The Psychic Next Door

[First Draft] Chapter 14: Realize

It was that moment that I was finally sure that this, the overwhelming sleepiness, was his doing.  

"What... what are you doing to... me..." I mumbled as I fell to my knees, trying my best to ward off the overpowering need to sleep.  "Stop... it..."

Luc stooped down to me, his face close to mine. "You just need to calm down."  

"What are you doing to me?" It felt like my body was pulling towards the floor, like I was being drawn down by an impossibly strong magnet.  

"It's the amulet I've put an amulet on you," He pointed at my neck as he spoke. "It's for your own good. If you start panicking or freaking out, it makes you sleepy. It was to stop you from getting yourself too worked up until you were properly healed."  

As he said it, I was suddenly aware of a delicate chain dangling from my neck. I ran my fingers over it and then, with a swift tug, snapped it off. Instantaneously, the sleepiness subsided and my energy returned. I shot a quick glance at Polly and noticed similar amulets around her neck—and not just one, but two. Suddenly being unable to wake her made sense.

"Stop it! Stop hurting me—us—with... with your magic!" I yelled at him as I shoved him away from me. "If you want to kill me, just do it, stop torturing me! But leave Polly alone! Let her go. She's done nothing to you."  

"I wasn't—I would never use magic to hurt you," he replied, his voice distressed. His expression matched; it was like the night I first visited his apartment, when he did that dreadful reading for me... a look of remorse, of pain. He looked hurt that I would even suggest that he would hurt me.

"Then what do you call this?!" I screamed in response, throwing the broken amulet at his face. He dodged it easily, and it clattered to the floor behind him.  

"That's not... exactly magic." He looked sheepish as he corrected me.  

I glared at him. "'Exactly magic?' Fuck you! Whatever it is, stop! Stop toying with me!"  

"Look, they're just charms! I didn't even make them. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't, not now." Luc was babbling, anxious to calm me. "I was just lucky that I had a few of them on hand. It's just a little thing, helps you sleep when you get worked up. I have them for insomnia, for people who struggle with anxiety. I figured they'd work in this situation too, and they mostly did. I just didn't want you to get spooked when you were injured, and get yourselves hurt by acting rashly..." He motioned towards the door with a nod of his head. "...before you understood."  

I just stared at him. He tried to move towards me, his hand outstretched like I was a feral animal, trying to get me to believe he wouldn't hurt me. But I cringed away, disgust distorting my features in response. His hand went limp and he retracted his arm with another pained look.  

"Look, you really don't have to worry... I really can't use magic anymore. Your spell worked. My powers are gone. Honest." 

I narrowed my eyes, examining him with a careful gaze. His face was desperately earnest, a little panicked, like a boyfriend whose girlfriend is angry at him for reasons he doesn't understand. There was something I couldn't quite understand either... 

I could hear the clicking of the beast's claws on the floor next door, its snarling growing louder with every step. It was in the living room now; it had followed me from the bedroom, mirroring my movements on the other side of the wall. Wasn't he using magic to summon that thing? If he was telling the truth, if he was truly powerless, then...

"How is that thing still here?" I whispered, wondering aloud.  

Luc's brow furrowed, "Isn't it obvious?"