I had a dreamless sleep that night, only thinking about what had happened with the imaginary Austin. I was still a bit freaked out about it but was feeling better. I sat up in my bed and looked over at the clock. 5:43am. It was so early but I got up anyway. I got off my bed and went to grab my clothes, then remembered that I was still wearing them when I fell asleep. I walked out into the hallway. It was dark and I felt nervous that I would wake someone stirring this early. I plodded down the hallway to the rec-room. I walked in and turned the lights on to dim. I got a shock when I saw Autumn sitting on the couch, staring at her crystal. She quickly looked up to me and dropped her crystal to her chest.
"Oh, sorry. I'll just go back to my room." I went to turn the light off and Autumn spoke.
"Oh, no it's ok. I couldn't sleep, so I came out here. I feel like such a nuisance, hurting people here, stealing their crystal power with out even knowing. I would also like to say sorry about before, sapping the crystal power like that. I shouldn't of come here in the first place." She looked down and kept babbling, but I couldn't understand her.
"It's ok." I said. She stopped babbling and looked up.
"Really?" She said disbelief in her voice. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.
"Is everything ok?" Oscar said standing in the doorway. He wore a singlet and track pants and was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Yeah, I just couldn't sleep." Autumn murmured, wiping at her eyes.
"I just woke up." I said, feeling bad for waking Oscar.
"So everything's fine?" He asked again, to confirm.
"I've just got one question." I said
"Fire away." he said as he sat down on the couch, still rubbing his eyes.
"Why aren't there any windows?" He stopped rubbing, then looked at me.
"There aren't any windows because if there was, the views wouldn't be that exciting." He paused, seeing if we got the joke. "What I mean is that the house is underground."
"Why?"
"Why so many questions so early?"
"I'm interested." I said, feeling curious.
"We live underground because of the beasts that live on the surface, that even the crystals can't protect us from. They are more creatures of his mind. They aren't scary of such, more... luring. Like sirens, but different." I felt a sudden urge to go to the surface, just to experience the feeling of persuasion. I looked over to Autumn, she looked like she was asleep, although she probably wasn't, considering that she couldn't sleep all night. I sat down next to Oscar and leaned onto his shoulder. He embraced the gesture and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
"Are you feeling ok?" He asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
"Sort of, just a bit overwhelmed." He chuckled at the use of "just a bit".
"You're certainly dealing with it better than I did. I didn't know what to do when I got here." It suddenly crossed my mind that he would be looking for someone's memory to be here.
"Why are you here? What I mean is, whose memory did he take?" he pouted than spoke.
"My girlfriend's." There was a pause then he spoke again, "You know what's funny is that her name was Beth as well, and she looked similar to you." He was staring at my features, almost as if he was checking whether I was actually his girlfriend. Autumn suddenly got up and went to her room, probably feeling awkward about sitting in on our conversation. We both looked at her walk away and continued our conversation.
"So when you came here, was the house just here?"
"Yeah, he made it for us, so we could at least feel a bit comfortable in his mind." I moved my head down into his lap, staring at his face. I laughed at the thought of feeling comfortable in this place. I stared at his handsome face. His eyes were so similar to Austin's, it seemed as if it was Austin, but with dyed hair and a bit older. I looked at the distinctive facial features that he had, sharp cheekbones, a pointed chin, soft, thin lips. I leaned up as he leaned down, our lips nearly touching the embrace going further than friendship. Our lips touched for just a second, until we realised someone was there. Lili stood in the doorway from the hall. She gave a sharp cough that almost said,
"Don't you guys have boyfriends and girlfriends?"
YOU ARE READING
The Ringmaster's Keeper
Fantasy"This year's challenge," Claudius said as the medieval bridge lowered behind him, "is them." He took a step to the side and gestured towards him. Austin. When Beth is sent to a magician's mind to retrieve her boyfriend's memory of her, she finds o...
