Wayward Mages

Chapter 32

Kaira

This afternoon, Charlie came to see me. It was the first time I'd seen her since my imprisonment - but I honestly couldn't tell my feelings apart at the time. Like, I mean what I said - I saw her. She looked haggard, like she hadn't had any sleep. And I only saw her - I wasn't allowed to talk to her.

I wish we could just talk. It's not like I was gonna attempt a break out or something. I can't even use magic in this stupid cell! We were just standing on opposite sides of the room, me behind glass in an orange jumpsuit and her in clean training clothes. Even when I was training with Luke, I had to train in a jumpsuit or whatever the mages had laid out for me. I just realized . . . the mages had stopped sending me on missions to terrorize people.

Anyways, right when she was about to leave, Charlie slyly dropped a note on the ground without the other mages (who's come along to guard her; I mean, I'm her sister, why would I do anything to her?) noticing and walks away expressionlessly. The other mages silently followed her out of the room.

I was let out of from behind the glass and quickly picked up the note and frantically read through it.

Kaira, I'm really, truly very sorry that I haven't been able to visit you all this time that we've been here. I have some very important matters to talk to you about, but they will require us to meet in secret. I know I don't sound like a very good older sister: I should be asking you about your well being, but instead I'm giving you orders to do something that might put you in danger. Meet me at the secret place you and Luke share together tomorrow at 10:00 am after breakfast and roll call. I will explain everything to you then.

              - Charlene

Since when did we have roll call? Cyborgs might have it, but prisoners certainly didn't. Her note sounded oddly formal, nothing like how I would talk. Or how she used to talk, for that matter.

Had being a cyborg under Jonathan's watch really changed her that much? What if she can't remember me? What if she's completely and utterly brainwashed, like before? I wondered. Then the worst thought of all occurred to me - What if this was all a trap?

Whatever. I can't doubt Charlie again. Back to her epistolary writing - I, for one, couldn't bear living under stress that made me write so . . . weirdly.

But never mind that. I'm confused about two things.

One: How would she know about the secret place? Luke and I found it together when we were exploring once, seriously? He wouldn't tell her, I know that for sure. Had someone else found out and told her? Or had she been, like, spying on me or something?

And two: She spent a whole year without me, and she gives me one small paragraph to make up to me? Yeah, you know what? She's right. She's not being a very good sister. That's pretty much unforgivable. And what does she mean, my life's in danger?

We've pretty much botched the quest, so that can't be it. Is there a new problem? With Jonathan? Oh no what if . . . no, that's not possible. Why am I overthinking it anyways? I should be getting some sleep so I can wake up in time. I have training with Luke tomorrow, so I should be able to sneak out using my powers, If you're wondering why I haven't already broken out of my cell by just saying 'Altera Slamite', well, the cells are protected against magic. The walls are granite, and that blocks magic. Jonathan makes sure that all the rooms, save a few, even his bedroom, have granite walls or floors. The kitchen, obviously, uses magic to clean stuff, so we use glass for countertops instead of granite. How do I know this? Well, prisoners do chores. We're basically servants.Anyways, as you've probably already guessed, the training rooms aren't enchanted against magic because we usually use magic in training - or at least the mages do.

I'm allowed to use it because Luke's my instructor. He makes me miss Kyle sometimes, he's got the same comfortable aura around him. I heard, or rather, he told me, that Kyle was dead after our last training session, when we were walking back to the cells. I asked him if it was true, but before getting an answer I ran off. I haven't had another training session since then because I didn't want him to confirm it, though knowing deep down that if Luke says it, it's probably true.

Though Guardian trained me to be mage-level, prisoners have no ranking in the order of mages, so I can't compare myself to the other mages here. I can only assume that my magic is average and keep working on it.

Suddenly, a knock resounds on the door and I say rather sleepily, from the same place on my hard and uncomfortable bed, "Come in!"

Guess who?

It was Luke.

"I need to talk to you Kay," he murmured glancing nervously around at the granite walls of my cell as if he was doing something wrong. What am I saying? It's definitely not in accordance with Jonathan's rules to be out so late, which means it has to be wrong. "It's really urgent. Can you come outside? I've got . . . news."

"Good or bad?" I asked him quietly.

"Well . . . that's for you to decide. If you decide to come, I'll be outside." He starts to retreat.

"Wait! I'm coming!"

I slip on my shoes and run after him. I close the door, which creaks silently and I wince in fear of being caught.

I turn, and what I see takes my breath away, and I can feel my heart palpitating. I can only see a part of the person, but I'd recognize that figure anywhere. It's something I can barely comprehend, and I blink several times to check if my eyes are deceiving me.

"Jake?"

He looks up at me and stands a little straighter. "Kaira."