'We're running out of time' - James Hansen
Chapter 64: One Night Left
What if you're too afraid of letting your best friend go?
It was just a thought.
I tried to look for Nate the next day. I needed to make him understand that I cared for him and to make sure he was comfortable with my relationship with Jesper.
Even though he'd kind of given me his blessing at the winter party and told me he was focusing on the Visit anyway...
"Do you know where Nate is?" I asked Emily.
He wasn't practicing combat in the forest or lifting weights in the gym.
I think she knew.
"I'm sure he'll come when he's ready to," she told me.
Yeah, she knew. I leant against the counter and rested my head against the cold marble. I wanted the floor to swallow me up.
"He was a block of ice until you came," Emily said, "And his heart started to beat again."
"Emily, why are you making me feel any worse than I already do?" I asked.
My face looked more tortured.
She came over to me and patted my back, "Life is not worth living if you don't feel. That's the risk we all take when we lend our hearts to someone. You brought him back. Don't punish yourself for that."
I shook my head and left the kitchen. I didn't want her to see my cry. I didn't want to cry. I felt helpless when I cried.
I walked to the stable to see Nate, but he wasn't there. I was about to leave, when I saw the beautiful horse eating grass outside.
"Kirby," I said, a faint smile appearing on my face for the first time.
His ears flicked back and he looked at me. As I stepped closer, he stepped back.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
He suddenly charged towards me. I ran backwards until my heel bumped into a small boulder. Kirby stopped running but nudged me. Confused, I took another step back and my back pressed up against someone else's.
He and I turned around at the same time and came face to face with each other. It was Nathaniel. He lowered his headphones.
"What's wrong?" he asked me, not realizing I had asked his horse the same question 10 seconds ago.
Now that I stared into Nathaniel's deep brown eyes, absorbing the flecks of gold inside of them, I realized I wasn't ready for this. I stepped back only to feel a horse's nose against my back. Kirby nudged me forwards, making me bump into Nathaniel again.
"Kirby," Nate said, reaching past me to shove his horse's nose, "Stay out of my business."
I looked from the horse to Nathaniel. This was not normal behavior.
Kirby took 'horsing around' to a whole new level.
Please forgive me, Nate. That's all I wanted to ask him. But those were the words I never said.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Mohan was the wise one amongst us. The 'academic' as Mrs Maythorne said. He had secured himself a private study overlooking the stables. As I walked into it, I admired all the maps on the wall and the encyclopedias on his shelves.
Mohan was reading something now.
"Georgia, you have some questions about your training?" he asked me, "Or similar ones to what you asked me this morning?"
"Training," I said, and he put his book down.
He went over to his filing cabinet and took out one dedicated to my training. The Visit was coming up in a matter of days and he was doing his best to bring me up to speed.
"Your vacation with Jesper set you back a while. I can see you didn't train while you were with him."
I closed my eyes. Why did I have to be reminded of this at every minute?
I looked out of the window and saw Kirby still grazing.
"What's the deal with the horse?" I flat out asked.
"Excuse me?"
"I spoke clearly. What is Kirby?" I stared Mohan down and I could see he was getting uncomfortable. I continued, "Nothing in this house is natural, and that includes the horse."
"You should ask Nathaniel-"
"We're not exactly on great speaking terms."
"It's not my place-"
"Please. Mohan, I may not be alive in a few days. I have a right to know," I said, "We're all in this together."
He nodded and closed my file, "We are. Alright, Georgia, I will tell you. Kirby is Kirkpatrick Fitzwilliam. He's a boy trapped in a horse's body."
What. The. F.
"Kirby and Nate were friends at boarding school. They found out they were different and, at first, they were just pulling pranks at school. One day, they accidentally transported."
I gasped. The Visit is the first time scepters are transported. It's the life changing, sometimes life ending, incident. The fact that Kirby and Nate have transported before, untrained, is... unthinkable.
"As you know, your first Visit is something you train for," Mohan said, "Not everyone survives it. They are lucky to have made it back. But Kirby would have died and his spirit animal was strong enough to save him. He took the boy into his own form; a horse in the human world."
"Oh my god," I said. Maybe I could have been more eloquent with my words.... But wtf was all that was going through my head.
All this time, Kirby was a boy. Stuck in an animal's body.
That's why he walks around the house and watches TV and goes into Nate's room.
And, most importantly, now I know why Nate has taken this so seriously. That's why he trains harder and longer than anyone else here. That's why he has no time for a relationship. He wants to return and save his friend.
Mohan put my file back in the filing cabinet and closed it with a slam. "And that's why I asked you to stay away from him. Nathaniel is a powerful specter. He doesn't need his heart to be broken any further."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
It's a weird day when I feel excited to see the numbers group come back to Maythorne Manor. They were rude, argumentative, messy and loud but at least they were a distraction.
The tension in the house disappeared because they trampled all over it.
Food in the fridge started disappearing faster than it was being delivered.
But I didn't mind.
I stayed low-key and focused. I trained and studied to make up for lost time. I tried to learn more about the tortoise. I wanted to understand what my strengths and weaknesses were.
I had anticipated more weaknesses. But as I researched more, I came to find the strengths:
Resilience – it can survive freezing temperatures and low food by hibernating and storing water
Strength – it carries its home on its back and water too. Its shell is covered with plates that offer additional strength and protection
Vegetarian – well that explains my sudden change in diet. I hadn't been able to eat meat since the lightning strike which, I guess, was the first time I really connected with my spirit animal.
"Georgia, dear," Mrs Maythorne knocked on my bedroom door, "Remember to say goodbye to those you love. It's your last night. Spend it with your loved ones."
"OK. I will."
I closed my book. There wasn't much more I could do.
"Don't worry, my dear. You have worked hard. A large part of this is out of our control."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
I called my mom.
"Mom, I love you. There's a lot I haven't understood about what's about to happen but I wanted to say I love you. And that I'm sorry for not speaking with you for so long."
"I understand dear, you were hurt," my mum said on the other line.
I imagined what she was doing right now, sitting at home. Was she in the living room?
"I forgot to tell you but we went to Paris," I said. It was a dream of my mum's to go to Paris. "It was beautiful, just like the movies. Actually, we even said it was for your wedding."
"I always wanted to get married there."
"I know," I choked back the tears, "I hope you will."
"Don't talk to me like we're not going to see each other again."
I pressed my hand against my mouth so she wouldn't hear me cry.
"No, no, Georgia, this isn't how it works, ok? I am your mother and I will die before you. Hopefully in a long time so I can see your little spoilt brats that you're going to give birth to. And I'm fully planning on being bridezilla's mother at your wedding."
I heard footsteps on my door.
"Mum, it's Jesper. I'll call you back, ok?"
"Yes, Georgia. I love you."
We hung up and Jesper walked in. He swept me up in his arms, lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. We kissed.
"If it was your last day on earth, what would you do?" he asked me, brushing the hair out of my eyes.
"It is my last day on earth."
He smiled at me warmly, sadly, "Anything you want. Tell me and we'll do it."
"I don't know," I said.
He pressed his lips against mine and whispered, "Don't break my heart with your sadness. Not tonight. We still have one night together."
How long is a night?
The Visit was tomorrow.
A/N: Finally it's almost here!! The Visit!
Also, do you have any favorite quotes from the series or any questions about the series/writing tips in general? I am answering them on my Instagram (@NatalieInACorner)! Sometimes, inspiration is hard to come by, so I hope to help! :)
Next chapter will be out tomorrow!!