WARNiNG: I APOLOGIZE FROM THE DEEP DEEP DEEP (deep) DEPTHS OF MY HEART ABOUT ALL U WILL READ AS I HAVE NOT EDITED IN A MONTH. I really will try to be done with everything before the summer is over. So please bare with me.
Chapter seven
I ended up in a storage closet, gasping for air. I sunk to the floor and cried into my knees, hugging them to my chest. Why was this happening to me? My throat slowly started closing in on me and I felt like I couldn't breath. Great, I thought to myself. This is just great, I'm gonna die here, and have all of time frozen because my body decides to shut down now. I took a deep breath and calmed myself down until my breathing was controlled.
I was confused and angry. Angry at the world, and angry at Hunter. Did I even believe what he said to me? Not really. I couldn't find any explanation other than I was still in a coma, or hallucinating. Or both. Whatever it is I need help, desperately. My entire world was shattered, all because some guy decided he was in the mood of a good workout but couldn't find a boxing bag, so figured the innocent 17 year old was a good replacement.
I heard running down the halls, and my name being called by Hunter and that friend of his. "Ava!" They yelled. Over and over again, my name rang through the frozen hallways.
I crawled deeper into the dark closet, mentally begging them to stop. Why me? Why was this all happening to me? I asked myself that question the whole time I was shaking back and forth. I took slow and deep breaths, trying not to pass out from lack of oxygen.
The doorknob started to jiggle, but I was locked in, safe and sound. Then came a knock and the voice from the other side saying, "Ava? Are you in there?"
It took me a moment to recognize that voice when it wasn't dripping in sarcasm and disgust; it was David. I started to move deeper into the closet, but I hit a wall which made me jump and yelp.
Another knock; "Ava, It's David. Toby's not here, he's waiting for me downstairs. I promise. I don't what happened between you two, but he must've really made you mad for him to back out of the search party. Not the point, I get that you're hurt, or annoyed, or scared or whatever, but you need to come out of there. You have to go back to where you were before I froze time if you want me to unfreeze it. Being that you got so upset that I tampered with it to begin with, I would assume you agree with me that it is wisest to resume time as soon as possible."
I shakily wiped the tears off my face and thought about what he said. He was right. It pained me to admit, but he was right. I needed my friends to be unfrozen before god knows what damage could happen to them.
What did I even think running away from Hunter would do? I didn't think it would help, so why did I do it? Why do I always run when things get hard? I ran away because I didn't want to deal with it. Like always, I ran away because it was easier than dealing with the problem. Well, that was all gonna change now. No more running. No more hiding. From here on out I will deal with things head on.
"Hello?" He said taking me away from my thoughts. "I would like to remind you that I am a warlock,and whether or not you believe me, I can zap this-"
I opened the door cutting him off. He looked frazzled,but relieved that I opened it on my own. "Great, you're here. Let's go to your room."
We walked the rest of the way in silence, or rather I walked the rest of the way in silence while David tried to make awkward conversation that I casually ignored. At some point he got the hint and shut up, which I was deeply grateful for.
"Here we are." He said as we got there.
I jumped when I saw all of my friends, frozen in the exact same place I left them.
"Calm down, we're here so that we can unfreeze them. Just get into the same position you were in before and act as if nothing happened."
I glared at him as I climbed into the hospital bed and reattached whatever I remembered.
"How can I act as if nothing happened? What part do you want me to forget? When I got attacked and beaten to near death? Or when I woke in a strange place with a creepy boy wiping blood off my face? Or maybe you're talking about when that creepy boy told me there were werewolves? Or how bout when I woke up from being in a coma for three days? Wait there's more, maybe it's when my friends were frozen completely and I thought I was going crazy? Or when you and your stupid friend decided to make my entire world come crashing down when you informed me about 'magic'? Because I can't. I can't just forget about this stuff." I said that last line pointing to my friends.
"So please David, unfreeze everything so I can try not having another mental breakdown. Unfreeze it all and leave. I'll deal with the rest by myself. Thank you."
After my whole thought out speech, the boy just looked confused. I pitied him, sentences longer than three words were hard for him to understand.
"Umm...okay" he said.
He then put his hand into his pocket, and pulled out mamilla envelope.
"Here." He said sticking it in my face.
Seriously...what in the world was wrong with him? Why couldn't he just leave..
"Hunter and I figured that would be your initial reaction. So here's this, just in case you change your mind, or jut get curious about what's going to happen in the future. Even if you're denial you will Turn in three weeks from Friday. And when that time comes, the changing your mind, not Turning, you are always welcome. Don't forget that, the door is always open for you, and won't ever be closed."
"Aww," I said putting a hand over my heart, "that was so sweet. You know which door is opened that really wants you to go out of? The one right over there, yeah the one that gets you out of this room. But unlike your imaginary or magical door, this one will stay closed. Ba bye!"
I might have laid the brattiness on a little too much, and he definitely looked like he didn't appreciate it.
"Everything you'll need to know is in that envelope, so please open it and read it. You may not believe it, but you will Turn. And Ava, if you don't get the proper training, it'll hurt like a-"
"Okay! Okay." I said putting my hand up.
"I get it. Now please, unfreeze my friends and GO."
He nodded curtly and left the room.
I watched him on the other side of the room as he closed his eyes, and started to chant things that I couldn't hear.
I blinked, once, twice, three times, but no I wasn't imagining it- red smoke was pouring out of his fingertips. It engulfed him completely, until I could no longer see him. And then, as fast as it happened, it was gone. All of it. All the smoke, and even the warlock who created it.
It made no sense.
I craned my neck, trying to look for the very person I wished would dissapear. And now that he has, I wanted to find him, and ask him how that was possible.
"Ava?" A soft voice said to me.
I snapped out of my thoughts and turned in the direction of the voice, it was Callie.
All the hurt, anger, and worry, that I was disintegrated completely. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. They were okay, they were really okay, (and not frozen).
"Callie get your butt over here so I can smush you." I told her.
As I was squishing her, (to possible near death), I looked over her shoulder to see if David was there, but he wasn't. When I finally let go of her she looked at me and said, "how are you feeling? You know considering....god I was so worried about you. Honey, you scared me so bad."
I smiled at her, Callie was always the mommy of the group, and I don't think that will ever change. It actually took me a minute to realize that when she said considering it meant being in the hospital and NOT the whole magical situation.
"I actually feel fine. Maybe a little tired, but that's it. I don't know what kind of drugs they have me on but, they sure are working." I answered her.
Tyler chuckled and shook his head, "Ava, you never change. Even after being in a coma for three days, you still just want sleep."
I started laughing too, Dani however, did not think it was funny.
She hit his knee and yelled, "Ty! You don't joke about these things."
He stopped laughing and looked down at his hands, "Sorry Dani," he then looked at me with these big puppy eyes that made him look like he was five years old, "sorry Ava,"
Which honestly just made me laugh harder.
My eyes glanced over the envelope under my covers where I had placed it. What was in there? I was curious yes, but I was also determined. Determined that I wouldn't give in to Hunters madness about werewolves and magic. I was determined not to open that envelope until I had absolutely no choice.
I had gone quite without noticing but everyone else in the room did,
"Hey, you okay?" Max asked me softly.
"What?" I said getting back to myself. "yeah, I'm fine. I just kind of spazzed there for a minute. I'm actually getting a little tired, would you guys mind if we continued this tomorrow?"
I saw them look at each other worriedly so I put on the brightest smile I could, "really, everything's fine guys."
Dani smiled and said, "don't miss us too much girl, okay?" As she hugged me.
"I'll try." I told her and said goodbye to all of my friends.
Once they were all out of sight I peeked at the envelope again and quickly stuffed it under my pillow before I opened it. I laid my head down and pretended to be asleep. I needed some alone time to think about everything that had happened in the past few days. Because no matter what David said, I would never be able to act as if nothing ever changed. I had to face the music at some point, might as well start now.
What started all of this? That was the magical (no pun intended) question.
Friday.
It felt like an eternity ago, but at the same time I remembered every horrific detail crystal clear. That was when everything changed. The minute that monster put his hands on me and started beating me, that was when all this started.
Everything seemed to somehow spiral out of control after that. As if getting the stuffing knocked out of myself isn't bad enough, I missed three days of my life that I won't get back, and then I get all this stupid supernatural crap dumped onto me.
I wasn't sure if I believed any of it, but I also wasn't so sure if I didn't believe it. I mean, I saw my friends freeze and unfreeze. I saw the red smoke that seemed to pour out of David's fingertips effortlessly.
And then there was a part of me that scared me.
I was curious.
Curious, how any of that was possible. It scared me, the hunger to see and understand something as impossible as magic.
But it also excited me.
Maybe this would be my new reality.
Maybe I would live my life with wizards and warlocks, and have magical powers of my own.
But what if I got that, and would never be able to return to the life I've always known and loved?
It was exciting, peculiar, and dangerous.
My parents came in at one point, but I still pretended to be asleep. I love my parents, but I didn't want to end up in a mental institution, which is exactly what would happen if I told them what I was dealing with at the moment.
My dad kissed the top of my head and whispered that he would be here before I woke up, and I heard my mom pull over a chair. I wanted to tell her that she didn't have to stay here overnight, but I knew she would never leave me.
At some point I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I remember I was waking up, and hearing my mom say "good morning sunshine".
The next few days were intense and very tiring. All they consisted of were, tests, tests, and more tests to see what put me in that coma and why. My doctor liked to remind me that what would make the most sense if it was trauma from the attack. However, as he mentioned quite a few times, there was no evidence of trauma, and no evidence of an attack either.
To him, I was just another teenager making up a story to gain some attention. What I liked to remind him of, was that even if I was faking it, I couldn't fake a coma and it was his job to figure out why I went into one, not if I was actually beaten brutally. That usually made him shut up, but it didn't make me any less angry.
The fact that my doctor didn't believe me, and that I myself couldn't find any bruising from what happened, just added to my list of things that was slowly making believe I was going crazy. My mind wandered to the envelope that was crumpled and stuck under my pillow. Even though I didn't plan on reading it until I absolutely had to, I didn't want one of the hospital staff to find it and read it. If that would happen I would definitely be transferred to a mental home.
I knew that my doctors had come in even before I saw them. Both my parents stood up, with hopeful and nervous expressions on their faces.
"What did you find?" My father asked anxiously.
Dr Jones (the one doctor that actually believed me about being attacked) sighed, "To be perfectly honest, we've found nothing. According to all our tests, they all show us that Ava is 100% healthy. They showed no tumors, or trauma, or infection. I don't know what else to say other than you seem to be a model patient."
My mom let out a breath that she was holding and kept on saying; "Thank God." under her breath. My dad had the same reaction, looking so relieved and thankful. I seemed to be the only one who wasn't satisfied with this answer.
"But what does that mean? Just because you couldn't find anything, doesn't mean there's nothing there. Are you saying I could go home, or that you're going to continue poking me with needles until I have no blood left for myself?"
"We'd like to keep you here a few more days for observation, and we'll take it from there." She said.
I crossed my arms over my chest, "Fine."
The doctors looked at my parents and then said, "Well, that seems to be it. We'll be back later."
My parents nodded and said their thanks, and then the doctors were gone.
"Ava," My mom said sitting next to me, holding my hand and looking into my eyes. "this is good news. It means you'll be able to go home soon, and start again. Don't you want that?"
I sighed, "Of course I want that. It's just, I keep on waiting for something else to happen, you know? Like for another disaster to hit. I mean it all just makes no sense..."
"Hey kiddo," My dad said to me softly, "Stop waiting for something else to happen, you've been through enough already. It doesn't always have to make sense, miracles happen, don't wait for the catch, just be thankful there is none."
"Okay, you guys are right. Sorry, it's just hard to believe it all is finally over." I said.
My mom squeezed my hand, "Never apologize for telling us how you feel, we've all been there too. On a different note though, there's a young man outside who would like to visit you, are you up to it?"
I looked up and saw Hunter on the other side of the door.
Hunter of all people.
I was fuming.
Why was he back?
I looked at my mother and said, "I'm not really up for visitors today."
"Okay sweety, I'll go tell him."
I saw her go outside and talk to him. I watched his face too. As it changed from hopeful, to less hopeful, until it looked crushed. He made eye contact with me, but I quickly looked away before I did something stupid like change my mind.
Seeing him made me remember the last time we saw each other, and how it felt like an eternity ago. I still didn't fully believe everything that happened that day, but the letter under my pillow made me realize that it actually did.
For the next two days, all I did was think about that letter and what it had written inside. If it would be surrounded by red smoke, just like David was that day. Or if all it said was, haha you've been punked! you really do belong in an asylum.
It wasn't until I was finally home, in my own room that I thought about opening it. The minute that thought left my mind though, I dropped the envelope as if it was on fire.
To open or not to open? That was the question.
The answer I decided was to do what I usually did when I got angry or frustrated-box.
When I was 14 my parents bought me this huge boxing dummy that I kept in my room. I called him Bob. Bob was there for me whenever I needed to let out my anger. He never complained, no matter how hard I kicked or punched him.
Bob helped me get through some hard times.
However this time, when I gave Bob a blow to the chin, his entire head flew off. (which was beyond terrifying)
I have never seen anything like it, and I knew that I wasn't naturally that strong.
I sat down on my bed, and shakily picked up the envelope. I opened it, and started to read.