The Fragile the Broken and the Brave

6. Wind

7.21.20

"Benji I need you to wake up!" I got the feeling that they've been yelling at me for a while, but eh... I like sleep a lot. I managed to recognize the voice as Papa, and I heard him sigh loudly.

"I feel bad for doing this to people as a teenager now... Connor you know what to do." Footsteps walked around the matress, and I suddenly felt a cold sensation all over my body. I gasped awake at the freezing liquid, and the two men snickered above me. "Welcome to the world; get dressed. We leave in 10 minutes."

I stood up while rubbing my eyes, and Connor gave me some of his humongous clothes to wear. As I put the fabric over my shoulders, I wanted to curl up and sleep for the next year. The numbness had disappeared, and I felt like a train had run me over three times. My emotional state was fragile, and I was sort of tired of feeling like shit already. I took my zombified self down to the car, and I got second looks from Connor as soon as the door closed. "Who peed in your Cheerios?"

"I'm tired and depressed, Connor..." My answer was honest, and he seemed kind of put off. Not only that, but the pain in my chest from a while ago is starting to return.

"Uh... I'm sorry?" I leaned my head against the car window, and my eyes closed. I'm very tired of trying right now.

I was shaken when the car got to school, and Connor had to grab my hand to drag me into school. "What's up with him?" Will asked while pushing his glasses up his nose, and I stared down at the floor with no energy to reply. My chest was aching by now, and Connor was basically supporting my weight on the way to Mr. Smith's class. Teachers looked on with pity, and I realized how unusual it was for me to be this deprived of life. As soon as the door opened, Mr. Smith made a fuss about me. Connor assisted me to my seat in the back, and I collapsed onto the plastic thing like it was my life. My chest was burning at this point, but I had learned to ignore it as the bell rang. Everyone piled into the classroom, and the ache began to swell until I couldn't ignore it.

Suddenly, the room began to spin, but it wasn't just me. There was a huge wind rushing through the room, and kids had notebooks and paper flying everywhere. I looked around with everyone else to find the source for a few moments before realizing it was me, and my heart began to race. Connor looked one of the most freaked out of everyone, and he even stood up and started shouting something. My emotions were too all over the place to make it stop, and the wind continued to spiral around.

I finally managed to calm myself, so the wind abruptly stopped. "Is everyone alright?" Mr. Smith called, and he got a response from pretty much everyone except for me. What in the hell was that?

"Benji, are you okay?" William turned to look at me while he spoke, and I offered a completely fake smile.

"I'm okay. Nothing hit me." Will looked at me thoroughly unconvinced, but he dropped it as class started up again. Once the bell finally rang again, I stumbled out of the classroom on shaking legs. My friends were ahead of me chatting, and I managed to catch a bit of the conversation before they stopped talking all together. "Ariel, I need you to trace the magic to its source. We have a witch or warlock, probably amateur, running around in the school!" Connor's voice was urgent, but the entire conversation stopped as soon as I got closer. Wait, if they're convinced that it's a warlock... Does that make me..? Wicked, man! "How are you feeling, Benji? Does anything hurt?"

"I'm fine, Conny. Just a bit... Sad."

"I know it's going to hurt for a while, but we're here for you." All of my friends nodded along, and I leaned my head on the tile. Ariel seemed to be slightly distracted, and I hoped that she couldn't trace it back to me. I already have so many issues, and I don't really need this right now.

"Connor, I can't. There's something blocking me." Ariel was making a funny face, and Connor's dropped down as well.

"Weird."

Will walked up to us, and he looked as if he had seen a ghost. His glasses were sliding down his nose again, and his hair was still messed up from the wind I created. "Guys, it's obvious. Are you all dull in the head?"

"What is it?"

"It's Benji."

"What?"

"Are you stupid? I said–"

"No, I heard you. Elaborate." My cover was blown, but I didn't mind. Maybe one of them can help me handle this whole thing.

"Think about it seriously. It's unanimous that warlocks feel magic strongly when they're in extreme emotions; what's going on right now? Also what idiotic human runs around with supernatural; our auras overwhelm them."

"You're right... But then why not before?"

"The kid always had a happy life, Connor. Most of them have their magic nurtured out of them by their parents, but he didn't have magical parents. I don't know how that happened, but we can figure it out."

"Benji, is this true?" Everyone looked at me, and I began to get shy from all of the attention.

"Uhm, I think so? How am I supposed to know?"

"For an amateur such as yourself who doesn't know how to release it safely, there would be a burning right... Here." As he spoke, he placed a hand on my chest right where I would feel the pain. "Jack says that magic attacks increase in intensity the longer they are ignored. I don't know much about warlocks since my education only dabbled lightly there, but he could tell you a lot."

I placed my hand delicately on my chest above him, and my expression probably looked really creepy to onlookers. This thing inside of me... It's unpredictable and dangerous, but I can harness that danger for my protection. I'm like a wolf in sheep's clothing that can knock some bitches out... I'm off topic. "I think... I think you're right."

Connor smiled gently at me, and I felt my own lips curl a bit. "Okay, I'm going to call my dad. It isn't safe to have you around humans until you can learn how to control it."

As he spoke on the phone, I zoned out majorly. Knowing that I was something greater than the human I had always been raised at sent a thrill of joy into my body, but my parents were still gone. It felt like I was moving farther away from them with this knowledge, but maybe that's good? I have mixed feelings.

"Come on, they're gonna be outside in 20 minutes."