The next few months went by and Saga had become withdrawn and spent more and more time by herself. She got like that sometimes and I wasn’t particularly worried. She had these weird phases she went through and it was best to just leave her alone when she got like that. She started a club at school for girls and whenever I asked her about it, she removed the memory, so eventually I stopped asking.
The last few weeks though, she seemed more like herself and I felt like I could breathe easier. She laughed and talked and it seemed that emotionally she’d moved on. I still felt guilty about what had happened to her. She was my sister, I’d always feel guilty about it.
What happened to Saga had affected me as well and it had taken me weeks to be myself again. I was constantly looking over my shoulder, wondering when the police would barge into our house and arrest me for murder.
As the days passed though, I relaxed and slowly but surely I became myself again, much to Adara’s dismay. We didn’t talk about that night but I could see Kiran’s eyes following Saga’s every move when we were at home.
I decided to celebrate my relief at Saga’s wellbeing by pulling another prank at school. I was hiding in the announcement room, waiting for the first bell to go. Gunnar was waiting outside Jonesy’s class and he would send me a message when he saw Jonesy in the hallway. My phone beeped and I switched the microphone on.
“Good morning, students of Seward High. Please step away from your lockers in five…four…three…two…one!” The lockers all opened simultaneously and confetti sprayed out of every locker in the hallway and over the students as it drifted to the floor. I could hear the shrieks of students as the lockers closed again as one.
“Please note that due to confetti overload, school is closed!” I switched the microphone off and opened the door of the announcement room. I walked down the narrow corridor and through a side door that took me back to the hallway.
Mr. Jones stood in his classroom. “Kai Sinclair!”
Gunnar and I looked at each other and started laughing. He had been the lookout earlier while I had been busy transforming Mr. Jones’ classroom with magic. I had bubble wrapped absolutely everything in his class, from his desk to the chalk. He was not impressed when he stuck his head out into the hallway and saw me laughing.
“Yeah, I know, I’m going,” I said and headed to the principal’s office.
I didn’t feel like school anyway. I waited for Kiran as I took my phone out and watched the video Gunnar had taken when the lockers opened. I posted it online, made sure to block my mother, and watched the likes roll in.
“Kai,” Kiran said as he stood in front of me and I looked up. I tried to keep my composure and I couldn’t really ascertain his level of anger. He sat down and sighed as we waited for Mr. Rush. He finally called us inside to his office after what felt like a lifetime.
“Kiran, this really needs to stop,” Mr. Rush said before we even sat down. Kiran glanced at me and I looked away.
“What did he do this time?” Kiran asked and I smiled, trying hard to hide it.
“He bubble wrapped Mr. Jones’ entire class and then had confetti spray out of the senior lockers,” Mr. Rush said and Kiran leaned back against his chair.
“I’m sorry,” Kiran said, trying not to laugh. “Of course Kai will clean up in the hallways and remove the bubble wrap.”
“Yes, you might want to have a serious talk with him. He’s running out of favors at this school and we will have to start considering permanent expulsion,” Mr. Rush said and looked sternly at me.
“If that’s all,” Kiran said and stood up but Mr. Rush stopped him.
“Last week he smeared Vaseline on all the doorknobs in the entire school. Yesterday, I arrived at my house to eleven people blocking my front door because my house was listed for sale and last month I got to school and everything on my desk had been super glued to it!” His voice rose with his anger and I frowned.
“You’re very certain that Kai did all those things?” Kiran asked him. I knew nothing about the super glue. My pranks usually just involved old Jonesy because he was such an ass to me.
“Well, no, but…” Kiran stood up again and looked at Mr. Rush.
“If you can’t prove that he did it, you can’t treat him like the guilty party,” Kiran said and opened the office door. “Kai.”
I stood up and followed Kiran out of the office. I was suspended again, this time for four days. Saga would bring my homework, she always did. I walked outside with Kiran and he stopped and turned on his heel when we reached my car.
“What have I told you about using magic outside of the house?” he asked me angrily and walked to his car. I looked at him, a bit shocked, as he got in his car and drove away. I opened the Jeep’s door and nearly had a heart attack when Saga opened her cloak and appeared in front of me.
“Shit, Saga. Dad would kill you if he knew you used magic at school,” I said as she walked around the Jeep and we climbed in.
“He’ll only know if you tell him. Besides, he’s already mad at you for doing it, there’s no point in both of us being in trouble,” she said with a smile. “Drive out to the Point.”
“Why?” I asked and narrowed my eyes.
“Because I need to talk to you,” she said and looked out of her window.
I drove down to the Point, glancing at her every so often. At least this trip extended the talking to I was sure to get at home. Adara would lose her personality over this latest stunt and I wasn’t looking forward to it. I parked the Jeep just off the side of the road and Saga got out.
The bell rang and I was out of the classroom first. I needed to breathe and everything around me felt too surreal, like I was trapped in a daze. I leaned against the wall and Paul stopped next to me and looked questioningly at me.“How the hell are you not expelled after yesterday?” he asked me.“I have no idea. Maybe he’s waiting for me to do something really serious,” I said sarcastically and Paul laughed as he shook his head and headed to our next class.Students walked out of the classroom and finally Kari came out with Gunnar. I took her hand and started walking to our next class, knowing that Gunnar would wait for Saga. He always waited for her and walked behind her to whichever class she had next.“Why didn’t you text me back?” Kari asked me.“I fell asleep and my phone really was on silent,” I said.“What’s happening to me? I would never try to kill myself,” Kari whispered to me.“You’re going to be fine,” I said and kissed the top of her head. We took our seats in English cl
I refrained from slamming my bedroom door closed, even though I badly wanted to do it. I closed it softly and turned to look at the girl. “Why Kari?”“I warned you,” she said to me. “Every action has consequences.”“What do you want from me? They’re dead!” I said angrily.“I want you, Kai,” she said in a chilling voice.“What are you talking about?” I was confused now. She’d gotten what she wanted.“You belong to me, you owe me. You didn’t play by the rules, now I’ll take it from you,” she said.“For what? They paid for what they did, you wanted them dead and now they are,” I said.“Kari’s alive. I waited until I knew you were close enough. Today was just a warning, next time she won’t be so lucky,” the girl said and smiled. “Unless you agree then Kari will live.”“Fine, I agree,” I said. She took my hand and I looked down at it as the skin on the palm of my hand tore open and she placed her own hand over the wound. “This is your blood oath. You belong to me now, until you’ve paid ba
We were sitting in class but I barely heard a word Mr. Jones was saying. I was lost in my own world, thinking about what to do with my life. Adara had made it clear that she wasn’t happy and that I would go to college, come hell or high water.Gunnar was bent over his desk, his phone on his lap and mine vibrated in my pocket. I took it out and opened my text messages.Gunnar: The nurse just sent Kari home. She says she’s not feeling well.I nodded my head but I didn’t reply. Kari had been acting very differently toward me the last few weeks. I had no idea why and to top it all off, she was ignoring my calls and texts. Saga turned to look at me questioningly and I shrugged and forwarded the message to her. She nodded her head as well, as Mr. Jones continued to ramble on in front of the board.Kari had been there for me when I struggled with my guilt over what happened to Saga, but the difference was that I talked to her. She was pushing me out and I was getting pissed off with her beha
I waited in the dark parking lot of our school for ten minutes before I saw the headlights that turned toward me. Steve and Mike climbed out of a truck and walked to where I was leaning against my Jeep. They were too relaxed to suspect anything.“Hey, man, this is going to be awesome,” Mike said and blew on his hands and put them under his arms against the cold.I smiled as I looked at them and lifted my hands. “I command from the gods, the righteous path to unfold. Rjóðr eldr.” The red flames formed in my hands and it glowed eerily in the dark.“What the…” Steve started to say and they backed away from me.“Gjalda! Ganga við,” I said as I looked at them and the flames disappeared.They seemed to be in a trance as they walked back to the truck and got in. I got into the Jeep and followed them as they drove off. Steve parked the truck in front of the police station and they both got out. I smiled. I had cast a spell for them to confess their crimes and atone for what they had done.I d
I shrugged and headed to my bedroom. There was a girl sitting on my bed and she watched me as I put my bag down next to my desk. She had deep purple marks around her neck and her eyes followed me as I moved around. She had probably hung herself.“What do you want?” I asked her.“She promised me that they would die,” she said and I turned to look at her.“I can’t let her keep that promise, it’s wrong,” I said and she stood up. Her face was inches from mine and I could smell the decay on her.“Then she’ll pay,” the girl said.“I can promise you that they’ll pay for what they did,” I said.“If you don’t keep this promise to my satisfaction, I’ll make you pay,” she said and pushed me up against the wall with her hand around my throat. She was strong and angry, her eyes were empty hollows of darkness, malicious and evil. She was gone in an instant and I stood against the wall and took a deep breath.Sometimes spirits want something from you and when they don’t get it, they get angry. What
Saga started walking down the beach and every now and then she would stop and look over at the cluster of trees. It broke my heart to watch her and when I caught up to her, she started talking and I listened. She had really thought this through and she had been busy with a plan of her own for the last three months. Her plan also scared the shit out of me.“We have to do something, Kai,” she said and her eyes seemed to plead with mine.“I know, Sis, but luring them out to the forest and killing them? That’s murder. How are you planning to kill them once you have them here?” I asked her.“Dad has journals, death spells…” Her voice trailed off and my eyes widened.“No way! You know what happens when you do that! He almost died using death magic!” I said to her.We both grew up hearing the stories of the twelve witches that came to Seward to kill him, his time in Helheim and the physical pain you feel when you use that type of magic. Kiran had closed off that part of his life and he had n