Aberrant

Chapter 24 - Oblitus

Upon entering the inside of the underground hut - or the rebels' camp, I have no idea what they like to call it - I'm immediately confronted with a dank smell and surrounded by darkness. "Watch your step!" Essri calls from above as she slams the trap door above us, taking away the last bit of light and completely submerging my senses - without my eye sight even sound seems different, like there's a more immediate sense of danger with this vulnerability. I grip tight onto the rusty metal rungs of the ladder as I make my descent into the unknown.

My feet meet what I assume to be a dirt floor and I step out of the way to let Essri down. The air is chilly down here and I sort of wish that I listened to my mother about wearing a coat. I haven't seen her in months and even though I'm not thinking about her constantly I still get these little spouts of memories in the day and get reminded of how much I miss her.

I hear Essri whisper some words under her breath and suddenly there's powder in my face. "What the hell?" I splutter as candles are suddenly lit around me.

"Shit! Sorry." Essri looks at me guiltily, "I thought you were behind me."

I eye the candles suspiciously, "What did you do anyway?"

"I did a spell so I didn't have to light all the candles." She explains, waving a baggie of golden powder.

I try not to act impressed, "Well, don't try to blind me with it next time."

"Sure, T." She muffles her laughter behind the sleeve of her jumper. "But are you ready to see the base?"

"Show the way." I gesture around me. It appears that there's only this room here so I'm not sure what she can show me.

"Follow me." She skips to the dirt wall opposite the ladder and starts to smooth her hands over the surface until she pauses and throws her hand straight through it, not like she punched a hole in it, but her hand literally just slid straight through it. She twists her arm like she's turning a handle and a loud clanging sound erupts from behind the wall. Slowly, the door melts away and disappears all together.

I feel my eyes practically pop out of my head when she just turns to be with a coy grin, "Just a bit of magic." She shrugs.

"A bit?" I gape, "If this is your idea of being bad at magic I'm scared to meet a witch that's good."

"Well, you'll hopefully never meet a witch that's good at magic - well, you've met that witch that preformed the memory spell but she's alright." She starts to head though the now open door.

"Why?" I question, following her, "What's wrong with powerful witches?"

"Well, it does take about a hundred years for a witch to become pretty powerful and that usually results in them becoming pretty bitter and evil, so I don't suggest that you hang out with old witches."

"And you think I plan to?" I squint at her.

"I don't know." She shrugs, taking me down a corridor. "You seem to be into older people." She smiles innocently as she makes that jab.

I glare at her, "Really?"

"Well I'm older than you, and Cree is." She suggests.

"I-I don't like you!" I splutter, where had she got that idea from?

"Everyone likes me, T. Who could resist this delicious temptation?" She gestures to her curvy hourglass figure.

"There's nothing to resist since there is no temptation." I roll my eyes, not really in the mood for her jealousy. I know she likes me, it's not hard to figure out, but it's annoying when she refuses to accept that we're nothing more than friends at the moment.