The Vortex: Prophesies

Chapter Seven

Things feel wrong, still rocky and on the off chance I am walking around the castle by myself, I find myself jumping every time someone comes around the corners. They're always talking with their friends or have their nose in a textbook, but I still need to take a moment to gather my senses before continuing on.

I don't think I'm scared of them; I don't want to be at least. Everything is strained, with Liylah more than anything. We don't leave her alone, not unless she is safely within her classes or the confines of our room, one of us is always there at her request.

The way we felt finding her trapped there is nothing in comparison to what she went through, being attacked and left their for hours before we noticed, and the guilt gnaws at us too. For not being more aware of where she was and wasn't, the cracks in our friendships catalysts for something worse, than a petty teenage fight that we are bound to have more of.

She still refuses to let any of us tell someone what happened, she missed days of classes locked up in the dark of our dormitory and we had to put on the everything's okay façade and just continue our day.

It was fucked up; I hated every second of it and every teacher I saw I wanted to tell and every time I saw Emma's smug face, I wanted to pound it in. Forget magic, what she did deserves the physical ramifications of my fist, Jamie kept everyone in line, the only one who could keep his anger in check long enough to pull us out of suspension.

"Have you found anything?" Percy asks, hovering over my shoulder as I flick through the pages of 'Defensive Hexes and Charms' looking for someone one of us can subtly use against her in the halls.

"Clearly not" I huff, the book sliding out of my grip. "What the hell Jamie!"

Holding the book to his chest, Jamie shoots me a scathing look. "You said you were coming down here to look for healing spells, to help with the scabbing and scarring that Liylah has"

"I was, but the more I read, the angrier I got" I explain, curling my hands into fists and punching myself on the leg softly. "I want to heal her, but I also want to ruin her face"

"I'm not allowed to punch girls" Percy says, crossing his arms over his chest. "Hexes will have to do"

"Liylah said no, to both of those things, and it took us days to convince her to let us help heal her, so stop making her angry and help make her better" he reprimands, and for once the desire to smack him overrides the desire to kiss him.

"Liylah is clearly not-" Percy starts but I flick the side of his head.

"We aren't doing that! No more being rude about our friends"

"Fine!" Je yells, "Go and find your magical cure, I'm going to find Jai, I'm sure he knows a spell"

"He's with Liylah!" Jamie calls after him, the resounding slam of the door drowning out the sound.

"You're an asshole" I spit, my chair sliding back loudly as I revisit the bookshelf, looking begrudgingly for healing books.

I may not agree but Jamie is right, he has been a lot recently, dealing with four emotionally volatile sixteen-year-olds. Liylah has been insistent that we don't engage with any revenge plans in her honour, she has only just begun feeling like she doesn't need her guard up 24/7 and doesn't want to back track due to us pissing Emma's posse off.

I personally think it would be worth it, but Liylah and Jamie do have a point, healing her wounds is a far more pressing matter. The magical bonds they had cutting into her skin, on what we think is purpose, has left dark red gashes across her skin that have only just begun to scab over and not bleed at the slightest agitation.