❤ Chapter Four┆A Bad Omen

(This entire chapter is kind of awkward. Sorry.)

                The world iced over. Time and space froze. Nothing moved. Nothing breathed.

                “Mother?” Raziel asked quietly. The worry in his voice was evident. Slowly, the ice that had covered the world melted. Time began slowly moving again. Space resumed its activities. Nalia leaned against the banister. Waves of nausea were washing over her. Slowly, she sat down on the stairs and took a moment to breathe. She looked up at Raziel, who was looking at her with fearful eyes. “Mother? Are you okay?”

                How easy it would have been to simply say, “No, Raziel, I’m far from okay.”

                Nalia knew that would be a dangerous move though. She simply sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m okay, Razi . . . . Just . . . surprised. Tell me more about this person, please.”

                This seemed to excite Raziel. He looked up to the ceiling and began telling her all of the features he remembered. “Well, for one, his eyes weren’t blue like mine. They were kind of . . . yellow. I think there were a few dashes of red too. His hair was really dark like mine, and, well, come to think of it, he kind of looked like me. I can’t really put my finger on it, but we kind of just looked similar. Are you sure I don’t have some kind of long-lost uncle? Anyway, he also had a really, um, pretty voice—Mother? Mother!”

                If fear was an ocean, Nalia would have been drowning in it. She felt so sick—so afraid. Before Raziel had even finished his monologue, Nalia was gone. She had heard more than enough. Asriel was on Ennis.  He was back. He hadn’t forgotten. He was coming for her. No. . . . Not just her. He was coming for Raziel as well.

                It seemed like all of the tension and fear from the past nine years finally came crashing down on her. It was so strong that it made her physically sick. Nalia ran upstairs to her bathroom and fell to the ground beside her toilet. She didn’t vomit, but she felt her stomach lurching with every passing thought. The world she knew would be gone forever and there was nothing she could do about it. Where would Asriel take them? What would he do to them?

                Nalia slowly sat up. There had to be some way she could protect herself and Raziel, but how? She didn’t have magical abilities like the rest of women in her family. Even after her coming-of-age, nothing sparked within her. On the other hand, her cousins, who celebrated on the same night, were already upholding the Thorne family name beautifully.
                
                The Thorne family--the prestigious Thorne family. In the magical society, they were far from unheard of.  Magic thrived in every descendant’s blood. Whether you reproduced with someone who had magical abilities or with someone who did not, it carried down. In Nalia’s case, her mother and father both had magical powers, strong ones at that. Why didn’t she?

                Were there any physical ways of keeping Asriel away? Nalia didn’t think crosses and other holy symbols would help her—she was never the believing type. Perhaps a weapon of some sort? No, Asriel was a devil—an immortal being . . . Slowly, her options dwindled down to one. It was an option that she had no interest in pursuing. If she did, she would be putting another family member in harm’s way. Was it worth it?

                Would she risk her grandmother’s life just to get some sort of protection? Mistria was strong enough to produce a powerful protection spell, but was she strong enough to defend herself if Asriel caught wind of their plan? Nalia stood up. She had to at least say something. She could be vague about it, right? Slowly, the idea became more and more appealing. She didn’t have to outright say what had happened and what was going to happen. Did she even have to tell any stories at all?

                It had been decided. Nalia would go to her grandmother, the strongest wizard on Ennis Island.

                Downstairs, Raziel looked at the staircase disdainfully. What had he said this time? What made his mother so upset? He looked down at his feet and sighed. Why can’t I just keep my mouth shut? He asked himself as he rose from the couch. Figuring that Nalia wouldn't come down to make dinner, Raziel began gathering materials for a sandwich. I mean . . . all I did was tell her about the man . . . what made her so upset? Does she know who I’m talking about or something like that?

                After Raziel finished preparing his sandwich, he treaded over to their dining table and sat down. As he looked down at the pitiful piece of bread, his appetite suddenly left him. He didn’t feel like eating; he really didn’t feel like doing anything at all . . . anything other than making his mother happy, that is. With a sigh, he slowly began eating. The bread was cold and the jelly somewhat bitter. It was nothing like his usual dinners.

                A few nibbles later, Raziel put the sandwich down. He couldn't eat anymore. He just wasn’t hungry. After throwing the left overs away, Raziel trudged down to his room. It was only about seven o’clock, but what else was there to do? All of the books in his bookcase had been read more than once, and night was falling. He supposed that a good night’s sleep before his first day of school sounded like a good idea seeing as there was nothing else to do.

                After brushing his teeth and changing into his pajamas, Raziel crawled under his warm covers. For a long time, he simply lay there, thinking. He thought about many things; his mother, his new school, what it would be like if things were happier . . .

                He thought about journals.

                He  also thought about serpentine eyes and raven-dark hair.

                
                Raziel turned onto his side. While the man’s description seemed to shock his mother, Raziel wanted to see him again. There was something about him . . . . Was it the eerie similarities between him and Raziel, or was it the aura the man gave off? The aura . . . it felt . . . so familiar. So right. Raziel couldn’t put his finger on why, but it felt like . . . like he was supposed to have that aura as well.

                Raziel wanted to see the man again. He had to see him again. Slowly, Raziel drifted off to sleep. That night he dreamt of serpentine eyes.

* * *

                Morning came swiftly. After being woken by Nalia, Raziel drifted through his morning routine in a trance-like state.  Nalia didn’t question him about it; she seemed like she was in a trance of her own. Her eyes were red, and Raziel could see that there were dark bags underneath them. Had she slept that night? He observed her. The way she moved and talked was off. If he didn’t know his mother any better, it would almost seem as if she was somewhat intoxicated.

                After they finished breakfast, the two sat quietly on the couch and waited for the school’s method of transportation—whatever it would be—to arrive. Nalia looked up at a clock on the wall. It was about seven twenty-five. She looked over at Raziel and smiled softly, “Why don’t we go wait outside?” 

                After waiting for about five minutes, Nalia heard the sound of a car zooming through the streets in the distance. Cars were rather uncommon on Ennis, and those who did have cars usually drove slowly as they didn’t how to drive all that well. Swiftly, the noise was getting louder and louder until Nalia turned her head only to see a yellow SUV speeding their way. 

                Nalia grabbed Raziel and pulled him back just as the SUV entered the street in front of their lot. It then did a sharp turn, skidded, and ended up being parked on the sidewalk. For a long time, no one moved. Nalia then looked in the car window to see Castiel. Needless to say, he looked very shaken up. The two gave him the time Castiel time to recover and calm down. Eventually, he stepped out of the vehicle and smiled wearily, “It’s not exactly a bus, but it’s close enough?”

                For a moment, Nalia almost felt like it would be safer to take Raziel herself, and she didn’t have the slightest clue about how to drive. Before she could say anything, Raziel was already making way toward the SUV. Nalia sighed and waved. “Have a nice day!” she called. Silently, she prayed for her son’s safe arrival at school.

                And it seems her prayers were answered. After picking two more girls up, they arrived safely at school.  Castiel led them up to their classroom and then retreated to his office. The two girls pushed past Raziel and to their desks, but Raziel hesitated for a moment and looked around. There were three rows of desks placed side by side. In the back, two boys sat beside each other. They seemed to be violently arguing about something. In the second row, the girls that Raziel had ridden to school with were whispering and giggling all while looking at the lone girl in the front row.

                Raziel looked at her for a long moment. She sat quietly and looked around the room with curious eyes. Those curious, lilac eyes soon fell on Raziel. Immediately, he realized he had been staring and looked down at his feet. “You can come sit beside me if you want,” she said. Raziel looked up and then slowly made his way over to the seat.

                After he was comfortably seated, the girl looked over at him and smiled. “I’m Lilac Periwinkle. What’s your name?” For a moment, Raziel didn’t know what to say. He was used to small talk before introductions. Scratch that, he wasn’t used to talking to people at all, especially not girls.

                “I-I’m Raziel Thorne. Pleased to meet you, Miss Lilac,” Raziel said nervously as he glanced over at her.

                “Miss Lilac? That’s new.” She smiled brightly, “A boy with manners. I like that.”

                Raziel blushed and looked away. He then heard Lilac giggle quietly. Was she teasing him?

                He didn’t have time to find out. The school bell rang, and as soon as it did, a fiery sprite of a woman burst through classroom door. “Good morning, class!” she said happily. She then did a few twirls until she stood in front of the teacher’s desk. Behind her, a somewhat dull woman strolled in. “Good morning,” she said as she trudged over beside the other woman.

                The two stood side by side. The fiery woman smiled, “Hello everyone. My name is Miss Marigold. I’ll be teaching English and history.” The woman beside Miss Marigold did not say anything. After a hard jab in the side, the woman spoke up after coughing and grabbing her side, “And I’m Miss Veronica. I will be teaching math and science. Pleased to meet you.” 

                After they finish going over class basics, it was time for the students to introduce themselves. On Ennis, it was customary to tell your name and magical race (if you had one). Raziel didn’t particularly see why race mattered in an introduction, but he supposed it went back to when the island was first established and people needed to distinguish between humans and non-humans.

                There was only one problem, though . . . Raziel didn’t know what he was. He obviously wasn’t a human, but he knew he wasn’t a snake or some sort of half-cat creature . . . . So what was he? Would it be acceptable to say “I don’t know”? Luckily his teacher started from the back. Slowly, introductions went around the room. Finally, it was Raziel’s turn. Following the suit of his other classmates, he stood up slowly. “Um . . . I’m Raziel Thorne . . . and . . . I don’t know what I am,” he said quietly. Raziel could feel the heat rising to his cheeks already.

                 The two girls who sat behind him began whispering feverishly. One of the boys in the back looked at Raziel smugly. Out of the corner of his eye, Raziel glanced at his teachers, and he could see that they were even looking displeased and somewhat shocked. Slowly, his eyes fell to his feet. Suddenly, Lilac stood up beside him. “Well, my name is Lilac Periwinkle, and I don’t know what I am either!”

                 For a moment the chatter stopped, and everyone simply stared. Lilac crossed her arms and sat down with a ‘hmph’. Raziel slowly slid down in his seat. He glanced over at Lilac. She was pouting, but when she noticed him looking, she stopped and winked. A smile formed on Raziel’s lips. 

                “Well, um . . . let’s go ahead get class started, shall we?” Miss Marigold said anxiously. After Miss Veronica finished setting up for her first class, science, Miss Marigold smiled hesitantly at everyone, waved, and then left the classroom. Miss Veronica’s eyes followed Miss Marigold out. When the door shut, she turned back to the classroom. “Alright everyone, there should be textbooks under your desk. Please take out your science book and turn to page seventeen,” she said clearly as she turned to the chalkboard and began writing.

* * *

                Lunch and break had finally come. Never in his life had Raziel found a book so boring. While reading wasn’t as bad, science had been terrible. If Miss Veronica had been anymore monotone and sluggish, Raziel feared he would have fallen asleep. Reading with Miss Marigold was the exact opposite . . . the woman didn’t know when to stop talking. What was their story even about? All Raziel heard was that Miss Marigold’s flower garden was infested with faeries that were trying to drag her back home.

                Raziel thought the woman was somewhat batty.

                Neither of those were the worst part, though. It was the whispers he heard and the glares he felt bearing down on him. Demon child, a bad omen, Snake Face . . . those were only a few of the things he heard about him. Never in his life had he felt so . . . ashamed. He didn’t even feel like he could look his other classmates in the eyes . . . 

                While all of the other children were eating lunch, Raziel slipped out to the playground and made his way over to a bench. He sighed deeply. Why were his eyes such a big deal? He had never hurt anyone or caused any cataclysmic events, contrary to his classmates’ beliefs, so why was it a problem? Raziel knew that adults took these things seriously, but children? Had their parents burned it into their mind that all people with serpentine eyes were evil and destined to cause destruction?

                “I hope you’re not thinking about what those kids said about you.”

                Raziel turned to see Lilac heading his way.  She plopped down beside him and then handed him a grilled cheese sandwich. “I didn’t see you at lunch, so I thought I would come hunt you down,” she said as she took a bite out of her slice of pizza. “Kids can be brutal, huh?”

                “I guess,” he said as he looked down at the sandwich in his hands. In all honesty, he really wasn’t all that hungry.

                “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don’t think you’re some snake baby who’s going to eat us one day.”

                “Really?” Raziel inquired as he leaned forward.

                Lilac finished off her slice of pizza, “Promise. In fact, I think you’re pretty cute myself. You have the edgy, badboy look that my sister would probably like as well, and the eyes really top it off.  Plus you’re not a jerk. All of the boys at this school are jerks. You’re different though; you’re the refined gentleman type. I like that.”

                For the longest time, Raziel just watched her. When he felt himself blushing, he looked to the sky, “I admire your charisma?” Raziel wasn’t afraid to say that flirting wasn’t exactly his forté. 

                “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Demon Boy and Twinkle Toes flirting it up.”

                Lilac groaned and rolled her eyes. Raziel turned to see who owned the voice he heard. The two boys who sat at the back of the class were approaching them rather boisterously.  “Are you two planning to make some kind of mutant baby or something?” inquired the one with black hair.

                Lilac scrunched her nose, “I bet you don’t even know how babies are made, Dimitri!”

                Dimitri growled, “Do too!”

                The blonde haired boy held Dimitri back, “We’re not here to pester the girl today, Dimitri, we’re here for the Beast.”

                “Leave Raziel alone!” Lilac barked as she stood up. 

                Dimitri pushed her aside. “Stay out of it, Twinkle Toes!”

                Slowly, the boy with blonde hair approached Raziel. Effortlessly, he grabbed Raziel by the collar and stood him up. Raziel glared at the boy but did not make any advances. “Stop looking me in the eyes. I don’t want to get cursed.” Raziel did not stop. “I said stop!” barked the boy. When Raziel didn’t look away, the boy frowned, pulled his fist back, and punched Raziel in the eye.

                For the first time in his life, Raziel felt murderous.