Chapter 1
Love and Magic
Magic is real!
No, it really is real!
I’m not pulling your leg, and no, it is not the kind of magic you find on the busy streets of some tourist intersection or in some theater being performed by a skilled illusionist.
Though funny enough, illusions are a type of real magic, but more on that later, right now, I’m talking about the world-ending magic that can changed a life forever.
The kind you find in popular books about kid wizards and beautiful women from those shows, you know, the ones with all the cool magical circles and bright, colorful effects.
That kind of magic.
Now, you might think I’m crazy by saying that magic is real, heck, I don’t blame you. I mean if someone was talking about some crazy fantasy thing like magic and saying that its real, I would thing they were crazy too, and this is coming from someone that enjoys a good fantasy story, plays games, and reads comics, so I’m quite verse in these kind of things, or so I thought I was.
But it turns out, fantasy and real life aren’t exactly the same.
You see, I was just a normal teenage boy that didn’t believe in things like that, especially not in magic, at least not the cool, world-ending kind anyway. But all of that changed that day when I had the displeasure of being attacked by a certain teacher we all had at one point in our school career—you know, the one that you dreaded to go to their class. The one that gave just too much homework and always seemed to be on your case for no particular reason.
Mine was named Ms. Serpin, and she, well, let’s just say that she had seen better days. But before I jump right into the life-changing event that changed my life forever, why don’t we start at the very beginning, when my childhood friend came to wake me up as she always did every morning.
Oh! And before I forget, my name is Rey, a once normal sixteen year old boy and the protagonist of this crazy, magic-filled story.
***
“We’re going to be late,” I heard a voice say as I tried to find a comfortable spot on my bed.
“Five more minutes,” I responded back, tossing and turning while putting my white-colored blanket over my head. Not wanting to start the day yet, wanting to spend a few more minutes in my bed’s soft embraced.
“I’m coming in, so you better not be doing anything weird,” that endearing- and I only mean that part half-sarcastically- feminine voice said, as she barged into my room without a care for my privacy.
“Five more minutes,” I groaned, tossing and turning like a little kid who didn’t want to go to school, which wasn’t too far off from how I felt. Especially since today was Ms. Serpin’s - my favorite teacher- dreaded biology mid-semester exam. And I mean the favorite part as a joke, I did not like her one bit. Heck, I don’t think anyone in school did. She just had this aura around her that the only way I could describe it was as if a cloud of poisonous gas had decided to linger round her, which kept everyone that came in contact with her at a safe distant, if that makes any sense, but that was how I saw that aura that she exuded around her, and I was sure I wasn’t the only one that noticed it.
But to make matters worse, I hadn’t studied for her exam. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, is not that I hadn’t tried to study for her exam, it was just that for some reason, every time I tried to study for her class, I would forget everything the moment I stepped into her classroom. It was a very bizarre occurrence, like my mind would forget everything about her class, and to be honest it probably was for the better, I hated her class, and I wasn’t alone. I don’t think anyone in our school liked her. She was mean like a viper, which honestly with a name like Ms. Serpin, I wouldn’t be surprise if she wasn’t related to snakes somehow.
But regardless of that, that meant only one thing, I was sure going to fail her exam and that was something I wasn’t looking forward to.
It was as if I was cursed to fail her class, which was crazy, but that was how it felt to me. My memory wasn’t the best when it came to her class, but only her class for some reason. I was passing the rest of my classes—barely, but I was passing. Her class was my one and only weakness.
“Sheesh! You’re like a little kid,” Mikki, the owner of that endearing voice, said.
She was my sweet and dearest childhood friend, and I only meant that half-jokingly. I lived with her and her mother in this two-story suburban house. Her mother had adopted me when I was only eight years old, when my mother passed away.
Mikki opened the blinds of my room, letting the light in, which hit the white blanket covering my body, penetrating it and striking me—a direct hit.
“AHH! The light!” I said jokingly, flinching like some creature whose weakness had been casted upon him by a group of meddling heroes. Which reminded me of the late gaming session I had last night, which, in retrospect, probably wasn’t such a good idea now that I think about it, but it was so worth it, though.
Bringing me one step closer to completing my goal of getting all the armor pieces of the Black Dragon Set for my wizard character in my favorite game—Warlocks and Witches. I had been grinding for this armor since the beginning of the year, skipping a few homework assignments here and there. Which , if Mikki knew, she probably would not have approved off.
But to a gamer like me, it was so worth it.
“ Get up and come eat breakfast, we don’t have all morning,” Mikki said, looking down at me, her ‘dearest childhood friend’ who did not want to get out of bed. I looked up at her; she had her blonde hair tied into a pair of pigtails and her St. Mary’s uniform, which was white with black borders, neatly over her body, accentuating a certain body part. She looked very beautiful, not that I had the guts to tell her that to her face. She was, after all, my childhood friend, and it would only make things weird between us if I ever told her how I felt about her. So that was another thing I also hid from her.
“I’m up, I’m up,” I said, getting up from the nice comfortable bed, its softness calling me back like a lover would, not that I knew how that felt, but I’m sure it was quite welcoming and comforting.
“You kn—” I tried to say, but my yawning won as I stretched my arms as I got up from my bed.
“Y-You idiot!” she said, turning around swiftly.
“Put on some pants, you weirdo.”
“Weirdo?” I said, looking down and remembering that I was in my boxers and not in my pajamas pants.
“I-I’m s-s----” I stuttered, my face turning a hot red that seemed to take hold of my tongue. I grabbed my blanket and put it around my waist as quickly as I could. Flailing my arms around like some fish out of water, closing my eyes and preparing myself for one of her loving taps, which was sure to come every time I did something she did not approve of. I waited a few seconds, anticipating it but nothing.
I opened one eye to see if she would give me one of her warm taps any minute now.
“Just hurry up and get dressed, idiot,” she said, walking out of my room.
“Sorry!” I yelled back at her as she left my room.
“Well that was weird,” I thought.
I could hear her steps as she went down the stairs.
“Sorry..” I said again, feeling my body burning up.
I let out a sigh, not only had I embarrassed myself, I had embarrassed myself in front of her. At least I counted myself lucky for not receiving one of her disciplinary loving taps, as she called them. For usually she would give me a nice little slap or something every time I did something she would consider weird or things in the nature of a teenage boy. Not that I did those “teenage boy” kinds of things often, she just had a very broad field of what was considered weird or strange, which she wasn’t shy about telling me, well, more like showing me when she didn’t approve.
I turned around and looked at the mess called my room, scanning it for my black school uniform.
“Found it,” I said, noticing it bunched up at the corner of the room, next to the small desk that served as my study place; not that it was of any use as of late, but it did serve as a nice little clothing hanger. I got dressed as fast as I could, not wanting to miss Ms. Hexa’s breakfast, Mikki’s mother, and my guardian, at least until I turned eighteen, which was in two years.
Now you may ask, how did I get to live with them, well I wish I could tell you about my life before I came here, but I had no recollection of it, it was all a blank in my mind. The doctors called it traumatic amnesia, perhaps that was the reason I couldn’t remember anything I studied for Ms. Serpin’s class. Her class was traumatic all right, but anyway, Nana, Mikki’s mom, took me in and raised me like a son after my mother passed away. Now you may ask why, and the answer is: because she was my mom’s best friend.
But to be honest I didn’t really think of her as a mother, not that she wasn’t great but I don’t know, it just felt weird to think of her like one. To me she was Ms. Hexa, Mikki’s mom, and my mother best friend.
She was very kind and loving toward me, just like a mother would. Not that I knew how that felt with my lack of memory. My mother died when I was eight and to be honest I didn’t have any memory of her, or my childhood before coming to live with Ms. Hexa because of the traumatic amnesia caused by her passing. She didn’t died in any traumatic way or anything, Mr. Hexa told me she was just sick and well, I guess to an eight year old it was traumatic. Perhaps that was why I couldn’t think of Ms. Hexa like a mother. It would feel like I was a replacing the mother I had forgotten.
The only thing I had of her was my most prized treasured. The only thing that was evidence of her existence.
I reached down to my chest, expecting to find my most prized possession hanging from my neck, but it wasn’t there. In the excitement of the morning, I had forgotten about it.
Which made me feel guilty.
I glanced over at my desk, it had a bunch of biology books laying on top that I probably should have gone through, but it was too late now.
No point in crying over spilled milk.
“There it is,” I said, spotting my most prized possession; my mother’s necklace. It was on top of the books I should have opened at least once last night.
I must have taken it off last night, which surprised me because I rarely took it off. The necklace was silver in color with a small blue gem encase in the middle—my treasure.
It was the only thing I had from my childhood before them, and it was the only thing I had of my mother. I grabbed it and put it around my neck, where it belonged. My mother’s birthstone.
I was told by Ms. Hexa, and, for some reason that I couldn’t explain, the blue color gem made me feel warm inside, almost as if I could feel her motherly love reaching toward me and embracing me. I wasn’t one for sentimental talk, but it did make me feel all fuzzy inside.
I caught my reflection in the mirror that was standing next to the door of my room. I had messy black hair, which I tried to clean up a bit, but it was futile since it always did whatever it wanted, and a pair of blue eyes that complimented my jet black hair.
Ms. Hexa said I looked a lot like my mother whenever she would bring her up. Which wasn’t a lot; and I understood why, after all, she was her best friend, so her death must have been rough on her as well. Though I must say, I wished I had remembered meeting Ms. Hexa prior to coming to live here, considering she was my mother’s best friend, so I felt guilty I had forgotten her too. Granted, I didn’t really remember much of my childhood before I came to live with them due to my traumatic amnesia. I had forgotten most if not all of my childhood memories, and most importantly, I had forgotten all of my memories with my mother.
“Hurry up, weirdo!” Mikki yelled.
“I said I’m sorry!” I yelled back, grabbing my backpack and dashing toward the stairs.
It was no use dwelling in the past, besides, I was happy here.
I rushed down the stairs, excited to be greeted by Ms. Hexa’s food, which in my opinion was the best in the whole world. She was a five star cook in my opinion.
“I see you and my daughter had a very intimate moment this morning,” Ms. Hexa said, as I entered the kitchen, she let out a faint chuckle, no doubt teasing us, which she liked to do.
“Sure, you can call it that,” I said, hiding my blushing and taking a seat across from Mikki.
“Don’t remind me,” Mikki said, not amused by it, as she ate.
Ms. Hexa was a very beautiful woman. She had long light-brown hair styled into a ponytail that hanged over her right shoulder with a red ribbon attached at the end. She had a pair of green eyes covered with half-moon glasses which made her look like a librarian.
She had an apron covering her housewife dress like all mornings, which covered certain assets her daughter had inherited from her. She looked like your typical housewife, but without the husband. Which made me wonder why I had never met any boyfriends or guys in all my time living with them. And now that I think about it, she never talked about her late husband either. Of course, I didn’t ask, I figured it was rude to ask.
“I said I was sorry, besides, you can’t blame me for mother nature’s mishaps,” I said, taking a bite of my toast that had sweet jelly spread out on top of it.
“Whatever,” Mikki said, sticking out her tongue at me like a little kid, which I found funny.
“You two sure do act like a pair of bickering lovers,” Ms. Hexa said, giving us a teasing smile, which made me choke on my mouthful of toast.
“M-Ms. Hexa--” I said, trying to clear my throat, and reaching for my orange juice, trying to pass down the piece of toast in my throat.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“You sure have a wicked sense of humor.”
“Sheesh, mom,” Mikki said, raising an eyebrow in disapproval.
“We’re not like that, besides, he’s too much of a weirdo that I’m sure no girl is going to want him, which means I’m going to be stuck with him,” Mikki said as she got up from the table.
“Thanks for the confidence boost,” I thought
As I took another bite of my toast. I mean, I didn’t want to be a burden on her. Which I apparently I was.
“Hurry up, Rey, before I leave without you,” she said, dashing out of the kitchen. And in that that moment, I could’ve sworn I caught a glimpse of her face as she walked out of the kitchen, and, if I was not mistaken, it was red as the jam on my toast. Probably from her anger, I mean what other reason could there be? She clearly saw me as a burden for her.
“Ah! to be young and in love,” Ms. Hexa said, placing her hand on her cheek, and losing herself in her fantasy. She had always been like that, especially about Mikki and I, to Mikki’s dismay. I mean, Mikki clearly found me annoying like some little brother, considering she was older than me by a few months, though, once in a full moon, she was nice to me.
“Rey!” she yelled,
“Coming,” I took the last bite of my toast as I got up from my seat.
“Thanks for the food as always, Ms. Hexa,” I said, gulping down one last bite, trying not to choke on it.
“Your welcome, honey,” she said, smiling at me. Her smile was very motherly like, making me wonder if my mother had a smile like that, too. For some reason, these past few days, I had been thinking a lot about my mother. Not that I didn’t think about, but this past few days had been different, hoping that all the memories I had once forgotten about her were finally coming back. Perhaps I was finally getting over this traumatic amnesia I had, well at least I hoped, considering it had been eight years now.
“Now hurry before our lovely Mikki gets even angrier.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, dashing out of the kitchen.
“Have a safe trip,” she said, waving goodbye at me.
“We will,” I said, as I rushed toward the front door of our two story suburban house, where Mikki was no doubt waiting for me, as we left the house which had been my home since I was eight years old.
“Sheesh, that mother of mine,” Mikki said as we walked toward St. Mary academy, our school.
“Love, romance, and nonsense are all she has on that brain of hers. I swear she watches too many dramas.”
I chuckled a bit. She was kind of adorable when she was flustered like that, which was a rare sight since she was always very compose and serious most of the time, after all, she was the Student Body President of all the third year at our High school and she carried herself with a sense of maturity.
“What’s so funny,” she asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at me. Her blonde hair, which was tied into a pair of pigtails, bouncing up and down—along with a certain asset of hers-- as we walked.
“You’re cute when you're flustered,” I blurted without thinking.
“W-what d-did-“ she stuttered, stopping in the middle of the street, her milky complexion now a bright red.
“N-No, I-I mean,” I tried to say, gathering my composure. I couldn’t believe what I had just said, not that it was a lie or anything. She was very beautiful, which made me the envy of all the guys at our school, always catching their beasts like eyes looking at her, no doubt having a bunch of impure thoughts about her.
“D-Did you study for Ms. Serpin’s exam,” I quickly said, changing the subject.
She looked at me. Her stare felt like she was waiting for something, or perhaps that was just my over active imagination these past few days, but I was sure her stare had a certain longing to it. I think.
“Of course,” she said, going through her small, brown purse-like backpack.
“Here I made these,” she said, giving me a set of small index cards.
“If you study these, you should be able to get at least a passing grade.”
“Thanks,” I said, grabbing them.
“You’re a lifesaver.”
“D-Don’t mention it,” she said, averting her eyes from me. Every time she acted nice toward me, it confused me. I didn’t know what she thought about me. But it didn’t matter, either way, I was glad I had her in my life—her and Ms. Hexa.
Glad I wasn’t alone in this world since my mother’s death.
image [https://i.imgur.com/VHJmTVU.jpg]
***
“Whoever gets below a C will have to stay for a very special after-school lesson with me,” Ms. Serpin said, smirking at the whole class, but her hazel eyes looked directly at me, which was to no one’s surprise, sending a chill down my spine.
Yikes, I thought, feeling sorry for the unlucky fellow that had to spend more time with Ms. Serpin, but who was I kidding, it probably was going to be me.
Ms. Serpin was one of the most, if not the most, dreaded teachers in all of Saint Mary Academy. She had a certain gift that allowed her to suck the air out of a classroom and replace it with a feeling of suffocation as if a snake was wrapping its slimy body around you.
“Okay, we can do this,” I told myself, trying to remember Mikki’s index cards. I glanced at her, and she nodded at me, reassuring me I had this. But the glares of all the male students acted as a counter to that reassuring stare. Which made this exam trickier than it had to be, their eyes weighing on me. Not that I care much for them. Okay, maybe a little, besides, it’s not like Mikki and I were dating. We were just close. After all, we were childhood friends that had lived in the same house for eight years now. I guess in a way, we were more than childhood friends , but not in the way they thought we were.
But either way, I ignored their stares. For now, I had to make sure I didn’t have the misfortune to stay for an after-school special with Ms. Serpin.
I wish I could tell you how the exam went or even describe how the hour and thirty minutes of her class went, but it was over so quickly that it felt like I blinked and the class had ended. But trust me, It was probably for the best. Her class was never exciting.
“Okay, class, that wraps it up. I will have your test results later in the day,” Ms. Serpin said as she began to collect the exams. She stopped when she came toward my desk, and looked down at me as if she was a predator that had stumbled upon her prey, and about to enjoy the moment before the kill. She had medium-length dark green hair, and she was wearing her usual dress suit, which consisted of a dark blue dress jacket on top of a white dress shirt and a black skirt.
“Morning, Ms. Serpin,” I said, giving her a half-assed smile.
“You look lovely today.”
“Have a great day, Rey,” she said, smiling at me, though it looked more like a big, wide grin than a smile, her snake-like eyes not helping her at all. She looked like a predator about to make its kill. I swallowed my saliva. I didn’t need to wait for the end of the day to find out how I did. I was sure I had failed. Heck, I couldn’t even remember the exam; something was blocking my memory every time I came to her class. It was silly, but there was just something strange about her. I just couldn’t explain it, all I knew was that I felt strange every time I was in her class.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you did okay,” Mikki said, trying to comfort me, as we walked to our next class.
“Right,” I said, looking back at Ms. Serpin’s class. There was something odd about it; I couldn’t quite point my finger at it.
“Listen to your wife,” one of Mikki’s girlfriends said, giggling at us as she walked next to us, but I was too preoccupied with my own thing to pay attention to them.
“Were not like that,” Mikki said back to her.
“Sure, sure, you guys are practically husband and wife since you live together,” she continued her teasing.
“Anyway, I’m sure you did fine,” Mikki said, trying to reassure me once more.
“Yea,” I said, not paying attention to her words, not that I didn’t believe them, if it had been any other teacher besides Ms. Serpin, I would have believed her words. I just couldn’t shake this feeling I had, there was just something about Ms. Serpin. It was as if my body was trying to communicate with me, but my brain couldn’t understand it.
The rest of the day passed as fast as Ms. Serpin’s class, and the next thing I knew, the school bell rang throughout the school, signaling the end of another school day.
“Finally,” I told myself.
“ I can’t wait to go home and continue playing Witches and Warlocks.”
The excitement of coming home and unwinding with my favorite game had fueled me throughout the day. It’s too bad magic didn’t exist in real life, I would have loved a spell that made me know all the right answers on every test I had to take, especially on a specific one.
I got up from my desk and began to walk to the door when—
I swallowed my saliva; there she was.
What do they say, talk about the devil and she would surely appear.
Ms. Serpin was standing by the exit door of my math class. She had her arms folded, and a big wide grin on her face.
“Guess I failed,“ I told myself.
After all, what other explanation was there for Ms. Serpin to be standing outside my class? She had come directly to a classroom other than her own. She wasn’t exactly known to be buddy, buddy with the other teachers, keeping to herself mostly.
“Well, I better face the music, “ I said, letting out a sigh.
As I walked toward her, I couldn’t help but notice all the other students lowering their heads as they passed by her, no doubt not wanting to get caught in her trap. Which honestly, I didn’t blame them. She wasn’t exactly anyone’s favorite teacher.
“Not bad, Rey,” she hissed.
“Did I pass?” I said, a brief wave of excitement washing over me. Had a miracle occurred? Had some angel blessed me?
“Not quite,” she said, squashing that wave. I knew it was too good to be true. She just wanted to get my hopes up and then destroy them. She truly was cold-blooded like a snake.
“You did better than the previous test, but it wasn’t good enough. Since you failed, you’ll have to stay for an extra lesson after school.”
“Great, just what I needed,” I thought, a chill ran down my body.
Spending more time that I had too with Ms. Serpin was not something I was looking forward.
“Did Rey passed?” I heard a voice and saw Mikki walking toward us.
“Miss Hexa,” she said, looking at Mikki,
Her English class must have ended early, considering it was at the other end of the school building.
“I was just telling Rey that he has to stay after school today since he failed his test.”
“I guess I’ll wait for you then,” she said, smiling at me, though it felt more like she was smiling at Ms. Serpin.
“It would be better for you to head out, Miss Hexa,” Mr. Serpin hissed back, her green eyes squinting at her, which I found odd since Mikki was loved by every teacher in school.
“Just another thing to add to the weirdness of Ms. Serpin.” I thought.
“She’s right,” I said, turning to Mikki. She didn’t have any after-school duties today, so she had no reason to stay after school, even if it was for me.
“It’s fine. I can wait,” Mikki said, looking at Ms. Serpin, giving her a stare that I found odd as well. It was almost as if she was examining her. It felt like they were in some quite of fight that honestly felt a bit strange, but I ignore it. All I cared about right now was finishing this after school special with Ms. Serpin.
“Nonsense,” Ms. Serpin said.
“Besides, what would the school say if the student president was waiting outside for some boy?”
She smirked at her.
“ I don’t care,” Mikki said, not budging.
“It’s fine, Mikki,” I said, not wanting to get her in trouble. Besides, it wasn’t that serious.
Mikki looked at me. Her stare almost felt like she was studying the situation, which I found odd, it was just Ms. Serpin, then again, it was Ms. Serpin we were talking about so I could see where she was coming from.
“If anything happens, call me,” she whispered to me as she left, which I found weird. She wasn’t exactly my favorite teacher, but I’m sure she wasn’t going to hurt me or anything.
“So, Ms. Serpin, what’s my punishment?” I asked, not looking forward to it, wanting to get it over as soon as possible. Being with Ms. Serpin gave me actual chills, which I found unsettling.
And in that moment I saw Ms. Serpin staring at Mikki with a stare that, if I hadn’t mistaken, almost had a murderous glare to it. And for a minute, I could feel a cold sweat on my skin, as if a slimy snake was wrapping its body around me.
“She truly does have a skill with making someone feel uncomfortable,” I thought.
“You’re going to help me pick some flowers behind the school,” she said, smiling at me thought it felt more like a big villainous grin than a smile.
“Flowers? Okay,” I said, finding it weird, I had expected some boring lesson in her classroom, but then again, this was Ms. Serpin we were talking about; weird was her specialty.
“What kind of flowers?” I asked.
“Just some special flowers. Anyway, enough chit-chat, let’s get going before the sun sets on this very special day,” she said as we began to walk toward her classroom. And as we passed some of the students in the hallway, I couldn’t help but notice the other students giving me glances of pity, it almost felt as if I was walking to my doomed. Which honestly, wasn’t that far-off, considering it was Ms. Serpin we were talking about.
***
“Yeesh, there wasn’t a heavier bag,” I said sarcastically underneath my breath as I carried a big dark bag full of supplies to the school's garden which was behind the school building.
It almost felt like I was carrying rocks or something on my back.
“How much longer,” I asked, as my shoulders were getting tired, but she ignored me, looking around, almost like she was looking for something.
“Set the bags down over there,” she finally said, pointing at a giant tree in the middle of the garden. It had a dark brown color to it, it looked quite different from the other ones.
“Has that tree always been here, “ I thought, noticing the strange looking tree. But then again, I really didn’t pay much attention to our school or its surroundings. I didn’t care much for school, and paying attention to this building was the last thing on my to do list.
“Okay,” I said, placing the heavy bag down, and letting my shoulders catch a break.
“What’s in the bags? Rocks,” I jokingly said as I stretched my arms, letting them breath for a second.
“AHAHA!” she laughed, which surprised me, making goosebumps appear on my skin.
“Rocks, yes,” she said, looking at me. And in that moment, it felt as if she was looking through me, which honestly creeped me out.
“Enough chit chat , start looking for flowers with purple pedals.”
“Okay,” I said, eager to get away from her.
I began to look around the ground, looking for her flowers.
“Found one,” I said as I spotted one near the strange tree.
“Oh, cool, another one.” I kept plucking them out, one by one.
“So, why do you need these flowers,” I asked, trying to fill the silence.
“They’re the final piece for a little project I’ve been working on for the past year,” she said, I looked back at her, and was surprised to see that she was putting rocks around in a circle.
“There were actual rocks in the bag pack,” I thought.
“She really is strange.”
“Sheesh, she’s really an odd one,” I said underneath my breath.
“A whole year huh!” I said as I continue to pick the flowers.
I got up from the ground with a handful of flowers in my hand, wondering what project took such a long time to complete, but knowing her, it was probably something weird. But it also reminded me that she had been at our school for one whole year now.
“Where do you want me to put them,” I said, turning to face her.
“A whole year, that’s a long time, don’t you agree, Rey?” she said, standing inside the circle of rocks she had made, and smiling, or was it grinning? Whatever it was, she looked stranger than usual, which was quite a feat for Ms. Serpin.
“Yea, I guess,” I said, the flowers still in my hand.
“I almost gave up, but perseverance, “ she said,
“Is the key to success, Rey.”
“Right,” I said, there was something odd about her, even for her standards. My body was screaming at me to run for some reason, which I found odd, after all, it was just Ms. Serpin. My biology teacher, but yet, I couldn’t shake off this odd feeling I had in this moment.
"It took me five years to find you," she said, her voice becoming distorted.
“Find me?” I thought, not understanding her words.
“Ms. Serpin, are you okay?” I asked, and in that moment her body began to twitch as if something was trying to come out of her.
"FIVE WHOLE YEARS!” she yelled, making a bunch of birds that were on the trees fly into the sky. Making me wish I was one of them.
“Ms. Serpin, are you okay?" I said, trying to make sense of what she was saying, and more importantly , of what was happening.
Something odd was going on with her. Perhaps she was having a stroke or something.
“SERPENTIS, I PLEDGE MYSELF! TO THEE ! ”
A gust of wind blew all around me as it made its way toward her.
And in that moment, I could’ve sworn I was still on my bed, dreaming, for that was the only explanation for what was happening to Ms. Serpin.
Her body began to contort like no human should, her limbs moving to positions that would have surely killed a normal person. It was as if something was moving inside of her.
“What the—” I said, watching in horror as a giant snake-like head shot out of her upper body; her lower body still looked human but not the rest.
“Ms. Serpin…” I tried to say, but my body froze for a second, perhaps trying to make sense of what was happening. Yet, my mind was screaming at me to run. To get as far away as possible from whatever this thing was.
I looked around, trying to find some shelter or anything.
“The trees,” I said, only thinking about putting something between me and whatever had come out of Ms. Serpin. I dropped the flowers that I still had in my hand and began to run for the trees.
“No, you don’t!” she hissed at me. Her voice was a mixture of a snake and that of a woman. She threw her upper body, which was a giant snake now, at me. And to my surprise or luck, I managed to dodge it, her face hitting the tree in front of me and splitting it in half.
“That could have been me,” I said, as I looked at the tree that had been split in half by her.
“I must be dreaming,” I told myself, I mean, what other explanation could there be that could explain why my biology teacher had transformed herself into some slimy, scaly snake creature?
“I know I did badly on the test, but can we talk about it?” I jokingly said, trying to make light of whatever this situation I found myself in was. But what really scared me, besides the hideous creature before me, was how calm I was beginning to be. Almost as if my mind and body were growing accustomed to whatever this situation was. Which was far-fetched, things like this don’t happened outside of fantasy stories. I was just a normal sixteen-year-old, maybe a bit hard headed at times, but no more than a growing boy my age. Things like this didn’t happen in real life, so why was I beginning to be calm about this.
“Stand still, you brat!” she hissed at me, throwing her disgusted snakehead at me like a whip. But luckily, the trees that surrounded the backyard of the school shielded me from her, taking most of the damage from her blows.
“You have the honor of becoming a sacrifice for my ascension, FOR SERPENTIS, ” she hissed, sticking her red, slimy tongue at me.
“Look, Ms. Serpin,” I said, hiding between the trees and trying to distract her while I looked for a way out. “ I don’t know what you ate, but you should definitely go see a doctor.”
“Bingo,” I thought, spotting a nice little rock that looked sharp enough to cause some damage or at least enough to distract her long enough for me to escape from whatever that thing was before me.
“Before you turn even more disgusting!” I yelled, baiting her. She threw her head in my direction, coming rapidly toward me.
“No, you don’t,” I said, throwing a sharp stone at her with all my might and hitting her right in the face with it. She recoiled her snake body back toward what remained of her normal body. Not to brag or anything, but I had quite the arm.
“ARGH!” she hissed in pain.
“Nice! Direct hit! ” I thought, almost wanting to celebrate my achievement.
It wasn’t every day that you got to hit a snake monster, especially one that was none other than your least favorite teacher.
“You brat!” she said,
“NOW!” I said, as I tried to move my legs. But, to my luck, they didn’t budge.
“What the-“ I said, as my head began to spin.
“You should have paid more attention in class,” she said, smirking at me, as blood dripped from her right eye.
“MOVE-” I tried to say, but my throat felt tight.
I dropped to one knee as the other one gave out. I looked at Ms. Serpin, or what was left of her, and saw her walking toward me. Her snake face grinning in delight.
“If you had, you would have known that some reptiles have quite the potent saliva that renders its victim paralyzed, but don’t worry,” she said,
“Paralyzed, great just what I needed now,” I thought, as I looked at my hands and saw that they were dripping with a thick slimy substance of sorts. I looked at the trees and found them all covered in the same slime substance as my hands.
“How did I not noticed it?” I thought, feeling dumb for not paying attention. I was too preoccupied with trying to escape that I didn’t pay attention to my surroundings.
And as I fell to the ground, my body unable to move, all I could pay attention too was the grotesque snake monster coming closer to me, no doubt about to end my life.
Don’t worry , Rey, you’re death would be my ascension,” she hissed at me as she got closer to me.
“Ascension, what is she talking about,” I thought, as I looked up, and saw her sharp fangs dripping with her saliva as she stood before me.
Her thick , mucus like saliva dripped down to my face; it felt hot against my skin and it had a putrid smell to it.
“Your dead would not be in vain,” she hissed.
“GOODBYE ! REY !”
She opened her mouth. It was wide enough to fit a whole human body—my body.
“So this is how it ends huh, being eaten alive by some snake monster. Who would have thought.”
I had only been sixteen years on this earth. There was still so much I wanted to experience, like perhaps having a girlfriend, you know, normal sixteen-year-old stuff. But now, all those hopes and dreams were about to be eaten away by my least favorite teacher that had transformed herself into some hideous snake creature before me, for reasons I did not know or cared in this moment.
“Life is really cruel sometimes,” I said, letting out a faint chuckle of desperation. I closed my eyes, accepting my fate, for there was nothing I could do, even if I wanted too. This body of mine had thrown in the towel. And in that moment—the last seconds of life--I grabbed my mother’s necklace.
Perhaps it won’t be so bad—of course, it would be; who was I trying to kid? I wondered if there was some afterlife that would give me the chance to meet my mother again. The mother I was robbed of.
“NOW DIE!!” I heard her snake-like voice, no doubt lunching her hideous face before me. Her fangs rapidly approaching me, about to end my life. And in those final seconds, her face flashed before me.
“Mikki!”
Her long blonde hair and her emerald color eyes; my childhood friend.
I hadn’t even confessed. Not that I would had anyway, but still, I might have if I wasn’t about to get eaten whole by a snake monster in this moment.
“I L-Lo…“ I tried to say , as I accepted my fate.
“HEAR MY CRY ZEUS !”
I heard a voice that didn’t belong to my favorite teacher. I was sure of it.
“COME FORTH THY THUNDER ! “
A loud thunderous noise filled the school garden. I could feel my body vibrate from whatever had impacted the ground close to me.
I opened one eye and saw what looked like Mikki landing on the ground by the entrance of the school’s backyard. Yet, she looked different from the usual Mikki, she was wearing her school uniform, but she had on a black cape that extended down like a robe of some kind, a black hat, and a broom in her hand, looking like some witch straight out of some fantasy story.
“YOU!” Ms. Serpin yelled as she dodged the lighting that landed between us, saving me from her.
“YOU FILTHY WH-” she tried to say, but another thunder blast came down from the sky, followed by another and another. Mr. Serpin tried to dodge the thunderbolts coming from the sky, but it was useless. The thunderbolts were proving to be too fast for her to dodge, getting hit by them. Her whole body was electrocuted by each hit that came, and at the end of all the thunder that descended from the sky- Ms. Serpin fell to the floor right next to me, smoke coming out of her body, as if she had been cooked.
“You can’t Protect…” she tried to say, but the last thunderbolt obliterated her.
“Mikki,” I tried to say, but my body was too weak to even try to talk. The last thing I saw before my eyes gave out was Mikki walking toward me.
“I must be dreaming,” I said underneath my breath as my eyes grew heavy.
“One big weird dream.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I found out about magic, but don’t worry, my story doesn’t end here.
image [https://i.imgur.com/R9tfsdT.jpg]