Magicbound to a Snake Girl

by Kurtis Eckstein

  However, Mrs. Boone snatched it away from her and opened it to read what it said. After a moment, she looked over at me again with a glare, though I suspected it wasn’t intended to be directed towards me.

  “Go home,” she said firmly, keeping the piece of paper tight in her grasp.

  I rushed out of the room before I had time to process what had just happened. I was only halfway down the hall before Mrs. Boone began yelling.

  “This is not an acceptable note to be sending home with a student!” she snapped. “I don’t know what kind of personal grudge you hold against the Draculs, but–”

  I was out the front door then, not wanting to hear the rest of it. Not wanting to be involved. Part of me appreciated the defense, but I knew Ms. Landerson would still find some way to make my life miserable later. She’d blame me for everything. This would all be my fault in her perception.

  Kain was waiting as promised, knowing something was horribly wrong when he saw my expression.

  “Just leave me alone,” I snapped at him as I began walking away towards Kaylee’s house. My eyes were already brimming over with tears.

  He followed after me anyway.

  Chapter 11: Attack

  Kain insisted on following me to Kaylee’s house, but when it became clear I wasn’t in the mood to talk, he finally dropped it for a while. It’s not like he could do anything about it anyway, so I saw no point in telling him. And I definitely didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t even want to think about it.

  I stared down at the cobblestone underneath my feet, a mixture of anger and depression thrashing around inside my heart, despite my attempts to push it aside.

  Why did Ms. Landerson have to be so hateful? Why did all my classmates have to be so hateful?

  I bet they wouldn’t be so mean if they knew I could kill them…

  I grimaced when I was reminded of the man who I had killed, my stomach feeling queasy when I recalled the gaping hole in his chest. The memory made me stumble accidentally, prompting Kain to reach out and grab my shoulder.

  “I’m fine,” I retorted harshly, shrugging off his hand even before he could say anything. “You should just go home,” I added.

  “Alyssa…”

  “What?” I snapped, looking over my shoulder to glare at him.

  His sympathetic expression shattered my anger though. I quickly looked straight ahead again, now just feeling depressed. I wanted to cry, but not in front of him.

  I set my thoughts on Kaylee instead. “Are you seriously going to walk me all the way there?” I finally asked, already knowing the answer since we were almost at her house.

  “I’d like to see how she’s doing too,” he hedged.

  I glanced back at him again to see that he was rubbing the back of his neck, looking away. I wasn’t even sure why he was keeping a few steps behind me towards my side. Maybe he thought I’d forget about him if he was out of sight. Then again, I had been the one to take off without waiting for him to catch up. So then, maybe he was giving me some space in his own weird way.

  “You don’t even know her,” I said after a few seconds.

  He scoffed, meeting my gaze. “I don’t have to know someone to be concerned about them when they’re injured.”

  I took a deep breath, before deciding to slow down briefly to walk beside him. Because I could understand that, since that’s how it had started with Jasmyn. I had been concerned about her even though I didn’t know her.

  Kain was looking down at me from the corner of his eye now, seeming uncertain about my change of pace, but I ignored it.

  “Do you really think your dad can help?” he asked unexpectedly.

  My head snapped towards him in shock. “How did you know about that?” I wondered seriously.

  He looked at me like I was crazy. “Your dad mentioned it this morning while we were walking…” He paused. “And apparently when you were trying to ignore me.”

  I took a deep breath, because I knew he was right. “I don’t know if he can help,” I admitted. “He knows a lot about apothecary, though he doesn’t actually practice it.”

  “How does he know about potions if he doesn’t practice it?” Kain asked seriously.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “He reads a lot…”

  Not to mention he was a lot older than he looked – both my parents were. However, I finally decided I didn’t want to talk about this subject anymore. My voice came out a little harsher than I was intending though.

  “I really don’t know, okay?”

  Kain nodded, falling silent, which was great as far as I was concerned, because we were at Kaylee’s place anyway. An older woman from the family who lived on the first floor was just unlocking her door and heading inside. She glanced at us, before closing the door behind her without a word.

  I ignored her as I began climbing the stone stairs that led up to the second-floor doorway. The wooden railing looked like it was beginning to rot, enough so that I was hesitant to put any weight on it, suspecting that leaning on it too heavily might cause the unlucky person to fall the few feet back down onto the street below.

  Kaylee’s mother was the one to answer the door after a couple of knocks.

  “Hello Mrs. Sykes,” I greeted her politely.

  “Oh, Alyssa dear,” Elaine said sweetly despite her expression seeming reserved with worry. “Your father said you’d be stopping by after school. I’m glad–” Her voice cut off as her eyes shifted to Kain. “And who’s this?” she wondered, forgetting what she was going to say.

  “Kain Aldrich, ma’am,” he replied just as politely. “I was hoping to see how she was doing too…” He paused then, glancing down at me with a hesitant expression. “I’m a friend of Alyssa…”

  I sighed, deciding not to contradict him, since I had agreed to try being friends earlier that morning. “So, is my father not here?” I asked.

  Elaine shook her head sympathetically. “He came by a little earlier, and then left straight away to go talk to the doctor.” Her expression dropped slightly. “Kaylee isn’t doing very well – she hasn’t woken up at all today.”

  My eyes widened in surprise. I knew something wasn’t right with her. I lowered my voice. “Can I still see her?”

  Mrs. Sykes sighed heavily before nodding. “Mr. Burrows is here too – he just stopped by to speak with her before finding out. He’s talking to Mather now.” She gestured for us to come in as she spoke, holding the door open more.

  Kain and I shuffled inside, only to find that the head of the Guard was in their kitchen talking with Kaylee’s father as mentioned. They seemed fairly deep in conversation, so Elaine didn’t bother with greetings, instead showing us down the hallway to Kaylee’s room.

  I was shocked to see that she looked so much worse than she had yesterday.

  It was still several hours before sunset, but the sun was low enough to be streaming in her room. Nevertheless, the soft yellow glow on her body did little to hide her sickly coloring.

  Her cheeks and forehead were flushed red, whereas the rest of her face and body looked much more pale than usual. Her breathing was also heavier than it should be for normal sleeping, and her skin looked dry as a bone.

  I automatically sat down in the chair next to her bed, reaching out to hold her limp hand. Even her fingers were burning up. I saw Mrs. Sykes pause to look at us briefly before closing the door behind her.

  Kain stood there awkwardly at the foot of the bed while I examined Kaylee’s face intently. I wished there was something I could do for her, but I was at a loss.

  Kain spoke up after a few minutes of listening to her labored breathing. “So, something attacked her?” he wondered absentmindedly.

  I glanced up at him, deciding I didn’t want him to know all my secrets – I still didn’t really know if I could trust him. Not to mention, the less people who knew about Jasmyn, the better. “That’s what I heard,” I agreed.

  He nodded, seeming lost in thought. After a moment, he surprised me by moving c
loser to my side, looking down at me hesitantly.

  I leaned away from his sudden proximity. “What?” I gasped, uncertain of why he was looking at me like that.

  “I want to try something,” he explained. “But you have to promise not to laugh.”

  My eyes narrowed at that. “Try what?” I hissed, already suspicious.

  Kain ignored my question though, instead kneeling down next to me and reaching out to grab Kaylee’s hand from mine. I wasn’t sure what he was up to, but I let him take her hand from my fingers, scooting the chair over slightly so he didn’t have to be so close.

  However, he automatically scooted over too, so that he was pressing up against my hip again.

  I glared at him, ready to tell him off, only to see that his expression had changed dramatically. He was focused intently on Kaylee’s face now, his hands grasping hers tightly, his green eyes appearing pained. After a moment, his entire expression transitioned from somber to one of torment.

  I gawked at him in shock as he began to silently cry, a tear slipping out of his eye.

  At first, I was surprised enough that Kain had started crying, but after another moment he deteriorated even further, pulling Kaylee’s hand towards him more. He then bowed his head over their hands, pressing his forehead against them.

  And then he sobbed, his face distorted in pure grief. I didn’t understand what I was seeing – I didn’t understand what he was doing.

  But then I felt it.

  Just barely, I felt an infinitesimal amount of magic leak out of his side into my hip.

  I gasped, my head snapping from him towards Kaylee as I focused more intently on her face now.

  But nothing happened.

  I stared for several minutes, before looking back down at him when I felt that miniscule thread of magic disappear. He abruptly stood up then, covering his face with his hands as he walked over to the window. I watched him trying to collect himself, wiping his eyes as he attempted to pull his emotions out of the grief he was apparently feeling.

  Or maybe it was empathy?

  My mind was swarming with questions. So many questions. What was he trying to do? Why did he think he could help? Did he realize he could use magic? How much magic did he have inside of him?

  I recalled my dad saying humans struggled to get their magic out, requiring training to do so, which meant he might have a decent amount hidden within.

  But out of all those questions, one thing was absolutely certain: no matter how weak his magic was now, Kain was undoubtably a mage. Though it appeared whatever he had tried doing failed.

  I sighed heavily, finding myself unexpectedly thankful he had at least tried – that he was willing to be so vulnerable in front of me. It kind of made me feel bad for being so harsh on him, though I had to admit it didn’t change my overall feelings.

  I still barely knew the guy.

  However, as I began thinking about the few experiences we had shared in the last day, my train of thought was interrupted by the most shocking sound ever to touch my ears.

  “Alyssa?” a quiet voice whispered.

  I whipped my head around in disbelief, only to see Kaylee peeking at me through her eyelids. My eyes instantly began stinging when I heard Kain sob from behind me. I reached out to grab her hand again.

  “Hey,” I whispered back, trying to hold it together.

  Her hand was a normal temperature now.

  Kaylee reached up with her other hand to wipe the sleepiness out of her eyes, before focusing on Kain over by the window. “Who is that?” she wondered, sounding a little indignant. I couldn’t blame her, since this was her room after all.

  I smiled. “That’s Kain Aldrich,” I replied simply. “He’s in his last year at school, so I’m not sure if you’ve met him before.”

  Kaylee’s eyes narrowed, before she slowly began sitting up.

  Unexpectedly, her eyes widened in surprise, her hand flashing down to her side. She then met my gaze as if I had the answer to some unasked question.

  “What?” I said breathlessly, unsure of how to interpret her expression.

  She abruptly sat up the rest of the way, lifting the bottom of her shirt to her chest, revealing her bloody bandages. Without hesitation, she dug her fingernails underneath the blood-stained wrappings, revealing…

  Nothing.

  I had no idea what the wound had looked like before, but clearly it was gone now.

  Kaylee gasped, looking at me in shock. “Did you…” she began, her voice trailing off.

  I was gawking at her side too. “N-No,” I replied in disbelief. I then bit my lip, before glancing back at Kain. I didn’t want to give away his secret, but I also didn’t know how we could get by without giving her an explanation, and I wasn’t about to claim responsibility for something I couldn’t do.

  However, she figured it out from my glance. “He healed me?” she wondered with wide eyes.

  Kain took a shaky breath, before turning around to face us. “I wasn’t sure if it would work,” he admitted, his voice uneven. “But a few years ago, my older brother was really sick – he was the same age that I am now. Nothing the doctor gave him seemed to help, so I finally broke down, willing him to get better.” He took a deep breath. “And surprisingly he did. I thought it was just a fluke originally, but…”

  Kain met my gaze then, looking at me meaningfully as if what he was about to say should mean something to me.

  “But then about a year ago, one of our horses broke its leg. My dad was going to have to kill it, but when he ran to get his gun, I desperately tried to will it to heal…” He finally looked away. “And it did. I actually heard it’s leg snap as it fixed itself.”

  “So then, you can use healing magic,” I whispered, stating the obvious.

  I was trying to understand why the horse breaking its leg should be significant to me though, part of me wondering if I was just misjudging his expression. I wasn’t really sure either way. The only reason I could think of was that maybe that’s when he took more of an interest in me – about a year ago, when it was confirmed that he might be a mage. It made sense that he might suddenly become a little obsessed with the only family in town rumored to have a mage in the family.

  Kain shrugged at my comment, still looking away. “It’s hard to get it to work – takes a lot of effort…but yeah, I guess.”

  “That’s normal though,” I retorted, sitting up straighter. “For hum–” I abruptly stopped talking, a chill creeping up my spine. My body suddenly felt hot.

  Kaylee didn’t know my secret, and I was just about to blurt it out by calling him a human.

  Trying to cover up my almost mistake, I quickly attempted the most realistic sneeze I could, before sniffling. “Sorry. Anyway, that’s normal for most people. Mages have to practice to become decent at using their magic.”

  Kain’s eyes were wide as he processed that, but it was Kaylee who spoke up first. “Wait, how do you know that Alyssa? I mean, I know you said your mom’s a mage, but does that mean you are too?”

  I met her gaze hesitantly. “Umm, sort of,” I admitted.

  “I wish I could use magic,” she unexpectedly whined.

  My eyes widened in surprise, feeling skeptical. “You do?” I asked in disbelief.

  She looked at me in confusion. “Yeah, I mean who wouldn’t want to be a mage? Sounds cool.”

  My eyes narrowed, my irritation resurfacing. “But I thought you hated me because my mom was a mage,” I hissed between my teeth.

  She grimaced. “That was all Ryker,” she whispered, her volume suddenly gone. “His dad hates mages. The rest of us just went along with it.”

  “But why?” I snapped, really wanting an answer from her now that she seemed better.

  Kaylee pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. “So they didn’t bully me,” she admitted, her voice barely audible. “It was either be on your side or theirs.” She buried her head against her knees. “I’m sorry. I know I was stupid. I was just af
raid.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, trying not to feel anything. But I was really struggling to keep the irritation and betrayal at bay.

  Kain spoke up then. “So wait, are you saying that this kid made everyone pick on Alyssa?” he asked in disbelief.

  “I told you I didn’t have any friends,” I retorted, refusing to look at him.

  “Still. What an ass,” he commented.

  “Yeah, well he’s one of the kids who died,” I said coldly.

  Kain was quiet for a second, speaking more hesitantly once he did. “Yeah, I sort of know that.”

  I looked over at him for a moment, wondering if he knew simply because almost everyone knew, or if my dad had mentioned his suspicion about the mayor’s involvement.

  “Everyone knows,” Kain quickly added when he saw my scrutinizing. He then squared his shoulders. “Otherwise, I would have threatened to beat the shit out of him for what he was doing to you. I don’t care who his dad is.”

  I was about to respond, but suddenly the house began vibrating, the windows rattling.

  We all froze with wide eyes, before the trembling abruptly ended.

  “What was that?” Kaylee asked, just as surprised as we were. Neither of us got a chance to respond though.

  Suddenly it sounded like buildings in the distance were being smashed. The sound of wood snapping and stones falling apart filled our ears. Kain immediately opened up the window in order to look outside. People were screaming now, the noise growing louder by the second.

  “I can’t see anything,” Kain announced, craning his neck in the direction of the sound.

  Kaylee and I exchanged a glance, both of us jumping when her door abruptly opened.

  It was Mr. Burrows.

  “Everyone outside now!” he yelled at us, moving towards Kaylee to pick her up. He seemed a little surprised to see her awake, but was too panicked to comment on it.

  “What’s going on?” I demanded as he scooped Kaylee in his arms despite her complaints.

  Mr. Burrows wasn’t even trying to be gentle about it either, as if whatever had him upset was worse than any harm he might do to her. He was already rushing out of the room with her before he spoke again.