I was waiting expectantly for their reactions as I said the last part. It was priceless. Coughing sounds could be heard all over the dining room and I just sat at the table smiling mischievously. It had been long since it was I who did this to them. Normally it was always Gary playing a prank on us like the time when he said he accidentally poured water in the main circuit board. First of all, I don't know how he would have accidentally pulled that off considering the circuit board was raised really high.
That time mom didn't fall for it. She was getting used to Gary's antics and pretty much saw right through each time he came up with something new. "Did you say we are neighbours?" mum asked as she was the first to recover from it.
"Yup, they are living in that apartment building about five blocks from here," I explained.
"Sounds like a situation of the girl next door," dad said abruptly causing mom to look at him fiercely. Dad had a habit of saying something totally bizarre and then continue to eat food like he had said nothing at all. It usually came in handy in these kinds of situations. He also used a tone of voice that said 'you don't have to reply.'
"So what's her name?" mum asked after finally managing to ignore her obnoxious husband.
"Sonia Everglade."
"Is she pretty?" Gary asked mimicking dad's methods of pretence.
"Who wants to know?" I asked.
"It's alright. I could always see her on our way to school," he said, "but how did you know we were neighbours?"
"She asked me to walk her home. I tried to refuse but it was inevitable since she was going the same way anyway. She did try to ask for where we live though I think she already knows," I finished and was happy to see that I was almost done with food, "Yeah that's basically what happened in my day. Oh yeah, plus the Purgers are trying to recruit me."
"What? Aren't those the bullies rumoured to beat up first year students?" mum asked somewhat surprised. I did pick interest in the way she phrased her statement. They were known for beating up freshmen, but why had she said 'rumoured'.
"Yes they are. But they also recruit first years who could potentially take over their empire," I said with a goofy smile and putting the word empire in quotes. By now we were all done eating food and my story was all that was keeping us here. Plus mum's relentless efforts to keep the family talking. Honestly we had that to thank her for even though we didn't always like doing it.
"So you going to accept their offer," dad asked with a heavy tone of seriousness in his voice. It was rare for dad to become serious. He was always joking around. Come to think of it, the only one in this family who wasn't always joking around was mom. The rest of us were always looking for ways to keep the rest smiling.
"I don't know yet," I said making my way to stairs. I had to get to bed early today if I didn't want to collapse from exhaustion. Much as I was in a hurry, I didn't fail to miss dad's last comment which he made more to himself while staring thoughtfully into space.
"Careful with the decision you make," he said causing a flicker of suspicion to rise in my mind. Did dad know something about the Purgers that I didn't already know? I quickly got into my room and dropped onto my bed. I had already bathed before supper so I didn't have to worry about that.
'Hi Ciara,' I continued our conversation. I didn't expect much of a reply since there was the possibility she was asleep, 'Done with family dinner slash drama,'
"You sound really tired," I heard a voice beside me. Her sudden appearance startled me so hard that I fell of the bed. I got up groaning and lazily rolled back into bed. She had teleported right beside me and was currently seated in my bed in her pyjamas reading a novel. I assumed the novel was to hide her expression.
"I am very tired. Our coach needs a mental check-up," I complained with my back turned to her. "Wait, did you teleport in while reading that novel?" I asked when I noticed just how much accuracy one would require to pull magic like that.
"Yeah, teleportation has become as easy as breathing to me. I can even see the place I want to teleport to before I actually teleport there, so that if there's trouble, I can avoid it." she said blowing my mind. That was beyond what I could have imagined.
"You're amazing." my compliment was met with silence. I felt a hand on my back and started to turn only have her hold me in that position.
"Hold still," she commanded and I did as I was ordered. Soon I could feel a tingling sensation spreading through my back and soon all over my body. The numerous knots and aches I had through my muscles began to clear up. She was healing me. When the feeling finally left, I was left with the general weakness. I turned around to face her. She had slid down in a way that we now lay face to face in the bed. It took a lot of will power not to be stunned by her icy blue eyes that I had come to love staring at. "You should be fine when you wake up tomorrow."
"Thanks," I replied. "You know a lot of magic."
"I told you that already. I was trained magic growing up," she said.
"Just how much can you do?" I asked.
"I don't know."
"Huh?" I simply said confused.
"Armensia is more magically active. Its magic is easier to manipulate, so when I go there magic is so easy that I don't know my limits yet," she explained scaring me once more.
"That's a bit scary, Ciara," I said and she smiled like some innocent harmless child. "So I got a punishment for skipping class. What was yours?" I said.
"Oh, my day was stress free. I'm introducing you to the world of crime, Johnson," she said.
"Lucky," I grumbled, "and who said I'm not a criminal myself." I tried to defend myself.
"I made a background check on you. That was almost the first time you had ever skipped class. Come on, the teachers had to do something about it," she explained, "by the way, your muscles were way too torn up to have been simply caused by the coach. What else did you do?"
"Huh, what do you mean?" I asked her.
"Kevin," she asked somewhat desperately and looking me in the eye. I knew I couldn't get out of this one. She reached for my face and wiped a tear I didn't know had fallen from my eye.
"Promise not to tell anyone," I said.
"What if it's something dangerous?" she asked.
"It's not," I tried reassuring her, but she wasn't having it.
"No. It can't be anything but. You were damaged as if you had been in a fight for your life. If you weren't an artra, walking would be impossible for you," she tried.
I brought my hands to her face and cupped her cheeks so she looked straight at me. Tears were threatening to flow from her eyes. Ciara was only emotional when we were alone together. Otherwise her composure was as solid as steel when we were with the others. "Promise me," I repeated making it clear that I would not be telling her anything unless she promised me. She nodded for confirmation as her first tears slid down her face.
"During that lunchtime session that Bergstrom arranged for me and him. I stop time and go through intense training. Today, he just went too far. He says I am far too weak for a Siege and I could end up being a liability. That's why I was exhausted today, but no one must know about it," I explained. She stayed quiet for a while and I waited as she took in the information.
"Kevin," she asked.
"Is it okay if I keep healing you every night?" she asked.
"Yeah, totally," I replied smiling.
She still looked sad though, "I don't even know what to make of this. What does he do to you during those training sessions," she asked whilst playing with a lock of her hair.
"There are nothing compared to what coach makes us to do," I said. She brought her hand to my cheek and sleep instantly multiplied tenfold. "Umm, Ciara."
"You need you sleep," she said. I could barely see her as my vision became blurry. I was too tired to fight back and I could feel my consciousness slipping away from me. There was nothing I could do about it. She had me right where she wanted. "Sleep, my knight," I heard and felt her lips upon my forehead before darkness swallowed me and I fell fast asleep.