The Children of When (Complete)

Chapter Seventeen: Gifts

Leah sat beside Raff's bed, holding his hand. She grinned; this hand holding thing was becoming a habit. She was still reeling from yesterday's events. The long scratches and torn flesh that had covered Raff's body yesterday were now little more than faded lines. It was a miracle he was still alive, a miracle in the shape of their friend Belle.

She ran her finger down the line on her own face, running from her hairline all the way to her chin. She remembered the searing pain of the monster's claws digging into her. She shuddered at the thought of how much worse things could have been.

She felt a slight pressure on her hand. Raff was awake, and staring up at her. She smiled and squeezed his hand in return.

"It's about time you woke up. I was dreading having to try to explain everything to Madame Persimmons on my own. She'll be here any minute."

"Where are we?" The weird, croaky voice coming out of Raff's mouth made her cringe.

"This is the school's sick room. They brought us here last night so they could keep an eye on us. Can't really blame them, we were a pretty sorry sight."

Raff pulled himself up into a sitting position. "So where's Belle?"

"She woke up early, and wanted to go sit with Midnight for a while; said she needed to clear her head. She was amazing, Raff, I wish you'd seen her."

"So tell me everything." She could feel his excitement in the hand squeezing hers.

"Yes, please do," Madame Persimmons said from the doorway. Startled, Leah looked up to see the old woman approaching the bed, Dominic following close behind. She sighed, it was going to be a long day.

And then Belle burst into the room, panting. "Sorry I'm late, I lost track of time. Hey Raff, good to see you awake." She moved to stand on the other side of Raff's bed, and he grabbed her hand and lifted it to his lips.

"Thank you," was all he said, but Leah and Belle could both see the depth of his gratitude in his eyes.

"Ahem. Sorry to interrupt, but something tells me we're going to be here a while. Dominic, can you please get chairs for everyone." Madame Persimmons was looking at the three of them with a sparkle in her eyes.

Once they were all seated around Raff's bed, Madame Persimmons looked at Leah and Belle expectantly. "So who would like to start?"

Belle nodded at Leah, her eyes pleading not to have to do it. Leah sighed and nodded. "Okay, I'll start. But Belle and Raff, jump in if you think I've forgotten anything important." They both nodded, and Leah took a deep breath.

She started from when Belle had collapsed after leaving the canopied area. She noticed Raff had closed his eyes, as if he was reliving the story as she talked, but when she got to the part where they held hands and ran, his eyes flew open and instantly fixed on hers.

"I remember Belle screaming, and then I was on the ground. The most disgusting beast I've ever seen had its massive claws digging into me. I was literally pinned to the ground, and then something distracted it, and it turned away for a second. I rolled towards the trees, and scrambled away as fast as I could. Then I saw Raff lying on the road, back in the direction we'd come from, but I had no idea how he'd got there." She looked at Raff for help.

Raff nodded and took up the story. "When I realised you were pinned, I just kinda saw red and ran at the monster. Stupid when I think about it, but I had to do something. Then it just turned and swatted me, like I was a bug not worth bothering about. That's when I remembered the knife I'd bought at the village. I pulled it out and was going back for another go."

He scratched his head and frowned. "Now here's where it all starts to get a bit fuzzy. The beast must have decided to get me out of the way permanently, maybe because I was the one causing it the most trouble. Anyway, the next thing I knew I was on my back, screaming at the thing standing on my chest. I remember slashing at its legs with my knife, and screaming at it to get off."

He sucked in a deep breath and chuckled. "Like that was gonna help! And this is the part where it gets really fuzzy. I could see his teeth coming in for the kill, and something snapped. I remember concentrating on the thought that I had to get him off me, and help Leah and Belle. I stuck my arm out in front of me and felt a huge jolt. I just thought the damn thing had bitten my arm off and I was dead." He was scratching his head, looking up at Leah, waiting for her to fill in the gaps.

"You killed it," she said softly, squeezing his hand. The look of astonishment on his face made her laugh. She looked around at the others in the room. "It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Over the top of all the growling and screaming, I heard Raff's voice boom out: "I SAID GET OFF ME." He had his arm within inches of the beast's mouth, and then suddenly the monster looked like it had been punched, and it was flying through the air towards the trees as if it weighed nothing. There was a loud thump as it impacted with a tree trunk, a whimper, and then nothing." She looked back at Raff, and saw him inspecting his hands in wonder.

"Cool...I did that?"

"Sure did." Her eyes sought Belle's, who had been quiet throughout the whole story. "And then the second miracle of the day happened. Once we realised the beast wasn't coming back, Belle and I ran to Raff. We knew he was dying. Belle was crying, and trying to stop the bleeding by pulling the skin together to close the gaping wound on his chest. We both knew it was hopeless, but we couldn't just give up."

"And then...Belle's hands started to like, glow. We both sat there gobsmacked, staring at her hands, while Raff's skin sort-of joined back together and started to heal. Belle moved her hands around to the other wounds, and every time she touched one it started to heal."

Leah had been looking at Belle the whole time she'd been talking, tears pouring down her face as she relived the memories of those terror-filled hours. She nodded at Belle now, indicating it was her turn to talk.

"I'm not sure how to explain it. I was so angry, and frustrated that there was nothing I could do to help Raff. I'd watched him keep trying to save Leah, even though he knew the beast would probably kill him. For once, I wanted to be able to do something that would make a difference."

A look of wonder crossed Belle's face. "And then I felt this tingling running down my arms, and my hands felt like I was holding them in front of a nice warm fire. I looked down and couldn't believe what was happening. Raff's wound was healing, and my hands were doing it."

Her voice had started to waver, but she cleared her throat and continued. "So yeah, like Leah said, I just moved around until I'd healed all the wounds. And then I noticed what a mess she was, and made her let me fix hers too. But I have to admit, I was exhausted. It was like healing them sapped every bit of energy out of my body, and then Dominic and Dub and the others arrived. I've never been so glad to see anyone." She smiled at Dominic.

Madame Persimmons had sat silent throughout the whole story. She'd raised her eyebrows, and her jaw had dropped a few times, but she hadn't said a word. She was looking at the children with a deep frown furrowing her brow.

"I am absolutely astounded by your stories. We will discuss the details of your Gifts a bit later. What I am more concerned about at the moment, is where did the beast come from, where did it go, and why it attacked you three?"

Belle cleared her throat and gave a sheepish grin. "I may be able to help with the 'why us three' question. I think Midnight was trying to explain it to me."