The One Who Saved Us

Chapter 12

"Wait, I have to go back. I don't remember the spell I'm supposed to cast." Valencia said coming to a stop. Her mother looked at her and smiled.

"Didn't that boy give you a paper? I assumed the spell was on it." Valencia looked at her in amazement. How had she seen that? It had been done so discreetly. She smiled nervously, knowing she wanted more time. Somehow. Some excuse.

She sighed. "He did but I lost it. Can we go back and get it?" For some reason Valencia felt like everything in her surroundings would come to live and grab her mother, so she wanted to be inside, in her room. That felt safer. Some part of her wanted to go her home with her mother, but she didn't want to put her mother through the pain of looking at her entire house burnt to the ground along with all the memories,  warmth and love that it housed.

Her mother nodded slowly and they just walked back. Valencia wanted to say so much and she had been imagining talking to her mother ever since she had died, but now, she couldn't think of anything to say. Should she fill her in on everything that had happened? Should she talk about the pain? The heartbreak? The constant feeling of being a failure? Or something light because that's what she deserved to hear?

Her mother on the other hand was just waiting for her to say something. Her mind was swirling with all the new things she had discovered. She felt insanely proud of Valencia for coping up so well. She wondered how she had done it and hated that she had to leave her again. What if the boy she was living with betrayed her in some way? What if he hurt her in unimaginable ways? What if he was just being nice to lure her in? But then she also knew if she stayed, she'd hurt her own daughter. She didn't want to be responsible for that. So she accepted being reunited with her husband and son on the other side.

They were both in front of Conrad's house, when Valencia felt the wind's speed pick up. It was suddenly chilly and she shivered. She walked in quickly and saw Conrad sitting at a table in the hall, sipping coffee.

"What are you doing here Valencia? You have a job to do." Before Valencia could say anything, her mother spoke up.

"I needed to talk to you. Alone." She said, the authority in her voice reminding Valencia of all the times her mother would say a something sternly to her or her brother and her father would just stand there mimicking her and when she noticed she'd send him the 'glare'.

Conrad stood up and motioned Valencia to walk away. Valencia raised her eyebrows in question at her mother.

"Go get the spell. I need to talk to this young man." Valencia chuckled as she knew Conrad was well over a few hundred years and her mom had just bossed him around like he was 16.

She walked to her door and quickly muttered a spell that enhanced her hearing as she close the door.

"Listen Conrad, I really hope you help Valencia and not hurt her in anyway. I see the sea trusts you and so I do as well, but if you do anything to hurt her, in any way, shape or form, I will come back once again and only leave with you. You hear me?"

Conrad nodded solemnly. "Trust me ma'am, Valencia is a friend. She's safe with me. You don't have to worry. She's powerful too. More powerful than I am. So she doesn't even need protecting." He smiled at her.

"Got the spell Valencia?" He asked walking back to his chair and Valencia moving away from the door shocked at how he knew she was listening. She pretended to take her time and come back in the hall, not knowing what had been happening.

"I can't find it in the spell books in my room. Can you write it for me again-" this time her sentence was cut off as the wall length widows all burst into shard award flew across the room. Screams resonated in the room and Valencia ran to her mother to protect her. She covered her with her own body and they fell to the ground.

She got off of her and quickly started pulling out the few pieces that had found her mother and healing her. The wind outside was unbelievably loud and strong. It seemed to be coming in only one direction and that was towards Valencia. Valencia then understood that this was another one of the attempts at taking her mother away. She got up to fight alongside Conrad who was trying to redirect the wind, when it picked her mother up and yanked her up and an invisible force pulled her away. She screamed as she was grabbed as then Valencia and Conrad were both fighting to take her back.

Suddenly Conrad let it go and Valencia felt betrayal pulse through her. She focused harder on the spell and then realised Conrad was patching up the windows. That would stop the wind. Smart move. She thought. Finally the windows were all back up and the wind stopped. Valencia slowly brought her mother back to the ground.

She sat down, extremely tired. "This is what I'm talking about. No more waiting Valencia. Get it over with." Conrad's angry voice echoed through the quiet hall.

Valencia got up and walked to her mom. She said the spell in her mind, chanting it to ensure she said the right thing and went to hug her. She pulled her in and started uttering the words as tears escaped her eyes. She closed her eyes tightly and with a shaking voice finished the spell. She expected her mother's body to go limp in her arms but nothing happened.

She moved away not having in it her to say the spell again. She looked over at Conrad and saw him lying on the floor. Motionless.

She was horrified. Had she accidentally directed the spell at him? Had she just killed the one person who had been helping her through all of this? She looked at her mom to see the same shocked expression on her face.

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Did I just kill Conrad? Or was that Valencia? I'd love to hear what you think happened.

Don't forget to vote and comment. All love. 💜💜