Gene Magicka

Chapter 2

"Can you believe it?" Aleric said, his face glowing with excitement. "We got into the best magic high school in the country! I never thought we could do it." He said with a smile as I frowned at him. "I mean, I always knew you could." He laughed uncomfortably.

I smiled at him, "I was joking. To be frank, I didn't think I would get in either. I haven't had much practice in the way of magic." I looked at the ground sadly. My uncle used magic but refused to let me use it till I was in high school, which is understandable but to younger me, it felt completely unfair.

"Hey he promised to help you once you came of age. At least you have that, I don't. I couldn't tell anyone but you that I had the gene," He sighed. "I would've lost everyone and burned at a figurative stake if I said anything. I am very grateful that I have you." He started to tear up as he hugged me.

Aleric has been my best friend since we were babies, he was born to a family with zero magic gene therefore making him the first in his family to have it. His family wasn't very accepting of magic and felt it was some weird religious thing that made anyone with it evil. So, he never told them and quietly suffered in silence, not knowing what was happening until he told me and I told him I was the same. I promised him I wouldn't allow him to be hurt and be alone.

I held him tight as I teared up as well. I was so proud of him for getting into Nicholas Flamel's School of Magic. Named after the famous, immortal alchemist who created the philosopher's stone the school has been around since about seventy-five years after people gained magic. As I said, it is the most prestigious magic school in all of Asaela and it takes a lot to get in. You can't just have knowledge, you must have talent and you must have the drive and will to become a Master magician and we both had that.

I separated our hug and we both rubbed our eyes. "I will never abandon you, we will graduate and do this. We will become master magis and you will be proud of yourself. You will love yourself and love who you are. If your parents can't accept you, come and live with me. Hell, I can be there when you tell them if you want." I said passionately.

He started to cry and I wipe a tear off his face, "Thank you Kiera, you are amazing and I am so blessed to be your best friend," He said through sobs.

"Let's get you back home, we can tell them then, it'll be hard but I know you can do it. I will be there with you all the way," I said smiling as I patted his shoulder. "Let's head out."

We walked to his house, which was next door to mine and about two blocks away from our junior high school. It was a silent walk, with tension that filled the air. It was so thick, you could cut a donut in it. I wanted to break the silence several times but I decided that it was best to let him think. He needed that, he didn't want to screw it up.

We stopped in front of his house and I stopped him by pulling on his backpack. I turned him to face me and stared unblinkingly into his blue eyes with specks of gold mixed with the blue. His black hair messy and I could tell he had been crying because his button nose was red and his pale checks were swollen and red.

"Breathe Aleric." I breathed in and gestured for him to follow, I did the same thing for about five minutes until I knew he was calm. "You can do this," I held his shoulders, staring into his eyes. "I know you can. I will be there every step of the way, no matter what." I held him and then gave him a bear hug. He stood frozen and then finally wrapped his arms around me.

He breathed in and out one last time and we headed up the porch stairs to the front door. Something wasn't right. The front door was open half of an inch and there was an eerie feeling in the air. I raised my finger to my mouth gesturing to not say a word. I pushed the door open and gesture for him to stay where he was. I knew what was about to happen and he didn't need to see this. I walked into the house and everything was quiet, deadly quiet. No one was in the front rooms. There was no way they had just forgot to close the door, they were a couple who prided themselves in being safe. They had two separate locks on their front and back door and even ran the neighborhood watch, they were careful and safe. It wasn't right.

I slowly walked up their stairs to where his parents', his sister Kal and his room laid. I tiptoed, trying not to make a sound. I didn't want to alert anyone I was here if the culprits were still there.

I went to his parents' room first. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and grabbed the doorknob. I stopped before I even turned the doorknob. 'Sticky. Wet.' I thought to myself. I gulped and looked down at my hand. My hand was covered in red. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit," I whispered to myself. I turned the doorknob and opened the door. It flung open and what I saw was a nightmare.

Poor Aleric's parents were hanging by their necks facing me. Blood ran down the walls. There were three chairs in the room, bloody and with duct tape on them. 'Three.' I froze. 'That means Kal was home. Oh crap!' I ran out of the room and straight to Kal's room. I opened the door slowly. She lay on the bed with her eyes closed. I ran to her side and checked her pulse. It was faint. Poor Kal, she was only seven years old. She didn't deserve this. I went to pick her up and take her out of there, call my uncle (who was at work at his music shop) and then call the police, but I heard a shuffle and the heat left the room.

That's when my breath froze in mid-air and I felt so cold. I put her down and got up onto my feet. I slowly turned around, holding my breath. Not knowing what I would see I braced myself. What I saw was more terrifying that what I thought I would see.

It stared at me, green skin, smell of death, an unhinged mouth and one eye. The creature looked like a zombie but something was not right with it. It grossed me out and caused me to choke down my lunch from earlier. I looked back at Kal.

I threw the blanket over her and got into position to make a move. It sat there not blinking, just staring. It grunted and then bent as if he was going to rush me and I did the only thing that came naturally to me. I threw a ball of magic at him. I hit it with full force, toppling the monster into the bookcase behind it. It roared and slowly picked itself up. 'This is going to be harder than I originally thought...' I looked about the room and grabbed the lamp that sat next to her bed. Since he was moving so slowly, I could easily unplug it and...

I shouldn't have left my back unprotected. It grabbed me by the neck and growled. I couldn't see it's face but I could imagine what it was doing to me. It smelled my hair and made a clucking sound. "Let me go!", I pleaded urgently. I kicked it and it did not phase it. Its grip got tighter and tighter as i struggled. I wept, for I knew what would become of me next. 'Someone, please...' I thought, as I started to suffocate.

A voice muffled and not one I recognized said "I told you, you damn beast I wanted her ALIVE not dead! You freaking buffoon!" The male voice said as a volt of electricity went through it's body causing it to let me go from its grasps.

I gasped for air and tried to regulate my breathing when my uncle and Aleric got to the room. "Oh my god. What the hell?" Aleric said staring at the lifeless corpse of the creature who attacked me.

My uncle ran up to be and clasped my face with his hands, "Are you ok?", he whispered to me. I nodded my head crying in shock. He hugged me gently and choked back a sob. "Please, don't be so rash next time. Call me first." I nodded my head. He turned to Aleric and said, "Don't go into your parents room for now, I will talk to you as soon as we get the girls into the car. Grab whatever you need, grab some clothes for your sister and lets leave before this damn astrocity wakes up. We don't need it waking up and attacking us again."

"Josh, what is it?" I asked in a whisper.

"I'll explain on the way, we are not safe here." He replied with worry in his eyes.

I looked back to the body of the creature that attacked me and almost killed Kal, someone had sent it to retrieve me. I am assuming it is a type of black magic, summoning from somewhere beyond the veil or grave. I didn't know who sent it for me, but I had a vague feeling that this wasn't the last monster I would be seeing in my life.