Strange Magic

A Warning And A Disaster

It was late afternoon. Jenna was sprawled on Rose's bed with a bag of tortilla chips on her stomach. The police were trying to find Rose but so far, they had no head start to finding her. It was like she disappeared without a trace. She was staring blankly at the ceiling when there was a knock on the door.

Jenna was on her feet at once. She opened the door and frowned at the visitor. Lichang.

"What are you doing here?" She asked suspiciously.

"Can I come in?" She said in off hand English.

Very reluctantly, Jenna stepped aside to let her in. She watched her suspiciously as she sat down on the couch.

"Aren't you gonna sit?" She asked Jenna, who was still standing at the doorway with her arms crossed.

"I'll sit if I want," she replied haughtily. She really disliked Lichang. "What are you here for?"

Lichang fiddled with her locket and stared outside the window. She was frowning.

"Why did you come here?" She asked Jenna.

Jenna was taken aback by her question.

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked back.

"Why did you leave Sunny Heights?" she said calmly. "This place isn't safe for you. They won't stop till they hunt you down and destroy you completely."

What the hell is she talking about?

"Look," she started. "I don't know what your motives are but I'm not interested in knowing your tell tale fantasies of me being in danger. So save it, don't waste your breath."

"They won't stop. They have no honour, no pity. And its rare when someone like you comes along because you have what they need and they won't stop till they get you," Lichang continued as though she didn't hear Jenna. "You are vulnerable cause you have not the slightest idea to defend yourself from them. That makes you their top list jackpot target. I want you to leave this place."

Jenna disliked Lichang, true, but when she demanded her to leave, she concluded she really hated her.

"Oh I'll leave when I please," she replied angrily. "And no one, especially not you, can make me leave. For I don't intend on leaving anytime soon. Now will you please leave?"

She opened the door to let her out. But Lichang didn't move. Jenna glared at her.

"Of course I know Rose and you are not close but isn't losing Rose bad enough? Don't you miss her?"

The mention of Rose flared up Jenna's anger even further. How dare she say that?

"Get out," she commanded.

This time Lichang stood up and headed to the door.

"Losing someone is hard," she said as she passed Jenna. "But losing yourself means the end."

Has she totally lost it?

"Think about it," she said as she stood outside the door. "Don't be sorry later."

Jenna slammed the door on her face.

"Oh I won't be sorry," she yelled at the closed door. "Not now. Not ever."

Nothing that Lichang told her sank into her thick stubborn head. She stood there for several minutes just seething with rage at Lichang's audacity. How dared she bring up Rose on her pathetic topic? How did she even find where she lived anyway?

Later, she was again sprawled on her back. This time in her own bed. And she fell into a deep sleep.

"Jenna..."

She heard someone call her name.

"Jenna...help me,"

She recognized the voice.

"Rose?" She was suddenly alert. "Rose! Where are you?"

"Jenna........."

She was suddenly aware of her environment. She looked around and found herself in an old dilapidated shack made of dead wood.

"Rose! Where are you?" She screamed, fumbling in the dark.

"Jennaaaaaa........"

She became aware of two pairs of red eyes peering out in the darkness, watching her. She suddenly felt weak with fear.

"Jennnnnaaaaaaa.....save meeeeee....."

The voice seemed to get louder by the minute. The eyes seemed to come nearer. She knew she should run but her knees were shivering so much she couldn't even move.

"Ssssssaave meeeee....."

She had to cover her ears now. She saw the red eyes shimmer. When she looked closely, she realized they were actually burning. Orange and blue flames began to spread from the eyes. It quickly spread to the dead woods and the hut caught fire. She choked and gasped from all the smoke. She suddenly felt very hot. Her face burned from the heat of the flames.

Jenna sat up from her bed, choking and gasping for air. She screamed as she saw her apartment on fire. She jumped down from her bed, screaming all the time. Everything was on fire. She had nowhere to run to. She saw a dark shadow pass among the flames.

"Help," she screamed. "Somebody help me."

But her voice was drowned by the loud cackle of the fire. She started choking and wheezing. She was suffocating. She dropped to her knees. Everything became a blur of red and orange. Her vision was going off. Is this it? Is this the way I'm supposed to die? Born to be burnt alive?

She couldn't even think anymore. She was already on the floor. She knew her eyesight was giving out. The last thing she saw was a pair of red eyes. Then she felt herself being scooped up. That was the last thing she remembered before coming around.

When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see Drew staring intently at her. She sat up at once and saw that she was lying on a bed in somebody else's house.

"What happened? Where am I?" She asked in a daze.

"You were nearly burnt in the fire. You're at my place now," Drew answered.

"Did you save me?" She choked.

"No one saved you," he replied. "You were found by the brigade outside your apartment unconscious."

I was there inside. I nearly died. Somebody carried me out.

Jenna didn't reply. She stared ahead as though she was in a trance.

"What's going on Jenna?" Drew asked, concerned. "Do you remember anything?"

"No...." She lied. "No, I don't."

Drew just stared at her. He probably thinks I'm going mental, she thought. But when she thought back over it, she realized she must be actually going crazy. She really couldn't answer Drew about what was going on even if she wanted because she didn't know it herself. Everything was a big mess of confusion and unanswered questions.