A Tale of Shadows - THE OUTDATED VERSION

Chapter 16 - Gone

It was yet another morning when Melinda and her fellow prisoners heard a creak of the door. Melinda's eyes were barely open and she yawned like there was no tomorrow, seeing her surroundings in a blur. Birds sang in the distance, and the gentle sound of their song motivated her to prevent herself from falling asleep again. Immediately after that, Frank and Wendy walked over to her left and right side. All of them were standing in the middle of the room, waiting for the person who was holding the doorknob to come in. It seemed like an eternity before that was finally done with, even though the person made the door creak moments ago. 

Coincidentally, that person was the same woman who scolded Melinda all those days ago. This time, she placed her arms right alongside her body, wearing a white dress that reached her heels. Her lips were pursed together like a vault that refused to open, no matter what. She was looking at Melinda and no one else, her dark brown eyes staring through her soul, completely unflinching. Until she was spoken to, she did not say anything to the woman at all.

"We all know that Hemmingway is gone," the lady said in a stern voice. "That does not mean nothing ought to be completed before he returns. You will be treated the same, especially you, Miss Alastair and Mr Finn. Melinda needs to attend a lesson now."

As she was over with telling them that, she grabbed Melinda by the hand, and they left the room in a few seconds. Melinda's mouth was hanging open, mostly because she had just woken up and also because she wasn't expecting to have to attend a lesson at what she assumed to be five in the morning while moving at an insane velocity. Suddenly, the seed of a question blossomed in her mind, despite her tiredness.

"I never bothered to ask you this, and I probably still shouldn't, but what's your name?" she uttered, biting her tongue every time she was about to yawn.

"They call me Amanda Collins. You may or may not have heard of me," the maiden responded with a shrug.

Melinda's mind paused for a little while. She was sure that she knew her from somewhere and that the memory of her was not nonexistent, merely repressed. The hair, the eyes, the face, the name - she must have heard of them from all the familiarity with them. She did not resemble any person she knew in her personal life, so it was impossible that she could have mixed her up with somebody else. She was not in any of her dreams either - that appearance would have stood out for her, thanks to her brain remembering dreams as if they mattered as much as reality. And she most certainly did not remember her from the streets - why would she have? 

The following words of the person explained everything: "So, Wendy Alastair has not mentioned me in conversation? We have known each other for quite some time. I believed that would have come up at least once." Almost everything.

Melinda frowned, gritting her teeth. "If you have agreed to be here, why would Wendy know someone like you, regardless of the circumstances?"

"She really didn't tell you, did she?" Amanda inquired, her eyes wide open.

"She told me about you once. I have forgotten about it for a long period of time," she replied nonchalantly before recalling something, after which she crossed her arms. "Your eyes seem to be hiding a secret from me."

"I was simply surprised by the possibility that she might have forgotten to tell you."

"It's impossible that you could have been that surprised," Melinda remarked, trying not to roll her eyes. "So what is it truly?"

She could notice that Amanda was attempting to give her an answer to that question, but her mouth abruptly snapped shut, making her realize that they were about to reach the courtyard. When the door opened, she blinked rapidly. The wind from the outside was blowing in her direction, playing with her hair and dress, causing the hairs on her skin to shiver from its cold. After she had closed the door, Amanda led her to the middle of the yard, turning around to face her. She held up her right hand right before she started talking.

"I'm sorry you didn't have lessons more consistently," she said with a sigh. "It has been a difficulty for us to adjust to completely new circumstances, but now everything's settled. You have to learn everything you need to know as soon as possible."

Melinda raised an eyebrow. "How much do I have to learn? I already know a lot of spells."

"There are many spells in our possession that you don't know of. You need to expand your collection, just in case that you run out of spells in your set."

"There is much to my set as well, and I also use the spells within it randomly so that it doesn't get too stale."

Amanda's gaze hardened. "As the apprentice of my boss, you have to learn to channel the negativity that flows through your veins. I am aware of the fact that it doesn't sound too appealing to you, but it can't harm you if you release something within yourself that would have otherwise continued to give you great pain. Combat is already full of hatred and wrath, at least vaguely. You wouldn't want your enemies to steal everything you live for, would you?"

Melinda frowned. "I would never allow them such pleasure."

"Good. Now we can start our lesson," Amanda chirped, handing her a blade from a pocket on her dress.

Melinda glanced at the blade before glancing back at her. "What am I supposed to do?"

"First, press it tightly with your hands with thoughts of resentment on your mind," Amanda explained, Melinda setting out to do the action instantly. Thus her hands started to redden and ache, her facial expression being the same as one of a person who was constipated, her heart begging for a release, her continuing the performance of the task due to knowing that it would be undoable. And it was Patrick whom she focused her spite on during the process. Then a shadow appeared in half a minute, much faster than she had expected. 

Amanda smiled at her. "To be fair, even though this would be terrible in a battle, it was your first time doing it, so we can easily move on to the next step. Draw the blade towards me."

Gripping the hilt with both of her hands, she swung it towards her, because of which she fell onto the ground like a ragdoll. 

"The third thing you have to do is touch me with your sword and transfer your negative magic into my heart," she said a few seconds later, after she stood up.

Seeing that she had nothing with herself and did nothing, Melinda walked over to her and lightly stabbed her in the left shoulder. As the shadows that were already outside became purple, then began rising and falling in circles, Amanda let out ear-piercing screams of pain, clutching her head, trying to stand still on the ground by gripping her heels all the time before the spell ended. For a while, she was so weak that she could only inhale and exhale from tiredness, looking as if she had vertigo. Melinda wasn't in her best possible state either. She was observing and contemplating without the possibility to move her hands, legs, eyes, nose or mouth. 

"This is it for a few hours since you need to recover from the effects of the spell," Amanda told her once she gathered enough strength to stroll in her direction. "You can notice that the spell is a bit different from the ones you're used to, so it's not strange for your first time. You clearly have a lot of experience, and it would be a shame if you refused Patrick's offer and let your parents die. Soon, we will repeat this lesson, and we will repeat it until you do it just right, after which you will begin to do it as if you were in a real battle with a foe. You have so much to do, but don't worry. I'm sure you'll be fine."

At this point, it was obvious to Melinda that her parents would die if she were to refuse the offer, but the things she had to do for her enemies still pained her. It also pained her that Amanda and Wendy were connected in a way beyond her understanding, as well as the image of the still present bloodstains, along with the rest of her bitter memories, which were plentiful. When she returned to her room with the help of magic, she sat on the floor with haste, thinking of what to tell to Frank and Wendy as they stared at her.