Mostly Normal: Magic Cannot Cure Sickness

Chapter Eight: Somethings Wrong

"Jeremy? Jackie? Wake up."

Jackie groaned and rolled over. He felt like he had been run over by a truck, then a train, then a sixteen-wheeler, and then had been crushed by fifteen 1000-pound dumbbells, but he forced himself into a sitting position. Jackie stood and looked over to where the female voice was coming from.

"Nicola, I don't feel good, you told me that you wouldn't let this happen again," Jackie said, his eyes trying to focus on the bright light that filled the room. A sharp pain coursed through the left half of his brain, he cried out at the pain splitting through his skull as though someone had embedded an axe in his eye.

The female voice spoke again, gentler. "Jackie, I'm not Nicola. Who is that anyways? If it's one of your siblings, they're sick, remember? We're on a quest to save them."

Jackie blinked, he didn't know who was talking to him but he knew that he had to do something important, a cold feeling of dread settling in the pit of his stomach. Or was that hunger? Jackie couldn't tell.

"Who?" he asked, swinging his legs over the bed. He didn't know who was talking to him but he knew that he had to find his little sister, she was always so worried without her big brother. "I have to find Evelyne!" His head throbbed with great intensity, but he managed to make it out to the hall before he began dry-heaving. He told himself that he had to bear through it so that he could find his sister. She needed him, he could hear thunder, he knew that the small girl was terrified of thunder, she would be so scared without her big brother.

The female voice shouted again. "JACKIE! What is going on with you?"

Jackie was in a panic now. "Evelyne?"

"Jackie, it's me, Bianca. Calm down. Come back."

Jackie blinked again. "B-Bianca?"

"Yes. Now come back to your bed, you're sick. You need to get better. Come on, now."

He knew he was sick but he had to get to his sister. He didn't trust Bianca, someone he didn't know. He could hear soft crying from the next room, his feeling of panic intensified until it was stronger than the nausea.

"What's a Bianca?" he asked as he was picked up and lain down into bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was asleep.

Jeremy stumbled through the hall, looking for anybody with food. His stomach ached with hunger, he hadn't eaten in several days, but for some reason the normal food that he normally ate, there was some on his bedside table, didn't sound at all appetizing. He wanted milk, and sugar, and a lot of it.

"Jeremy, what are you doing?" the sharp, heavily accented male voice startled Jeremy. The young boy whirled around to see a very concerned looking Vladimir behind him.

"Um, I want cookies," Jeremy said lamely, unsure what else to say.

"There was a meal enchanted to stay warm at your bedside, you are weak. Why are you out of bed?" he asked, his brow furrowing.

"It didn't smell good, I really just want milk and sugar. Or milk and honey," he said, he hadn't wanted milk and honey since he was really young, though he was too hungry to care.

Vladimir put a large, surprisingly warm hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "Why don't you go back to bed," he said gently, "And I'll bring you something sweet as soon as I finish what I'm doing now? Don't worry, I'll bring you milk too. How about donuts? There's a Monster Donut around here, I'm technically a monster so I can go grab some."