On March 9th I awoke in my room, the memories of last night flooding into me. “Did that really happen?” I asked myself. As I reflected on what I saw last night, trying to figure out if what I heard was the truth or what I at the time prayed was just a bad dream.

 “Could this be what Tulip was talking about when she talked about them getting worse? They've gone from getting an off few days from school to trying to rob a place," I muttered to myself clues and moments now coming into focuses. “No, no, it's all in my head, magic isn't real. None of it is real. Those guys are a bunch of inconsiderate idiots, and the only thing Tyrone is capable of destroying is my hopes and dreams. Right, right, none of that was real, you're gonna get out of bed and enjoy your last day of no school.” I tried to convince myself. 

I got out of bed to change into clean clothes. I felt an odd sensation as I walked towards my closet, it was almost like a soft, yet firm pillow was rubbing up my leg. As I looked down to see Hachiko looking at me with a smile on his face nuzzling my leg with its head. “Dammit.”

Seeing my furry companion, I was met with the truth that the events of last night were no dream just a very disturbing reality. The gravity of the matter started to sink in. “Oh God, magic is real, and they saw me. Antonio saw me. I'm a dead man, there's gonna burn me alive. Why did I have to say that to Tyrone, why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut and walk away.” My breathing started to get faster and faster as my eyes started to well up with tears.

“Wait a minute. Wait brad must've thought I was them and that I was going to kill him that's why he ran. Oh god if he was scared, then even with my magic, there's no hope of me even running away.”

I started to feel dizzy as more and more reasons for my death came to my mind. “Oh, what are they gonna do to Mom, what did they do to Brad?” I fell to the floor, losing my balance, nearly landing on Hachiko in the process.

My chest started to get heavier and heavier as I felt it beat faster and faster, with each pound against my ribcage giving me another reason to panic. “Everything I ever knew was a lie.” 

My visions started to go blurry as my mind continued to race, the sound of my heartbeat grew louder until it became the only thing I could hear. “Am I going to even see it coming, or am I just going to die in some alleyway never to be seen and heard from again?”

I was like that on the ground for a while, my mind spiraling out of control, until I started to feel a strange wet sensation on my chest. I turned my head to see the rough shape of Hachiko cuddling himself against my chest looking at me with a big goofy grin. Looking back, I don't how Hachiko was able to get me out of my panic attack. Maybe it was magic, or maybe it was just his big dumb grin. As I continued to look at him and eventually started to pet him. My eyes started to clear up and my heart began to slow down and beat at a reasonable pace. The nauseating sensation that filled my senses slowly faded away until I, although still in a very rattled state, was in a stable enough frame of mind to stand up and get changed.

“Ok so, what should I do, what should I do?” I thought to myself trying to figure out how to handle this insane situation. First thing, first I need to take a shower, taking note of my stench which I'm ashamed to admit could either be from the woods or my lack of hygiene. Not wanting to risk mom seeing Hachiko, since I have no idea how I would even begin to explain all of this to her. I grabbed the book, flipped to the right page, looked at Hachiko and read out loud “Adhuc Lapis.” Causing him to turn back into a wooden carving with the illusion disappearing notably the words I had carved into him had disappeared. Making my way into the bathroom, I hopped into the shower, and started to think. 

“Ok since that wasn't a dream, then that means those three started the fire. Which means that they can manipulate fire and water based on the weird sprinklers. And I guess from what I saw with Guams, earth too. Is there anyone I can ask about the book besides them? Brad! Of course, Brad knew they had powers, and he might have more info than I do. Wait, that means I'm gonna have to talk to him. Crap!” 

“Wait, maybe mom knows something. I doubt it, not like I’ve seen her cast a spell or do a blood ritual, but if I ask, it might give me the right direction to look in. After all she's the one who gave me the book in the first place. She probably doesn't know about the whole textbook situation, but she might know more about Hachiko, and other magic like him. Right, I'll ask mom first, and if that doesn't give me anything to work with, then I’ll have to talk to Brad.” I said to myself as I stepped out of the shower, dried myself and got ready for the day.

“Let’s see, it's seven thirty right now, so Mom’s probably downstairs eating breakfast.” I headed downstairs, Mom was quietly sitting in the kitchen reading a newspaper eating some cereal. 

She looked up from her newspaper. “Hi Ink, how was the carving?” She said with a warm smile.

“It went well. It was a nice change of pace from what I normally do.” 

“That's good to hear. I know you would have preferred to spend your time working on your sculpture, but everyone needs a break no matter what they are doing.” I let out a sigh. 

“Yeah, I guess you're right” I answered in a tired tone, the memories of my destroyed sculpture still burned into the back of my mind.

“Well, you have to admit it felt nice going to bed at a better time than usual. Or even getting to your bed at all.” She said as I took a seat in front of her, with her responding with giving me a glare that read go eat something. 

“Yeah, I will admit it's nice to wake up with energy for once.” I answered while pouring some cereal into my milk. “Mom, where did you find that book in the first place?” 

“I was cleaning out the basement and found it with all the other stuff from the old tenants. I thought it looked interesting and you might enjoy it.” 

“Was this the mystery guy’s stuff or the Murder Victims?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Duran and their two children, Ink! Not the Murder Victims.” 

“Sorry, I find it's easier to remember them, that way," I explained.

“I understand that, but there is still a better way to refer to people rather than one gruesome fact about them.” 

“Well to be fair, there's never gonna be any more facts about them.” I said sheepishly.

“Ink!” She growled disapprovingly before letting out a sigh of defeat. “Just don't mention that part to other people. It was hard enough to get people to come into the store when all they think about when they see it is. “Oh, hey is that the Murder House?" 

“Ok Mom," I promised, trying to get her to calm down.

She looked at me and asked in a curious tone. “So, today's your last day of your break left, do you have any plans?” she asked expecting it to be a no, just like it has with every weekend.

“Yeah, I'm gonna try to talk to Brad.” Since he was my only option since the only other people that could have helped are dead.

“Oh, why him?” She asked, having made her fair share of comments about her true opinion of brad after the incident.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

I looked down solemnly. “Well, I left things on a pretty bad note, and it doesn't sit right with me. I feel at this point I need to talk to him before, well before he moves for university and I never get the chance to again…” not a complete lie although it was true that I wanted to avoid the others for the rest of my life after seeing what I had done to Tyrone a small part of me wondered about the others. This insane situation was a convenient opportunity to check on them.

After a couple minutes of silence, she finally spoke up. “I'll be honest, I'm proud of you, Ink.” I raised my eyebrow in shock. “Don't get me wrong, you're a brilliant boy, endlessly creative and kind. I truly believe you can do anything you put your mind towards. But for a long time, I thought you would never recover from the sculpture. That you would just keep on digging yourself into this horrible pit of despair and obsession. Closing yourself off from everyone who cared about you.” Tears started to run down our faces. 

“For the longest time I had no idea what to do. I'm your mother for goodness’s sake and I had no idea what to do because everything you did made sense, and I couldn't really argue with. But I saw how it was eating you alive and what could I possibly do for that? Tell you to stop working? No, I couldn’t, you were completely justified in your anger. And I knew what that sculpture meant to you, exactly what you lost when it was destroyed. But hearing you now saying you want to reconnect with Brad, it just warms my heart.”

Until that moment, I never realized how my actions affected the one person that's always been there for me. It broke my heart knowing this reaction was because of a lie, something that I had no intention of doing. Because as much as I wanted to, I couldn't forgive Brad or any of them no matter how hard I tried. I couldn't and I hated seeing such joy and happiness on my mom’s face because of my lies. “Well, don't let me keep you waiting," she said as she stood up collecting our bowls, putting them into the dishwasher and headed downstairs leaving me alone with me, my thoughts and lies.

For a good couple of minutes, I just sat there and digested her words and how my actions and inactions were affecting the people I cared about. Upon this epiphany I stood up from the table. 

“I can't let Tyrone and others’ actions, or my inaction hurt anyone else.” I told myself somewhat confidently, as I walked upstairs into my room to get ready and talk to Brad. I changed out of my dirty clothes and into some denim shorts and a magenta turtleneck. I told Hachiko “Revertere ad me eqyym meum.” shrinking him down into the size of a keychain bauble and putting him into my pocket. I stuffed the book into my back pocket and headed out the door to talk to Brad.

“Ok Ink, what are you gonna talk to him about? What are you gonna ask?” I asked myself as I turned the corner towards Brad’s house. “What should you do if he tries to talk about the incident? What if he won't talk to you because of what you did? How are you gonna convince him I'm not crazy?” My mind raced with a million questions, a thousand voices and variations swirled around my head until I eventually found myself in front of an old wooden door. “Well, it's now or never” I said, trying to reassure myself. 

Knock. Knock. Knock. 

I waited for a couple minutes until the door opened to reveal Brad, wearing gray sweatpants and a white wife beater. He looked surprised. For a couple minutes we both just stood looking at each other, unsure of what to say, with a mountain of tension surrounding us. Brads face had a look of fear, shame and regret. He looked like he wanted to say something to me, but we both stayed silent. Until I managed to push through it all, breaking the silence. 

“Look, I'm not here to talk about what happened. And to be perfectly honest I don't know if I will ever be ready.” 

“Then why ar–”

“I'm here because I know about Tyrone and the others, how they started the fire, and their plan to rob a convenience store. Look, I know we haven't talked to each other in months, but I need to know everything you know about them.” 

His eyes went wide. “How? How do you know?” He said with so much fear in his voice for a moment he was completely unrecognizable.

“Look, I can and will explain everything to you but it's not a good idea to do it out in the open. Please can we go inside and talk?”

Brad let out a long sigh, the nature of it I was unsure of. “Ok fine, come on in.” He said walking back inside. I quickly followed, closing the door behind me, taking off my shoes as I entered. Brad walked upstairs into his room. It was a simple design, a queen-sized bed with some weights scattered about and a bookshelf which had various trophies and medals congratulating various races and football games. Brad had pulled up a chair and was currently sitting on his bed. I took the seat and looked at him. Both of us were a mix anxiousness and awkwardness.

“How do you know about Tyrone, Antonio and Guams? I didn't think you had talked to them since The Cataclysm.” 

“The Cataclysm?” I questioned.

“It's what we've been calling the destruction of your statue.” 

“Oh … I've been calling it “The Incident,” but yeah, that's right I haven't talked to any of you guys in months. Literally Monday morning on the bus when you hit me with your football was the first time, and in all honesty, I was planning on things staying like that probably forever, but yesterday my mom found a book.” Brad immediately tensed up. “Relax, it's not the book you're thinking about.” I reached into my back pocket showing him the book, holding it out to him to take. He takes it and flips through it, then just looks at me with a tired expression. 

“Ink, this is a children’s carpentry book.” 

“Wait, don’t you see the crazy writing?” 

“Look, I don't know how you know about the textbooks. But if you are gonna be messing with me, then there's no point in talking with you and I would appreciate it if you leave.” 

”Crescite et confortamini." I tossed Hachiko out of my pocket, as he quickly grew to the size of a normal dog. “Brad, Hachiko, Hachiko, Brad," Introducing the two to each other. 

“What, how, I don't understand?” 

“The book, that for some reason you can't properly see, taught me how to make Hachiko albeit with a blood sacrifice.” Brad's eyebrow raised in concern. “My own blood, I'm not a murderer.” I defended. “It’s just that making Hachiko required me cutting myself a little and after he was made it allowed me to see magic or more accurately, if an item possess magic. So naturally I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood seeing if I could find any more magic items and eventually, I stumbled across Tyrone, Antonio and Guams and overheard their plan to try and rob a convenience store today. I knew they had already tried to recruit you, but you said no.” 

“Yeah, he lit his hair on fire and threatened to burn my family to the ground if I ever said anything to anyone.”

Wow, I thought to myself, I knew Tyrone had changed but threatening Brad’s family was going way too far. His mother is bedridden with some unknown, untreatable illness its been destroying her body. It started five years ago when one day, seemingly randomly she just collapsed. 

She was put in intensive care, ever since and has been teetering on the brink of life and death, for a long time. His dad is constantly out of the country for work to be able to afford the medical costs. Brad isn't even able to visit her in person since the doctors can’t risk him bringing in any colds or illness. He’s never been the same since, he is always tired and ended up developing a very protective, mother hen like attitude towards his friends.

“Look I know there your friends and you need to look out for your mom but if you have any information, you can give me, no matter how small I need it. Because right now there going crazy and everyone not just your mother is at risk.” Brad sat there for a few minutes in silence unsure of what to say, 

“Look Ink, I'm sorry but I can't help you. I think that they spotted me trying to spy on them last night. If I interfere with them, well, there going to hurt me. But I will tell you what I know, though I don't think it will. My conversation with Tyrone was brief. It was after you yelled at him. Basically, he said that he and the others were responsible for the textbooks and that they wanted to go bigger and since you refused, to say the least, I was the next choice.

He explained his hands shaking and his voice wavering. “I refused because I'm not a criminal and I do not have any plans on becoming one. At this point, the rest of the class had left except for us. So, when I said no, he just looked at me and punched me hard in the gut. I didn't even think he knew how to throw a punch. Then he looked at me and his hair ignited into this cyclone of fire which circled around my neck never making contact but close enough to where I could feel the heat coming off it. Tyrone looked at me and told me to not say squat or there won't be anything to put into my mother's coffin. And for a second, I think I saw something. It was only for a second, but his eyes turned into this kind of pitch black it was like staring into a bottomless hole and I think his grin slightly grew wider then. I'm sorry but that's all I know. Maybe with your magic you could stand a chance at beating them, but I doubt it.”

I let out a sigh. This was a massive disappointment. I was hoping that at the very least he would know something more than what I already knew. “Well thank you for telling me all of this, I’m gonna go and try to figure something out.” I got up and headed down the stairs to the door. Unsure of what to do next I guess my only lead left is the robbery so maybe I find a weakness or maybe something I don't know. As I opened the door to leave, I heard a voice call out. 

“Wait Ink!” I turned to see Brad calling down to me from up the stairs. “I have an idea where we can stop them without putting ourselves in the line of fire.”

I smiled at my old friend. “Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it!”