Rise of the Night Witch

Side Story - Do You Believe In Magic?

A/N: Hey everyone. No Tuesday chapter today because I've been working on something else. This chapter is a submission for a contest by magic and uses the following prompt:

"Some believe in miracles and some don't. What happens when they are gifted with special powers."

Why is this chapter in this book even if it has nothing to do with the main story? Well, it's set in the same universe and you will recognize a familiar very similar to Siris (also, I needed a Tuesday chapter for the algorithm). However, having read the rest of the story is NOT a requirement to understand anything here. Now, without further ado, enjoy!

Only a miracle could save Daniel now. The Sun's last rays streamed into the hospital room and the evening sky shone at the vital monitor next to his bed. His sky blue eyes blinked woozily under his blonde hair.

Serenity stood by his side. A tear rolled down her cheek, but Daniel, his face as pale as a ghost's, lifted his hand from his bed and touched hers.

"Don't cry," he said.

"W-why? Why should I not cry? You'll die!"

"Everyone dies someday. I'll just die sooner than most."

He was too young to be claimed by cancer. Serenity had only known him for a few months. He was a football player, she was a bookworm; a pair that did not naturally fit together, but they had shared interests, liked the same movies, and even the same food.

But there was a difference. Daniel believed in miracles. He believed good things happened to good people and anything was possible if you just believed. Serenity was skeptical. She knew there were rules in this universe. Thermodynamics, for instance. But also the rule that adenocarcinoma at this stage couldn't be healed anymore. They ignored everything. They ignored the shortness of breath and his persistent coughs; now, it was too late to save him.

"What about me?" she said. "You'll leave me behind! How can you do this?"

"I won't leave you behind," he answered. "It's true that I'll have to walk through the door of death alone. But I'll be together with you on one side of it and we'll also be together on the other."

Serenity shook her head. She hated this nonsense. She didn't believe in anything resembling ghosts, or magic, or an afterlife. She knew he was going to die and that would be it.

She let go of his hand and ran out of his patient room, crying, and entered the visitor's room. It was a visitor's room like every other visitor's room with its cubic-like shape, its small windows, and its oppressive, claustrophobically low ceiling. This was a nightmare. A nightmare from which she would soon wake up, only for her to see Daniel back on the field with his healthy tan restored.

"This is not a nightmare!" a squealing, child-like voice said.

Serenity looked around. Prying eyes filled the room where an old lady watched Serenity with a scolding glare and a boy as young as Tiny Tim hid his head in his collar. None of them looked inquisitive. They looked baffled, surprised why that brown-haired girl glanced around as if she were fleeing from a ghost.

"They aren't talking to you," the voice said. "I am."

Serenity snapped around. On the window board sat a tiny, black-furred cat with a white half-moon pattern on its neck and a glint in its eyes as bright and radiant as the stars.

"My name is Gaia," the cat said. "You know, like the goddess of Earth because I love bathing in mud."

Serenity's eyes narrowed. She looked at the lady and the young boy, then back to the window with the cat on it to make sure she hadn't imagined it. Dread spiked through her mind like a spear as her mouth opened and the words fell out of it like rocks from a cliff.