Fading Magic (Book 5 of the Ink Series)

The burial

It was me, yes me, the person responsible for the two bodies lying at my feet. I killed them and all my sense of sanity is running wild now. I don't know what to do.

I have no car, no phone, no way of telling anyone I am in a shit load of trouble.

I wipe at my forehead, panic coursing my veins I don't know if I should run and leave them for someone else to find.

I release a loud plea for god or anyone to grant me some kind of advice or help. Tearing my fingers through my hair I fall against a tree and drop to my knees. I start pawing at the earth, I have to bury them. I can't let anyone see what I did.

The entire town of Georgia will know what I have become and I will have it worse here than Cherry. I might have to sit in a cell for the rest of my life.

Regular people don't kill. They don't need to.

I sob, I've screwed up big time. There's nothing telling me I was right for freaking out and killing these guys.

My fingers sink further into the dirt, I am a crying mess struggling to dig a hole with my bare hands to throw them in. It's never going to happen.

I force myself to my feet and suck air through my nose and out my mouth, my vision failing me because of all the tears.

Memories swirl through my mind, words all kinds of words and spells. I drop back down pressing my palms into the ground and keep repeating over and over the one spell I never thought I would use.

Trees snap, leaves crunch and the earth opens up almost taking me down with it. I'm better than I ever imagined at manipulating the things around me and I am so glad.

I take hold of the guy in the blue t-shirt letting out a guttural war cry as I drag his lifeless body toward the hole in the ground. I let go before I fall  in and breathe a little easier.

My nails are caked with dirt. My knees are black from the filth and I really need a shower. The next guy isn't quite so easy. I grabbed the limb lodged in his stomach, and pull. It won't come lose.

I clutch my stomach, ready to throw up. I can't move him with half a tree stuck in his body. I focus, digging deep as deep as I can possible go inside my own mind and his body by some miracle starts to move. Little by little I get him closer.

And with one kick he falls to his final resting place. I cross my arms, admiring my handiwork for a second before I replace the dirt.

If not for a few tree branches the place looks no different than any other place I have ever seen in nature.

Now it's a matter of getting out of the woods so I can get home where I belong.

***

It's so dark by the time I make it to the main road. It's a good thing I've lived around here or I would be really out of my element.

But as soon as I see the old mechanic shop I know exactly where I am. I'm not in walking distance of my house but I'm not far out.

I open the door to the garage and go inside. I lived in this place when I was young. My dad did some grunt work for extra money when I was little. Back when he was willing to do whatever it took to take care of our family. Back before so much changed.

"Hope," someone says.

"Yes?" I look around, the smell of oil and fumes hangs in the air. The rattling of metal on concrete makes me jump.

"When did you get back?" As he approaches I realize he is the same man I saw so many times when I was younger. I think his name is Bob or Ben, I can't say for sure.

"Almost a month ago," I tell him.

"Shit, I don't think I've seen your dad in ten years," he says, running a greasy hand over the front of his t-shirt.

I look down at the ground, my feet are caked in dirt.

"Everything okay?"

"Define okay," I say with a huff. I cover up my words with a lie. "My car broke down."

Bob or Ben backs away from the truck he is working on. "Where'd you say this car is?"

"I really could use a ride home," I tell him. "I'll worry about it tomorrow."

He pulls his keys from his pocket and starts shutting down the shop. "You make sure you call me tomorrow. And tell Adam Ben sent you. I'll have her up and running in no time."

I smile and follow him out the door. "Sounds great. Thanks so much, Ben."

He drives an old pickup. I'm pretty sure it's the same one he drove when I was a kid.

"You tell your dad I said hello." He climbs in on his side while I buckle up.

I lean my head back against the cracked leather seats and sigh.

I'm going home.