Heal Me

Time

"You hungry?" He asks breaking the peaceful silence we were in. I had woken a few moments ago and had refused to move. I was warm under the blankets next to him and I didn't want it to fade, to let the coldness creep under my skin.

When I don't replay, he goes to stand from the bed but I tighten my grip on him. He puts his arms around me again, giving me a light squeeze, "I know, love, I know," he presses a kiss on my forehead.

We stay a few more minutes until he finally let's go. I hear the bed creak as he stands and I follow his motions with my eyes. I watch as he observes this small room, him walking around to look at it all. I wrap my arms around each other, feeling the goosebumps rise, and scurry my way to the small bathroom.

After flushing the toilet and washing my hands. I search the little cabinet for a toothbrush. There are a few packs, each with a single toothbrush and a tiny tube of toothpaste in it. I open one and get rid of the terrible taste in my mouth.

After I look at my reflection. I rub the bags under my eyes and splash water on my face. My hair is a matted mess but after combing my fingers through it, and pulling it into a loose hair tie, it looks better. I exit the bathroom to see Zeke looking through one of the shelves.

I stand there for a moment, shifting on my feet. I'm still uneasy about everything.

I look at the small clock on the wall. It's a little after 2 o'clock. May should be back soon.

We sit on the bed and make small talk. I ask questions about our situation, still trying to grasp that it was all real. And it's weird how quickly I've accepted it. I guess a part of me always knew that they were more than dreams and that this feeling I have when I'm next to him, it's like he calms me. I look at him and know everything is going to be okay. I touch him and feel every moment in my life click into place. It's like everything wrong with me-or wrong with the people around me-none of that matters. It's just him and I. I feel content, happy, free. There is no longer a burden hanging over me.

But I know this feeling cant last long because of what will happen in a few day's time. I'm not sure exactly what's going to happen, why it's happening, or the plan. I just know that Darius has hurt Zeke in ways beyond my imagination, and he needs to feel pain as well.

Zeke stiffens slightly beside me and I ask him what's wrong.

"May is home," he says and a few seconds later she's walking down the concrete steps. She offers me a small smile.

"Can I get you anything?" She asks and I shake my head. "My mom should be home at 4 and my dad should be home at 5:30."

"We are wasting too much time," Zeke says and stands from the bed.

"I understand, but they are at work. They can explain and help you."

He sighs and takes a few steps away from me. I almost feel saddened by our distance. "Do you have an update on Frederick or Darius?"

"Not much, I know that Darius disappeared and that Frederick is not at your house."

He nods his head and May asks again if she can get us anything. We decline again and she walks back upstairs.

"Cant you talk to Frederick through the-" I start and he nods his head.

"Yes, I just wanted to check on how informed she is. It seems she is left in the dark about most of it," he says and sits back beside me.

"So where is Frederick?" I ask.

"Hiding for now. We will reunite after we leave here. He does not know of our location but he knows we are safe. At 6 o'clock we need to leave, despite the information we may or may not have."

"Will we go meet Frederick?"

"We will join him in the...location," he trails off.

May goes back upstairs leavening Zeke and me. Despite his normal calmness, he's tense, nervous even. I weakly feel his emotions and I know that he isn't too happy about this situation.

I'm stacking on a granola bar when we hear footsteps. Trisha comes walking down, bottle in hand, May trailing behind.

"Nate is trying to get off of work early, even if he's here 10 minutes earlier than normal will give you more time," she says to Zeke. "Here," she hands the bottle out to him and he hesitates. May has a look of disgust on her face as she stares at the bottle.

Sill not grabbing it, Trisha tells Zeke to take it. After another second he does and his entire body goes stiff.

"May, go back upstairs," Trisha turns around and looks at her daughter.

"Ugh fine," she groans and walks back up. I watch as the brick wall appears.

I turn my gaze back to Zeke who still hasn't moved yet, eyes glued to the bottle. Part of me already knows what's inside of it.

"Drink it. I know it's not much but something is better than nothing. Nate might be able to get more if you need."

"It is fine, thank you," he says and quickly looks at me. He stands from the bed and I feel him depart from me as he walks to the other side of the room, leaning up against the wall, and takes a large sip. He closes his eyes and rests the back of his head against the wall.

"Now we don't have a lot of time, but I can tell you what I can."

"We call them dux. It translates to "the leader" in Latin. Those who send witches are very strategic in who they picked, especially considering Alice. It's never the same family or generation twice for precaution. It's an honor to be chosen.

Nate and I have a real relationship and well our daughter being the same age as Alice helped in our selection process. We were supposed to look after her. Monitor her movements, the people around town. Everyone and everything. Us and a few other families. It's a fairly populated town so we needed some help.

Anyway, it was not entirely planned for them to be best friends, so don't think it was all fake," she looks to me and then continues, "it was all clear until we found Frederick snooping around probably 8 or 9 years ago. We were supposed to be on the lookout for him and were quite pleased when we found him. Darius hasn't been spotted until a few days ago, as well as his guards."

"Okay now, who are you helping," Zeke says a little annoyed.