The Last Apothecary

Chapter 25.

My phone buzzed on the side of my bed, waking me up. I grumbled a bit, tugging my navy comforter over my head as I pulled up my lockscreen. It was barely 9 am, on a Saturday no less, and I was already getting a text from Dustin.

What is the point of having light-dampening curtains if he's just going to text me way the hell early anyways? Still, I was reminded of how beat up he'd looked the whole week, smiling even through the bandages... I got up.

My eyes watered as the light of the phone screen shoved the full force of a thousand suns into them, but I just turned down the brightness and opened up my messages.

Hey bird boy! How do you feel about coming over to my place and maybe gaming/ just hanging out for the day? I know it's not been a fun week for you, and our last gaming session got interrupted, so let me know if you're up for it.

All of it was followed by a slew of smiley faces. I flopped back onto the pillow, pushing my bangs out of my eyes. Sure, I texted back.

Besides, I thought. Not like I've got anything else planned for the day. Then I put my phone down, rolled over, and attempted to go back to sleep. I'd try consciousness again at eleven.

"Hey! Heeeeeeeeeeey Crow!" The sound came muffled through the door, like she was trying to mush her lips through the wooden frame while she pounded on the wood. "You should get up. Get up get up get-"

A screech that would have made the eldritch gods proud left my body as she continued to knock. Why does everybody have to be a morning person? It felt like a conspiracy theory, except instead of the government, it was the entire world against me having anything more than eight hours of sleep. I dragged myself out of bed to answer my still-banging door, opening it to reveal Gaia. Her black hair was done up in two ponytails, a pair of antennae sprouted from her forehead, and bright yellow butterfly wings sat on her back. The apricot taste of her magik hit me a moment later. Then she was flinging her arms out, throwing them around my sweatpants in a hug.

"You're a butterfly today?" I asked, leaning my head on the door frame, still a little off balance. I was too tired for this.

"Nuh-uh! I'm a faerie!" she clarified. "Anyways, Mom finished breakfast so you should come down and eat it."

I nodded, grabbing a shirt off my chair as I followed her to the narrow staircase leading to the living room. With a yawn, I headed down after her, tugging the fabric over my head. It was only two seconds of having my eyes off her, but as soon as the shirt settled over my shoulders, Gaia was perched on top of the railing, ready to fling herself over the last half of it.

"Gaia!" My heart jumped to my throat as I reached out to grab her. I only brushed against her shoulders though, sending her body wobbling forwards, then backwards until she was slipping off the railing, tumbling down the steps. A thud sounded as she smacked her nose on the floor, laying completely still before a small whine drew out of her.

I rushed down the last few steps to pick her up. As I lifted her small, light body, a sharp hiss pulled through my teeth at the trail of red leaking down her chin. I put her in my lap, supporting her head on my knee while I pinched her nose to prevent bleeding. "Why in the world would you do that?"

"I was trying to fly like a faerie," she answered with an attitude. She had gotten one of those recently, though I doubted it was from my influence as much as my mom wanted to claim otherwise.

"Well, you can't," I shot back. "Just because you can shape wings doesn't mean you know how to use them. You gotta stop doing dumb shhh- stuff, stuff like that. You're gonna hurt yourself."