The Dawnvel Druids by - (summer beach reads TXT) 📖

magic on him, probably to kill him horribly!

He knew the drop was too high for him to jump, but it might be a better fate than whatever Simone was planning.

“Bobby, stop!” She seized his shirt, but he’d already jumped.

He hung suspended in the air for a moment, before plunging down at terrific speed. The green grass rushed up to meet him. There was a strange flash of blue light, then all he knew was darkness.

*

He was dead, or he was blind. Either way there was only dark.

Bobby tried not to scream. What use would screaming be if I’m dead? Wait, he had to be alive, he could feel himself practically hyperventilating. He forced himself to calm down. He tried to remember.

Murder! Simone! Me!

The three thoughts crashed through his brain in quick succession. Please, let this be just one horrible nightmare, it’s only dark because I haven’t opened my eyes yet.

He blinked rapidly. The darkness remained. I mean, he didn’t feel dead. It felt like wood underneath him. The serial killer must’ve thrown him in a darkened room. Imprisoning him until she was ready to kill again.

53

His left arm throbbed, while his right leg was far too heavy. It felt like he’d been in a terrible accident months back and only traces of pain remained. He’d fallen, well jumped, out of a high window. His injuries should’ve been far worse, even life threatening.

Slowly, Bobby stretched out his arms. He was lying down somewhere. Both of his hands brushed against something, wood again. He pushed his hands up above him, finding more wood inches from his face. Jesus Christ, I’m in a coffin. She’s gonna bury me alive! What if she already has?

Panic ripped through his body like spreading fire. He was about to start clawing his way out of the casket when he heard voices.

“Hey, it’s not my fault. It was an accident,” came Simone’s muffled voice.

She’d come to finish him off. “I would’ve just wiped his memory and been on my way,” she continued, “but the kid said he’d seen a Shade.”

“No way,” replied a familiar voice, Mo. Surely Mo wouldn’t let Simone bury him alive? But if she’d told Mo about him, they must be in on this together.

“He didn’t have a druid family name, but the impact from jumping out of his window should’ve killed him.”

“Okay,” Mo said. “but I assumed you healed him?”

“I did,” said Simone. “But a normal human would’ve died as soon as their head hit the ground. I saw him fall, and his body flashed blue the moment he landed. It was like he cast a spell to protect himself. He’s one of us.”

54

Bobby remembered the flash of blue light too. But what did Simone mean by a spell?

“Alright, let’s pretend he isn’t your average human. Why have you put him in a bloody coffin?”

“He saw me kill a gargoyle and royally freaked out,” said Simone. “He even slapped me with a fire extinguisher.”

Mo burst into laughter. “Sorry, but I’d love to see that. I don’t think any of us have used an extinguisher as a weapon before.”

“That’s why I stuffed him inside there. He has breathing holes though, I think.”

“I thought you’d be used to boys running away from you by now,” Mo replied. “Where’d you get a damn coffin from anyway? Don’t tell me, Dreg?”

“Yep, in case a vamp ever wanted to sleep over he said.” Simone’s voice came closer and Bobby tensed. “If he makes a run for it, you know what to do.”

Bobby held his breath for several unbearable moments whilst Simone unlocked the lid. The moment she opened it he threw himself out of there.

He caught a glimpse of Mo, wand in hand, before he was running away from them both. Mo slashed his hand through the air just as Bobby jumped the low table in the middle of the room, shouting, “Freylan!”

There was a flash of purple light and Bobby froze, suspended in mid-air. He tried to keep running but his legs wouldn’t move, his whole body was paralysed. He couldn’t even scream.

55

“So, he really has no idea what he is?” Mo asked, apparently forgetting about Bobby for the time being.

“Looks that way. I don’t think he had any family to tell him.” Simone replied.

Bobby’s mind searched in vain for some logical explanation for why he was paralysed.

“And you think he’s a Lost One because he saw a Shade?” asked Mo. “Sure, humans can’t see them, but anyone supernatural can. This dude could be a goblin or werewolf in disguise, maybe even a Baynir.”

“I would agree, but when I healed him after he jumped through his window, my spells worked perfectly. It would’ve taken longer and much more of my magic to heal an average human with such injuries,” Simone replied.

“So you think you were stronger because your magic was reacting to his own?”

“Definitely.”

Mo stopped pacing and stood in front of him. Bobby could see him from the corner of his eye, unable to move his neck an inch.

“His name’s…Bobby, I think it was. He was one of the dozen scholarship kids this year?”

“You’ve met?”

“Briefly. I gave him one of my, ‘stay away from the Prefects’ introductions.”

56

Simone came into view on Bobby’s other side, shaking her head. “You really need to stop doing that. We should be flying under the radar.”

“No chance of that.” Mo chuckled. “And everyone else would’ve told him the stories about us anyway. I find it fun to do it myself. Besides, we’ll never be under the radar again after you killed that teacher.”

So it was true? Bobby already suspected, but to hear it confirmed made it worse.

“Alright Bobster, as I’m sure you’re aware,” Mo began kindly, “you’re currently experiencing the effects of a spell. So you can see, quite clearly, magic is real. As are supernatural beings, which you’ll find out soon. Now, I’d like for us to talk normally. So, if I release you from my spell will you sit calmly on the sofa and have a conversation with the darling Simone and I?”

“Uhh, he can’t answer you dude,” Simone said.

“He can blink. Blink twice for yes, once for no.”

Bobby hadn’t realised the one thing he could move was his eyelids. He blinked twice, there was nothing else he could do. He just wanted this bizarre spell off of him. He’d run again if he saw them pull out a knife or something.

But for now, he’d give them one minute to somehow explain how they weren’t deranged murderers.

“Perfect.” Mo smiled, swishing his wand through the air.

Bobby landed atop the table, staring at them both wildly. If they meant him harm, surely they would’ve taken advantage when he was paralysed?

57

Mo gestured to the leather sofa beside the table. “Take a seat.”

Bobby slowly complied, taking in the room as he did so. These guys claimed to be druids, so he’d expect their house to be the gothic creepshow it looked like from the outside. This room, however, was not only very modern, but just what you’d expect from a group of college students. Takeaway boxes, magazines and an assortment of sweet wrappers littered the square room, whilst both an Xbox One and a Playstation 4 lay beneath the wide screen TV in the corner and a snooker table sat across the room. The white walls were surprisingly clean, except for the red stain by the door Bobby seriously hoped was ketchup. Night sky showed through the windows outside. He must’ve been unconscious for at least a couple of hours.

Bobby sat on the very edge of the sagging sofa, seeking an escape. The windows were the closest way out. The living room door was shut, and Mo took a seat in the armchair beside it.

Simone remained standing, studying Bobby, as if she was the one who should be bewildered. “We’re sorry, you know.”

“Which bit are you sorry for?” Bobby replied. “The fact I caught you red handed, or for chasing me around campus until I almost killed myself to get away from you.”

He looked down at himself then, wondering why he didn’t have a few broken bones. His white t-shirt was heavily ripped, as was his jeans, and both had grisly bloodstains on them. But his actual flesh was cut-free.

58

“Neither,” she said. “I’m sorry that all of this happened to you this way. The majority of druids learn about their potential destinies when they’re still children, with years to prepare.”

He looked from her to Mo. “Is druids your gang name or something, or do you guys consider yourself more of a pop group?”

“It’s what we are,” Simone said. “What we’ve been since birth. What you are too.”

She’s saying I’m one of them. Oh I see, she’s hoping that if I join the gang I won’t turn her into the police, as I’ll be implicated too.

“Sure I am.” He gestured to his clothes. “Why am I covered in blood but have no injuries? What did you do to me?”

“Saved your life, I reckon.” Simone crossed her arms. “Your stupidity cost you a broken arm and a shattered kneecap, not to mention some of those glass shards came dangerously close to severing an artery. Although you saved yourself from the initial impact.”

“Judging by the flash of blue light and the fact he had no head wounds,” said Mo, “I reckon he used the Trardn spell to cover himself in a shield.”

Simone nodded. “But I think his body did it automatically, and obviously without a wand. He must be pretty powerful.”

“So you used…spells on me?” Bobby looked at her accusingly. He extended his left arm, feeling the dull ache in his elbow, whilst his right knee felt like it had pins and needles.

59

“Ah, so you’re coming round to the idea of magic then?” said Mo.

He didn’t know how to answer, so instead turned back to Simone. “I heard you admit it.”

“Admit what?” she arched an eyebrow, amused.

“That you killed that teacher. And I saw with my own eyes what you did to that man in the basement. You’re a murderer.”

It didn’t matter what they told him, she was still a killer, and nothing would change that.

Simone’s plump lips spread into a smirk. “Technically, I guess. Though not of humans. The teacher a few months back was a demon in disguise, whilst the man you saw me destroy was a gargoyle.”

“What the heck are you saying?”

“That we kill monsters, basically,” Mo answered. “Usually with these things.” He gestured to the stone wand still in his hand, before twirling it to his left and muttering a word Bobby had never heard of. A cupboard at the end of the room burst open and a can of coke shot out of it and into Mo’s waiting hand.

“Want one?” he asked.

“No way.” Bobby looked from Mo to the cupboard, almost expecting to see string or some other magician’s trick. “Okay let’s just pretend I believe you, that magic is real. There’s still no proof monsters are.”