The Shy Witch

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Ouch, why did my lungs hurt so bad? And why was it painful to breathe?

"I think she's waking up,"

"Is she really?"

My eyes fluttered open to see two boys standing in front of me.

"Oh thank goodness!" Daniel exclaimed. He came over to me and kissed me on the cheek.

"Back off, Danny Boy. Give the girl some space."

I looked to the right to see Ryder leaning on the bed post next to me. Daniel scowled but backed away anyways.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"The infirmary," Daniel told me. "Annalise, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

I stopped him. "Don't apologize. It was my fault to begin with." I told him gently.

"No, it wasn't." Ryder cut in.

It was silent for a while.

"What... exactly were those things?" I asked.

"Sirens," Ryder replied. "Very deadly. That's why I had my ears covered and didn't look at them."

"What happened?"

"Well, as soon as you left, I went after you. I don't know why you would think I wouldn't follow you. I'm supposed to protect you, you know." He said, looking at me like I was an idiot. Well, maybe I was.

"So then I created some earmuffs and dived in after you, but you were already so far into the trance that there was no way I was getting you out of there. Way to go, by the way."

"Wait, what trance?"

"Sirens appear beautiful at first and sing songs that attract humans, and then they drag them down to the bottom of the water and eat them." He said simply. 

I widened my eyes at him. "What?"

He nodded. "That's why I cut you. You can kill sirens with a bronze dagger dipped in the blood of the victim."

I suddenly remembered my hand and looked at it. There was a bandage around it, but that was the least of my concerns.

"So... you killed them all?"

He smiled. "Yep!"

"How could you hold your breath that long?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I'm awesome. And probably invincible." He said cockily.

"So, what happened to me then?" I asked.

"Well, after I finished wiping the sirens out, I had to make sure you weren't dead. So I dragged you out of the water and-" He stopped talking.

"And?"

He took a deep breath. "I don't want to talk about it."

"What did you do?" Daniel asked suspiciously. 

Ryder didn't answer for awhile. "I... healed her. She was going to die."

He looked at me with sad eyes.

I tried to sit up in bed, but it wasn't working. Daniel noticed this and pulled me into a sitting position. I smiled at him in appreciation.

"But I didn't know healing powers existed." Daniel said, shocked.

"That's because not many people know about it. I don't think any of the teachers here even know that I know how to do it."

"How did you do it?" I asked him.

He was silent. "I can't tell you." He finally said.

"Why not?"

"It's too dangerous to know. There are consequences." He said.

The room stayed silent until Daniel finally broke it.

"What are the consequences?"

Ryder looked up at Daniel. "She can't know." He said quietly. Daniel nodded slowly.

"But anyway," Ryder said a bit more cheerfully. "Rest up! We're training again tomorrow!" I groaned a little and laid back down on my bed.

Daniel walked over to me and kissed my forehead.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He said.  

"I should go, too." Ryder said. "Try not to miss me too much." He teased. I smiled a little and watched as the two boys left the infirmary, leaving me alone to think.

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12/5/14

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