Halfwizard

FIVE

No kidding here, the manor house should seriously be moved closer to civilization. I was already exhausted to the bones before I reached the front door and I wasn't even the one who drove- Serious discussion with grandpa later. I heaved the door open as if it was made of something as heavy as the entire earth only to be met with pitch blackness.

"That's weird", I said as I looked back. The sun was just setting but its evening red rays stopped right at the door post. That can't happen unless... magic's involved.

Suddenly, the room lit up- almost blinding me in the process- and the shouts of "Surprise!" was echoed everywhere. There were confetti everywhere, decorations, balloons and a big sign with Troy written on it adorned the room. Of course, in the midst of it all was the man himself in all his glory; Blake Gary Sanders.

"You do know it's not my birthday, right?", I asked as he came to hug me.

"Of course I know", he replied, "The party's in celebration of your award".

"But we already celebrated that last year and everyone attended", I reminded him. Well, not everyone attended but it was still a party and I met with a lot of the other family members although most of them were showering me with curious looks- Seriously speaking, it seems that critical thinking runs in the family.

"That was for them and this is for us", he replied, his broad smile accompanying every syllable, "Now go freshen up and let's party".

"Show off", I muttered as I complied. It was obvious I wouldn't win this, that's just one of the things that happen when you leave an eighty year-old man with nothing but money as entertainment.

"Why do you always make it a point to tell people how much money you have?", I asked as I sat next to him on the never-ending table. I was wearing a new t-shirt, new jeans, new jacket, new shoes. In fact, my entire belongings was new, rendering my old ones useless.

"I don't 'tell', I show people how rich I am", he corrected.

"What am I supposed to do with my old things now?", I asked.

"Give them to charity", he replied as if even a plankton should know that. Of course, he's right but it was a lot unnecessary for me to have those clothes. It was starting to feel like he's trying to choke me with all this money- I get it that we are rich from earth to heaven but can we stop with the power play now?

"I'm going to bed", I said as I stood up and left.

"What about dessert? ", he asked behind me.

"Give it to charity", I replied without stopping. I'm not angry at him and he knows that but I just had to get away from all the pampering for a while. I would have loved to say that Firewalt will be a good escape but I would be kidding myself, the situation is only going to get ten times worse.

I walked down the stairs, running my hands over each picture as I passed.

"This is a dream", I realized. Of course, it was a dream, the unreal state of everything I'm seeing and the moving pictures already told me that earlier.

I stopped and glanced at one of the pictures; It was the one where Oliver was celebrating his twelfth birthday. I could hear every conversation from the picture, feel every emotion emitting from everyone in the picture. Sure, it might be a figment of my imagination or a combination of what I've heard or being told but it still feels as real as ever.

I do not have the slightest idea of where I'm going but there was a sense of certainty about my steps that made me not to worry about getting lost.

After so many minutes of twists and turns, I finally arrived at ny destination; The entrance to the tunnel that led to Sanctuary, Firewalt's metapore. I know there's a spell that is used to open it but only grandpa Blake knows it. Anyway, I placed my hand on the wall and felt a wave of Latin words rush through my head so fast I couldn't even catch one. Suddenly, the wall disappeared and I knew those head-splitting words must have been the spell.

I moved into the tunnel and walked for a while before seeing Firewalt's structure in a distance. I'm very sure that it takes longer than that to get to the end of the tunnel but, of course, things change in dreams.

It was foggy ahead but I could still make out the silhouette of a man in the fog.

"Come on Troy, I'm waiting", said the man in the fog.

I know I should be afraid but I took a step forward only to fall face first into a pool.

Blood!, I realized as I looked around, I was in a pool of blood.

"Somebody help me!", I screamed but only my echo answered me. I looked around but there was nothing but ocean of blood in every direction. I tried to swim but the more I struggled, the more I sank. I was going drown in a pool of blood; The blood of the people I killed.

I felt myself being pushed into the soft fabrics of the bed and I reacted instinctively with a punch.

"Troy, wake up", I heard someone shout, it was grandpa Blake's voice.

I opened my eyes but it couldn't focus on anything. A hand pressed against my temple and I felt a cold sensation sip into my body. I looked around and saw everything in disarray- The room, not my vision this time.

"What happened?", I asked as I saw the state of the room.

"You were screaming and thrashing about in the bed", he replied, "Also, you were performing magic in your sleep, you disorganized and rearranged the whole house".

The magic performing part of my nightmare was news to me, that had never happened before- Guess I've finally reached another level on my crazy guage.

"You were also muttering something in your sleep", he added and my heart skipped a beat. Oh God! Have I spoken about the incident with Abigail?

"What was I muttering?", I asked.

"Most of it were incoherent but I could make out the word Periculum", he replied, "Has this ever happened before?"

"No", I replied but my mind was already somewhere else. Periculum, what the hell does that word even mean?

"It's Latin for danger", replied grandpa Blake as if reading my thoughts.

"I don't speak latin", I said although I knew he already knows that, how can I be saying words like 'periculum' when I can't even read the alphabets?

"I know", he replied and was about to leave when I suddenly grabbed his arm.

"Don't leave me alone", I begged like a scared baby, my nightmare must be really getting the better of me.

"I wouldn't dream of it", he replied, "I was only going to get you a sleeping potion, it'll help you relax". When I didn't let go of his arm, he ordered one of the house helps to get him the potion.

After only two minutes of using the potion, I was already dozing but my mind still wouldn't calm down. I know without a doubt now that this situation is out of my control but I still couldn't bring myself to tell him. I know it's not the time for me to be considering the white-dark magic margin but I don't think I'll be able to take grandpa Blake thinking of me as dark magic user.

One question kept lingering in my mind as I was losing consciousness; What exactly am I losing control of, my magic or my sanity?