Time's Tragedies- The Books Of Beginning [2]

44. Curses

"Whatcha thinking about?" Abby asked. She was laying on her brother's bed, having crossed the divider curtain of their room to see what he was doing, only to find him at his desk, a notebook open, a stack of books on one side of him, concentration written all across his face.

Jake turned away from his notebook to look at her, "what makes you think I'm thinking of anything?"

Abby shrugged, "cause I'm your sister and the other investigator in this family, so I know things. Now, you gonna let me join in the detective work or not?"

"It's not really detective work this time," he admitted, "it would probably be going a lot quicker if it was, because I'd actually have an idea what to search for."

"Well then what's eating at you?"

Jake sighed, "I don't know. I was just thinking about what happened to mom, and it just feels... I dunno, wrong, I guess."

Abby bristled, "of course it feels wrong! She's in a coma!"

"Not like that," Jake shook his head, "like, something about the circumstances of her injury feels off to me. How did she get hurt again?"

"She was saving Eternity from Robert," Abby recalled, "he had her cornered and mom shoved her out of the way and took the hit meant for her."

"That's what feels wrong then. That spell put mom, a powerful magic user and incredibly strong individual, into a coma she still hasn't woken up from. And yet he was going to use it on Eternity?"

"Robert's ruthless," Abby pointed out, "it's not like he'd show Eternity mercy."

"True, but he is smart. That's a very powerful spell, and Eternity- no offense to her - wasn't that much of a threat in the situation. I mean, she was unarmed, doesn't wield magic like us, and while I bet she could punch him hard, all he had to do was not get close enough to let her. There were a lot of easier spells he could use to stop Eternity. Why didn't he use one?" Jake questioned.

"Maybe because he likes being sadistic?"

"Maybe. But I have a darker theory. I think something bigger was going on that moment."

Abby's eyes widened, "tell me."

"Well anyone who knows mom knows that if a kid was in danger, she would immediately react to protect them, right?" Jake explained, "so it makes sense that when she saw one of us kids, in this case Eternity, in trouble, she would jump in front of her and take the hit."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Abby said.

"And we could predict, based on who mom is, what her actions in that situation would be. Only we aren't the only ones who can make predictions. Robert can too, and I think he did. If he thought that threatening Eternity would get mom to come protect her, it would give him an opportunity to harm her, something he's proven numerable times is one of his main goals. So he corners Eternity, she jumps in to save Eternity, and it all goes down just like Robert planned, giving him the chance to hit her with the curse that put her into a coma."

Realization dawned on Abby, "You're saying him attacking Eternity was all a set up so he could curse mom."

"It makes sense," Jake said, "the spell didn't seem to be meant for Eternity, because it never was. Robert's plan was always to trick mom and curse her."

Abby blinked once, twice, then stammered with fright, "b-but, that means he had a strategy and a plan to hurt her the whole time! One that was smart enough we didn't even see it until now!"

Jake nodded solemnly, "yes, it does."

They fell into silence. That was the terrifying thing about facing Robert as their enemy; he wasn't just power hungry, he was smart. Smart beyond his scroll and the magic he stole from others of manufactured falsely. He had a head for strategy, and that was the most dangerous thing about him, because unlike the rest of his tools, it couldn't be taken away from him. And now they had realized he had used them as pawns in a plan to hurt their mother to the point where she was unable to help them. A plan that had succeeded.