Healing Academy (Stopped)

Apprehension

        Smouldering fire licks the wooden logs hungrily and wounds itself tightly around every exposed surface of wood. A myriad of shades of red come alive in the fire; crimson red,orange,occasional yellow. Warmth constantly emanates from the fire. I watch the flames rapidly dance as I warm my hands from my mug. Embers jump sporadically and disappear. I faintly hear Dad explaining things to Mom in the phone. Nausea worms pathways in my stomach, heightening my sense of anxiousness. My friends are still waiting in the car for me and Dad here has chosen this time to tell my mother about my whereabouts. My mom is not one who would accept something as it is but would question about every aspect of that something. I'm pretty sure that as Dad is telling her about what happened, she's planning my death when I come back home. There is no question that I would probably be put in house arrest till to the day I die.

        My leg jumps uncontrollably as I watch Dad's face redden at something my mom said in the phone. He replies and finally puts down the phone. I look at him expectantly and he scrubs his face. "Just hurry back" He tells me and I put down my mug on the coffee table.

        "Here" I thrust the money towards Brooklyn. She takes it and looks at it for a while. "Is it too..little?" I ask uneasily. She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. I look at everyone and realise they're all looking away. Suddenly, the silence is deafening.

        "How are you going to go back?" I ask Azael. "I'll use the potion to go home" He answers and smiles at me. His eyes finally look bright. I return the smile."Thank you" He says but I shake my head. "Hey, you're the one who managed to trick the Master into bringing you outside the HQ. Thank yourself" I say softly. He nods but his eyes have a faraway look in their eyes as if he was already planning out what lies ahead for him.

        "Tell me your number. We'll keep in touch" I assure her and she grins widely. Her smile looks too big for her face. Suddenly, I'm overcome with a great deal of emotions. I hold out my arms slowly, unsure if she would even hug me. She smirks at me playfully. She hugs me back tightly and lets go after a little while. "You've still got a long way to go. To clean up this whole mess. To get your life back on track. Good luck with everything you do, Destine. Just give me a call if there's anything" She finshes and holds me at arm's length.

        She looks into my eyes and I sigh, a little sad that we were separating. Sad that I still had so much to do. Sad that my life had changed so abruptly. I mentally shake myself. No use crying over spilled milk I think. "C'mon, Julian. Leggo" I call at him and he rolls his eyes playfully.

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        "So" My dad says.

        Julian swallows and I see his adam's apple bobbing up and down. I hide my smile by wiping my mouth in the napkin. Wow, is he actually nervous? I watch him carefully as my dad measures him through his narrow eyes. "What is your secret to being young?" Julian blurts out. Dad and I share a surprised glance. "Well, I am immortal" Dad replies after a few bites of chicken. I raise an eyebrow at this. He never tells me anything and now, he has to say it in front of Julian. I make a irritated sound and play with the peas on my plate. "I became immortal when I became a father which is why I look very young" He finishes. Not wanting to make this even more awkward, I gobble the last few bites and carry my plate to the sink. I come back and realise both my father and Julian are standing in front of each other.

        A bit too closely.

        "Have you finished eating?" I ask both of them. Julian nods curtly and I touch my dad's back. He grunts and I collect all the plates. Tension is palpable as I try to ignore the elephant in the room, taking more space than comfortable. I hurry back into the kitchen and remove the food scraps from the dishes before loading them into the dishwasher.