Elmwood

4| List of "Things to Do Before I Die"

God, I always hate waking up.

I could always do what I needed to after I woke up, it's just the process of getting out of bed. Why the hell should I push myself out of my comfort to do work that is just to satisfy someone else? Maybe I'll wake up better when it's on my own terms, but for now, it sucks.

I woke to the sound of voices and was confused when I realized there were lights on. My parents never wake up before me on weekdays. What day of the week was it anyway? I tried figuring it out, but I couldn't seem to remember what day was yesterday. Was it Friday or Thursday?

Realizing that I could just wake up and check the date, I slowly opened my eyes to the glaring lights. Blinking, I looked around.

I wasn't at my home. Panic seized me for a moment before the memories came crashing back.

It's Friday. Ellie was attacked. Sage pushed him back somehow. The Cartier cousins joined the fight. Drex told me to take a nap.

Magic is real.

Well, shit.

But before I got too ahead of myself, I needed to make sure it was real. It could've all been a part of a dream I was having when I fell asleep for inexplicable reasons.

I looked to the other side of the room at the source of the voices. Sage was sitting next to Ellie, who had her face in her hands, and was comforting her. Sebastian sat in an armchair a little ways from them while Drex paced around impatiently.

Drex paused and looked at Ellie as she listened to Sage's whispers.

"For god's sake," he said, "it doesn't take that long to get the concept."

Sage glared, but Drex continued, speaking as if he was talking to a five-year-old. "Magic is real. Witches use magic. You are a witch. We are all witches. People want to kill you. We are trying to keep you safe. End of discussion."

Sebastian slapped his forehead as Ellie looked up, her cheeks wet with tears. Sage opened her mouth, about to snap back, but I interrupted her.

"So magic is real," I said as I sat up. Every face in the room turned around to look at me as if they just remembered that I still existed.

I was ecstatic. Magic is real. Things that I've always been told were impossible are real. I can reach heights that I never thought possible. Suddenly, there were dozens of new doors opening, new dreams, new plans.

And then the reality of the situation hit me and I was aghast.

I pointed at Sage. "You were a witch this whole time, and you knew you were one? Then why the hell did I work my butt off to study math I'll never use again when I could've just asked you for the answers?"

They ignored my question—which I found quite rude—and Drex turned to them with a victorious smile.

"See? The human is not dead."

"But she would've been if I wasn't a Healer," Sage snapped.

"That is incorrect. She would've been in an unending coma for the rest of her life, but still alive and breathing."

"That's still technically dead," Sebastian argued.

Drex shrugged, indifferent, before turning to me.

"Now, that you're awake, I say it's time to erase your memory and send you on your merry way."

"No," Sage pronounced and stood. "Erasing something as big as this could cause some serious brain damage."

"Yeah," I nodded. "Definitely."

"Then you can just heal her," Drex argued.

"I need time to recover. I just tried to reverse the damage you already did to her, and I couldn't even use a reversing spell to help the process because you didn't use incantation."