers at Spenc, I felt the veins climb with mage magic. Fingers sharpened, nails turned into claws and scales ran up my hand, all the way to the shoulder of my right hand. Taking a step forward, I shut down all emotions and ended up right before Spenc who widened his eyes, surprised at how fast I appeared in front of him. With the last moment reaction, he moved back when I sliced my arm forward. Droplets of blood splashed across his midsection. Angered, I moved forward again, grabbed his face and slammed it down towards the ground. An earth-shattering rumble erupted with the movement of power.
“I want to tear you apart,” I growled. Raising a hand, I slammed it down to his throat. I wanted to see the oozing blood and tortured pained expression he would have done to Eileen Frost.
Chapter 42.
Spencer – truth behind my lies.
A shapeshifter is a creature that either chose to be a servant underneath mage or have been stolen by them, brought into slavery that maybe one day could be bought by a mage to become a servant. It is more common to be a slave bought to be a servant than a creature that was willing to become a shifter. It was almost degrading of a creature to want to be a servant to mages.
I was born into slavery. My mother’s old master didn’t enjoy that she was pregnant and sold her for half the price back to the slavers cells. She died after birth, so I was alone in the cells for days and was crying, before another slave creature, wolf, close to the Fox family, decided to take me in. I stayed with them until I was five and sold.
The one who bought me came around daily for the past week before the purchase. Each time, I was set out to line up with the other creature children around the same age as I was and height. On the last viewing, I was washed for the first time in the clean, warm water. The mages scrubbed me until I shined. They slathered me in fruity soap and erased bruises and scars with their healing technique. They dressed me in clothes that didn’t have odd, strange stains, some that were already on there when it was given to me and into soft, iron warm fabric that didn’t itch skin. After being dressed, they cut and brushed my hair as well as put cream onto skin that smelt overwhelming. Once done, I lined up with three other kids I only see when we come here. They must be from the cells either above or below my section.
The door opened, and he came in with two others, one female one male. They made me afraid. The woman with blond hair with a yellow tint was moving a knife side to side in her hands with an almost bored look. Her eyes were the colour of light pink pearls. The male on the other end of the mage who has been viewing us for a week held a staff in one hand and had normal dark brown hair and eyes.
In our cells, we have an auto-running documentary that lists endlessly of mages. Everything about them as well as their government. With a single look, I could tell at that moment that they were strong, but at the time, of how young I was, I was oblivious to any thought but the fact that this was the glimmer of hope I needed to escape the cells of slavery.
“I smell fear,” the female said with a broadened grin. Her skin brightened, and the veins that I have heard all about joined with a white liquid as she stepped through. She crouched before me while she still danced the knife between hands. “Mongrels who are young still have advanced level thoughts, that is correct, Jerome?”
“Every Shapeshifter here has been educated about mages since birth. All of these child shapeshifters can understand an age thirteen language and speak English, Spanish, French and we were about to place the documentaries of mages in Japanese this week for some cells.”
“What is your name, Mongrel?” she asked me.
“I don’t have a name,” I answered honestly.
“What do other Mongrels call you?”
“Spencer when I do something wrong.”
“Why Spencer?”
“It used to be Spanner because I hit a guard over the head with one. A spanner is an object. It wasn’t a great name. Afterwards, creatures would call me Spencer.”
The room suddenly grew colder, as the three other children stared downwards, turned their heads away from eyesight and shied away. I wondered what I said that was wrong. It was the backhanded blow the female gave me with the hilt of the knife that caught my attention. My temple throbbed, and when touched, a lump already started to form along the ridge of the hairline.
“Nysa, we don’t have time for games. We only came to pick one to become Vic’s servant.”
“It is no game. I am merely educating an uneducated shape-shifter.” She raised the hand that didn’t have the knife and touched the throbbing pain at my temple. The stinging sensation drummed across painfully and made me wince while she made a too happy intake of breath. “A creature is something that is not bound by mage law. They are free and roam their selected areas outside of our governed areas. A shapeshifter is a willing or unwilling creature that has to abide by our laws or else they will be punished. I enjoy ravishing in others pain. The smell of fear is always stronger than any other scent imaginable. Do you understand where I am coming from?”
I nodded shakily, as this mage frightens me. She is acting more like a wild wolf creature on the prowl. Not a high standard mage that I have heard so much about. If this is outside world, I do not think I want to be a part of it. They seem more dangerous than being alone in a cell for the rest of my days.
“Nysa.” The man grunted.
“Orjan, I believe Spencer should be Vic’s servant,” she straightened up, placed her hand delicately on my head, and patted. Turning towards the others who were straight-faced, she said with a smile. “With every chance that you get, break his spirit if he gets out of hand. I want him completely dead inside at the age of thirteen before he can fully work with us.”
“Understood,” the man with no name nodded.
And after that, was when the pain started.
It wasn’t only the organisation that I viewed to be corrupt. The first chance I took when going for the daily walk, I ran. I ran towards the closest creature I noticed and begged for help. He turned to me, wide-eyed, and was shaking with fear. He was trying to get away from my clinging grasp. He was as scared as I was when his mage master called him. Shoving me off, he ran towards the master obediently while I crumbled under my master, as his firm tightened painful grip dug into my shoulder. I knew I wasn’t going to get off lightly.
It took me a long time to learn what to do, and what not to do. I was nothing more than a shape-shifter who followed behind him at all times. I was never allowed to speak
to him by his name, only master and kept on moving wherever he went. I was never allowed a break or anything to drink or eat while in public. I had an hour to myself daily, only to wash in ice-cold water, eat and have a twenty-minute nap. It took me seven months to grow familiar with the routine. I would always collapse in random places from over-exhaustion, lack of sleep and hunger. I was constantly in pain from the punishments, and I withdrew further into my mind whenever Nysa, the second part of the organisation, the Hunter, showed up to see how I was fitting in and coming along. If she noticed one wrong move or a glimmer of resistance in my eyes, she would tell Vic, and then he would punish me.
It was not until I was there for a few years that he gave me a cooperated mission. I was assigned to view and report back to him with any information. I looked at him, dumbfounded when he pulled up to a children’s primary school. He threw me my backpack, and I peeked in the hole above to notice that there were books, a lunch container and a water bottle. He didn’t say a word, opened the door and let me shuffle out.
I was in unknown territory. He didn’t train me for this job. He didn’t train me at all and thinking about it now. I wouldn’t have expected him to. He was the type to throw me in a pool filled with sharks and expect me to fight my way out without a scratch.
Clinging to my backpack, after I roamed for some time, an office lady helped sign me in and took me to my class. As we walked, she talked adamantly about my ‘father’ and in an admirable way. I smiled and felt uncomfortable because I believe she had no clue who I was and how intelligent I was to pick up on body language.
She spoke to the teacher while I stood at the front of the class. I was supposed to notice someone. Watch someone. I looked around, and it was almost immediately that I noticed who I was after. My eyes widened at the aura that surrounded her as she looked out the window in the far back. She looked bored as her pencil danced around fingertips. She was clearly a mage. Everything about her, to the high cheekbones, smooth Highborn finishes and soft curly hair. Her eyes were the decisive factor as she looked away from the window and to me. They shined that natural colour I was used to seeing every day.
Emotionless: (Prototype: Zero book 1) Page 39