Tales of Aridia

Ours

The silence chilled me, and the clinking ran my blood cold. We stared at Miss Hawkins intently as she slowly put spoonful after spoonful of sugar in the tea. She passed it to us, muttering a quiet, "It's hot." I sipped the tea, squirming as the sweetness hit my tongue. "Miss Hawkins," I said reluctantly. "Mmm?" She said, still not turning to face us. "...There is something that you don't know about Hope and I," I said. This caught her attention and she stared us dead in the eye. "Hope and I...well...we had powers," I said. Miss Hawkins laughed nervously, sure that we had been joking. "We've seen your daughter, she came back." I  said. Miss Hawkins suddenly became angry, "That is not funny." She said, pointing a finger at me. 

The back door which lead in the kitchen creaked open and the blinds flapped about as wind flew inside. A white dress flowed with the wind and stopped as the door slammed behind it. "Mum?" She asked. Hope stood there in a white dress with a pair of slippers on her feet. The cup that Miss Hawkins held slipped from her hands and smashed on the floor, spilling boiling water everywhere. I perched Elliana on my knees away from the water so that it did not burn her. "It's me," Hope said, walking closer. Miss hawkins stroked her hair and twiddled it between her fingers. "You can't be." She said. "I'm dead but someone brought me back, although I seem to keep phasing in and out of reality." Hope explained. She then turned to face me, "The power I used to bring you here drained me and I was pulled from reality." Hope went on. Miss Hawkins was listening but seemed to stay confused. However it didn't seem to matter much -  she had her daughter back for a brief moment. 

"Do you mind if we stay at yours for the night?" I asked hesitantly. Miss Hawkins was in such shock that she didn't have much time to think about what we had said, "Okay," She replied quickly, still in the midst of embracing Hope. Hope pulled away and said quietly, "I think I should explain things to you," before taking her mother into a separate room. As they walked away I quickly ran to the sink and poured the tea down the drain, while wiping the sugar from my lips. Max had chugged his down quickly, squirming as it passed into his mouth. "Why would your sister want to help us?" I asked Max who had finished his tea by swiping the stains from his mouth. "Well...I don't know," He said, genuinely unsure of what Selena had gotten out of it. "She just does what she wants, no one really knows why." He went on, looking rather glum as he spoke of his sister. "What's she like?" I asked, sitting back down at the small table in the corner of the kitchen. "She was...smart, very smart. Although when she was 15 she got hooked on radradox, a drug that numbed your pyewacket so that you couldn't use magic."

Max rubbed is eyes, and then tapped his finger on the table nervously before bringing himself to speak again. "She used to say that she could hear her Pyewacket, that it would start to beat, like her heart. Everyone thought she was crazy of course." He went on, welling up as his memories of her had finally come to the surface. "She said the Radradox stopped the beating. One night she packed her things and left, I had no idea where she went. Occasionally she turns up like a miracle." Max said. I didn't ask him anymore questions, I could see his eyes twitching as they kept back the tears. 

Footsteps came into the kitchen and I saw Hope holding her mother by the arm. "She's in shock," Hope said. Miss Hawkins was white in the face and her jaw had dropped loosely. I decided to give her some space and directed Max into the Living room while Elliana tagged along behind.  

Hope shut the curtains and locked the door before gathering blankets for everyone. The evening came quickly and Miss Hawkins offered us another cup of tea, "No thank you," Max said quickly before I could answer.  The lady poked her head back around the door and asked again, "Are you sure?" She asked. I shook my head vigorously and so did Max. When Miss Hawkins had scuttled back into the kitchen we laid ourselves on the floor throughout the living room. Elliana threw herself on the old sofa, which had bits of leather torn away randomly. I rested my head on the wall beneath the window, relaxing as the light slowly faded away from the room. 

Elliana had gone to sleep and Max sat silently beneath his duvet. I twiddled around with the pocket watch in my fingers, taking the picture out from it once more. Around my neck I wore the pendant but also the vile which Jayden had handed me with the glass ball. I looked inside the ball at the blue stains on the glass, feeling more guilt. As I inspected it silently a sudden crash came from the garden. Max jumped up from the floor and we stared at each other with suspicion. I tilted my body and flicked the curtains apart by an inch, peering into the garden. I looked at the open gate, with the padlock smashed in two. Crouching from the window I whispered quietly, "Someone's here," To Max. Hope had been upstairs with her mother but we hadn't heard anything from them in a while. A sudden bang came from the kitchen - gradually becoming quieter as time passed by.

I walked into the kitchen and Max followed behind, avoiding the floorboards which creaked loudly as we stepped. I flicked the light switch on the wall up, but there was nothing there. Max and I let out a deep sigh, laughing at ourselves and finally relaxing.  "Tea?" Max asked jokingly, pointing at the kettle which glowed with a little blue light as it boiled the water. I laughed too in response, then we both became deadly silent. "Who turned that on?" I asked. Max looked at me, his eyes saying everything. "ROBYN!" Elliana screamed, throwing panic over us all. the scream came from upstairs and Max skidded down the hallway towards the staircase. I pounded up the stairs after him into Miss Hawkins bedroom. He threw the door open with a thud but stood still in the doorway. 

Two men stood on either side of the door, dressed in navy coats. Hope was lying on the ground, her limp body sprawled under their feet. Elliana let out muffled cries as her mouth was covered by another's hand. The man stood In the middle smiled eerily and my blood ran cold. I looked down at hope, she was dead. Max whispered in my ear, "She can't die again she's already dead," He explained. "Who are you?" I asked, staring at the man who grasped Elliana tightly. He wore a black suit with a silver badge and a navy tie, his black hair was slicked back with gel and he had eyes darker than the depths of space itself. "My name is Abraxas, and she's ours," He said looking down at Elliana. Suddenly I had realized that he had come for his daughter, just like Lucy had said.  "But since I'm here - I'll kill them too," Abraxas said pointing at us. I looked at Max and asked, "Where's Miss Hawkins?" 

Abraxas was smaller than I had imagined, for some reason I envisioned a monster. Although his eyes spoke nothing but evil. "I've been waiting to meet you," He smiled, grabbing Elliana by the hair and tossing her behind him. "You were so small the last time I saw you," He said, inspecting me. I shuddered and looked away, avoiding his glance. "What's wrong? Is it my face?" He laughed, joking to the other two men who didn't seem as pleased. I looked back at him and grimaced, "Oh now that's a look," He laughed, patting the other men on their shoulders. "You miss are the only thing standing between me and the throne to Aridia," He went on, rubbing his hands together. Each of his actions were disturbing, the way he moved and the way his eyes glanced around the room made me on edge. 

From beneath their capes the other men pulled out swords, scraping near the skin on our necks.