by Rani Clark
“Where are you going?” Jaska asked as his master went back into the house.
“I’ll be out in a moment.”
Jaska folded his arms across his chest in the cold, “Thanks for letting us freeze,” he muttered.
* * *
Lilly Ann glared at the man who had taken her son. He shut the door behind him and took off his hat. “I am sorry about-”
“You don’t get to talk,” she snapped. “I don’t know if you just don’t give a shit or don’t notice, but my son looks like a walking corpse. He’s cold to the touch, he always looks tired. I’ve never seen him look like that.”
“I am very aware. Jaska is . . . I think he might be sick. I know he’s depressed. He keeps odd hours and barely eats. I am very aware that he misses his family, but he should be getting better soon.”
“That’s all you can give me?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Lilly Ann took a deep breath to calm herself. Slapping him again wouldn’t make anyone feel better, even if she wanted to. “I know what he told me about life there, but I want to hear it from you.”
“What did he tell you?”
“He told me you don’t hit him and you don’t make him do anything really. He didn’t go into detail.”
“He’s still getting into the life, but he has his Spirit Guide. Jaska is quite talented at drawing circles for spells already and he can summon ghosts. He accidentally summoned a very powerful beast and nearly killed me. I have every belief he’ll be an amazing necromancer one day.”
“He’ll be good at killing people you mean.”
“Not all necromancers do that. Most don’t, actually. Jaska probably won’t.” Mr. Ragnar folded his arms across his chest, “I know you hate me, but I’m doing this to keep him safe.”
“He’s sick!”
“I know he’s sick! I look at him every day and know that he’s getting worse! I wish he wasn’t, I wanted this to be easy, but it isn’t like I thought he would be like this when I brought him home with me!” Mr. Ragnar shouted.
“Don’t you dare shout at me. You are the bad guy in this, not me. You took my son and you’re not doing anything about his illness.”
“The only thing I can do is take him to the hospital. Necromancers are colder than most, we typically maintain colder body temperatures. Jaska’s body will get used to it, I promise.”
Lilly Ann wiped the tears from her cheeks, “I know he left something out. He isn’t telling me everything so you better start talking.”
Mr. Ragnar sighed, “He probably didn’t tell you everything for a reason.”
“No, you tell me now.”
He glared at her, “Fine. I take it he didn’t tell you that I shot him.”
Lilly Ann stared at him. Her hands began to shake as her heart pounded. “Excuse me.”
“Every apprentice has to die in order to become a necromancer. It’s safe. I slit Leif’s throat but that was messy and difficult, it was easier to shoot Jaska. I didn’t tell him beforehand so he was angry with me, but I didn’t want to freak him out so I just-”
She punched him hard in the mouth, pushing him against the door, “You shot my baby boy!”
Mr. Ragnar looked down at her, “I had to.”
Byron leapt forward and pulled his daughter off him, holding her when she clearly wanted to keep hitting him. “Honey, calm down.”
“No, I won’t! You psychopathic son of a bitch! How dare you hurt him like that!” She began to sob, her tears soaking her cheeks, “You shot him.”
“I didn’t want to hurt him,” Mr. Ragnar snapped. “That was why I didn’t tell him what I was going to do. He wasn’t in any danger. I try to keep him out of danger, more so than I would do with any other apprentice, I promise.” He wiped the blood from his mouth away.
Lilly Ann yanked her arms away from her father, “I don’t care what you promise or what you say.”
“Don’t tell him I told you that. He obviously wanted to keep it a secret for a reason and I just blabbed like a fool.”
“When will I see him again?”
“Christmas and I have something for you as well.” He reached into his jacket and produced an envelope. “I am very aware that it’s expensive to fly here constantly.”
Lilly Ann took the envelope and opened it to see a thick stack of twenties and hundreds. “What-?”
“This is my fault and I’m not going to make you pay for it. He won’t be able to come down all the time, holidays are a special circumstance, but you have two children to take care of as well as yourself. You shouldn’t have to worry about paying for these flights and taking time off of work.”
“Mr. Ragnar-”
“I am not looking to be thanked or liked. That should cover the cost of a few trips.” He turned, “Unless there’s something else you wanted to talk to me about?”
Lilly Ann shook her head, “Keep my baby safe. Please.”
Mr. Ragnar nodded and left, shutting the door behind him. Lilly Ann looked at the envelope of money as tears soaked her cheeks. She felt Margo and Ty hug her. She held them close as she cried.
* * *
Jaska looked up as Mr. Ragnar stepped from the house. His mouth was bleeding. “Ready to go boys?” he asked with a frown.
“Yes. It’s freezing here,” Leif complained.
"Yes, I know," Mr. Ragnar agreed. “Jaska?”
“What?”
“Are you alright?”
“You know I’m not so I wish you would stop asking.” Jaska wiped his eyes, “My mom is really hurting. So is Margo. Ty is dating that creep.”
“What creep?” Leif asked.
“Mr. Kircher.”
Leif stopped walking for a moment. “Are you serious? Dating? That isn’t possible.”
“It is and he’s doing it. Mr. Kircher swears he loves Ty, but I don’t know. I don’t want my friend hurt after everything that’s been going on with him. Mr. Kircher will only hurt him.” Jaska shook his head, “It isn’t up to me what he does.”
Mr. Ragnar nodded, “I have made sure things go the best they possibly can.”
“I know.” He wiped his eyes, “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
The trip home was a boring one. Jaska didn’t bother to say anything when they got into the house. Lantern clicked his way into the living room and curled up on the couch to sleep; traveling tired him out. Jaska went up to his room to do the same. He had a headache and felt sick to his stomach. Without getting out of his clothing, he crawled into his bed and put his head on the pillow. Bitter tears stung his cold cheeks and he curled up under the covers with a shiver.
3
Ty stepped into the small apartment with two plates filled with leftovers. He set the plates on the counter and went down the small hallway that led to the bedroom and the bathroom. He knocked on the bedroom door. “Elias?”
“Come in,” came a soft voice.
Elias was lying on his back with a pained look on his face. “I brought you some food. Happy Thanksgiving.” He helped him sit up and retrieved his pain medication. “Are you feeling up to eating it?
“Yes, I’m starving. Mind helping me to the living room?”
Ty obliged and helped him up. “How are you feeling anyway?”
“Awful. I feel awful.”
Ty noticed his hand was bandaged. “Did you have that before?”
“No. I was trying to eat dinner and I cut myself with a steak knife. That’ll teach me to try to eat steak with a broken arm.” He shrugged, “I’m alright thought. Light a fire please. This place is cold and I can’t really do what I would normally do to warm up.”
Ty laughed and went to the small woodstove. “Have anything I can burn? Wood or something?”
Elias shrugged, “Shove in a few of those magazines.”
“Really?”
“I have you now. Besides, they’re old and do nothing for me.”
Ty nodded and gathered up the filthy magazines on the table. He tried not to
look at them as he put them into the stove and started a fire. “Any more?”
“In my room and the closet. Also the bathroom.” Elias smiled warmly, “I’m a sick man.”
Ty ignored the comment and managed to find more magazines. He wasn’t sure why Elias was doing this. It would make more sense to keep the magazines, but he wasn’t about to question it. “Should I heat up some food?”
“Yes please.” Elias smiled, “Would it be weird if I came to your graduation?”
Ty set the plate in the microwave, “No.” He looked at the broken man on the couch, “You know, if you want to get out of this I won’t be mad. I don’t want to kill you. Things don’t work out sometimes and-”
“If I could get up and walk over there I would shut you up with a kiss. Pretend I did that. I don’t want to get out of this.”
He brought him the food and a beer. Ty had no desire to hurt Elias or see him get hurt as a result of Mr. Ragnar’s actions. It made his stomach start to hurt. “I helped make the stuffing,” he remarked.
“It’s the best part.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not.”
He sat beside him, thinking about what was going to happen when he got back to school. A few more months and he would be out of high school. He needed to start applying for college, start thinking about his life. What would happen if he failed at this? He wasn’t bright and without Jaska his grades were less than stellar. Elias set his empty plate on the coffee table and sipped his beer. Ty was afraid to snuggle into him because of the injuries.
“The pain is intense, but I still love you.” He lifted the arm that wasn’t broken and slipped it around Ty’s shoulders, “I meant to talk to you about something. It’s about your parents.”
“What about them?”
“Are you going to tell them about us when I come to your graduation? I would love to punch your father in the mouth.”
“Oh, um, my dad already told me he never wanted to see me again. I doubt that a graduation is something he’s thinking about.”
“What an asshole.”
“I know. I cried a lot. I didn’t want to, but I did. He’s my dad after all.”
“Your father doesn’t deserve a son like you.” Elias sipped his drink, “A son caring and kind. Jaska sees that in you and cares a lot about you because of it. I care.”
“Thanks.” Ty watched him for a moment before speaking, “We’re leaving soon. I wanted to make sure you were alright before we left.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve been hurt before. You’re forgetting what I’ve done to people. Parents have attacked me many times and Mr. Ragnar’s done worse to me.”
“That doesn’t make me feel great.”
“Look, I will call you every day. Would that make you feel a little better about this?”
“Yes. Not by much, but at least I’ll know you’re still breathing.”
Elias chuckled, “None of this is going to kill me. It hurts a hell of a lot, but it isn’t going to kill me.”
Ty nodded and leaned over. He kissed him lightly on the mouth, afraid of getting too rough. He didn’t want to cause him more pain.
“Hang on,” Elias shook his head, “That is not a goodbye kiss.”
Ty was taken by surprise at the pressure behind what Elias was doing. He felt his tongue slide into his mouth, his heart pounded. Elias broke the contact with a grunt. “Wow, that hurt a lot,” he held his side. “Ow.”
Ty stared at him, “Don’t do that if it hurts.”
“You’ll be thousands of miles away. I’ll miss you.” He reached over with his good hand and began to unbutton Ty’s shirt.
Ty pushed his hand down, “Not when you’re sore. Stop. I can do stuff to you if you want, but I know you’re really sore.”
Elias sighed, “Alright. We’ll cuddle until you have to leave. Sound fair?”
“More than fair.” Ty kissed his neck lightly and turned on the television.
4
When Jaska tried to sit up he failed miserably. His body ached and his head pounded. When he moved, prickling shivers crawled up his body. “Oh god,” he moaned. With a groan, he crawled from his bed and managed to make it to the bathroom. There were pain pills in the cabinet that he knew would make him feel better. He swallowed them before opening the door to his bedroom. He nearly slammed into Mr. Ragnar who was walking by his door with a cup of coffee.
“Jaska, you look terrible,” he stopped. He reached out and put his hand on his forehead, “And you’re running a fever. Out of those clothes and back to bed, now.”
“I don’t need to-”
“Fine then go downstairs and have breakfast assuming you can make it downstairs.” He shook his head, “I don’t enjoy seeing you hurt. Go to bed and I’ll bring you some warm broth later.”
Jaska wanted to argue, but he didn’t feel quite up to it. He crawled back into bed, wanting to scream and cry at the same time. The longer he lay there the worse he felt. How had he gotten this sick? He hadn’t felt this bad until leaving Germany. As the day wore on he fell in and out of consciousness. His fever broke after what he was sure was at least a day and he sat up, suddenly aware of where he was and why he was there. His stomach growled and his head swam.
“You’re up and looking better,” Mr. Ragnar said as he stepped into the room with a steaming bowl of broth. “I was starting to get worried.”
Jaska pushed himself up so that his back was against a pillow. He took the bowl from Mr. Ragnar and carefully sipped at it. “How long was I out?”
Mr. Ragnar sat beside him, “A couple of days. I was beginning to worry. I almost called the physician.” He reached out and touched his forehead, “Still above average, but better.”
“You know, I never got this sick before. Now, I’m sick all of the time.”
He nodded, “I know. It might be from your lessons, but I’m not sure. I’m going to ask Mads about it.”
“Another apprentice is a bust. I bet you just love us right now,” he remarked dryly.
Mr. Ragnar chuckled, “I love Leif no matter what. The fact that he’s completely useless at necromancy or any kind of magic doesn’t make me care about him less.”
Jaska finished his soup, “Thank you for this.”
“It isn’t a problem. Monarch is worried about you, I told him that you just needed some rest.” Mr. Ragnar stood, “Get some sleep, Jaska.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Mr. Ragnar paused at the door, “You are very welcome.”
Jaska nodded, but he didn’t feel like sleeping. He picked up one of his necromancy books and began reading. As he read he wondered why he was getting sick. Mr. Ragnar didn’t seem to know and it didn’t feel normal with the way his master spoke about it. He set his book down and stood on weak legs. A shower felt like a good idea; he was sweaty and gross. As he stood in the steaming hot water he began to feel better. His muscles were looser and the warmth was seeping back into his bones. He got out of the shower after twenty minutes and wrapped himself in a plush robe. He made his way downstairs. Tea sounded like a fantastic idea.
From the sound of things, no one was in the house. Lantern was nowhere to be seen. He sighed in relief and went into the kitchen to start brewing his tea. Mr. Ragnar had an old teapot that fit the rest of the décor. As the water boiled he opened the cupboard and stared at the many boxes of teas. There were over fifty boxes in the cupboard, each labeled with what sort of tea that it was. As he read the labels, listing them in his head, he stopped at the chamomile. It sounded like something that would make him feel better.
He set the bag in the mug and stared at it, listening for the whistle of the pot. When he sat down with his steaming mug he realized how odd everything was. Part of him knew he should be mystified and awed at the idea that soon he would have the power to master death, but all he saw when he looked at the mark on his hand was a chain around his ankle. He could never leave this place, at least not for several years.
“I was very worried.�
��
He felt Monarch before he said anything, felt the cold in the room and the shudder in the air. He turned to the serial killer with a smile, “I’m alright. Thanks for worrying though.”
Monarch sat beside him, “I really am glad you’re alright. How was the trip?”
“Fine, I guess. I was glad to see my family, but I hated them seeing me like this. I keep hearing that it will get better, but I don’t think so.”
