Spirits

Chapter 8

Eyes down, head down, keep going, don't look around. Just keep going. Caspar kept this mantra in his head as he hurried down the street back towards his apartment, one arm wrapped around his waist to keep his coat and clothes together, the other pulling up the collar of his coat on the right side, trying to hide what he could of his face. He was sweating, terrified at any moment that he might bump into someone and have it happen all over again. This can't go on, I have to do something. Caspar suddenly saw the wheels of a food cart only a ways ahead of him. He thought of the paper bags they put the pretzels and croissants in sometimes. Yes! That's what I need!

He approached the cart silently, waiting until the proprietor was busy with a customer to reach around and grab one of the brown bags from the back. He then quickly retreated to a back alley and opened up the bag so he could start breathing into it.

"Caspar!"

Caspar yelped and turned to see Lady Desdemona making her way towards him from the other end of the alley.

"What in the world are you doing?!" She demanded. "Do you realize what a sight you are? You can't be wandering around looking like that—"

"Lady Mona!" Caspar launched himself into her arms, feeling like he might start crying from relief. "You came! I'm so glad to see you..." He blubbered.

"What...? Caspar..." She stood still, shocked for a moment by his actions, before slowly wrapping her arms around him. "What's wrong?" She asked, her brows taught.

"It's horrible! Something's wrong with me!" Caspar lamented. "People keep staring at me and acting mental! I can't get it to stop! It's like a nightmare!"

Suddenly Lady Desdemona's grip around him loosened and her arms fell away. Caspar looked up, confused, to see her pulling away, her face troubled. She put a hand to her forehead. "Caspar, why didn't you wait for me to get back?"

"Wh—what?"

She was shaking her head, her eyes closed as if she were chiding herself. "We can't talk here. Is your maid at the apartment?"

"Um...she leaves from ten to eleven." Caspar answered, feeling lost.

"That'll do then." She reached out and grabbed his shoulder. A flurry of feathers later, they were standing in his bedroom again. Lady Desdemona couldn't seem to look him in the eye, or even at his face. She gave his shoulder a quick squeeze before she pulled away and turned her back to him. "Sit down, Caspar."

His heart was beating hard with the suspense but he did as he was told, slowly backing up until he was able to sit upon his bed.

"It's time I told you something..." She said, sounding guilty. "You...you aren't like everyone else. What you saw today was...the result of your "Charms"."

"My what?"

"Charms. That's just what I call them. You have the ability to make people do anything you ask when they look you in the eye. Sometimes even just looking at your face is enough."

Caspar struggled to find his words and managed for a few moments to only make a few incoherent sounds. "H—how long have you known about this?"

"As long as I've known you..." She said sadly. "I saw you use it when I first met you..."

"When the..."

"Yes, when the attack was made upon your town, Newberry. I found you, in your house...The Lithoponian soldiers had just killed your father and mother. You and your older brother were found in the broom closet and pulled out. You were screaming and crying while your brother tried to protect you. They pulled him away and slew him in an instant...It's then that it happened. You screamed at them to stop, and they did. You held up a butter knife and screamed at them to die...well, before you could move, the three soldiers stabbed their swords into themselves, and die they did."