SpellShocked (SpellShocked Saga: Book 1)

Chapter 7 - I Have Some Conditions

I stood outside my front door, steeling myself to walk inside. I was dreading going back in there to face the embarrassment of having run away like a scared child, but mostly I was just nervous about what the outcome of this conversation would be. I had been trying to think about all of the stipulations I wanted to make of the sorcerers, and I thought I had covered everything I wanted, but I wasn't even sure they'd let me make demands.

I focused on slowing my breathing and heartbeat. I can do this. I can take control of my life. Harvey's words rang through my mind and a strange sense of determination overtook me. I felt a strength flow through me that had nothing to do with magic and I exhaled and pushed the door open.

I don't know why I expected there to be noise when I entered the house, but it was deathly silent. Every sound seemed to echo as I walked towards the living room. I tried to listen at the door but there was no noise from the room, so I pushed the door open with a little hesitation.

My parents and Zac stood up when I entered the room; they looked utterly relieved to see me. My mom rushed towards me and threw her arms around me.

"Charlie! We were so worried about you!" She started brushing my hair off of my forehead, "You're soaked! Where did you go? Are you alright?"

"Yeah mom, I'm okay." I said, pushing her gently off me. There would be time to talk to her and my dad later; right now, I had to talk to the sorcerers while my nerve held. But when I looked over, Mr Beck was the only other person still in the room, besides Zac.

"Charlie. Are you alright?" Mr Beck asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine. Where are the others?" I asked.

"They had to leave' they had other duties to attend to. I offered to stay here to wait for you to return."

"Are you sure you're okay dude?" Zac asked, gripping my arm gently.

"Yeah...I'm okay now." I smiled weakly, drawing additional strength from his touch. I tried not to think about the fact that he might not be so supportive when he heard what I had to say.

"Look, Charlie, I'm sorry if I was insensitive before. I do understand how hard this must be, trust me I do. And if there were any other alternative I would offer it to you in a heartbeat. But you have to come with us, if you don't learn how to use your Gift properly you could seriously hurt someone."

"I-I know. And...you're right. I...I'll come with you." I said, resignedly.

"What?!" my mom, dad and Zac all shouted in unison.

I ignored their yells of protest, and shouted over the rabble of their combined voices, "But I have some conditions first!" This successfully shut them up, as curiosity clearly overtook their desire to complain.

"What conditions?" Mr Beck asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

"I'll come with you to your school...but only if you meet all of my conditions, no exceptions."

"Charlie...I can't promise th-,"

"Look I know I have to go with you, but I refuse to just throw my whole life away to do it. Accept my conditions or I'm not going anywhere." I knew I was bluffing, and I also knew he could force me to go if I refused, but I took a gamble anyway. I glanced at where Zac and my parents stood out of the corner of my eye, looking confused and worried.

"Okay," Mr Beck muttered, "Tell me what you want, and I promise you I'll try to make it happen."

That would have to be good enough. I ran through my list in my head quickly before speaking, "Right. First off, I promised I'd go to this school, but...not forever. You said I just had to learn to control my magic. When I learn control, I'm leaving the school. I won't be a danger to the general public once I learn control, so there's no need for me to be there, right?"