Boy Sorceress Pt. 02

I nearly punched the screen in frustration. Why won't people just tell me what they mean?

Asker: thanjks for the hisdtory lesson. what do the symbolks on my flower mean?!

Mentor: The inscription on your flower reads: "The price paid for this power had been incomplete. The bearer shall pay the price of flesh for each use" (of it). I guess you do lose weight for every spell you work. This might prove to be a disadvantage.

Might prove to be a disadvantage?Might? Seriously, this guy and his fucking understatements...

Asker: i am dubbing you mentor understatement

Mentor: Glad to see you've retained a sense of humor in these trying circumstances.

Yeah, it wasn't easy. First this guy tells me the bad guys know me by name and that I have to abandon all that I know if I want to stay alive. Then he tells me my power is limited in ways theirs are not, cause it came at the expense...

I bent over to one side and hurled chunks as I realized my power came at the expense of Jen Malone's unborn baby.

I mean, murdering pregnant women? That's a whole new low. Not that it would have stopped them from doing it, but they probably hadn't even known she was pregnant when they killed her. I certainly hadn't. Jen had been plenty chubby on her own.

I forced myself to sit up on my stool when I realized the entire coffee house was staring at me. The patrons were pushing their cups away and squinting at their complimentary cookies with suspicion. The employees behind the counter jumped into action. One ran my way with a bucket and mop. The other disappeared into a back office. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve. It would soon be time for me to leave.

I sighed and processed all the new information. I had been so focused on the symbols, hoping they would lead me somewhere, and it turned out that I had already deduced their meaning. I sighed and tried to come up with a plan to fight the bad guys while I still had Mentor online to advise me on it.

A fresh text interrupted my frantic thoughts.

Mentor: I went to check on The Thirteen while you were drawing. I have some terrible news. They have your parents. I'm so sorry. They will try to get you to surrender in exchange for their lives, but it is a trap. A lie. They will murder your parents either way. They've seen their faces and The Thirteen deal with all complications in the same way. I'm so sorry, but you're powerless to save your parents.

I shook my head in silent denial. There was no fucking way I was going to run and hide while these rabid cunts murdered my parents. My folks might not have been the most warm, fuzzy and loving of people, but they were still blood. My blood boiled and I felt ready to kill each and every one of these thirteen fucks.

Mentor: I can only imagine how painful this news is for you, but I beg of you to not go to your house, or your parents' house. The Thirteen will see you and kill you. Are you in Springfield right now?

Asker: yes

Mentor: Five of The Thirteen have just flown to Springfield. They have seen where your cellphone was last active. They will be there in no time. You need to move!

Asker: i'm not in the same place now i still have questions

Mentor: Doesn't matter. One of the five is the werewolf. He will track you. You must go! Open a new e-mail and contact me as soon as you can.

Asker: the werewolf can fly?

Mentor: No, but one of the mages can make them all fly. I've lost sight of them. They will land on the outskirts of Springfield at any minute. Then Horton will open and start a car for them to drive to your last known location. The werewolf will track you by scent from there. You must move and cover your scent as you go!

Fuck, flying was way too expensive for me, energy-wise. I'd need to run. The employee was mopping up my vomit. I groaned out a feeble, "Sorry," at him as I leaned to cover the screen with my body. He grunted in response and didn't even look up. I typed out another question.

Asker: why don't they just teleport here?

Mentor: Teleportation is possible, but extremely difficult. The mage must know the place they are going in every detail and be able to recall it perfectly. If anything changes in the place they're teleporting into since they've last seen it, they cannot teleport there. Even the tiniest change prevents it. Hurry! They could be in Springfield already.

Asker: ok, i'm going, bye!

Mentor: don't try to teleport the flesh price would kill you!

Asker: i wasn't going to

Mentor: Good. Erase this conversation and go, they could find your scent at any moment. Make a new email and contact me as soon as possible!

I logged out of the chatroom, erased the browser history and closed it just as the assistant manager, a bearded bear of a man in his thirties, came over to me. "Ma'am, are you alright?"

"Yeah," I said and jumped out of my stool. I ran out of there, unheeding of the strange looks cast my way. I barely felt the cold night air as I ran blindly down the street.

The Thirteen were tracking me and my parents were held hostage. I was cut off from my old life and my only ally was a chatroom-haunting ghost. The only thing I really had going for me was my power and that had been gained at the expense of Jen's unborn child. I hadn't killed it, but I felt guilty over it, all the same. It was hard to keep it together under such circumstances.

I needed to come up with a plan, but I was too emotional to do it. Fear, loneliness, panic, hopelessness, guilt. They all worked together to drown out my intellect. My eyes teared up and my vision went blurry, no matter how hard I blinked.

I wept and bawled openly as I ran for my life. The Mentor's words to cover my scent rang hollow in my head. How was I supposed to do that? I ran faster, though I knew that the distance didn't matter so long as there was a werewolf coming after me. I just couldn't think of anything else.