WORK IN PROGRESS: Three Witches #1: Magnus and Magnolia

Chapter 14 (Magnus): The Back Office

***TW for violence***

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA 

It took a second for me to get my bearings after I was cracked from Magnolia's place to the MC's parking lot. I looked around to see if anyone was looking at me strangely, just poofing in like I had from miles away, and suddenly, I was off my bike and heading inside, needing to see the security feed.

Had the brother watching it noticed I just suddenly popped into the parking lot on my bike? The brother on duty, Screw, had looked at me strangely when I'd come rushing in, demanding to see the last ten minutes of footage. But when I reviewed the feed,  I saw myself wave to the guard at the gate and drive leisurely into the compound, finally backing my bike into my space.

What the fuck?

Had they blanked my mind so I'd forgotten driving here from Magnolia's? Or had they faked an illusion to cover the fact that I'd suddenly appeared as if by magic?

This was such a mind fuck it wasn't even funny. Had I imagined being at Magnolia's and the yellow-, orange- and purple-winged fairies appearing in front of me? The stabs...

Running out of the security room, I ran to my room, locking the door behind me. Once in the bathroom, I ripped off my shirt and tore the bandage off my pec. Yes! Proof!

My legs went weak with relief. Although my grip on reality might be tenuous, I wasn't completely insane. Not yet, anyway.

There were fresh marks, just on the outside of the previous day's stab wounds, making the existing heart a little larger. I'd never felt so relieved to see the fresh blood running down my chest from today's stabs.

So it was real. It hadn't been my imagination. I had a week to give them the answer I'd already given them and then face the trials they set for me. I thought of Magnolia telling me she didn't want me to make a claim on her because even if I survived the trials, she still wouldn't take me back.

"I can't live without you, Noli," I whispered out loud. "I have to take whatever chance there is."

Stab. Stab.

I watched dispassionately as the blood ran from the two new holes, and I hung my head as I gripped the edge of the vanity. Why was I always a hindsight person? Why, like my mother said, did I fuck up everything good in my life? Why had I hurt the one -- the only one -- who mattered?

Mommy issues were no excuse, so I wouldn't use them. Abandonment issues also weren't an excuse, so Daddy was out as a scapegoat.

"You're just a fucking asshole with no one to blame but yourself, Magnus," I said, looking myself right in the eye in the mirror.

Stab.

I stared at myself fiercely. "I am not going to be that person ever again. No more fucking up. I'm going to get it right from now on."

Stab. Stab. Stab.

"Yeah, you can make me bleed, you little fairy fuckers, but you won't be able to stop me."

Stab.

I needed to step up for the first time in my life, become a good man and win back Noli. No matter what I had to do, I had to fix what I'd broken with her. A thought occurred to me.

"I'm going to win back Magnolia."

Nothing.

Maybe they couldn't stab for a truth relating to another person's actions.

"I'm going to do whatever I can to win back Noli."

Stab.

Motherfucker.