Magicbound to a Snake Girl

by Kurtis Eckstein

  “I’m going to come back later and try talking to your daughter then. She doesn’t seem to remember very much, but that might change after she’s had some time to recover.”

  Mrs. Sykes sighed heavily. “Well, thank you for not pushing her too hard. I know it’s important we find out what attacked them, but I’m worried she’s still not well enough yet.” Her eyes teared up a little. “It’s like she’s just a shell of herself right now. Like my daughter isn’t even there.”

  Mr. Burrows nodded somberly. “That’s to be expected though. She’ll return to normal soon enough. Maybe visiting with her friends will help.”

  I chimed in then, trying to look really concerned. “Can I go see her alone?” I asked tentatively.

  Monica jumped to her feet. “Hey! Why do you get to see her first?” she blurted out.

  I ignored her, continuing to speak to Kaylee’s mom. “I don’t want to overwhelm her by having more than one person visit with her, and I want her to see that I’m okay. Maybe it will help with her confusion,” I offered.

  I saw Monica gawking in the corner of my eye, before it quickly turned into a scowl. “That’s not fair,” she complained loudly.

  I finally glared at her. “This isn’t a game!” I snapped, truly annoyed for the first time.

  She didn’t even care. But then, did that mean I did care? I knew I shouldn’t care. Not after all the years of hatefulness.

  Elaine interjected before I could continue. “Both of you stop it!” she scolded us firmly. She then looked at me. “Yes, Alyssa, I think that’s a good idea. Go ahead. Monica can visit with her when you’re done.”

  I quickly took my cue to head down the hallway before I thought too deeply about how I felt about the situation. Mrs. Sykes sighed heavily behind me, before wishing Mr. Burrows farewell and striking up a conversation with the principal again. It was strange finding out that all three of these adults had a positive perception of my father, and at least one of them thought highly of my mother.

  Maybe it was because I was always around Ms. Landerson, and my classmates, that it felt like everyone hated my family. But obviously I couldn’t deny that must not be entirely true. For the first time, I began to wonder if the world I was living in was very different than what my father experienced.

  No wonder he didn’t suspect anything too terrible was happening in my life. He knew I didn’t have friends, but I didn’t bother telling him about the teasing, bullying, or rock-throwing. Granted, I wasn’t sure he could have done much about it anyway.

  I sighed heavily as I reached Kaylee’s door.

  This was it.

  I tapped lightly on the door before cracking it open. I saw her immediately, sitting up in her bed, staring out of the open window across the room. Her light brown hair was unkempt, and she looked really exhausted. Her green eyes were tight too, like she was stressed out. The tan shirt she was wearing had a small red stain where I knew the bandaged wound was underneath.

  It was weird to think that I was the only reason why she was alive. If Jasmyn hadn’t become distracted by my magic, then she wouldn’t have survived. Granted, it wasn’t like I saved her life on purpose, but still…

  Kaylee didn’t even bother looking when I opened the door the rest of the way. However, once I closed it softly, she finally glanced over.

  Immediately, she flinched with a gasp, before jerking back against the wall. Her hand grabbed at her side simultaneously as her expression shifted to agony.

  I didn’t want her to scream for help, so I remained by the door. “Hey Kaylee,” I said quietly, feeling uncertain about how to proceed.

  She took a moment to recover, before looking at me hesitantly. “How are you okay?” she hissed.

  “Can I sit down?” I asked, trying to delay answering her question.

  She stared at me for a moment, before nodding slowly. But then she flinched a second time as I began walking over to sit in the chair next to her bed. Just as I was about to speak, she cut me off.

  “I haven’t said anything,” she said quickly. “And I won’t. I promise.” She then sighed heavily, looking away with a grieved expression. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t realize he would do something like that. I ran to go get help, but then…” Her voice trailed off.

  My eyes were wide, surprised by what she was saying, but also hesitant to believe her. For all I knew, this was just some scheme of hers to get on my good side. It wouldn’t have been the first time someone had done this to me.

  Monica was a perfect example, pretending to be friendly to try to learn more about my mom, or the boys I liked, only to turn around and announce it to everyone, calling me pathetic. It was a good thing I didn’t have a boy I was interested in at the time, because I would have been mortified to have her tell everyone.

  When I didn’t say anything, Kaylee continued. Her expression was hard again as she stared down at her blankets. “Why don’t you hate me?” she demanded with a grimace, a slight edge to her voice.

  “What?” I asked breathlessly.

  She looked up and glared at me then, her tone angry now. “Why don’t you hate me?” she snapped. “I’m so mean to you, and yet no matter how hard I try to make you hate me…”

  Her expression became even more infuriated as tears filled her eyes. She looked away then, starting to shake. Her hands were gripping her blanket in her lap so tight that the tendons were popping out.

  “I hate you,” she finally whispered after a moment.

  I wanted to scoff and act like I didn’t care, but I realized I did care, because her words hurt like someone had stabbed me in the chest. It was yesterday all over again, except the knife wasn’t physical this time.

  My eyes started to sting as my vision blurred with tears.

  I abruptly stood up, trying not to sob. “Just keep your mouth shut,” I snapped, turning to leave.

  Unexpectedly, I heard her grunt in discomfort as she reached out to grab my hand. I froze when her fingers grasped my wrist, my body starting to shake as well. I had to take a deep breath when I began feeling my magic on the edge of leaking out again. The last thing I needed was for her to have some way to blackmail me by seeing my demon form.

  “I’m sorry,” she pleaded. “I’m just so angry right now,” she continued quietly, though her tone didn’t match her words anymore.

  I finally looked back at her hand holding onto mine fiercely, before meeting her emerald gaze. “What do you want?” I finally asked, feeling hurt and annoyed.

  “I want to know why you don’t hate me,” she replied, her voice barely audible now. She didn’t look angry anymore either. Instead, she looked…vulnerable.

  I turned my head away from her, uncertain why myself. I didn’t like her, but she was right. I didn’t hate her either. But why?

  “Because we were friends once,” I finally retorted. “Or at least I thought we were.”

  Kaylee let go of my hand then.

  I glanced back to see that she was covering up her face, her body trembling. I just stared at her for a few minutes, watching her begin to cry harder until she finally laid down and rolled over, sobbing into her pillow. Her hands were now clutching her side, her body tightening in pain with each sob.

  My eyes began watering more too, though I didn’t understand why. I considered just leaving, but I ended up sitting back down cradling my head in my hands.

  “I don’t deserve to live,” she sobbed. “I wish I had just died like everyone else.”

  I looked up at her in shock, wiping the tears from my eyes. I then bit the inside of my cheek and kept my mouth shut. I didn’t know what to say to that anyway. I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. She seemed sincere, but how was I supposed to know for sure?

  She continued to cry until her mom came in to check on us.

  “Oh sweetie!” Elaine exclaimed after opening the door. “What’s wrong?”

  When Kaylee ignored her, she looked at me.

  “I’m sorry dear, but I think m
aybe you should come back another time.”

  I nodded, wiping my eyes again in preparation to stand, only for Kaylee to speak up.

  “No,” she whined. “I want her to stay.”

  “Oh,” Mrs. Sykes said in surprise. “Are you sure, honey?”

  “Yes,” she groaned, sounding annoyed now.

  “Your friend Monica is here too. Do you want–”

  “Just send her home,” Kaylee snapped, wincing from the effort. “She probably just wants to have something to gossip about at school.”

  Elaine looked like she wanted to chastise her daughter for speaking poorly of her classmate, but she held her tongue. After a heavy sigh, she finally gave me a weak smile and stepped back out. Kaylee sighed, followed by one last uncontrolled sob, before turning onto her back and staring up at the ceiling.

  I sniffled and cleared my throat. “Why do you want me to stay?” I asked seriously.

  Her expression pained briefly before she composed herself. “I don’t know,” she finally admitted. “I guess I want to say sorry, but I doubt it matters at this point.” She took a deep breath, and finally glanced at me. “I’m glad you’re okay, although I still don’t understand how. I saw the blood.” She shivered and looked away again, lowering her voice. “There was so much of it.”

  I sighed, knowing I needed some kind of excuse. “Yeah, well my mom’s a mage. I had a pendant I’ve been wearing forever that was a gift from her. I guess it had some kind of healing spell, because it broke and then I was okay.” I paused, examining her shocked expression. “I died you know. Or at least, I got to that point. That’s why it activated. And that's why my friend...” My voice trailed off.

  Kaylee’s expression pained again at the mention of my serpentine friend, and she turned her head away. However, instead of being resentful for being attacked, she seemed apologetic about me dying.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I wish there was something I could do to make it up to you.”

  “Well, you can start by not saying anything.”

  “I won’t,” she agreed, returning her gaze to mine. “I promise.”

  Part of me wanted to believe her promise was sincere, but after all this time I wasn’t sure if I could. I mean, she was telling me exactly what I wanted to hear. I wanted her to keep her mouth shut about Jasmyn, as well as my involvement. So why didn’t I just leave now? Why was I hesitant?

  Was it because I didn’t believe her? Or because she was showing signs of sincere remorse?

  I honestly didn’t know. I wasn’t sure if I could ever trust her again.

  Unexpectedly, Kaylee winced and closed her eyes.

  “Are you okay?” I asked with urgency, feeling helpless as I reached out.

  Why did I even care?

  She took a sharp breath, and then was still for a few seconds. She wasn’t even breathing.

  “Kaylee,” I hissed, finally grabbing her arm.

  She sucked in another sharp breath and peeked at me through her eyelashes. “Sorry,” she whispered. “It hurts to breathe sometimes.”

  “You seemed fine a second ago,” I replied in disbelief.

  She shook her head, but didn’t respond. Instead, she held her side and focused on taking slow shallow breaths. I tentatively reached up and placed my hand gently on her forehead. She flinched from the touch, but otherwise didn’t move. Her skin was really dry and hot – the exact opposite as when I saw her last night. I knew from my dad that dry hot skin could mean something beyond a fever, but I couldn’t remember what. He seemed to know more about health than the town’s doctor. I would have to ask him about it later.

  “Do they have something for the pain?” I wondered quietly, pulling my hand away.

  She nodded, her eyes still closed. “But I don’t want it right now,” she whispered. “It will just make me go to sleep.”

  I was about to go ask her mom for it anyway, but she sucked in another sharp breath and then relaxed a little.

  “There,” she finally said, opening her eyes more. “Now it just aches again. It felt like someone was stabbing me for a minute.”

  I bit my lip as I held her gaze, unsure if I wanted to ask. “What…” I paused, before trying again. “How...” I sighed. “How bad is it?” I finally managed.

  She barely moved her shoulders in a shrug, turning her head slightly to look up at the ceiling. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “Your…friend…dug her fingers inside of me.” She cringed. “I must have passed out, because that’s all I remember. I don’t know if she went deeper or not. No one will tell me much.”

  “When did you wake up?” I asked, my voice barely audible.

  “Today,” she replied just as quietly. “That’s when I found out…I was the only one…”

  We were both quiet then for a few minutes, before she glanced at me again. “I think I was the only one running to get help,” she whispered. “Meno started running before me, but I passed them all up.” She scoffed before immediately wincing again. “He was probably more concerned about getting in trouble for being there. I doubt he even cared that you had been stabbed.”

  “And you do?” I asked in disbelief. I couldn’t take it anymore, listening to her apologize and tell me about how noble she was. “You’ve been tormenting me for years!” I retorted, speaking too loudly. I lowered my voice. “How can you expect me to believe anything you say?”

  Her eyes immediately filled with tears again, and she closed them, forcing some to slide down the side of her face.

  “I know,” she groaned quietly.

  “Ryker stabbed me,” I exclaimed, my annoyance finally clawing out over my other feelings. “And even if he hadn’t almost killed me, he did intend to kill my friend. And you knew that! You knew what he planned on doing!”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t know he brought a knife,” she replied. “We were going to steal whatever you were taking care of. I didn’t know he was going to kill it.” She grimaced. “And when we saw her, I thought we were just picking on her like we did you.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. “How can you be so hateful?”

  She covered her eyes with one of her hands, her arm trembling. “I don’t know…I was just so angry.”

  “Why?” I demanded, crossing my arms.

  She shook her head again and was silent.

  My hands were clinched into fists while I tried to keep my anger under control. I shouldn’t have even come here. I wasn’t even sure why I was staying now. She gave me what I wanted – her promise of silence. That’s all I needed.

  Without another thought, I abruptly stood up and headed for the door. My hand was already on the doorknob when she spoke up again urgently.

  “Wait!” she begged, trying to sit up again.

  I glared back at her. “Why?” I snapped in a low voice. “So you can explain to me why you hate me for no reason?”

  She grimaced. “I don’t hate you, Alyssa,” she finally admitted with a sob. “I hate myself.”

  My hand slipped off the doorknob as I stood there staring at her in disbelief. I unexpectedly felt detached from the world, as if I was on the outside looking in. Nothing made sense to me anymore.

  She was mean to me because she hated herself? Or did she hate herself because she was mean to me? Did she place those feelings on me because I didn’t hate her in return?

  It was stupid. Why not just stop being mean if it was making her hate herself? It didn’t make sense.

  Kaylee was still trying to fully sit up, but she seemed weaker than before. After a moment, I walked over and sat back down in the chair, prompting her to give up on her attempts to sit. She reached out then with her hand, as if offering for me to take it.

  I just stared down at her fingers, beginning to feel more and more separated from the world. I felt numb. My annoyance was gone. Everything was gone. I just didn’t want to feel anymore. I didn’t know what to feel.

  After a few seconds, she seemed to take the hint and slowly pulled her hand away, her
expression grieved. “You’re never going to trust me again, are you?” she wondered quietly.

  I continued to stare at the blankets where her fingers had been. “How can I?” I asked, my voice almost inaudible. It was a question I really didn’t have an answer to. Something I sincerely wanted her to answer for me if she could.

  But she didn’t have an answer. And neither did I.

  Chapter 8: Confrontation

  After a few minutes, Kaylee seemed to accept that her sudden change of heart caused by her near-death experience wasn’t just going to fix things instantly. So, once we had been sitting in silence for another ten minutes, she didn’t complain when I suggested I needed to go home.

  However, her expression became somber. She seemed to sincerely like having me there, even if we weren’t talking.

  I sighed heavily, hoping I didn’t regret being nice to her. “I guess I can come see you tomorrow after school too,” I offered. “If you want.”

  She nodded, her eyes brightening. “Okay,” she whispered.

  I stood up then, hesitating for a moment.

  Years ago, when we were little, I would have given her a hug when I said goodbye. Yesterday, I wouldn’t have even considered it. But now, I wasn’t sure what to do. After a moment, I gave her a small nod and turned to leave.

  “See you tomorrow,” I announced as I opened the door. I didn’t wait for a response as I closed it behind me and headed down the hall. Monica and Mr. Harmon had both already left.

  I told Kaylee’s mom that I was going to let her rest for now and come back tomorrow. I also mentioned that she might need some of her pain medicine.

  Mrs. Sykes thanked me for being such a good friend to her daughter, reminiscing about how she had been worried that we stopped spending time together years ago, before giving me a warm hug and sending me on my way.

  I still felt numb as I began walking down the street. The sky seemed to mimic my mood, graying with thick clouds as a storm began to roll in. I doubted it would start raining anytime soon though. There was no lightning in the distance, which usually seemed to prompt the rain to fall, as if the thunder was shaking the water free from the sky.