literature

Shot in the Dark (Revised) || Twenty-Four

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    "Sylvia!" Jon’s frustrated exclamation rattled the driver's side window of the car.

    Dangling greenery hung around the car on either side, draping across the roof and fondling the windows. Invisible from view of the dirt road, and parked far enough from the village tree itself that no fairies would sense the vibrations of the vehicle. This entire trip was to be off the books, as far as either of them were concerned.

    A fleeting look of fear crossed Hazel's face when he raised his voice, but Jon was focused on the fairy perched atop the steering wheel. Sylvia stared right back up at him, unfazed by his distress.

    "You seriously expect me to just sit in the car,” he fumed. “And let you deal with this after what they did to you last time?"

    "That's exactly what I expect you to do," Sylvia replied calmly, but an edge was creeping up in her tone. The determination in her expression was set; Jon had a sinking feeling she wasn't going to be talked out of it. "I know my mother. She's going to be irrational right now. If she sees you, she's going to jump to conclusions and hurt you without evening thinking about it. She won't listen to a word you say."

    Her eyes lit up as an idea sparked.

    "Here. If this'll make you feel better," she said, lifting off and fluttering the short distance to the dashboard. She knelt and traced her fingers on the surface, muttering an incantation Jon couldn’t quite make out. The faint symbol glowed to life with pale cerulean light. "A traveling rune. You know what it does. If I need a quick escape—which I won't—this is where I'll end up. With you. So stay in the car, unless you want me to pop up here and find myself alone." She stood and raised her eyebrows at him, seeking his approval on the precaution.

    He gave a short laugh of disbelief, though it was closer to a scoff than a chuckle. Jon stared hard at the trees outside. The same feeling he'd had while trying to rouse her from her frozen slumber was creeping up on him once again. Powerless. She was headed straight into her village's territory, straight towards the people who had her branded like unruly cattle for showing him mercy. And while she made her approach, he'd be sitting here like a chump, unable to protect her.

    Jon turned a begrudging gaze back towards the traveling rune on the dashboard, skeptical. He had half a mind to just tell her to suck it up, cause he was coming along. It's not like she could really stop me...

    He rolled down the window without saying a word. When he turned to face her again, his features were softer. "Think your wings can handle the distance?"

    Sighing in relief, Sylvia flew up to his face. "They handled much worse yesterday. I know I'm wasting my breath here, but... don't worry."

    Offering him a reassuring smile, she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his cheek before pulling back. He could have sworn he saw Hazel roll her eyes at the exchange out of the corner of his eyes.

    "Come on, Hazel." Sylvia gave Jon one last nod before exiting the car. She lingered a few feet outside the window, waiting for her sister to follow.

    Jon's eyebrows shot up when the tiny girl didn't follow along immediately, but stopped at a hover in front of him. He wasn't sure what on earth compelled her to do it, but she flew towards him and landed on his shoulder. Without giving herself time to change her mind, she latched her arms onto Jon's neck in a wide hug.

    "Thanks for everything," she said, a smile in her voice. "Take care of her... Please."

    Though taken off-guard by the fairy's hug, Jon reached up to hug her back, one hand laid overtop her gently. He found himself at the means for a bittersweet parting. For all her nervousness about his size, Hazel was a sweet girl.

    "I will,” he promised gravely. "Look after yourself, Hazel.”

    The tiny redhead nodded as she pulled up in a hover before him again. Then, with one last glance around the car's interior, she took off through the window to follow after Sylvia.

    Watching them fly off into the grove of willows and ferns, Jon clenched his jaw worriedly and tried not to wonder if Sylvia would make it back at all.


    A solid half hour passed before anything emerged from the vegetation again. Jon's eyes were aching from staring at the same spot so vigilantly. At last, his self-discipline paid off--a rustle stirred in the low-lying branches of a lonely willow tree. Jon did a double take before registering the fairy that emerged through the hanging leaves. His heart skipped a beat, but the tiny figure was just close enough that he could make out a braid of fiery hair, and a flowing cream-colored top.

    It wasn't Sylvia. It was her mother.

    She came to an immediate halt as she set her sights on the vehicle. Jon snapped off the radio, staring rigidly across the clearing with a wary frown. Why wasn't Sylvia with her?

    After a few moments' worth of obvious deliberation, the fairy left the vicinity of the foliage and approached the car. As she drew closer, Jon watched her worn-out expression evolve into a wary one. She became level with the closed window, stopping a fair distance from it. With visible reluctance, she raised her hands to shoulder level and then lowered them again. She gave him an expectant look.

    Jon fingered the door handle, every muscle in his body wound right. The memory of the little woman's fiery temper was a vivid image in his mind's eye. But now, there was no malice or outstanding anxiety in her posture. If anything, she simply looked exhausted. Her long auburn hair was disheveled, and the darkness under her eyes suggested she had gotten no sleep. Her arms remained relaxed at her sides, showing no indication of rising up to send an attack. Maybe he wouldn't get his clothes singed off after all.

    Jon turned off the car and got out slowly, holding the door open tentatively before shutting it again. Standing in front of the hood, he tried not to make any sudden movements to frighten her.

    An uneasy frown appeared on her face when she needed to tilt her head a bit to meet his gaze. She was swift to mend that by flying closer to his eye level. She didn’t draw any closer, but her voice managed to carry across the distance between them.

    "Hello, Jon. My name is Melanie," she announced  coolly.

    He greeted her in return with an apprehensive "Hi,” watching her little hands for signs of angry sparks. Melanie noticed this and smirked.

    "Don't worry. As much as I would love to run you off with fire, I can't," she assured wryly. "Sylvia has gotten mysteriously craftier since she joined you." Melanie raised her hand. A bright blue symbol glowed on her palm before fading out of sight. "An oath rune. She made me promise not to attack you, so I can’t. It was the only way she would let me to come and talk alone. She already explained everything to me, about what happened yesterday."

    Jon fought off a smile at the sight of the rune. Sylvia's shrewd thinking had saved his hide yet again. Thatta girl.

    The fairy crossed her arms and inched closer. Her appraising stare raked him up and down.

    "Would you agree my daughter has an unhealthy obsession with keeping you alive?" she asked bluntly.

    "That's one way to put it," Jon muttered. "I'd do the same for her, just so you know. She's… She’s important to me."

    Melanie gave him a skeptical raise of her eyebrows, but nodded after a beat of consideration. "It's good to know that, but if you truly mean what you say, then you'll listen to why she needs to get away from you before she gets herself killed."

    "What?" he blurted. "But she's safe with me. I can protect her!"

    "Well, you've been doing a hell of a job, haven’t you?" Melanie snapped.

    Jon scoffed indignantly, shooting her a glare equal to any fire she could hurl his way. As he opened his mouth to speak, the image of Sylvia’s bullet-pierced wing flashed through his mind’s eye. He stared at Melanie without really seeing, reliving the terrible sensation of holding Sylvia’s cold, limp body in his hands. Practically lifeless, while he had been powerless to do anything.

    “You ask me, she's got just as good a chance getting killed by the people who would burn her face before hearing her out," Jon gritted out stubbornly, folding his arms across his chest.

    Melanie’s defensive glare turned downright murderous for a moment. "That decision was out of my control." Glancing over her shoulder agitatedly, she traded in her hot temper for an expression that impatiently pleaded for understanding. "I don't have time to waste sitting here arguing with you. I'm afraid something may be... wrong with Sylvia, and I believe it started when she chose to heal you," she said, running a hand down her rumpled braid. "It's rare, but there are instances of people becoming abnormally attached to someone they heal. Particularly if the victim is on the brink of death and if the caster isn’t trained enough. What I'm saying is…”

    She trailed off for a second. If he didn’t know any better, he would have said she sounded apologetic.

     “These… choices to put herself in danger for you may not be her choices at all,” she went on with difficulty. “It could a bond from the healing spell. Pure instinct that she doesn't know is controlling her. If that's the case, she will continue to make senseless decisions to keep you out of harm's way.” Her eyes turned cold again. “I've come to understand what your line of work is. And she will never be safe with you."

    Jon aimed his scowl at his shoes, indignation tainted by a poisonous doubt. The memory of Sylvia’s sweet kiss still lingered on his cheek. Did she really want him, if magic was not a side effect? Or was everything she'd confessed to him merely a mistake?

    "Melanie, I... respect where you're coming from, but I think this is different." With slight impatience, Jon peered behind her hopefully, like Sylvia might appear out of thin air. "Just let me talk to her."

    "I don't think you understand," Melanie insisted, becoming frustrated. She flew to the side, forcing herself into his line of sight. "The Sylvia I know would have brought Hazel straight home after taking her with the traveling rune. She wouldn't have dragged her little sister along to hunt for a monster. She would have put Hazel first, no matter what. Forgive me if this hurts your feelings, but I know my daughter just a tad better than you do."

    She uncrossed her arms and held her hands close to her, rubbing at her oath-marked palm.

    "I haven’t told her," Melanie admitted in a quieter voice. "She doesn't know why I insisted talking to you right now. I don't know what would happen. Most likely she'd only deny it, but if she has some kind of epiphany that she isn't acting herself, there’s no telling what it will do to her mental state." A rare vulnerability took hold of her features. "Honestly, I... I don't know what to do."

    Jon stared back at her, just as lost as she was. Truthfully, he wasn't entirely convinced that this wasn't an elaborate ruse intended to force Sylvia to cut ties with him and Cliff for good. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time she'd used extreme means to get Sylvia back home.  

    But if that glistening grief in Melanie's eyes was speaking the truth... Could he really afford to perish the thought without so much as investigating?

    "If this is what you say it is... Some magic bond," Jon said reluctantly. "Is there any way to reverse the effects? I don't know jack-squat about magic, but... If I got her to attack me instead of healing me for whatever reason, would that break the fog on her mind?"

    Melanie gaped before giving him a mildly impressed frown. Her voice had much less edge, softening with hesitant hope. "Reversing any kind of magic is tricky. Unlike using regular spells, processes aren't set in stone. These bonds don’t have a universal cure.”

    She flew closer until she moved right past him and perched on the roof of the car. Her wings drooped, as if relieved to be given a break from beating at a steady hover for so long. Melanie paced along the edge, fixing the roof of the car with a contemplating stare.

    "Getting her to spill some of your blood… That could work. Provoking her enough to attack without harming her won't be easy. You'll need to know what would break through the instinct to keep you safe."

    She raised her eyebrows steeply, sucking in a soft gasp of air. "She told me about her night terrors returning. It's been years. When she was younger, she almost always refused to talk about them. But you could have a key there, if you can get her to talk." She stopped in her tracks and turned to Jon. "Would you really be willing to do that? Frighten her into wanting to hurt you?"

    He swallowed hard, pushing the sounds of Sylvia's nightmare-fueled screams from his mind. How much worse would those shrieks be when he was the source of her fear?

    "Yeah," Jon replied slowly. "If this bond is real, I'll do what I have to. But I'll need time to figure out a plan... To get her to confide in me." A look of suspicion crossed Melanie's face. Despite his firm tone, Jon knew his reluctance was too transparent. He scowled. "I know this may come as a shock to you, but I want what's best for her too."

    Despite her small stature, Melanie's stern look made Jon's insides shrivel a little. He could almost feel heat radiating in the air around her, despite the oath that prevented her from actually producing destructive flames.

    "I'll let you have her," she finally said, a grim look in her eyes. "But only if you agree to make an oath right now. Bring your palm close to me."

    "Melanie. I promise-"

    "A promise isn't good enough!" she snapped. "I'm leaving my daughter in your care, Jon. I don't think insurance that you'll keep your word is much to ask."

    Jon clamped his mouth shut, managing a little sigh and a nod of acquiescence. "Fine."

    Melanie clenched her jaw and went rigid as Jon obediently held his hand out beside her, but she did not tremble. Stepping forward, she leaned toward his palm with her own hand outstretched. Speaking the incantation, she traced the oath rune on nearly his entire palm, leaving a faint glowing red trail. Her pupils widened until her eyes were completely shrouded in black.

    Jon breathed out a short, shallow gasp. This was nothing like the healing magic he'd experienced from Sylvia. His hand felt like it was magnetized to the roof of the car. He couldn't move it now if he wanted to. His entire body felt like it was freezing and burning up at the same time. When the rune's design was finished, Melanie left her tiny hand pressed to the direct center of it.

    The rune's light brightened as her blackened eyes looked up to meet his.

    "You will do what you can to make Sylvia purposefully spill your blood, without bringing her any physical harm in the process. When that task is complete, you will come back here and allow me to evaluate that the bond, if it exists, is broken. Do you swear?"

    Transfixed by her eerie stare, Jon didn't so much as blink as he stated his answer: "I do."

    The oath rune reacted immediately, burning pure white before fading out of sight. Jon's palm was clear of all intricate designs, as if nothing had ever been there in the first place.

    "You are bound by your word," Melanie murmured, pulling her hand away from his palm and taking a step back. She kept her gaze trained on him as her pupils shrank to their normal size. "Oath runes are quite interesting. They don't necessarily focus on your actions. Rather, they are linked to your emotional state. They know you. If you purposely avoid your oath, or know in your heart you aren't performing to the best of your ability, the rune will react."

    Jon pulled his hand away, looking it all over in the sunlight. "React?"

    Melanie brought her hands together, running her fingers along her palm—across the oath rune her daughter had placed on her. "It will burn, at first. If you continue to ignore it, pain will spread until you are in agony. Do you understand?"

    "Yes," Jon replied in a single breath, still staring at his hand. It was incredible: any sign of the spellwork laid into his skin was virtually undetectable. Sylvia would never know, even with the close quarters she often had to his hands.

    Closing the oath-bearing hand into a fist, he lowered it to his side and stepped right up to the edge of the car, raising his eyebrows expectantly. "Now... Where is she?"

    Melanie leaned away, obviously fighting to keep her expression passive under his daunting gaze. She opened her wings, lifting off a few inches from the car.

    "She's waiting for me. I'll bring her." She hesitated, looking like she was debating on saying more. Settling on giving him a curt nod, she flew past him and vanished into the vegetation, heading in the direction of the willows.


    No more than a few minutes later, there was a sharp thumping noise near the hood of the car. A groan of pain followed.

    "We need to get out of here!"

    Jon whirled around, eyes ballooning to see Sylvia had materialized out of thin air and had landed on her side on the windshield of the car. She clutched her arm, slipping along the angled glass as she struggled to gain her bearings. Jon shot out a hand, scooping her up before she could fall any further.

    Not risking the time to question her urgency, he threw himself into the driver's seat and spun the keys forward in the ignition. He was already shifting into reverse as he deposited Sylvia onto his shoulder under the fold of his collar.

    "What happened?" Jon demanded. "Were you attacked?"

    He felt her lurch on his shoulder as he slammed on the gas. A tiny hand groped for the security of his collar while the pinprick pressure of her feet dug into his skin.

    "I was too close to the village for too long. Someone saw me.” There was a strain in her voice. "Apparently, the Council has been doing what they can to search for me. Before I knew it, there were guards, and sort of... a fight."

    Jon's eyebrows shot up. "You've got to be kidding me. She left you alone out there?" He muttered a curse under his breath, hoping in the back of his mind that Sylvia didn't understand the callous word. "Are you hurt?"

    "I didn't exactly stay as well hidden as I should have," Sylvia admitted. "But at least Hazel was away from me. If they knew she had been with me..." She trailed off grimly. “Anyway, my arm. It's just a scratch.”

    Jon sighed, finding a slight relief when the willows were left in the rear view mirror, upcoming signs for the highway now on the roadside. "Sit tight. We'll be home soon, and I'll take a look at it."

    Sylvia answered with a distracted hum as she adjusted herself on his shoulder. Silence filled the air between them for a time, and her heavy breaths began to relax. But it seemed the events at the willows still crowded her thoughts. "What was so damn important about what she needed to say to you?” she blurted. “I told her I shouldn't stay out there for any longer than necessary."

    Jon squared his jaw, grateful she couldn't see the conflict upon his face. In the bare minutes since Sylvia's arrival, his hand had begun to throb, as if judging every thought running through his mind.

    "You could probably guess," Jon said with a humorless laugh. "She got up in my face and gave me the whole 'if you hurt my daughter, I'll hunt you down' spiel."

    Sylvia chuckled apologetically, leaning against the side of his neck.

The throb in his hand subsided for the time being. It was a convincing lie.
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nightmares06's avatar
There's that angst I've been expecting xD pain