by Rani Clark
Mr. Ragnar looked at Elias, “After I broke your bones the first time I thought you might hesitate. What on earth did you say to convince him to jump into bed with the likes of you?”
“He didn’t say anything.” Ty came to his defense. “We talked and hung out when you guys left. He was nice to me. We started texting and talking and . . . he didn’t push me into anything.”
Mr. Ragnar folded his arms across his chest, “I find that hard to believe considering what he’s capable of. What he’s done to children. However, I’m not your parent so I can’t say anything about it, but this is a terrible idea.”
“You kill people. I don’t think you have the best record of knowing what’s good and what isn’t.”
“Yes, but I don’t molest children.”
Jaska didn’t know what to say. He cleared his throat, “Maybe we should go Mr. Ragnar.”
“Fine, we’ll go. Have fun with your curse, Mr. Kircher. We all know you’ll be dead within the next month.”
Jaska followed him out, “Oh my god. I think I’m going to be sick,” he said as he walked outside. “I didn’t think that he would go out with Mr. Kircher.”
“There is no such thing as going out with someone like that. He’s using Ty and we both know it. I thought when I beat him up the first time it stuck.” Mr. Ragnar stopped to stand outside the shop. He looked at his hand and flexed it a few times.
“Is your hand ok?”
“It’s still a little sore, I’ll be fine.”
“That thing you did, what will happen?”
“Should Mr. Kircher ever hurt Ty in the slightest he’s going to die. If Ty wishes to break up with him things will be fine, but other than that.”
Jaska wasn’t certain that was something that should have been done. Ty didn’t seem to want to hurt Elias. “I think I’ll wait for Ty.”
“That’s fine. I’ll see you in a few days. Have fun with your family.”
Jaska watched him go and headed back into the clock shop. Ty was helping Elias stand, trying to be as gentle as possible. “I don’t really know what to say.”
“I’m going to get him to the hospital. Mind helping?”
Jaska nodded and opened the door. Benson asked what was wrong, Ty told him Elias had slipped and broken his arm. The man handed Jaska the keys to his car since Elias didn’t have one. Benson’s car was an old green junker from the 1970’s. It had obviously seen better days, but when Jaska turned the key he was pleasantly surprised. “Where’s the hospital?”
“Turn right out of here and go straight until you get to the fork in the road,” Elias said between clenched teeth.
Jaska nodded. He didn’t have a license, but Lilly Ann had taught him to drive in preparation for his Drivers Ed course that he would have taken before going to Cambridge had things turned out differently. “Tell me how in the hell this happened?”
Elias shook his head, “It just did. You may think I’m lying,” he took a shuddering breath, “but I’m not and now I can’t.”
Ty wiped his eyes, “Your master didn’t even listen to an explanation.”
“He’s dealt with Mr. Kircher in that way before. Hasn’t he?” he glanced at the monster in the back seat.
“I told him about what I did to Leif.”
“That was why he freaked out. Ty, he knows what happened between us, he saw you kiss me, and I told him everything. He knows how much you mean to me.”
“He really did that because he knows you care about me?”
“Yes. As odd as it sounds that’s the reason.”
Jaska followed the road as instructed until he came upon a small building. Since it wasn’t a big town they didn’t need a big hospital. Jaska parked the car in the lot and got out. Elias seemed to be doing better. At the very least he was walking straighter. When they walked into the hospital, he was seen to right away. Ty sank into a chair in the waiting room. His shirt and hands were bloody, he was shaking. Jaska reached out and gripped his forearm. There was little else he could do except offer comfort.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“How did this happen? Tell me the truth.”
Ty sniffled, “When you left I went over to the clock shop to talk to Elias. He told me about not hurting me because of what Mr. Ragnar did to him when he hurt Leif. He sent me a clock and we started texting and calling each other. When he came to drop off your letter the first time we went to dinner. He kissed me, but he told me that we could stop if I wanted to. I didn’t want to.” He wiped his bloody hands on his shirt, “We . . . did some stuff over the phone. When he came to give us your letters again we slept together. I really do love him. I know that it sounds dumb.”
“I’m really proud of you though. You came out of your comfort zone.”
He chuckled, “Thanks.” He wiped his nose, “One of my friends from school knew I was . . . this way.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He thought we were dating. He thought when I went over to your house to study we were doing other stuff. I guess a lot of my friends assumed that we were dating.”
“What did your friend say about it?”
“He didn’t seem to care. No one did. I mean, Donny wanted to set me up with someone.”
Jaska wished he could be there for Ty more than a few days out of the year. He wasn’t sure what to say about this. What Elias was doing was illegal. Ty was only seventeen, Elias was nearly forty. “You could date someone from school?”
“I don’t love anyone at school. I don’t expect you to understand, but I promise that I’m being safe and careful. Part of me doesn’t believe anything he says. He said that he isn’t bothering any other kids because of what’s going on with us.”
Jaska leaned back in the chair and looked around the hospital, “How has Margo been? She says she’s fine, but I don’t know if she’s lying to make me feel better. Like the way I’m lying.”
“She’s doing alright. We all miss you, but things are getting slightly easier.”
“That’s good because they keep getting worse for me.”
Ty looked at him in silence for a moment, “What’s been going on?”
“After he shot me I started doing more necromancy and we went into the land of the dead. My Spirit Guide is a serial killer. I’m not great at necromancy and I hardly sleep. I feel sick all of the time.”
“Stupid Mr. Ragnar. Doesn’t he know how bad you feel?”
“He does. I don’t think he knows what to do. When Leif came to live with him it was because his parents had been killed so he had a reason to be sad.”
“He could let you go.”
“It wouldn’t help. I’ve been to the world of death, I’m . . . I have to train at least a little bit or I won’t be able to control anything. Death hangs around necromancers and if I can’t control it I’ll get hurt and I’ll hurt the people I care about.” He looked at his hands, pale and clammy, “On the plus side, my bed is pretty comfortable."
They both laughed. He pulled his gloves from his pocket and put them on. He was very aware that the gloves and coat made him worse when it came to the amount of sun he was getting. However, he was cold. He stood, “Do you want something from the vending machine?” he asked.
“Yeah sure. A soda please.”
He nodded and stood. The vending machines were around the corner. He took two dollars from his pocket and purchased a can of cherry soda and a can of cream soda. Ty was still looking at his lap. “Cherry or cream? I couldn’t remember which one you liked better.”
Ty looked up, “Cherry.”
Jaska sat down and handed him the drink. The two sipped their sodas until Elias came back. His arm was in a sling and a black cast. His eyes were bruised and he was walking stiffly. There were two thin bandages over his nose. Ty leapt up and rushed over.
“Are you alright?”
“Not really. They gave me a strong prescription so there’s that.” He smiled weakly, “I need to lie down.”
“We’ll take you home.”
Elias fell asleep in the car on the short ride. Jaska handed the keys back to Benson as they walked into the back. Up a flight of steps was a small apartment. There were plates in the sink and the sitting area was a mess. Ty helped him into the bedroom. He watched as the man set himself gently on the bed.
“Call me if you need anything?”
“Yes, I will. I think I’m just going to pass out for a few hours.” Elias smiled, “I’ll be alright, stop looking at me like that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s nice being cared about.” He kissed him lightly, “Have fun with your friend.”
“Feel better, Elias.”
Jaska walked with him back downstairs. He didn’t say anything until they were outside, “He has magazines-”
“I don’t care what he has. I know what he is.”
“Alright.”
Lilly Ann nearly tackled him in a hug when he walked in the door. Jaska took off his coat and gloves. “Honey, why are you wearing a sweater?”
“What? Oh, I’m cold.”
“Ty, why do you have blood on your clothes?” Lilly Ann asked. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m not hurt. Mr. Ragnar beat up Elias. We took him to the hospital.” He turned, “I’m going to go and wash this blood off.”
Lilly Ann looked at her son, “That’s what happened?”
“Yeah. He put some kind of spell on Mr. Kircher. If he ever hurts Ty, he’s going to die.” Jaska sat on the couch, “Did you know about them?”
“Yes. I talked to Mr. Kircher about it."
Jaska didn’t know how he felt about that. Elias was a creep and Ty cared about him. Of course, there was the spell to contend with now. That didn’t exactly bring him comfort. “Mr. Ragnar broke his arm and everything. It was . . . really scary to watch. I don’t think I would want to be at the end of his fists.”
Lilly Ann looked at her parents and then back at her son, “Why, exactly, did he beat up Mr. Kircher?”
“You mean because I’m not the one Mr. Kircher is with? It’s because Ty is my friend. I care about Ty so Mr. Ragnar does too. At least, that’s what he said.” He could tell his mother was confused at the statement. Mr. Ragnar had ruined his life. His master’s actions didn’t speak of someone who really cared, at least to her they didn’t. Jaska had seen his master defend him from a monster so he couldn’t be sure how much the man really did care.
Leif sat next to him on the couch, “You saw him hurt someone?”
“Yeah. It was scary.”
“You’ve seen him use his power before.”
“But not like this. I saw him fighting a monster to protect me. I never saw him getting that angry, even when he was angry with me for summoning that thing.”
Leif shrugged, “It’ll be fine.”
“He really hurt Mr. Kircher.”
“He kills people, remember?”
“I know.” Jaska didn’t want to talk about this anymore and so diverted the conversation, “Mom, will you make me some hot chocolate?”
“Of course honey. Do you want some, Leif?”
“Yes, please.” Leif watched her go, “You alright?”
“Not really. Am I cold for a reason?”
“It’s because you’re so close to death. Relax about it, it’ll get better. Just give it some time.”
“Where’s Lantern?”
“Helping Margo make cupcakes. How is Vladimir?”
“He’s fine. He didn’t say he wasn’t after he beat Mr. Kircher to a bloody pulp.” Jaska thanked his mother who brought him his steaming mug, “Thanks mom. Are we ever going to tell dad about this?”
“Not unless you want to.” She winked, “I don’t really care to.”
He laughed and blew on the hot liquid before sipping it. Telling his father he was a necromancer’s apprentice was stupid and irresponsible. Evan would just shout and he would get angry with Lilly Ann. However, he knew Mr. Ragnar would step in. Part of him didn’t want to believe that. After all, he was a prisoner. He shouldn’t have been expecting Mr. Ragnar to save him from anything or anyone.
Lantern ran in from the kitchen and tackled him in a hug; the little creature had flour on his black feathers. “Hey buddy. Helping cook, huh?” He nodded. “I hope you didn’t just eat cookies. Margo probably gave you cookies since you’re so cute and she likes cute things.”
Lantern made a shrugging motion. Jaska smiled at the creature as his sister came in with a plate of cupcakes frosted in blue. “How much did you give him?”
“Not a ton. He ate two cupcakes and had some juice.”
“He can’t eat too many sweets, he gets a stomach ache and then he gets cranky.”
Margo laughed, “Wow, you turned into a dad fast.”
Jaska rolled his eyes, “Well I can’t just give him cookies all of the time, he needs healthy stuff.”
Margo took a cupcake and began to eat it, “How big is he going to get?”
“Mr. Ragnar said seven or eight feet. His claws are going to get bigger too.”
Lantern leapt off of the couch and went to where he had put his crayons and paper.
“You’re lucky you get to keep him,” Margo said as she sat down next to her brother.
“I like taking care of him.”
“Don’t hate me for asking this, but what can you do with your necromancy skills?”
Jaska glanced at her, “I can show you if you want.”
“Really?”
He stood, “Yes. Stay here, Lantern.”
Jaska looked through the junk drawer until he found a black marker. Margo followed him out into the backyard. He looked back at his sister, thinking how cool she was about to say his skill was. Margo watched from the porch as he drew a symbol on his left hand. With a frown he brought his hand up and pushed his mind into that awful state he had to maintain.
Black mist flowed from his fingers and wrapped round his entire hand. He pushed the mist out in a pathetically soft show of power. He didn’t want to hurt his sister or show her what he was really capable of. The snow puffed out in front of him. “I’m not great at it yet. Mr. Ragnar can do a whole lot more than I can,” he lied.
Margo was staring at him, “Holy crap. What else can you do?”
“Summon ghosts. Mr. Ragnar says that I’m actually good at this.” Jaska stepped back into the house, “I hate that."
“You’re good at everything you do, you idiot,” Margo told him with a smile, knocking his shoulder. “Not that you think that. You think you suck at everything.”
“I’m not good at this. I almost killed Mr. Ragnar by accident because I’m an idiot.” Jaska shook his head, “I don’t want to talk about this.”
“We don’t have to. How’s Mr. Ragnar, anyway?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, is he a total ass? I only know what you told me in the letters.”
“He’s fine. He doesn’t really yell at me and he doesn’t hit me.”
“Stockholm syndrome much?”
“It isn’t that so much as I’m stuck with him and it takes a lot of energy to full on loathe him all of the time. I guess I’m just happy about him not being abusive. Plus, he loves Leif like a son and it’s hard to hate someone when you see that about them every day.”
He had nearly forgotten what Monarch had said about his master killing his wife and children. Every time he watched Mr. Ragnar and Leif together, it was hard to picture him as a murderer. He was starting to get used to this life and wasn’t sure if he wanted something like that between them. It might be a good idea to ask, even if it brought him deeper into the necromancer world.
“Do you like being a necromancer?”
“I’m not one yet.”
Leif was talking to his mother when they stepped back into the living room. He was telling Lilly Ann about how he had come to live with Mr. Ragnar, explaining how the necromancer had saved his life. Lantern was drawing a picture of a forest with a house in front
of it. Jaska was amazed at how talented the creature was becoming. He didn’t think that with those claws he would be that great at drawing with crayons.
“Your mom was telling me about her job,” Leif told him, disturbing his thought process.
“What?”
“Working with lawyers. Sounds interesting.”
Lilly Ann laughed, “It isn’t too bad, and it pays the bills.”
