Awakening - The Last Science #1

Interlude I - A Year in the Life of Hailey Winscombe - VI

VI.

Late December, three months later, on a dark winter night thick with snow, at Hailey's apartment.

  "I'm home, Jess!" Hailey called, kicking snow off her boot on the front step before she walked in. Her hands were laden down with groceries from Hector's place and her face pink from the cold outside. The hallway was no better, and she felt her teeth starting to chatter. Hailey closed her eyes briefly and extended her mind out into the edges of her skin. She found the points she was looking for and set them vibrating slightly, like she were mentally twanging a taut cord.

  In moments Hailey began to warm up again. The spell had worn off since she left Hector's. Feeling the warmth trickle through her skin, she felt like she was properly home. Hailey pulled the door shut with her foot before heading downstairs to starting unloading the groceries.

  "Hope you like ham, because that's all I could think of for Christmas dinner," Hailey sighed. "Hector gave me an employee discount but it's still not much." She bustled around the kitchen, checking on the brownies she'd pulled out of the oven just before she'd run to the store. They looked perfect, just the right balance. She pulled a few of onto a plate and set it aside before turning to the tree in the corner.

  It was an artificial tree, which to Hailey's sensibilities as a native Pacific Northwester was an affront to nature. Her landlord had expressly forbidden bringing trees in for one reason or another, which left her limited options. She didn't like the plasticky, obviously fake pine branches, but she couldn't not have a Christmas tree. It was a compromise.

  Hailey kept a vague running commentary aloud of everything she did while she went about cleaning up the kitchen. The apartment was always so quiet of late, and Hailey was never much for the quiet. She craved activity and interaction. Anything to remind her that her ears were still functioning properly, and that someone still lived in that place.

  The air was her constant companion. She'd grown accustomed to feeling it as an extension of herself and felt comforted by its presence. Hailey was prone to shifting it around solely out of habit. While she worked in the kitchen, she sent a slight breeze coasting across her face, despite the chill. It helped the room feel less stuffy and more alive.

  The air was a great help to her as well in cleaning. She sent it thundering underneath chairs and over the tops of cabinets, blowing around dust with ease and collecting it neatly into the trash can. She felt like a composer directing a whispering orchestra as the gust tossed the room around. Any loose papers or light objects had long since been weighted down, as this was a regular occurrence.

  Done cleaning and done shopping, Hailey headed back up the stairs to their bedroom. She knocked on the door twice gently before calling out, "Just me, Jess."

  A bright crescent moon streamed in through the window curtains, casting long shadows across the floor from the couple of stuffed animals that sat perched on the sill. The room was cold and dark, and Hailey immediately set to warming it up as best she could. It was a wide space, but it was enclosed and had plenty of objects to trap heat, so it wasn't as difficult as some spaces. She wished they could afford to pay their heating bill, but it just didn't fit the budget she'd laid out. They saved wherever they could by relying on magic. Hailey crossed the room and collapsed in her desk chair.

  "Long, long day. I'm taking too many classes. I think I'll drop one next term," Hailey mused, picking up her notebook and leafing through pages at random. "It's just too hectic between that and work. Plus I never get to spend enough time here." She looked up over the top of the notebook. "Would you like that?"