Centum Malediction

Chapter 6-1

Wednesday, September 29th. 2010

Dull piano music vibrated the air around Michael. He stood in a dark forest, one he had been in before. Glowing mushrooms littered the grass around him. This was Prae's forest. The green Pixie looked like a nightlight in the darkness. She shone only slightly brighter than the stars above him. Prae turned to Michael, she was smiling.

"This is where I died." She let out a disturbed laugh. The piano music began to intensify as her skin slowly melted from her body like a candle. Michael tried to look away, but his vision was glued on the pixie as her flesh dripped down her face.

Michael sat up in a cold sweat gasping for air. The first thought that came to mind was how he rarely dreamed, let alone had a nightmare. He closed his eyes, the vision of Prae's face melting still fresh on his mind. He killed her, burned her alive in an instant. She had aspirations, yet he murdered her for his own selfish desires. Michael turned to the makeshift curtain that separated his half of the room from Abigail's. She was fast asleep on the other side without a care in the world. Despite finding her annoying most of the time Michael made it one of his priorities to protect her.

"Prae." Michael muttered. He wasn't sure how the spell would work, but knew the incantation. It was embedded into his mind that her powers were available to him. All he had to do is say her name.

A ball of green light emerged from the palm of his hand and floated ominously above him. He looked up and saw the silhouette of Prae slowly appear in the light. There was a blank stare on her face. All emotion had been drained away from the pixie. She was nothing more than an empty shell.

"Call Chelsea and tell her to take you to her house." To Michael's surprise she spoke. Michael immediately related her voice to a guidance system Chelsea had in her car. It was artificial, not at all like the Prae he knew before. No, she was dead, this was simply how the spell worked. It created a guide, telling Michael what he should do next to ensure his survival. Of course, it was up to him to follow the spell's suggestions.

"Why should I call Chelsea?" Michael whispered. He was thankful Prae's voice was so tame it wouldn't wake Abigail up. He had to make sure his voice was quiet enough as well. The spell didn't answer him. It merely hovered in front of him, a blank expression still on Prae's face. It would give him information, but it wouldn't tell him why. Even Prae didn't know the reason for her guidance so it made sense the spell wouldn't either.

Michael could feel the spell slowly draining his energy. It was similar to holding his breath, but different. The spell didn't require much upkeep, meaning he could keep it active for potentially hours depending how much energy he'd use on other spells. It was similar to a video game, except there was no predetermined limit to how much energy he had. It was all depending on how he used it. He also knew the more experienced he had with using magic the less straining it would be, similar to building a muscle that didn't exist.

"Six intruders will arrive in approximately one minute. Take Abigail and escape out the back door." Prae said suddenly with the same uncaring voice as before.

"What, intruders?" Michael couldn't believe his ears. "What does that mean?" He realized his attempts to acquire more information would be useless. Was it possible she was lying to him? The thought of intruders breaking into his house seemed unlikely. Still, he had killed the real Prae, this was nothing but a leftover image of her. She wasn't lying, intruders were coming.

As if on cue Michael heard several car doors close from outside. He reached for his cellphone and began calling Chelsea. She picked up rather quickly.