Join the family

studying in the dark

I waited until the sun had set before sneaking in through a window on the bottom floor, careful not to wake the demonic bird-worm. 

Using my new palisman as a torch, I swept the light over the Owl House. It looked like a frat house; the place in shambles, suspicious looking stains covering the couch. It was a wreck. Underneath one of the Owl Lady's framed wanted posters was a stack of books. The first on top of the pile read, A Study of Wild Magic. Bingo. 

I grabbed the book, sat on the floor, and began to read. Wild magic had always fascinated me. It was interesting how we could use the world around us to make magic instead of using ourselves. But in the Emperor's coven, we weren't really supposed to use wild magic. So all my studying had to be done in the dark. 

I tried to listen for any footsteps, but at some point, I got so lost in the book, I didn't hear someone descending the stairs. 

As I turned the page, everything went black. 

Well, that was a little dramatic. Someone threw a blanket over me, so I was very confused, blind, and tangled in a mess of blankets. 

"Who- Who's there?" I demanded, struggling to resurface my head. 

"Oh, calm down, kid." Someone said. I recognized her voice. It was the Owl Lady. I finally got the blanket off of my head, and grabbed my staff. I pointed it at her. 

She stared at me. She looked like she had rolled out of a grave, with bunny slippers, crazy hair, and a couple stray feathers stuck to her. "I said to relax, kid. I'm not gonna hurt you. You've been sneaking in so much you basically live here at this point. Just chill out. Just trust someone for once in your life." She opened her fridge and pulled out a carton of apple blood nonchalantly. 

I glared at her, not putting down my staff. "Trusting people can lead to consequences." 

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, if you're up all night reading, when're you getting sleep these days? You've been here for the past couple nights, then I see you patrolling for almost twelve hours... when was the last time you actually slept?" 

I hesitated. That was a question I did not want to answer. "I'm fine. And I'll be going now." I turned, ready to leave. But before I could reach the window, the demonic owl-worm grabbed me and threw me onto the couch. 

"Hey!" I protested, sitting back up. 

"Hoot, hoot! Sorry, but you can't leave yet!" The owl-worm said before retreating to the front door.

"Kid, just do me a favor and actually take care of yourself. You're gonna lose your mind if you keep this up. Go to sleep for like, three hours or something, then you can learn as much as you want about wild magic. I'm sure Luz would love to teach you." The owl lady said, smiling at the mention of her adopted child. 

"...what's the catch?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. 

The owl lady rolled her eyes. "The catch is.. there is no catch. Ok? Now, I'll be upstairs. And I won't be kidnapping you, if that's what you're thinking. Feel free to leave whenever you want." 

"What about the worm?" I asked, looking for a reason to leave. 

"Hooty won't bother you as long as you don't bother him." She walked up the stairs, leaving me sitting there, alone. Well.. almost alone. 

"What should I do?" I asked as my palisman landed on my shoulder. He was a cardinal, and he had told me his name was Rascal.

"Stay. There's no harm in it." He said. 

"Yeah.. but.. what if-"

"What? You get kidnapped? What use does the Owl Lady want from you? And Luz is trying to help you, too. The only thing in this house that might want to kill you is Hooty, but I don't think he'll be that much of a threat anyway. Just stay the night. And if something bad does happen, then we can easily get ourselves out of this situation." Rascal said. 

"...I guess you're right, bud." I said, sighing. "Alright then, good night." 

I fell asleep almost immediately.