Never Bend

Chapter 13 : Magic and desires

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They know more about me
than me.
Annie

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Walking over the quiet walkway at college, I struggle to establish a logic explanation about what just happened a while back. I was so mad that I wished in my desperation that my bullies would choke, but how on earth did they end up choking in real time? Tom's words from two days ago come to my mind along with the strange things that keep happening around me. Am I a normal person?

I bump into someone.

"Hey, watch it!" The person tells me annoyed.

"Sorry"
A couple of boys turn to me, but I am already walking away.

Replaying the scene in my mind again and again, nothing makes sense. Then it strikes me. The heaviness inside me was Tom's deed. He keeps saying that he is my shadow, and he didn't say a thing? Was he so shallower? Unable to stand to unfairness when his friends were involved? I was alone in a golden plater ready to be served and used.

My body trembles out of rage, or is it sorrow or sadness? My foot slips on the step and I hold tight to the handrail. Breathing for a second, I almost fell down. I sit for a second on the step.

"Are you ok?" a passer asks.

I nod and stroll away from the campus.

Alone, I don't need to worry about this kind of situation, well aware that my asthma prevents me from fighting for myself.

My fervent imagination took over like it often did.

Somehow, my hopes became reality. Today, they were choking on their saliva. I can't believe what I saw. Did I use magic? Hogwash! Magic doesn't exist. It's way out there with the fairies and elves and Santa Claus and whatnot.

I notice I instinctively walked down the sidewalk, taking me closer to the forest. Wandering like a lost soul, looking for an empty place for an empty soul.

I remember Tom cornering me to the wall the first night again.
'Am I going insane? Ask myself.
'He didn't mean that. Magic doesn't exist. I might need to seek a psychiatrist...'

"Watch where you're going." A voice screamed next to me.

A heavy breath comes out of my lungs. The metallic column is an inch from my face. I look around the parking lot, but see no one near me.

Where did that voice come from?

Still looking, despite that, I expect someone to walk from in-between the cars. There is no one.

"I'm the one who spoke. Try to act a little normal, will you? You look insane right now."

Plants surround the building placed in a long wooden pot separating the sidewalk from the parking. Moving towards it, I lean over to inspect the other side, but I am alone. Leaning my back to the wooden pot down, I press my head between my knees.

I am hearing voices.
I palm my head, wondering if I am getting hallucinations out of sickness. My temperature is normal.

"I AM in your head."
I close my eyes.

I will end up in a psychiatric institution. Am I losing it? I know things are painful, but... will I be able to go to college? Will I... I whine to myself, curling my body into a ball, and hiding my face in my knees.

"Haha, you won't end up in a psychiatric institution. If one day you do, it's not because you can hear me. I am completely and entirely real. It's called mind communication. It's my gift. Now, follow my lead."