Traces Of Magic

~Chapter 25~

-Sage's POV-

My eyes open slowly. I can't see a thing. I try to move my arms, but they are held down by something. My legs are held down as well. My head hurts terribly. I groan and shut my eyes. A door opens and shuts. I have the feeling of no longer being the only one in the room. A hand brushes the side of my face accompanied by a male voice. "My, you're rather beautiful up close." I don't dare to open my eyes. "What happens to be your name sweetheart?" I stay silent and take a deep breath. Suddenly, the side of my face stings as I am slapped. The male voice is harsher now. "Don't worry. You'll be speaking after we're done with you." He laughs before he leaves. My chest heaves up and down as my breathing gets faster. Don't panic now Sage. Jarron will come and get you. He always does...

-Mandy's POV-

I sigh and roll over. It's a lot harder to fall asleep when someone else is in bed with you. Grayson drapes his arm over me. He moves closer to me. I feel his breath against the back of my neck, and it makes me really uncomfortable. I gently move his arm off of me before I crawl out of bed. I watch him sleep for a moment before I leave my room.

I shut my door quietly before sneaking into Adam's room. Thankful that he's still at Ryan's house, I crawl into his bed. I pull the covers up over me. Something fuzzy brushes against my foot. I sit up and pull the covers off, revealing his treasured blue bunny. I grab it and set it down on my lap. Its tilted head stares at me with one dull button eye. The embroidered smile is frayed at both ends. I clutch it against my chest.

Something inside it makes a crinkling noise. I unvelcro the side and stick my hand inside of the bunny. My fingers brush a piece of paper. I grab onto it and pull it out. In my hand is a family picture of us from when Adam was younger. A tear rolls down my face. It's splashes as it hits the picture. I stick in back inside and revelcro the bunny's side.  I sob into the bunny so Grayson doesn't hear me. With it still in my arms, I lay back down and fall asleep.

Sunlight hits me in the eyes and wakes me up. I yawn and stretch. Adam's bunny is still in my hand. I set it down on the pillow before exiting the room. I take a quick peek into my room. Grayson isn't there, so I assume he must be up. There's some noises coming from downstairs. I glance over the railing to see Grayson standing at the foot of the stairs. I slowly creep down the steps until I get to the bottom step.

Just as he turns to go somewhere, I jump on to his back. I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. Grayson jumps. "Mandy! You scared the crap out of me!" I giggle before I kiss his cheek. "Sorry. You were just standing here, and I couldn't help myself." He looks down and sighs as I smile. "I've been looking everywhere for you. I thought something happened to you. Where were you anyway?" "I was in Adam's room." He chuckles and smiles.

"Do you know that you're really hard to sleep with Grayson?" He looks up at me as I smile wider. "Me? The hard one to sleep with?" I nod my head. "I'm not the one who rolls around constantly." I laugh. "I don't do that." He smiles. "Yes you do." I use one hand to brush my hair out of my face. "At least I'm not so clingy as you are." He shakes his head. "I am not clingy." "It was like as soon as I moved your arm off of me, a few seconds later it was there again. That's why I was rolling around so much."

He rolls his eyes. "Whatever. So listen, I was thinking that we could go to the park today." I look at him. "Like a date?" His cheeks turn pink. "Yeah. Kinda like a date." I smile. "Are you asking me out?" His cheeks turn red. "Yeah. So do you want to go out with me today?" I kiss his cheek again. "Yes Grayson. I'll go out with you." I get off of his back. "Okay. Cool. Um...will you be ready to go in fifteen minutes or so?" I nod my head. "I don't see why I wouldn't be ready." I waltz up the stairs as he heads into the kitchen.

I shut my bedroom door and walk over to my dresser. I open up one of the drawers and stare at all of my shirts. Not feeling them, I open my closet door and walk inside to browse my dresses. Organized by seasons, I make my way to the back of the closet to my Spring dresses. My hand jumps from hanger to hanger as I try to pick out a dress. I had already made up my mind that I want something more friendly than flirty but still rather eye-catching.

My hands stop at a simple white dress covered in daisies, one of the dresses Grayson picked out for me for my birthday. I pull that out along with my yellow short sleeve cardigan and yellow flats. I set the cardigan and shoes on my bed before staring at myself as I place the dress over my current outfit. I nod my head approvingly before sliding it on over my head. The soft fabric makes me feel warm, reminding me of how it felt to be in Jarron's arms.

Jarron.

My body freezes slightly at the thought of his name. I take a deep breath. You need to forget about him. He is dead to you. I put my cardigan on before slipping my shoes on. I grab the brush off of my dresser and run it through my hair a few times before putting on just a bit of eye shadow and blush. Grayson's voice floats up the stairs. "Are you ready Mandy?" "Yeah. I'll be down in a second." I grab my phone off of my nightstand before heading down to meet him.