A Vision of Crows

Chapter 18 - A Pain From Within

Remus Cole was tired from his father's endless questions.

Ever since the incident, his father had forced him to undergo one too many interrogation sessions for his liking, the last of which had left him completely drained. How was he supposed to know that his girlfriend of almost a year had been one of those damn witches all along?

She had been exactly his type, pretty and ditzy, and for a whole month before they had started going out, she would often visit him at his favorite coffee shop, trying to get close to him. And since he wasn't particularly picky with women and she was pleasant enough company, one thing led to another.

The memory made him smile until he realized that she had probably been laughing at him all along. The eldest son of Tylek Cole, the famous witch hunter, and one of the very witches that his father hated so much. How ironic. Her friend, what was her name again? Marge? Maggie? Whatever it was, she too was probably in on it too, considering how she acted around him, all nervous and fidgety.

Irritated, he headed to his bedroom, locking the door shut. He threw himself onto the bed and shut his eyes, trying to escape his current situation through sleep. But instead of dreams, the only thing that filled his mind was a nauseating emotion that felt something like... guilt? No, it couldn't be. He didn't have anything to feel guilty about. He had simply done his duty as a proper civilian. In fact, he should be the one being compensated! Not only did the incident humiliate his father and himself, the car that he had been so proud of was now lying in some junkyard, smoked and charred into a crisp.

And yet...

The following day after the witch ritual both of the witch families had disappeared, their houses were completely abandoned, and the only trace left was the witch priest who his father had taken into custody. The man refused to speak, and so he was handed over to the W.H.A heads. He remembered the man's screams as the officers forced him into the back of a car while his father grumbled something along the lines of worthless trash spreading their scum everywhere.

On top of that, a woman had turned herself into headquarters. He did not hear the woman's name or description (for this was such a common occurrence that he eventually stopped caring), but he had briefly heard that since the woman was too dangerous to be locked up in some nearby prison, they were going to ship her off to Soladur. As for why, he didn't know.

He considered looking for a new girl, but the thought made his heart ache, so he turned on his radio. Perhaps then he would stop thinking too much. On the first station, there was some sappy love song being played, the kind that women he often dated enjoyed. Annoyed, he changed the station again: another cheesy song, this time a breakup lament. He chained it once more, only for once again, another sad song, this time about some man begging a woman to take him back after some major mistake.

He considered kicking the radio across the room when he heard a knock on the door. Elian yelled, "Remus! Come pl-play with me!"

"Go away, don't you have any friends to play with?"

"You know I do-don't! Be-besides, you promised to p-play with me yesterday!"

"Well, not now!"

The voice at the door went silent, so he thought that he would finally be left alone until he heard another knock on the door. Frustrated, he groaned, "Elian! What did I tell to-?"

"Dearie, are you alright?"

He got up to open the door, where he found his mother standing right outside his room. She looked worried, and in her high-pitched voice, she asked him, "You've been looking awfully pale lately, dearie, all cooped up in your room. Are you fine?"