The White Witch *COMPLETE*

26- Baba Yoga

"Who's that?" Aiden asked, looking at the door suspiciously.

"The boogyman." I groaned and went to the door.

Kas looked up and flashed me a charming smile. "How was your night?"

I stepped to the side, eyes already rolling. "Shut up and get in here."

He chuckled as he past. "Hello." He said to a very nervous looking Aiden, then he looked over his shoulder at me. "See, that's how you're supposed to react to me. Take notes."

"Good luck with that." I pushed past him, careful not to jostle the sleeping Samuel.

"I'll admit, I'm not very up to date on current fashion, but aren't you wearing that wrong?" He asked as he followed me.

"Oh!" I turned on my heel and he had to stop short to not bump into me. "It's Samuel. You can teleport right? After this, can you take me to his room so I can drop him off?"

He leaned up and peered into the hood. "Why not just give him to me?"

I gave him the flattest look I could. "Because I don't trust you."

"Fair enough. Sure."

Aiden stayed in the living room, but watched curiously as I sat Kas down on a yoga mat and took off my hoodie. Samuel chirped unhappily as I set him up in a little nest of my hoodie.

"I know, I know." I said. "I'll be right here. You can just sit there while I try and calm this jackass down, okay?"

"Rude." Kas muttered.

Samuel didn't look or sound very happy, but he settled down and watched. He was such a cute little thing. I hoped he'd stay in his home after I dropped him off though because I was just not set up to take care of a baby bird that may or may not burst into flames for no good reason.

"Okay," I said, sitting cross-legged on my own mat and facing Kas' black eyes. "So, we've got to teach you how to manage this. I can't just be taking it all the time or I'll probably lose my damn mind."

He snorted like I had no idea.

"And then we can try some therapy, which I'm not very good at -just so you know- but I think it'll help. You'll have to actually talk to me and answer my questions though." I said with a questioning look.

He nodded. "Okay."

His answer surprised me. I'd expected him to clam up or maybe just disappear. Then I realized I was probably just projecting my issues with Douglas.

"Okay, sit like me and copy my breathing." I said and shifted so I was comfortable with my hands on my thighs, near my knees.

His eyes moved down to my legs and he copied my position. I took in a deep breath and he did too, then I held it and let it out slowly. He did as I said with no smart ass comments or restless movement. I was used to needing to bring my students back with softly spoken words, but he never strayed from what I instructed him to do.

I waited to speak until I felt a change in his aura. It was subtle, but it was something. Normally, this much would have calmed a person down more, but I was pretty sure that was as good as I was getting with him.

"Okay, without opening your eyes, how do you feel?" I asked quietly.

"Tired." He said simply, not sounding relaxed in the least.

"And?" I pressed. I'd need more to work with than that and I could tell there was much more in there.

"Sore."

"And?" Not good enough.

"Angry." Better.

"About what?" I opened my eyes and watched him sit there completely still with that swirling tornado of pain around him. What could have happened to make him like this?