Severed

Chapter 9

I remember my deal with Magic clearly; just about the only I thing I remember from my old life. I know that I was a faerie, but even that was blurry, like the memory was moving too fast for me to see properly. But the deal? That was crystal clear like Magic left it in my mind so I would remember what it did for as long as I lived. Invisible knives slicing both my wrists. Hot, sticky blood pouring in rivers down my hands as I screamed, the pain too much to bear. I knew it was over when I woke up in a pool of my own blood. The purple goo was cold and my body slick with it. The skin on my wrists was already closed, but the scars remain to this day, as do the memories.

When I awoke, the sun was just a bubble of pink and orange bursting from its earthly prison and Ace was already gone. My emotions struggled through a mix of loneliness and happiness which didn't help my mood, making Hallie angry, too. I found a note on top of his pack which I suppose was left for me. Reading quickly, I shielded the scripted, cursive handwriting from Hallie as she rummaged through Ace's abandoned bag.

/Dear Hallie,/
/I'm sorry./
/I'm going back to Ala, but I won't tell anyone you're still alive. I hope eventually you'll come back so we can get married, but I won't hold my breath./
/Goodbye Hallie. I hope you find whatever it is you made your deal for./
/Best, AceEntrack/

That was it. Short and to the point. Only problem was that I could never marry him, even if I wanted to.

Angry, yet curiously sad, I snatched up // my sword and stormed out of the clearing, Hallie following like a sheep. Best not to linger in the place of a recent death longer than necessary.

We continued slowly toward Brighten, Hallie carrying the bag while I worried what we would do about our "situation". The human police must've reported us to the Inter-Realm Magic Prevention Agency by now and they would be hunting us down. Well, we'd had a good year, Hallie and I. But there's no way we would escape the IRMPA. No one ever did.