Spellbound

Chapter Ten

Martin groaned, his head whirled and his vision seemed blurred. He suddenly felt wide awake as his memory came back with throbbing head pain. His eyes seemed teary as he sat down and stared at the bookshelf in front of him. Chills traveled down his spine as he thought about the last time he saw his best friend more than ten years ago.

It was late spring, and Martin studied for his last exams. He tried to be quiet since his parents were asleep. A loud knock on Martin's bedroom window startled him. Martin looked around for a moment, to make sure the knock didn't wake up his parents. He soon traveled to open the window.

Hayden squatted on the ledge of the roof, and a wide smile adorned his face. Martin moved aside and Hayden climbed into the room. Hayden took off his hoodie hood and scanned the room.

"Still studying?" Hayden asked, looking at Martin's desk.

Books and notebooks covered the wooden desk. The room seemed dark, just a desk lamp and Martin's laptop giving slight visibility to the space.

"Next exam is tomorrow," Martin reminded him. "And it's not going so well." He shook his head.

"You need a break," Hayden said with a laugh.

"Keep it quiet," Martin said, looking around.

"Right," Hayden agreed. "Bedtime," he added, smiling. "Let's go to the woods." Hayden raised his brow.

"Exam is tomorrow like I said," Martin pointed out. "I can't go today."

"But it's my last night of freedom." Hayden stepped closer to Martin. "We won't stay for long," he said, gripping Martin's shoulder. "My last night, Martin," Hayden repeated, joggling Martin's shoulder.

"Fine," Martin agreed, looking at his friend. "Just for an hour." He squinted his eyes.

"That's my man," Hayden whisper-shouted.

"Keep it quiet," Martin reminded him and took the sweater from the backrest of the chair. "Or we won't go anywhere, anytime soon." His brow lifted suggestively.

Hayden nodded, his chin-length hair falling to his face, brushing against his square chin. He combed them back with his hand as Martin put on his sweater.

Moments later, the guys climbed down over the window and stood on the roof ledge. They roamed the ledge and soon reached the ladder. At this point, they appeared experts in roof climbing. Martin would often sneak out during the night, and often Hayden was the one who encouraged him to act that way. They climbed down the ladder and ran across the street to Hayden's car.

They soon reached the old cemetery. The place for most people seemed creepy, but Martin and his friends would come there often. There were old gravestones in the middle of the forest and people avoided going there, hearing rumors it was haunted. For the group, the place seemed perfect to test their magic and fool around with newly discovered spells.

Soon the guys reached their favorite spot. It was held at the back of the graveyard, and it seemed even more secluded than the rest of the cemetery. They squatted on the ground, Martin bent his back to the old gravestone and looked up at the sky. The Milky Way remained visible and a pine tree smell reached him as the wind swirled around.

"It will be fine," Martin said, lowering his gaze and looking at Hayden.

"I know," Hayden agreed with a nod. "But things will change and you know I never wanted this." He unzipped his backpack.

"It's strange how a big part of our lives was aligned before we were born," Martin said, taking a beer can from Hayden.

"Yeah," Hayden agreed, opening the beer can. "I would just leave with Kennedy and we would travel and see the world," he added and sipped the beverage.