The One Who Saved Us

Chapter 9

Valencia didn't know what to do. Part of her wanted to tell Conrad everything and ask for answers whereas the other part was sure she was going crazy and seeing things. She felt like she was in a trance and heard Conrad distantly trying to snap her out of it. Suddenly feeling mortified and angry she went back to her room trying to calm down. Confusion drowned her and tore her apart from the inside out. She didn't understand why she saw her mom and why it had happened now and not earlier. She had been ignoring Conrad for a while now and he had magicked himself in. He sat down beside her.

"What happened? Did you see something? Explain dear." He said softly.

"You're going to think I'm crazy and I probably am, but I just saw my mom-"

"Your mom? The one who died in the fire?" Conrad asked surprised.

Valencia looked at him as if he was stupid, "Yeah obviously. Who else would I be talking about?"

Conrad nodded. "What do you mean you saw her then?"

"I don't know. She was just there. In the corridor, standing. I swear to God I saw her."

"Hey, let's just rest for a while okay? We can train later on."

"You don't believe me. At all? Why can't ghosts be real?"

"Let's say I do believe you. I believe you saw her and that it was a figment of your imagination. She wasn't real. Okay?"

"How am I supposed to know what's real or not! A few weeks ago warlocks and witches weren't real! They too were imagination. So maybe ghosts are real too!" Valencia was furious and she didn't know why.

"Think rationally Valencia. Is it really possible for your dead mother to be a ghost and reach out to you?"

"Why not? Just answer me this question, are ghosts real or not?"

"They are, but they are very rare. Ghosts only exist when people die and instead of going over to the other side decide to be a ghost for the rest of their life. And even when they do that, the ghosts are stuck where they were last alive. They don't get to freely roam anywhere and everywhere. In your mother's case, it'd have to be your house she would be stuck in."

"Fine! I'm going home then!" She said and stormed out of her room.

Conrad followed and opened a portal. "Here. Step in. It's quicker." And then they both in front of Valencia's house in a second.

Valencia ran inside her house. The broken state of her house finally registered in her and she looked around at what was left of her entire life there. Burnt and black. Everything she had ever grown to love. All of it was just, gone. Momentarily, she forgot she was supposed to be looking for her mom. She picked up a photo frame and saw that most of it had melted away. The only thing remaining there was a part of the metal frame. She threw it back down and shook her head hoping to hide the tears.

She proceeded towards her parents' room and took took a deep breath before entering it. The door had burnt down too and gasped loudly at what she saw. All the burnt things reminded her of every little moment of her childhood. Days where she'd have nightmares and climb onto the bed and sleep between her mom and dad being comforted by their presence. Or when she made a family painting and they stuck it on the walls of the room saying they were proud to have such a talented daughter.

Valencia looked around trying to see if she could spot her mother anywhere but there was no sign of her. Disappointment settled in her and she rested her head against a wall letting a few tears slip down her cheeks. She slid down to the floor trying to stay calm. Conrad sat down beside her.

"I hate this Conrad. I hate this so much." Valencia whispered after a while. "I hate that I'm in constant pain and that every time I close my eyes I see them burning. Ever time it's quiet, I hear their screams. And every single time I just stand there not doing anything. And then I wake up crying and being as useless as ever. Weak. Look at me Con. I'm always a mess. I'm constantly crying and drowning in my own tears. You said the pain gets better. But I think it's worsening. It's not emotional pain anymore. It's physical now. Like I  can't breath because my chest hurts and my head is throbbing with pain all the damn time. I'm so done. I'm so tired. I don't wanna live like this anymore. This is hell."

Conrad listened in utter silence, glad that she was opening up finally. She had been determined on distancing herself and the two of them talked but never about anything like this.

"I know it's hard. Trust me when I say this, but it'll get better. There will come a day when the pain you're feeling will almost be unnoticeable. You won't wake up in tears and regretting your existence. You'll be happy. And to get to that day, you will have to go through some of the worst ones, but it'll come, you just have to wait for it. Things aren't always bad. Just like they aren't always good, there's always a balance. That's how the universe works. I had a friend tell me long ago, if you're going through hell, keep going. You know time heals all wounds. For now, give your wound some more time. Distract yourself from the pain, do something. Train with me or Cayden. Learn new spells. And allow yourself to grieve, just don't let it drown you. Live your life for your loved ones, make them proud."

Valencia just sat in silence trying to absorb the words and hoping they'd have an impact on her. She sat there beside Conrad, tears still sliding down her face. They continued sitting there silence looming over them.

And finally Conrad got up. "Let's go shall we? I believe we can't stay here all day long. We have work to do."

"What do we have to do?" Valencia asked, her hoarse voice surprising her. She got up as well.

"Well for one, I have a potion to make for a very important client and two we have to go shopping. I promised you we would." Valencia just nodded and followed Conrad out the room looking back as if to silently say goodbye, but she couldn't. So she just stepped into the portal.

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Phew. That was hard to write. What'd you think about this chapter? Was the ghost something Val imagined? Or was it real? You may never find out. Or maybe you will. Who knows. Oh wait, I do! Hah!

Don't forget to vote and comment! As always, love you all! Thanks for reading! 💜

The next chapter, you get to see more of Cayden. Can't wait for you all to read about him!