"Taylor," I shook his shoulders and tried to control my jagged breathing. I felt fear close up my throat as I stared down at him. Why had I allowed myself to absorb so much? I shook him once more, his eyelids fluttered slightly.
"Are you okay?" I stared down at him as he slowly moved his body.
"Yeah..." he pushed himself up on one elbow and examined me.
"What happened?" Are you okay?" staring back at him in a state of panic.
"It's okay Cara. You took a bit much and I wasn't prepared," he admitted.
"What do you mean?"
He was sitting up now and talking, so he must be fine but I was still in a state of shock. For a moment, the thought that I might have damaged him beyond repair had flown through my mind.
"I did use up a lot of magic earlier today, so I didn't quite anticipate that you would be able to draw so much power so quickly," he gave me a weak smile as he spoke.
I examined him suspiciously, "But you still have magic?"
He laughed shortly, "Yes Cara. It'll take more than that to kill off the magic in me."
He got up from the bed, slightly wincing at the moment and started walking towards the door.
"What are you doing?" I asked stupidly as the shock simmered down within me.
"Seeing as I am a little bit out of action, I think you should make me some food."
He walked gingerly towards to kitchen and I had to hurry behind him to keep up.
"So you're okay?" I heard myself ask again, I was still stunned how much the power exchange had affected him.
He turned and his eyes locked on me, "Cara I am fine. Trust me. I would tell you if I wasn't."
I nodded slowly and allowed myself to believe him.
I opened the cabinet above the stove and started rummaging through it, I found a loaf of bread that seemed acceptable and grabbed some bacon from the fridge. A quick and easy bacon sandwich seemed like a good enough option.
"So how long will it take for you to recharge your magical batteries?" I asked as I place the frying pan on the stove and waited for it to heat up.
Taylor had pulled himself up on the kitchen counter and was leaning his back against one of the cupboards, his eyes half shut as if he was about to go to sleep.
"With some food, an uneventful evening and a good nights sleep," he shrugged his shoulder, "I should be back to normal by tomorrow."
The thick smell of fried bacon lingered in the air long after we had finished the sandwiches, I was washing up the frying pan allowing my eyes to fix on the water streaming from the tap. For a moment, allowing myself to get lost in the motion of the water and my mind wandered, I felt myself shudder as the memories from the day washed over me.
"I think I should stay here tonight," Taylor's voice forced me back to the present.
"Really?" I looked at him questioningly.
"I don't want to leave you on your own just yet," he gave me an apologetic look as if he felt like he was intruding.
I nodded softly, it had been a while since I had had a houseguest for two nights in a row but with all the creepy warlocks roaming around I guess it was for the best.
"Plus I still feel a bit weak," he shot me a gentle smile.
I felt a stab go through my stomach as the memory his ashen face flashed through my mind.
"Sure, let me set up the spare bed," I replied.
Taylor watched me with dismay as I inflated the air mattress, it fit snuggly between my bed and desk.
"When you said spare bed I thought you meant something different," he admitted.
I shrugged my shoulder apologetically.
"You should be glad I've got it at all."
He nodded gently and grabbed the blanket starting to smooth it across the mattress.
"So why do you have an air mattress anyway?"
"Oh, I got it when my Mum wanted to come and visit. I figured it would be better then me sleeping on the couch."
A spark of curiosity burned in his eyes, "So where do your parents live?"
"They live out on the country side, they weren't too happy about me moving away for university but... I guess they have learnt to accept it." I hesitated for a moment, thinking back to the serious talks they had had with me about how hard it is to support yourself as a photographer. I looked up at Taylor, he was just about to open his mouth again so before he could ask me any more question I asked him one, "So what about your parents?"
"They live in New York."
"But you don't have an accent," I exclaimed with surprise.
"I grew up here but we moved when the king in New York passed away."
I plunked myself down on the bed and stared at him for a moment. My face must have told him I needed a further explanation, so continued, "There are three points of power in the magical world. New York, London and Tokyo all have a specific location that is more powerful than anywhere else in the world. So the warlock society has three magical thrones and royal courts surrounding those locations."
"Okay," I replied and nodded for him to continue.
"When the king in New York passed, that throne became available which is why all of royal families all moved over there fighting for the position of new king."
"So what happened?"
"My father won," Taylor admitted. He looked away for a moment and grabbed the pillow that was resting on my armchair. He placed it on the air mattress and laid down.
"Look I'm pretty tired," he pushed out before rolling over on his side and pulling the blanket up around him.
I stared at his back for a moment, before turning over and letting my eyes dance across the ceiling. A pressure was building over my chest as I realised how little I knew about this stupid magical world that I had been thrown into.
"Wake up," Taylor shook my shoulders gently.
"What?" I moaned as he persisted with the shaking.
"I have to work at the pub, but if you come with me I'll make you breakfast."
"Fine," I got up and scouted out of bed.
I started to look through the pile of clothes at the bottom of my wardrobe and looked over at Taylor.
"I'll wait for you outside," he replied.
I nodded back at him sleepily and started rummaging through the pile, finding a pair of black leggings and a grey knitwear dress.
Moments later, I stepped out into the living room. Taylor was awkwardly watching the morning news on TV with Matthew.
"Don't you have work today?" Matthew stared up at me, it was as if he was reminding me that in the normal life of office workers, today must be a weekday.
"I need to get some emails out," I confirmed and grabbed my laptop from coffee table and slid it into my bag.
"Ready to go?" Taylor asked with a hopeful smile on his face.
I nodded in reply.
As we walked down the street towards The Royal Star, I casted a glance over at Taylor. He looked like he had been wearing those clothes for far too long.
"You look fresh as a daisy," the teasing words just slipped out and I couldn't help but smile at his frown.
"I have a change of clothes at the pub, so it's fine," he shot back.
"Oh, right. That's alright then."
A silence fell between us as we continued walking towards the pub, I could feel my stomach begging for toast and coffee.
"Why doesn't Matthew like me?" his curious eyes examined me for a moment before turning his gaze forward again.
"He wasn't exactly a fan of the last guy that I spent this much time with."
"So you're saying he thinks we're dating?" Taylor exclaimed.
"I would assume so," I shrugged my shoulders. "I haven't told him anything about this magic nonsense," I added in a hushed tone.
"Why not?" Taylor asked.
I gave him a black look, "Because I don't want to sound like I have lost my mind." I drew a deep breathe before adding, "Plus he'll probably be a lot safer if he doesn't know."
Taylor nodded in confirmation.
My eyes had to adjust for a moment, stepping into the semi dark pub from the bright morning light outside.
"Hey," Tanya waved from behind the bar.
"Hi," I smiled back at her.
"Do you want coffee?" she asked as I approached the bar.
"Yes please," I leant my upper body against its wooden structure and watched her pour me a cup.
My fingers felt the warmth radiate from the ceramic as I watched Taylor head to the staff room.
"So the two of you are hanging out a lot?" Tanya asked as she wiggled her eyebrows.
"I guess so," I replied, probably best to stick with that explanation rather than putting her at risk by talking about how there's warlock roaming around.
"I have to get to work," I said and pulled the laptop out of my bag.
"Sure, sure," she replied but the glint in her eyes told me that she was not dropping the topic that easily.
I settled into a corner table and started going the emails in my inbox, to my disappointment there where no requests for new jobs in there. I sighed for a moment, as a freelance photographer if the jobs didn't come to me I would have to find them myself. I clicked open another document, my eyes poured down a long list of bands that had album releases coming up in the next few months. If I reached out to the bands, maybe they were looking to take new press pictures and would be willing to use me.
"That was so lovely," I looked over at Taylor who had taken a break to hang out with me and have some breakfast.
"Thank you. I am a good cook," he smiled triumphantly.
I pushed the last piece of toast around the plate, scooping up the last pieces of mushrooms before shoving it into my mouth.
Taylor looked over at my laptop, "How's the emails coming along?"
"Good," I replied. I had spent the last few hours sending out emails and my eyes were telling me that I was done for the day. I could not take another minute staring at the screen.
As I closed down my laptop and shoved it into my bag, someone walked towards me. The first thing I saw was his shoes, a pair of worn boots that I would have recognised anywhere. I felt my heart freeze and my fingers shook as I pulled the zipper shut.
I lifted up my body and looked him straight in the face, "Hello Josh."
His tussled brown hair looked as familiar as his lips, now curled up in a cruel little smirk.
"Hello Cara," he replied.
I could tell he was itching to say something, it had taken him a good few weeks to stop messaging me after we broke up. A shiver ran across my back as I remember all those novel like texts where he called me cold and accused me of cutting him out of my life.
"So who's your guy?" he cocked his head in Taylor's direction.
"What are you doing here?" I countered.
"I'm here to pick up some stuff that I left behind," Josh replied nonchalantly. After we broke up, he had quit his job at The Royal Star. My guess was that he thought it would make me feel bad for him. But I knew he had other means of getting money, his not so legal side business was one of the reasons why we had broken up.
"Well, don't let me keep you," I grabbed my bag and got up from the table.
I brushed past Josh and headed straight for the door, my feet leading me away as quickly as possible. I just couldn't stand being around him, he hadn't changed in any way so why couldn't he just accept it. He always seemed to blame me for how things had ended, not taking into account that he was part of it too.
I turned the corner onto a quiet side street and stopped dead in my tracks. The back of my head felt cool against the wall of the house and I allowed my bag to slowly slip out of my grip and land softly on the concrete. Slowly the frozen feeling started to lift around my heart, the warmth that spread found its way to my tear canals and slowly a steady stream was trickling down my cheeks. For a moment, I allowed myself to close my eyes and loose myself in my feelings, a small storm of emotions brewing in my chest. The air around me shifted and a hum of energy rose up in my veins as I felt a hand grab around wrist.
Author's Note: I'm kind of struggling with this story. If you have any theories about how you think it will end and what you think will happen in the middle of the story - I would love to hear them. Also, what moments/scenes of the story do you enjoy the most? It would be so helpful to hear, as it hopefully will steer me in the right direction.
The song today is such a #TBT for me :) Love it so much <3
Song: Tiesto - Knock you out feat. Emily Haines (Owen Westlake Remix)