The House of Cards

To Wrestle With Magic

To Wrestle With Magic

My eyes fly open to discover myself tucked in a warm bed in a strange room.

For a moment, I cannot figure out where I am, but as my brain begins to comprehend the situation, I feel a lead weight sink down into my stomach, remembering what I did. Who I hurt.

"Don't you go getting all worked up again," a voice pipes up from my left. "We don't want to have another incident. Nearly dying once this week is good enough for me."

I sit up, muscles burning from the effort. My skin drags against the fabric of a nightgown someone must have changed me into, nerve endings screaming in pain. A fire dances across my skin. I rub my bandaged hands down my arms, attempting to get rid of the goosebumps racing up and down my muscles.

To my left, Guinevere sits on a green couch parked in front of a marble fireplace, hands held up to feel the warmth emanating from the roaring flames. A thick white bandage wraps around her forehead, around the dark locks of her hair. From my position, I can see a bloodstain forming on the back.

The not in my stomach begins to tighten again, weighed down by my guilt.

I stare at my hands, resting on top of the green and gold duvet I am tucked under. "I am so sorry, Guinevere. I did not mean for you to get hurt."

Guinevere gives a snort. "First, don't call me 'Guinevere'. Everyone who tries to kill me just calls me Gwin. And second, it was not your fault."

I swing my legs over the side of the bed with a wince, muscles stretching. "How can you say that? It was my magic that did that to you." I gesture to the bandage on her head.

She touches it absently.

"But you didn't do it one purpose," she argues. "Anger and guilt make the magic do strange things."

But it was my fault the magic got out of control. Because I could not keep it under control, it hurt her.

Just as it has hurt others before. Because I cannot control it.

They weight in my stomach sinks down further.

"I'm going for a walk," I say, sliding from the bed, needing some time to think. "I will be back."

Gwin makes a move to stop me, but before she can, I am already gone.

I do not look back, do not make any notes as to where I am going as I wander the halls of the house. Even though it looked enormous from the outside, I did not realize how truly massive the house is until now. If I get lost, it could take days to find me.

A chill runs up my arms.

Forcing me from my thoughts, I glance around me, to discover I am in a dark hall, the same dark hall I had found myself in before...

There is a large hole in the wall, a sheet of opaque plastic taped over it, futilely attempting to keep the outside away from the inside. But the plastic has torn away along the left side of the wall, allowing warm wind to gust in to the house. Darkness and moonlight shine in through the thin plastic, leaving me to wonder how long I had been asleep. The air still holds a magic-less cold, still lacking from the massive amounts I had used to blast the hole in the wall.

The knot in my stomach tightens again.

Five times eight is forty.

Five times nine is forty five.

"It's incredible, isn't it, love?" a husky voice says, sliding behind me to rest his chin against my shoulder. "Look at the beautiful destruction you cause. It's just fascinating to see."