Magics: Escape (Book 2)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Wrenching nervousness, fear, and anxiety twisted through Kai's stomach as he and his friends stared at Chase in realization. One half of Kai wanted to stall as long as he could to finding the key and defeating The Dark Lord, because whatever was coming was like nothing he'd ever dealt with. The other half was screaming at him to get going, to get to the town as fast as they could, to get the key and rescue Shintaro and get it over with already. 

Then, one tiny part of his brain told him to focus on Chase. Look at him closely, it said. Why does he look like he's in pain? Kai frowned in confusion, studying Chase's tense shoulders, clenched hands, and tight jaw. 

Chase wasn't looking in Kai's direction, but he seemed to notice that he was staring holes into his head. He glanced over at Kai with a confused expression.

"What?" he asked Kai, raising one eyebrow. Kai watched as he seemed to push back the tension and almost forcibly open his fists. "Is there a bug on me?" He lifted one hand and ruffled his own hair, not catching the shake of Kai's head.

"No," Kai said, fighting to keep the tremor out of his voice. Calm down, he told himself. Focus on the present, not what you think is going to happen. 

But what if someone gets hurt when we try to defeat The Dark Lord?

What if Moon has hurt Shintaro? 

What if Moon got there first?

What if whoever has the gem doesn't want to give it up?

What if Shintaro wasn't strong enough to push The Dark Lord back? 

What if someone dies? Kai couldn't lose anyone else, or he feared he'd lose himself. He'd seen too much death.

What if Dad dies??

Enough, he ordered his brain, taking a long breath and urging himself back into the present. Chase was watching Kai, his eyes narrowed in what looked like concern. 

"Hey, are you okay?" Amy said to Kai's right, startling him into a jump that sent him sideways. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. You just looked... Pale and shaky." She looked him up and down for a moment.

"I'm fine," he said quietly, quietly enough that she wouldn't notice that his voice was shaking. He wiped his hands on his pants and shook them back and forth to keep them from trembling. He suddenly felt cold, like the air around him had wrapped him in a blanket of cold nerves. 

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Gabriel said flatly. "Let's go there now instead of standing here gawking at Chase like morons." He began walking away, taking the lead casually. 

But Linda, who had been in the lead before, didn't follow physically. Her silvery blue eyes followed his back, but she made no move. "Gabriel," she finally called. "You're going the wrong way." 

Chase laughed a little, but it seemed strained. "This way, Gabriel." He pointed slightly to his right, and Linda started walking in that direction. 

Gabriel steered himself to the right, and although Kai couldn't see his face, he could see that Gabriel was burning with embarrassment. 

Chase and Kai hurried after Linda, with Abby, Komakii, Falte, and Amy not far behind. The latter immediately started chattering about the town, which she somehow knew about. Kai chose to ignore her and kept his eyes trained on Chase.

~

The closer the group got to the town, which Amy announced was called Baiyn, the more tense Chase got. Kai noted the clenched fists, the tight jaw, the tense shoulders, the stiff steps, and the furrowed brow. Kai was walking to Chase left, but not close enough so it seemed strange that he was staring. 

Linda was still leading, but she was walking casually by Gabriel's side, exchanging a few quiet words with him. Abby was behind Chase, her eyes trained on the back of his head absently. Falte was trudging toward the back tiredly, but Komakii was by his side, bounding around and keeping his spirits alight. Amy was somewhere in the trees, bounding from one branch to another but somehow keeping up (Kai didn't even want to imagine how dangerous that was and how easily she did it.). 

Kai was beginning to wonder what was wrong with Chase. He knew that the teen could sense the key, but was it really that bad? Chase had never mentioned anything about pain, but that's what it looked like he was in. Did the key hurt him? 

Duh, Kai thought, mentally facepalming. Of course it was hurting him. The key was basically Dark Magic itself. It had hurt Shintaro, it only made sense that it hurt Chase too. But Shintaro was the bridge between the Abyss and this world. Was Chase like that too? 

Kai certainly hoped not. 

What would that mean? 

Would the Abyss open if Chase got near it? 

No, Kai thought. He's not another bridge. He wouldn't have kept that. Who knows why he kept the part about it hurting from us, but he would tell us if he were another door. 

"Chase," Abby said, her voice small and laced with worry. "It's not hard to tell when you're in pain. Are you okay?" She jogged for a moment to reach Chase's right side. "What's wrong?" 

"I'm fine," Chase said with a stiff shrug. 

"Don't start this again," Abby said, firmly enough to make Kai flinch a tiny bit. She was scary when she was angry. "Tell me what's wrong." 

Chase finally gave in with a long sigh, slumping his tense shoulders. "The key is literally Dark Magic sheltered into a gemstone. Of course it's going to hurt me when I get near it." He gave another shrug. "It's no big deal. I can take pain if it means rescuing pretty much the whole world from Darkness." 

If they said anything else to each other, Kai didn't hear it. Chase's words pierced deep, probably deeper than Chase even realized. They pierced the part of Kai's mind that told him he was terrible and hurting Chase by being around and hurting Shintaro when he was simply needing Shintaro's company. 

"How many times do I have to say this to you," Linda snapped harshly in his head. "I've given up on gently reminding you, Kai, because you just don't seem to get it. Chase doesn't care whether you're hurting him or not, which even if you were, you're most likely not hurting him very much. The gem IS Dark Magic, you simply have it in you." 

Kai shrank into himself, wrapping his hands around his upper arms. She wasn't wrong, but there was always a part of Kai that said these things. He couldn't get rid of it, no matter how many times he tried. 

You're a monster, it would whisper. 

I'm just Kai, he would think back. Falte's son. Abby's boyfriend. That just proves that I'm a good person, because I have family and friends. 

Most of the time, it subsided. 

But why did it have to resurface?

~

Every time I update this, I always feel like it's been freaking forever since I have.

And that's not really wrong. 

But I think I'm getting into the writing faze again. 

Hopefully

hopefully

HOPEFULLY

it doesn't go away again.

*smacks myself*

I need to finish this book!!! I have so many plans, even for the NEXT BOOK! I JUST NEED TO FIND OUT HOW TO GET THEREEEEE-

Well, thanks, my lovelies, for being so patient with me!! 

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thankyou for reading!

Peace!~~~