Stuck With You ⇁ Carlos Madrigal

09

The girl gave you a nervous smile, tilting her head to the side, she gave you a shrug.  "It's probably the magic in you."

What?

You stared, unblinking. There was a pause, a large and heavy one. "I- I." You struggled –  "I don't have magic."

"Oh?" She hummed, leaning forward. "Of course you do!"

You shake your head, a mixture of confusion and anxiety fills you, a sudden whirlwind of thoughts  spinning in your mind. "N-no, I don't." You said, more confident in your answer. "If I had any sort of magic in me, why haven't I noticed anything?" You asked, then scoffed. "Besides, only The Madrigals have magic." -- and last time you checked, you weren't related.

"Well." The unnamed girl began, crossing her arms, her face scrunched up. "Your magic isn't like theirs." She lifted her hand, and made a circular motion, gesturing to all of you. "It's different."

"You say that – but what magic do you think I  have?" You were getting tired of this. Magic. She keeps saying. What part of you was magical? Everything about you was average, at best.

She groaned, leaning her head back. "I'm not good at explaining!" She muttered with a whine, looking back at you with  puffed up cheeks. "Yours isn't like a gift kind, it's uh, more like a blessing, yeah, a blessing. It's been with you since you were born, and pretty sure it's. . .  unstable."

You let out a deep breath. "So, believing that I do have some sort of magic, it's what, just like there? I don't get any cool powers – none at all?" To have magic but not get a gift; would be a disappointment, and that was already putting it lightly. "Couldn't I have gotten like flight? Moving things with my mind?"

The  stranger raised a brow, but said nothing, watching you with curiosity.

"Still." You began. "This isn't exactly answering why I could see you but not Antonio – he's probably got way more magic than I do." If I actually do have some.

"Like I said, it's different." She muttered. "The first thing you gotta know about magic is that it's weird. It's not straightforward, it's complicated. It doesn't do what you want, or what you expect, but in the end, it does what's best for everyone."

You looked at her. She doesn't seem like much, hell, you don't even know what exactly she is but she seems to know about the magic, plus she's lit up like a lantern, with that familiar warm and bright glow.  "Do you know alot about magic - about the miracle?"

"Well." Her eyes looked off to the side, giving you a half shrug. "I guess." She muttered, voice laced with uncertainty.

"Do you know how I can get home?"

"Oh." She exclaimed in surprise. "First you turn around, head straight for a few minutes then turn–"

"No." You interrupted, trying not to lose your patience. "Not directions. I know this is gonna seem impossible - but I'm from another world, it's kinda like this one, well, it's almost exactly like this one, but there's differences; names, attitudes, events, shifts. I know it sounds crazy but please can you help me?"

She stared at you for a moment, then sighed. "I wish I could, but. . .  I don't know how."

You're seemingly one clue, that small  sliver of hope you had - scattered right in front of your eyes. You glanced down at the ground, just staring motionless, everything growing quiet. ". . . Can you just tell me something, anything. How did I get here?"

"That's only something you can answer." She said, "Did you go through any strange doors?  Through any gaps?"

"Gaps?"