by S C Thomas
Twenty
Whispers filled her ears, those around her trying to hush one another. Shushing when one got a little too carried away. She had a blindfold over her eyes, preventing her from seeing whatsoever and whoever was around her. Her hands were tied behind her back and to keep her from screaming like she had tried – multiple times – when they’d released her mouth, they had stuffed her mouth with something. She could the bonds around her sealing, a magical entity surrounding them. Whatever was used to keep her down was magical and no doubt, if she had any, would keep her powers at bay and make her entirely useless to freeing herself. Did they not know she was pretty much magicless? If they had, they wouldn’t have bothered magically binding her that was for sure. She felt the darkness grow thicker, as if something like a cloak or a blanket of some sort had been dropped over her – a sack she supposed. A way to keep her from really seeing, although she wasn’t exactly sure what the point in that was.
Her feet stumbled beneath her, dragging out against whoever was trying to drag her forward. She twisted in the grip, pulling back, desperate to not go with them. Finally, giving up on trying to pull her, she was lifted in the air. She gave a muffle scream and felt herself being carried away. The brisk air enveloped her, slapping her in the face. She twisted again, trying to kick out but it was to no avail – it didn’t deter her kidnappers. Wasn’t the school supposed to have some sort of protection or whatever against kidnappings of these sorts? Wasn’t she supposed to be protected under her uncle’s watchful gaze or whatever?
Apparently not. Apparently, she was allowed to be kidnapped right out of her bed by whoever this was and not a damn thing was about to be done with it. What did it matter? The only people who would obviously care were Josh and Kelyn and maybe (she really hoped anyways) her uncle. The rest of the school would just bat an eye and forget her mere existence. She was a joke to her namesake anyways, so what was a kidnapping going to do for her? If they knew her by name, but not what she couldn’t do, they were for a surprise of a lifetime. Kidnapping a precious Charmwood who couldn’t do crap. Yeah, that was going to be something these kidnappers would never be able to live down for sure.
Twigs scraped her legs where the pajama pants had ridden up, showing her skin. Leaves bristles under her feet and finally, she was dropped to the ground with a thud. Her head slammed down and she groaned in pain, turning on her side.
“Careful!” An unfamiliar voice hissed, low sounding to her ears. “We don’t her busted up and screaming when we untie her.”
Emma’s head turned, her body stilling at the words. Release? If they were so naive as to release her, maybe she could punch whoever it was in the throat and run before the other one got her. Maybe she could scream loud enough to wake either the small town, depending how far down the mountain they’d gotten, or the school itself. Either way, she would scream until she was shut up and they’d have to kill her to do that. She would run, scream, and fight. Even if she wasn’t very good at fighting at least her screaming would make up in that department. Feeling better with a semi-plan in mind, Emma waited patiently to be released, feeling her body tangled in with whatever was covering her. Finally, she felt fingers prying at it, tugging it off her and then pulled the gag out of her mouth. She opened instantly and let out a scream, which was muffled by a hand slamming over it.
“Shut up!” The voice hissed, but this time directed at her. “We mustn’t draw attention. Please, we just want to talk to you.”
Emma hesitated, but then nodded slowly, crossing her fingers behind her back as she did so. As she felt the lax of the hand and it being drawn away, she sucked in another large gulp of air and let out a shriek similar to a banshee. The air shoved the gag back in, nearly choking her so she had to couch on it, hacking from the object rammed in her mouth.
“Okay, take the blindfold off first, but don’t take the gag off for now.” The voice huffed, obviously irritated with her lack of cooperation.
She smirked to the air in front of her, hoping that it was seen by her captor. She felt the blindfold loosen up behind her head and light explode onto her face as it dropped to the ground. She blinked rapidly, looking around quickly, taking in her bearings as quickly as possible. But all she saw was trees surrounding them. They were in the middle of the woods, the canopy of leaves blocking any amount of moonlight to penetrate through. Lanterns hanging from trees were the only source of light within the clearing. Dark figures milled about, staying out of the light that was in her eyesight so she couldn’t distinguish them right away. She squinted her eyes, blinking as yellow dots flashed in front of her sight.
She let out a muffled huff, glancing around again. Only when a crow landed in her direct eyeline that she let out a muffle scream, twisting her spot. It stared at her, just as it had done earlier in the day, as it had done every day, she caught it staring at her. It blinked at her, tilting its head to the side, and took a step back. The crow bowed its head and arched upwards, growing larger. It twisted, stretching out limbs that quickly turned into arms and legs, and threw its head back before the feet finally settled on the ground.
She screamed into the gag, but not because she was afraid. If anything, she was anything but afraid. She glared at the man in front of her, kicking out at the ground and sending clouds of dust everywhere. He was no doubt the ringleader of her kidnapping and she was beyond angry. She wanted to go back to her room, go back to bed, and forget this ever happened.
He walked towards and crouched in front of her, putting a finger to his lips. “Don’t scream, Emma. We just want to talk.” He said softly, soothingly, and she felt her racing heart began to calm slightly. “We need you to listen to us, do you understand?”
She hesitated but then nodded slowly.
“Good, so no screaming. You will get to go back to your room after this, I promise. We don’t ever keep anyone who doesn’t want to stay.”
She nodded to his words and reached forward, releasing her mouth and nodded to someone behind her who cut the binds holding her hands together. Her hands dropped to her side, but as promised, this time, she didn’t scream.
“You were there.” She breathed. “You were there the night my mother died.”
Pity flashed across his face, but he nodded solemnly and stood, stretching his legs once again. “Such a shame she died to; I am sorry about that.” He gave her a half smile and turned, reaching out as a cloak was handed to him. He threw it over his shoulders and turned in a small circle, lifting his hands to the air and letting those who swarmed the clearing whistle and call out in happiness, cheering for him. Signaling him as the leader Emma had thought he was.
“Who are you?” she shouted above the noise, leaning towards, pushing herself to her feet. “You were there when my mother died, I know you were, and you just admitted it to. Who are you?”
The noise quieted down at her questions and the man turned to her, tilting his head to the side as he had done as the crow and she tensed, waiting for him to change back. When he didn’t, she took a step back, putting distance between them but a hand stopped her from being able to go any further – to keep her from escaping. Not that she’d be able to anyways. The darkness that surrounded the clearing was pitch black, without a lantern she wouldn’t be able to see where she was going and Emma wasn’t stupid enough to try. If witches and shifters existed, she had no doubt other creatures did as well. They were probably lurking just beyond the lights, waiting for one of them to step into the darkness and attack. She wasn’t going to let herself be eaten all for some freedom momentarily taken away from her. He had promised she’d get to return after all, not that she entirely believed him of course, but it was a hope she had for a promise he was going to be keeping.
“I’m Alexi Tokoya.” The man explained, introducing himself as he took a step back, holding his hands out to show he was giving her the space she clearly wanted. “My friends call me Lex for short, you can to if you’d like Emma.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “How do you k
now me?”
“Because I know you.” A soft voice piped up, a familiar one that that made Emma’s heart stutter, and from behind Lex, Kelyn stepped forward. “Because we’re friends. And you’re a Charmwood, which makes it even better.”
Emma’s mouth fell open in shock as she stared at the girl covered in her own cloak. She swallowed back her words, struggling to spit out what she wanted to say, finding herself speechless. Finally, she let out a shaky breath, blinking rapidly. “I-I don’t know what to say.” She stammered, feeling as if she had to say something.
Kelyn shook her head. “It’s okay, you’re safe. I promise. If I thought they were going to harm, I would’ve never suggested you. I swear. We’re friends, remember?” She looked at Emma with that hopeful gaze of hers, the one that made her look so innocent.
Standing in front of a crowd clad in cloaks, Kelyn amongst them, Emma was pretty sure the girl was not as innocent as she let others believe. She couldn’t stop the nod that bobbed her head, agreeing with her friend. “Wh-where am I?” She stammered, glancing around again, but it was no use. The clearing hadn’t changed.
“Well, we’re Rebels, in a sense. That’s what they’d call us, you’d call. The Resistance, I guess. That’s the name people have attributed us with. We’re all Shifters, except you. We’ve been looking for someone like you; a mage who is sympathetic to our cause. A mage who has no issues befriending our kind and could care less about what the rest thinks. Exactly like you.”
Emma blinked, her mouth slightly ajar at the explanation and she gazed around, watching as the rest of the group drifted into view. She recognized a few of the others, students from the school just like them, all shifters. She only knew because they sat at the table that she and Kelyn sat at so much together. They had talked about classes, schedules, afternoon trips to the town. The works. Not one of them had ever even let it slip about any resistance or rebel group or whatever. Of course, they wouldn’t, what was she thinking? There was a reason it was a secret; to not get caught. So why would they let it slip? Especially in a dining hall full of mages who would love to see them go down for whatever reasoning.
“I don’t understand. You brought me here because I hang out with you?”
Kelyn nodded, biting her lip as she looked up at Lex, who nodded to her in encouragement to continue. “Yes and no. You see, you get us. You understand us more than any mage has, and you actually stood up for me. No mage has ever done that before. That I know of anyways. We want you to join us.”
Emma scrutinized the group, shaking her head again. “I still don’t understand what us is. A rebel group, I get that. But, what exactly do you do? Want to do?”
“We want to bring Mages to their knees, learn to respect us. Not belittle us anymore. We want equality as well.”
“So, go talk to somebody.” Emma burst, shaking off the hand that was holding her back. “I don’t know how you think I’m gonna help, but I can’t.” She glared at Kelyn. “You of all people know I can barely do magic! What do you think I’d be able to do? Conjure up a peace treaty or something? I can’t even do a stupid levitation spell and the magic I tend to do makes things explode or get people hurt. I can’t help.”
“You can, just by being on our side, you can help.” Lex interjected, trying to diffuse the situation before it got any worse. “Just by being able to advocate for us – “
“I’m not helping.” Emma repeated, determined to get her point across. “Look, I get it. You guys do deserve better treatment, but there’s nothing I can do. I’m not going to change my ways, but I can’t change what – a thousand or more mages ways of thinking? That’s impossible, don’t you get that? I’m barely third year of this school and its only my first year. I’m in way over my head, I don’t need this to.”
Lex sighed, shaking his head as he rubbed his face, the stubble scratching in the silence. “Alright, well, we’re going to need to wipe her mind then. She can’t remember any of this.”
“We can trust her!” Kelyn said loudly, surprising Emma who had never heard her speak or yell or even raise her voice in the slightest. “She’s trustworthy, she isn’t going to tell a soul.”
“What about that boyfriend of hers?” A boy interjected, one she recognized from the lunch table. He usually skipped breakfasts. “She could spill the beans to him.”
“Shut up, Shad. She isn’t going to tell anyone, not even Josh. She’s trustworthy, I know she is.”
Alexi hesitated, studying Emma as she stood there, listening to them talk about her as if she weren’t even there. “Perhaps.” He said slowly, folding his arms across his chest. “I don’t know. She’s a mage, I really don’t want to take a chance.”
“Don’t forget she’s a Charmwood. She could wake up tomorrow and run straight to her uncle, spill the beans on us. She knows us!” Shad pointed out, glaring at Emma.
She stuck her tongue out at him. She had always gotten the feeling he never liked her very much, now she knew she had been right all along. He had never taken to her to sitting with them for meals and now it was even more evident he didn’t want her around, invading their space. He had probably been against it when Kelyn brought her up.
“I’m not going to tell, idiot.” She snapped, rolling her eyes at Shad. “Besides, who do I have to tell? My boyfriend, as you call him. I know better than to spill beans about a secret resistance. Kelyn’s my friend and spilling about it would mean her getting in trouble. Tell me, Shad, how many friends do I have?” She tilted her head, cocking an eyebrow at him.
Shad’s mouth opened, then closed and reopened, but he couldn’t respond, or wouldn’t and huffed, drawing back.
“Exactly. Kelyn and Josh are all I have. Really think I would jeopardize half the people I hang out with?” She stared right at Alexi. “I’m good on my word. I don’t want to not have someone to hang out with and discuss boy problems. There is no way in hell I’m crawling to Sherice’s side.”
A murmur of agreeance floated through the air, the student shifters nodding in unison at her words. Lex looked down at Kelyn, who turned a hopeful gaze up at him, biting her lip in a silent plea for him to accept.
He let out a sigh, rubbing his cheeks again and shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m doing this, but alright.” He threw his hands up in exasperation. “Your memory can stay intact. Probably a good thing to, since you came to this school knowing nothing and barely getting the hang of it. If you suddenly lost memory of everything, it would look pretty suspicious.”
Relief surged through Emma at knowing that she got to keep her memory, her fingers fiddling with the cotton shirt she wore. Kelyn clapped her hands excitedly, bouncing on her heels, and threw her arms around Alexi.
“Thank you, Professor. Thank you so much!” She gushed.
Alexi ran her fingers through the girl’s hair, shaking his head. “Alright, that’s enough.” He mumbled, but the cheeks that shone through the scruff were bright red.
“Professor?” Emma asked with a cocked eyebrow. “What does she mean by that?”
“I used to work at the school.” He shrugged and stepped towards her. “Now listen to me, I will be watching.”
“Don’t you always?” Emma drawled, smirking at him as she crossed her arms back over her chest.
“Don’t push it. If I get wind at all, that the resistance is even spoken about or a new rumor suddenly gets started, I will be after you first. I will wipe your memory, so you don’t even remember your own mother.” She grimaced, drawing back as the lash he had invoked worked well. “Don’t make me do that Emma. I’m not a bad guy and I really don’t want to be put as one. Understood?”
Emma held her head high, but gave a jerk of a nod in agreeance, biting on her tongue to keep herself for saying something that would further get her in lashed at or threatened with.
“Good. Now goodnight Emma.”
The blindfold blocked her vision once again.
Twenty-One
Emma peeked around the corner, watching as Kelyn g
lanced around, knocking on her dorm room again. When Emma didn’t answer, again, she let out a huff and turned to go down the stairs. Emma ducked around the corner, crouching behind the plant as she watched Kelyn walk past her, faced forward. Had she tried looking again, she most likely would’ve seen Emma hiding behind the plant, but it she was grateful that the girl didn’t. As Kelyn left the common room to head to her own or wherever she was going, Emma stepped out from behind the plant, smoothing out her uniform.
“Finally get sick of your pet, Charmwood?”
The voice made her jump and spin on her heels, glaring at Sherice. “You got nothing better to do then spy on people then?”
Sherice laughed, rolling her eyes. “I just notice things. Like how for the last week, you’ve practically been avoiding your little pet there. Don’t like her anymore then?”
“You don’t know anything.” Emma commented flatly, turning to go up to her room.
“I know how badly you need someone to help you study, but you’re avoiding her. I can help you, Charmwood.”
Emma stopped in her tracks, staring at the staircase and shook her head. “I’m good Sherice, thanks though.” She started to climb the stairs, wanting to get away from the popular mean girl of the school.
“You will regret, Charmwood! You will ask me for help one day and be on your knees begging for me. You can’t survive on your own, Charmwood! You’re going to need me!”
Emma glanced over her shoulder, waving at her before she disappeared around the corner to her door, pushing it open. It had been a week since the night Kelyn had introduced her to her group, the Resistance, or whatever they called themselves. As promised, Emma had kept her mouth shut, but had also taken to avoiding Kelyn and the rest of the Shifters. She wasn’t sure why, but distance seemed the best option. What had happened that night had boggled her mind, made no sense whatsoever and the fact Kelyn was right smack in the middle didn’t help matters at all. So, she had canceled her study sessions or at least she had thought she’d done so, but apparently Kelyn didn’t get the memo. What she got was that Emma did want space but was determined to keep her up to date on lessons. So, she’d taken the route of hiding from the girl. It obviously had not gone unnoticed. Probably because every time Kelyn entered a room, Emma made an excuse to turn and run off.
