Tales of a Magician, The Inquiry

Chapter 3

There was thick, black fog and mist all around him. Monty strained his eyes to see any shapes or forms in the distance, to no avail. The air smelled and felt like smoke, as if there had been a fire, but he couldn't see any flames.

"Monty..." A female voice whispered. "Monty, look at me..."

He looked all around for the source of the voice.

"Monty..." It whispered again, softly.

"Where are you?" He called. Just as he was about to take a step forward, he heard the voice again, in his ear.

"I'm right here."

He whipped around in surprise and met eyes with a girl just about his age. She was gorgeous, pale with bright emerald eyes and dark hair that flowed over her shoulders. Monty stared at her in shock as she gently placed her hands on his cheeks.

"You have to kill me,Monty."

His eyes widened. "I have to what?"

"You have to kill me before I kill you."

He tried to pull away from her, but her hands were tight on his face. Suddenly, fire surrounded the two. Monty struggled to get out of her hold, beginning to panic. He screamed but he became drowned out by the roar of fire crackling all around him. A man he did not recognize stepped behind the girl and put a hand on her shoulder.

The girl forced his head to the side, and he came face to face with a charred, black corpse. Monty screamed in terror, and then suddenly shot straight up in bed. He stared wide eyed around his room, gasping for breath and sweating, before realizing that he was awake.

He'd never had a dream that woke him up that violently before. It was one of the most vivid and disturbing dreams he'd ever had. Who were those people and why were they so clear? He was sure he'd never seen them before. Why did she ask him to kill her? He was probably looking too deep into it. Dreams never make sense and don't always have a meaning.

Monty took a breath and calmed himself down. He unlocked his phone, looked at the time, and immediately jumped out of bed, scrambling to get dressed. School started at 7:30. It was 8:15. He darted out of the house, skipping breakfast and barely remembering to close the front door.

When he finally got to class, he opened his backpack and was stunned to find his dad's dusty old book sitting between his math textbook and Of Mice and Men. He must have shoved it in there last night without thinking.

"Dude, what's that?" Reagan whispered.

Monty looked up at him, and then back at his bag. "Just some book of my dad's."

"No, not that. The ring."

Monty looked at his hand in confusion and found his dad's ring on his finger. He must have seriously not been paying attention last night when he cleaned up. How did he manage to accidentally smuggle his father's book and ring to school?

"Oh, uh, my dad's ring. I guess I fell asleep with it on."

"Can I see?"

Monty nodded. He tried to pull the ring off but was met with a sudden sharp pain in his finger. He flinched away in shock.