Reckless Magic

When I tuned back in to the eventsunfolding beyond the stone door, Lilly was completely buckled down, from thetop of her head to the soles of her feet. She looked painfully uncomfortableeven if this was her choice. Besides the chair restraints, Conrad, Terrance andAmory had also taken hold of her as if adding to the support of the buckles.

Angelica stood in the corner nearthe bubbling cauldron of shimmering light. She had put on a pair of long, thickwork gloves and held a lengthy, cylindrical glass tube with a bulb on one endand a narrowed point on the other. When Amory nodded his head, Angelica dippedthe cylinder into the vessel point side down. She stirred the flickeringillumination around until the tube itself seemed to be full of the samemystery; something not quite liquid, not quite light.

When the glass bulb itself began toglisten, she pulled the cylinder out of the cauldron. Angelica walkedcarefully, methodically over to Lilly, holding the glass cylinder by the point.Once she reached her, she took a long moment to breathe and maybe meditatebefore pressing the bulb against Lilly’s neck and jawbone just beneath herright earlobe.

Suddenly I understood therestraints. As soon as the glass tube touched Lilly’s skin she let out a blood-curdlingscream that engulfed the small room. I covered my ears instinctively, althoughtechnically no sound reached beyond the stone door.

Lilly began to thrash aggressively,despite the fact that she had three grown men and numerous buckles holding herdown. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and I could see her seizeviolently. She continued to scream, loud and menacingly, a sound that wouldhaunt me for a very long time.

Despite Lilly’s struggle, Angelicacontinued to hold the glass cylinder to her neck, never faltering, nevermoving. I noticed the light inside the tube begin to drain, and Lilly’s skinbegin to shine a shade of shimmering violet. Her entire being was engulfed inthe beautiful lilac, shining and glistening.

If my friend wasn’t in so muchterrifying pain I would have found the effect absolutely captivating.Unfortunately, despite her beauty, Lilly seemed to be in an insurmountableamount of hurt. She continued to scream and shake long past the last drops oflight had drained into her skin.

Suddenly the shimmering lavenderintensified into a deep and bright purple, painting everything in the smallroom with its concentrated color. As quickly as the color grew bright, itdiminished into a small snake eating its tale just below the earlobe of Lilly’sright ear. And finally there was silence; Lilly slumped, unmoving in her chair.

I relaxed, exhaling a breath I hadnot realized I was holding. Apparently my relief was premature however, as onlyseconds after Lilly had calmed down, she began again with another round ofscreaming and thrashing. I left Avalon’s head unable to withstand the sight ofmy dear friend enduring so much pain. I cowered against the wall and let out achoking sob.

The door opened slightly and Avalonslipped through to my side of the stone. His face was etched with the same painthat I imagined mine was, minus the tears. He stood facing me with a mixture ofsorrow and exhaustion that aged him for a moment. For only a moment, I didn’tsee my sometimes irritating and always overdramatic twin brother, in his placeI saw a great leader, and a great man. I shook my head quickly, remindingmyself of the here and now.

“Where is she?” I peered aroundAvalon, expecting the door to open again at any second.

“She has to stay here for a while.She has to recover,” Avalon spoke softly and with compassion.

“What do you mean? We have school,”I said plainly, as if the choice Lilly just made shouldn’t interfere with highschool.

“Lilly won’t be able to come toschool for a while Eden. You don’t need to worry about her though; she’s invery capable hands,” Avalon began walking towards the exit and I followed,realizing he was right.

“She will be alright?” I askedtimidly. I wanted to trust him, I knew I needed to trust him, but the image ofLilly facing so much physical pain would give me nightmares. I could notimagine going through the same torture myself willingly.

“Of course. I’m just fine, aren’tI?” Avalon replied and I held back a sarcastic thought. “Just fine,” was prettyrelative. “Besides don’t you have a rendezvous with what’s his name? You betterforget about Lilly for now, until that kid isn’t around anymore. Eden, he can’tknow anything about her induction, got it?” his compassion had turned into hardlecturing, although I did understand his point.

“I got it,” I replied, confidentthat it wouldn’t be a problem, but uncertain Lilly’s induction wouldn’t cloudmy thoughts the rest of the evening all the same. “And you can use Kiran’sname. Amory’s not going to kick you out or anything.”

Avalon only grunted his reply. Weboth knew Amory was not the problem. Avalon hated Kiran with a passion andnever missed an opportunity to remind me.

Despite Avalon, I blushed at thethought of seeing Kiran tonight. I hadn’t seen him alone since before we camehome, at his hotel suite in Geneva, Switzerland. Our time there was so intimateand special I had been nervous about seeing him again since.

Kiran sent Talbott over late lastnight to inform me of our date tonight. Well, I didn’t really know if you couldcall it a date, but we would finally get to be together…. away from school,away from Seraphina and away from Talbott. The horror of Lilly’s inductionfaded quickly when replaced with the sweet thoughts of our upcoming momentstogether.

“You mean booty call? I’m coming bythe way,” Avalon interrupted my daydreams and I stopped dead in my tracks.

“What?” I squealed.

“Eden, seriously?” Avalon turnedaround to give me his best chastising glare. “Prime surveillance opportunity.Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he turned quickly on his heel, leaving megaping after him. A date with Kiran, might be more than a little awkward ifAvalon was pla