Scribbles and Drabbles

Notebook Drabbles 55 - Human Familiar 1

It didn't matter how far he went away from home; they found him. They hunted him down like goddamn bloodhounds, and Louis was tired of it. They had warned him. They appeared when he gained access to potential and felt the world's heartbeat under his fingertips. Old stuffy granddads who promised that they would keep a firm eye on him and his behaviour. Fuckwards, the lot of them. 

He did what he always did when out-of-touch old men tried to control him. He brought a plane ticket and dipped. 

That didn't stop them. It was a little unnerving to find notes on his hotel bedside table when he woke up or to be given a message at an airport when most people didn't speak English. He ignored it and kept jumping planes and partying. 

Then, his powers manifested while he was drunk, and things got a little hectic. By some miracle, he escaped the chaos, ran back to his hotel, and packed. He jumped cities and hid in his new room like a child cradling his injured arm. His body bore the brute of what happened. He avoided life and waited for some kind of magical policeman to appear.

Power manifesting broke all the rules.

The man who came was not what Louis expected. He was not impressed, and to be fair, neither was the bloke. 

"We allowed you to go free under the condition that you kept your head down. Letting your powers grow from lack of use until you have no control over them does not fall under this category," the stranger scolded as he shut the door and strode over to where Louis lay with a towel over his head.

"I used them a few days ago," Louis said, trying not to be childish and failing miserably. 

The man gave him a Look. "Not well enough. If your powers are growing to the point you must use them every day, then do so! We will take action if not. It is bad enough you can't seem to stay put as it is."

Louis slumped and turned on his side to hide from the man. He really didn't want to know what they would do to him if it came to that. The last comment caught his ear, and he forced a scowl instead of a grimace. He'd annoyed them by continuing his normal life. It shouldn't be any of their business. He planned his round-the-world trip for months, and no mythical power was going to stop it. Nor the nosy organisation determined to make him live on the straight and narrow. They were worse than his father. 

"This is the last country before I go home, don't worry," Louis said. 

Ice covered his back as the man glared at him, not impressed by his tone. Louis had little doubts about what the man thought of him. A spoilt rich kid who had, up till now, had everything handed to him on a silver platter. To be fair, it was pretty accurate, and Louis realised he could be grateful and all that stuff, but he wasn't. To be honest, he was just bored. Everything was the same, day in and day out. It drove him up the wall, and as for his future! Well, his father had a nice plan for him to join the family lawyer business.

Forgive Louis for not jumping up and down in joy.

Then he discovered he had magic. He spent a few days playing tricks on people, being generally amazed and enthralled by magic, only for some people to kidnap him and lay down some rules and laws. The difference? As one of the people had said, if you broke a rule, you got punished. You broke the law. You were killed. Simple. Apparently, a few hundred years ago, someone had got bored of arguing who should be killed for what offence and had simply divided them into two clear categories.

"I'm surprised. We figured you were planning to go to every country in the world," the man said, sarcastic and grating, rounding the bed to make Louis face him. "What are you planning to do when you get home?"

"Go to university and get a law degree."

The man's expression softened, and he sat on the bed. Louis's cheeks burned as he replayed his words. The tone of voice hadn't been a sulky one but a resigned one. He hid his face in the pillow and flushed harder as the man muttered something under his breath about rich parents and spoilt children.