A Cursed Day

08. Flames

Samuel's POV

When you are half a magical being like I am, you get used to a lot of things that would freak out a normal human being. I used to be one of them, I guess I am still human depending on your debate but it also took me a long time to come to terms with my whole new life and everything that was no included in it.

Aurora is the reason that I am alive really, she is the reason that I didn't stay dead in that field all of those decades ago. With time I came to realise just how much she risked and gave up for me. To some extent I have been feeling guilty every since that day, I know that I never lied to her or led her on to believe that there was something between us when there wasn't.

But, that doesn't mean I should have been more observant and noticed that Aurora might come across as cold and unfeeling but I have seen her perform some miracles for people that she definitely did not need to do that for. She can pretend to be cold all she wants but I have seen otherwise, she can't fool me.

All those years ago there was a part of me that wished things could have been much easier if I had the same type of feelings that she had for me then things wouldn't have gotten so complicated. She is a good woman, witch, but I just never felt for her in that way.

Everything that I have been through did not prepare me to see the most powerful witch known walking this Earth, being thrown clear across the room as the weird sofa Ariel is on starts glowing and making this weird humming noise. My first instinct was to run to Aurora's side to check if she's okay but the next thing I know I'm being thrown across the other side of the room.

I don't know how long I was out for but I knew as soon as I opened my eyes and felt the pounding headache behind my eyes that I knew for sure it must have been more than a few seconds because Ariel was no longer lying on the couch but she was somehow levitating on top of it. Her red hair spread all around her head, her eyes still closed but her whole body had taken on this type of glow.

I have met and seen all kinds of magical beings since being introduced into this kind of life but I have never actual seen someone glow. Sure some types of magic make an object glow but it's never the person.

"Aurora." I shout when I steal a glance and see that she is still slumped over in the corner. Has she been out all of this time as well? I try to get up and go to check on her but I find that I literally cannot get up, it feels like there is rope tied around my thighs holding me down.

I don't know where to look, for the first time in a long time I start to feel doubt and panic creeping into my head. When I became a guardian angel, that came with some new powers that I did not have when I was fully human. So it has been a couple of decades since I have felt weak or panic seeping when I feel like I can't do anything.

"Fuck this." I swear as I try and muscle my way up and away from whatever is keeping me down. Just because I can't see any rope, doesn't mean it's not there, especially since I could swear that I can feel it.

"Sam, you're not going to be able to muscle your way out of that vine magic." Aurora's weak voice reaches my ears and I see that she has a thin line of blood running down the side of her head.

"So it is magic holding me down." I mutter under my breath because now I'm just beginning to get a little pissed off at whoever or whatever is doing all of this.

"Don't worry, you haven't lost your strength big guy, this is some pretty powerful magic coming from your girl over there." She continues in a weak voice, I don't think there has ever been a time where I could use the word weak and Aurora in the same sentence.

"But she isn't a witch or a magical being." I continue to fight my denial, because there is obviously something more going on, Ariel is not a human that much is obvious but with each passing moments more and more questions are arising rather than being answered and at this point I don't know the cause of my headache.

"I think we are past the denial stage Sam, I have never felt magic this strong maybe even when I was being taught how to be a witch. I'm from the oldest coven in the world, and I have never felt anything like this before." She goes on and I have to fight to keep the panic from rising as I look at her wide eyes and start to feel even her sense of helplessness.

"Is there anything you can do to break her magic? She probably doesn't even realise she is casting a spell right now." I sag against the wall and give up for the time being of fighting against the invisible rope.

"She is not casting a spell right now, somehow she is draining the magic from the couch into herself. I never even knew you could do that, that couch is the one stealing little bit of magic from every spell." She continues to stare at Ariel as if this is the first time she is seeing magic which is more than a little worrying.

"Would any normal witch be able to drain energy like this?" I ask even though I know the answer but maybe my questions will be able to trigger Aurora to think of something new, of some old information she didn't even know she was keeping inside her head.

"No one I have ever seen or spoken to has been able to even interact with the couch if it wasn't the right time or spell, let alone seem to control it or drain magic from it." She confirms that we are back to square one as neither one of us has any clue what is happening or what we can do about it.

"What about if it was the creator or someone related to the witch who created the couch? It feels so stupid even saying it." I mumble under my breath at the end. It seems like just a couch but the way that Aurora is acting, it's as if this is the most important piece of furniture in the world.

"You might be onto something, do you know why they are after her? You said that you saved her from some kind of cursed day? You need to tell me everything, I love a good mystery." She grins and moves so she can be more comfortable on the floor.

"This isn't some joke, it's not a mystery that you can have fun guessing the answer to." I almost growl at her, some inhumane sound trying to make it out of my body. This is seriously the worst fucking time for Aurora to want to play one of her games.

"This is going to be a fun mystery Sam! Of course I want to be the one to solve it." She grins and it seems like she has managed to heal that bang on her head in this time as I see little sparks shooting from her fingers and a gleam in her eye that only spells trouble for me.

"Just don't do anything stupid." I say with a sign even though I know that warning is also going to fall on deaf ears. Aurora does what she wants to do and it seems that in the time we have been apart she has only become even more hard headed.

"If I didn't know how to do stupid well then neither one of us would be standing here right now." She winks at me and presses her hands which are now covered in flames to what looks like her thighs but the ropes that must be holding her down as well don't go away so easily.

"Burn you motherfuckers." She swears as the flames spread to cover her thighs and create a small bubble around her legs where she is being held down. It takes her a couple of moments but she manages to burn through them but I can see that it has drained her more than she was expecting.

She walks around the couch, I don't know what she could be looking for since she has lived with thing for god knows how long so she must know this thing like the back of her hand.

"Fuck." She whispers as she reaches forward and touches Ariel's foot.