Sad Magic

Chapter 7

I took a shower. I really needed one. There wasn't much I could do while I was in the hospital. The warm running felt nice against. I took a bottle of conditioner that I brought with me and cowashed my hair and combed out any tangles.

Conrad was nice enough to give me a wash rag and towel. I was able to collect my amongst the showering water. What was I gonna do? How was I really gonna fight a something like that? Could I really stop him, did I even want to stop him? I mean I was fine with whatever my fate was before all this shit started.

I tried not to be in the shower too long. I got out and wrapped myself in a towel. I took the T-shirt I was previously wearing and dried my hair with it.

The bathroom was too steamy to change in there so I hurried back into my room. I changed into a simple black dress, and pulled my hair into a small puff.

I checked the bookshelf. Maybe there's something that I could read to help me. I searched but found nothing, figures. But something did catch my eyes. There was an old beat up looking journal. I took it out to look at it. It had the same symbols as the ones on my chest and left hand. Why would this be in his house?

I felt a twinge in my stomach. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but that coupled with the strange dreams, I just couldn't. I had to see what was in it, but I was locked. Maybe I could just ask him about him and see how he'd react. It might put me in danger, but then again the last person who tried to harm me ended up strung up like some sick art project.

No, I'm not gonna get this kid killed. I had flashbacks to that room, Father Goldworth's screams, the blood, the strong pungent smell of rust and copper. I didn't want that for Conrad, but this was strange.

It's not like I trusted him that much to begin with, but I was in this guys house. I was in the heart of a lion's den. But it's not like I could go home, not without having panic attacks and be reminded of the horrible chain of events that went down in the past few days.

I put it back on the shelf. Weighing my options the best thing to do was stay here until I found a better plan. That doesn't mean I wasn't turn a blind eye to this. If he was connected to this somehow, then he was my only lead into figuring how to fight it.

There was a knock at the door. It caught me off guard and I jumped. I collected myself and answered.

"I just wanted to let you know that pizza there's pizza in the kitchen. If you want we can watch some tv in the livingroom," he offered.

"Yeah, that sounds fine," I said before opening the doors.

He stood there his dark silky hair tied in a ponytail. His clothes were stained with what looked bleached and other chemicals. He had a mask pulled under his chin, and was in the process if taking off gloves. He looked like he was

He smiled at me," you look really nice."

"Oh thank you," I looked down at myself.

I hadn't noticed before but Conrad was taller than me. The few times I saw him I was either in bed or wearing platforms.

"Give me a minute to change then I can show you were the plates and cups are."

He walked into his room leaving the door open. I'm not sure if he meant for me to follow him but I wasn't going in there. He went into the bathroom in his room and shut the door. From what I could see, from where I was standing, his room was pretty normal. His walls were painted a deep shade of blue and he had a shelf with different types of cameras on display with a tripod stand next to it.

He few minutes he came out in sweatpants and a Nine Inche Nails tshirt that was a bit faded. He still left his hair in a ponytail. He looked me up and down before he spoke,"Alright, follow me."

I followed him down the hall into the kitchen. He reached into one of the white wooden cabinets above the sink and pulled out two glass plates. He set the on the kitchen counter next to the pizza. He went over to the drawer by the washing machine and pulled out a knife.

"They forgot to cut one of them," he explained. "I hope you dont mind I just got cheese and pepperoni. Normally I like to get mushrooms and olives but I understand that's not for everyone."

"No that's fine. Like I said I'm not picky."

He smiled and went over to cut up one of them. I watched him as I washed my hands at the sink. He put a few slices on his plate. I joined him grabbing two slices of pepperoni.

I followed him to the couch and sat at the other end of him. He turned on the tv and told me we could watch whatever I wanted so I settled on the Coraline.

As we watched it he looked and me. It looked like he was thinking of what to say. He seemed a bit nervous.

"So are going to be able to going back to school. I know we're in like our last few weeks of this semester before fall break."

"I mean, I still have finals to do. Plus with being stuck in the hospital all day I'm read for a change of scenery."

"Have figured out your major yet," he asked before taking a bit of pizza.

" I was thinking about doing something in writing. Maybe I'll write a book about my life. Or maybe study to become a botanist. I mean I've always had a fondness for plants," I explained.

"That's pretty cool. If you do end up writing a book I think it would be pretty interesting."

That's all if I dont die before I had the chance to do these things. I always thought 8 had so much more time. If I had known sooner I would've left this place a long time ago. I would've done more, maybe something illegal.

Now I had to try to figure how to buy myself more time. I hated this place and I didnt want to die here. I didn't want to be buried next to people who criticized me.

"What do you plan to do after. I know you said you wanted to travel, but any idea where?"

"No," I said,"maybe start small like Atlanta or Nashville, and work my way up. I do want to leave the country. Maybe I'll settle down in Canada when I'm old."

"Canda that's pretty far."

"That's the idea."

We went back to the movie, however; I noticed that he would take glances at me every once in awhile. It wasn't hard to tell he was attracted to me.

After the movie was over we talked for a bit.  He told me more about his plans for photography and goals for the future. I got tired pretty quickly, so I went to bed kinda early after washing off my plate in the sink. He stayed up for awhile, I could hear him playing video games quietly in his room.

I couldn't stop staring at that damn book, sitting there in the bookcase. I needed to know what was in it. Why was it locked? I fell asleep shortly after that.