Red Mountain Chronicles: The Illusionist

Chapter 14

"That was pretty crazy. A bit scary toward the end though." Mary said. She then drank water out of her glass. "But some of the things you did were pretty effective. You managed to knee him in the face."
     It was quiet in the Dining Hall, with little to no people milling around, just as we both had hoped, since Mary decided that it would be good to get some air after what happened. Plus we could beat the lines.
       And I had to admit I did feel better, now that I took some time to recover away from the Arena. I was still a bit shaken up but at least I was not trembling. Or at least not as much.
      "Elaine?"
      I looked up. Mary was glaring at me, clearly trying to get my attention. Wearing a concerned expression, she asked "Is everything okay?"
      "Yeah," I said, picking up my fork to eat. I was okay, right?
      "No," Mary argued, "you're not."
      I chuckled, in an attempt to lighten the mood. But it had no effect whatsoever, because Mary did not budge from her claim.
      "Don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about. I can read you. And you're not okay."
      I let my smile falter because she was right. I did know what she was talking about. She was talking about her ability to feel the energy people and animals give off. A natural sense every werewolf has. This was one of many topics we were able to discuss over the past couple of weeks.
      "Then why did you ask me?" I asked.
      "Because," she looked at me square in the eye. "I want you to be honest with me."
     I looked down at the table so I would not have to meet her eyes. Honesty. Something that I always swore to keep with my mother. Something I confided in and always had. Or at least I think I had. Because I was alright. Wasn't I?
     "Alright," Mary surrendered, changing the subject to something different. Or at least, slightly different. "Can we at least talk about what happened back there?"
     I stayed silent, not meeting eyes with her.
     "Talking about it is the first step to recovering. The sooner you open up, the sooner you can heal."
     Again, I responded with silence. Not because I did not agree with her, but because I myself did not have an answer. I could only think of that boy, staring at his own hands in horror. As if he committed a serious crime. His words continued to echo on my head. « I thought I killed her. I killed her»
       "I..." I started, faltering quickly as I tried to search for the words.
       "Yeah?"
       I shook my head. "I don't know what happened."
       Mary was quiet for a moment, taking in my words. "Okay. That's a start."
       A small weight released in my chest. I felt better.
       "Would it help if I told you what I saw?"
       I remembered the Castillo boy's words. «I thought I killed her». I was afraid of what she was going to say she saw. But I nodded, still looking down.
      "I saw you in two places at once."
Wait, what?
I snapped my head up and looked up at her. Her eyes were staring off into space, as if replaying the event— trying desperately to make sense of it.
     "There was one of you, but I could've sworn that for a split second..." she stopped, trying to find the words to explain what she saw. "There were two of you. You were facing him, and then you split into two. One stayed facing him and... the other was rolled out of the way to the side."
     My eyes grew wide. I looked at the table, trying to make sense of her words. I... split into two?
     "What-"
     "I know," she interrupted, leaning back and holding her forehead, as if trying to make sense of it too. "It sounds crazy. I just assumed it was my imagination, but..."
      "But what?" I looked up at her.
      "But then I heard everyone else. They all went quiet."
       I looked down again. Her words did not make any sense. There was no way I could have split into two. Was there?
       "It could have been my imagination. Maybe you just moved really fast."
       I stayed quiet. There was nothing I could say. It was something that I could not wrap my mind around it. Because as far as I knew, it was impossible. And from the look on Mary's face, she thought the same thing. But it did make what happened make more sense. Which was what made the event even more terrifying.
       "What's the matter?"
       I looked up again. "My opponent... he said something..."
       Mary looked concerned again. "What did he say?"
       I was quiet for a while. Then I simply said, "He thought he killed me. And then..."
      Mary tilted her head in sympathy, like a sign telling me to go on.
     I proceeded. "Then he told me he was sorry."
     Mary looked confused. "Sorry for what?"
     I shook my head, then looked at my lap. It was hard to say out loud. Not only because it was strange, but because it was incredibly horrifying. Nonetheless, I had to tell her. Like she said: talking about it is the first step to recovery. "Sorry for killing me."
     I heard clanging of silverware, and before I knew it, Mary was sitting beside me and pulling me into her embrace. My vision then became blurry, as tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn't take it anymore. I tried to convince myself that I was fine, but I was only lying to myself.
     She rubbed my arms and rocked me. "It's okay. It's over now."
     Between sobs, I heaved out, "For a second I thought I was going to die. And after.... You should've seen his face. He was mortified."
      She held me tighter, shushing me to calm me down. It was only after I began to calm down and my crying began to cease when she spoke again.
      "But you didn't. You just tricked him." She paused for a few seconds. "Good thing too. He had a bit of a temper."
      I let out a laugh. It felt out of place, yet it felt nice. "True," I agreed. The tears then ceased not long after, and as soon as I was done, Mary pushed me away, holding onto my wrists to get a good look at me.
      "You feeling better?"
      I smiled, sniffling then wiping my tears off with my sleeve. I nodded.
      Mary returned the smile. "Good." She let go of my wrists and then began walking to the other side of the table. "Now that the waterworks are over, let's eat."